Reviews by Elfflame

All reviews - Movies (29) - TV Shows (2) - Books (8) - Games (11)

Sci-fi that actually makes you think

Posted : 1 year, 4 months ago on 10 July 2008 03:11 (A review of The Matrix)

The Matrix is a movie that harkens back to a time when effects weren't that spectacular, so you either had to focus on the creepy critter that you had to keep in the shadows, or where you had few to no effects at all, and focused almost completely on stories. Except with the Matrix, you can have the effects and the story. It's just too bad that they decided to try to continue.

With this first film, they had everything they needed, both story and character-wise. In stretching out what they had, they entirely lost that plausibility that made the first movie work so well.

The Matrix is one of those stories where the interpretation is broad enough to allow for layers of meaning, and the twist of having the real world versus the Matrix allowed for even more. But losing the secret of that twist meant that they lost that power in the sequels that followed. The Matrix was still there, but it was now a known quantity that could be twisted and moulded as desired.

I think this movie was the pinnacle of what developed starting with Kubrik's 2001. Sci-fi that could actually give you pause for thought, effects or not. It wasn't just there for the cheap thrill, but to make you think.

I just wish Hollywood would allow more like it to be done.

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Religion a la Kevin Smith

Posted : 1 year, 4 months ago on 10 July 2008 03:01 (A review of Dogma)

I remember going to see this movie with almost no concept of what I was about to see, and as soon as the movie started, I knew I was going to love it. Not only because of the epigrams at the beginning, but the moment Carlin showed onscreen as Cardinal Glick.

I have to say, I love Kevin Smith, and have watched and enjoyed most of his films as I write this. But this is far and away his best film. And I do think that part of that is because he had to fight for it. Both in casting and in the arguments of blasphemy against it. He just made this work.

As the penultimate fanboy, he made sure to mix in his usual random pop-culture references (Sherman, Illinois, anyone?) along with the religious (and still sometimes pop-culture) references. While I dont agree with every statement made in this film, I will say that he presents it with such humor that even someone as athiest as I can enjoy the religion in this film.

I do hope that someday someone manages to get Good Omens past the prelimnary stages, and actually gets it filmed, as it would make the perfect double-feature with this film.

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One of the all-time best book translations

Posted : 1 year, 4 months ago on 10 July 2008 11:28 (A review of Contact)

I love this movie for so many reasons. But most of all, for even being made at all.

I read this book about five or so years before it was made into a film, and I remember the murmurings about a movie shortly after I finished the book. As soon as I saw that Jody Foster was attached, I prayed she would stay with it. Because she is one of those that (at least until lately) when I see their names attached, I know it will be a good movie.

She and Zemekis didn't disappoint. From the first previews, I knew they had it right. By using the signal in the previews for the movie, they set the perfect tone for the movie. Brilliant advertising campain with that ad, for a brilliant movie based on a brilliant book.

What they got right so far outweighs what they got wrong that I can't help but love this film. Yes, they had to cut things out. Any book over 100 pages ends up having to cut bits out, and the medium is so different that you need different emphasis in some spots to make the story go forward. But they kept the heart of the story, and they made it a truly enjoyable experience.

I think Carl would have loved it.

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7) review

Posted : 1 year, 5 months ago on 29 June 2008 12:11 (A review of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7))

After six books, I wish I could say that this book made the journey worth it. But I don't think it does. Granted, it's still better than Goblet, but only marginally.

When JK Rowling began this series, we all knew it had to end with a confrontation between Harry and Voldemort, but she promised us more, too. Even if she didn't realize it. Every writer makes a contract with their readers. In this case, the first book was supposed to be the setup for the entire series. And in particular, the Sorting Hat's songs, which we heard several times throughout the story, promised us a joining of the houses, and perhaps even a new way of seeing things, after about 1000 years of the school's existence.

Oh, sure, she harped on the negative traits of Slytherins throughout the series. But if being sneaky and sly make you evil, then why bother having the house at all? Why not just send everyone who gets sorted into the house straight to Azkaban, if that's all they're good for?

And yet, the hat continually talked about all four of the houses coming together and working together. Not three, but all.

So where was this great coming together? In a double-spy that had a thing for someone who never loved him, and a weak coward who never amounted to anything. My two favorite characters, who I could have written far better than this, were sold short because the author felt that all Slytherins are irredeemable.

And then, to top it all off, she gave us a saccharine-sweet epilogue twenty years later where everyone (read: the three main characters) was happily paired off and had kids named after their heroes. Never mind that it had obviously been written long before most of the series and only hastily rewritten to polish it, because it included almost no secondary or tertiary characters that had been introduced in the later books.

There are good points in this book, but the overall flow and the fact that Rowling falls so short of her goal makes it almost unbearable to read at points. Far more unbearable than the year or so wait between this book and the previous one. If you're not a fan? You can probably skip to the confrontation at the end, and just save yourself a ton of aggravation.

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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6) review

Posted : 1 year, 5 months ago on 29 June 2008 02:00 (A review of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6))

This book is my second-favorite of the series. So much more of the past comes out in this book, and when that is combined with the fact that my two most-favorite characters are spotlighted in this book, how can I not love it, even with its flaws?

There are a lot of "why did she do that" moments here, but overall, there is a lot of richness to this story. I wish she'd spread some of this out into the other books a little more. It might have made it easier to swallow at this level.

But for me, this book boils down to two things:
The title character, who I will not specifically name, but who sorely deserved this spotlight long before this book. He is the richest, most detailed character in this story. Unflinchingly so. And I can only wish that JK Rowling could have loved him as much as many of her fans do.
And then there is Draco. I didn't start out as a Draco fan. In fact, I still cheer every time I read the scene in Prisoner when Hermione punches him for making fun of Hagrid. But I also always thought that outside of Harry's little circle (which always included Neville for me, even as an outside part of their circle), Draco was the most interesting kid. That without Draco, this story could not and would not finish well. And this story shows that despite all we'd seen before this book, there is more to him than the spoiled brat that Jo wanted us to see. Even more, it showed that he deserved redemption.

And if they rob him of that in the movie, I will be furious.

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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Book 5) review

Posted : 1 year, 5 months ago on 29 June 2008 01:39 (A review of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Book 5))

I warn you right up front here--this book will break your heart.

When the fans were waiting for this book to be published, JK Rowling told us to expect a death in this story. The fans went wild trying to imagine who it would be. And I will tell you right now, that the death still has ripples in fandom, even five years later.

And even beyond that? This story is not so much dark as horrifically painful. If I had not been waiting so long for this book, I cannot help but wonder if I'd have made it through the story at all. Between the wizarding government and the Death Eaters, it's a wonder Harry manages to stay sane in this one. Especially after the Death.

There are good moments to this story, and some fun additions to the cast of characters--Luna, Tonks and Kingsley in particular. But if you go into this book expecting something like Prisoner of Azkaban or even Sorcerer's Stone, you will be sorely disappointed.

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Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Book 4) review

Posted : 1 year, 5 months ago on 29 June 2008 01:30 (A review of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Book 4))

As you can see from my rating, and in particular, if you have read my reviews of the other books of this series, this is not my favorite book. I think there are a number of reasons for this, but most importantly, this is the book where innocence is lost.

Before this book, even when things get dark, and Harry thinks he could die, he always holds out hope that things will be okay. That everything will work out in the end. After this book, we know that anything can happen, and that no one is safe.

Harry begins to truly move along the path that has been set for him in this book, and by the end, he is a different boy than the one we knew at the start. The world around him holds far darker things than we'd been aware of before, and the war truly begins.

This book was also the first to come out as the furor took over. And there was a huge gap between this book and the next, which I believe caused Rowling to lose the flow a bit. It's not as noticeable in Order of the Phoenix, but is quite pronounced in both Half Blood Prince and in Deathly Hallows in a way that cannot fully be explained by the darkening of Harry's world.

I think this, as the turning point of the series, is an important story, but I also think it's really mostly for the true fans. I don't think it would hold a great deal of interest for those who have not somehow been captivated by one or more of the previous books.

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Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Book 3) review

Posted : 1 year, 5 months ago on 29 June 2008 01:16 (A review of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Book 3))

This book is, hands down, my favorite of the series. For a short time, I thought Half Blood Prince might have taken that spot, but the flaws in that story are just too many for me to ignore. And this story introduces two of my all-time favorite characters, not to mention dealing with several new and important bits to the mythos of the Harry Potter Series, two in particular - The Marauders, and the Marauder's Map.

For me, this was when I really fell in love with this series. (I read the first three books in the space of about three days the first time.) Remus was so unlike Harry's first two DADA teachers, and there was something about him from the very start. When the mystery around him started to unfold, I worried that he, like the two before him, would turn out to be bad news for Harry. But his secret...secrets... Let me just say that Remus is my third favorite character in this series, and because of that, this book holds a special place in my heart that is usually reserved for things from my childhood--cherished and treasured, and it will always make me smile.

And the endgame...again, I won't say much here, because it's too easy to give away too much, but this is my favorite endgame, even with the flaws inherent in some of the choices she made.

This was when I knew this was a great series, because now we had not only one generation--Harry's, but also his father's and Voldemort's generations, and ultimately, Dumbledore's generation as well. Each of which provided their own level of meaning throughout the series.

In my eyes, this will always be the best of the series. This was before the fall, and before Harry fully lost his innocence. A fantastic story.

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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Book 2) review

Posted : 1 year, 5 months ago on 29 June 2008 01:03 (A review of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Book 2))

When I first read this book, I wasn't quite as fond of it as I had been of the first. The new teacher was painful, and the darkness seemed too dark. Still, the magic was still there, and over the years, it has grown on me. Not the least because of a certain blond in the movie version.

For me, this second story boils down to two points - the Malfoy family, and Tom Riddle.

I'm a great fan of the Malfoy family, and the details we get about how the family works in this story are quite lovely. Not only the father/son relationship between Lucius and Draco, but also their place in the world, and far more details about their beliefs.

And then there is Tom Riddle. I won't go into too much detail here to avoid spoiling others, but I'm very fond of Rowling's flashbacks in this series, and this book is the beginning of those. The history of Tom, and of the Chamber, lend so much to the later books that there is no way to unwind it all until you have read the very last of the books.

One of my major quibbles with Rowling's work is that she seems inclined to write off her dark characters as irredeemable, no matter what their crime. Whether they be Slytherin or from a dark family. This is the beginning of that. There were moments in this book where she might have planted the seeds of any of these characters' salvations, but she did not.

Still, even with that flaw, this early part of the story is fascinating. I quite recommend it.

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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Book 1) review

Posted : 1 year, 5 months ago on 29 June 2008 12:51 (A review of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Book 1))

I have been a Harry Potter fan since about five months after the film of this book came out, and when it first came out in the theatres, the only reasons I watched it were Alan Rickman and Richard Harris. I thought it was a good film, and I would likely have watched the second. But then I borrowed the books, and never looked back.

For me, this story, while not my favorite of the series, really is the beginning of it all. Its truly magical, and I don't think even JK Rowling truly knew what she had until the fervor started surrounding the books.

Starting with Harry's complete ignorance of the wizarding world and going straight through to his battle with Voldemort, the story never falters. These might be kids books, but she doesn't flinch in the least in giving us a real story that has depth and character that can't be denied.

The story itself is like no children's series before it. Most children's series before this focused on one rather small age group of readers, and once the child grew out of that group, they were no longer expected to be interested in the series any longer. And because of that, the stories throughout the series all had generally the same tone and reading level. Once you read one, you pretty much knew what to expect from the rest, even with the changes each subsequent story might make.

Not so with Harry Potter. In this series, Jo actually hoped that her readers would grow up with these books--literally. And each subsequent book not only got darker, but added more detail and richness to Harry's world as he grew older and more aware of what was going on around him. It's one of the things that makes these stories appeal not only to kids, but to adults as well. Even adults who have no children of their own, and haven't been children since long before these books began to be published.

Will likely always be one of my favorite series, flaws and all. A great beginning to a fabulous series.

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