What Makes a Viral Video?

          I am currently in a YouTube class.  In there, they teach us how to navigate YouTube, gain exposure and hopefully make money.  This morning our teacher emailed this link to us:

    Click HERE to go to said link.

          Basically, its a guy who works for YouTube giving a presentation on viral videos.  There are 3 things that make a video go viral.

     1) Unexpectedness:  Accordingly, there are 2 days worth of video uploaded every minute on YouTube.  So, in order you stand out, the video has to be unexpected and unique.

     2) Tastemakers:  These are people like Jimmy Kimmel and Tosh.0 who talk about and share videos.  This brings the video to a lot wider audience.

     3) Participation.  Viral videos allow for community participation.  It inspires people to remix, cover, parody, etc the original.  Instead of just being a consumer, people can now participate in a cultural event.

          That's about all he talks about.  I found it interesting and wanted to share it.

     But that's just my opinion...

Toy Story (1995)

          Essential plot rundown:  Two toys struggle to accept one another.  It has been a long time since I've seen this movie.  As I was watching it, it made me remember, and long for, the good 'ol days of being a child and getting toys for my birthday.  It created a sense of nostalgia.

          With that said, this is a extremely well made movie.  The plot is engaging.  It was cool to see the dynamic between a toy who fully accepts his role and a toy who is in denial of who he is.  It is an intriguing concept.  And it really works on screen.

          The characters are interesting.  Each of the characters is well established with a personality.  You get to know each of them over the course of the movie.  And the voice actors are incredible.  Every voice perfectly fits the character.

          Something that really stood out to me this viewing was the noise, especially that of the toys inside of Sid's room.  Every toy had a unique, interesting sound.  And since this is an animated film, all of this sound had to be created.  (They couldn't just go record some creepy baby erector set things crawling around).  The sounds just really add to the overall atmosphere of the film.  Props to the sound designers.

          The music is also well done.  Randy Newman's songs do a good job of letting us see into the minds of the characters.  To me, it felt almost like a faux-musical.  With musicals, the characters start singing, letting the audience know how they feel.  While in Toy Story, Woody or Buzz do not randomly begin a song and dance number, the music of Randy Newman essentially plays the same role of expressing the characters.  Newman perfectly captures Buzz's emotions as he slowly accepts that fact that he's a toy when he sang:

No it can't be true.

I could fly if I wanted to.

Like a bird in the sky,

 I believe I can fly.

Why I'd fly.

Clearly now, I will go sailing, no more.

I'm sure there are other non musical movies that use music the same way, but I can't think of any at the moment.  The songs are like another character, almost like a narrator.  It's hard to think of Toy Story without thinking of "You've Got a Friend in Me".

          Let's finish with the animation.  There are parts that are certainly lacking, namely the smoke, drool, Scud and the humans.  Also, there are times where the movement just doesn't look right.  But, considering that Toy Story was made over 15 years ago and that it was the first feature length GC film, it holds up pretty well.  There are two main reason why it still looks good today in my opinion.  1)  The main characters are toys.  It was good thinkin' on Pixar's part to choose toys as their first subject.  Living things are hard to animate.  But with toys, it's okay if they don't look real (because they're not).  2) It is an animated film.  So, naturally, it's going to look a little "cartoony".  If these were just SFX for a motion picture, they would look hokey and out of place.  But, for what it is, the animation is great.

          Overall, Toy Story is an exceptional movie.  It has plot.  It has characters.  It has emotion.  It is funny.  This is a film that can be enjoyed by everyone, child or adult.

     But that's just my opinion...

The Mighty Peking Man (1977)

          Essential plot rundown:  King Kong gets remade Hong Kong style.  This came out a year after the King Kong remakes starring Jeff Bridges and Jessica Lange.  A lot of people get mad when Hollywood remakes foreign films, but hey, they do it to us too.

          Personally, I love these kind of movies.  I am a fan of kaiju films.  (I think it's an adjective).  They are low budget, they have bad acting and silly story lines, and not very good SFX.  But that's ok because they are a lot of fun.

          There's not much to say about The Mighty Peking Man other than the fact that it's bad.  But, for me, that's the appeal.  As far as story, there is a quasi love triangle, but it doesn't add anything to the story and it never goes anywhere.  It's just kind of there, existing in the script for some reason.  Oh, this movie also doesn't have an ending, which I hate.  The gorilla dude falls off of the building and the two lovers stop to look out a giant hole as they are escaping the building which is seconds from exploding.  Do they make it out in time?  Do they get blown up?  Can they see their house from there?  The world may never know because it just ends.

          The woman in this film doesn't really add anything to the story; she's just eye candy.  In King Kong, she does something...It's been a while since I've seen it but I'm sure she does something.  But, in TMPM, she's just there for gratuitous cleavage.  Well, I guess she does contribute one thing.  There is a sweet falling-in-love montage between her and the other main character.  During the montage, they start playing with a leopard, throwing it around.  Is that a normal date activity when courting a woman raised in the jungle?  Cuz if so, I'm moving to South America!

          Actually, that has to be normal jungle activity, because about 15 minutes into the movie, this random guy starts wrestling a tiger!  Awesome!  Also, elephants go on murderous stampedes and can be gunned down by a pistol.  Yea, after watching this movie, I'm definitely moving to the jungle.

          But I digress.  Overall, this is a fun movie if you like low-budget bad movies.  If you are looking for something more than entertaining, then I would recommend not touching this movie with a 10 foot pole.

     But that's just my opinion...

Megamind (2010)

          Essential plot rundown:  Evil villain slowly changes to become super hero. I did not really like this movie.  IT HAD THE SAME ENDING AS DESPICABLE ME!  AGH!  Well, in this one, at least it fit a little and didn't come out of left field.  But, I didn't think it was that funny or engaging.

          There weren't a lot of specific things that bothered but one was Bernard.  His character just feels out of place.  He's introduced and boom, he's replaced by Megamind.  We don't even know who he is.  His character should have been introduced a little earlier.  That way it will give us a reason as to why Roxanne suddenly becomes attached to him.  Why did she call him when she found Megamind's secret lair?  Why not Hal or her boss or the police or something?  I wanted some background between the two.

          And that was really the only thing I didn't like about it.  Other than its lack of being funny.  There were a couple of times that I laughed, but most of the time the jokes felt forced.

          However, I liked the ideas; they just weren't executed properly.  I found the question "What does a Villain due if he defeats the hero?" to be an interesting one.  I also liked the idea of the hero faking his death to escape from it all.  I would have liked to see more of that.  (If there's a movie that deals with that, please, let me know).  The movie had potential; it just didn't go anywhere with it.

          So, to make a long story short (though this is a shorter review), I didn't really like it.  Well, I said that at the beginning, so you already knew that.  While it's not a bad made movie (*ahem Breaking Dawn), it just wasn't my thang.

     But that's just my opinion...

The Avengers (trailer)

          Ok, so this is now the 2nd or 3rd or 4th trailer for The Avengers.  (Who is really keeping track of how many there are?)  So, before I start, you should probably watch it.  (Though, if you're reading this, you probably have already seen it).  But, here it is anyways:

     HERE is 2:24 of complete and utter awesome!

          With each trailer that is released, this movie becomes more and more epic!  It looks like this goes all out:  everything's exploding, everybody's fighting each other, everything's exploding some more!  This is definitely going to be an edge of your seat, thousand mph action flick!  It looks great.

          I'm not too familiar with Thor and his universe, but Loki looks great.  I'm really excited for him to be the villain in this.  He's classy looking but still menacing.

He even has a pimp cane!

He just seems like the guy who can outsmart the good guys.  He appears ruthless.  Loki just doesn't seem like the kind of guy you would want to mess with.

          Ok, now, let's move on to some things that bother me.  Number 1:  Mark Ruffalo.  I've not seen any of his work (except for Where The Wild Things Are but I don't think that counts) but he just doesn't feel like Bruce Banner to me.  I look at Robert Downey Jr. and I see Iron Man.  I look at Chris Hemsworth and I see Thor.  But, when I look at Mark Ruffalo, I don't see Bruce Banner.  I don't know; we'll have to see how it goes.  Oh, and I just stumbled on this:

That is pretty sweet.

          Let's move on to Cap.  Every time he appears on screen, his costume bothers me.  It just looks weird.  And I don't like it.  Let's compare it to the first costume:

The Avengers (2012)

Captain America (2011)

I'm sorry to say this, but the new costume just looks silly.  Having his neck covered looks dorky.  It looks like a "costume".  On the other hand, the one from Captain America looks like a uniform; it looks practical.  The top one looks like something you would where to a party whereas the bottom looks like something you would wear into combat.  I don't know why they feel the need to change everything all the time.  They should just stop.

          Finally, what is the thing at the end?  It looks like something left over from a Transformers movie or something.  Then again, I'm not familiar with the comics, so it could be something canonical.  But to me, it looks like they are trying to jump on the Transformers bandwagon.

         Oh, one last thing.  Why does Nick Fury have a bluetooth?

He looks like a tool.

          Actually, one more thing, Jeremy Jahns, does a pretty good job of reviewing the trailer as well on his YouTube channel.

     Click HERE to check it out.

          Though the trailer says 26 April, it doesn't come out til 4 May in the US.  Sad day.

     But that's just my opinion...

Russian Souvenir

          So, this last year, I spent about 4 months in Russia teaching English.  It was a lot of fun and I got to see a lot of cool things.  However, this is not a travel blog, it's a movie blog.  So none of that stuff even matters.  What does matter is a souvenir that I bought.  Of everything I brought home with me, this is probably my favorite (and by far the cheapest).  It cost me 5 роблес, which is about  15 cents.  Here it is:

          It's a Rambo pin!  It says "Слай" which is Russian for "Sly" which is short for "Sylvester", as in "Sylvester Stallone", the actor who played Rambo in 4 different movies.  Yea, I thought it was pretty sweet and about had a heart attack when I saw it.  That is all.

     But that's just my opinion...

The Pixar Story (2007)

          Essential plot rundown:  This documentary takes you behind the scenes of Pixar from its creation to present day.  This was a well made documentary.  It was really interesting and engaging.  And just like any well made film, it evokes several different emotions along the way.

          The thing I loved most about this story was the idea of pursuing your dreams.  It shows all of the problems and what not that John Lasseter faced, but because of his conviction to his dream, his goal, he was able to overcome all the obstacles and obtain what he wanted the most.  I felt it was a little inspiring.  The Pixar Story documents what went into establishing the company and all of the problems encountered while creating such films as Toy Story 2.  But, because John believed strongly enough in his dream, he accomplished.

          It was also great to see all of these different people doing what they love for a living.  I'm currently a film student, so seeing these people doing this is inspiring and gets me excited to be working on projects.  I'd be watching and I'd think:  I soo want to work there!  That looks awesome!

          There were two quotes that really stood out to me.  I'm not sure where the first originated (when I googled the quote, Michael J. Fox's name popped up a lot) but it was said in the film.  It was:  Film is forever.  Pain is temporary.  I really liked it because it helps you overcome fears or whatever and grow as an artist.  The other quote comes about as a guy is asked what the formula is for a successful movie.  He responds something like this:  It's really pretty simple.  Everyone here loves films.  And they just want to make something they themselves want to see.  If you are making something you would want to watch yourself, you're going to put more effort, invest more into it.  And this will translate through to the audience.

          Overall, this a great documentary.  If you are interested in Pixar, animation, movies, entertainment, or anything else of the sorts, I highly recommend it.

     But that's just my opinion...

Nacho Libre (2006)

          Essential plot rundown:  A Monk struggles to choose between the monastery and the lucha libre.  The first time I watched this, I thought it was really stupid.  But I've seen it a couple of times since and it is really funny.  I guess it kind of grows on you.

          The humor in this movie is different.  It is definitely not for everyone.  I'm not even sure how to describe it.  But, for me it works.  However, there are a few instances where they used fart jokes/potty humor.  I'm not a big fan of that kind of that kind of humor.  And when if was used, it felt like they were dumbing down the movie.

          Jack Black does a really good job.  Him, his accent, the way he says his lines are all funny.  One thing that I liked about it was the fact that he toned down his "Jack Blackness" a little.  In a lot of his movies, he acts really crazy and what not.  But in Nacho Libre, not so much.  However, there were a few parts where Nacho starts singing and he unleashes some of his "Jack Blackness" (I'm pretty sure that's a real word).  He stars singing like the lead singer of Tenacious D and it really distracts from the character.  One minute you're watching Nacho and the next you're watching Jack Black.

          I really like the color of this film.  A lot of the shots were just cool looking.  The colors looked a little desaturated.  The whole film had an interesting look to it.  I liked it.

          So, overall, this is a funny, well made movie.  I thought all of the actors did a good job and the story didn't suck.  (I couldn't think of a synonym for "good", so my roomate suggested "didn't suck").  Though, I liked it, it is not for everyone.  This isn't a real intelligent review, but that's all you're getting.

     But that's just my opinion...

Act of Valor (2012)

          Essential plot rundown:  Navy Seals must stop a terrorist attack.  This was an incredibly good movie.  As I was watching it I thought: I'll probably applaud at the end of the movie.  Just a small way of showing my respect for our troops.  But when it ended, I couldn't.  I was too emotional and the note the movie ended on deserved silence, not applause.

          Let's just jump in with the story.  The story was nothing special in itself.  A CIA agent gets captured, they rescue her, discover a terrorist plot to attack the US of A, and try and stop it.  The film claims to be inspired by true missions and what not.  But I wonder how much was and how much was creative license.  I don't know how often our troops stop terrorist attacks like that, but it felt like a normal action movie story.  I'm not saying that's bad; I'm just curious.

          The characters were portrayed by active duty Navy Seals.  Therefore, the acting is none to great.  It felt a little stiff and at times, distracted from the movie a little.  But, most of the movie revolves around missions so there isn't really a lot of acting for them to do.  And that is one of the things that stood out to me:  there is little to none character development.  There are two main Seals and they are each given a little history.  But there is no real development.  There is no arch to them.  I guess that can be attributed to the type of story.  Most of the time, they are on missions, so I didn't feel that there was room for them to grow.  (If that makes sense; it does to me).  However, I guess that the character doesn't come from an individual, but from the Seals as a whole.  You care for them, not because you know them and relate for them, but because they are soldiers.  Their character come from the fact that they are risking their lives to protect us and our freedom.  Once again, I'm not saying that this was a bad thing, just different.

          I thought the cinematography was really good.  There are a lot of POV shots that put you right there in the action.  I didn't feel that these were done as a tactic, trying to simulate a video game.  I thought they helped the story and were well done.  There were a lot of cool shots in this film.  And as for shaky-cam, that is common in action films now-a-days, there was only one spot that if bothered me.  Actually, I can't even remember if there was a lot of shaky-cam used.

          However, there was one thing that bothered me.  This happened in the climax, as the Seals were closing in on the terrorists.  One Seal does something in order to protect his squad.  And as I was watching it, it seemed a little unnecessary.  That looked like he could have avoided it, have done something else.  But, then again, I am not an expert on the military or weapons or anything.  So I don't really know if that would have really happened or not.  Maybe that part was just poorly edited.  Who knows.

          Overall, this was an amazing movie.  There were parts that had me on the edge of my seat.  There were parts that made me cheer our troops.  I even laughed.  There few a few scenes that brought a tear to my eye.  And as the movie ended, my two friends and I were all crying.

     But that's just my opinion...

Despicable Me (2010)

          Essential plot rundown:  Gru attempts to steal the moon in order to show his competence.  This was an entertaining movie.  I was laughing throughout.  I only wished that I had seen it in 3-D.  The roller-coaster ride looked like it would've been cool.

          Like I said, this is a pretty funny movie.  There are a lot of funny lines.  Actually, I felt it was the funniest when it stuck to dialogue.  I thought some of the slapstick and other jokes fell kind of flat.

          I also really liked the story.  I like how he wanted to steal the moon and how that was tied in with his childhood dreams.  It really added to Gru's character.  Not only was he trying to prove himself as a villain, but he was also trying to prove himself to his own mother.  It really worked for me.  However, I wished there would have been more reconciliation between the two.  At the end, they are sitting together and his mom makes one little comment and thats it.  I wanted that to be fleshed out a little more.

          And then there was Vector, Gru's rival.  I liked his character; he was interesting.  But, he felt a little inconsistent.  I could never tell if he was a successful villain or a failure.  There are scenes where he does stuff and it makes him look very good at what he does.  But then there are scenes (mainly at the bank) that makes him look like a idiot.  How could you steal a pyramid and get all those defense around his house but not be able to make a piranha gun work?  I don't know, maybe piranhas are really tricky.  It just bothered me a little.

          However, my biggest complaint was the ending.  The girls are performing for Gru and his minions when all of a sudden it turns into a dance party.  I just really hate endings like that.  It totally ruins it for me.  (I think one of the Shrek movies does it too).  By having them dance, it shows Gru redeeming himself.  But all of that just goes out the window when it changes tempo.  The ending was building up only to have nothing happen.

          Overall, it was a really entertaining movie.  I felt that the dialogue was hilarious; the other attempts at humor, not so much.  True, there were some flaws that bugged me, but such is life.  I would recommend it.

     But that's just my opinion...