Saturday, April 30, 2011

Thor

30th April: Thor

From norse mythology comes Thor, Son of Odin. He is cast out of his homeland to Earth and forced to live a mortal life.

This is probably the best film iv seen at the cinema this year. Even though I know nothing of the comic lore, it is fantastically presented.
Ok cast. Chris Hemsworth is awesome. He goes from Australian soap Home and Away to Star Trek to the lead in Thor. He gives a performance just dripping in talent. From the way he speaks to the way he moves, I may have a new man-crush, move aside Barrowman. But on the other hand is Natalie Portman. Looking at her past movies Natalie Portman is either really good or terrible. Luckily in this she is on top form. Wearing a little more clothing than she did in Your Highness, but gave a far better performance, playing with subtle humour and just good all round. I'm not sure that an over-weight ameture thespian can comment on Anthony Hopkins, so I shall simply say that every scene with him is no less than one would expect from him. Then there's the supporting cast. Not a weak link in them. I cant think of anyone by name but the character of Volstagg was my personal favourite.
The action sequences in this film are just as jaw dropping as the actors in them. From the early scenes with Thor's full potential, to the anger filled fights down on Earth. Specifically every time he uses Mjolnir.
The story, as a first time introduced to Marvel's Thor, flows well and everything is spelled out nicely.
There is one cgi fail that stays in my mind, when the giant metallic guardian (dont worry the one from the trailer) hits Thor. It's the only cgi fail that stuck in my mind, the rest of the film is pure comic fanboy goodness.
Not to forget Stan Lee's cameo and the after the credits scene. I'll not go into either of them but Marvel's two film trademarks are present (three if you want to include the addition of Agent Coleson)

A must see this Summer.

Overall: 10/10
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Sunday, April 24, 2011

Lost In Translation

April 24th: Lost In Translation

Two insomniacs find each other whilst in Tokyo.

This might be the hardest review I've ever done. It was a good movie but its the most boring 97 minutes ever. Nothing happens in the entire movie and yet both Bill Murray and Scarlet Johansson wern't terrible. Bill managed to entertain me without changing his facial expression the entire movie. Scarlet gave the same performance but with a more attractive bottom.

I don't know if i do recommend this film, but if your a Bill Murray fan it's awesome.

Overall: 5/10

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Arthur

23rd April: Arthur

A spoilt rich man learns the difference between a life of money and a life of love.

Russell Brand was unusually funny and bearable. Now I havn't seen the original but his style of acting/comedy suits the character perfectly. He does occasionally talk a little to fast and does it in a few movies, but its bearable. The film is cluttered with Batman related humour and even features The Deloreon. Very funny all round. However the story can get a little tiresome at times, but the one to bring it back is usually Helen Miran. Love her. As the nanny to Arthur she is fabulous and the only one to control him. There is a real connection between these two characters that comes off really well.
Jennifer Garner was nice to look at.and even though not a nice character, she wasn't too bad. Greta Gerwig a sexy newcomer to my attention.

Not a brilliant film, but definitely a better comedy than Your Highness atm.

Overall: 8/10
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Groundhog Day

22nd April: Groundhog Day

A news anchor is sent to report on a local Groundhog Day tradition, but when a blizzard traps him there, it becomes Groundhog Day over and over and over again.

Loved this film. Bill Murray is gold in this film. In an attempt to not spoil the movie, all the things he does on the different days all made sense, some of which I could relate to probably doing. The plot goes from having fun to showing the character's fall, to kinda going up again and down again and ends with a huge high. The scenes showing how he spends his time, knowing what's going to happen and all about everyone is really good.

A huge recommendation to anyone not seen this movie.

Overall: 9/10
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Fifth Element

April: Fifth Element

Set in the future where religion and science clash as the only way to save the world is to fulfill an ancient prophecy.

Recommended to me by my good friend @aaronage.
This movie was fun. It shows that non-saga based sci-fi can be good. Not brilliant but good. Bruce Willis gave a un-original performance, but nothing to complain about. Milla Jovovich also good. I can't remember his name but the guy who played the priest was the best for me. Gary Oldman however I didn't enjoy. I had no idea what that thing on his head was and I had a hard time liking his accent. Also his story was badly delivered I think, more a plot thing than him.
I did enjoy the movie though. There are some funny bits in all the action (none of which from Chris Tucker) and a lovely little cameo part from Lee Evans. Just a very original good film.

Overall: 7/10
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V For Vendetta

April: V For Vendetta

Set in an alternate reality where a terrorist is attempting to re-enact the Gunpowder Plot.

Bizzare but enjoyable.

Recommended to me by my good friend @tom_reaney.
This film trys to be two movies at the same time. One movie starring Hugo Weaving and Natalie Portman from their perspective and a completely different movie from the perspective of the detectives solving their crime. Now Weaving and Portman were really good. There were some really good scenes with those two but then the story kicks in with the two detectives and I just didn't care for it. As far as story goes it was alright, but shadowed by the other side of the film. It's always a pleasure to see Stephen Fry in a film and this is no exception, similar story with John Hurt.

Overall:7/10
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Monday, April 18, 2011

Just My Luck

18/04/2011: Just My Luck.

One lucky girl, one un-lucky lad switch their luck and their lives are turned upside down.

A fun little film.
It was a nice watch. I do like Lindsey Lohan (who doesn't really?) and I'm a big fan of Chris Pine (duh, he's Captain Kirk) and together they made a likable rom-com. It's no Harry Met Sally, but it's good. There are some funny moments and there are some good performances all around. It's not amazing and it's not laugh out loud funny, but it's worth a watch. Lindsey and her two other friends are all hawt throughout. McFly even didn't disappoint me as much as I thought they would.

Overall: 7/10

Your Highness

18th April: Your Highness

A stoner comedy set in medieval times. A lazy brother must travel with his brave brother to rescue his future sister in law.

This movie was surprisingly bad. The acting across the cast was terrible. Danny McBride and Natalie Portman probably in the worst performances they have ever given to date. I did however like Danny McBride's squire. I havnt seen the actor before, but he was really good. It was really nice to see Damien Lewis in a film again, even if he was a bad guy.
Other than the terrible acting, the film is pretty funny. Some really good one liners and physical comedy. The story isn't too bad either.

One to avoid I think though overall (unless like me, your friends don't want to see Winnie The Pooh or Hop)

Overall: 5/10
P.s. Natalie Portman's bottom saved it from a 3
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Sharktopus

17th April: Sharktopus

The navy's latest biological weapon gets loose and starts killing.

Ok so I'm a big Hollywood Babble On fan and Ralph Garman starred in this film Sharktopus. I finally got round to watching it. Now the CGI was horrible and the cast were all round terrible, but I stood by it and watched it until the end. It's definitely one of those films people love to hate, kinda like The Room or the Adam West Batman movie. The story was alright, Eric Roberts was good, in places it was funny (especially Roger Corman's cameo) and the girls were HAWT! But as mentioned earlier the stand out thing for me was Ralph Garman. Might have only been two scenes, but the best scenes in the film and his 1st mate is the hottest of all the cast.
Other than that the rest of the main and supporting cast were very wooden and just not good. But I think that's the point. I haven't seen any of the other movies but they aren't for Oscar nominated performances, more a clever idea involving monster hybrids. In that perspective this films wins.

One to watch, but only once I think.

Overall: 5/10 (just for Ralph)
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Thursday, April 14, 2011

Leon: The Professional

When a teenager's parents are murdered, she is reluctantly raised by a shy neighbour, who turns out to be a hitman. As she teaches him life skills, he teachers her how to kill.

This film was recommended to me by a friend and I had doubts about it before i watched it. However within the first the first half hour i was in. I was hooked. I knew this was going to be a good film.
The cast. Natalie Portman's first ever film at the age 12, and here i am aged 20 still having no idea what I'm doing on a local theatre. This chick knocked it out of the park. Watching her in this film, kinda makes me like Chloe Moretz less, because Portman did it first. She nailed every scene and i loved it. Jean Reno. Now i loved his performance, however i don't think i like the way he speaks. Now i know he's French/Italian and in this film it's excusable, but if this film wasn't as good as it is, I'd probably found it more annoying. I've liked him in other smaller roles, but i don't think I'd like to see another with him as the lead. But let me say again, in this film he was fab. I knew Gary Oldman was in this film, but it wasn't until a little later in the film when i actually realised he was the bad guy. It was during the bit where he was talking about Beethoven and Mozart. Either way loved him. Especially during the end when he asks his lieutenant to bring everyone and he's like "EVERYONE!!!!!!"
The story i loved. The whole bits with Portman teaching Reno how to read, write and even sleep in a bed. Absolutely awesome. I particularly liked the scene where they dess up and guess who's who. That Reno knew no-one until the callback to him watching Singing In The Rain (and that bit in itself was really good too. After he's just killed a load of guys and finished his job, he goes to the cinema. If i was a killer, it's what i'd do).
I came close but just about held off tears towards the end, it was a really good ending.
The transition to BluRay was also done really well, i'm noyt sure of what the original looked like,but the bluray quality was perfect.

Overall: 10/10

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

The Four Faced Liar

Four Faced Liar

A couple moves out to New York and befriends another couple and their lesbian friend. Soon their friendships and their relationships will be put under pressure and tested.

For a move that lacked action sequences, explosions, well known cast members or laugh out loud moments: it was rather good. First let me explain how I came across this movie. I am a regular listener of the SModcast Podcast Network. One of those Podcasts is Blow Hard. Where Malcolm Ingram hosts a podcast with many co-hosts, mainly discussing sexual encounters. Other than Kevin Smith himself, the most successful co-host he’s had is by far: Marja-Lewis Ryan. The keen eyed among you will have noticed that she is also the writer and one of the leading cast members for this movie. They discussed this movie often before its USA launch, which made me really want to see it, as soon as Amazon would let me, I bought it.

Let me make this clear: this is a rom-com but not in the traditional sense. Spoilers if you haven’t seen the trailer: girl meets boy, girl then meets girl. A lesbian rom-com. Even though I am a straight single man, I still kinda dug this movie. It was a good story, it had likeable characters and it was very clever in that it didn’t make anyone out to be “the bad guy”. I’ll not go into details, but as mentioned before, two of the female characters start experimenting with each other while one still has a boy friend. Whilst there is a lot of conflict between the 5 main cast (all of whom were really good by the way) no one person is seen as the “bad guy”. It’s a film that shows us basic human attraction and our own natural flaws. It’s a good movie to watch and at just under an hour and half, it’s a short good watch.

However, as I said in the first sentence, this movie is lacking a few of the things that would usually grab me in a movie. So the negative thing about this movie is that if Marja had not been involved, I would never have watched this film as I would have had no interest in it. I can see it annoying a few people that not much BIG happens, but what is there is good.

Overall: 7/10

Unstoppable

Unstoppable

Two train engineers; one a soon to retire train veteran and one guys first day. An unmanned run away train with hazardous cargo hurtles towards a city and its up to them to try and stop it.

The new Star Trek reboot and Much Ado About Nothing are both in my flickchart.com top 20 and those movies each star Chris Pine and Denzel Washington respectfully. So immediately the cast of this movie intrigues me. Then we get Rosario Dawson and Ethan Suplee, both familiar faces in the View Askewniverse, so the cast gets a 10.

Then the movie itself. Just as good. I love that in this film: there is no villain. It’s a refreshing change from most action movies like this, there is no villain. Just two guys doing their job trying to stop a disaster. Love it. The action is non-stop, the story all makes sense, all the characters fit in well, I have nothing bad to say about this movie. If did have to find fault, its is attempt to make this more than an action movie. I found, until the very end (No spoilers for you) that I didn’t care for the characters life stories. I just wanted more train based action, less moaning about divorce…etc Other than that, Love It!

Overall: 10/10

Star Trek (2009)

Star Trek (2009)

A prequel to the original series, sees Kirk, McCoy, Spock and the rest of the enterprise crew meet for the first time, but an enemy from the future arrives in the past and changes the space time continuum forming a new reality, changing everything.

<3

Overall:

*What? I have to review it properly? Fine ok then:*

Where to start? OK The cast. There wasn’t anyone in that cast that was wrong. The performances were all perfect. From Chris Pine’s Kirk, not too Shatner, but just enough so we know that this is James T Kirk. Karl Urban’s McCoy was spot on, he nailed the accent, the dialect and his mannerisms to a tee. He even managed to throw a “Im a Doctor, not a….” in there. Zachery Quinto’s Spock was equally as awesome as the original. With Leonard Nemoy being in this film, he must have been under the most pressure to give the best performance and similar to Kirk, he managed to pull off enough Nemoy and enough original work to give us young Spock. Simon Pegg as Scotty was genius.

The story. Not a huge fan of the alternate reality thing, but I can live with it. It has now opened up limitless possibilities for the future.

Now the big thing. People complain that Leonard Nemoy was given his reprisal role as Spock but with a lack of Shatner. Let me make this clear to all non-true trekkies: In Star Trek Generations, Kirk dies. End of. Spock isn’t dead yet and travelled through the wormhole. Kirk is dead and is buried on top of that mountain with the stone grave. He can’t come back he’s dead.

Back in 2009, this is the movie that got me into liking Star Trek. It’s this movie that made me want more and now to have watched it after seeing all the series, it’s truly art. If I didn’t like Kevin Smith so much, it would be no 1 on Flickchart.com

The only bad thing about this movie, was that it wasn’t until the end of the movie when the theme tune kicked in and when it did it was slightly altered.

Overall (again) 10/10

The Social Network.

The Social Network.

Dubbed the Facebook movie. Tells the cinematic story of how one man took a simple idea and became one of the richest youngest men in the world.

A weird one. When I saw this in the cinema, I loved it. On its rewatch, I found myself bored. I don’t know why, but I did. Maybe this is just a one time watch. Once you know the story, that’s it, I don’t know. But I did turn it off half way through.

However, if you havn’t seen this film before,it was a good first time watch. The story told through a majority of flashback, its turns and twists in the plot and some of the subtle nerdy humour.

I have seen him a few movies now and I have to say, I don’t think Justin Timberlake is a good actor. I don’t think that Andrew Garfield will be a good Peter Parker. I did like Jessie Eisenberg though, I thought he was good as the lead, the creator of the most widely used website ever. I also liked the guy who doubled as the twins. He was really good in playing the two characters and making them their own. Its at this point that I prey that TRS were right when they said he was the same actor as both those twins.

I don’t feel I can review this movie really, just that if you haven’t seen it, despite what I have written, I do advise you see it.

Overall: 6/10

Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths

Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths

The Justice league is summoned to a parallel world where the superheroes are the bad guys and its up to the Justice League and a nice Lex Luthor to save all the parallel worlds everywhere.

Batman is in it = its good.

Not really. Of all the animated DC movies iv recently watched, this has to the poorest. I think this is mainly due to the story though. With a similar earth but the superheros are villains sounds good in theory, but I didn’t like this movie. The animation at times was weak, the voice acting was mostly poor (although props to James Woods as Batman’s alter ego: Owlman) Other than that, I didn’t like the characters, even Batman in this film. I think as well, other than Batman and some Superman lore, I don’t know much more about the other characters in the JLA. Although Aquaman’s cameo was rather humorous. I also don’t like in movies when, the goal is to destroy all dimensions and realities. Just the one Earth I get, then there are other planets to go to, but destroying all existence ever seems silly to me.

So unless you’re a die hard DC fan, I’d stay clear of this one.

Overall: 3/10

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Source Code

9th April: Source Code

A army pilot is given a glimpse into the last 8mins of a civilian's life in order to stop a bomb.

A poor description of the film, but hard to give one without using spoilers. Either way a fantastic movie.
The plot: you think you've got it sussed from the trailer but something happens, then something else and keeps you guessing right up to the end. Im not going to go into too much detail as its a really good film, but the twists were really good. However there was something that I picked up on that was mentioned on TRS. The main character, played Jake Gyllenhaal is too dumb. I say that as he is constantly told throughout the film, and on the trailer, that what happens in source code, stays in source code. It's just a reflection of what might be, he then constantly says that he can save people and I got rather annoyed by his lack of understanding of this. Without saying top much for the ending, it all works out and is very ingenious.
The actors were all alright. There wasn't an Oscar worthy performance but nothing to complain about.

Overall: 9/10
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Sucker Punch

2nd April: Sucker Punch

A teenage girl is sent to a mental institution and to cope with it all she invents worlds within worlds which help her plan her escape.

A very weird film. This film is confusing, wired and sexy. The main story of the mental institution and the whore house is boring. Just the girls bickering and planning. However to cut through this soggy cake of film are four of the best action sequences ever. To plan their escape they are required to get 5 items, (yes its very video game oriented) and the 4 sequences they have to get these are fantastic. From Samurai, Nazis, Dragons and Robots. I'm not going to spoil any of them but they were awesome.
The cast definitely had the sexy quality down, but I don't think any of them were any good as actresses. Very wooden and very stiff performances. If this film was just those 4 sequences on their own, I'd still have seen them.

Worth seeing? Maybe, but only once.

Overall: 6/10
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Saturday, April 2, 2011

Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman

1st March: Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman

A mysterious female Batman appears in Gotham, its up to Batman and Robin to figure out who it is.

Another animated film. Usually in these I go "the cast was awesome and the animation was sound" this time only half right.
Kevin Convoy returns as the Dark Knight, love it. However, the rest of the cast weren't as good. Especially the actor who voiced the penguin. I recognise him as the voice of Cogsworth from Beauty and the Beast, but he did not suite Penguin. Especially with his lack of quacking laughter.
The character animation was spot on, but I thought the backdrop and anything else that didn't move, to be rather poor.
The story was good, keeps you guessing until the end.
A good watch for Batman fans, but felt rushed.

Overall: 6/10
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