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Author Topic: Pixels reviews  (Read 4475 times)

Offline patch

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Pixels reviews
« on: July 22, 2015, 11:22:34 AM »
'Pixels': Film Review 

The Bottom Line
Fun for a bit but overstays its welcome.


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As have modern monsters from Godzilla to Transformers to Team America, these space invaders harbor a particular attraction to architectural landmarks, so the Taj Mahal gets chomped on before their attention turns to London, where the Allies resolve to take a stand. When conventional methods prove ineffective, the portly president commands, "Let the nerds take over!" (apparently unaware that they already have), to the dismay of a macho British commando leader (Sean Bean) and a trigger-happy U.S. admiral (Brian Cox), who don't understand that pixels will withstand a nuke much better than will people.

With the exception of Monaghan, who seems like a beautiful member of some other species amidst this ragtag bunch of comics and slumming character actors, everyone here is doing shtick they've long since mastered, underplaying in Sandler's case, to sometimes mildly amusing effect, and charging ahead like bulls where James and Gad are concerned.

The 3D proves undeniably effective in some of the gaming and attack interludes.
 
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/pixels-film-review-809948


'Pixels' review: Adam Sandler battles video-game space invaders; why won't someone say 'Game Over' to his career?

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I'm sure Dinklage wanted to do something wacky and light in between all his "Game of Thrones" moping about, but showing up here is just embarrassing for us all. (He does get to share a scene with Sean Bean, which is kind of neat.) 
http://www.oregonlive.com/movies/2015/07/pixels_review_adam_sandler_bat.html



Review: 'Pixels' delivers blast of energetic fun when Earth is besieged by extraterrestrials

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"Pixels," directed by Chris Columbus, delivers a blast of energetic fun, though there are no satirical winks at its "Godzilla"-like formula. The novelty of nostalgic video-game characters as space invaders sustains the film, thanks to its spectacularly executed special effects.

While Dinklage shows his comic side with a wild mullet and bizarre accent, Gad is the real standout, giving an effervescently full-bodied performance as the paranoid, passionate Ludlow.

As Sam, Sandler doesn't work up a sweat. At this point, he seems to put in appearances only to get movies financed.

One has to wonder, though, what audience this film aims for. With a broadly humorous, PG-13 tone, it feels like a kids' film. But references to '80s phenomena like "Fantasy Island" and Max Headroom will fall flat with them. And there's quite a bit of "back in the day" grumbling that arcade games were inherently better than today's home video titles.
 




Film Review: ‘Pixels’

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Commercial returns should remain steady even if word-of-mouth reactions fail to rise much above the level of “Well, at least that was better than ‘Grown Ups 2.’” Which “Pixels” probably is, insofar as its highly marketable gaming elements and ostensibly kid-friendly appeal have diluted some of the more offensive aspects of Sandler’s comic signature

 James’ beer-guzzling POTUS is, at the very least, a welcome alternative to Paul Blart, and Dinklage has his usual fun playing a small chap with a big attitude. Gad, who scored a mid-sized hit earlier this year with “The Wedding Ringer,” goes crazily over-the-top as the eccentric nerd-crackpot of the group, standing in sharp contrast to Sandler, who has rarely seemed like such a nonentity onscreen. Over the years, the actor’s delight in playing the egregiously stupid man-child has slowly calcified into laziness bordering on fatigue; where Sandler once exulted in our outrage (and frequently, our laughter), he now seems barely capable of mustering enough effort to carry a scene, let alone advance to level 255 of “Galaga.” There’s no joy left in his shtick.
http://variety.com/2015/film/reviews/pixels-review-adam-sandler-1201541731/


Pixels

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Parents need to know that Pixels is a sci-fi comedy starring Adam Sandler and Kevin James about a group of misfit, sometimes frankly creepy video game lovers who end up fending off an alien attack (in the form of giant classic video game characters). As per usual, Sandler plays an immature man/boy, this time one who never got over losing a video game championship as a kid in the '80s and now gets to redeem himself. There's explosive, destructive action violence -- Pac-Man eats his way through New York City, Centipede takes on Navy SEALs, a smurf gets shot with a laser and killed -- as well as fighting, weapons, and some fairly raunchy (and sometimes offensive) humor. Sexual innuendo includes talk of a three-way (though nothing is shown), and one character slaps others' butts. There's also a fair bit of social drinking by adults and some aggressive yelling and swearing, including "bitch," "sluts," and "s--tballs." Fans of Sandler, James, and gaming may find this Chris Columbus-directed movie entertaining, but it's not for little kids. 
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/pixels#



« Last Edit: July 22, 2015, 12:07:37 PM by patch »

Offline patch

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Re: Pixels reviews
« Reply #1 on: July 23, 2015, 12:11:29 AM »
movie-review-pixels-is-harmless-all-ages-entertainment-but-far-from-picture-perfect

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   Brian Cox and Sean Bean are sorely underutilized as a sourpuss military generals who, God bless them, just want to be in charge and blow stuff up.
 
Like the “average” summer movie fare, Pixels has good stuff and bad stuff.  Like most films that want to be profitable and seen as a “hit” in the eyes of the public, the question must that must be asked is “does the good stuff outweigh the bad stuff?”

Again, I don’t want to come across as harping on the film, because in an “overall” sense, I enjoyed my viewing of it.  Granted, I do fall into one of the categories I mentioned in the first paragraph, but the audience in my sneak preview seemed to enjoy Pixels as well; there were actually multiple instances of the audience clapping as “good” things happened throughout the film, and applause again at the rolling of the credits, something that hasn’t happened a lot at screenings I’ve attended over the last few years.

So, we’re brought back to the question: does the good outweigh the bad in Pixels?  Well, as with most modern entertainment fare, that’s ultimately for you to decide.  The movie won’t be winning any major awards, make no mistake about that – but if the laughter of children (or your own inner kid) and the nostalgic appreciation of the arcade video-game era gone by is what you’re after, then maybe that’s the achievement the film can receive instead.
 
http://nerdbastards.com/2015/07/22/movie-review-pixels-is-harmless-all-ages-entertainment-but-far-from-picture-perfect/


Pixels  (2015)

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 The actors give themselves over to their roles with impressive aplomb, believing in the work they're doing no matter how silly they may have felt while shooting it.
  If "Pixels" doesn't consistently hit its mark and is on a lesser plane than a lot of the well-loved movies it aspires to be like, it is hard to deny the good time it nevertheless conjures. 
http://www.thefilmfile.com/reviews/p/15_pixels.htm



'Pixels' a first-person snoozer 

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It starts with bad acting. As surprising as it may sound, Sandler is far from the worst member of this thespian group. That honor goes to the very talented Dinklage.

This effort by Dinklage shows none of the acting skills he displayed in "The Station Agent" or "Game of Thrones." It's equal parts painful and embarrassing watching him attempt to play a smart-aleck surfer-dude-talking egomaniac. He is just lucky that Josh Gad is around as a reminder that there are actors who can be worse.   
http://www.rep-am.com/entertainment/movies/896500.txt



« Last Edit: July 23, 2015, 12:49:58 AM by patch »

Offline lasue

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Re: Pixels reviews
« Reply #2 on: July 23, 2015, 06:54:35 PM »
So there is a scene with Sean and Peter. Let me guess Sean is a mean jerk in this movie and Peter head butts
him in the  :censored: :censored: :censored: :censored:  :mutley:

Offline kristin724

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Re: Pixels reviews
« Reply #3 on: July 23, 2015, 08:17:23 PM »

I didn't realize this was an Adam Sandler movie.  I didn't even know what some of his most recent films were, but they've all been flops apparently. 

This slideshow review is showing all the worst reviews.  Ouch!

http://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/reviews/adam-sandler%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%98pixels%E2%80%99-gets-crushed-by-critics-here-are-10-of-the-worst-reviews/ar-AAdoQ5l#page=1


Offline galamb

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Re: Pixels reviews
« Reply #4 on: July 26, 2015, 08:31:04 AM »
I was watching the movie last friday, a funny movie, it's very funny see sean and Brian Cox again together, they also together in "Troy", both of them only a few in the movie, when they all go to London, funny movie, that's all

Offline patch

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Re: Pixels reviews
« Reply #5 on: July 30, 2015, 03:12:59 AM »
Pixels (or “This is what happens when we elect Kevin James as President”

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We almost had the entire theater to ourselves. Granted, this was 4:00 in the afternoon on a Monday on a non-holiday weekend. Normal people don’t go to movies at that time, so that’s probably why it was so empty. I had also read a couple reviews that didn’t exactly speak highly of Pixels. Most of them were trying to take this movie waaaaay too seriously.

 Pixels is a movie about classic arcade games coming to life. It is not a serious, mind-blowing type of movie. I really liked it for what it was. It was light-hearted, goofy, over-the-top and all the other things we’ve come to know and love about most Adam Sandler and Kevin James movies. Anyone who thought it was going to be serious in any way, shape, or form should have realized their error when it’s revealed that Kevin James was somehow elected President of the United States. That was all it took to give me permission to really just relax and not judge the movie for any non-believable parts (because there are plenty of those).

I think it was the absolute perfect movie to have in 3D. The cubes (looking very familiar to Whovians) were right in front of my face. I haven’t seen any 3D movies in theaters since I was a kid. I wear glasses and the old 3D paper glasses just didn’t work well for me. Since it’s been a while, I expected there to be a bunch of gag moments where things just shot out at the audience for the heck of it. There was none of that. The 3D was done just right. The video-game-alien-energy things looked real but not real at the same time, if that makes sense. Visually, it was a good movie. Not the best thing ever, but it was  really good.

Some people were upset at the treatment of women in the movie. Those people had some good points. There’s pitifully few female characters and no female gamers. Most of the women in the movie are only there to help a man’s character arc. So this is not a gender equal movie, but, sadly, most movies aren’t. And I really can’t think of a way this movie would have worked if they had changed some of the roles. The main characters absolutely had to be ones that were at a 1982 arcade championship. Most early arcade champions were male. It’s only been within the past 15 to 20 years that girl gamers have been more than just the outsiders. That’s kind of like being mad at Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings for not letting the women take on leadership roles on their own merit; that’s just not historically accurate for the time period being portrayed. But I think the women that get caught up in the battle to save the planet could have been strong characters apart from the men. Did they really need to make the “sexiest Prime Minister” joke?

Overall, I really enjoyed Pixels. It wasn’t genre-redefining, but it wasn’t supposed to be. It’s a fun way to spend a couple of hours, especially if you can see it in theaters. It was well-worth the money. Peter Dinklage as a mulleted cyber-criminal was amazing. And Sean Bean played a hard-ass military man who SPOILER ALERT doesn’t die.
https://notanothernerdblog.wordpress.com/tag/movies/



« Last Edit: July 30, 2015, 03:16:14 AM by patch »

Offline crossing-sweeper

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Re: Pixels reviews
« Reply #6 on: July 30, 2015, 04:21:01 AM »
It sounds as though someone enterprising should put Sean's Pixels moment on youtube - so we can enjoy it without having to sit through the entire movie.

Offline patch

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Re: Pixels reviews
« Reply #7 on: August 14, 2015, 07:06:37 AM »
It sounds as though someone enterprising should put Sean's Pixels moment on youtube - so we can enjoy it without having to sit through the entire movie.


http://seanbeanonline.net/forums/index.php?topic=3687.msg107906#msg107906


Adam Sandler’s Pixels Is The Surprise Of The Summer

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As I sit down to dissect my completely unexpected feelings about the new Adam Sandler movie Pixels, I click over to the flick’s imdb page for reference and I see that it’s currently rating a piddling 5.3 on the site. There are already listicles circulating that compile its most hilariously scathing reviews into handy self-contained links, and there’s a ten-minute dissection of its alleged suckitude on YouTube currently heading towards the two million hit mark. I get it: the world has decided that Pixels is this summer’s kah-beuhm of a critical and commercial disaster.

 It’s not…okay, the sentence “it’s not a perfect film” felt wrong even as I was typing it, and I hope I haven’t led anyone to think that’s where I’m going with all this. Flaws abound, I’ll readily admit. A simple google search would have nullified a few dozen anachronistic 80’s references. A comic post-battle beat featuring Sean Bean and Brian Cox is a hackneyed throwback. And Josh Gad (seriously, Sony, take the dollar!) wears out his welcome more with each scene without a satisfactory payoff.



But Pixels succeeds against the odds. It manages to be both enjoyable spectacle, vicarious wish-fulfilment and frothy fun, while setting sly comic actors careening off each other in interesting ways. By those standards, considering how few summer hits succeed at any one of those goals, it’s a howling success.
 
http://www.needtoconsume.com/film/adam-sandlers-pixels-surprise-summer/