Escape to the Movies: "A Look Ahead"

Yes, a fall/winter preview show. They didn’t screen “Colombiana,” okay?
Intermission: “Bombs Away!”

12 thoughts on “Escape to the Movies: "A Look Ahead"”

  3. Daniel R says:
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    @Tim

    I was unable to watch Sucker Punch in theaters but having finally found a dvd copy….

    Sucker Punch didn't disappoint me at all. By my account it is the embodiment of “Love it or Leave it,” I watched it in my house with a bunch of friends none of which came out of it saying something along the lines of “it was okay.” They either despised it and were subsequently angry at me for making them watch it, or loved it and asking me if they could borrow my copy. I myself really digged the film. I can see the flaws that would cause someone to hate it yes, Snyder is a much better director than he is a writer, still decent but not quite on par with his directing skills IMHO. But I just can't bring myself to hate the film for it. I was gritting my teeth in discomfort during the action scene involving the robots on the train, I hated that scene but I love the movie around it. It's visually stunning, imaginative, photographed beautifully even when their in the 'real' world, and most importantly it genuinely feels as though everyone making this really enjoyed themselves while doing it.

    This is the same reason I really liked Super 8, There is a palpable feeling of care, fun, and appreciation while watching the film. This was Zach Snyder's dream project, a project he would have never have gotten made without Warner Bros wanting to stay on his good side so he'l do a good job with Superman and you can just feel the fact that he enjoyed himself for every second of it.
    I know many people hate it and I can't criticize them for it. But I loved it.

    Leaving aside my personal taste. The fact that it flopped is a bad thing not because I enjoyed the film but because, like Bob said; Hollywood takes this as a message that female actresses aren't bankable action leads and that's bad no matter how you look at it.

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  4. Lee Kalba says:
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    All the visuals in Sucker Punch can easily be found in the portfolio of illustrators on any decent art forum (like conceptart.org). They use that kind of mash up style to show off the ability to render a variety of things, without needing 5 or 6 images.
    It was derivative and juvenile and the only thing it was pretending to be was NOT a male fantasy exploitation piece. It pretended to be about girl power, yet the guiding figure was an old man surrounded by school girls. It was also extremely predictable. Sorry, no, style over content does not cut it, and that's all it was. It was like he pegged a few drawings, online, matched them with some songs, and tried to build a movie around that. Even the action scenes were boring a predictable, built around a few pretty images and overloaded with weeaboo.
    Also: terrible covers of otherwise good songs. Especially the cover of the Pixies' song, it made me want to murder my speakers.
    Anyway, what was I saying?

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  5. The Projector says:
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    I'm sorry, Bob, but I'm going to have to side with Tim on this one. Sucker Punch is a disaster, a visually stunning DISASTER.

    Also, Bob, I'd like to hear your thoughts on the first film on my “most anticipated films of the year” list…. Contagion.

    Also, your bit on David Fincher was funny as hell. 😛

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  8. Dav3 says:
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    Put me down as Pro-Sucker Punch.

    After the trailer blew my mind, I imposed a media blackout until I saw it. I am SOOOOO glad I did, otherwise I'd have missed one of the best pure fantasy movies ever made. I'll admit Daniel is right though, it's either love it or hate it, but what fantasy movie isn't?

    As for not being that original, A: how many other MOVIES have you seen with steam powered zombie nazis and 30ft mingun-weilding samurai? B: How many movies have you seen with a gray/blue tint and epileptic camera movements?

    Nobody working today has a better understanding of visual storytelling than Zack Snyder.

    I really enjoyed Sucker Punch for what it was – Daydreams brought to life. Pure and simple.

    And come on, a dragon chasing a B-25! Tell me what you've seen at the movies in the last 10 years that was more awesome than that!

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  11. Joe says:
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    My friend and I both loved the Swedish version of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and he really liked the books too (which I haven't gotten around to yet). And we're both psyched for the US version because of David Fincher.

    Sucker Punch was visually cool (yes, giant steel samurai with Gatling gun, dragon vs. B-25 and steampunk zombies were all amazing) and had one of the best soundtracks of any movie.

    The writing was just crap though. The fact that Zack Snyder considered it a female empowerment movie only shows how deluded he is. It had as much to do with female empowerment as your average early 90s Image comic (What if Avengelyne, Witchblade, Fathom, Voodoo and Zealot were hookers trying to escape their brutal pimp? was basically what I got out of it).

    I'm all for more action films with female leads, but they tend to be saddled with horrible scripts and/or direction. Even Salt, despite its great acting and photography, had a really dumb plot. Snyder didn't do any favours with this dressed-up 70s exploitation flick.

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