The Three Amigos

Three Amigos

When three actors are fired their last hope comes from Mexico, from a woman who thinks their characters are real and she needs help.

A dated film that is directly split in half in quality.

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

Before I get into the cast I wanted to write this. I think this film is literally split into two films. The first is good and the second not so. The scene when Steve Martin is shot and discovers that everything is real and not an acting job is when it splits. The first is a comedy that doesn’t go over the top and stays on focus. The second is way over the top and more zany than funny.

Cast: Chevy Chase, Steve Martin and Martin Short play the three amigos. They hold a solid performance throughout the film despite my initial review. They are funny and they do work well together. I was excited to see that Jon Lovitz is mentioned as a cast member, however he has one line and that’s it. I wanted more but the character was wrong for more. The rest of the supporting cast were good, nothing overly bad from them.

Ok more detail I think. Ok when the story turns to singing bushes and invisible men, it goes down hill. The biggest problem I have is that, I get there is supposed to be rebirth in these characters when they decide to attack the banditos but three actors don’t just randomly decide they know how to actually fire a gun or fire a gun well enough to succeed in the movie. There is a scene where the banditos burn down and destroy a town. Then at the end of the film, the next day in movie time, the town is rebuilt and everything is fine. There is one point when Chevy Chase is dressed in disguise. One moment he has his bandito outfit on, then next scene without moving he has his Amigo suit on.

It’s silly, but I still kind of enjoyed the film. It’s just accepting that it is 25 years old.

Recommend: Yes, but don’t have your expectations set too high.

Overall: 6/10

The Good, The Bad and The Weird

The Good, The Bad and The Weird

There is a map that shows great riches. Three men will travel far and shoot a plenty to get the map and find its final location.

An excellent, albeit foreign film.

A quick short review of this one. The film is awesome. It’s a good western, comedy and action film mixed into one. There are some reminders of parts from the original film and the story in its self is almost the same, but obviously different location and it’s all in Korean. That is its only bad point. A film like this I don’t mind watching it subbed, but dubbed would have been a bonus. Watched it on Bluray and is a gorgeous film.

Recommend: If you don’t mind subtitles, then definitely.

Overall: 8/10

Green Lantern

Green Lantern

When a test pilot is chosen to protect earth as a member of The Green Lanterns, he must face the greatest evil of all: Fear.

DC’s first big movie since Dark Knight, to a comic book fan/nerd it’s a good ride, but your average joe public might not feel the same way.

Ok first of, I’m not a huge fan of the character and the concept, but he’s part of the JLA (Not in this movie) and I have to like him a bit. From what I know of the character I don’t think Ryan Reynolds is perfectly cast. I see him more as a Flash kinda guy. He does an OK job as Hal Jordon but there are a few things that are off. First I think he’s more of a comedy actor than a serious role actor, now this is far from a full on serious film, but still he’s not quite there. Having said that there wasn’t anything wrong with his performance, just that it wasn’t exceeding expectations. The supporting cast from the lantern voices were all fine and Mark Strong awesome as ever. Blake Lively however, I never cared for. Her character was meh, she was meh and just a bit too meh really. I did like the guy who played Hal’s tech friend, I’m unsure of the name but he was good.

I didn’t fully like the suit. It never really looked right. It looked cool, but looked fake, rather than the second skin that it is supposed to be. The rest of the cgi is hit and miss. There is a scene with a helicopter (no spoilers) and the cgi in that scene was terrible, but the cgi throughout the film on all the ring related stuff is awesome. On that topic, the film is incredibly cheesy. With all of Hal’s imagination to pick from, he does conjure up some cheesy things. When simple solutions could be at hand, he draws scenarios out and its incredibly cheesy. I liked the Adam West Batman film and I find Green Lantern cheesy.

Even though I have just trashed the entire film, it is still a cool film. There are some awesome sci-fi moments and even the concept alone of Green Lantern is kind of rewarding. There are some good action sequences and a nice open ending for a possible sequel (again, no spoilers)

Recommend: Only for fans, nerds and those who crush over Ryan Reynolds.

Overall: 3/10

The House Bunny

The House Bunny

When a playboy mansion is kicked out, she goes to collage and helps the less popular girls turn their lives around.

The cast alone is reason enough to want to watch this movie, its also really funny.

Cast: Anna Faris has never been a good actress in my opinion, the odd good cameo here and there, but most of the time a bit fat meh. This time however, she sprouts some talent and nails her performance. I loved it, she had the character, she’s got the hotness and she was funny. Leading the supporting cast is my favourite actress right now; Emma Stone. A little bias in this review, but in my eyes she can do no wrong. She goes toe to tow with Faris in every way, although definitely surpassing in the hotness field. Also of worthy mention Tyson Ritter of All American Rejects fame stars as a love interest and is awesome. I want to see him in more acting roles, after he’s finished the new album and toured near/at Sheffield. Lastly of noteworthy is Colin Hanks. Also playing a love interest but more of a serious character, equally knocks it out of the park. The rest of the supporting cast is hit and miss, but nothing bad enough to mention.

The film is set with the template we have seen time and time again but I love it. It’s funny, the cast fit together and there is a high and low to all the characters.

Recommend: Yes

Overall:9/10

Sydney White

Sydney White

When a tomboy girl follows in her mother’s footsteps and goes to university she finds that she just doesn't fit in.

Was part of a box set and deemed it worthy of watching just basing on the cast, and my hunch definitely paid off.

Amanda Bynes plays the lead in the film. She is perfect in every way, except one. She’s hot and is a very good actress, but there are times when her accent annoy me. I know its not really a big deal, but it just does. She is hit and miss overall but manages to stay hot throughout the film. Her supporting cast is equally hit and miss but overall rather good. No particular mentions but all the supporting cast is funny.

This film shares with millions of other films the template that was set down by Revenge Of The Nerds. Basically the nerds or outcasts finally have had enough and the arrival of new character gives them the will to overcome the pretty girls and the jocks. But it works and I love it. The film is actually really funny in parts, there are some slow plot areas but other than that a nice surprise from a 3 DVD box set.

Recommend: Yes

Overall: 6.5/10

Couples Retreat

Couples Retreat

When four couples take a holiday together to a resort they soon find it isn’t the great trip they planned.

Saw this at the cinema and loved it, recently decided it was due for a re-watch.

This film has a big cast and has both a good side and a poor side. The first couple is Vince Vaughn and Malin Akerman. Vince Vaughn has played the same character in nearly every movie he has been in. He has a way of saying lines really fast and close together and its funny. It’s not quite got annoying by this time, but as of The Dilemma, I hope in future he delivers something else, but in this he’s funny and it works. Akerman’s character was, put simply boring. Might have just been the character but she did practically nothing the whole film. The second of the couples is Jason Bateman and Kristen Bell. Bateman is good, he didn’t deliver his top performance but he was still good. Kristen Bell however: OMG. She goes from sexy OCD wife to uber hot wife and is funny and a good actress while doing so. Oh did I mention she’s hot, because she is. The third couple is Jon Favreau and Kristin Davis. I like Jon Favreau as an actor, I mean the guy made Iron Man, but I like him as an actor and in this he is funny and gives a top performance. Kristin Davis I have never seen before and she was ok. Nothing special, but OK. The final couple, Fazion Love and Kali Hawk. Fazion Love was hilarious. I loved his character so much, overweight jokes I can relate to these days. Kali Hawk’s character however you are not supposed to like and I didn’t. That’s not a fair evaluation of her ability, she did the character well that I didn’t like her but still not too sure.

The supporting cast is just as funny as the main cast, with roles from Jean Reno, Ken Jeong and I particularly liked Peter Serafinowicz role. There was a time when I thought Antonio Banderes is in this film, but on checking IMDB (I know I killed my rule, I apologise) I found he isn’t, so heads up to Carlos Ponce to whom played the part.

There are some really good funny moments in this film, my favourite being the Yoga scene, but under all the humour is a well structured and deep film about connections. Also it has guitar hero in it so its got to be good, right?

Recommend: Definitely, its very funny film.

Overall: 8/10

Fantastic Mr Fox

Fantastic Mr Fox

The puppet stop motion classic tale of a retired fox doing one last mission and the repercussions it brings.

This was a birthday gift from a friend of mine which he claims is significant as the film that started our gradual decline in university effort.

With George Clooney and Meryl Streep both in lead roles give great vocal performances. The rest of the voice cast include Jason Schwartzman, Michael Gambon and Bill Murray, but really none of the voices were poor in any way. It’s only when how the voices were recorded do things go from good to really good. It was only upon watching a DVD extra that I saw this in the first place and will get a higher review. The entire film’s dialogue was not filmed in a studio but actually on location. All the scenes were recorded in as close to the actual scenario as possible. This is the first I have heard of this way of recording and immediately increases my respect for the film.

Is it a fantastic film? No, but definitely a good watch. It’s funny and entertaining in places but there are several moments that slow the film down and need to be picked up again, but overall a good film.

Recommend: Yes.

Overall: 7/10

When Harry Met Sally

May 13th: When Harry Met Sally

The story of two friends and their relationship. The highs, the lows and the falling in love.

Was listening to Jay and Silent Bob Get Old and they did a scene from this film and since then I’ve really wanted to re-watch this and damn it’s still good.

Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan in the two lead roles. Since Billy Crystal was Sully from Monsters Inc I have loved everything I have watched of him since. The performance he gives in this is just perfect. The film is set over several stretches of time and from one time to another there is definite growth in the character that Crystal has evolved from the obnoxious guy in the first scene to the eventual nice guy. The character doesn’t change, he is still the same guy but the time adaptation fits so well. Meg Ryan luckily did this film during her “hot phase”. I saw one photo of her recently that looked like father time ran her over with a car, but back in the film damn she is hot. But not just hot, she’s got the cute factor too, which makes you want only good things for her character. The evolution of her character is a little less obvious than that of Crystal’s but she is still flawless. The supporting cast delivers a similar high level of performance. It’s always nice to see Carrie Fisher in a non-sci-fi film and her opposite Bruno Kirby was just as good, together they play the “friends” really well.

What’s to say about this film? Well if your basing a future watching of it on my review, just stop reading and watch the film because damn is good. It’s funny, it’s emotional, it draws you in. There are some classic moments: The big one being the orgasm scene, Ryan doing what she’s doing and Crystal’s facial reactions are hilarious. There are several scenes that are shot over the phone and the audience is shown both perspectives. Film students will be able to name it but whatever it’s called it works so well in this film, the best being a 4 way convocation between the 4 main characters. The film is flawless. It’s not too long, the cast is perfect, it’s funny, it draws you in and I did get a little teary at the end. If you’re reading this is it weird that I still get emotional over certain films? And is it weird I don’t mind admitting I do?

Recommend: Definitely. Re-watching has definitely reignited my love for this film

Overall: 10/10

Scent Of A Woman

June 4th: Scent Of A Woman

When a prep schoolboy takes a job looking after an old man for the weekend, he gets more than he bargained for when he meets a blind retired military colonel who has plans on a trip to the big city.

I had been meaning on tracking down this film for a while. I'm a big fan of Ralph Garman and his Al Pacino impression is hilarious. I finally tracked down his main inspiration to this film and I'm glad I did, because even without that incentive, its a really good film.

Cast: Al Pacino stars as the blind retired officer. Fantastic. The little things he adds to his performance. The way he holds his eyes throughout the film really gives the blind performance an edge. No review of him in this film would be complete without a Hoo-Ahh. Chris O'Donnell was less annoying than he was in the Batman flicks, I might even go as far as say he was good, but unfortunately he gets drowned by the awesome seeping from Pacino. Supporting cast notes a young role for Phillip Seymour Hoffman, who was also rather good.

This film I don't think is a comedy, but coming from Ralph's impressions to this film I was in stitches almost every time Pacino opened his mouth. The plane scene is bar far the funniest when Pacino gives off a monologue about what he likes about the female body. He also gives an awesome monologue at the end of the flick, but no spoilers here. The film is kinda like a less well known Forrest Gump or Rain Man, which raises a question that was asked in the movie Tropic Thunder: Why do good actors get awards and recognition for playing characters that are disabled some how? Either way, all three of these films are awesome.
It is however, very long. There are a lot of good moments in this film, but it could have done with being about 30mins less.

Recommend: Yes
Overall: 7/10

X-Men First Class

4^th May: X-men First Class

The story of a young Professor X and Magneto. The story of their first encounter that would spark a bitter rivalry.

By far the best X-Men film yet.

Cast: James McAvoy as Charles and Michael Fassbender as Erik. Both brilliantly British in the movie, love it. They embrace these already well known characters and build on what Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen laid for them. Just like Chris Pine did with William Shatner’s Kirk, these two did with Prof X and Magneto. Kevin Bacon as the villain was both good and bad. He didn’t give a bad performance, and although I’m not up on the X-Men lore/canon but his villain is exactly the same as Magneto is in the three other films. Not an original character but Bacon was good. Another performance worth mentioning was Nicholas Hoult as Beast. I loved his character of Hank McCoy ( Kelsey Grammar in the other film) Unfortunate poor performance from January Jones. Yea she’s hot but just like my gentleman parts: very wooden. Jennifer Lawrence was Ok as Mystique, not bad.

*WARNING SPOILERS*

First off: loved everything about this film. The plot holds firm right up to the credits. The entire story keeps you intrigued to learn more, it makes you care for the main characters, all except for one scene where Shaw asks the kid mutants to join him. Now other than an instinctual urge to root for the good side, I wasn’t as invested in the characters and can’t say I cared either way they went.

I loved the many hints towards Xavier going bold and I found most of the dialogue kept me in just as much as all the action sequences did. The epic submarine lifting scene at the end (from the trailer) was gorgeous, the learning to fly was good and the part when Erik actually becomes Magneto properly at the end all epic scenes. Now I hope you read the spoiler warning because my favourite part of this movie lasted about 10 secs, if that. Beast has got Cerebro working and Charles and Erik are tracking down mutants to join the good fight. There is a short cameo where they meet Hugh Jackman. Yes Wolverine is in this film. They approach him at the end of this recruitment montage, are about to introduce themselves and he simply says “Go fuck yourself!”. Genius and clever way to invoke a nerd-gasm from fans.

Recommend: Definitely, best to have at least seen the others though.

Overall: 10/10

L.A Confidential

June 2nd: L.A Confidential

Set in the 50's when a fellow police detective is killed in a cafe shoot out, the three best detectives in the area are on the case.

So after loving playing L.A Noire the video game, I thought I'd try the movie.

Cast:

Kevin Spacey is one of a few actors who i think can't do no wrong. Every role I've seen him in is brilliant and this is no different. This might also be the first film that I've seen Russell Crowe in that i have nothing negative to say. He was good. He pulled off his character well and i liked it. Although I've only seen Guy Pearce in The King's Speech, his character in this was done really well. Just like the other characters in the film, he eventually made me like him when we should hate him. Supporting cast mentions to James Cromwell, Danny DeVito and Matt McCoy.

The story is very good. I love these mystery style films. I love only knowing the plot at the end. There were some good action sequences, there were some humorous moments, there were some really good OMG moments. I'm not going to spoil any of them, but the film is really good and flows well.
If i had to say a negative point about the film, its the length. Maybe just 15/20mins too long.
On watching this movie it's very clear that James Cromwell's character is the main basis for the captain in L.A Noire. Their stories are different but the characters themselves are the same. I also see very similar characters in Roy Earle and Kevin Spacey's character.

Recommend: Definitely a must watch.
Overall: 9/10