Bricks in Motion
We are a friendly filmmaking community devoted to the art of stop-motion animation using LEGO® and similar construction toys. Here, you can share your work, join our community of other brickfilmers, and participate in periodic animation contests!
A place to discuss, share, and create stop motion films.
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12 Angry Men
I've heard quite a few good things about this movie, and I can say that it delivers. It's got a compact story that really works, with great dialogue and even better actors to sell it.
I give it a 12/Men
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Wow. I don't really want to say anything else... Naw, here we go. I'm trying a better format.
WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW]
Story: 5/10 The story seemed broken up at times, not pulling itself all together. I like the thriller side of this, with intense "stingers" here and there, but it seemed to lack a potential bad guy. The revealing of the bad guy was too spoon-fed for me. Daniel Craig didn't solve the mystery, he just stumbled into it, and they revealed everything in about 4-5 minutes of him being taken prisoner in the dude's lair. The overall plot was very creative, though 
Cinematography: 10/10 Lighting wasn't particularly special, but the color was. At first glance the color also seems pretty typical, but if you pay attention, Fincher did something absolutely spectacular. David Fincher used what I call "Primary Colors". There a million+ colors in an image, but the main colors were: Yellow, Green, and Blue. If you notice, the Family's Estate/Island (which was normally a peaceful place) scenes were mainly green, so when you saw green, your brain relaxed a little more. When something that was intended to be "intense" or "eerie", the shots would be yellow, making your brain and muscles tense in anticipation. When the rather melancholy scenes at the beginning played, they were mainly blue. Catch this? Fincher would occasionally tease me with false coloring, it would break it's normal color-feel sense - which I liked very much, it was creative. Very creative. You should know what I'm talking about if/when you watch it.
Acting: 8/10 Personally, I think it was Daniel Craig at his best (he never really had his best until this film. Sorry Craig fanboys 
). Rooney Mara was excellent was well. Really, all of the actors in this were great. Nothing to really complain about here!
That's it. This movie is rated R for a pretty good reason. I immediately skipped the sexual scenes, but I didn't necessarily feel it was unnecessary (go read the plot here). Go watch this film.
Kingsman: The Secret Service
Well...that's the most fun I've ever had watching a movie.
'Nuff Said
Dracula Untold
Well, I'm pretty fond of vampire stories so I liked this. It reminded me a lot of Game of Thrones because it had three different actors from it as well as the same composer. He makes pretty great music, though.
The scenes showing vampires suffering in sunlight looked remarkably similar to an ongoing series of nightmares I've been having for several years, which kinda creeped me out.
Well, I've just finished watching a bunch of Kubrick films.
The Shining
I've never read the book, but I've heard that there are many small nods to it in the film. Anyway, I really enjoyed this movie.
It was interesting seeing Jack slowly go insane after hearing of the previous caretaker's story, and thinking he wouldn't do the same.
2001: A Space Odyssey
A movie that I've heard so much about. It definitely was a spectacle.
There's many ways to interpret "Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite". I like Roger Ebert's, I believe it was, analysis on it. How the bedroom was the least expected thing that could've appeared.
Paths of Glory
I really liked this one. I can't see why it didn't do well in France (sarcasm). This was a great portrayal of military corruption.
Dr. Strangelove
The thought that a whole lot of this could happen is scary, but the movie was quite funny while I may not have caught onto all the jokes.
A Clockwork Orange
I was surprised at the family-friendly nature of this film. It's as G-rated as it gets. 10/10, recommended for the whole family.
...Sorry. I actually enjoyed it. I just felt like I had to make some joke like that.
There is a movie called Fair Safe that is just like Dr. Strangelove, but without the humor. There was a 2000 TV remake and on the East coast, it was broadcast live! I videotaped it and long ago transferred it to DVD. A lot of Brickfilmers seem to be fans of Dr. Strangelove; maybe we can adopt it as our unofficial film here. What I mean is that it can be slipped into brickfilms as an inside joke, the way it was mentioned in the brikfilm of the year, "That's The Way It Goes".
Man on a Ledge
Enjoyed this one. Just good fun, best not taken too seriously. Fast moving plot with plenty of intrigue and twists. The villain verged on being a bit overdone (eg. literally shaking his fist up at the main character) but I had to smile. 7/10
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Not sure what to make of this one. I hate whispered narration in films, adverts, music, anything, so the main character's monologue in the opening 20 minutes irritated me a bit. He was also very quirky, I understand the reasons for this but again, it irritated me. He spoke so eloquently, like someone twice his age, which is funny for someone like Brick in The Middle but broke some of the believability of his character. It did pick up though, and there were some great moments as the child embarks on his quest, especially the interaction between him and The Renter. I was content with the final twist as well. There were a few scenes obviously intended to be tear-jerkers, though, and the film really drove these home, a bit too much I think, to the point where it just impeded my overall enjoyment. It's Oscar-bait, though, isn't it? 7/10
It's Oscar-bait, though, isn't it? 7/10
You could say that, but the fact that it's so Oscar-baity is exactly why this movie is one of the most controversial Best Picture nominees ever made. It did poorly with critics, mostly because of Thomas Horn [the boy]'s acting and the over-sentimental and sugary aspects of the movie. Ergo, the movie has a 46% at Rotten Tomatoes, despite the fact that it was nominated for Best Picture that year, thus exacerbating the controversy.
Pantema Inverted:
This was an absolutely amazing Japanese anime film. I am a huge Studio Ghibli fan, and Pantema Inverted came close if not surpassing of some of the Ghibli films.
As to the movie, it had wonderful animation and voice dubbing. But the story was what really made it fun to watch, though a second watching would really help clear a few things up for me as pertaining to the story.
Definitely a must watch if you enjoy anime or Studio Ghibli films.
The Secret of Kells:
Also an amazing film!I love the unique way they made this film in the hand drawn style, but created a feel that only this movie could give you. It is interesting and enjoyable to see a film come out of Ireland that gives you a feel for it's history and lore. The voice acting for this film is also excellent and makes the film that much more enjoyable.
So, I was completely off of school last week from a barrage of snow and cold-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d, so I was able to see a few movies I'd been meaning to watch for a while, plus a few I watched on a with without knowing anything about it. Here we gooooooo:
12 Angry Men
Just realized I reviewed this one above. nvm.
It's Such a Beautiful Day
I saw this one pop up randomly on Netflix and, being a fan of the Rejected short that the director, writer, animator, and narrator of this movie made, I thought it'd be a fun watch in a similar vein.
Boy was a wrong. So awesomely wrong.
This film is one of those ones that makes you really think about your life, and what it really means to live a satisfying existance in spite of ridiculous odds and adversity. It's one of those movies that really affected me on a deeper level, it made me really think about who I am. It starts out really absurd, but it expertly weaves its weirdness into this freaking beautiful portrait, that, when you get down to it, is all about a stupidly simple stick figure and his life.
I know I'm being pretty vague, but that's because this is one of those movies that's best experienced knowing next to nothing about its plot. Really, it's only an hour long, go watch it right now. Heck, the creator even put the first part (this film is composed of three short films, which were originally a trilogy but were combined into a feature) on YouTube. Did I mention the sound design is awesome. It is. Watch this. Now.
Troll Hunter
I've had very little experience in the found footage/horrow genre, with a lot of people criticizing it for how ubiquitous and over used it has become. That said, I think that this is one of the best the genre has to offer. The film is shot well, basically never resorting to the shaky-cam that is so common in films like this, the characters are likable, the monsters are well designed and cool, and I just love how much Norwegian lore and stuff was packed into this movie. I love watching movies that let you dive into foreign culture, so this was a fun watch.
RoboCop
Helll yeaa. I've had this movie hyped up to me for a long time, and it lived up like Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Coffee. Wait that tasted like crap...
Whatever, this movie is still awesome. I don't have much to say about it that hasn't already been said, it's really cool.
The Dark Crystal: Directors Cut
This isn't exactly an officially released movie, but if you remember from a couple months back, a guy stitched together The Dark Crystal into a form resembling how it was originally cut using the final film and a rough cut of the original that leaked onto the interwebs a while back.
I gotta say, I think that this cut is quite a measure better than the resulting product. While it isn't as accessible to a wider audience as the released film, artistically I just find it more enjoyable. The main changes are that the Narrator is completely absent, and the Skeksis only speak in growls and screams. The film also does a lot less hand holding, pretty much letting you sink in this world as you go with a lot less explanation.
Getting rid of these things just makes the film so much more creepy and enjoyable for me. The opening titles with the Skeksis standing around the Crystal was cool in the final cut, but this original version just gave me chills. All the creatures of the film just fascinated me so much more, with their lack of speech giving them a cool air of mystery. Overall, the mysterious vibe is incredible, and it adds to much. You may have to dig around a tad to find this movie, but I'd recommend it a lot, it's an awesome watch.
The Adventures of Bob and Doug McKenzie: Strange Brew
I watched this movie a bunch of times when I was a kid in the 80's and it was one of my favorites. The scene where Rick Moranis drinks all the beer in the bank always made me crack up.
I'm sad to say it doesn't hold up. My 38-year-old self just doesn't find the jokes as funny. The story was weird and kind of nonsense. I mean, I still laughed at stuff, but I guess I had higher expectations because of how often I watched it on VHS. Glad I saw it but will not watch again, probably.
I don't know rev Man. I watched this last year and still enjoyed it. And I don't drink alcohol. And a lot of people still don't catch that Mr. Elsinore's ghost is haunting the electrical system in the brewery/asylum and is aiding the heroes throughout. It explains a lot of the movie's "weirdness" (Like when B.M Smith is burned by the lights).
I completely understood the ghost thing and have since I was 6 (when this movie came out). It's still funny, it's just not as funny as I remember.
What I didn't understand as a kid as that the characters are drunk for the entire movie. It never occurred to me that drinking beer constantly would result in constant drunkenness. 
Pantema Inverted:
This was an absolutely amazing Japanese anime film. I am a huge Studio Ghibli fan, and Pantema Inverted came close if not surpassing of some of the Ghibli films.As to the movie, it had wonderful animation and voice dubbing. But the story was what really made it fun to watch, though a second watching would really help clear a few things up for me as pertaining to the story.
I saw this at a film festival last least and was pretty disappointed in the story itself, all of the charicters seemed pretty cookie cutter and the plot itself seemed kind of lazy, however the world building and back story and the general mechanics of the world was awesome and very creative. It was a film I would love to see fan films that take place in the same universe but with new charicters in them.
The last film I watched was The Strange Color of Your Bodies Teats, it's about as weird as it sounds. There was cool hypnotic visuals and the director seemed very fond of shots of eyes, blood, and boobs, often together. While it was never boring there were some questionable artistic decisions. It was very much a style over substance type of film.
The Matrix
I love this movie the same way I love 80's Arnold Schwarzenegger films. Films such as The Terminator, Predator, and Total Recall which have interesting premises that result in really cool action. Give me Arnie, give him a massive gun to shoot whilst explosions go off behind him, give me a cyberpunk plot and I'm happy for the rest of the day. The characters, acting, and script range from meh to awful but overall it's structure is solid and all it's flaws are forgotten when the characters whip their guns out and spurt their ammunition.
Of course, with The Matrix, you replace Arnie with people in fetish-outfits, a massive gun with dual-wielding smaller guns/kung-fu, and explosions with slooowwwww moootttiioooonnnnn. But the effect is the same, and that effect is: "Woah!"
My university library actually has a ton of books exploring the pychology behind The Matrix. Occasionally, in-between lectures or when I want a quick break from work, I take one and read through a chapter at random. It's hilarious bullcrap. The Matrix is an action-over-substance blockbuster and it should be enjoyed as such. Watching people treat it like Eyes Wide Shut is just hilarious.
Matrix Reloaded
Speaking of hilarious bullcrap...
I should hate this, but I can't. The plot sucks, the characters still act like aliens. Whilst the first film had a competent story-arc that complimented it's action nicely (Neo gets captured and tortured by Agent Smith, he builds up his skills, fails again, goes to rescue Morpheus, confronts Agent Smith, kicks his butt, le fin) this is just all over the place but...I can't bring myself to spit bile about it.
Maybe it's because the fight between Neo and the hundred Agent Smiths is slapstick gold. It's probably one of the funniest fight-scenes I've ever seen, and it deserves some sort of award. If you want to watch this film, then don't. Just find that scene on YouTube or something.
I still need to watch Matrix Revolutions, but I'm still mentally preparing myself for the amount of suckage I know'll come with it.
Matrix Revolutions
Wow that sucked.
The Matrix is a fun action film, Matrix Reloaded is a hilarious mess...this is just plain bad. The biggest problem is that all of the best moments of this franchise are moments set in the matrix itself. The Matrix is so fun because it's about people realising that the world around them is fake and exploiting it. The world outside the matrix is dull and depressing. No-one wants a movie set in it when you can have a whole film take place in a world where everyone partakes in slow-motion gunfights.
And even the moments within the matrix suck. The final battle just isn't as cool as it could've been, since it merely rehashes everything we've seen before. The limbo sequence lacks creativity. The only really good moment was the fight scene where people walked on the ceiling, and the outfits some people had at the nightclub were hilarious. More! More of that!
Of course, there's no real point suggesting improvements for a film made about 12 years ago. But this is a lesson for anyone who wants to create a franchise: don't.
Big Hero 6 (2014)
You know, I'm starting to really hate this movie.
I seldom label films as "so great, that it's best if I don't watch it ever again". Hardly ever. But, I really don't want to not like this movie, because when I first saw it, I hated the dialogue, but was overall blown away by the beautiful animation and visuals.
The scene where Baymax and Hiro fly is tremendously heartwarming, and is much more emotional than any death scene throughout the film, in my opinion.
The background music compliments the scene well, too. But, you know what would match the scene perfectly? The Greek Fire song that plays during the trailers.
I hate Fall Out Boy. I've hated them ever since they first started to come around. I don't care who listens to them, and I don't care about what they say in defense of the band, they're fake and I hate them. Ever since they ripped off a lick from the song "Tom's Diner" by Suzanne Vega. That song was my lullaby as a toddler, and I loved how she would speak the lyrics, instead of sing them. And I don't care if the band did it as a "tribute", or some other bullcrap, because now, when I hear an "up-and-coming band" steal a bit from her song, it makes me want to throw something. Just like how "Glory", by John Legend & Common, the song from Selma, which was another aspect of the Academy Awards/Selma controversy, makes me want to throw something, because of the fact that it's a rap song about Ferguson playing at the end of a Civil Rights movie, that takes place in the 1960s. I like John Legend's work. "All of Me" is a beautiful piano solo set to genius lyrics. It's my favourite song by him, and is my favourite song of 2013. But, "Glory" tries to send a lot of mixed messages, often trying to force them down other people's throats. Giving Common and Legend the Academy Award for Best Original Song (and I use the term "song" lightly) is pretty much the equivalent of awarding the Oscar to the Chief of Police in Ferguson, Missouri, in my honest opinion.
Fall Out Boy wrote the song for the movie, and boy, are we fortunate that the song wasn't nominated for an Oscar, like "Glory" from Selma, or all the glass windows in my home might as well be broken, let alone a single wooden chair! It isn't even featured in the trailers, yet it is played throughout a lot of the movie. I don't feel like it fits the theme of the movie as well as "Top of the World" by Greek Fire does. And don't even get me started on "Light 'Em Up"! In addition to that, don't come telling me that both songs share the same message. According to the lyrics, "Immortals" sounds like they're talking about how they could practically live forever.
The song's presence in the movie is one big lie to us, because the characters in the San Fransokyo universe are, in fact, not immortal, as evidenced by the [expository] deaths of Hiro's parents and Tadashi's death. Plus, I don't think all the characters would be so scared to die, if they really were "immortal", as the song claims. The song pretty much ruins entire the movie for me.
For the "tl;dr" crowd, "Immortals" is not the right song for Big Hero 6, thus rendering the movie as less enjoyable for me, than for others.
"Top of the World" fits the movie in question, particularly because of the "flying scene". Baymax and Hiro are practically on top of the world, as they fly high above the sleek, futuristic skyscrapers of San Fransokyo. The song is an emotional, heart-pounding rollercoaster ride. The music video is good too. So, why did Disney market the film with the song so heavily and not end up using the song in the movie? It's really a great song.
I've also started becoming increasingly annoyed by the [no matter how quotable] dialogue. There was just a lot of things that a lot of people I know found really funny, and I couldn't understand why. Maybe that's exactly it, because the more people quoted it, and laughed at it, the less humorous it got. I liked the first few minutes of the movie, but watching a movie in a room filled with mainly teenagers is an entirely different ballpark than watching a movie, for the first time, in an eight-story movie theater in downtown Houston, in surround sound.
Once again, I really enjoyed Big Hero 6 the first time around, but seeing it again really wrecked it for me. Still way better than Frozen--oh! Without a doubt!
Still, I'm lowering my original score of the movie.
ORIGINAL SCORE: 9.3/10
NEW SCORE: 7.2/10
Really surprising how a second viewing of a movie can have such a drastic change on the viewer's thoughts and opinions on the film.
However, I gotta give it to Big Hero 6, for being one of the only Marvel movies of recent memory to actually be able to win an Oscar. But, I must ask: where are the first five movies?
Fletch (1985)
A cheesy, yet high-paced, 80s thrill ride, with Chevy Chase as your guide. Hey, that actually rhymed. Still, not as funny as his Vacation movies.
8/10
McFarland USA (2015)
It actually makes sense that the "USA" is actually dropped from the title when the film is screened in other countries.
In Kevin Costner's umpteenth sports movie, a group of all-Mexican fieldworkers-turned-high-school-cross-country-runners make it to the first-ever California State Championships...or so the movie claims.
Like any movie--especially a Disney biopic movie--the screen edition tends to stretch the truth. And by "stretch", I mean, turning the story into silly putty. The movie treats the town of McFarland, California, like some unsightly ghetto. But, McFarland is not a hopeless case. There are some nice neighborhoods outside of downtown. And that's another thing. The movie makes it look like Kevin Costner and his family have to drive through a field to get to school, but that fact is total bullcrap. When he is at the cornerstore (which in reality, is right across the road from the high school), the store owner tells Costner the address of his store, which is actually the real-life address. But, Costner states the address of his new house as being located somewhere on Cliff Avenue, when in reality, Cliff Avenue is located directly behind the high school. Their house is nowhere to be found on the real-life Cliff Avenue, due to the fact that the camera crew actually filmed a lot of the movie in Camarillo, California, instead of the titular town from the movie, which I can understand. Still though, the field nonsense is really weird.
Other made-up movie fluff is how Jim White, Costner's character, came to McFarland to escape a pastime of abuse towards his fellow teachers and students. In reality, Jim was living in McFarland for quite sometime, and the McFarland High School's cross-country team existed long before 1987, the year in which the movie is set.
Despite a lot of inaccuracies, the movie is really good. Even though it's also a race relations movie, it hits a lot closer to home than Selma, considering I'm Hispanic, and living in the predominantly-Hispanic Southern United States. A great watch; I would totally recommend McFarland USA to all.
8.5/10
Last edited by Mickey (March 12, 2015 (08:36pm))
Prometheus
Wow, pretty impressive movie. I admittedly haven't seen any other of the alien films, but this was still good to watch. The visuals and setting were absolutely stunning to me, and I thought the story drove the film at a good pace. I just really loved the scale of the whole movie, especially during
the sequence where the prometheus descends down onto the planet. To me, the setting and atmosphere here was just mind-blowing.
Anyways, even though this movie did have its weird moments, it was a very good, well executed movie, and I recommend it to all, even if you haven't seen Alien.
8.5/10
The Fall
Previously, I'd never heard of this movie before, but my sister showed it to me and I thought it was really good. it feels like the sort of thing I'd be quite interested in watching again some time. The cinematography is fantastic and there are a whole lots of really cool looking locations and some rather surreal looking imagery.
Also, at one point there is a surprise stop-motion scene which I really liked
Although, I'm quite perplexed as to why it's rated R. It really seems a lot more like a PG movie, and often times it's very childish. Sure some people get shot and stabbed, but that happens in plenty of PG movies. I could perhaps understand PG-13, however. Half the time I was fearing eventually something really scary would pop up, but it never did.
Well, I've been sick and away from school most of last week, so I've had some time for some motion picturing. Along with several puking fits and diarrhea dumps. Think about that when you eat your chicken noodle soup, cause I saw a lot of that in a lot of things:
American Werewolf in London
This was a pretty good film, although I spoiled it's most famous/impressive scene for myself before I even watched the movie, so as a result it didn't scare or disturb me as much as it could have if I'd went in cold. Still, the movie is pretty funny, and by the end it's super fun to watch the werewolf rampage everywhere.
Short Term 12
Wow, this movie is a fine specimen. It's filled to the brim with heart and tragedy, along with lovable characters who are all acted superbly. I think anyone who's ever felt lost, alone, and just plain scared of life (so pretty much everybody) should see this movie. It's really one I won't forget anytime soon. Trust me, you'll need a parent-signed permission to hop on the bust for this feel trip.
Godzilla (1954)
It's been a while since I've seen the first and the best, but the original Godzilla still stands up for me as the best monster movie ever and one of my favorite movies. Built from all the post-WWII/Atom Bomb hysteria that plagued Japan and the rest of the world at the time, it comes together as an exciting, and kind of terrifying, look at just what happens when man tries to hard to control nature. None of the silly (albeit gloriously awesome) camp present in later entries in the Godzilla series, which it soon became synonymous with, is in this one. It's as serious as the cardiac arrest which plucked the ugly duckling turned beautiful swan of Clueless from our lil world. So, you should all, like, watch it. For the duck/swan.
Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2
I had a feeling after seeing Pulp Fiction for the first time that Tarantino had the potential to become on of my favorite directors. And with Kill Bill, he has certainly obtained the Z-List honor. These films have style for daaaaaaaays, and the way they tap into the best of B-Movies, martial arts, and the general state of being SUPER RAD just made these films an exhilarating thrill ride.
Groundhog Day
While the general outline of the plot is pretty predictable from the beginning, the strength of the performances pull it past that potential handicap, bringing a lot of laughs and a lot of hearty feels. I'd really recommend it.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
I was in a bit of a sickly stupor while watching this film, but from what I remember people hit eachother a lot while running on the air. Looking at the Sonjira List Of Qualities That Make A Quality Movie, I believe that means this is an acceptable piece of motion picture entertainment.
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