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.
Showing posts with label Need for Entertainment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Need for Entertainment. Show all posts
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.
This documentary follows NBA superstar LeBron James and four of his talented teammates through the trials and tribulations of high school basketball in Ohio and James' journey to fame.
Almost everyone know who LeBron James is, but most people don't know how he got to be where he is today. LeBron really became famous when he attempted to forfeit his senior year of high school and go to the NBA draft after his junior season. After he was denied by the NBA, he returned for his senior season, which was one of the most anticipated seasons by any high school player ever. It was not only because LeBron James was supposed to be the next Michael Jordan, but the high school team that he played for was in contention for the national championship.
This documentary show how these four friends started playing basketball together as kids, coached by one of the kids dads. It follows them as they go on to play in high school together, instantly transforming their school into a powerhouse.
The documentary does a good job at bringing you into the lives of these kids. How they got into the sport and what their friendship meant to each other. It shows how they had to deal with adversity, especially LeBron becoming famous. It really shows how much these kids valued each others friendships, and always wanted to play together. It also helps you understand why LeBron James decided to change teams this season to play with his friends.
The movie is a mixture of interviews, still photos and archival footage. A lot of times this can make for a very boring movie, but the still images are all done a very cool way that really make the photos seem more like videos and keep you entertained. It is also very fun to see the archival footage of LeBron and his teammates as young middle school kids.
The only problems it seemed with this documentary is it seems to go back over certain story points to many times. They talk about how Dru Joyce III was to small to play basketball and was always overlooked. Then 10 minutes later they go over the same thing, it seems very redundant, and it happens multiple times in the movie.
This is a must see for sports fans, and I believe if you are a fan of documentaries you may also become a fan of More Than a Game.
A bullied young boy befriends a young female vampire who lives in secrecy with her guardian.
When I heard that they were remaking one of my favorite movies of 2008, Let The Right One In, I was very upset. Not only that they were remaking the foreign film which I thought was already excellent, but that they were doing in 2 years later. I was also worried about the director choice, Matt Reeves, who was the director of Cloverfield. The cast was one thing that did excite me, Kodi Smit-McPhee was excellent in The Road and Chloe Moretz was great in Kickass.
The best comparison for these two movies I can think of is Let Me In is a color by numbers version of Let The Right One In. Imagine getting a color by numbers version of the Mona Lisa, you are told what colors to go where to make it look as good as the original, but many factors would hurt it. Are the colors exactly the same, did you color over the line, did you try to make parts original? In the end of it all though it really never had a chance to be as good as the original but it could be very good.
They decided to keep many of the same dialogue and scenes which was very nice to see, if it's not broke, then why fix it? Other things that they decided to add I thought worked really well. They made Abby's guardian more of a villain when he goes to find blood for Abby. They also put more into the story about Abby's relationship with the guardian and who he really was. It may be pushed on you a little much, the less you have to keep pushing it on an audience seems to be better.
The changes were also for the worse in this movie. Making Abby turn into a monster I think was a huge mistake, the relationship she has with Owen is build on them both needing friends because they are outcasts. Turning her into a monster would really change that dynamic. Also the police man who is not in the original, is neither made into a good guy or a villain so in the end you don't know how to feel about him, whats the point of having him be such a big character if you aren't going to develop him. I think Matt Reeves really failed to understand the mindset of some of these characters in the original or just decided to change it, which was a bad idea.
In a world where Let The Right One In doesn't exist, Let Me In would a good film. It would be different than anything that we have seen in the vampire genre. Unfortunately there is a better version of this film that has a better script, much better cinematography, quality acting and is original.
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.
