407 replies to this topic

[seawolfnyy]

 

 

Nice review.  Good to see that someone else enjoyed Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters. 

I don't know why everyone hated it so much. Not every movie is going to be Oscar worthy and this particular one really seems as if it wants to say f*** you to the Academy.

 

 

Agreed.  I think a lot of the film's charm comes from that exact attitude.  It reminded me a little of Kick-Ass, in that it took its inspiration from something that's generally aimed towards a more family-oriented audience (superhero films for KA, fairytales for H&G) and then added a more adult sense of humor and tone to the proceedings.  

 

Exactly. Not too mention, Gemma Arterton in tight leather....

[x007AceOfSpades]

Mud - 4.5/5

 

Mud, The Story of two young boys, Ellis and Neckbone, who come across a mysterious man known simply as "Mud". Mud tells them stories about his girlfriend and how he killed a man. This all however seems to be "too good, to be true." when it turns out Mud is actually a wanted man by the law and by a group of men who want him dead. Mud uses the boys to his aid, to help bring him food and help him get down a boat that is in a tree on an island, and repair it so he can freely leave and live a life with his girlfriend. It's not so much his story at the center, but rather Ellis' who must come to terms with many things around him in his life, and so should our titular character, Mud.

 

Having never seen any film by Nichols, I can surely say that He has a very promising career ahead of him, and I will surely be looking closely at what he does next. Having that been said, it's a coming of age, southern drama, with hints of Twain in it, particularly that of Huck Finn. Matthew McConaughey turns in another great performance (especially after the wonderful 2012 film Killer Joe) playing Mud, the mysterious man on the run, b the real star of the film is Ellis played wonderfully by Tye Sheridan. Ellis is a 14 year old boy with many issues going on in his life. His parents are on the verge of divorce, the boat house they live on will be broken apart, He likes a girl, but is a bit shy to tell her, and is conflicted as to whether or not he should help out Mud. Ellis is almost a mirror image of Mud from when he was younger.

 

The rest of the cast, including Sam Shepard, Reese Witherspoon and with very limited screentime-Michael Shannon deliver great performances. To go hand in hand with the acting and their respective characters is Writer/Director, Jeff Nichols beautiful writing. With the setting of the South, the cinematography, even in the most simplest of shots, makes this film feel so special and just simply beautiful. It has almost everything you could ever want rolled into a film. Drama, romance, humor, suspense, and even action.

It's a film that requires all of your fullest of undivided attention, and is a near perfect film that will do doubt grow on me through the years to come. It's a film the needs to be seen for everything that it offers.

 

Not just because of the story, or because of Sheridan and McConaughey's performance, but just because it is so damn good. I'm literally still thinking about this even after writing this review hours after watching it. It's hard to do an in-depth review without giving much away, but the least I can tell you is to simply WATCH IT.

 

Also: Even though this came out in the spring, It'd be a goddamn shame if it wasn't nominated for any serious awards.

 

As for 2013 films:

SEEN:

Texas Chainsaw 3D - 0
The Last Stand - 5
Movie 43 - 0
Bullet To The Head - 3.5
Stand Up Guys - 2.5
Side Effects - 4
A Good Day To Die Hard - 2

Snitch - 3.5
Dead Man Down - 4.5
Evil Dead - 3
Oblivion - 3.5

Mud - 4.5/5
The Lords Of Salem - 3.5
Pain & Gain - 5
Iron Man 3 - 0
Star Trek Into Darkness - 3.5
Fast & Furious 6 - 2.5
Behind The Candelabra - 3
The Purge - 3
Man Of Steel - 2

World War Z - 4

Pacific Rim - 4.5

Only God Forgives - 5

The Wolverine - 4.5

 

LOOKING FORWARD TO:

The Iceman - May 3rd, DVD-September 3rd

2 Guns - August 2nd

Elysium - August 9th

Ain't Them Bodies Saints - August 16th

Riddick - September 6th

Machete Kills - September 13th

The Family - September 20th

Homefront - October 4th

Escape Plan - October 18th

The Wolf Of Wall Street - November 15th

Her - November 20th

American Hustle - December 6th

Monuments Men - December 18th

Lone Survivor - December 27th

[x007AceOfSpades]

New trailer for Ridley Scott's newest film. Looks interesting, though I may wait a bit to see it, especially after his latest film effort, Prometheus

[x007AceOfSpades]

Elysium - 4/5

 

"They will hunt you to the edge of the earth for this"

 

Neill Blomkamp, director and co-writer of the sleeper hit 2009 film District 9 returns four years later with his latest Sci-Fi outing. Elysium A film that has divided many people for few reasons. Relying too much on action and too much on political themes are the majority of what I've seen. It's a bit hard considering Blomkamp has his hands full with trying to best his previous effort, however, with politics being a theme that was present in District 9 and is present in this, both are entirely two different films and both stand out entirely.

 

Set in the year 2154, Earth, in the late 21st Century has become over populated and ruined Earth. We follow our main protagonist, Max Da Costa (Matt Damon) who is a former career criminal, who lives a life in the ruined Earth. Working on the assembly line, he becomes under contact with extreme lethal amounts of radiation. Max has only five days to live. His only hope is to make it to Elysium. A ring-world that orbits space, that is inhabited by the wealthy. Disease free and crime free. Max goes to his former employer, a man he used to steal cars for, Spider, and they come to the agreement that Max will go there if he takes a job. A risky one too, that involves kidnapping and extracting highly valuable information from a member of Elysium on Earth. Max undergoes a special operation that gives him an exoskeleton that greatly increases his strength. Max along with a special team intercept the Elysium member, John Carlyle, but the plan is botched and are soon under attack by Kruger (Sharlto Copley), a sleeper agent from Elysium on Earth tasked with making sure Max doesn't gather the info and to kill him.

 

Max escapes But is severely wounded and is later helped by his childhood friend, Frey, whose daughter is very sick and asks Max for his help of taking her and her daughter to Elysium to cure her. x says it's too dangerous and leaves and she is soon taken, along with her daughter, by Kruger and his men. Max goes to see Spider, who tells him that the information he was able to secure has the power to override their whole system. From then on, Max goes to break into Elysium, save Frey, and override their system, and stop the villainous Kruger.

 

Some people like to say the future is wonderful idea and thought, I'm different. I believe the future is scary, and for me, this film proves that (at least to me, to an extent of course). The political themes, mainly Social Hierarchy, is present. The wealthy live healthy, safe, prestigious lives on Elysium, while everyone below them lives on the ruined Earth. There's also that sense of segregation but instead of it being about religion or sexuality or race, it's rather with the class people. There's the wealthy on the Elysium and there's everyone else in the slums on Earth. There's also that sense of greed, that this far into the future, Everyone is trying to make a decent living on Earth, while the wealthy are only out for themselves and use the labor from citizens on Earth to their own benefits. In Elysium, the future is not beautiful.

 

The acting, oh boy. Matt Damon, I'll admit that I think he's a good actor when given good roles, but he really surprised me with this film and I thought his acting wasn't too bad. I'd like to see him take on more roles like this in the future. Jodie Foster wasn't bad, but she's forgettable, along with her dreadful attempt at a French accent. So who really stood out the most? Sharlto Copley. Yup, Wikus from District 9. Sharlto who plays the evil villain Kruger is one of the best things in this film. He plays one hell of a villain let me say that! It's been a while where a villain has had me wanting and wishing death on him. That's how damn good he was. I just couldn't take my eyes off of him every time he was on screen. Kruger is simply evil. He enjoys killing and inflicting pain on others. He's the psychotic government agent who wields a powerful exoskeleton and a samurai sword. Kruger simply stole the show.

 

One thing that bugged me the most was the editing and the pacing of the first act. It happened fast, but too fast. Everything just sort of happened too quickly and you're thrust into many scenes. Afterwards it happens, but not as much, than almost seemingly goes away. The action scenes were lots of fun and certainly entertaining, though there was shaky cam, which can get annoying, but I can somewhat appreciate it for this film, in trying to go for a real and raw style, but it's like that with other films and is becoming cheap. The effects were fantastic, as well as the technology present in the film's respective year. There's also a particular fight scene, with our protagonist and antagonist that is just great, though it is short, it's great. Oh and if you do plan on seeing this, go for IMAX. this film deserves to be seen in IMAX for it's large scope presented. There are of course some cliches involved, but is forgivable and understandable of course.

 

To take this quote from Neill Blomkamp, "No, no, no. This isn't science fiction. This is today. This is now.". It makes sense and I can totally see it in his violent science fiction follow up. To keep discussing this, would mean for me to further go into the film, but that involves spoilers, and I don't want to give anything away. This may divide many people and it may not stand tall and it may feel somewhat disappointing after District 9 but it can perfectly stand tall and it is one hell of a film.

 

As for 2013 films:

SEEN:

Texas Chainsaw 3D - 0
The Last Stand - 5
Movie 43 - 0
Bullet To The Head - 3.5
Stand Up Guys - 2.5
Side Effects - 4
A Good Day To Die Hard - 2

Snitch - 3.5
Dead Man Down - 4.5
Evil Dead - 3
Oblivion - 3.5

Mud - 4.5
The Lords Of Salem - 3.5
Pain & Gain - 5
Iron Man 3 - 0
Star Trek Into Darkness - 3.5
Fast & Furious 6 - 2.5
Behind The Candelabra - 3
The Purge - 3
Man Of Steel - 2

World War Z - 4

Pacific Rim - 4.5

Only God Forgives - 5

The Wolverine - 4.5

Elysium - 4/5

 

LOOKING FORWARD TO:

The Iceman - May 3rd, DVD-September 3rd

Ain't Them Bodies Saints - August 16th

Riddick - September 6th

Machete Kills - September 13th

The Family - September 20th

Homefront - October 4th

Escape Plan - October 18th

The Wolf Of Wall Street - November 15th

Her - November 20th

American Hustle - December 6th

Monuments Men - December 18th

Lone Survivor - December 27th

[Janus Assassin]

I'm actually looking forward to Riddick. I loved Pitch Black and the second one was ho-hum. This one looks like it'll be similar to Pitch. 

[x007AceOfSpades]

The World's End - 1.5/5

The Cornetto Trilogy exploded in 2004 with the Rom-Com Horror film Shaun Of The Dead. Wright & Pegg & Frost returned with probably the best action comedy film since Lethal Weapon with 2007's Hot Fuzz. 2013, they return with the Sci-Fi Comedy The World's End and it's safe to say it is extremely disappointing. I am a huge fan of the previous two films, and I appreciate and enjoy British humor, however I found this to be simply weak and disappointing.

 

The film is about Gary King, a man who is an alcoholic and is estranged from his close friends. He reunites them all for to attempt the Golden Mile once again. A pub crawl they attempted as teenagers and failed. Years later, they attempt it in their hometown of Newton Haven, but find things to be a bit strange. The people they once knew are singular and almost robotic. Everyone else in the town looks at them like a foreign object. It is then discovered by them that the people appear to have been taken over by robots with increased strength and blue ink for blood. Fearing that if they attempt to escape the town they will be caught and something bad will happen to them, they men decide there is only one way to go about this: Make it to The World's End, finish the pub crawl, and leave town for good, before worse happens.

 

It's an interesting concept, and the idea of the people being robotic and acting almost "out of element" reminded me Invasion Of The Body Snatchers. If there is one big positive it is that Edgar Wright really knows how to direct action scenes. I have no idea why I'm saying this, as it was already evident with Hot Fuzz, but Today's big mainstream filmmakers should take not on how to film a well done, coherent, action scene.

 

There was no doubt that I was going to see this, having loved the previous two film in the Cornetto Trilogy, but upon seeing the trailer for this one, I felt underwhelmed. Maybe it's because it looked too silly or what, but Taking a chance, Saw it anyways. I was disappointed with the whole thing. Aside from the action scenes and main characters which I liked, There really wasn't much here for me to make me enjoy it as much as the previous two. Gone were the consistent laughs. There were a few parts where I absolutely laughed out loud, then there's parts where you chuckle at.

 

With moderate expectations, I was hoping to prove wrong by Wright & Pegg & Frost, but instead was disappointed massively. This is a film that I really wanted to enjoy and was hoping I would leave the theater with a smile conversing with my fellow mates about the film. Instead we talked about how disappointing it was, compared to the previous two films.

 

As I said earlier, I enjoy and appreciate British Humor a lot. I really do, I prefer British Comedy to that of current American Comedy films, and Am currently looking for more British Comedy films to watch, as I've given up completely on American Humor. The World's End, aside from a couple of chuckles, action scenes, and it's characters, there wasn't anything here at all. It's weak and It's disappointing. I really wanted to enjoy this and like it, but It's just a bad film altogether, and one I'll be steering away from with The Cornetto Trilogy..

 

As for 2013 films:

SEEN:

Texas Chainsaw 3D - 0
The Last Stand - 5
Movie 43 - 0
Bullet To The Head - 3.5
Stand Up Guys - 2.5
Side Effects - 4
A Good Day To Die Hard - 2

Snitch - 3.5
Dead Man Down - 4.5
Evil Dead - 3
Oblivion - 3.5

Mud - 4.5
The Lords Of Salem - 3.5
Pain & Gain - 5
Iron Man 3 - 0
Star Trek Into Darkness - 3.5
Fast & Furious 6 - 2.5
Behind The Candelabra - 3
The Purge - 3
Man Of Steel - 2

World War Z - 4

Pacific Rim - 4.5

Only God Forgives - 5

The Wolverine - 4.5

Elysium - 4

The World's End - 1.5/5

 

LOOKING FORWARD TO:

The Iceman - May 3rd, DVD-September 3rd

Ain't Them Bodies Saints - August 16th

Riddick - September 6th

Machete Kills - September 13th

The Family - September 20th

Homefront - October 4th

Escape Plan - October 18th

The Wolf Of Wall Street - November 15th

Her - November 20th

American Hustle - December 6th

Monuments Men - December 18th

Lone Survivor - December 27th

[x007AceOfSpades]

You're Next - 1/5

Why do I still continue to bother with this tiresome genre? It probably doesn't seem like it, but I love horror films. I really love horror films. The trailer for this reminded me of the 2008 horror film, The Strangers. Turns out it's just as cliched, boring, and predictable as any other horror film today. And I ask again, Why do I still continue to bother with this tiresome genre? Why? Because I am a man, who hopes to one day see that horror film and go "Hell yeah! Horror with a capital H!". You're Next is not a great horror film and it isn't a great film.

 

The film is about a family gathering around for an anniversary (The parents' wedding anniversary to be exact), but Someone during the dinner is killed by someone in the forest outside of the house with a crossbow. With signals being jammed, no firearms, and nothing but each other, the family strive to protect each other and fight back against the violent, murderous Masked Men.

 

It's a home invasion film. It's something we've all seen before and the concept and premise is nothing to knew to us. A great example of a home invasion horror film done well is The Strangers. So, what exactly are the positives of You're Next? The Character Erin, played wonderfully by Sharni Vinson, who easily steals the show. Why is she the best thing? Simple, she doesn't portray the usual, vulnerable female character, but that archetype is broken as she portrays a strong level-headed woman who will not fall prey to the Masked Man and will fight back and do anything to ensure the lives and safety of her family. Everything else is nothing more than a big negative.

 

The Negatives. The acting: Aside from Sharni Vinson, every actor here has the acting of a Straight To DVD film and the acting at times feels TOO pushed or forces upon. The Cinematography: It uses all the basic and stereotypical shots we've seen numerous of times in many horror films, so it's nothing new, however, in a particular scene, the Shaky Cam is so damn much it's just absolutely ridiculous. The Scares: There are no scares at all. All the basic horror film cliches are here, all the jump scenes you sense before they happen, and you can easily predict just about everything. The Story: As I stated earlier, It's a been there, done that story, but It doesn't work this time around with the simple fact that story is just so damn predictable. I think I pretty much figured out the way the film would turn out at the halfway point. I'm not saying that to just say it, I'm saying it because It's simply true.

 

I've heard many people and the director state that the intention was for the film to come off this way and to strangely be a comedy with horror in it, But I don't see it at all. If I wanted that, I'd go pop in my DVD player last years The Cabin In The Woods, which pulled that off quite well! Another major Issue is the tension, (for a perfect example on tension in film see John Carpenter's The Thing) While it may seem like it is present, It ultimately isn't present and just falls flat. Not to mention the pacing is terrible. for 95 minutes, This film felt like it was around 115 - 120 minutes. Many scenes needed to go and many things needed to be sped up.

 

There is nothing unique or amazing about this. Everything in it, you see a mile away. All the twists in it, you too see a mile away coming. We live in an age where Horror films are either no nonsense torture porn flicks, wannabe edgy S***, pretentiousness like You're Next, and the UNNECESSARY remakes (like the upcoming Carrie for example.) How I went from watching and writing about something I loved (Side Effects) to Watching and writing about something I hate is just beyond me.... I think It's safe to say, for me, Horror is just a stale afterthought.

 

As for 2013 films:

SEEN:

Texas Chainsaw 3D - 0
The Last Stand - 5
Movie 43 - 0
Bullet To The Head - 3.5
Stand Up Guys - 2.5
Side Effects - 4
A Good Day To Die Hard - 2

Snitch - 3.5
Dead Man Down - 4.5
Evil Dead - 3
Oblivion - 3.5

Mud - 4.5
The Lords Of Salem - 3.5
Pain & Gain - 5
Iron Man 3 - 0
Star Trek Into Darkness - 3.5
Fast & Furious 6 - 2.5
Behind The Candelabra - 3
The Purge - 3
Man Of Steel - 2

World War Z - 4

Pacific Rim - 4.5

Only God Forgives - 5

The Wolverine - 4.5

Elysium - 4

The World's End - 1.5

You're Next - 1/5

 

LOOKING FORWARD TO:

The Iceman - May 3rd, DVD-September 3rd

Ain't Them Bodies Saints - August 16th

Riddick - September 6th

Machete Kills - September 13th

The Family - September 20th

Homefront - October 4th

Escape Plan - October 18th

The Wolf Of Wall Street - November 15th

Her - November 20th

American Hustle - December 6th

Monuments Men - December 18th

Lone Survivor - December 27th

 

[seawolfnyy]

42- ***1/2

 

Everyone knows the story. Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barried in 1947 and forever changed American sports. But most probably don't know the rest. In 42, director Brian Helgeland tells the story of the hell Jackie had to live just to play baseball. Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford) recruits Robinson from the KC Monarchs to be the man to fulfill his dream seeing the game he loves integrated. Chadwick Boseman brings Jackie to life for the majority of us that did not get to see him play. The film plays out from the time Robinson is signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers until the end of the 1947 campaign. The film itself is dramatic and does a great job in making you root for Robinson. However, it also comes at a price. The film's anti-racist message (while very, very admirable) gets thrust far too much into the front, almost to the point of being preachy. Every character that is good is very good and every bad character is very bad. The film also throws some historical inconsistencies in there for good measure. For example, Pirates pitcher Fritz Ostermueller, beans Jackie in the head with an obvious intent pitch. However, in real-life, the pitch hit Jackie on the wrist and had no intent. There were no benches cleared and no fight broke out. Obviously included for dramatic purposes, it nevertheless is glaring fallacy.

 

The rest of the film is crafted fairly well. The cinematography is well done, especially the baseball scenes. The score is good, but nothing memorable. It reeks of sentimentality and never forms it's own niche. Overall, the film is a great biographical piece about one of baseball's (and civil rights') biggest figures. The film does become bogged down with it's own message at times, but still comes off as a great film and certainly a better baseball movie than the incredibly overrated Moneyball. 3 and a half stars.

 

 

The Spectacular Now- ***

 

Premiering at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, The Spectacular Now is a somewhat different take on the stereotypical high school drama. Rather than focusing on the awkward outsiders, the film centers on Sutter Keely (Miles Teller), the popular kid. Instantly unlikeable, Sutter is reminiscent of the unrepentent douchebags everyone has run into. His life centers on drinking, partying and not much else. Fresh off his recent break-up from Cassidy (Brie Larson), Sutter goes on a drinking binge and is woken up in a random yard by Aimee Finicky (Shailene Woodley). The two seem to hit it off and not soon after are dating. Aimee is the geeky, sweet, innocent girl that most high school stories will use as bait or a teaching tool for the main character. In this case, it seems the latter. However, while Aimee clearly starts to fall for Sutter, it's plainfully obvious he doesn't feel much the same. He begins to trust her more as he gets to know her, all the while watching his own popularity diminish. By the end, Sutter is only slightly less unlikeable. However, Aimee is really the only reason I rate this movie as high as I do. She is charming and played terrifically by Woodley (it's a shame her scenes will be cut from Amazing Spiderman 2). Her arc throughout the film is far better than Sutter's, which is unfortunate as he is in every scene.

 

The cinematography is nothing special. The film looks good, but nothing about it really stands out. The score is used sparingly, but is very good when we hear it. It does a great job playing up the emotion of the story. The problem is the casting. Sutter himself is unlikeable, but made all the more apparent because of Teller. He comes off as flat and you never really find yourself able to root for him. If this was the filmmakers' intent, then they were spot on. However, I think a better casting would've gone a long way to really making Sutter a better character. In the end though, great performances from Woodley and the other peripheral players help to keep this film from being as bad as it could have been. It's a good and realistic look at high school, but one that I wish would've done a better job of relating it's central character. 3 stars.

 

2013 list so far:

 

Jurassic Park 3D: *****

This is the End: *****

Despicable Me 2: ****

The Way, Way Back: ****

Star Trek Into Darkness: ****

Fast & Furious 6: ****

42: ***1/2

Iron Man 3: ***1/2

The Spectacular Now: ***

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters: ***

A Good Day to Die Hard: *

[tdalton]

Updated:

 

 

SEEN:

• Byzantium A+
• Mama  A+
• Warm Bodies  A
• Free Samples A
• My Amityville Horror A
• Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters  A-
• The Last Stand  A-
• The Numbers Station  B+
• Girls Against Boys  B+
• Texas Chainsaw B+
• It's a Disaster B
• Broken City  B-
• Maniac  C+
• Superman: Unbound  C+
• Dead Man Down  C+
• Evil Dead  C
• Side Effects C
• Straight A's  C
• Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 2  C
• Room 237  C-
• The Last Exorcism Part II  D+
• A Good Day to Die Hard  D
• The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghost of Georgia  F
• On the Road F
• A Haunted House F

 

LOOKING FORWARD TO:

 

• The Family (September 13)
• Insidious: Chapter 2 (September 13)
• Prisoners (September 20)
• Blue Caprice (September 20)
• CBGB (September 5 on DirecTV Cinema; October 11 in theaters)
• Parkland (October 4)
• Runner Runner (October 4)
• All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (October 11)
• Carrie (October 18)
• Escape Plan (October 18)
• The Counselor (October 25)
• The Wolf of Wall Street (November 15)
• OldBoy (November 27)
• Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (December 20)
• American Hustle (December 25)
• Passion (Amazon Instant)
• The Lifeguard (Amazon Instant)
• Oblivion (Blu-ray)
• Olympus Has Fallen (Blu-ray)
• Now You See Me (Blu-ray)
• The Frozen Ground (Amazon Instant)
• No One Lives (Amazon Instant)
• The Stranger Within (DVD)

Edited by tdalton, 03 September 2013 - 04:37 AM.

[x007AceOfSpades]

Riddick - 3.5/5 A short and simple review this time around.

 

I enjoyed the fist two Riddick films, or three, so I was extremely looking forward to this. Overall, I was thoroughly entertained with this film. I enjoyed it a lot. I think it was a good addition to the series, but the abrupt ending, terrible CGI, and dull moments, make it easily the least of the bunch. Don't get me wrong, It's worth seeing if you liked the other Riddick, but I suppose this is what happens when the previous live action film bombs on an hundred million plus dollar budget.

 

As for 2013 films:

SEEN:

Texas Chainsaw 3D - 0
The Last Stand - 5
Movie 43 - 0
Bullet To The Head - 3.5
Stand Up Guys - 2.5
Side Effects - 4
A Good Day To Die Hard - 2

Snitch - 3.5
Dead Man Down - 4.5
Evil Dead - 3
Oblivion - 3.5

Mud - 4.5
The Lords Of Salem - 3.5
Pain & Gain - 5
Iron Man 3 - 0
Star Trek Into Darkness - 3.5
Fast & Furious 6 - 2.5
Behind The Candelabra - 3
The Purge - 3
Man Of Steel - 2

World War Z - 4

Pacific Rim - 4.5

Only God Forgives - 5

The Wolverine - 4.5

Elysium - 4

The World's End - 1.5

You're Next - 1

Riddick - 3.5/5

 

LOOKING FORWARD TO:

The Iceman - May 3rd, DVD-September 3rd

Ain't Them Bodies Saints - August 16th

Machete Kills - October 11th

The Family - September 13th

Homefront - October 4th

Escape Plan - October 18th

The Wolf Of Wall Street - November 15th

Her - November 20th

American Hustle - December 6th

Monuments Men - December 18th

Lone Survivor - December 27th

[seawolfnyy]

Olympus Has Fallen- *1/2

 

An interesting premise is spoiled by poor directing and special effects in Olympus Has Fallen. Directed by Antoine Fuqua, the film centers around a siege of the White House by North Korean terrorists. Gerard Butler takes center stage as USSS agent Mike Banning, who was relieved from Presidential detail when he failed to rescue the First Lady after an accident on an icy bridge. He is tasked with rescuing the President as well as stopping the complete destruction of the U.S. I know, typical day on the job right? Well for Hollywood maybe.

 

The film takes far too long to take off and seems to get resolved way too easily. Banning, unlike John McClane, is more than a match for anyone he faces. Plot holes are frequent and some are glaring (how is it that a secret service agent who was relieved from his job 18 months earlier still knows the codes to a safe in the oval office?) The film becomes embarrassingly predictable as well. Aaron Eckhart, Rick Yune and Morgan Freeman fill out the remainder of the main cast and none are particularly likable. Freeman never seems to really do anything, while Eckhart spends the entire time yelling and screaming.

 

Of particular note, is the quality of the cinematography, which is utterly poor to say the least. Admittedly, part of the issue is the bizarre development the film had. Filmed (and oddly purchased) at almost the exact same time as White House Down, Olympus Has Fallen had to compete with a film that had a nearly identical plot and premise. Most of the filming was done in Shreveport, Louisiana and as a result much of it was filmed on a green screen. As usual, the CGI is very noticeable, a problem that almost seems compounded when viewed in HD. It's painfully obvious when something is CGI and not real. It's understandable that at times CGI is necessary, but even with a smaller budget it should be less obvious in 2013.

 

Despite its faults, the film does have its merits, though. Dylan McDermott is rather entertaining as the henchman in the few scenes he has. The attack on Washington in the first hour of the film is superb. For a time, the film is very suspenseful. The first hour is pretty good, however, (like another film Rick Yune is in) it completely falls apart in the second act. Overall, while it is an interesting premise for a film, it falls flat in its execution. The script definitely needed more polish before it was purchased. Another in a long line of Die Hard knock-offs, Olympus Has Fallen falls hard.

 

2013 films so far:

Jurassic Park 3D: *****

This is the End: *****

Despicable Me 2: ****

The Way, Way Back: ****

Star Trek Into Darkness: ****

Fast & Furious 6: ****

42: ***1/2

Iron Man 3: ***1/2

The Spectacular Now: ***

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters: ***

Olympus Has Fallen: *1/2

A Good Day to Die Hard: *

[seawolfnyy]

Update:

 

2013 films so far:

Jurassic Park 3D: *****

This is the End: *****

Despicable Me 2: ****

The Way, Way Back: ****

Star Trek Into Darkness: ****

Fast & Furious 6: ****

Oblivion: ****

42: ***1/2

Iron Man 3: ***1/2

World War Z: ***1/2

The Spectacular Now: ***

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters: ***

The World's End: **1/2

Olympus Has Fallen: *1/2

A Good Day to Die Hard: *

[x007AceOfSpades]

I'm pretty sure Olympus Has Fallen was meant to look utterly ridiculous. 

[seawolfnyy]

That is possible. The film had a very small budget for a big action film (only $70 million). However, even for that modest budget, the special effects are just horrendously bad.

 

Unrelated, a short review as I am just killing time at the Dublin Airport.

 

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone- ***

 

The selection of movies on the flight to Dublin was pretty limited and as I'd already seen Oblivion and Olympus Has Fallen, I pretty much chose to watch this film by default. Surprisingly, I actually enjoyed it. In it, Steve Carell and Steve Buscemi play magicians who have been best friends since they were 10. But when a new magician arrives on the scene (Jim Carrey), it threatens the pair's success and they eventually split. The rest of the film is spent watching Wonderstone (Carell) relearn why he became a magician. Olivia Wilde provides the eye candy and Alan Arkin rounds out a pretty good cast. Not quite on the level of Tropic Thunder, however, the film does do a great job showing how out of touch with reality celebrities are. Expecting it to be poor, I was pleasantly surprised at how funny it was. It definitely wasn't a bad way to pass the time on a 7 hour flight.

 

2013 films so far:

Jurassic Park 3D: *****

This is the End: *****

Despicable Me 2: ****

The Way, Way Back: ****

Star Trek Into Darkness: ****

Fast & Furious 6: ****

Oblivion: ****

42: ***1/2

Iron Man 3: ***1/2

World War Z: ***1/2

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone: ***

The Spectacular Now: ***

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters: ***

The World's End: **1/2

Olympus Has Fallen: *1/2

A Good Day to Die Hard: *

[x007AceOfSpades]

Don Jon - 4/5

"There's only a few things I care about the most: My body, my pad, my ride, my family, my church, my boys, my girls, my porn"

 

Don Jon is the directorial debut of it's leading actor, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and he does a wonderful job at crafting this film together. September had been a slow month for me, having seen Riddick just to see it, and the other films of the month just gave me no interest in going back to the cinema for a while. Expecting more or less a romantic film, Don Jon is absolutely hilarious and made me laugh consistently and appreciate the film. Is it a perfect film? No. Is it entertaining and fun? Yes.

 

Jon is a young man who has the ability the pull "tens" every weekend. Let's also bring up the most important factor, he's addicted to porn. What he doesn't get in real, casual sex, he looks for in his porn. He's unsatisfied with how boring real sex is, and seemingly looks towards porn to "get his rocks off" if you must. He fails at trying to pull a woman for a one-night stand, and instead tracks her down for a date, this is where we meet Barbara. Jon finally feels that he has found "the one", and initiates a relationship with her, but like the other girls he has slept with, he finds himself going back to his porn, until he is caught by Barbara. From then onwards, Jon, with the advice of an older woman from the night classes he takes, tries to deal with the porn addiction and also tries to see if Barbara really is the one, or if he's just waiting for something else.

 

Let me start off by saying that I'm glad I didn't schedule my date to see this film, as I'm not sure how she would of reacted to the pornographic clips and talk haha. I'll have to find a new movie or something else for us. Now, back to the review. One of the things that makes this film so great is the acting and the dialogue. Is the dialogue to that of Tarantino caliber, no, but with the acting from the entire cast, it's absolutely brilliant, and that all points to Gordon-Levitt's first script, which is fantastic. The opening monologue is hilarious, and from that point on, the film just gets better with the laughs. I particularly loved the scenes with Tony Danza, as I just found him to be extremely hilarious and love the chemistry he had with JGL. Also loved Scarlett Johansson as Jon's girlfriend, Barbara, thought she did a wonderful job with her role, and like how at times she was like playing a cliche movie character.

 

Don Jon is comedy, with some dramatic and romantic and porno(lol) moments in it. I certainly loved it thoroughly and was shocked that I laughed more than I was expecting to. Don Jon might just be the first comedy of the year that actually had me laughing.

 

As for 2013 films:

SEEN:

Texas Chainsaw 3D - 0

The Last Stand - 5

Movie 43 - 0

Bullet To The Head - 3.5

Stand Up Guys - 2.5

Side Effects - 4

A Good Day To Die Hard - 2

Snitch - 3.5

Dead Man Down - 4.5

Evil Dead - 3

Oblivion - 3.5

Mud - 4.5

The Lords Of Salem - 3.5

Pain & Gain - 5

Iron Man 3 - 0

Star Trek Into Darkness - 3.5

Fast & Furious 6 - 2.5

Behind The Candelabra - 3

The Purge - 3

Man Of Steel - 2

World War Z - 4

Pacific Rim - 4.5

Only God Forgives - 5

The Wolverine - 4.5

Elysium - 4

The World's End - 1.5

You're Next - 1

Riddick - 3.5

Don Jon - 4/5

 

LOOKING FORWARD TO:

The Iceman - May 3rd, DVD-September 3rd

Ain't Them Bodies Saints - August 16th

Machete Kills - October 11th

Escape Plan - October 18th

The Counselor - October 25th

The Wolf Of Wall Street - November 15th

Her - November 20th

Homefront - November 27th

Out Of The Furnace - November 27th

American Hustle - December 6th

Monuments Men - December 18th

Lone Survivor - December 27th

[Iceskater101]

 

Don Jon - 4/5

"There's only a few things I care about the most: My body, my pad, my ride, my family, my church, my boys, my girls, my porn"

 

Don Jon is the directorial debut of it's leading actor, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and he does a wonderful job at crafting this film together. September had been a slow month for me, having seen Riddick just to see it, and the other films of the month just gave me no interest in going back to the cinema for a while. Expecting more or less a romantic film, Don Jon is absolutely hilarious and made me laugh consistently and appreciate the film. Is it a perfect film? No. Is it entertaining and fun? Yes.

 

Jon is a young man who has the ability the pull "tens" every weekend. Let's also bring up the most important factor, he's addicted to porn. What he doesn't get in real, casual sex, he looks for in his porn. He's unsatisfied with how boring real sex is, and seemingly looks towards porn to "get his rocks off" if you must. He fails at trying to pull a woman for a one-night stand, and instead tracks her down for a date, this is where we meet Barbara. Jon finally feels that he has found "the one", and initiates a relationship with her, but like the other girls he has slept with, he finds himself going back to his porn, until he is caught by Barbara. From then onwards, Jon, with the advice of an older woman from the night classes he takes, tries to deal with the porn addiction and also tries to see if Barbara really is the one, or if he's just waiting for something else.

 

Let me start off by saying that I'm glad I didn't schedule my date to see this film, as I'm not sure how she would of reacted to the pornographic clips and talk haha. I'll have to find a new movie or something else for us. Now, back to the review. One of the things that makes this film so great is the acting and the dialogue. Is the dialogue to that of Tarantino caliber, no, but with the acting from the entire cast, it's absolutely brilliant, and that all points to Gordon-Levitt's first script, which is fantastic. The opening monologue is hilarious, and from that point on, the film just gets better with the laughs. I particularly loved the scenes with Tony Danza, as I just found him to be extremely hilarious and love the chemistry he had with JGL. Also loved Scarlett Johansson as Jon's girlfriend, Barbara, thought she did a wonderful job with her role, and like how at times she was like playing a cliche movie character.

 

Don Jon is comedy, with some dramatic and romantic and porno(lol) moments in it. I certainly loved it thoroughly and was shocked that I laughed more than I was expecting to. Don Jon might just be the first comedy of the year that actually had me laughing.

 

As for 2013 films:

SEEN:

Texas Chainsaw 3D - 0

The Last Stand - 5

Movie 43 - 0

Bullet To The Head - 3.5

Stand Up Guys - 2.5

Side Effects - 4

A Good Day To Die Hard - 2

Snitch - 3.5

Dead Man Down - 4.5

Evil Dead - 3

Oblivion - 3.5

Mud - 4.5

The Lords Of Salem - 3.5

Pain & Gain - 5

Iron Man 3 - 0

Star Trek Into Darkness - 3.5

Fast & Furious 6 - 2.5

Behind The Candelabra - 3

The Purge - 3

Man Of Steel - 2

World War Z - 4

Pacific Rim - 4.5

Only God Forgives - 5

The Wolverine - 4.5

Elysium - 4

The World's End - 1.5

You're Next - 1

Riddick - 3.5

Don Jon - 4/5

 

LOOKING FORWARD TO:

The Iceman - May 3rd, DVD-September 3rd

Ain't Them Bodies Saints - August 16th

Machete Kills - October 11th

Escape Plan - October 18th

The Counselor - October 25th

The Wolf Of Wall Street - November 15th

Her - November 20th

Homefront - November 27th

Out Of The Furnace - November 27th

American Hustle - December 6th

Monuments Men - December 18th

Lone Survivor - December 27th

 

 

Nice review! I really want to see this movie, it has been getting rave reviews.

[S K Y F A L L]

OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN (2013) 

The film depicts a North Korean-led guerrilla assault on the White House, and focuses on a Secret Service agent who tries to stop them. Olympus Has Fallen was released on March 22, 2013 and received mixed critical reception but earned over $160 million against a $70 million production budget. Olympus Has Fallen is one of two films released in 2013 that deals with a terrorist attack on the White House, the other being White House Down.

 

WHITE HOUSE DOWN (2013)

 

White House Down is a 2013 American action film directed by Roland Emmerich about an assault on the White House by a paramilitary group and a cop recently rejected to get a job for the Secret Service who tries to stop them. The film's screenplay is by James Vanderbilt. The film was released on June 28, 2013 and has since grossed over $185 million worldwide on a 150 million dollar budget.

 

OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN (2013) & WHITE HOUSE DOWN (2013) 

I waited so long so I could watch these together. I have to say both films had a surprising cast IMO and weren't all that bad. Olympus Has Fallen stars Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, and Morgan Freeman. It also stars Rick Yune (Zao from DAD), Dylan McDermott and Ashley Judd in a brief role. White House Down stars Channing Tatum and Jamie Fox and also stars Maggie Gyllenhaal (not a fan of myself), Jason Clarke, Richard Jenkins, Lance Reddick (THE WIRE) and James Woods. I can't believe one film cost almost twice as much as the other, I wouldn't have guessed. Both films look great IMO. OHF I think is the better of the two films but they are both worthy of a watch IMO. They both have cool interesting high tech military weapons and strategies to take the White House. We get to see the U.S governments reaction and contingency plan go into effect in different ways but both films become more a like near the end. Although WHD's action is more spread out and evenly paced I think its action is less realistic. WHD also has this added subplot to it that does not work for me and just seems like a real desperate attempt at making you to like the hero if you don't already. OHF has the same subplot but its quickly resolved.

 

Not much of a review, more of a bad collection of poorly written sentences. 

[x007AceOfSpades]

Metallica: Through The Never 3D - 4.5/5

 

Now this a concert film. Those Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, One Direction 3D concert films are ants compared to this film. Metallica: Through The Never is not just a concert film, it's also got it's own little fantasy story sewn into the film which makes it even more unique and awesome all around. Say what you want, this was an amazing experience for me and will probably be the closest to really being there live at a Metallica Concert.

 

Trip, our films Silent Protagonist is a Roadie who is a fan of Metallica (obviously) but during the concert, he is alerted to go about a mission to a stranded driver, and retrieve a special item. Along Trip's journey, we are witnessing Metallica performing live, an array of songs, From Creeping Death to Ride The Lightning to The Memory Remains to Enter Sandman: 16 songs total. Trip however is in for a strange night as he finds himself in the middle of being hunted down by a Deathly Horseman, and it appears that what he does in a way affects Metallica's live performance.

 

It's a refreshing film to see that somewhat reminded to that of Pink Floyd: The Wall, though both are completely different films. By refreshing, It's not a concert film with behind the scenes stuff, like your average teeny bopper concert films. It's straightforward and fun as hell. If your a fan of Metallica, you'll be surprised and in for a ride (of lightning) with their set list. Each member of the band performs beyond 100% and put on one hell of a show. Dane DeHaan, who portrays the silent, mysterious Trip is absolutely wonderful. Going from being frightened and scared out of his mind to being all out badass towards the end of the film was great to see.

 

The film had me nearly singing the lyrics to each song, especially my favorite Metallica song, Fuel. I have always wanted to see this band live, and I felt that I have finally achieved that with this film, and to see them performing my favorite song of theirs live was just perfect. The mysterious item that Trip picks up is interesting, because it seems that besides the Horseman, a horde of people are after him and the item, and it's never exclaimed what the item is. Surely it's in a brown leather satchel, but that's it. It works a lot like a MacGuffin, like the mysterious orange glow in the briefcase in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. It's also worth noting that this is only playing in 3D, but it's definitely worth seeing. The 3D is absolutely perfect and makes you feel like you are an audience member for the concert and that your right alongside Trip during his journey.

 

I was really surprised at how well done this was and It's by far one of my favorite films of the year and a big surprise. I'm still ashamed of myself for not seeing this in IMAX, but what matters in the end is that I saw it and had a blast. A film for every fan of Metallica to see.

 

As for 2013 films:

SEEN:

Texas Chainsaw 3D - 0

The Last Stand - 5

Movie 43 - 0

Bullet To The Head - 3.5

Stand Up Guys - 2.5

Side Effects - 4

A Good Day To Die Hard - 2

Snitch - 3.5

Dead Man Down - 4.5

Evil Dead - 3

Oblivion - 3.5

Mud - 4.5

The Lords Of Salem - 3.5

Pain & Gain - 5

Iron Man 3 - 0

Star Trek Into Darkness - 3.5

Fast & Furious 6 - 2.5

Behind The Candelabra - 3

The Purge - 3

Man Of Steel - 2

World War Z - 4

Pacific Rim - 4.5

Only God Forgives - 5

The Wolverine - 4.5

Elysium - 4

The World's End - 1.5

You're Next - 1

Riddick - 3.5

Don Jon - 4

Metallica: Through The Never 3D - 4.5/5

 

LOOKING FORWARD TO:

The Iceman - May 3rd, DVD-September 3rd

Ain't Them Bodies Saints - August 16th

Machete Kills - October 11th

Escape Plan - October 18th

The Counselor - October 25th

The Wolf Of Wall Street - November 15th

Her - November 20th

Homefront - November 27th

Out Of The Furnace - November 27th

American Hustle - December 6th

Monuments Men - December 18th

Lone Survivor - December 27th

[x007AceOfSpades]

Machete Kills - 2.5/5

There's a fine line where a film can be "so bad, it's so good". That was Robert Rodriguez's Machete. The follow up, Machete Kills, is "so bad, it's bad".

When a woman Machete cares for, Agent Sartana, is killed during a job, he is recruited by the President Rathcock to be tasked with taking out a revolutionary madman, Marcos Mendez, who plans on using a deadly missile aimed at Washington D.C. Machete soon learns that the real threat is a crazy, eccentric arms dealer, Voz, who's really pulling the strings.

One of the things that made Machete so great was that it was simply, utterly, dumb(face it, it was...), but it was entertaining as hell, and was a further love letter from Rodriguez to the exploitation genre. The story was iffy, it was cheesy, over the top, hilarious, but it was "so bad, it's so good!" Machete Kills opens up with some steam, but the man, the myth, the legend, that is Machete Cortez, who is the Mexican Jean-Claude Van Damme, turns into the Mexican James Bond. Rodriguez takes things a bit too damn far, to the point where it's just awful and simply dumb and dull. Machete feels more like a Bond like character, than "a goddamn federale!". The story is okay, but with the ridiculousness that's in it, it truly feels awful and bad, and not fun or cheesy. In other words, it feels like a straight to DVD film, that has an exceptional budget.

Danny Trejo is Danny Trejo, so there's not much to expect. Demian Bichir was absolutely great to watch and fun. Mel Gibson wasn't too bad, but I don't think he truly emulated a good villain, then again, it's Machete so what do you expect. Charlie Sheen was like Danny Trejo, Charlie Sheen. If there was anything character wise that was great, it was the character of La Chameleon. A hitman who as the ability to change their appearance. I thought with limited screen time, Lady Gaga was actually pretty good, she was beautiful, but also slick and dangerous. As for her forms of being the chameleon, Cuba Gooding Jr and Antonio Banderas were great, but Walton Goggins was easily the best and with limited screen time, was just hilarious. Goggins is an actor I've liked since seeing him in The Shield, and I thought he was just great in this.

The action is also like nothing we haven't seen in other films, or in other Rodriguez films, but he tries to make this one a bit too over the top and it shows and is an extreme put off. It's no longer funny, and it wears off after the first few times and just becomes yawnville. I love Robert Rodriguez, I really do, but I want THE Robert Rodriguez back. I want the One man army of filmmaking back, I don't care if he has to bring El Mariachi out of retirement. I knew this was going to be dumb, but I'm disappointed that it actually was dumb and not hilariously entertaining like the first film, if that's even possible.

Let the Legend of Machete Cortez go in peace Robert, don't give us Machete Kills Again... In Space!. I hope Sin City: A Dame To Kill For Will be you back on the saddle again, because this was just terrible. Save for the occasional chuckles and Walton Goggins being fantastic, this is an example of a film that tries too hard, drinks the kool-aid, and fails.

 

The Conjuring - 2/5

When the Perron Family move into a new house, Strange occurrences begin to happen in the house, disturbing things. Their daughters believe that there is someone in the house, though initially the parents tell them that there is no one in there, The mother first hand experiences everything that the girls are talking about. She goes to Ed and Loraine Warren and pleads with them that there is something evil in her house and her family needs their help. After their initial investigation on their house and the family, they come to the conclusion that the house needs an exorcism.

Let me start off by saying that I'm pretty vocal on the horror genre today. It doesn't cut it for me anymore. It's either remakes, or paranormal, demonic crap for teenagers that find it edgy or creepy. The last good horror film I've seen was Sinister, just good, not amazing. The conjuring was something I wanted to see because It looked interesting and the trailers had a creepy atmosphere to it. The only thing(s) that kept me from seeing it? All the insane amount of five star reviews for it led me to believe that maybe people were drinking too much of the kool-aid, and James Wan, a filmmaker I dislike, save for two films: Death Sentence, and Saw. I absolutely hated Insidious and simply because of that I didn't want to see this.

The film, thanks to Joseph Bishara's unnerving creepy score helps establish a very creepy atmosphere early on. Something I hope would help with the scares(I'll get to that) on this cold, windy, October Night for me. The scares consist of nothing but Jump scares and whatever else you've seen in films of a similar nature that feature demonic possessions, haunted houses, and paranormal activities (Pun not intended, seriously, it wasn't). It's not scary, and quite frankly it over tries to be scary, and it doesn't work, and all your left with is creepy music score, an atmosphere, and Lili Taylor's wonderful performance, but no scares or horrors to top it off.

Seen one film, seen them all. This is a film that I simply find overhyped greatly. It isn't a modern horror masterpiece. It's beyond disappointing that it feels like other similar genre style films. Sub par writing and plotting and disappointing direction to really good acting, and even better score and atmosphere.

Glad I didn't see this in the theater, as I probably would've been much more pissed.

 

As for 2013 films:

SEEN:

Texas Chainsaw 3D - 0

The Last Stand - 5

Movie 43 - 0

Bullet To The Head - 3.5

Stand Up Guys - 2.5

Side Effects - 4

A Good Day To Die Hard - 2

Snitch - 3.5

Dead Man Down - 4.5

Evil Dead - 3

Oblivion - 3.5

Mud - 4.5

The Lords Of Salem - 3.5

Pain & Gain - 5

Iron Man 3 - 0

Star Trek Into Darkness - 3.5

Fast & Furious 6 - 2.5

Behind The Candelabra - 3

The Purge - 3

Man Of Steel - 2

World War Z - 4

Pacific Rim - 4.5

Only God Forgives - 5

The Wolverine - 4.5

Elysium - 4

The World's End - 1.5

You're Next - 1

Riddick - 3.5

Don Jon - 4

Metallica: Through The Never 3D - 4.5

Machete Kills - 2.5/5

The conjuring - 2/5

 

LOOKING FORWARD TO:

The Iceman - May 3rd, DVD-September 3rd

Ain't Them Bodies Saints - August 16th

Escape Plan - October 18th

The Counselor - October 25th

The Wolf Of Wall Street - November 15th

Her - November 20th

Homefront - November 27th

Out Of The Furnace - November 27th

American Hustle - December 6th

Monuments Men - December 18th

Lone Survivor - December 27th

[Iceskater101]

I am looking forward to seeing the remake of Carrie. It's probably my favorite Stephen King novel and I want to see if Chloe Grace Moretz can pull this off.

[x007AceOfSpades]

Like I said, I'm very vocal on horror films. Carrie is another example of a horror film being remade to fit in with today's so called "standards" of what is scary and what is edgy for the audience. My favorite king novel is 'Salem's Lot, I just love it, but the adaptions don't really get the true horror nature captured.

 

As for Carrie, the original, for being so old, is just absolutely frightening, the remake just looks like another horror film. I tell people all the time, skip the remake, watch and enjoy the original, because you can never beat the classics.

[tdalton]

I am looking forward to seeing the remake of Carrie. It's probably my favorite Stephen King novel and I want to see if Chloe Grace Moretz can pull this off.

 

I think Moretz will pull off the character with flying colors, as will Julianne Moore in the role of her mother.  I think based on the casting of those two actresses in the lead roles, the remake is a worthwhile project.  That said, the rest of the elements in the film could go either way, but I'm at least cautiously optimistic for a couple of reasons.  First being that Michael Bay and Platinum Dunes aren't involved in the project.  The second being that they made an R-rated film and didn't water down the film to achieve a PG-13 rating, which is often what we see happen with these remakes.

[Iceskater101]

Yeah I definitely want to watch the original too.. I mean my mom loves that version the best and she says how horrifying it is. I just want to see it.. plus I haven't gone to the theaters in a while.

[S K Y F A L L]

I seen a few films I haven't got around to reviewing, Grown Ups 2, Kick Ass 2 and Pacific Rim. Wasn't really impressed by any of them.

 

I want to see THE FIFTH ESTATE and LONG WALK TO FREEDOM; Nelson Mandela.

[x007AceOfSpades]

The Counselor - 4/5

This film took me completely by surprise. I was interested in it for two reasons: Ridley Scott and Cormac McCarthy. I was worried about it when the reviews started to come in and they were negative, however some of my friends restored some faith and made me head out to the theater to check it out. I'm glad I didn't miss this, because this truly is a wonderful surprise of a film.

 

The Counselor is a very simple and pretty well executed film about the consequences we suffer from greed. It's never enough for our characters and they insist on having more and more and more. The Counselor (Fassbender) gets involved with a drug deal organized by the Cartel with a huge return coming at him. The middleman, Westray (Pitt) warns him about what he is going to get into and explains to him that the cartel are a ruthless organization of people. The Counselor and his friend, Reiner (Bardem) are in, but the deal goes wrong and The Counselor is linked to the death of someone important in the drug trafficking and twenty million dollars (estimates) is gone. Just like Westray said, The Cartel begin to go after The counselor.

 

Unlike the reviews, the film is not incoherent or confusing, it's a very straight forward film with a very straight forward plot. The talk about the movie being overly boring is complete bullshit. I for one love films with lots of dialogue, and there was no problem with it at all in this. I'm not saying it's god-tier writing, but for his first screenplay, Cormac McCarthy does a hell of a job writing (as already evident with his novels). One of the main themes of the film is Greed, and with our main characters, these people have it all, but want more and more, and being greedy and naive in a dangerous world like this, bad things happen to them. It doesn't try to have you sympathize with them, it almost sends a message about what it does when you get mixed up in these types of things (in a way).

 

Ridley Scott's direction is much better this time around then his previous effort, Prometheus. He sets the film up very nicely and introduces our characters and their lavish lifestyle, and drops them into McCarthy's gritty world, brought to life. The last half of the them was absolutely tension filled with me being absolutely engaged in the story and wondering what was going to happen next and what treacheries lie ahead. It should also be worth noted that in a strange way this almost felt like a Tony Scott film, the late brother of Ridley.

 

The acting is fantastic, though some line delivery falls a bit flat, it is still fantastic. Michael Fassbender is wonderful as The Counselor, and his breakdown at the end of the film is nothing short of amazing. Penelope Cruz has a very small role, so there's not much I can say about her in this as the Counselor's fiancee. Cameron Diaz, who plays Malkina, Reiner's girlfriend, was the one who shocked me the most and she does a great job of playing a very conniving woman, at near ruthless. Javier Bardem takes a bit of a step back after playing the ruthless Raoul Silva in Skyfall, but he is still electric as Reiner and his scenes with Cameron Diaz are great. Brad Pitt with his small role as the middleman, Westray, Felt the most engaging and I happened to enjoy his scenes with Fassbender the most.

 

It does a great job of building everything up with the story and the players in the first half and having everything go wrong in the last half. McCarthy's screenplay is wonderful and Scott does a wonderful job bringing it to life. Despite the reviews saying it's awful, It's one of the biggest surprises of the year and could end up being one of my favorites of the year. Everything about this film is wonderful. It isn't your usual drug trafficking type of film. It's a must see for sure.

 

As for 2013 films:
SEEN:
Texas Chainsaw 3D - 0   The Last Stand - 5
Movie 43 - 0   Bullet To The Head - 3.5
Stand Up Guys - 2.5   Side Effects - 4
A Good Day To Die Hard - 2   Snitch - 3.5
Dead Man Down - 4.5   Evil Dead - 1
Oblivion - 3.5   Mud - 4.5
The Lords Of Salem - 3.5   Pain & Gain - 5
Iron Man 3 - 0   Star Trek Into Darkness - 3.5
Fast & Furious 6 - 2       Behind The Candelabra     - 3
    The Purge     - 2      Man Of Steel    - 2 
   World War Z    - 4     Pacific Rim   - 4.5 
  Only God Forgives   - 5    The Wolverine  - 4.5 
 Elysium   - 4   The World's End - 1.5 
 You're Next  - 1   Riddick - 3 
Don Jon - 4   Metallica: Through The Never 3D - 4.5
Machete Kills - 2.5/5   The Conjuring - 2
The Counselor - 4/5
 
LOOKING FORWARD TO:
The Iceman - May 3rd, DVD-September 3rd
Ain't Them Bodies Saints - August 16th
Escape Plan - October 18th
The Wolf Of Wall Street - ???
Her - November 20th
Homefront - November 27th
Out Of The Furnace - November 27th
American Hustle - December 6th
Lone Survivor - December 27th
 

[seawolfnyy]

Haven't seen many movies lately, I've been kind of busy. But I did manage to watch The Hangover Part III. I wish I hadn't.

 

2013 films so far:

Jurassic Park 3D: *****

This is the End: *****

Despicable Me 2: ****

The Way, Way Back: ****

Star Trek Into Darkness: ****

Fast & Furious 6: ****

Oblivion: ****

42: ***1/2

Iron Man 3: ***1/2

World War Z: ***1/2

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone: ***

The Spectacular Now: ***

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters: ***

The World's End: **1/2

Olympus Has Fallen: *1/2

The Hangover Part III: *

A Good Day to Die Hard: *

[Iceskater101]

I am seeing Catching Fire on Saturday so I will post a little review about that when I get around to seeing it. I also need to see Thor the Dark World eventually.

[S K Y F A L L]

Seen;

 

Officer Down**

The Last Stand**

Bullet to the Head**

Stand Up Guys*

A Good Day To Die Hard***

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone***

Welcome to the Punch*

Admission*

Olympus Has Fallen***

G.I. Joe: Retaliation***

The Place Beyond the Pines*

Oblivion*

Iron Man 3**

Pain & Gain*

Star Trek Into Darkness**

Fast & Furious 6***

The Hangover Part III*

Now You See Me*

This Is the End***

Man of Steel***

World War Z****

White House Down***

Grown Ups 2***

Killing Season*

Pacific Rim*

RED 2**

The Wolverine****

2 Guns**

We're the Millers**

Elysium**

Kick-Ass 2**

Paranoia**

Getaway*

Prisoners****

Machete Kills****

Captain Phillips***

 

Still to see;

 

Rush

Gravity

Escape Plan

The Fifth Estate

Thor: The Dark World

Last Vegas 

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

47 Ronin

Lone Survivor

Edited by S K Y F A L L, 01 December 2013 - 10:54 PM.

[SecretAgentFan]

Well, these are my favorites this year (so far).  Yes, one can see that I didn´t find enough time to go to the cinema.  And when I did I went to see the big budget blockbusters, not the arthouse stuff I went for when I was younger.  What does that say about me - getting lazy and easy to satisfy?

 

1. Inside Llewyn Davis

2. About Time

3. Star Trek into darkness

4. The Wolverine

5. Before Midnight

6. Love is all you need

7. Les Misérables / The Great Gatsby (tie)

8. To the wonder

9. Gravity (visually my number one)

10. Man of Steel / Oz the Great and Powerful (tie)

 

 

I liked it but did not love it:

1. World War Z  (enough with the Zombies...)

2. Life of Pi (the poetic story is drowned in special effects - although those are absolutely brilliant)

3. Lincoln (maybe I have to see it again and change my mind - but too many monologues and speeches, too little visual storytelling for my taste)

4. Silver Linings Playbook (nice but nothing special, and DeNiro is totally overrated in this film)

 

 

What disappointed me:

1. Passion (a few good scenes, but the second half turns into a hopeless chaos of self-parody and the easy "dream within a dream" cop-out, also completely over lit and badly acted)

2. Django Unchained (Tarantino on auto pilot, too bloody for me)

3. Prisoners (the actors were great but the last act destroyed the story with its ludicrous reveal of the big baddie)

 

 

What I really did not like:

1.  A good day to die hard

 

What I´m still hoping for to turn out great:

1. Carrie

2. Catching Fire

3. The Hobbit 2

4. Blue Jasmine

5. Captain Philipps

Edited by SecretAgentFan, 17 December 2013 - 11:00 AM.

[Iceskater101]

Philomena A-

This movie is heartbreaking, but it is fantastic. Judi Dench stars as Philomena, a mother who had a child out of wedlock in 1952. She was sent to Roscera Tippery with the nuns. She stays there and has her child. Having a child out of wedlock disgraced Philomena and the nuns there gave her child away to an American couple. Flash forward to when Philomena is older, she wants to know where he is. She gets into contact with a reporter played by Steve Coogan. He was recently fired from BBC News. He decides to help her and also use her story and write all about it as a human interest story.

 

It's interesting how the story plays out. It's a very heartwarming true story and it is displayed beautifully. I heard that this movie is getting Oscar buzz and if it is nominated I am going to be a very happy person. It is a beautiful story and Judi Dench plays this character wonderfully. I would suggest that everyone should go out and see it.