Film Review #24: Star Trek Into Darkness

     Star Trek Into Darkness is the sequel to 2009's excellent Star Trek "reboot". I was highly anticipating this sequel and I was not disappointed. It was visually stunning, thrilling and Benedict Cumberbatch killed it as the villain in the movie. It also payed homage to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, perhaps more than it should have though. A few key scenes in the movie are lifted from Wrath of Khan but with roles reversed but I can't say more than that without spoiling.

     It was definitely worth the wait but with J.J. Abrams now working on Star Wars Episode VII I wonder who will take over the reigns as director for the third film. In any case I hope it's good.

Film Review #23: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

     Smaug was a BEAST. Seriously, that's the first thing that I thought of coming out of the movie theater. But let's not get ahead of ourselves: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is the second movie in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit trilogy. Ugh, TRILOGY. Can we talk about that for a moment? It's relevant to the movie anyway. 

    

     You see, when they announced that they were making a movie adaptation of the Hobbit I was really happy. I love the Lord of the Rings movies and book (I refer to it as ONE book, not three) so I couldn't wait to see what Peter Jackson would do. Then it became two movies which I thought was fair enough, they were adding extra content from the Appendices. But then they turned it into a trilogy, and so many of the problems with the first Hobbit movie are in The Desolation of Smaug as well: it's been stretched way too much. There's just so much stuff happening in the movie that doesn't advance the main plot which could have been significantly shortened. There were also some weird story segments which I won't go into for spoiler reasons but one scene seems to cause canonical issues with the LOTR Trilogy. Maybe it'll be fixed in the next movie, we'll see. The movie also ends on an exciting but frustrating cliffhanger but at least it'll give us the opening scene of the next movie to look forward to.

     On the technical side the movie looks great. I could sort of see the green screen in a couple of scenes and the CGI Goblins really sadden me (it's more expensive than the makeup they used in LOTR but looks worse, what's up with that?) but the rest of the movie looked great and Smaug was amazing. He is massive, incredibly detailed and looks just plain phenomenal. Benedict Cumberbatch's voice fits Smaug very well. They showed a few bits of the dragon in the trailers but trust me you have not *actually* seen him. 

    All in all, The Desolation of Smaug was a great movie but I'm still a bit disappointed with how much they're stretching the whole plot. I hope they can wrap things up neatly in There and Back Again.

Film Review #22: From Up on Poppy Hill

     From Up on Poppy Hill is a Studio Ghibli film directed by Goro Miyazaki and the screenplay was written by the legendary Hayao Miyazaki, his father.

     I hadn't heard of this film so I was really excited to watch it. The art style and animation are incredible, as expected of a Ghibli film but unlike Hayao's films which have elements of old Japanese legends and supernatural this one is an entirely realistic movie.
     The setting is post World War 2 and the story follows a young girl meeting a boy writing for the high school paper. We get to see their relationship blossom as events happen around them and one major twist that really changes the way we see their relationship.

     Other than that, the movie isn't really about anything. It's similar to Lost in Translation in that fashion: it draws you in and keeps you glued to the screen even though nothing really major happens. I really enjoyed the movie and I'm really looking forward to The Wind Rises, releasing later this month.

Documentary Brainstorm Part 2

"Life in Space" Documentary:

Why should this story be told: The future of humankind might depend on moving to outer space in the future and I think more people knowing about the possibilities and risks is a good thing.

I want people to know more and care more about the possibility of life in space when they're finished watching the documentary.

Question 1) Where can we live in space?
Question 2) Has there been a place where humankind could live?
Question 3) Why should we research life in space?
Question 4) What are the risks of life in space?
Question 5) When should we consider pursuing this?

"Why Gaming is Popular" Documentary:

Lots of misconceptions about gaming (leads towards aggressive behavior, addiction, etc...) that I want to clear up by showing hard facts that tell us that not only does it not necessarily lead to aggressive behavior, it can actually be beneficial to the people playing the games.

What I want people to take away from this documentary is new knowledge about this form of entertainment and to clear misconceptions.

Question 1) Why do you play video games?
Question 2) Does it inspire you in your art?
Question 3) How/Why not?
4) Show how video games can have a positive influence on players
5) Why do people make games?

Lieber Productions

I've been making short movies ever since I was really young. A friend and I would think of a cool premise for a story, we'd pick up the camera and off we'd go. When I got my own laptop I tinkered with stop motion animation. Now I feel like I have a great visual mind: when I think of a story I think of how it will play out as a film with specific details on clothing, dialogue and camera shots.
Ultimately my goals are to gain skills that will allow me to become a great storyteller and filmmaker and be able to work in the film or gaming industry.

Documentary Idea Brainstorm

• The creative process behind our films or artwork in the style of "The Making of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion".
• What we do in Digital Media
• Potential of life in Space
• OSA Artist profiling
• Dreams 
• Why people like gaming

Lieber Productions' Almost Final Logos

     I have logos done already, wanted to get an opinion on them before uploading them to the Drive. Couldn't really choose between the two. 

     (Lower the title, write bio, skills and goals)

As a little extra, I made a movie poster based on the second logo. I think it looks pretty cool.

Film Review #21: Sherlock Series 3

#SherlockLives

Two years after the end of Series 2 we were left with an important question we just couldn't wait to get an answer for: how did Sherlock Holmes survive his seemingly deadly fall? And what happens next? We finally get an answer to these questions in Series (Season) 3 of BBC's Sherlock, and boy is this new Series good.

Something I noticed when watching the first episode was the difference in style: the show wasn't the same as it was in the first Series. Instead of focusing on the mysteries that need to be solved, Series 3 focuses on Sherlock's relationship and growth as a character which thought was an excellent choice and was made possible thanks to Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman's brilliant performances as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson respectively.

The three episodes' production quality were outstanding and the episodes never bored you during their hour and a half run time. The final episode really made me excited as to where the show will go next and hopefully  this time it won't be too long until we get to see Sherlock again.

Logo Redesign Versions 2