Movie Review: Pete's Dragon

 

Review Written By Michael J. Ruhland










Michael's Movie Grade:A+

Review: Incredible film, represents fantasy film making at it's best, and just why Disney films are so great.

Everything about this film is great. The characters are very likable, the film looks amazing, it has a fantastic story, and a great soundtrack. The film has a fantastic sense of pacing. It doesn't rush anything, but at the same time it never feels slow either. This way we are sucked into the characters and settings in the way a faster movie couldn't allow us too, but at the same time there is nothing even remotely boring about this film. This also works so well because the story and characters are well worth getting sucked into. With this buildup, the climax becomes extremely exciting. The music in this film is not only great, but fits the movie to a tee. The music is very folk like, so it is also the perfect soundtrack for someone with my taste in music. Really anything I can say is wrong with this film would be a meaningless nitpick.

This is probably the best film of the summer and a must watch. Also it is just an incredible movie.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Movie Review: Suicide Squad

 

Review Written By Michael J. Ruhland

















Michael's Movie Grade: F

Review: Simply a horrible horrible movie. Deserves a place along side the worst comic book movies ever made.

Everything that could go wrong with this film did. I believe none of the characters, and many of them are so underdeveloped that it is impossible to say what their personalities are (Especially Killer Croc and Captain Boomerang). On top of that we are supposed to feel sympathy for many evil characters. I am sorry I find it hard to sympathize with someone who kills people for no reason but to get money, or because they think it is fun. Despite this I am supposed to feel really bad from them at scenes. They way the go about doing this is extremely predictable and simply doesn't work. All these characters have been done much better elsewhere. On top of this the film is never fun, the humor doesn't work, and the story is a mess. To make matters much worse, this film includes the worst version of the Joker imaginable. Watching Jared Leto play the Joker is like watching someone do a terrible impression of Heath Ledger. Every scene with this character in it is painful to watch.

With films like this and Batman Vs. Superman I am really worried about what will happen to DC movies, because these films are some of the worst movies of recent years. let's just hope they can turn themselves around and make better movies, I hope they do, but I'm not sure they will.

This movie however is a terrible movie.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Movie Review: Nerve

 

Review Written By Michael J. Ruhland



















Michael's Movie Grade:D-

Review: This movie has a good premise that could make a great movie, but doesn't deliver. It's neither a good social commentary or a fun thriller. Instead we mostly watch characters do stupid things. This is neither fun to watch nor is it though provoking it is just annoying. Rather we just feel embarrassed for the characters. There are emotional moments, but all of them have been done before much better elsewhere. The main character is likable enough, but everyone else in this film is simply a stereotype of movie characters, with no depth or anything to make you care. This movie tries to have a good message at the end but there was to little depth to the movie for that message to have any power behind it. The way this message is told is just very poor. Rather it's attempts at social commentary feel very out of place.

On the bright side the film is pretty to look at and the main character is likable, but this simply can't make up how much of a mess the rest of the film was.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Silent Film of the Month: Finances of the Grand Duke (1924)

 

Run Time: 80 minutes. Studio: UFA. Director: F.W. Murnau. Writer: Thea Van Harbou. Adapted from a novel by Frank Heller. Producer: Erich Pommer. Main Cast: Mady Christians, Harry Liedtke, Robert Scholtz, Alfred Abel.

F.W. Murnau has become probably the most popular German film maker of the silent era, and with good reason. His films such as Nosfertu, Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, Faust and The Last Laugh have been praised as some of the greatest masterpieces of the German cinema. Fans of these great films though might be surprised to see The Finances of the Grand Duke. The reason for this is that it is a film that is very different from what Murnau is usually associated with. Unlike the horrifying Nosfertu or the unmatched beauty of Sunrise, this film is a rather unassuming little lighthearted comedy, and it successes very well at being just that. This is in fact F.W. Marnau's only comedy.

Besides F.W. Murnau, another name that might be familier to fans of classic German cinema is this films writer Thea Van Harbou. Thea Van Harbou was the wife of the great German director Fritz Lang, and wrote many of Lang's German films, including his two most popular Metropolis and M. Finances of the Grand Duke is one of the only two films Harbou wrote for Murnau, the other was the 1922 film Phantom. The two cinematographers on this film also have a very impressive body of work. Karl Freund would later be the cinematographer for Fritz Lang's Metropolis, Tod Browning's Dracula, John Huston's Key Largo and every episode of I Love Lucy. He also worked with Murnau on The Last Laugh and Tartuffe. The other cinematographer for this film was Franz Planner. Franz Planner would later work on such films as The Cain Mutiny, Breakfast at Tiffany's and Disney's version of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.  

The story begins with the grand duke (played by Harry Liedtke), a benevolent dictator (?) being in great debt. Because of this he plans to marry Princess Olga (played by Mady Christians), who offers to marry him through a letter, despite having never meet him. A letter about this engagement has been stolen. On top of this many greedy men opposed to the Grand Duke conspire against him. Both the grand duke and Princess Olga have to save the country Abacco from greedy men who want to exploit the country for their own gain.

Overall while Finances of the Grand Duke isn't the masterpiece Nosfertu or Sunrise are, it is a very entertaining movie. It has very likable characters, the humor while not constantly hilarious can quite funny at times, the story is fun, and the film looks great visually. Interestingly this film was made the same year as The Last Laugh. The Last Laugh would be a film completely without intertitles. However in Finances of the Grand Duke too many intertitles is the film's biggest fault. This film seems very much in the style of a classic movie serial and is just as fun. In a visual sense this film is very much a Murnau film. The cinematography and sets are as beautiful as you would expect from a Murnau film It is sad this film is so overlooked because it remains a very enjoyable movie, and should get more attention from silent film fans.

This film has gained a following in recent years for a few reasons one that it is so different from a regular F.W. Murnau film, making it very fascinating peek into a different side of one of Germany's greatest filmmakers. It also shows Max Shreck out of his Count Orlok makeup from Nosfertu. This is also the reason that it is a darn good film.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Recourses Used
Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide by Leonard Maltin
connormartinsmith.blogspot.com/2010/01/finances-of-grand-duke.html
seul-le-cinema.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-finances-of-grand-duke.html
imdb.com/title/tt0014900/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
DVD Audio Commentary by David Kalat

Movie Review: Jason Bourne

 

Review Written By Michael J. Ruhland










Michael's Movie Grade:C+

Review: Fun action movie.

What really makes this movie is the characters and action. The characters are very relatable and understandable and this is what makes the action scenes so exciting.  It doesn't hurt that most of these characters are played very well by the actors. The action scenes are also very well done, though there is a lot of action in this film, it rarely becomes too overwhelming. Also the action scenes and the characters lead for a good amount of excitement that manages to hold for most of the film.

On the downside the camera feels like it can't stay still. It is constantly moving and sometimes you just wish it would stop for at least a few seconds. Rather than enhancing the action this becomes simply very distracting. This is a huge fault. Also this film covers nothing that hasn't been done in various action movies before. It does it well, but still if you want something new this may disappoint.

Overall a fun movie that is definitely worth a watch even if it has big faults.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Movie Review: Ice Age Collision Course

Review Written By Michael J. Ruhland













Michael's Movie Grade:D

Review: Bland forgettable movie has little of the charm that made the first one so great.

When I think of Ice Age, I think of a film that had a great sense of humor along with some great emotional moments. This film is lacking in both departments. Few of the jokes are ever funny, and the emotional scenes just seem phoned in. In fact this whole film seems like it is just going through the motions. Everything here feels like the film is just doing what the filmmakers believe people expect. It doesn't feel like the writers of the film put any effort into this movie. The basic story idea for this film, while far from original could have worked quite well if the same love and effort was put into this movie that was so obviously put into the first one. But instead there is little love put into anything and it leaves little to no reaction.

With what this movie could have been, and what the talent behind it was capable of bringing us, this film can only be called a major disappointment. Oh well the first film (and the second to a lesser extant) is still a great movie.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Overlooked Classics: The Adventures of the Roadrunner (1962)

 

No matter how many great cartoon series are made Looney Tunes will always be the greatest (or at least my favorite). These series not only contains many of the greatest cartoons ever made, but also some of the greatest films ever made. I am obviously not the only one to feel this way. These cartoons have found away into many of our subconscious minds. We can quote these cartoons without even thinking about it. The characters have become old friends and have been burned strongly into our minds for our whole lives. 

In the late 1950's and early 1960's Looney Tunes were becoming not just big hits in movie theaters, but also had a huge television following thanks to The Bugs Bunny Show. It was because of this that Chuck Jones decided to make a TV series based off of his Coyote and Roadrunner characters. The result was this pilot episode. This episode was directed by Chuck Jones as well as by his current layout artist, Maurice Noble and one of his animators, Tom Ray. It would be animated by Chuck's usual team of animators (at this time) including Ken Harris, Dick Thompson, Ben Washam, Tom Ray and Bob Bransford. However for whatever reason, this pilot was not picked up by any TV networks. Because of this it would be released in theaters as a single near half an hour short film.

The film begins with a theme song written by Looney Tunes composer Milt Franklin. After that it starts as your normal Roadrunner cartoon as the Coyote tries many ways to catch the Roadrunner and of course constantly fails. However this time Wile E. Coyote speaks directly to the audience about his plans. He had spoken before in some Bugs Bunny cartoons, but this is the first time the character talked in a Roadrunner cartoon. Then we see the characters are been watched on TV by Looney Tunes character Ralph Philips and his brother. Ralph admits sometimes he thinks he is the Roadrunner. Ralph's brother decides (since he wants to be a psychiatrist) to psychologically look at the root of Ralph's problem. This leads to the classic Ralph Philips cartoon From A to ZZZZZ. Then we see more of the Coyote's failed attempts to catch the Roadrunner. Ralph then asks his brother why the Coyote would want to eat the Roadrunner. Wile E. Coyote breaks the fourth wall and explains to the kids about all the delicious foods, roadrunners are made of.

This is a very funny short with much of the charms of the best Roadrunner cartoons. The timing is perfect, the animation great, and the humor is fantastic. This definitely needs to be watched by all Looney Tunes fans.

Because of its length this film was cut into two shorts for TV, Road Runner A Go Go and Zip Zip Hooray. Some of the jokes from this film were reused in the theatrical cartoon To Beep or Not to Beep released the next year. The Adventures of the Roadrunner is available as a bonus feature on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Recourses Used
Toonheads: The Lost Cartoons (TV documentary)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0154117/?ref_=rvi_tt