The [Official] Movie Review Thread

[Ambiguous Turd]

Just watched this yesterday and thought it was incredible. And where as I did not have the huge problems with Saw 5 that a lot of people had (wasn't the best one granted), but I thought 6 was a lot better. The film just had a completely different feel to it.

I thought that the mother and her son actually being the family of the victim of the Health Insurance Executive, as opposed to being his own family, was a nice twist. And they got their revenge in being able to determine his fate, while the guy's sister (reporter) watched the death of her brother.

However, regarding the second twist with Jill turning on Hoffman ... I did see that one coming a mile away and really was no surprise. I suppose we are to interpret that his "test" was the way he treated all of the victims that he brought in from Day One, and that Jigsaw was observing the way he brutalized them. Therefore, I suppose he "failed" that test and therefore had to suffer the consequences at the end of the film. Being that there was no way out and nor was he provided any instructions on how to survive by Jigsaw or Jill, I can only assume that he was actually meant to simply die. But, he got away and will likely stalk Jill if they do another one (likely).

I also thought that Agent Perez being alive was another huge twist. The look of shock on Hoffman's face was priceless.

The scene at the police headquarters where they were deciphering the audio on the Jigsaw (Hoffman's) tape where it was actually Hoffman's voice on the tape was extremely tense. So as far as we know in this scene, he killed the only people that knew he was the killer, other than Jill.

Anxious to hear thoughts on this.

 

[The Rob]

Rob's Review of Michael Jackson's "This Is It".​

When this film was announced, I knew it would be worth watching. However what I wasen't so sure about was whether it would be any good or not. Thankfully, it is. It's absolutely brilliant! It's more than a simple documentary that I thought it was going to be, it was practically the entire gig played out before your eyes. Of course there a number of moments that have documentary style features, such as backstage footage, segment shooting and some audition footage for the backing dancers, but apart from that, it was all about the music.

The newer, updated versions of MJ's tracks were very refreshing, it showed that he was trying to bring his music into the 21st century. Some of the backing dancers were fucking insanely good, some of the stuff they were doing was out of this world! But the thing that impressed me the most, through-out the entire film, was watching MJ doing stuff that he could do 20 years previously. Obviously, he ain't gunna be doing stuff that the 25 year old backing dancers were doing, but for a 50 year old man, that man could dance!

Michael Jackson's "This Is It" is a great celebration of him as a performer. The film didn't so much as make a single reference to his personal life, it was all about the show at hand. It was heartwarming, it was inspiring, it was absolutely brilliant! It's definatly worth seeing, I'm just glad I saw it on release day. Plus now I have the new album in my possession.

As far as documentary's go, this was one of the very best I have ever seen. Infact, this is one of my favourite films of the year. I might go and see it again sometime this week.

9/10!​

 

[byrnside]

This one's for XFear and INDYJon..

I'm not sure how the movie review thread works really. But just let it be known, if you haven't seen this movie, this review does have spoilers!

First off, I hadn't seen this movie since it was probably in theaters. I've been a huge fan of the first Scream for years, and on Halloween watched it for the first time in a few years. What a great movie to set the mood on Halloween. Anyways, today in the bar room XFear, INDYJon and I were discussing the movies, and X had to stop me before he had to move this post here. For some reason I was never as big a fan of the sequel as I was the original. Granted, I hadn't seen Scream 2 since it was in theaters, I decided it was time to give it another try. Anywho, on to the review. Oh, and by the way, this is my first attempt at a written movie review, so try not to tear me to shreds.

Scream 2
Directed by Wes Craven.

For us horror movie fans, Wes Craven is one of the best. I'll assume if you're reading this, you've probably seen Scream. It was so cool for me to watch this after so long because A.) I couldn't remember how it ended, and B.) There were so many stars in this movie that, at the time, were up and coming, and basically nobodies, but I'll get to that.

The story opens at, what I'm assuming, is the premier of the film version of Gale Weathers' (Courtney Cox) book. In typical Scream fashion, the movie starts off with a bang as two unsuspecting college kids, ("Impostor" Willie Mays Hayes and Mrs. Will Smith) get sliced and diced in the first 10 minutes. Omar Epps takes a knife in the head, through what may in fact have been a glory hole in a movie theater bathroom stall. Meanwhile, the movie is reenacting the opening scene of the original movie starring Heather Grahm, who is playing Drew Berrymore [I know it's confusing], as Jada Pinkett gets the axe.. err.. knife in the middle of the open theater. The killer came back and sat next to Niobi wearing her boyfriend's jacket and a ghost face mask. This was so cool because everyone in the theater was given a complimentary ghost face costume. So anyone could've potentially done it. The other kids in the audience, thinking it was a publicity stunt for the movie, were cheering and clapping as Jada Pinkett over acted her way to her inevitable death. Brilliant.

Cue intro.

So we're back to "real life" and our original, surviving heroes Sidney (Neve Campbell) and Randy (Jamie Kennedy) have resumed their lives as college students after all of their friends were brutally gutted and slaughtered a year ago. Who needs old friends, when you've got new ones. Neve has a new boyfriend in the fat kid from Stand By Me, Randy is in class with a Hitman (Timothy Olyphant), Charlie Conway, and a blonde vampire slayer.. the TV one, not the movie one.. Sarah Michelle Gellar if you're still not with me. Is anyone else noticing any similarities between mine and KB's writing at this point? Weird.

So this flick continues on with the "who dunnit?" feel that the first one had, and Wes is truly a master at it. At any given point I suspected the boyfriend, the drama teacher, Sidney's roommate, Sidney's ex nemesis Cotton Weary (Liev Schrieber), every remaining cast member from the original movie, and probably a handful of others.

The movie goes on with some brutal slashings and I loved every one. I'm kind of sick like that.

In classic Scream fashion Buffy gets a call when she's home alone playing the on-call DD for the local sorority. I'm a little upset that she's offended by our mystery man and doesn't give us her favorite scary movie. After a nice little chase scene, Buffy gets stabbed and thrown from the roof of the sorority house. After Sarah bit the dust, the local parties go to check out the scene.. Quote of the movie, Soroity Girl 1 on her way to check out the crime scene: "I should've brought my drink."

Later, everyone's favorite survivor, and the comic reliever, Randy tells us his favorite scary movie is "Showgirls" right before he gets pulled into a van and sliced.

At one point in the movie, something I thought was really cool was, we get a news clip that features a clip from the now hit movie "Stab" featuring a... young? Luke Wilson as the original killer Billy... Originally played by Skeet Ulrich.

In a tense moment Sidney's detective body guards are driving her and her roommate to safety when ghost face pops up as the car is stopped at a red light. He smashes the driver's side window and slices up the driver. The detective on the passenger side gets out of the car sans gun and gets run over in a pretty decent, I'll call it a "car chase," by the driver, who is now ghost face. The best part of this scene is that our heroine and her sidekick are trapped in the back seat of a cop car, with our killer unconscious in the front. Sidney has to pry back the mesh cage separating good from evil and climb over the killer to get to safety. Her sidekick has a little more trouble with this, but finally manages to get out. Sidney halts the getaway to see who the killer is.. Who wouldn't? She goes back and ghost face has vanished.. But wait! he reappears quickly on the other side of the street almost a block down and takes out the sidekick.

Meanwhile, back on campus, Sidney's TOMCAT boyfriend is going through some friendly fraternity hazing and is being crucified while having booze sprayed on him. Maybe I should've joined a frat afterall? I could've sworn I was gonna get a sex scene here as sorority girl 1, in this case Rebecca Gayheart, [man is she hot] kinda gives Jerry the eye. Damn, didn't get the sex scene.

In another pretty sweet chase scene, Former WCW champion David Arquette is investigating the killer with Monica Gellar aka Melissa Robinson [Ace Ventura, just in case some of you didn't catch that] aka Alex Keaton's girlfriend on Family Ties, and we get our chase scene ending when the former champ gets knifed while his girlfriend watches through a soundproof glass window.

At some point Sidney has made her way back on campus and stumbles into the theater where she's been practicing a play. As her boyfriend descends in a drunken stupor from the rafters, we're finally get our mystery man's indentity... And it's.... our career villain in Timothy Olyphant! Never saw that coming. OK, I did, but maybe I was subconsciously remembering it from the theater back in the day. He says he's crazy just like Billy, his mentor, but he had to have help from Jerry O'Connel.. Op, no he didn't and Jerry takes a bullet to the chest. We get the motive here, and it's all Hollywood's fault we're brutally slicing people! Right about this time Olyphant says he did have a partner afterall and it's... Aunt Jackie from Roseanne! who now has Courtney Cox held hostage at gun point. Jackie turns out is the local journalist who got ignored who also happens to be Billy's mother. She wants revenge. She says Olyphant's motive is garbage and she shoots him. Every boy needs a mother. I can't help but notice homage to Norman Bates and Mrs. Vorhees at this point maybe. We get a little scuffle here as Courtney Cox takes a bullet in the side and falls off the stage into the by product of a fog machine. Now the cat fight is one on one until eventually Laurie Metcalf [Aunt Jackie] has a knife to Sidney's throat as Liev is in to save the day! ..or is he? He's kind of acting a little loopy here and Sidney's unsure of her fate... Cotton, aka Liev, fires off a round and both chicks are down.. Sidney is moving first so we're too assume Metcalf is done. Just then we get a quick you-scared-the-shit-out-of-me moment as Courtney Cox pops up from the fog below. They're staring at Aunt Jackie with guns drawn like they know she's gonna pop up and it's Olyphant who's back up out of left field.. They each unload a clip and the Hitman is done. An extra bullet for the voice of Andy from Toy Story's mom, and she is officially done too.

Our survivors are now walking off into the sunset so to speak.. Oh yeah, David Arquette survived another murder attempt due to the scar tissue from the last one. Nice. Hopefully this time he'll actually get laid by Courtney.

Don't let the silly review fool you. Hopefully you could keep up with my references to the other characters the actors have played as I could see it getting a little confusing in there.

Overall, if I were to rate this movie, I'll say out of 10 stars, I'd give it a 6. In my book that means it was good, but not as good as the original. I thought this was missing a few too many of the classic Scream phone calls. I mean they were there, but they just weren't as good for some reason.

I love these slasher movies and not many can do it better than Wes Craven. This trilogy has a lot less of a cheese factor I find, and while I like that, I like my fair of cheese as well. Let me know what you guys think if you get a chance. If you guys like it, I might do some more in my free time.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

It's worthless having more end of the year threads when you can fit all of the movie stuff in one unsuccessful thread.

One thing I've noticed this year is how many long films there have been. Harry Potter, Watchmen, Transformers, Inglourious Basterds, Benjamin Button, Public Enemies etc. Out of all the ones I've seen most could've been made better by making them shorter.

Performance of the year for me is Sam Rockwell in Moon. I would go for an easy option like Christoph Waltz, but really, he's nowhere near as entertaining as Brad Pitt in Basterds.

My favorite scene of the year was the montage in Up. That shit nearly made me cry.

Coincidentally I've also seen 50 new films in 2009. That's 50 if I don't include some re-releases, the films I fell asleep during and the ones I purposely didn't watch so this stayed at a top 50. I thank Empire for doing a list of all the films that came out (in the UK) IN 2009.

1. Harry Brown - OAP killin' spree
2. Up - Crap title
3. Inglourious Basterds - Better on a 2nd viewing
4. Let The Right On In - #1 Swedish film of the year
5. Zombieland - Cameo of the year
6. The Wrestler - The only drama most wrestling fans have ever seen.
7. Moon - Would've been better with David Bowie in the starring role
8. Crank 2: High Voltage - Like Crank
9. Star Trek - Zoe Saldana is a future ex Mrs. Y 2 Jake
10. Le Donk & Scor-Zay-Zee - If only other films were this short
11. Tyson - Everyones favorite rapist
12. Bronson - Not the Death Wish guy.
13. Role Models - Like myself
14. The Hangover - Moderatley amusing
15. JCVD - Not as good as Timecop
16. The Damned United - Better than a Port Vale match
17. Watchmen - Great opening titles/Worst individual scene of the year.
18. Sex Drive - I don't remember a thing about this film.
19. Aliens In The Attic - They're mostly on the roof.
20. Race To Witch Mountain - I forget what was at Witch Mountain
21. Night At The Museum 2 - Like the 1st, but with more exhibits.
22. Bolt - Better than Lassie
23. Bruno - Ich a bit rubbish
24. GI Joe: The Rise Of Cobra - Entertaining, like watching ******s play sports
25. 12 Rounds - Confirmed, Cena made of mahogany.
26. Terminator: Salvation - A tribute to the good Terminator films.
27. Transformers - Under the scrotum of the original.
28. Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince - Like all the others, but with more comedy and teenage romance.
29. Coraline - More Neil Gaiman films needed.
30. Doghouse - ''Calm down, you sound like a dolphin''
31. Awaydays - A high placing for such a shit film.
32. Slumdog Millionaire - Crank 2 was robbed.
33. Martyrs - French gubbins.
34. The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button - Why the fuck did he turn into a baby at the end?
35. Anvil: The Story Of Anvil - Only like Spinal Tap if you're a lazy journalist.
36. In The Loop - Out of the loop.
37. Public Enemies - Christian Bale wankness
38. X-Men Origins: Wolverine - Better than X-3
39. Lesbian Vampire Killers - Not really
40. Observe & Report - D-
41. Punisher: War Zone - Needs some Dolph
42. Clubbed - Utter wank
43. Tormented - Impulse buy.
44. Colin - Cost £45 too much.
45. My Bloody Valentine 3D - Shit in all dimensions.
46. Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist - A bit long.
47. Outlander - Not about gypsies.
48. Push - ed to the back of my DVD shelf.
49. The Unborn - Stillborn.
50. Seven Pounds - Of shit.

 

[Mantaur Rodeo Clown]

My favorite scene of the year was the montage in Up. That shit nearly made me cry.

Truer words have never been spoke. You try telling me that computer generated images don't have feelings or dreams. They sure as hell do, and that montage was one of the most heart wrenching things in cinema this year.

Great review list. Some truly shitastic films were released this year. Kudos Hollywood!

 

[Krundell]

RocknRolla.

If you love Comedy with a twist of voilence then this is perfect. this is my perfect film. It's done in the typical Guy Ritchie direction.

Its done in the same style as Lock, Stock and two smoking barrels. which i also recommend. It basically follows the story of the Wild Bunch thrown in with a couple other groups and chuck in some guns and blood with lots of money. and you have yourself a movie.

this movie made me laugh, cringe and think through the whole thing. overall id give it a 5/5

 

[Dave]

I have decided to do a film that I recently went to the cinema to see.

Public Opinion: I have no idea why people are not talking about this movie more. It really does have a great premise for a movie. However, before I seen it, I had literally viewed no ads for it or had even heard it mentioned in a serious tone. However, on the good word of one of my friends, I toddled along to go and see what could have been anything. I had no idea what it was about and I had no idea who was in it. So I was pleasantly surprised by finding out that it was Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx who were in it. Usually, I am not the biggest fan of Foxx but he did well in this movie. More on that to come though. It is important to note that I viewed this movie a little after it came out and the the cinema was basically empty. Shame really because people do not have a clue about how much they are missing.

Plot: It is important to note that this part of the review contains spoilers. Now, as I say, this movie could have been about anything and I was generally surprised to see that within the first 10 minutes, he has been stabbed and made to watch the brutal murders of his wife and daughter. It is an epic start and immediately engulf you in the story that is just so amazing. The court case that follows is an absolute sham. The person who carried out the murders confesses to murder in the third degree and in exchange for a confession against his accomplice (who did nothing) gets limited jail time. His accomplice, on the other hand, gets the death penalty and this is when things begin to get very interesting. I wont spoil the movie for you because I would not do it justice but soon enough, everyone involved in the court case that convicted the wrong man begin to die. With Gerard Butler's character in jail for contempt of court and no solid evidence linking him to the crimes, how can it be him that is carrying out murders from behind bars?

This is a great psychological thriller that makes us think about the judicial system as a whole. The real enemy in this movie is injustice and you cannot help but feel attached to the cause. This is a great premise for a story and I will urge you go and check it out.

Cast: The cast are pretty good, if I am honest. I have already said something about Jamie Foxx but I do think that he did a good job, in all honesty. He worked off of Gerard Butler well and the two seemed to have good chemistry that meant I could get into it well. He played his character well and I believed it, which is important. Butler though, was fantastic. Apart from the attempt at doing an American accent from a man more Scottish than I, it was amazing. Trust me, this movie is brilliant and it's cast make it so.

Rating: 10/10

Go and see it...​

 

[lenguy]

The rush of battle if often a potent and lethal addiction, for war is a drug-Chris Hedgers....Opening line of the film


Now i dont know how to do a professional review, but i will do my review.

Hands down one of the best films i have seen in a very long time. The plot is simple, all in a days hard work. The story centers around one Sargent William James and his squad mates, James defuses bombs for a living. Its a job the requires bravery, guts and a clear head. Every time he puts on that suit and goes out there, its life or death, one wrong move and thats it, game over. But lucky for james, he knows exactly what hes getting into and loves every minute of it.

The movie builds around immense suspension and at times great tension and at times can be heart racing. This movie is chopped full of moments like this. While i wont get into it to much. I have to say if you have not seen this movie, go out and rent it right now! It will leave you intrigued and even a little shaken after. Its showcases amazing and talented cast with a very emotional run and has some fantastic action sequences. Its hard to imagine the pressure these people are under when preforming a task such as that. But Sargent James seems to live in the moment of it all. Spellbinding A 5 Star movie, worth every minute.

 

[a0161613]

Avatar:

9.9/10

The length kills it. This is the only negative in my (tired) eyes.

A wonderful epic film that shows exactly how good Cameron is. The scale of the story is awesome, it looks awe-mazing in 3D and the story is good enough for you to buy into it.

But after nearly three hours I was painfully uncomfortable. It is at least 20 mins too long. It could have been made into two films easily (there was a clearly defined point about two hours in by which point I would have been happy to pay again later to watch the rest.)

The effort and love put into this film really comes through and there was so much left out that there could be a wonderful prequel (Similar to District 9 in that you get put straight in the middle of this huge story). The film absolutely comes to life in front of you and showed how 3D should absolutely be the future of film making. (I never bought into it until now.)

Sam Worthington is going to be a star too. I thought he put in a stunning shift as you could really accept his character development. And I would not be surprised if it won a few Oscars in the graphics/effects department too, like I said the 3D was jaw-dropping.

 

[Phoenix]

Just came back from seeing this film, chosen to see this above Sherlock Holmes because the premise and casting looked appealing, and I was not disappointed. Now this film will easily get overlooked due to Avatar and Sherlock Holmes being out, but I seriously give this film a recommendation purely because it gives more than what you would expect.

This is set in a post apocalyptic world and this situation in the film reminded me so much of Fallout 3, it was quite uncanny. Basically the main character Eli (Denzel Washington, perfectly casted) is going through the World with only one goal in mind, to head West. Why? Nobody knows, What will he do when he gets there? Nobody knows, How does he survive in this environment? He kills a cat (and no I'm not joking). The introduction and establishment of Eli is perfectly done, nothing is rushed, nothing is forced and nothing too much is given away and the first ten minutes works effectively without dialogue, it allows you to take everything in regarding the situation he's in, how he survives and what his motivations are whilst coping with the other rogue gangs and surviving members of society along the way

Eventually Eli runs into a town that's under the order of Carnegie (Gary Oldman, again perfectly cast and on form) who is after one thing, a certain book, not the Da Vinci Code or something by Oprah, something important that will give Carnegie "power", this turns out to be a book that Eli is carrying and Carnegie will stop at nothing to obtain the book while Eli will keep hold of it until he gets to where he wants heading West.

Now this is as much as I'll give of the plot before spoiling it, but the film itself worked a treat, it flowed so well and there was never too much of something that was imposed, it doesn't treat you as an idiot. The one thing that I admire about this film is about how the meaning and context is more important than what happens, it really is a film that makes you think while getting hooked into some action or a key plot point, this is where it can be a weakness as this would be a film you would rent or watch on the odd occasion rather than owning it on DVD. I can't fault the acting of Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman, they were casted perfectly into this film, Oldman gives you a renewed feeling of his old badass days from the early nineties, if you missed that from Oldman of late, watch this film to see it return. The effects were nicely done, the action sequences fitted in perfectly and not over the top, the film keeps you hooked or surprises you when you least expect it, even the camera work was superb, shakey camera issues were not a problem here!

Main criticisms would be of Mila Kunis' character Solara, she doesn't really serve too much of a purpose except to just be there, while she play a decent role in the meanings and subtext, she just doesn't do much to benefit the film until the end where her involvement and actions seem to come rather late, she does start off as a simple slave/bar-girl, but she ends up a completely different person.

If I was to compare this to another film, I would say I would compare it to Welcome to the Jungle aka The Rundown. While settings and situations have differences, the main reason I do this comparison is because where Welcome to the Jungle falls into the trap of doing what the audience predictably expects it to, Book of Eli actually gives a fresher and renew approach. It actually beats out on your predictions of what happens next, simply put, I thought it was going to go where I expect it to but it actually does the opposite because the benefit of it is that it's subtext and meaning get better emphasis when you don't realise it, seriously it is a great thinking film.

In short term, Book of Eli is worth the watch, but it's not a film that you would own in your DVD collection. It will be under-rated but it's definitely something to go and see because you will get so much out of it when you don't realise it.

Final mark out of 10: 7

 

[The Doctor]

THE HERO OF TIME (Mild spoilerish bits)

Finally, a movie based on what many to be the greatest game of all time, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time! Small problem though, the movie is shit.

Now I’m not going to complain about many of the aspects of the movie where you can tell it’s fanmade (shoddy camera work, some special effects failures), because that’s to be expected. It’s not like they had a big-budget studio backing them.

Hell, I’m not even going to complain about them skipping or smashing up half the plot, because it’s difficult to put a huge game into a two hour movie. I get that there are going to be some flaws with the movie.

However, there is a lot to complain about. Personally I don’t think Zelda is all that hard to be moviefied if they make it as a straight fantasy movie, and the IGN trailer was awesome (shame it was an April Fool’s joke). That said, they sure managed to mess things up here.

First of all, all the characters had British accents. Or rather, they had fake British accents. And they were BAD. It seriously detracted from the movie. It was embarrassing. It would have been a load better if they had just stuck with the American accents.

On top of that, the acting wasn’t very good. The only good actor in the movie was the guy who played Ganondorf. I thoroughly enjoyed his performance. He was a Large Ham at its best, stealing the show.

While I said I wouldn’t focus on plot discrepancies, why don’t we focus on character discrepancies? To start with, they made Saria Link’s mother figure. This is so much Squick for me, it’s not funny. In my headcanon it’s established that the Deku Tree raised Link until he was old enough to pass as a Kokiri and Saria was his best friend and crush. So yeah, uncomfortable.

The fact that Link started out with the Triforce of Courage symbol in his hand made no sense whatsoever. I get that you can have differences from the games, but that’s ridiculous. Also, the Spiritual Stone story is cut out of the movie completely.

The new, condensed plot is riddled with holes. Link gets an ocarina out of nowhere, for example. How does Link know Sheik’s name? Where did Link’s bow and arrows go? It’s inexcusable some of these plot holes. They make me want to hit my head on a wall, repeatedly.

So getting past the terrible bits, there is some good. For example, the sword fight between Ganondorf and Link is excellent. There is a scene early on, in a shop, that has an interesting shopkeeper, a shout out to the series, and some genuine humor. The CGI in the Temple of Time scene, as well as the scene itself, was great, and really had me believing that the movie was going to get better. Oh well.

However, the good is all too often overshadowed by the bad. This movie teeters on being So Bad It’s Good or So Bad It’s Horrible. I certainly enjoyed it, but probably not for the reasons they wanted me to. I’d say SEE IT, but with an open mind and just so you can hang your head over the terrible bits and enjoy the good bits.

 

[Loveless]

I've never been one to have a problem with ripping off a good idea so I'll go down the Jake route with this. I think these are all 2009 films for the UK, I've seen more but they're older


1. Let The Right On In - My favourite film of recent years. Aside from CGI cats it's flawless.
Key Moment - Eli climbs onto Oskars lap and begs him to "Be me" for a moment. Oskar and everyone watching does exactly that, considering the things an eternally 12 year old girl would need to do to survive.

2. Where The Wild Things Are - A really wonderful film that will affect anyone who still has their bruised, insecure and wounded inner child buried inside them.
Key Moment - There are so many but the one that sticks? Max mentions the Sun dying. Carol looks up and says "I'm big! How can guys like us worry about a tiny little thing like the sun?" but the fear is obvious and Max realises the effect of what he's said.

3. The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button - Both epic and brilliant.
Key Moment - Benjamin and Daisy hook up in the middle of their lives and lay in bed, discussing the universal themes of love, loss and their fear of the future in the same way any couple would. It crystallises the entire message of the film in one scene.

4. Up - I wouldn't say it's Pixars best film but it is their most adult which becomes immediately obvious with...
Key Moment -The heartbreaking opening montage of Carl and Ellie, travelling through a life but not the life they planned, until reaching their inevitable conclusion. The whole film is built on this small section and it's entirely worthy.

5. Zombieland - It's never going to change the world but just as in this list, the story is pure fun in a sea of seriousness. And it has the most awesome cameo you'll ever see.
Key Moment - Tallahassee thinks he's claimed the Zombie Kill of The Week, a cut away proves otherwise in a scene worthy of slapstick godliness.

6. Revolutionary Road - A unremitting black hole of a film. It charts the breakdown a couple into 2 individuals as the illusion they call their life and dreams is obliterated by reality.
Key Moment - The neighbours son, on day release from the asylum, is invited round to dinner and immediately sees through the charade before him. To call what follows "The harsh truth" would be something of an understatement as he precedes to decimate Frank and Alice's relationship until there is quite literally nothing left to salvage.

7. Gran Torino - Clint Eastwood is probably the best director working in Hollywood today and this film is all round quality. That the ending leaves you unsatisfied probably says more about human nature than any film I've seen.
Key Moment - Walt the ex Vietnam vet realises the cost of his 1-man war and what he must do, as the innocent girl next door pays a terrible price for him meeting violence with violence.

8. Sunshine Cleaning - Pretty solid, fantastic performances from Amy Adams and Emily Blunt. It's a bit grim though
Key Moment - Feeling isolated by everyone, Emily Blunt climbs under the bridge tracks of an oncoming train. As the train roars overhead, sparks fly, she closes her eyes, sticks her hand up through the gaps to feel the rush of air and thinks of her dead mother. The metaphor is clear

9. Happy Go Lucky - I'm not sure how to describe this one. A look at philosophy? A study in empathy? A deeper look at the good Samaritan? I'll call it brilliant. It's about a few weeks in the life of a annoying cheerful London school teacher, Poppy.
Key Moment Disturbed driving instructor Scott finally snaps in epic and scary fashion as his failure to break Poppy's spirit finally becomes too much for him. As Poppy tries to help him it becomes clear she sees the indirect link between the abused boy in her class, Scott and the homeless guy she met earlier. Resolute, she refuses to let Scott just drive off and insists he gets help.

10.The Wrestler - As if anyone here hasn't already seen it
Key Moment - The drudgery of an ordinary life finally becomes too much for The Ram as he flips out while serving a prick of a customer. He's a dead man walking from that point on and he knows it.

11.Role Models - It's a formulaic buddy movie but at least it's a good one.

12.Watchmen - Is just about as good as it could be. Suffers from following the source material structure too closely

13.Milk - Shamelessly biased on it's subject but that can be forgiven, it's stirring stuff.

14.Capote - Dark dark stuff. It would have been more likeable if Truman wasn't such an immoral prick but then there'd be no story. Interesting

15.Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist - It's never a great sign when a supporting cast member steals the film but in this case, the adventures of Caroline are easily the most entertaining thing here. The girl could have a film all to herself.

16.I Love You Man - All good, nothing outstanding, enjoyable enough.

17.Frost/Nixon - As political drama's go, this is great. I just felt it was biased towards the end.

18.Slumdog Millionaire - Massively overrated but that doesn't make it a bad film, it's pretty solid all round.

19.The Invention of Lying - There's a great film in here somewhere, this isn't quite it but it definitely has some interesting things to say.

20.Vicki Christina Barcelona - Average until Penny Cruz shows up, dead after she's gone, brilliant inbetween but the ending sucks.

21.Ice Age 3 - They're clearly running out of jokes. Enjoyable fluff

22.Monsters Vs Aliens - The first time I saw it it was the definition of average, slightly better over time.

23.The Hangover - Not bad but disappointing

24.Seven Pounds - The director fucked up by trying to make it a mystery when it's clear to anyone with a brain what happens within 5 minutes. Missed potential.

25.Ghost Town - * Shrugs *

26.The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford - Slow, really slow. Historical accuracy ruins any tension the film builds up at the end.

27.Moon - Major disappointment. What could have been an interesting study of isolation turns into hoary old sci-fi nonsense with clones and evil corporations.

28.The Day The Earth Stood Still - Dumb, badly acted, badly directed, the list goes on...

29.Paul Blart, Mall Cop - It wasn't my choice to watch this, damn wimmens

30.Avatar - Like Megan Fox, pretty but dumb as fuck and boring.

31.Transformers - Atrocious
32.Burn After Reading - The most boring film I've seen in... well, ever. I could not wait for it to end so I could go to bed.

33.The Ugly Truth - Despicable, a shit stain on the history of cinema that's offensive to everone watching it.


And those I'm still waiting to see

Nowhere Boy
A Serious Man
The Men Who Stare At Goats
An Education
Away We Go
Fish Tank
District 9
Synecdoche
Coraline
(500) Days of Summer

 

[Phoenix]

To Loveless: The Men Who Stare at Goats is worth the watch!

Speaking of worth the watch, I've watched a film that I never seen before in my life until a few hours ago, and was sitting my DVD collection for nearly four years, waiting for the right moment to watch it. That film was

Spoiler

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)​

Now I know many film fanatics will be going WTF? at this suprising statement, so I will explain. The only time I could have seen it on TV was about 5/6 years ago and I unfortunately had miss the start time and I vowed not to watch it halfway through. A friend told me it was her favourite film, so I got the DVD in 2006, but I wanted to get the right mood and feeling for it as many told me I would enjoy this as I'm a big fan of The Green Mile, a film I have to be in a right mood to watch. The last time I felt ready to watch this summer last year, only when I was about to put it on, a friend rings and I have an hour long convo to take the mood and the ability to watch it unexhausted away. So came tonight where I finally felt ready to watch it, the night was young and I was in a for a good film, so in faith I trusted to take it out of it's packaging for the first time and I was very glad I did!

I knew many of the key aspects about the film, but not the whole plot so I would recognise some moments but would not know how it all tied in. The set up for the film was perfect, much like the jury and the court, we don't know the full story on whether Andy (Tim Robbins) actually murdered his wife and her "partner" which contrives to an excellent aspect about the film as the audience is put in the position as Red (Morgan Freeman) and the other convicts are about this mysterious new fish amongst their numbers. This is why I got to liking this film, the audience were not treated as stupid, you didn't feel alienated, you didn't learn things before other characters did or after, it all happens at the same time which films tend to alienate a lot more nowadays which is no doubt why this film is a classic.

The best part about this film is how it throws so many clues out there about the big reveal at the end and yet they don't stand out, much like Red and the others assumed, it was all in a standard day and the description on the box says it right "it leaves you with a warm glow and grin no 30-year stretch could remove". Where the time to watch it was right, I will admit my mistake was leaving in this long but I'm glad that I can finally say I've seen this film, my only complaint is the "overtime" at the end, but it's needed to give the film deserved closure.

Definitely a film worth picking up and watching, final rating out of 10: 9

 

[Stuntz]

Went to see Edge of Darkness last night, and to say the least it was not what I expected. 2 slow hours of 95 percent dialog and an ending I did not expect, which is always a good thing to me. The overall plot was good in that the main character (Mell Gisbson) was trying to find out what hid daughter was involved in that got her murdered on his doorstep right in front of him. Throughout the movie Gibson was finding new information that kept leading him to the same point, A privately funded Nuclear research and development company, and ultimately the owner of this company, who also had connections to the local state government. Now if it wasnt for the plot and well written dialog I might have walked out of the theatre all together, however I stayed to watch the cresits and will have to say I was quite pleased with the ending results,(almost The Departed-esque in nature). The major problems I had overall is that most of the previews had just about every bit of action in them so dont expect this to be an action oriented movie.

On a side note listening to Gibson try to pull off a Boston accent was quite amuzing, however the man can pull the emotion card quite well and shows that even he can do an average movie and make it better than it actually is.

My rating overall is a B- for great show of emotion and general acting from Gibson, good plot and story telling. The downfalls are long and drawn out at many points and you really have to pay attention throughout the whole story or there is a chance of being lost later in the film.

 

[only1soe]

Hello everyone,

I wanted to do a post and put some thoughts out on the new RVD-Batista movie "Wrong Side of Town."

Let me first mention that I post and send info to wrestlezone all the time since I work out in Los Angeles in the entertainment industry. I also have some insight on sales, distribution, people involved and location. Kinda the dirt sheet (if you would) for independent movies.

I heard of Wrong Side of Town was first shooting in Louisiana. Lots of indie and studio films are going there and Michigan due to the high incentives at this point in time. Looks like it was shot in LA too. They had some Cali plates on a few of the cars.

The movie was very much an HBO Prime style action movie. Here are some quick random thoughts. Shot very nicely. The "look" of the movie might be the best thing about it. Batista doesn't show up in the film till 46 minutes into the movie. Ja Rule is in 1 scene. Smart casting for the most part. There is no real sustained action in this movie. With RVD in there I expected to see 3 minute martial arts sequences. You wont get that here. Typical and basic story line for straight to video action movie. The movie quiet honestly plays it safe and doesnt take any chances. The film also doesn't use RVD's martial arts talents to its capacity. Sounds like Vince right? Believe it or not I thought Batista was the best actor in this whole thing. He has come a long way in the WWE too.

This is not a WWE produced film. One of the Ex producers is a guy I know of through the industry and he is on the credits. Stan Weibler is his name. His company is Grindstone Media. I have been to his place of business which is run out of an apartment complex in Beverly wood which is nears Beverly Hills. They act as a placing distributor to bigger distributors like Lionsgate and so on.

I estimate the actual budget at just over a million or so. Most of that being spent on talent and likely on the camera department. They for sure didn't put too much into stunts.

The film is available on Netflix on Demand right now. My most recently produced film "Live Evil" is there as well. Check them out and compare the action. Our only wrestling link is Tough Enough 2's Hawk Younkins is in a scene of our film.

Love to hear thoughts on Wrong Side of Town from the IWC. You kinda get what you expect here, but here is just one person wishing the film makers would of put a little more effort in.

MT

 

[Phoenix]

I'm about 3 and a half hours removed from this film, I will admit I didn't see this film in the best of situations but I was willing to give this film a go. My expectations from what I saw was that it was going to be a generic comedy with all the best jokes shown in the trailer which would make this lacklustre. Boy, I was wrong there, this film threw out all of the punches and the kitchen sink on top of that.

Where this film is based on a comic (I genuinely didn't know that until about 20 minutes ago), I saw it as a film being about a Superhero Fan which I think gives benefit because I think there is only one other film and also Season Six in Buffy the Vampire which works on the idea of realistic people exploring the world of comics and super heroes and villains. The key question that Kick-Ass brings up is "Why don't we ever see real people trying to be Superheroes?" and that is a very true question, why don't we? This film actually gives good enough reason why we don't and it shows it from two perspectives. One of them being you'll get your ass kicked (literally in some cases)

Spoiler

In his first outing as Kick-Ass, he gets stabbed

now the realistic element of this was played out superbly, whilst we get some good comedy moments out of it, the actual realistic approach is still there which adds to why we want to support our hero but also question why he keeps doing this?

Naturally, like most Superhero based films, there is an A story and a B story. Usually, the A story tends to be the Hero's situation with the Villain whilst the B story is about his love life in his daily activities as a norm. What Kick-Ass cleverly does is to combine that situation into an A story so there is room to develop a completely different B story which relates to Kick-Ass but doesn't take the focus away or acts as a time filler, it shows the second reason why people don't become Superheroes, it becomes personal. The B story was a nice extra to film which focuses on Nicholas Cage and his on screen daughter, it's a very genuine story they have but damn these two were so great on screen and so surprising to the point that I was just like "WOAH, Did I just see/hear that?"

Spoiler

You get an eleven year old girl saying the C Word, yes I'm not kidding, this is a 15 in the UK and this happens.

These two characters were a highlight for me and I wanted to see more of them as I felt their story played more of a key role than the actual A story. Yes, Nic Cage maybe playing himself in another role (it's that damn accent) but he doesn't stick out like a sore thumb which is a good thing.

Right, realism aside, the humour. Basically the managed to cross a few lines but it wasn't a bad thing which is why I think the film works. It doesn't take risks in some of its comedy and there are some parts you don't expect to go with some that you. Predictable moments will be only basic ones like the opening shot of a Hero jumping off a building to go into flight and lands flat out on a cab, it's predictable but it was played out effectively. Some moments you don't expect like a 40/50 year old teacher taking her top off or a guy just randomly wanting to take the bazooka for the sake of having a bazooka, it just works.

So in short, Kick-Ass works because the realism and comedy elements combines well to create a good and compelling story without trying to make the audience feel stupid but just providing entertainment with some moments of realism that you don't always expect in a comedy (American Pie for example). You get moments of unpredictability as well as expected because it really shows what life can be like, even outside of being a superhero. Worth seeing? Definitely! DVD buyable? I think so.

Final Rating out of 10: 8

PS - Lyndsy Fonseca makes good eye candy this film, in more ways than one

 

[Cena's Little Helper]

A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)

Synopsis: Groundskeeper Fred Krueger may or may not be molesting schoolkids in the basement of the Badham Preschool where he both works and lives at. 15 or so years after irate parents burn him alive in an abandoned building, Krueger comes back to haunt the dreams of those kids whose allegations led to his death.

Analysis: Simply put, this remake is a huge piece of shit, and probably the biggest cinematic disappointment of my life. Now, before I get into why this is so, notice that I use the word "remake" instead of "reboot" or "reimagining." Yes, folks, I am sorry to say that, save for some minor plot and character changes, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2010 is pretty much the same film as the original. Unfortunately, this is not where the disappointment ends; let's look at the ways in which this movie epically fails.

Firstly, this movie has maybe one or two jokes. While I at first saw this lack of humor as an opportunity for the remake to make a significant contribution the Elm Street series, it brings nothing else to the table to make up for it. Not only are there no jokes, there are also no creepy and insanely gory moments. This remake is essentially the kind of mainstream horror film that you'd expect from the 80s and 90s, except it has better filmstock.

Secondly, save for Jackie Earle Haley, the acting is shit. However, I can't fully blame the other actors and actresses in this film, as they had probably one of the weakest scripts ever created to work with. 99.9% of the people that you see in this film could have easily been cast in the Elm Street films of yore. While some may see this as faithful casting on the part of this film's creators, I see it as nothing more than a bait-and-switch tactic; the previews led me to believe that I'd be getting something much darker and serious, but instead I got something that I've seen a hundred-times over in a less glossy package.

Third and finally, this movie has absolutely no fucking clue who its audience is, as it's extremely slow and assumes that the viewer knows nothing about the town of Springwood and the man they call Freddy. This movie clocks in at about 1 hour and 40 minutes, and almost all of that time is uncovering the mystery of Freddy and why he is haunting the dreams of the teenage protagonists. Uh, hello? Freddy Krueger is a pop culture icon, a horror villain who needs absolutely no introduction. At most, a prologue should have been spent on his backstory. Instead, we get a prologue-length flashback somewhere in the middle of the film and about 35 minutes of investigation leading up to it .

For die-hard horror fans like me, I know my review isn't going to dissuade you from seeing this film. However, don't say I didn't warn you.

Rating: 1 out of 10​

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

Plot: Perseus (Sam Worthington) is a demi-god who was adopted by a fisherman (Pete Postlethwaite) and his wife. Twenty years or so after Perseus is adopted, he and his family witness Hades (Ralph Fiennes) killing a group of soldiers from Argos. Hades then turns his attentions to the fisher-family. Shortly after washing up on shore, Perseus is taken by some soldiers to Argos. It is there that he meets the princess Andromeda (Alexa Davalos) and a woman by the name of Io (Gemma Arterton) but he also, once again, runs into Hades who has made a deal with Zeus (Liam Neeson) to frighten the people into worshiping the Gods once more. The offer is simple, sacrafice the princess or Hades will release the Kraken, a beast so powerful it took down the Titans (Parents of the Gods) millennia ago, in ten days. With the offer tabled and the discovery that his true father is Zeus, Perceus must lead a group of soldiers to find a way around sacraficing Andromeda and saving Argos. However, Hades is deep at work within his own realm to get revenge on Zeus for tricking him in the past.

Thoughts: This is a remake first and foremost and a lot of people who go to see this movie will never have seen the 1981 original. The fact is, it's mediocre at best. While the Director, Louis Leterrier (The Transporter, The Incredible Hulk), tries his best to show off the gorgeous CG and work around the 3D element, he can't quite get past the fact that the acting is pretty hammy and, at points, atrocious.

Sam Worthington just isn't a great actor. He's played basically the same role in three blockbuster movies now (Marcus in Terminator Salvation and Jake in Avatar) and in none of those movies do I feel he has acted well. He better do something to impress me come his next movie. Neeson and Fiennes both do there best to ham things up with there performances but I find Hades voice to be too distracting (Has he been taking lessons from Christian Bale?) and Neeson's Zeus to be a HUGE hypocrite. Watch the movie and you'll understand.

The script by all accounts is lazy too with a major plot point from the original omitted in this. despite saying this, there are some solid points in the movie. As I stated before, the CG is great and some moments are rather funny. Pete Postlethwaite also gets major props for providing a solid performance despite his limited on screen time. For a remake of such a note-worthy movie, this flops instead of floats. Overall I give it a 5/10.

 

[byrnside]

Friday the 13th

Directed by Marcus Nispel

Produced by Michael Bay

Starring:

Jared Padalecki, Amanda Ridghetti, Aaron Yoo, Willa Ford, Travis Van Winkle, and Derek Mears as Jason

This may contain spoilers.

Synopsis:

A group of college kids visit a cabin on Camp Crystal Lake and discover Jason Voorhees is more than just a myth.

The Take:

Personally, I am, and have been [for the most part] since I was about 5 or 6 years old, a huge fan of the Friday the 13th series. This particular installment was not necessarily a remake, but what they called a "re-imagining." Granted this flick came out well over a year and a half ago, but with the spirit of Halloween still in the misty air as of late, my old friend Jason has been fresh on my mind, so I decided to throw an old fan's perspective down for you guys.

As a fan of the original series, I thought this movie was phenomenally done. They took the main points from several of the original films and came up with, basically, a whole new concept. They also took it back to the basics, giving us a more natural, almost primitive Jason, who lives off the land and is actually human. I loved how cool it was that we saw the transformation from potato sack to hockey mask, that originally took three films, in this movie.

There was also just enough original back story to fill in the gaps for new viewers, but not too much to keep the old school fans from getting bored. Ie- Jason's mother being beheaded and explaining Jason's drowning. The effects were few and far between once we got past the make-up. The only overly-cheesy scene [not that I was complaining] was when Willa Ford was hiding under the dock and Jason stabbed her through the dock and then through the head.

This movie has what every great "Friday.." film has, and every "Friday.." fan needs.. hot, naked chicks, gruesome deaths, and kids that party. Jared Padalecki and Amanda Righetti made great heroes, and Aaron Yoo as the tokin stoner was probably my favorite character [aside from Jason himself.]

Derek Mears does a phenomenal job as Jason, this guy is jacked and still managed to move like a gazelle. The ending was pretty cool, with a final-fight show-down that left me saying "..there could be a sequel!"