I, Frankenstein (2014) Film Review

I, Frankenstein Poster

Title: I, Frankenstein

Directed by: Stuart Beattie

Screenplay by: Stuart Beattie

Length: 93 minutes

Year of Release: 2014

I, Frankenstein is a film directed by Stuart Bettie, starring Aaron Eckhart, Bill Nighy, Miranda Otto and Jai Courtney, and is an origin film about Frankenstein's monster, and how he came to take part in a war between heavenly gargoyles, and hellish demons.

One of the decent aspects this film boasts is it's cast. The only reason that people are really going to flock to the theatre, is to see Aaron Eckhart beat the shit out of some cruddy demons. Is Eckhart any good? Well, the lines given to him are fairly shallow, and his character isn't at all relatable or interesting,  but for what the director asked of him, Eckhart provides enough. He's fine in the role; nothing extraordinary, as you'd expect. Bill Nighy, though, I found completely miscast! He plays the demon prince Naberius, who, as a demon prince, should probably have the ability to intimate others, look fearsome, etc. Unfortunately, Bill Nighy looks and sounds like a nice guy, so Naberius seems like a guy you'd want to go grab a beer with! That's certainly not the angle they were going for, and the writing didn't help to improve the character. The rest of the cast are fine in their roles, apart from the cringe inducing Jai Courtney, whom you may remember from the atrocity that was and is Die Hard 5. He's a pretty horrible actor, and this film only furthers my belief of that. Overall, the acting portion of the film was fine.

The visual effects... ugh. They're just horrible! The gargoyles look horrible, and the CGI landscapes and towers all look as artificial as they come. What kind of a budget did they really have for this film, exactly? 65 million?! This film doesn't look like a 65 million dollar kind of film. It looks bland and very dark. 90% of the shots within this film take place during night time, which kind of infuriated me. It was as if Beattie was trying to induce the feeling of darkness here, and it did not pay off! To add to the criticism, the practical effects and make up are all pretty terrible as well! Isn't Frankenstein meant to be a miss match of different pieces of skin, organ and general tissue? Didn't look so here. Eckhart takes his shirt off at one stage, and it look like he's had a nasty fall and needed a stitching. Except for a scar here and there, he looks pretty good. Not disgusting, ugly, anything of the sorts. That's a fairly major stuff-up in my opinion! The demons are also fairly pathetic when it comes to looks. I can't say whether or not it was all special effects, to make the faces look grotesque, but I will say for sure that they look pretty crap! For demons, they don't look half bad with their natural head size, shape and colour exposed!

There are certain parts of this film which I enjoyed. Those of note would be the initial origin story of Frankenstein's monster (whom I haven't mentioned yet, is actually called Adam here!) in which he kills his creator's wife, and then leads Dr. Frankenstein on a goose chase, until he falls over and dies (Dr. Frankenstein, that is). That was interesting! But that's about it, to be blatantly honest. The rest of the film was incredibly boring, badly paced and self indulgent. It also took itself way too serious! It so desperately wants to come off as a dark, modern interpretation of the classic film, but it falls so short. Some scenes come off as genuinely hilarious, because of a mixture of bad lighting, silly dialogue, and very cruddy acting. A lot of the actors here try to shout the vast majority of their dialogue, to try and create intensity, or something of the sorts. It comes off as it did in another January release, The Legend of Hercules (Note: Being compared to The Legend of Hercules is not a good thing), and that is incredibly stupid! Constant yelling does not make your character any more interesting or powerful! It makes him quite look quite dramatically silly! 

I did enjoy the score to this film, I will say. It added quite a bit to the film, in the way of atmosphere, something the film so desperately needed. Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil both delivered a fairly admirable score, one that is a pleasure to listen to in the context of the film, or by itself. So it's not all bad, I admit!

In conclusion, I, Frankenstein may not be as bad as some other January releases, but it's still something you can certainly skip. It's not that entertaining; it's quite boring and dull for the vast majority of it's running time. Wait a little while for Robocop, and go spend your money on that. You'll probably enjoy that much more.

Junkie Score: 3.3

Worth Admission Price? No

Thanks for reading! Here's some links to various accounts:

Google+

IMDb Account

My Spotify Account

Rotten Tomatoes Account

And Now... Grooveshark!

Arrow (2012-Present): Season 2, Episode 12 Review

Title: Arrow
Season: 2
Episode Count: 12
Episode Title: Tremors
Starring: Stephen Amell, Emily Bett Rickards, Katie Cassidy

Unknown to pretty much all my followers, I'm a huge television fan! I love Game of Thrones, Elementary, Breaking Bad and surprisingly Arrow! Season 1 started off poorly, but soon enough improved to a fantastic degree, and captured me with the best season finale of last year! Now, we're into season 2... it's a mixed season at best. Sure, most of the character introductions have been really good, and Stephen Amell has still kept the great performances rolling in... but with Laurel's storyline being an incredibly dull filler all season, I have to downgrade most episodes. Thankfully, last episode had an absolutely awesome ending, with Arrow agreeing to help train Roy, and Deathstroke FINALLY making an appearance! This episode though... well, let's see how it fairs!

To start with, Bronze Tiger is back, played by Michael Jai White. He had a short stint on the show a few episodes back, and he got busted and is being held up in prison. He busts himself out, and partakes in fighting Arrow a little within this episode. The fights between himself and Arrow feel incredibly choreographed here, unfortunately, which makes for some dull moments. Michael Jai White does fine in his role, which is all fine and dandy. His lines, though, feel incredibly cliched and corny, so points off!

The whole plot within this episode is that an unnamed arms merchant breaks Bronze Tiger out of prison to steal a secret prototype of the earthquake machine that lies within Malcolm Merlyn's home. Ultimately, this is just an episode that is meant to advance Roy Harper's character, as well as introduce the Suicide Squad, a name most certainly known to comic book fans. The whole main plot line feels incredibly forced, and very thrown together. They reveal that there has been ANOTHER earthquake machine nestled in Starling; something that sounds completely out of the blue. No lead up, nothing! Then, it's destroyed at the end. So much for that devastating piece of machinery! The story for this episode is just really pathetic and bad, in comparison to the previous episodes endeavors.

The whole Roy being trained by Arrow also feels quite staged. From the setting, to the way Arrow stands and addresses Roy, it all makes me not believe this as a real training sequence. That's really unfortunate, as the thing I was most looking forward to seeing this episode was some badass Roy on Arrow action, or some pretty straightforward training sequences. We certainly didn't get that. They also have to continually force the idea that Roy is angry at everything down our throats, and that makes the training sequences incredibly repetitive. Every time we see Arrow training him, it's always "I can't do it! I'm going to get angry, break something, and tell Arrow that this isn't working!" That happens 2-4 times this episode, and it's infuriating!

There were some decent angles tonight, clouded within the crap. Moira is now running for the mayor office, which is an angle which I think is really good! Sebastian Blood is now going to have to eliminate Moira, which will have Oliver angry, whether she's killed or not, and now with Deathstroke in the fray, we may finally have an Arrow on Deathstroke fight! And the island flashbacks was interesting tonight. Slade wanted to blow up Ivo's ship with the missile launcher that is still on the island, but Oliver convinced him not to, and instead tells him that they are to seize control of the ship! So that's a lot of build up for the next few episodes, all of which I'm anxiously awaiting! 

And we finally reach Laurel... ugh, it's worse than ever here! Her father tries to help her again, this time by fooling her into walking into an AA meeting. She flips her shit, and establishes her belief; that she's been through worse than the people in the meeting. This absolutely infuriates me, as it's meant to, so props to the writing team for that move. Laurel then spirals out of control afterwards, and goes to Thea's bar and proceeds to get drunk. Katie Cassidy's acting ability is fairly limited, and she should certainly not be given another opportunity to act drunk within this show. It's just embarrassing! Fortunately, we get to see some real character development (or a hint of it) at the end of the episode, when she falls to the ground back at her apartment. She looks up and sees her sister coming towards her, before we fade to black. What does it mean? Is Laurel finally turning into Canary? We'll have to wait to find out! Nonetheless, the Laurel angle tonight wasn't very good at all! Despite some decent moments, Laurel's scenes feel forced and awkward.

Conclusion:

This episode was pretty bad. Certainly a let down after the big cliff hanger left to us by the last episode. Tremors had a forced centre plot line, a pretty repetitive and stupid few training sequences, and more Laurel crap, yet it did fortunately have some really important character development, and a fairly good finale. Oliver does reveal himself at the end to Roy, and lets him join the team, so that's exciting! And the Suicide Squad angle seems in full force, so I can't wait! This episode was pretty shocking; a certain down point of the season.

Junkie Score: 5.3

Thanks for reading! Here's some links to various accounts:

Google+

IMDb Account

My Spotify Account

Rotten Tomatoes Account

And Now... Grooveshark!

  

Her (2013) Film Review

Her poster

Title: Her
Director: Spike Jonze
Screenwriter: Spike Jonze
Length: 126 minutes
Year of Release: 2013

Her is a film directed by Spike Jonze, and it stars the ever fantastic Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson and Amy Adams, and centres around Phoenix's character, Theodore, who has recently come out of a long relationship. He is sad and lonely; that is until he downloads an artificial intelligence, named Samantha, that opens his eyes to the world around him that he has neglected to acknowledge whilst deep in self loathing. 

The performances, to begin with. Joaquin Phoenix as Theodore, as always, is absolutely fantastic. He never delivers a performance less than wonderful (in my case anyway) and this time is no exception. He's strangely relatable and lovable here. I seriously would never have guessed so, based on his previous roles. Well, never judge a book by it's cover certainly applies to this situation. He is helped along by a fantastic voice performance from Scarlett Johansson, who plays Samantha surprisingly! Who would have guessed she could've been this damned good in a voice role?! She brings a third dimension to a character which has no physical appearance, and that is something that is very awe worthy. I feel that she has been snubbed by the Oscars, not getting a nomination for her performance. It's absolutely pitch perfect. These two are accompanied by Amy Adams, in a small but pivotal role as Theodore's friend, and Rooney Mara, who plays Theodore's ex-wife. Both are very good in their small roles, and it all makes for a fantastic film, performance wise. 

Ultimately, the real star of the show is the wonderful Spike Jonze. This guy has an imagination like no other. It's crazy, wild, imaginative. Here, he takes you on an emotional roller coaster, one that I have not embarked on for quite a while. Sincerely; I've not had another film from 2013 hit me in the heart like this one did. Jonze has managed to create a real, beautiful love story, one that showcases the beauty of love, and how it's affects on people can really change them, for better or worse. It's not like 500 Days of Summer; one which you can relate to perfectly. It distances itself away from that kind of genre, the one which tries to stay relatable throughout, and keep you involved simply because you can fit yourself right in the shoes of the main character. Here, you simply can't. But that doesn't matter, because you can accept this relationship, between a man and a computer, because it's delivered in such a real, honest way. 

I thought about a concept around half way through this film. That is, that all the visuals are taken away. You close your eyes for the duration, or maybe you rip the audio from the film. Either way, I feel like you're going to get an experience that may not just be as good as the original, intended experience, but one that may surpass the original. This story is so centred around dialogue, that I feel pictures almost don't add that much to the film. See, I found the film shot very quietly. It is shot in a way that allows the dialogue to be the main character, not the physical person itself. The words flowing from Johansson and Phoenix's mouths are really what you need to be focusing on. An all audio experience may add to the beauty of this brilliantly told film, by allowing the dialogue to be the only form of expression. You'll have to try it out and see whether it works for you or not; I just think that it would be a good idea to try out.

Overall, Her is an absolutely fantastic film. It's not going to crack my top 10 of the year, but it's come incredibly close. It's an emotionally driven film, that will hit you to your core. I challenge you not to cry at the end of this film! Despite the lack of visual presence, this is a film which I'm certainly hoping wins Oscars. 

Junkie Score: 9.2

Worth admission price? Yes

Thanks for reading! Here's some links to various accounts:

Google+

IMDb Account

My Spotify Account

Rotten Tomatoes Account

And Now... Grooveshark!

How To Train Your Dragon Score Review

 Title: How To Train Your Dragon

 Composer/s: John Powell

 Length: 1 hour, 12 minutes

 Track Count: 25

 Year of Release: 2010

Hello one and all! I'm back with another score review, this time, for one that was released in 2010. That means it's time for one of my favourite scores, How To Train Your Dragon, by John Powell. I had to venture outside of Spotify to find this one (the horror!) but it's certainly worth it! I've got a playlist on Grooveshark for it, so I'll post that link down below. Anyway, I should probably start reviewing this score, so lets get into it!

_______________________________________________________________________

I'm going to be honest; the first time I heard this score, it sounded very much like a John Williams piece of work. That's partially good, partially bad. For the most part, I don't like John Williams' work. I know, you're all about to crucify me, but that's just how I feel. But John Williams can make some pretty damn awesome scores, and he has a way with making interesting, complex pieces. The first piece on the score card, This Is Berk, sounded like a really awesome John Williams piece. I did find John Powell's name instilled though, and I was almost a little disappointed. Nonetheless, John Powell has delivered something sensationally brilliant, with intricate sets to the max.

The big thing you need to know about this score, coming into it, is that it's very much a Viking score. You're going to get deep brass here in the bucket loads, and it's awesome. But that's ultimately what we expect from Viking scores, so John Powell also adds a whole range of instruments to the equation, starting from native Scandinavian horns to some bagpipes, which have place in some of my favourite pieces from the score. It all sounds very European, which is certainly not a bad thing. It's always good to see something that sounds very culturally accurate, and HTTYD is just that.  On that account, John Powell has excelled. 

The score is a whole bunch of fun. It's got pieces which seem to go flying off in a random direction, which is partially the point; I mean, we are covering the story about a stubborn dragon being trained. He's probably going to jetting off in any direction he can the first chance he gets, right? But all this, see, I certainly expected. What really makes the score, are the more touching, personal moments. Powell uses vocals and soft piano to their full extent, at various points, to allow for a lot of really powerful, key moments. Take piece 6, The Dragon Book, one of my favourite pieces on the card. It evolves from a quiet, soothing rhythm, into something more aggressive, and loud. All very tightly done, which is good to see. This contrast that is achieved in mere seconds, so many times within the score, is a pleasure to listen to.   

There are few scores which are as emotional as HTTYD, to be quite honest. I love the film (it is #22 on my top 25 films of all time) and the score just brings all the memories back, to my enjoyment. My favourite piece on the entire card, Forbidden Love, has one of the more emotional riffs in the entire score. In the latter stages of the piece, it evolves into a powerful, beautiful orchestral piece, which is tear worthy. I can say the same for so much of this score, but I think I'd take up much too much of your time, if I was to try! Nonetheless, on an emotional level, Powell has delivered greater than I could have ever expected. 

Conclusion:

There are very few pieces within the score which I can criticise at all, and that's all thanks to Powell's exciting, fun way of telling a story in musical form. This is Powell's finest work, and some that you should certainly check out. 

Highlights:

1. This Is Berk

2. Dragon Battle

3. The Downed Dragon*

4. Dragon Training*

6. The Dragon Book

7. Focus Hiccup

8. Forbidden Love*

9. New Tail

10. See You Tomorrow*

11. Test Drive*

14. Astrid Goes For A Spin

15. Romantic Flight*

16. Dragon's Den

17. The Cove

18. The Kill Ring

19. Ready The Ships

20. Battling The Green Death*

21. Counter Attack*

22. Where's Hiccup?

23. Coming Back Around*

25. The Vikings Have Their Tea

Junkie Score: 100

Buy or Stream? Buy

Grooveshark Link-How To Train Your Dragon

Purchase links:

Amazon

Thanks for reading! Here's some links to various accounts:

Google+

IMDb Account

My Spotify Account

Rotten Tomatoes Account

And Now... Grooveshark!

The Legend of Hercules (2014) Film Review

Title: The Legend of Hercules
Director: Renny Harlin
Length: 99 minutes
Year of Release: 2014

The Legend of Hercules is a film directed by Renny Harlin, and stars Kellan Lutz, Scott Adkins and Gaia Weiss, and revolves around the character of Hercules, son of Zeus, who was born solely to end the life of the King of his people, and unite the lands in peace, or something like that. I didn't pay too much attention, to be honest!

This movie is horrible. It's clichéd to pieces, poorly directed, horribly acted and disastrously written. All the dialogue feels so god damned forced, and makes it incredibly difficult to latch onto any of the characters. Whenever they speak... It's like someone saw Spartacus or Game of Thrones and went "Well, now I certainly know how people of that era spoke!" and wrote a screenplay, full of fancy words and shallow speeches. You don't feel like a single word here is sincere; from Hercules speaking to his clichéd, forbidden love Hebe (Yeah, that's right; his forbidden love's name is Princess Hebe), and from the King to his son... It's all atrocious! The screenwriter also saw the speeches in Braveheart and LOTR: Return of The King and went "Well, we obviously need a battle speech!" and wrote a bunch of big speeches that were emotionless, and couldn't have been more forced. I'll move on, cause I could go on about the dialogue for days!

The acting... It's too much! The main actor, Kellan Lutz, came from Twilight... So you knew from the beginning you were in for a bad ride. He's completely emotionless, stale and you not for one second care for his character. His forbidden love, played by Gaia Weiss, is equally horrible! The only reason she was cast, obviously, is because she's pretty damned hot! Scott Adkins, though, leads the way in crappy performances! His entire performance revolves around him yelling every single word. He could be speaking to his wife in private, and still find the need to yell every word to her. It was dreadful to watch! The only decent performance was delivered by Liam McIntyre, who plays Hercules's friend and comrade. He could actually deliver the lines with a bit of power, emotion! Despite his decent performance though, the rest of the cast deserves Razzie's. I'm calling it people; every single actor and actress here will get nominated at the Golden Raspberries this year! That is not good!

The action is horrendous. Remember 300; that badass film about Spartan's kicking a bunch of Persian's asses? And remember how it used to go into awesome slow motion every once in a while during the fighting, when a sword was plunged deep into a body, or someone hit another over the head? Well, they do it here! And is it good? Hell no! They overuse it to pieces, and by the end of the film, you can't help but cringe every time it occurs. The action in general feels weak. There is never a moment in this film in which you worry for Hercules. You always know that he's going to beat his opponents, and that makes for fights that have you bored and uninterested! When the great hero Hercules lacks peril in his fight scenes, you have a problem.

The CGI here is again, horrible! All the green screen looks like it could have fit right into a 1980's action flick. For a film coming out in 2014, that's not a good sign! All the CGI aspects of this film look incredibly fake, and mixed in with the terrible live sets, it makes for a difficult experience. I'm so thankful I did not see this in 3D, I certainly wouldn't have been able to stand it all. And the extra admission price... completely criminal!

Overall, The Legend of Hercules is a pile of crap. Just please don't watch this! This film should be nominated for Razzie's, and make a minimal amount at the box office. It's one of the worst movies of all time, and certainly going to be on my top 10 worst of 2014. I need to watch 300 now, to feel good about this genre again.

Junkie Score: 1.1/10

Worth admission price? No

Thanks for reading! Some links to various accounts below:

Google+

IMDb Account

My Spotify Account

Rotten Tomatoes Account

Expansion Of This Blog

If you follow me on Google+, I should say it's quite evident that I'm a person who is very interested in film. Apart from scores and soundtracks, film is my first love, and I do enjoy reviewing film. That's why I see it appropriate to expand this blog, to not only soundtracks, but film news and reviews. Because, hey, I can! So... that's that! You should be witnessing changes in the very near future!

The Banner Saga Video Game Score Review

Title: The Banner Saga

Composer/s: Austin Wintory

Length: 1 hour, 11 minutes

Track Count: 29 tracks

Year of Release: 2014

Hello all! It's time for my first video game score review of 2014, and what a way to celebrate that fact! We have an Austin Wintory score in the house everyone! Austin Wintory is one of, if not my favourite composer of all time. He's delicate, witty and very simplistic. Monaco: What's Yours Is Mine has to be the perfect example of all this, as he uses a piano for 95% of the score, and still kept me involved, entertained the entire way through. Not easy, with just a piano! He returns here, with a score to another video game; this time one known as The Banner Saga. Let's jump into it!

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Wintory will surely be criticised for this album, for the large, constant attempt at making this sound as much like a Viking or Nordic score as possible. I personally find it a very good attempt. It employs a lot of culturally diverse instruments and vocals to reach these heights. Wintory indulges in percussion here, with a lot of emphasis on timpani, and other drums. Various bells and chimes are also slotted in, here and there, to give the score an Eastern vibe. Along with these are an extreme dose of vocals and heavy strings, both which give a certain edge to the music. The vocals are quite strong, as well. They never just sit in the background and add to the piece in small works. They literally control quite a few of the pieces, and change the tone up accordingly. I'm still wondering on whether or not I enjoy these vocal solos. They're incredibly loud,  low and ultimately, quite central to the score. But the problem lies within how often they are incorporated. Wintory indulges slightly too much in vocal heaven and maybe over does it a little, unfortunately. 

That said, the orchestral pieces here are very well done, as I've come to expect from Wintory! He certainly doesn't allow for a straightforward plot, and attempts to create multiple interesting yet simplistic themes. Ultimately, Wintory has always had a soft spot for simplistic themes. His scores are, as a whole, generally quite complex and intricate. Monaco had a lot going on within each piece, despite it's use of only a single piano. Yet like Monaco, the theme is catchy and minimalist, allowing you to hum it accordingly. For a game score, this is certainly vital, and Wintory knocks it on the head. The multiple themes heard within the score are all relatively easy to hum and get stuck in your head, and for that, I applaud Wintory. There is one theme that I believe was overworked, and that is found within the piece Cut With A Keen-Edged Sword. I found it a little repetitive and dull unfortunately. 

This score reminds me quite heavily of The Lord of The Rings scores, by Howard Shore, surprisingly. The piece, Little Did They Sleep is a great example of this. Maybe it's the use of flutes, to create that almost floating feeling, or the wonderful, heavy brass which starts the piece off, which is almost a grandeur signal for battle!  Whatever it may truly be, I don't know exactly. I guess it's all these puzzle pieces put together, that really allow for this distinct resemblance between the two scores. Ultimately, the Nordic sound opens itself up to interpretation and resemblance to a whole bunch of scores, and LOTR is one of those old fantasy scores which could certainly slot into this score, without a sudden shift in any tone or theme. Garnering a comparison to Lord of The Rings is no mean feat, but Wintory has certainly achieved something of the sorts here. 

I thought special mention was to go out to the longest and best piece on the score card, Of Our Bones, The Hills. It's basically a suite of awesome, Nordic themed music, that had me from the word go. I'm generally not a guy who enjoys longer music; 10 minute music in this case. But, in this case, I really did! It was incredibly well composed, fun, and had some very nice ostinatos which I found very engrossing! Wintory is one of the only people on the planet that can really make an ostinato work, along with James Horner, Hans Zimmer and a few various others. I even enjoyed a vocal solo towards the end, to my utter surprise! It's a very carefully done piece that I thoroughly enjoyed! 

Conclusion:
The Banner Saga is one of Wintory's better scores. It's incredibly well composed, establishes the tone and theme perfectly, and is an all round enjoyable listening experience. It does, unfortunately, repeat itself a little too often, and the vocals seem to be overindulged in. Despite these faults, there are some incredibly awesome pieces here which totally make up for these faults. Of Our Bones, The Hills and Onward are both going into my Favourites playlist, which is to say that they are both of extreme quality. This is one to certainly check out, whether you're a Wintory fan like myself or not.

Highlights:

2. How Did It Come To This?
5. Cut With A Keen-Edged Sword*
6. Huddled In The Shadows
9. No Life Goes Forever Unbroken
10. Little Did They Sleep*
12. Thunder Before Lightning
13. Embers In The Wind*
15. The Egg Cracks*
17. Walls No Man Has Seen
18. Strewn Across A Bridge
20. An Uncertain Path
21. Into Dust*
24. A Sunken City
26. Long Past That Last Sigh
27. Of Our Bones, The Hills*
28. We Are All Guests Upon The Land*
29. Onward*

Junkie Score: 85.75

Buy or Stream? Buy

Amazon MP3 Purchase
Austin Wintory Official MP3 Purchase

Thanks for reading! Some links to various accounts below:

Google+

IMDb Account

My Spotify Account

Rotten Tomatoes Account