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Reviews9
chmilar's rating
This movie is terrible in so many ways that it is impossible to articulate them all. Usually, with a bad movie, it is easy to say, "It is bad because of this, this, and this," but with Framstorners: Bark at the Moon, the problem is that everything in it is terrible.
The basic storyline is not too bad, and in the hands of another director, it could have been a decent 90 minute action sci-fi movie. Michael Bay makes it 60 minutes too long, and fills it with a bunch of Michael Bay rubbish that does not need to be there.
Other reviewers have done an excellent job of pointing out the many different reasons why this movie is horrible. I think that Michael Bay has been injecting testosterone directly into his brain stem, and it has made him insane. How else could someone make a huge-budget movie and not care about plot, characters, dialog, physics, or having even a tiny shred of respect for his audience?
And to top it off, why does everyone in the film have orange skin tones? Every person looks like an Oompa-Loompa. They look like they've been hanging out with John Boehner in the spray tan booth.
The basic storyline is not too bad, and in the hands of another director, it could have been a decent 90 minute action sci-fi movie. Michael Bay makes it 60 minutes too long, and fills it with a bunch of Michael Bay rubbish that does not need to be there.
Other reviewers have done an excellent job of pointing out the many different reasons why this movie is horrible. I think that Michael Bay has been injecting testosterone directly into his brain stem, and it has made him insane. How else could someone make a huge-budget movie and not care about plot, characters, dialog, physics, or having even a tiny shred of respect for his audience?
And to top it off, why does everyone in the film have orange skin tones? Every person looks like an Oompa-Loompa. They look like they've been hanging out with John Boehner in the spray tan booth.
I attended a screening of Tamala 2010 at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. The directors, t.o.L. (trees of Life), and animator were present for discussion after the film. It was two years ago, so my memory might be shaky, but I can fill in some information about the production of the film.
t.o.L. is an enigmatic multi-media creative duo (a man and a woman). While they work with animation, illustration, and graphic design, their primary focus seems to be music, and they composed and performed all of the music for the film.
All of the animation was done by one (!) man. He labored for nearly four years animating Tamala 2010. From his comments, it sounds like the directors fed him information about story and scenes, bit by bit, which he would use to animate segments. He usually did not know what was coming next while animating a segment. After the initial character design and style was established, he was left with complete control over his work.
Responding to a question from an audience member, the directors admitted that the idea for "Minerva" was based on "Tristero" from Pynchon's novel "The Crying of Lot 49".
The directors also indicated that they are very interesting in marketing merchandise based on Tamala 2010.
While the film is visually and conceptually interesting, it is disjointed, lacking a smooth flow. This is probably a result of the "make it up as you go" approach to direction and animation. The film could have been more satisfying if it had been planned out more carefully from the beginning.
The music provides continuity and holds the film together, which leads me to believe that music is t.o.L.'s primary interest.
t.o.L. is an enigmatic multi-media creative duo (a man and a woman). While they work with animation, illustration, and graphic design, their primary focus seems to be music, and they composed and performed all of the music for the film.
All of the animation was done by one (!) man. He labored for nearly four years animating Tamala 2010. From his comments, it sounds like the directors fed him information about story and scenes, bit by bit, which he would use to animate segments. He usually did not know what was coming next while animating a segment. After the initial character design and style was established, he was left with complete control over his work.
Responding to a question from an audience member, the directors admitted that the idea for "Minerva" was based on "Tristero" from Pynchon's novel "The Crying of Lot 49".
The directors also indicated that they are very interesting in marketing merchandise based on Tamala 2010.
While the film is visually and conceptually interesting, it is disjointed, lacking a smooth flow. This is probably a result of the "make it up as you go" approach to direction and animation. The film could have been more satisfying if it had been planned out more carefully from the beginning.
The music provides continuity and holds the film together, which leads me to believe that music is t.o.L.'s primary interest.
Oldboy follows a fairly standard story structure: The audience is presented with a "mystery" which the protagonist must solve. However, while pursuing the mystery, information and characters are gathered which are significant for the ending, when a huge surprise is revealed. Other films that follow this pattern are "No Way Out" (1987) and "The Usual Suspects" (1995).
The setup for Oldboy is: Dae-su is kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years by an unknown antagonist. On release, he is given some clothes, money, and a mobile phone. He learns that he has five days to discover who his antagonist is, and why he was imprisoned.
Much of the movie is devoted to gathering clues to solve the mystery, and this is the film's weak point. The director, Park Chan-wook, must provide the audience with all of the clues which are important to the ending, without telegraphing the ending. He must also make the search for clues interesting on its own - as if the audience is watching an ordinary mystery film. It is in the latter that Oldboy fails.
The story of Dae-su solving the mystery is not involving. Likewise, the romance that begins between him and a young woman is not developed very well. There is not much sense of character development, and events seem somewhat random. Director Park tries to spice things up with violence and odd behavior by characters, but it is just "window dressing".
In some mystery genre films, such as "The Maltese Falcon" (1941) or "Lone Star" (1996), the "journey" of solving the mystery is the interesting part of the film. The solution to the mystery is not particularly important, but the journey is entertaining and rewarding.
Not so in Oldboy. I felt bewildered as to what direction the film's events were following, and I was not engaged in the storyline.
A good test that Park should have used in developing the story is: If the ending was removed or changed radically, would the remainder of the story stand on its own merits? Would it engage the audience?
The ending of Oldboy has tremendous impact. It is very well executed, and very intense. It is too bad that the journey to that ending is so weak.
When "No Way Out" or "The Usual Suspects" ends, the viewer re-evaluates everything he has seen, and sees it all in a very different light. Oldboy's ending does not trigger such a revelation.
The setup for Oldboy is: Dae-su is kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years by an unknown antagonist. On release, he is given some clothes, money, and a mobile phone. He learns that he has five days to discover who his antagonist is, and why he was imprisoned.
Much of the movie is devoted to gathering clues to solve the mystery, and this is the film's weak point. The director, Park Chan-wook, must provide the audience with all of the clues which are important to the ending, without telegraphing the ending. He must also make the search for clues interesting on its own - as if the audience is watching an ordinary mystery film. It is in the latter that Oldboy fails.
The story of Dae-su solving the mystery is not involving. Likewise, the romance that begins between him and a young woman is not developed very well. There is not much sense of character development, and events seem somewhat random. Director Park tries to spice things up with violence and odd behavior by characters, but it is just "window dressing".
In some mystery genre films, such as "The Maltese Falcon" (1941) or "Lone Star" (1996), the "journey" of solving the mystery is the interesting part of the film. The solution to the mystery is not particularly important, but the journey is entertaining and rewarding.
Not so in Oldboy. I felt bewildered as to what direction the film's events were following, and I was not engaged in the storyline.
A good test that Park should have used in developing the story is: If the ending was removed or changed radically, would the remainder of the story stand on its own merits? Would it engage the audience?
The ending of Oldboy has tremendous impact. It is very well executed, and very intense. It is too bad that the journey to that ending is so weak.
When "No Way Out" or "The Usual Suspects" ends, the viewer re-evaluates everything he has seen, and sees it all in a very different light. Oldboy's ending does not trigger such a revelation.