From 94882c90e19b1c93739e306fec547b7c3d193cfa Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Campbell Alden Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2022 17:43:03 +0900 Subject: [PATCH] PUBLISH: Now You See Me --- content/reviews/now-you-see-me.md | 49 ++++ docs/genres/action/index.html | 4 +- docs/genres/adventure/index.html | 4 +- docs/genres/comedy/index.html | 8 +- docs/genres/crime/index.html | 29 +- docs/genres/crime/index.xml | 11 +- docs/genres/drama/index.html | 6 +- docs/genres/index.html | 315 +++++++++++++++------- docs/genres/index.xml | 38 ++- docs/genres/mystery/index.html | 87 ++++++ docs/genres/mystery/index.xml | 20 ++ docs/genres/romance/index.html | 4 +- docs/genres/thriller/index.html | 87 ++++++ docs/genres/thriller/index.xml | 20 ++ docs/index.html | 43 ++- docs/index.xml | 11 +- docs/reviews/beverly-hills-cop/index.html | 2 +- docs/reviews/holes/index.html | 2 +- docs/reviews/index.xml | 11 +- docs/reviews/now-you-see-me/index.html | 131 +++++++++ docs/sitemap.xml | 33 ++- docs/style.css | 4 - 22 files changed, 765 insertions(+), 154 deletions(-) create mode 100644 content/reviews/now-you-see-me.md create mode 100644 docs/genres/mystery/index.html create mode 100644 docs/genres/mystery/index.xml create mode 100644 docs/genres/thriller/index.html create mode 100644 docs/genres/thriller/index.xml create mode 100644 docs/reviews/now-you-see-me/index.html diff --git a/content/reviews/now-you-see-me.md b/content/reviews/now-you-see-me.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cfeec0f --- /dev/null +++ b/content/reviews/now-you-see-me.md @@ -0,0 +1,49 @@ +--- +title: Now You See Me +date: 2022-09-11T20:43:17+09:00 +favorite: true +rating: 4 +imdb: 7.2 +image: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTY0NDY3MDMxN15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwOTM5NzMzOQ@@._V1_SX800.webp +summary: Four magicians are united by an unknown benefactor to pull off a series of heists +quick_look: A clever plot and many actual magic tricks make this movie an enjoyable romp. I would recommend it to most people due to the broad appeal of the [illusions](https://youtu.be/X1WSH0VzoaM) and especially to people that like crime movies. +genres: + - Crime + - Mystery + - Thriller +--- +## Recommendation +I have seen _Now You See Me_ many times and still haven't gotten bored of it. At a base level, it is a fun crime movie with lots of twists and turns. Layered on top of that, the filmmakers put a lot of effort into making the magic tricks they depict realistic. Even if you ignore the plot, there is all the entertainment of a regular magic show. + +I would definitely recommend this movie if you are a fan of the crime or mystery genres. The characters are punchy and the plot keeps you guessing. I will say the movie takes a step down in my estimation after the first watch because the twists are what make the movie most engaging, but that shouldn't stop you from checking it out at least once. + +I marked this as a **favorite** because I keep coming back to it. When I first saw it I think it influenced me to start learning magic at an embarrassingly old age (already in college) just because of that opening scene. The magic in the movie alone is enough to get a recommendation out of me, but I'm also a sucker for mystery/crime films. + +## Thoughts +Spoilers ahead... + +### Feasibility of Tricks +One thing I paid closer attention to on my most recent rewatch was how many of the tricks are "possible" and how much of it is made up. Apart from the Mentalism stuff, I think most of the tricks in the movie are actually more possible than I initially imagined. + +The opening sequence of the film shows a trick directed at the audience, which is a great way to both introduce the film's gimmick while at the same time drawing in the viewers. I know how the trick works, and it's harder to pull off when you don't have specific camera angles, but needless to say it is something you can do in real life. + +I had written off the scene where the horsemen are first gathered in the apartment and Henley [puts a rose in a pitcher](https://youtu.be/GSQpio_F0Vc?t=45) as CGI, but I think that trick is possible too. It is done with CGI in the film, but I think this could be achieved with a similar mechanism as a [Pythagorean Cup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagorean_cup) if one were to attempt this in real life. + +The whole point of Thaddeus Bradley's character is to explain how some of the tricks work after the fact, which proves the plausibility of those tricks explicitly. However, there's an added layer to the movie in that even the tricks that are not explicitly explained are still possible from what I can tell. + +I think it would be fair to guess that everything, aside from the Mentalism, could actually be pulled off by sufficiently talented and prepared magicians in real life. It is sort of a fun exercise to try to work out the tricks that the movie leaves unexplained. + +### Impractical Heists +My only major issue with the film's execution is that I don't think the heists would have any lasting impact. Each heist has a specific person or entity that it is targeting, but I have some doubts about if the goal of hurting each of them would be achieved in the long run. + +In the first heist, all of the money is shot into the theater which would've been difficult to track down afterwards since it's unlikely the police would've been called in immediately for what appears to be a magic act. Even so, it seems unlikely that nothing would've been recovered by the police. + +Admittedly, the first heist is the most likely to have worked long term, but there would've been enough evidence linking them to the actual crime to at least hold them under suspicion. That would've put a halt to the remaining heists if nothing else. + +The second heist is by far the one that would be the easiest to undo. Unless the horsemen did something serious to cover their paper trail, the banks would have a pretty easy job of tracking down the transfers and undoing them. Even if we give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they did bounce the money between 15 bank accounts before each final transfer, people have their accounts hacked all the time and there are safeguards in place to prevent exactly what happened in the second heist. + +In all likelihood the bank would've frozen the account after the first or second massive transfer. The transfers also would likely be put on hold just out of protocol and would not have cleared immediately. + +The third heist seems straightforward enough, but the point of it was to frame Thaddeus Bradley. To do this, they fill his car with all the money they've stolen, but it's so stuffed-full that it is literally exploding out of all the windows and doors. It's done in such a ridiculous way that it's clear he couldn't actually be responsible. There'd be no possible way of escaping from the scene of the crime with his car in that condition. + +In summation, they would've been stopped in their tracks after the first heist. If they _magically_ did get out of jail after the first heist, the second heist would've been reversed or impossible even with the security questions. Finally, they wouldn't have succeeded in framing Thaddeus in the way they went about it. At the end of the day only the bank in France is likely to feel the lasting effects of what they did and that's only if it doesn't have insurance. \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/docs/genres/action/index.html b/docs/genres/action/index.html index 52ce21e..5e97a8e 100644 --- a/docs/genres/action/index.html +++ b/docs/genres/action/index.html @@ -58,7 +58,7 @@

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A secret British spy agency unravels a billionaire’s evil plot
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The French Dispatch

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diff --git a/docs/genres/index.xml b/docs/genres/index.xml index 7830fb2..dd9421c 100644 --- a/docs/genres/index.xml +++ b/docs/genres/index.xml @@ -6,7 +6,34 @@ Recent content in Genres on CaAlden: Films Hugo -- gohugo.io en-us - Wed, 07 Sep 2022 15:34:14 +0900 + Sun, 11 Sep 2022 20:43:17 +0900 + + Crime + https://caalden.github.io/film/genres/crime/ + Sun, 11 Sep 2022 20:43:17 +0900 + + https://caalden.github.io/film/genres/crime/ + + + + + Mystery + https://caalden.github.io/film/genres/mystery/ + Sun, 11 Sep 2022 20:43:17 +0900 + + https://caalden.github.io/film/genres/mystery/ + + + + + Thriller + https://caalden.github.io/film/genres/thriller/ + Sun, 11 Sep 2022 20:43:17 +0900 + + https://caalden.github.io/film/genres/thriller/ + + + Action https://caalden.github.io/film/genres/action/ @@ -25,15 +52,6 @@ - - Crime - https://caalden.github.io/film/genres/crime/ - Wed, 07 Sep 2022 15:34:14 +0900 - - https://caalden.github.io/film/genres/crime/ - - - Adventure https://caalden.github.io/film/genres/adventure/ diff --git a/docs/genres/mystery/index.html b/docs/genres/mystery/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2c6d434 --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/genres/mystery/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,87 @@ + + + Mystery + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
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CaAlden: Films

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Now You See Me

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Four magicians are united by an unknown benefactor to pull off a series of heists
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Authors for a New Yorker-esque magazine report on a small town in France
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CaAlden: Films

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Now You See Me

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diff --git a/docs/index.xml b/docs/index.xml index 8024a8b..7e11a58 100644 --- a/docs/index.xml +++ b/docs/index.xml @@ -6,7 +6,16 @@ Recent content on CaAlden: Films Hugo -- gohugo.io en-us - Wed, 07 Sep 2022 15:34:14 +0900 + Sun, 11 Sep 2022 20:43:17 +0900 + + Now You See Me + https://caalden.github.io/film/reviews/now-you-see-me/ + Sun, 11 Sep 2022 20:43:17 +0900 + + https://caalden.github.io/film/reviews/now-you-see-me/ + Four magicians are united by an unknown benefactor to pull off a series of heists + + Beverly Hills Cop https://caalden.github.io/film/reviews/beverly-hills-cop/ diff --git a/docs/reviews/beverly-hills-cop/index.html b/docs/reviews/beverly-hills-cop/index.html index 6acec1d..ad7671c 100644 --- a/docs/reviews/beverly-hills-cop/index.html +++ b/docs/reviews/beverly-hills-cop/index.html @@ -89,7 +89,7 @@

- This is a good example of an 80's police action movie. The incompetent by-the-books cops and cartoonish villains keep the story funny and fast paced and juxtapose well with the loose cannon protagonist. + This is a good example of an 80’s police action movie. The incompetent by-the-books cops and cartoonish villains keep the story funny and fast paced and juxtapose well with the loose cannon protagonist.

diff --git a/docs/reviews/holes/index.html b/docs/reviews/holes/index.html index a2f1aa4..118a64e 100644 --- a/docs/reviews/holes/index.html +++ b/docs/reviews/holes/index.html @@ -94,7 +94,7 @@

- With a compelling story and a fun blending of historical western style and modern penal servitude, this has become an iconic example of a young adult film from the early 2000s. I saw this movie uncountably many times as a child, but I'm afraid it would be only nostalgia that could elevate this movie beyond a middling review from me. + With a compelling story and a fun blending of historical western style and modern penal servitude, this has become an iconic example of a young adult film from the early 2000s. I saw this movie uncountably many times as a child, but I’m afraid it would be only nostalgia that could elevate this movie beyond a middling review from me.

diff --git a/docs/reviews/index.xml b/docs/reviews/index.xml index eba1afe..27b69e8 100644 --- a/docs/reviews/index.xml +++ b/docs/reviews/index.xml @@ -6,7 +6,16 @@ Recent content in Reviews on CaAlden: Films Hugo -- gohugo.io en-us - Wed, 07 Sep 2022 15:34:14 +0900 + Sun, 11 Sep 2022 20:43:17 +0900 + + Now You See Me + https://caalden.github.io/film/reviews/now-you-see-me/ + Sun, 11 Sep 2022 20:43:17 +0900 + + https://caalden.github.io/film/reviews/now-you-see-me/ + Four magicians are united by an unknown benefactor to pull off a series of heists + + Beverly Hills Cop https://caalden.github.io/film/reviews/beverly-hills-cop/ diff --git a/docs/reviews/now-you-see-me/index.html b/docs/reviews/now-you-see-me/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6e8c523 --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/reviews/now-you-see-me/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,131 @@ + + + Now You See Me + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
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CaAlden: Films

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Now You See Me

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August 11, 2022

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+ Quick Look +

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+ Rating + 4/5 +
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+ Genre +
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+ A clever plot and many actual magic tricks make this movie an enjoyable romp. I would recommend it to most people due to the broad appeal of the illusions and especially to people that like crime movies. +

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Recommendation

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I have seen Now You See Me many times and still haven’t gotten bored of it. At a base level, it is a fun crime movie with lots of twists and turns. Layered on top of that, the filmmakers put a lot of effort into making the magic tricks they depict realistic. Even if you ignore the plot, there is all the entertainment of a regular magic show.

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I would definitely recommend this movie if you are a fan of the crime or mystery genres. The characters are punchy and the plot keeps you guessing. I will say the movie takes a step down in my estimation after the first watch because the twists are what make the movie most engaging, but that shouldn’t stop you from checking it out at least once.

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I marked this as a favorite because I keep coming back to it. When I first saw it I think it influenced me to start learning magic at an embarrassingly old age (already in college) just because of that opening scene. The magic in the movie alone is enough to get a recommendation out of me, but I’m also a sucker for mystery/crime films.

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Thoughts

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Spoilers ahead…

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Feasibility of Tricks

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One thing I paid closer attention to on my most recent rewatch was how many of the tricks are “possible” and how much of it is made up. Apart from the Mentalism stuff, I think most of the tricks in the movie are actually more possible than I initially imagined.

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The opening sequence of the film shows a trick directed at the audience, which is a great way to both introduce the film’s gimmick while at the same time drawing in the viewers. I know how the trick works, and it’s harder to pull off when you don’t have specific camera angles, but needless to say it is something you can do in real life.

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I had written off the scene where the horsemen are first gathered in the apartment and Henley puts a rose in a pitcher as CGI, but I think that trick is possible too. It is done with CGI in the film, but I think this could be achieved with a similar mechanism as a Pythagorean Cup if one were to attempt this in real life.

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The whole point of Thaddeus Bradley’s character is to explain how some of the tricks work after the fact, which proves the plausibility of those tricks explicitly. However, there’s an added layer to the movie in that even the tricks that are not explicitly explained are still possible from what I can tell.

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I think it would be fair to guess that everything, aside from the Mentalism, could actually be pulled off by sufficiently talented and prepared magicians in real life. It is sort of a fun exercise to try to work out the tricks that the movie leaves unexplained.

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Impractical Heists

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My only major issue with the film’s execution is that I don’t think the heists would have any lasting impact. Each heist has a specific person or entity that it is targeting, but I have some doubts about if the goal of hurting each of them would be achieved in the long run.

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In the first heist, all of the money is shot into the theater which would’ve been difficult to track down afterwards since it’s unlikely the police would’ve been called in immediately for what appears to be a magic act. Even so, it seems unlikely that nothing would’ve been recovered by the police.

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Admittedly, the first heist is the most likely to have worked long term, but there would’ve been enough evidence linking them to the actual crime to at least hold them under suspicion. That would’ve put a halt to the remaining heists if nothing else.

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The second heist is by far the one that would be the easiest to undo. Unless the horsemen did something serious to cover their paper trail, the banks would have a pretty easy job of tracking down the transfers and undoing them. Even if we give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they did bounce the money between 15 bank accounts before each final transfer, people have their accounts hacked all the time and there are safeguards in place to prevent exactly what happened in the second heist.

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In all likelihood the bank would’ve frozen the account after the first or second massive transfer. The transfers also would likely be put on hold just out of protocol and would not have cleared immediately.

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The third heist seems straightforward enough, but the point of it was to frame Thaddeus Bradley. To do this, they fill his car with all the money they’ve stolen, but it’s so stuffed-full that it is literally exploding out of all the windows and doors. It’s done in such a ridiculous way that it’s clear he couldn’t actually be responsible. There’d be no possible way of escaping from the scene of the crime with his car in that condition.

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In summation, they would’ve been stopped in their tracks after the first heist. If they magically did get out of jail after the first heist, the second heist would’ve been reversed or impossible even with the security questions. Finally, they wouldn’t have succeeded in framing Thaddeus in the way they went about it. At the end of the day only the bank in France is likely to feel the lasting effects of what they did and that’s only if it doesn’t have insurance.

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+ + diff --git a/docs/sitemap.xml b/docs/sitemap.xml index ac18d45..ae18a8e 100644 --- a/docs/sitemap.xml +++ b/docs/sitemap.xml @@ -2,26 +2,35 @@ + https://caalden.github.io/film/ + 2022-09-11T20:43:17+09:00 + + https://caalden.github.io/film/genres/crime/ + 2022-09-11T20:43:17+09:00 + + https://caalden.github.io/film/genres/ + 2022-09-11T20:43:17+09:00 + + https://caalden.github.io/film/genres/mystery/ + 2022-09-11T20:43:17+09:00 + + https://caalden.github.io/film/reviews/now-you-see-me/ + 2022-09-11T20:43:17+09:00 + + https://caalden.github.io/film/reviews/ + 2022-09-11T20:43:17+09:00 + + https://caalden.github.io/film/genres/thriller/ + 2022-09-11T20:43:17+09:00 + https://caalden.github.io/film/genres/action/ 2022-09-07T15:34:14+09:00 https://caalden.github.io/film/reviews/beverly-hills-cop/ 2022-09-07T15:34:14+09:00 - - https://caalden.github.io/film/ - 2022-09-07T15:34:14+09:00 https://caalden.github.io/film/genres/comedy/ 2022-09-07T15:34:14+09:00 - - https://caalden.github.io/film/genres/crime/ - 2022-09-07T15:34:14+09:00 - - https://caalden.github.io/film/genres/ - 2022-09-07T15:34:14+09:00 - - https://caalden.github.io/film/reviews/ - 2022-09-07T15:34:14+09:00 https://caalden.github.io/film/genres/adventure/ 2022-09-02T17:54:55+09:00 diff --git a/docs/style.css b/docs/style.css index 413636c..cb2b4f3 100644 --- a/docs/style.css +++ b/docs/style.css @@ -71,10 +71,6 @@ html, body, p, section, header, article { letter-spacing: var(--body-font-letter-spacing); } -p { - text-align: justify; -} - .text-align\:center { text-align: center !important; }