Monday, November 21, 2011

Movie Review


Last weekend I watched a movie called Limitless. It was directed by Neil Burger. It’s about a writer named Eddie who is suffering from multiple life issues all at once. First his girlfriend, whom he has grown to become dependent upon, leaves him and he has a book deadline that he cannot seem to stay current with. Along with his life being a mess, his house and most everything he owns matches his current situation.
While struggling day to day he meets an old friend and the have coffee. While catching up his friend tells him about these pills that let you use 100% of your brains capacity instead of 10-20%. These are not FDA approved; but what does Eddie have to lose. So the story line builds and Eddie gets hooked on them and completely 180%’s his whole life in a matter of weeks. Makes millions, learns new languages and creates white collar enemies. To make the story short, he has to overcome all the obstacles of these now confronting him. He learns to develop a safe pill and outsmart his enemies and eventually runs for government to make the story end successfully.
            So the movie was good and kept my attention, however, I was looking for details to write about for these blog assignments. I first picked up that the movies supported 7-channel surround sound by Dolby even though I only have 5.1. I could immediately hear directional ambient sound coming from behind me. Also I check to see what the film was set for. The Screen size was shot in 16:9 aspect ratio which most movies these days are filmed in. I enjoy the wide screen format because it lets you see about20-25% more of the original view that the director ideally wants in the shot. Now this movie was not shot in 3D but I think that it most definitely could have been successful that way. There are many scenes on large buildings looking down and around the city. One major technology aspect of this movie that I believe set it off was the effects that were placed in scenes when Eddie would take a pill. Once it kicked in you could see the transition effect being implemented for the shot. Shots around the city had a really warm golden amber feel to them and certain angles and views were very precise and clear for the viewer, allowing you to image how his mind was picking up on every little detail.

Rotten Tomateos. (2011, March 24). Limitless-rotten tomatoes [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/limitless/

3 comments:

  1. For the most part I agree with you Josh. The use of modern digital formats for both sound and video are very impressive when watching in Blu Ray. You did mention that there would have been added value had you seen the movie in a 3D format. While that would have been a nice addition, I personally don't think it would have added a great deal to the movie. For a film like Avatar where every shot is visually impressive then a 3D element is more than just a nice perk. This film, however, is a cool twist on the action/suspense genre but the use of 3D technology probably isn't necessary at least for viewing at home.

    dloper7

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  2. When I first saw the commercials for limitless, I was so excited it had a great cast and a very interesting plot. I wasn’t too disappointed with the actual movie once I got to see it. I agree with dloper7 on the non-essential effect of 3D. I think they did an awesome job with visual effects when he was on the drug. They used the fish eye lens, nice time transitions, and the slow motion and fast motion effects. I’d say this movie really did have a lot of excellent screen shots and a great use of the different special effects available to intensify a movie.

    Cassablogca

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  3. I have not seen this movie yet but I really want to! It seems like a really cool movie to see. And I bet with modern technology it would make it a really neat experience. That would be really cool to see it in 3-D. I wish I would have seen it in theatres to get the maximum affect out of it. I think Bradley Cooper is a really good actor. He has been in a lot of great movies like the Hangover which was an awesome movie. I think over break I will rent this movie and see how good it actually is.

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