Charlie inspired me to try to do something new (check out The-Broll below), so I'm going to watch 4 movies a week and write my little review about them, or steal John's reviews from Making the Movie.
I won't give ratings, just a when you should see it rating...i.e. my favorites will be rated NOW, for "GO SEE IT NOW". Others will include Indie Film Mood, Date Night, or Drunken Guys Night ect..
You will learn very quickly that writing isn't my strongest skill so please excuse the many errors.
As computer hacker Lisbeth and journalist Mikael investigate a sex-trafficking ring, Lisbeth is accused of three murders, causing her to go on the run while Mikael works to clear her name.
The "Millennium" trilogy has been an exciting export from Sweden over the last couple of years, so good in fact that Hollywood is already working on re-making the three films even though the 3rd one has just come out in America. For people who can handle sub-titles, I would recommend watching the originals first.
I saw the first one to long ago to do a review on it, but I just watched the last two movies this week, and they do not disappoint. Every film in the series seems to have a different genre to it.
A mountain climber becomes trapped under a boulder while canyoneering alone near Moab, Utah and resorts to desperate measures in order to survive.
Danny Boyle returns to the big screen again with his first movie since Slumdog Millionaire. Boyle seems intent on mastering every single genre of movies, and he doesn't disappoint with this psychological/thriller/adventure/action/drama. Boyle recreates the story of Aron Ralston, a hiker who gets trapped when a boulder comes loose pins his arm to the canyon wall. Over the next 127 hours he will have to deal with the physical and emotional struggle to survive, and eventually have to make the decision of how far he is willing to go to get out from under the rock.
James Franco plays Aron, and already there is oscar buzz about his performance. Its hard to even imagine what you would go through in that situation, and watching Franco's performance it seems that he must have spent a lot of time with Ralston, trying to find the right emotions to put into each day that he is stuck under the rock. Franco's performance is great as he struggles between trying to survive and the realization that he is about to die, and he is not happy with the way that he left his relationships with family and friends.
The other thing I really liked about the movie was it had a message, it seems like most movies these days are just about the big action scenes or the creepy hauntings, but don't have much heart. This movie brings a great message whether you are rock climbing alone in Utah or driving your car on the 101. You never know what moment is going to be your last, either from a rock trapping you in a canyon or your car flipping over on the highway. No one ever goes out expecting it to happen to them, so people don't think about the things that matter most in their lives until it is to late.
Danny Boyle seems to have a little bit of a goofy side that comes out of him every once in a while, and unfortunately I think its the biggest setback in some of his movies. The Beach has the scene where it turns into a video game, and 127 hours has little pieces that seem just a little out of place. It doesn't hurt the movie at all, but I couldn't help like it took me out of the movie at the moment. Reviewer John Ott put it best I think when he said it's a small budget movie made with a big budget, and I think at times it can feel a little over done.
127 Hours is a very tense movie that isn't for the feint of heart, but it is a true story that will entertain you as well as make you think. While it isn't the masterpiece that Slumdog Millionaire was, it is another excellent film from Danny Boyle.
Butch and Sundance are the two leaders of the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang. Butch is all ideas, Sundance is all action and skill. The west is becoming civilized and when Butch and Sundance rob a train once too often, a special posse begins trailing them no matter where they run.
There really isnt alot to review when it comes to a movie starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford, that won 4 academy awards and was nominated for 7 total. It was a movie that I loved as a kid and is still one of my favorite westerns. The only reason I review it is in case some unlucky person has yet to watch it yet.
It has a little bit of everything it seems. comedy, action, romance and suspense throughout the movie. The dynamic between Redford and Newman is fantastic whether they are fighting with each other, making jokes before jumping off cliffs or in the middle of a shootout.
The film is also does things differently than most other films would. The film is split up into two segments that is split by pictures that moves the story from America to Bolivia. They also use "pop" music for the montage sequences which was sort of surprising to hear when I watched it again but I think it works very well.
The movie was shot by Conrad Hall so it looks beautiful and it goes in and out of a sepia color that gives a good old west feeling to the movie.
The end of the movie is classic, all the way up to the very last line the movie keeps you laughing and guessing what is going to happen next.
As he plans his next job, a longtime thief tries to balance his feelings for a bank manager connected to one of his earlier heists, as well as the FBI agent looking to bring him and his crew down.
After hearing a lot of buzz about this movie I was very excited to see it. The only part of this movie I think should be getting any buzz is Jeremy Renner. The movie was entertaining, but bad acting and a laughable script really took me out of the movie.
Being that most people have enjoyed this movie so far, I will link to a good writers review, that portrays what I have been hearing about the movie. Hopefully everyone will disagree with me and love the movie.
With the small number of films coming out of Australia, I'd be happy with just one or two good films each year. But this year has set the bar high, and Red Hill is yet another example of the talent down under in the filmmaking industry.
Red Hill is a modern day western, set in high country Australia. Young police officer Shane Cooper (Ryan Kwanten) has just relocated with his pregnant wife to the small country town of Red Hill. Shane's first day on the job turns into a nightmare when the town gets news that Jimmy Conway (Tom E. Lewis), a convicted murderer, has escaped maximum security prison. Led by Old Bill (Steve Bisley), the police captain, they prepare for all-out war that the revenge-seeking Jimmy Conway is bringing their way. Shane has to fight to survive while he slowly uncovers the mysteries of Red Hill.
The movie was written, directed and edited by Patrick Hughes. You can see he is heavily influenced by No Country For Old Men: his ability to create tension is excellent. Instead of someone coming into a room and shooting it up, he builds up the tension and makes every gunshot count. The villain, Jimmy Conway, feels very similar to Javier Bardem's character in No Country. There is one scene where he takes time to play a song on the jukebox, while his victim hides in the corner, watching and waiting for his death to come. You almost expect him to flip a coin.
The movie starts out a little rough, a little too 'on the nose.' The characters seem generic at first. But as the movie progresses, these 'generic characters' evolve into real people. Ryan Kwanten's and Steve Bisley's performances are excellent and really carry the movie when needed.
The movie was shot in Victoria, and the beautiful landscapes and the small rural town really give the sense that this still is the wild country, where things haven't changed much from the 1800's and where you would expect things to be solved in an ol' fashioned shootout.
Director Patrick Hughes said while he was writing the script he was trying to write something that would be easy to make on a tight budget. Instead, he ended up with a script loaded with stunts, shootouts, pyrotechnics, horse chases, car crashes and prosthetic limbs getting blown off. The film was all privately financed with neither a distributor nor any government grant. In the end Screen Australia and Arclight came on to help complete the film. The film was shot in four weeks on second-hand film stock from Hollywood, using short ends from productions such as Entourage and Fast and the Furious.
The score, done by Dmitri Golovko, does an excellent job of of going back and forth between the happy country music of a small town and the high tension of a horror film.
This movie isn't without flaws. One important flashback scene happens twice, when showing it only once would have made the ending even more memorable. Some people might also find it odd that no matter how far Shane ends up away from the town he is able to make it back extremely fast. The biggest downfall I can see for this movie is that it will be compared to another Australian film that came out this year, Animal Kingdom, which was one of the best movies of the year thus far. Red Hill is not on the same level, but is still an excellent film. It is a ripping modern day western that will keep you entertained.
After being betrayed by the organization who hired him, an ex-Federale launches a brutal rampage of revenge against his former boss.
What started as an brilliant trailer for the Rodriguez/Tarantino Grindhouse Films has finally come to the big screen as it's own feature. It features an awesome cast of Danny Trejo, Robert De Niro, Steven Seagal, Jeff Fahey, Jessica Alba, Don Johnson, Cheech Marin and Lindsay Lohan. This looked to be the ultimate B-Movie, and I love a great B-Movie.
It starts out with heads rolling, blood spraying everywhere and naked women. The ultimate guy movie. But the movie fails to end with such a force, which made me leave the theater feeling let down by Machete.
The characters in the movie are great. Everyone is their own unique, over the top, B-Movie star. Of course when Steven Seagal is the ultimate Spanish speaking villain in any movie, you can't go wrong.
There is nothing bad to say about the first three-quarters of this movie. Perfection in my mind. The movie seems like it is building up to a huge "war" between two forces at the end of the movie, and with the way the movie started it looked like it was going to be epic........and then it happened. It's one of those movies that looked like their budget ran out before they could shoot the last scenes. Maybe it was intentionally that bad because Robert Rodriguez knows what he's making, and knows it's a B-Movie, but it was a giant letdown.
The first hour and a half of this movie are so good that it is still worth seeing, its just a shame that it couldn't finish as strong as it started.
After a sudden underwater tremor sets free scores of the prehistoric man-eating fish, an unlikely group of strangers must band together to stop themselves from becoming fish food for the area's new razor-toothed residents.
After seeing the trailers for this early in the summer I thought it looked like the worst movie that would come out in 2010. When the reviews started coming in though I kept hearing about the film makers doing it right and not trying to make it some hit 3D teen movie. That it was made knowing it was a B-Movie and made it over the top with boobs and gore. So I decided I had to see it.
I would say they got it about 65% right, there are many great elements to this movie. There is one epic scene where the piranha's finally make it to the Spring Break festivities and it doesn't disappoint. It has Troma film written all over it. I don't want to spoil any of it, but if there is one reason to see this movie, this scene is it (if your into Piranha's ripping people apart).
Many of the characters are great B-Movie rolls, Jerry O'Connell playing the coked up girls gone wild director. Ving Rhames chopping up piranha's with a boat propeller, Christopher Lloyd and Richard Dreyfuss (all that needs to be said).
The rest of the movie seemed to be exactly what it shouldn't. A teen "comedy" that really isn't funny. It really seemed to bring down the movie and at times made me wonder why I wasted the money to be there. There is a very boring relationship subplot for the main character that really doesn't get explained very well and takes up way to much screen time.
Overall it was a fun trip to the movies, it had what was promised, boobs and over the top gore. There really isn't any other reason to see if besides that.
