Reviews

I hate to pigeonhole it to the Romantic Comedy genre, but I gotta call a spade a spade.

There's a twist though.

This is no 'boy meets girl' story of magical romance with cheap laughs thrown in. Crazy Stupid Love packs a tightly written script along with some great performances. Obviously, there are plenty of 'only in the movies' moments. The quirky parts also tend to miss the authenticity mark, but the laughs don't always come when you'd expect either.

I liked the fighting for love theme. It provides a reminder to all those who watch traditional Ro-Cos and might idealize those stories, that this is a much more likely ending -or rather, that we don't really know the ending nor do we ever find the perfect love, but nonetheless, it's still worth fighting for. That was nice to see in a Hollywood film.

The gloss is there, but there is something more for those of us who look for that kind of thing in film. It's a well made film and I enjoyed it.

7.5/10

I expected more from The Deer Hunter, but that's probably because of the reputation it enjoys. After watching the film, it's clear that the hype comes by way of Robert De Niro's performance; believable and entirely authentic to his character. The Vietnam war itself is more of a vehicle to the centrepiece scene in the film; POW Russian Roulette and the ensuing results. Indeed, if you watch this movie, this is the once scene that makes it truly worthwhile because it was otherwise too long and not in the least gripping. If anything, the way it dragged on -particularly at the beginning- could be seen as the director's way of demonstrating that life outside of the war-zone is insignificantly mundane compared to what goes on in a shorter time span with death always moments away. Out of the 7/10 I'm rating it, six points go to Robert and one to the Roulette scene. Not that the other acting was bad, nor that it was a terrible movie, but not much else stood out for me in the three long hours it took to tell the story.

Not many films these days dare peek into the fabric of our personal morality and our humanity all at the same time, but Shame does just that.

If you're reading this, you probably know what this film is about. If you want to know whether it's pornographic, overly shocking, or sensationalist I'd say not at all. It's honest.

I never thought much about sex addiction. In fact, until I saw this movie it was an addiction I scoffed at. But like all addictions it's a matter of self-control. Clearly it can happen with sex, too. The problem with it is that on the exterior, it's much easier to hide than drug or alcohol abuse. A sex addict can be a successful, charming, and likable everyday guy to his friends and co-workers. But in his mind, he's a monster, never satisfied, always seeking to devour sex. Whether it's pornography, masturbation, or it involves another person it really doesn't matter. He becomes an automaton unable to form real human relationships. The sad part is that the sex, whenever it does happen, is just as fake and devoid of any humanity.

I picked this all up by watching the film, it's that powerful. It depicts something few of us really think about with any seriousness. McQueen deserves any plaudits coming his way for this visionary piece of filmmaking. I now have Hunger on my 'must watch' list. Fassbender and Mulligan are incredible in their acting; utterly authentic. The musical score, too, is perfect. It is such a well put together film it deserves to be seen on this basis alone.

It's not a happy movie, but it's not necessarily a sad movie either. It just is. You feel it, and you'll remember it.

The title of this review speaks for itself as to what this film portrays. Yet, I have no problem praising it for excellent attention to detail and realistic portrayal of the best in American military weapons and tactics.

Act of Valor is both entertaining and very insightful from the point of view of an interested party in military theory & practice. If you happen to be interested in world politics (and know a thing or two about how it all works), it's likely going to look like nothing more than an extended armed forces recruitment video.

The storyline is weak to say the least, built to support the military action and not much more. I find it hard to say that it makes any serious political point since it's basically the military film equivalent of tailgaters chanting "USA, USA, USA!". The acting is decent from the people who are actually actors, and laughable from the SEALs' part. I mean, it seems like that's how they really do talk. It makes you think of a bunch of jocks going over plays. But at the same time it's so contrived that you just gotta take it in stride and not dwell on it too much. Of course, when they're in the middle of an engagement or during the mission, they do sound completely authentic -but then, that's their real life training not acting.

All this being said, I'd only recommend the film to people who, like myself, want to see a pretty authentic portrayal of America's forces in action and not to anyone who expects any sort of food for thought. The Thin Red Line, it is not.

I had zero expectation when I started watching this movie about two slacker brothers who won't leave their parents' house. Oddly enough, it was as good as any other juvenile type comedy, and probably even better in some respects. For one, it's not just slapstick stupidity that tends to characterize Will Ferrell's movies, for example. There is a lot of underhanded humour that the two leads pull off very well throughout the course of the film.

I believe that comedy is the hardest genre because it's really hard to genuinely be funny and make people laugh. While I wasn't on the floor, it WAS funny and it entertained. I recommend it you're bored and looking for a few laughs.

First off, let me say that until I saw Equilibrium, I'd never even heard of it. As is often the case, a mix of reviews and trailers convinced me to give it a go. I wanted to watch something interesting, not too heavy, and with good performances. Simply put, the story, the action, and Christian Bale all delivered.

The gist of it is that humanity is too emotional for its own good and the only way to keep it from destroying itself is for humans to forgo emotions. Christian Bale is at the higher echelons of the enforcement hierarchy and he hunts and kills all who are guilty of 'sense crime' (ie. displaying emotion). You'll have to watch the film to see how he starts coming around and begins fighting for "the resistance", but it's definitely a Conflicted Individual type storyline.

There is lots one can pick on with this film; it has a small-budget feel in its setting and CGI and the dystopian theme is somewhat redundant. Yet I found myself making comparisons to Harrison Bergeron, tense at the right moments, and thoroughly enjoying it from start to finish.

The action scenes are crisp and perfectly choreographed, this is probably where the Matrix comparisons come in, but it's really not a different version of the Matrix at all. The theme is not technology, it's humanity. This is where I wish there had been a stronger character on the side of the resistance, to maybe show the contrast between the emotionless automatons and real, feeling, people, but again this is about the conflicted individual, so all the other characters do feel very secondary.

All in all, good movie; it's simplistic, but it's not junk and it's entertaining too. If you're torn just watch it, you'll end up liking it.

There are a couple of things that save this movie from being the total wreck that it could've been. One is that a couple of the actors seem to have some potential, the other is that the story is so bad in parts that it's actually amusing.

I honestly don't understand the positive reviews here; the only explanation possible is that the friends of the cast and crew posted them. There is absolutely no way that a serious movie goer could possibly give this film anything above a 5 (and that's being ridiculously generous).

The story, from beginning to end, is filled with clichés. A wannabe mobster gets in with a local boss in an attempt to find out what happened to his father (not at all because he's interested in being a criminal). The ensuing downward spiral affects his life/friends in a negative manner, the wannabe is torn apart, etc...

The script was probably written in one day by a guy who loves gangster films but has no idea how to actually make one. It seems a checklist was followed to put all the right elements together: Wiseguy accents - check, Wiseguy bad attitudes - check, Offers you can't refuse - check, Racist tension with blacks - check, Mob war - check, Innocent victims - check. Problem is, nobody thought to put a check-mark next to "Smart story" or "Tight script".

I don't want to comment on the production value too much because I believe that movies can be well-made without any special effects, and that a good story can always make the viewer forget about the gritty, low-budget appearance. In this film though, because the story is as terrible as it is, it was hard not to notice the poor audio, shoddy camera work, and an overall feel that it was filmed with a Handycam. The locations are threadbare and you get the feeling that friends and cast offered their homes, backyards, and a couple of bars as locations.

I was taken in by these reviews that have absolutely no merit. I hope mine will bring a much needed reality check to the table. It's a bore film, don't waste your time on it.

Sadly, only a few savvy reviewers seem to have gotten the point in, If I Want To Whistle I Whistle. Rather than what it is about, this film is not about many things: it is not a film about Romania, about prisons, about troubled youth, nor about prison breaks (and certainly not about 'Prison Brake', as the nitwit who only saw the trailer put it).

This is simply a film about an individual's highly charged personal drama. It's a story that could happen anywhere on earth to anybody at all. I knew it would be good when in the first two minutes I got that churning feeling in my gut that something just wasn't right.

Despite the prison setting, the inmates don't really seem to have the sort of animosity towards one another as one sees in all American prison movies. The guards, too, seem to be easy going, chatting rather casually with the prisoners who are working outdoors and making the best of it by singing and carrying on some light banter. And yet, the tension is somehow palpable. I don't know why anybody would complain about the pacing here. It makes no pretense to being an action film, and for the story it's telling, the pacing is spot on.

There is an intense focus on Silviu, the protagonist, who learns from his younger brother that their mother has arrived to take him back to Italy with her a week before Silviu is due to be released. In fact this is the basic premise of the movie, and even before I started it I expected that it would likely end up being rather flat and uninteresting. I mostly felt obliged by the number of nods Romanian films have gotten lately at International Festivals (including this one, in Berlin). I made the right choice.

This is a Drama in the real sense of the word; an examination of raw emotions that surround one's personal microcosm and all the things, little and small, that those around you may know about but can't possibly understand. The director manages to put the audience in Silviu's shoes every step of the way. You feel for him, you question him, and the whole time the tension mounts as you're wondering how it's all going to end up.

There is no reason to post any spoilers here, more detail will take away from the experience should you choose to watch it. I commend the actors who were brilliant, particularly George Pistereanu's, Silviu, but also the Director, Florin Serban, for his vision and the crew who took part in the production. While it's not the glossy type of film Hollywood's gotten us used to, it's very obvious that a lot of thought went into making it and that's why I rate it as highly as I do. 9/10