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An error has ocurred. Please try again- Silent films remade as talkies;
- Golden Age movies remade after the 1960s;
- Frequently adapted literary classics such as The Sea Wolf.
Reviews
Dragonball Evolution (2009)
Not really Dragon Ball, but not that terrible either
Let's just get it out of the way: this movie isn't really Dragon Ball. If you come into it with preconceptions of what Dragon Ball is and should be, you're obviously bound to be disappointed since Goku and co. Are nothing like their manga/anime progenitors. At several points, just as I was beginning to enjoy it as a camp fest, I'd cringe a bit when hearing names such as Goku and Bulma which reminded me of DB and how disrespectful this movie is of it. But I managed to get over it after the first 30 minutes or so and actually had fun. If it didn't have to live up to its name, the movie definitely wouldn't be highly regarded, but I don't think it would be bottom 14 on IMDb either.
I'd say it's alright as a standalone turn-off-your-brain B-movie. Nothing special or memorable, just middle of the road in most respects and below that in some. A lot of reviewers put the effects down, but I'd say that considering the low budget, they're surprisingly good overall. Of course, they ain't Marvel level, but most of them are pretty convincing by 2009 standards and some even rise above B-movie status... Except for the ones in the final 15 minutes or so. The Oozaru and Shenlong are utterly laughable! I guess the budget was running out when they got to that part.
The acting is decent overall and has some highlights such as Chow Yun-Fat as Roshi and Joon Park as Yamcha, both of whom are clearly enjoying camping it up. Speaking of camp, that's what this movie should be taken as. The bizarre hodgepodge of cliches from superhero movies, teen dramas/comedies, sci-fi, martial arts and mysticism can be nothing else.
If you manage to disassociate it from the Dragon Ball franchise and simply view it as a campy B-movie, you might just enjoy yourself!
A Lady to Love (1930)
Enjoyable early talkie version of Sidney Howard's play
Sidney Howard's 1924 play "They Knew What They Wanted" had already been brought to the silver screen in 1928 as the silent "The Secret Hour" (Paramount) which I have not seen and probably never will since I am averse to silent movies. Just two years later, it was given the talkie treatment by MGM as "A Lady to Love", originally entitled "Sunkissed".
As one would expect, everyone is very histrionic, especially Edward G. Robinson, but effectively so when one is accustomed to watching early talkies and knows what to expect. The three stars have good chemistry, no matter if they're all together or just in couples. The prolonged early scene between Vilma Banky and Leon Ames is quite amusing and well paced. Ames seems the most natural, but maybe that's because he's the only one without an accent. The character portrayed by the Austro-Hungarian Banky is Swedish, but was originally American and the writing reveals this with the numerous ain't-s and other colloquialisms which sound natural from Ames' mouth, but very artificial from hers. Just changing the character's nationality to suit the actress without revising her lines seems like a lazy fix and was somewhat irritating to me, but not enough to detract from my overall enjoyment of the film.
What can one say about Robinson as the Italian grapeg rower? This is probably his hammiest film performance, yet he is always watchable and entertaining. Seeing him fall down the stairs in a drunken frenzy or giggle like a squeamish schoolgirl when Banky is rubbing him down are particular highlights. I couldn't help but laugh at the prominently placed portrait of Mussolini on his wall considering that World War II was just nine years away at the time.
Merritt B. Gerstad's cinematography is very fluid (for an early talkie), beautiful and atmospheric, as it usually was in films lensed by him - see the talkie version "Seventh Heaven" from 1937. Apart from the creaky title music, the score is confined to source cues as was customary at the time. Max Steiner would soon set a new trend with his extensive (for its time, of course) score for "Symphony of Six Million" in 1932.
A German language version for foreign distribution was filmed in parallel on the same sets. This was not unusual in the pre-dubbing era of the early 30's - Dracula was filmed in both English and Spanish in 1931. Nevertheless, "Die Sehnsucht jeder Frau" (Every Woman's Passion), as it was retitled in German, was unusual in that it retained the English version's director Victor Seastrom (a Swede) as well as two of its stars - Banky (Austro-Hungarian) and Robinson (Romanian), while the American Ames was replaced by Joseph Schildkraut. I would personally love to see this version out of curiosity - who would have guessed Edward G. knew German? - but it seems to be lost.
The play was eventually filmed in English for the third time in 1940 under its original title, released by RKO and starring Charles Laughton and Carole Lombard. I have yet to see this version since I am also somewhat averse to both stars, but I may give it a chance one day since I moderately enjoyed their previous collaboration - Paramount's "White Woman" from 1933. None of those four film versions of the play has been officially released on DVD, let alone Blu Ray, but I hope this 1930 version gets released by the Warner Archive Collection since I would gladly make it part of my own.
Redemption (1930)
Better than its reputation suggests
This movie is by no means a masterpiece, but I would certainly not heap so much derision on it as it has accumulated over the years. Even though "Redemption" suffers from all the common pitfalls of early talkies such as histrionic acting, silent film style intertitles and restrained camera movement, it has a lot in it to be enjoyed and appreciated by any connoisseur of early talkies.
The cinematography is very atmospheric and at times beautiful. As a matter of fact, the camera is not all that stiff - at one point it follows a boat with Jack and his leading lady floating downstream in a particularly beautiful shot. The production values are typically impressive for a MGM picture. The sets and costumes help immerse you into the atmosphere even though I suspect there are a lot of inaccuracies. I can definitely tell that the lyrics of the song in the beginning are incorrect.
The acting is no worse than was typical for 1930. No one really stands out except for the star. As a whole Gilbert acquits himself quite well in my opinion. Considering his silent film background, he manages to restrain his gesticulations quite well and his voice is not as unbecoming as people have been claiming for the past 87 years or so. His enunciation is the only thing that bothers me - at times it seems almost as if he were performing in an operetta, but to be fair, no one in 1930 films sounded consistently natural. It is just that great expectations were heaped upon the actor and that is one of the reasons for his imminent downfall.
While perusing IMDb and TCMDb, I noticed that "Redemption" is not only obscure but also widely dismissed by its contemporary critics/viewers and modern ones alike. Back in the day they shunned it partly because Gilbert's voice did not seem to meet expectations, while today it is dismissed partly because the film seems too creaky with its overenunciation (although that is an unjust criticism for any film released in the early part of 1930) and silent movie-esque intertitles. However, the main criticism that all of the film's detractors have is that it is too bleak, that there is no one to root for, that the ending is too downbeat, etc. And those are among the main reasons I actually like it. The movie sucks you into an atmosphere of growing despair and depravity that culminates in tragedy. There has always been an overwhelming amount of film-goers with a strong distaste for tragedies, preferring there to be a happy ending, no matter how contrived. That is why so many movies from the Golden Age have contrived happy endings. Well, that and the Hays Code combined, but that does not matter since this film is pre-Code. I for one was refreshed (oxymoronic as that may sound) by the unapologetic and unremitting bleakness of the movie.
I think it is well worth watching for any early talkie film buff and/or Gilbert fan who does not mind being immersed in a world of despair and degeneration.
The Simpsons Movie (2007)
A big disgrace for The Simpsons!
Just like the last 3 or 4 seasons of the TV series, this movie is simply a disgrace for the name of the once so great show. The humor is very dry, or perhaps to be more exact - childish and simple. I bet small children, smaller than 12 years, really like this, but the integrity of the show is lost. Not that this feature had any to begin with. The good thing about The Simpsons in their earlier years was that the humor could appeal to both children and adults. I'm sure this movie got such a high rating because mostly people with an extremely simple taste voted for this title, teenagers too, of course - most of them still on a very immature level. In conclusion the only thing I have left to say to people over 20 (which aren't imbeciles) - if you still have a good opinion for The Simpsons, don't watch this movie!
Dragon Ball Z: Chikyû Marugoto Chôkessen (1990)
My favorite Dragon Ball Z movie
Most DBZ fans think that the earlier DBZ movies suck because the heroes aren't as strong as they are in the more recent sagas of the series, but I totally disagree. I'm pretty sure that this is one of the best DBZ movies ever made.
The FUNimation version (the old uncensored one) is surprisingly well handled. Well, most of the voices are very annoying, but I'm glad that they kept the original music score and were allowed to put the word "hell" in the script. The script is fairly well written and they didn't add as much annoying sound effects as they did in the dubbed versions of the previous movies.
I don't have many complaints about the dub, although some of those Canadian voice actors have unbelievably annoying voices! Anyway, on to the plot - magnificent! Simply the one of the best non-manga adaptation DBZ plots ever. There are plot holes and differences in some of the concepts in this movie and those of the series, but that's just so that the story could be more entertaining. Really good story!
I sincerely recommend this movie, as well as the previous two, their dubbed versions especially. Of course, many of the voices in them are very annoying and there are some really annoying sound effects too, but it's still more enjoyable to listen to them than to read subtitles throughout the entire movie.
Dragon Ball Z: Super Saiya-jin da Son Gokû (1991)
Pretty nice, but the dubbed version sucks!
I watched the dubbed version of this movie first, so I'll begin with it. First of all I would like to state that the music in the American version was simply atrocious and even a bit insulting for DBZ. The dub voices are slightly better than the ones from Ocean Group but still aren't very good. At least none of them are as annoying as most of the Ocean voices were.
The thing I most liked about the original version was the music. Superb, as always. The Japanese voices are really cool (also as always), although Goku's voice is quite annoying and too feminine. I think they should have replaced Masako Nozawa with a male actor for DBZ.
Anyway, on to the plot - certainly not as nice as the ones of the previous movies, but still better than the plots of most animes and since it's DBZ it's pretty good. But they used an almost totally different definition for the term "Super Namekian" than they did in the series.
I recommend the previous three movies more than this one - not only because they have better plots, also because the dubbed versions have the original music score in them, because of which I'm willing to put up with the annoying voices.