Post by Dale on Jan 5, 2010 13:18:17 GMT -5
Ballad of a Pilgrim
So, in the past I’ve been apathetic towards Xplay’s movies. I liked Lttle Piece of Heaven, as screwed up as it was. But I thought the Raven was a poor effort and Dick Tracy was also more of a mixed bag than a home run. As the vast majority of Xplay’s work is, this was inspired by Bob Dylan and I think to a degree, the Dylan like folk style is captured in the earlier parts of the story.
It’s said the Pilgrim has five hundred kids, but only four or five are mentioned. I like the idea of stories about the Pilgrim being exaggerated but it’s never made clear that, that’s what’s going on. Also the kids have no real relevance to the story; they’re pretty much there to ask a question, so we can have a deep moment for the Pilgrim; informing the children how their mother died. It’s completely contrived, far too convenient and just doesn’t work. Also, the Detective who pops up, investigating Isles’ death has no purpose to the story. He talks about Isle’s death as if it were some kind of mystery, only the mystery is never really mentioned again and the Detective never shows up for a second time. One would assume he’d show up at some point in the climax but he doesn’t. Making his purpose, much like the children’s no existent.
When the Outlaw and The pilgrim do come face to face, what do they do? They have a conversation about Europe and a diamond ring. The Pilgrim just caught The Outlaw robbing his wife’s grave; he believes the Outlaw killed Isles ... some anger wouldn’t have been amiss. Had it been made clear the Pilgrim wasn’t a violent person or something, his behaviour might have been. But it wasn’t, so we’re left to wonder why exactly he’s making idle chit chat instead of beating the hell out of Ledger. Also, we’re left pondering upon why “Damn” and “Jesus Christ” has to be uttered after every damn exclamation. The finale, just reached heights of ridiculousness, both in story and execution. I really wanted to like this, I really want to like Xplay’s work because he always throws in some nice ideas and such. But the poor dialogue just makes it hard to get through. Dialogue is often a weak point in Xplay’s work, whether it be spelling mistakes (which I’m more than little guilty of myself), cheesy or just bland and uninspired. Unfortunately “Ballad of a Pilgrim”, suffers from the same problem. There are moments where the dialogue is strong, only to be undone by repetitive moments.
The Pilgrim and the Outlaw, for no rhyme no reason make chit chat; they agree to play a game. Then for no reason what so ever they stand off from each other and again make pleasant chit chat before beating the hell out of each other. And the reasoning to do so did very little for me and I was left apathetic towards the whole thing. The Outlaw is introduced in a very sinister cool fashion, but then loses all of the intrigue with his initial conversation with the Pilgrim, that when it’s revealed why he’s doing what he’s doing, it just doesn’t work. It seems like Xplay wrote himself into a wall and thought “oh yeah, I need a reason” and felt tacked on.
Overall, Ballad of a Pilgrim is ideas thrown against a wall and piecing together the ones that stick. It’s a bit of a mess. It’s a short film, but still the pacing is a full sprint to the finish. We hear a little of the Pilgrim’s background with a few snippets here and there, we have erroneous conversations with his children about swimming. And then he’s confronting an Outlaw, who just happens to be robbing his wife’s grave. It moves by so quickly, it’s hard to take everything in. Things need to fleshed out, expanded upon or at the very least, re-worked in a way that would make the film flow better. The dialogue was difficult to read at times, Xplay can write and create some interesting visuals but when it comes to dialogue, he needs a hell of a lot of work. Ballad of a Pilgrim is not a return to form for Xplay as I had hoped but a continuation of his mediocre run. I’m hoping he can deliver with his next great idea.
Overall * ½ out of ****
Morgan gets a Job
Morgan gets a Job, first I’d like to apologise for taking so long to get to this. I’ve tried to get to it and give Larah a review that’s been promised and is now so far overdue I should probably be slapped for taking my sweet ass time to write it. I was starting to think Legend’s Green Lantern adaption would see the light of day before this review.
Anyways, where to start with Morgan, It’s strange, it’s witty; it’s totally Larah in every way. If you’re not laughing from the opening line or allusions to lesbianism with rapid cuts to fish restaurants, then you have no soul. The funny keeps on coming with quips about Priest’s and Choirboys and you can’t help but feel both amused and bemused by the proceedings. And that’s its charm.
Honestly, I’m finding it very difficult to come up with things to say, because there were very few negatives and I’d feel like it’d be nitpicking. The movie was quirky had a fun premise, and even when the more outlandish things happen, it just works because that’s the kind of movie this is.
Overall, Morgan is good, anything but clean fun. Sure, things like Morgan being totally usurped and Better Morgan taking all of her friends could have been built better and more in depth, Lee could have been introduced sooner and the voice over’s could have been utilized a little better. But the movie just works as it is. I hate that it took me so long to finish and review but I’m glad I did. Well worth the time to read.
*** out of ****
So, in the past I’ve been apathetic towards Xplay’s movies. I liked Lttle Piece of Heaven, as screwed up as it was. But I thought the Raven was a poor effort and Dick Tracy was also more of a mixed bag than a home run. As the vast majority of Xplay’s work is, this was inspired by Bob Dylan and I think to a degree, the Dylan like folk style is captured in the earlier parts of the story.
It’s said the Pilgrim has five hundred kids, but only four or five are mentioned. I like the idea of stories about the Pilgrim being exaggerated but it’s never made clear that, that’s what’s going on. Also the kids have no real relevance to the story; they’re pretty much there to ask a question, so we can have a deep moment for the Pilgrim; informing the children how their mother died. It’s completely contrived, far too convenient and just doesn’t work. Also, the Detective who pops up, investigating Isles’ death has no purpose to the story. He talks about Isle’s death as if it were some kind of mystery, only the mystery is never really mentioned again and the Detective never shows up for a second time. One would assume he’d show up at some point in the climax but he doesn’t. Making his purpose, much like the children’s no existent.
When the Outlaw and The pilgrim do come face to face, what do they do? They have a conversation about Europe and a diamond ring. The Pilgrim just caught The Outlaw robbing his wife’s grave; he believes the Outlaw killed Isles ... some anger wouldn’t have been amiss. Had it been made clear the Pilgrim wasn’t a violent person or something, his behaviour might have been. But it wasn’t, so we’re left to wonder why exactly he’s making idle chit chat instead of beating the hell out of Ledger. Also, we’re left pondering upon why “Damn” and “Jesus Christ” has to be uttered after every damn exclamation. The finale, just reached heights of ridiculousness, both in story and execution. I really wanted to like this, I really want to like Xplay’s work because he always throws in some nice ideas and such. But the poor dialogue just makes it hard to get through. Dialogue is often a weak point in Xplay’s work, whether it be spelling mistakes (which I’m more than little guilty of myself), cheesy or just bland and uninspired. Unfortunately “Ballad of a Pilgrim”, suffers from the same problem. There are moments where the dialogue is strong, only to be undone by repetitive moments.
The Pilgrim and the Outlaw, for no rhyme no reason make chit chat; they agree to play a game. Then for no reason what so ever they stand off from each other and again make pleasant chit chat before beating the hell out of each other. And the reasoning to do so did very little for me and I was left apathetic towards the whole thing. The Outlaw is introduced in a very sinister cool fashion, but then loses all of the intrigue with his initial conversation with the Pilgrim, that when it’s revealed why he’s doing what he’s doing, it just doesn’t work. It seems like Xplay wrote himself into a wall and thought “oh yeah, I need a reason” and felt tacked on.
Overall, Ballad of a Pilgrim is ideas thrown against a wall and piecing together the ones that stick. It’s a bit of a mess. It’s a short film, but still the pacing is a full sprint to the finish. We hear a little of the Pilgrim’s background with a few snippets here and there, we have erroneous conversations with his children about swimming. And then he’s confronting an Outlaw, who just happens to be robbing his wife’s grave. It moves by so quickly, it’s hard to take everything in. Things need to fleshed out, expanded upon or at the very least, re-worked in a way that would make the film flow better. The dialogue was difficult to read at times, Xplay can write and create some interesting visuals but when it comes to dialogue, he needs a hell of a lot of work. Ballad of a Pilgrim is not a return to form for Xplay as I had hoped but a continuation of his mediocre run. I’m hoping he can deliver with his next great idea.
Overall * ½ out of ****
Morgan gets a Job
Morgan gets a Job, first I’d like to apologise for taking so long to get to this. I’ve tried to get to it and give Larah a review that’s been promised and is now so far overdue I should probably be slapped for taking my sweet ass time to write it. I was starting to think Legend’s Green Lantern adaption would see the light of day before this review.
Anyways, where to start with Morgan, It’s strange, it’s witty; it’s totally Larah in every way. If you’re not laughing from the opening line or allusions to lesbianism with rapid cuts to fish restaurants, then you have no soul. The funny keeps on coming with quips about Priest’s and Choirboys and you can’t help but feel both amused and bemused by the proceedings. And that’s its charm.
Honestly, I’m finding it very difficult to come up with things to say, because there were very few negatives and I’d feel like it’d be nitpicking. The movie was quirky had a fun premise, and even when the more outlandish things happen, it just works because that’s the kind of movie this is.
Overall, Morgan is good, anything but clean fun. Sure, things like Morgan being totally usurped and Better Morgan taking all of her friends could have been built better and more in depth, Lee could have been introduced sooner and the voice over’s could have been utilized a little better. But the movie just works as it is. I hate that it took me so long to finish and review but I’m glad I did. Well worth the time to read.
*** out of ****