Mini Movie Reviews 2 - The Reviewening

[Nocculum]

Because it's faithful to the original outfit from the first iterations of the comic.

And yes, that is indeed Mystique's real name, though I can't recall the relationship they had with one another.

[only joking...]

The Kings Speech

A Rocky movie with very posh accents. Historical inaccuracies got on my nerves. Not particularly bad but no idea how the director was garlanded at the Oscars, what was so special about it?

Watch

The Hangover part II

Yay a shot for shot remake of a film that was kind of funny in the first place! This is a pretty tired film that along with most of what Seth Rogen/Adam Sandler is slowly making me think that every person who pays to see these kind of films must be sub-human in some way. Ah well. This film is as masochistic as you'd expect and throws in some fairly banterous hatred of gay people as well. There is one particularly bizarre and unfunny cameo about 3/4 of the way through and even worse one right at the death of the film (which is far to late in coming).

All in all this was a film that destroyed my faith in humanity (given that it is set to take over $500 million apparently) and made me grateful that we Brits produce some real comedy talent.

I'd rather die than watch this ever again

[sigur]

The King's Speech

Finally got to see this one and it's as good as everybody says. I don't see it as a "Rocky story", it's a story of its own and a pretty good one. Sure, there's some historical inaccuracies, we all know that but they didn't annoy me. It's a very nice, old-fashioned film. Some very neat shots, some nice humour, excellent portrayals and cast. Helena Bonham Carter really convinced me for the first time and I think that her character is incredibly pivotal to the whole thing.

Great actors, well shot, loved the accents. The only tiny minor thing I can think of which I didn't like was the use of the f-word but mainly because I had the poisoning feeling that it would come to this when the two main characters met for the first time and I dreaded the prospect so it was kind of bitter when it actually happened.

Anyway, Watch it. You could do so much worse.

[emperorpenguin]

The Hangover 2

I can't agree with the post 2 above this one, firstly I thought "The King's Speech" was a great film.
As for "The Hangover 2", yes it is almost a shot for shot rehash but the first film was so funny that, even though this is certainly less original and less funny as a result, it is still a funny film.
I agree that the cameo at the end was awful and indeed pointless.

However even though it does try to out-gross the first movie, there are still great jokes and great performances. Zach Galifianakis again steals the movie with a brilliant portrayal of loveable weirdo. He also gets to crack what I think is the funniest joke I've heard this year, involving Polar Bears

Watch it

[only joking...]

A few years after, Hitler declares war on Britain and bada-bing, the stuttering, stammering royal must now face his nation with a confident voice. King George VI is Rocky, Lionel Logue is Mickey (Burgess Meredith), his trainer in the corner encouraging him on, and the microphone is Apollo Creed.

Ding-ding–– it’s showtime. Guess who wins?

Read this on a blog and it kind of ruined the film for me. I just couldn't get the interpretation out of my head. However I do agree that it is most certainly a watch and terrific compared to the vast majority of films released over the course of a year. The other problem I had was that it suffered from a negative comparison to The Social Network, a film that I thought was superior on most levels. (Only comparing them to the fact they went head to head at the Oscars). The Kings Speech is a great film but I'm just not sure it's as great as it is made out to be.

Well as for The Hangover part II I honestly I have no idea what is defensible about it.

Law Abiding Citizen

Don't hurt King Leonidas' wife and kids cus' he'll go spartan on yo a**. Thats the plot essentially, other than that it's good to see that the irish bloke from Star Trek and Con Air is still acting and playing pretty much the same part in every film

Maybe rent for a laugh

[Easy E]

Kick-Ass

Interesting premise, decent storyline, colorful characters, but somehow it just doesn't mesh together in a satisfying way.

Nick Cage's hero voice was a spot on impression of 1960's Batman Adam West. Hilarious. Best part of the movie for me, too bad he didn't use it more.

Pass

[El_Machinae]

I just bought it, I liked it so much. It was dark, irreverent, implausible, and yet at the same time, I was able to suspend my disbelief.
I actually put it up there with Watchmen.

[Burnthem]

X-Men First Class

I found this a bit underwhelming, the best action bits were all in the trailer and the interaction between Erik and Xavier was good but not what it was hyped up to be IMO. On the other hand some bits were very good, Eriks initial Nazi hunting was well done (although what the banker from Casino Royale had done to deserve what he got is beyond me ) and it was interesting to see the origin of the X-Men and the acting was generally good, with Fassbender especially seeming to put his all into playing Erik.

One thing that did completely throw me off was the appearance of 'Boris the Blade' from Snatch as the Russian General, it not only completely destroyed my immersion in the film, but also meant i couldn't take either the character or any of the scenes he was in seriously. It would be like casting David Hasselhoff as a major character, anyone that knew who he was would just think )

Anyway, if you are a fan of X-Men go Watch It, If you aren't too bothered, Rent It.

Did chuckle at the Wolverine cameo though!

[New Cult King]

Paranormal Activity 2.

I went and bought this one, unseen, because I enjoyed the first one so thoroughly. Most modern horror films are sadly bereft of actual thrills, instead filling the screens with gore and BOO! scares. The Paranormal Activity films buck this trend with an excellent, slow-boil, found-footage formula that just works.

Some people couldn't stand the first one; probably due to way too much hype as "ZOMG teh scariest moofie evar!" This is a shame. The characters are believable (if a little obnoxious, but hey, they are supposed to be normal people), and the horror is extremely subtle for the most part, but this is to its credit - it is much more accurate to real life reports of hauntings, possessions and poltergeist activity than any other film I've seen.

The second film starts 2 months prior to the first film, but overlaps the events completely - it ends the night after the final night of the first film. Some of the foreshadowing by the precocious teenage daughter is a little heavy-handed, but there is a lot of backstory to tell in a short amount of time, and due to the found-footage format, this needs to be told in a different way to most films; no flashbacks or voice-overs here.

As far as found-footage films go, I can't stand the shaky, swinging handycam work - makes me want to barf. PA2 remedies this somewhat by having the majority of the movie filmed by stationary security cameras that are installed by the family after an apparent break-in. This makes things much more palatable.

It's hard to say anything much about the plot without giving it away, but if you have seen PA1, then the sequel follows the sister of the woman in the first, and expands on some sort of family curse or mystery.

If you liked the first film, definitely give the second one a watch. I don't regret buying this at all, and I will re-watch it again in the future. The PA films are seemingly an acquired taste, but if you enjoy subtle, slow-boil, realistic horror, you should love this.

[T3h D4ve]

Several films I thoroughly enjoyed recently.
First up, a duo that worked quite nicely, even though I aint a fan of Russell Brand.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Quirky, slightly dark & twisted. Bad, bad, bad flowing script, but the comedy genius is right there.

Get Him To The Greek
Again, same as above, except with an improved script and an all star cast. R.B. is back again as Al Snow, however there's a much more improved actor in front of the camera.

To finish with the comedy....

Miss March
One unfortunate drink too many on prom night leads to a cross country trip to the playboy mansion with plenty of laughs a minute to keep you more than entertained.
Don't expect an oscar winner, unless it's overall individual jokes.

And Sci-Fi we-a-go....

Star Trek
The trailers looked amazing, however I've been let down before....
I've always called myself a fan of Star Trek, but the films bore me, and I always loosely watched the show when it was on, but meh....
The film however, was a well crafted piece of entertainment, definately glad I waited to watch it....it was even better when it surprised me on Sky one night.

Predators
Mighty. Epic.
What Predator 2 should have been. Can't wait for the next...

And a few others....

Shutter Island
A very twisty film with plenty of 'who-dunnits' and 'wtf!?' to keep you going. Was never a fan of DiCaprio, but this & 'Blood Diamond' were epic.

Machete
Epic. Seagal should of done something with his accent, but hey, I enjoyed it.

Battle:LA
I've been waiting for something like this to come out for a long time. Like, properly done that is.
Like the way this was.
I'd of preferred the kid, Hector, having a little dialogue in the middle somewhere to add to the drama 30mins before the end, but hey, it probably got cut to keep it within a certain amount.

The Departed
Count the headshots towards the end, tis excessive, but hey!
Very very cool film.

Heat
I watch this too much.
If you've never seen it, find three hours.

And my mind has gone blank except for the usual Die Hard 1-3, Heat, Terminator 1&2....bah....

Ratings for all of above:
WOW for all, so Buy Them

[Bestaltan]

Kung Fu Panda 2
--Overall, was a really good film. Honestly, I enjoyed it much more than the first one. "2" was much more personal in the story, and I felt that the characters were much, much more than comedy relief.

X-Men: First Class
--Also a very enjoyable film. I'd put it just below X-Men 2 in terms of how it stacks against the other X-Men movies. Looking for all of the little easter eggs that are sprinkled throughout the movie made it worth the price of admission. For example,

When Xavier uses Cerebro for the first time, anybody else notice a white-haired little girl and a little boy wearing groovy red-tinted sunglasses?

[ColShaw]

Heat
I watch this too much.
If you've never seen it, find three hours.

Agreed. Very, very worth your time for the best movie shootout I think I've ever seen alone.

[spetswalshe]

Hah, Boris the Blade. Assumptions based on a single role are a terrible thing. I can't watch Peep Show actors Matt King and Paterson Joseph in anything without thinking 'Superhans!' and 'Johnson!', which made the Survivors remake surprisingly tricky to handle.

Brick (2005)
Almost certainly my favourite film ever. A noir detective film set in a contemporary US high school (in case you didn't catch the earlier review), with hardboiled dialogue throughout. Brilliantly acted by all parts; shot and edited with the fusion of grit and unreality to really do the neo-noir genre justice. Stars Joseph Gordon Levitt, known (pre-Inception and 500 Days) as the annoying kid from 3rd Rock From The Sun and 10 Things I Hate About You. Special mention for the ambient music, used throughout the film and yet performed and edited in in such a way as to be completely unobtrusive and a giant asset to an already deeply classy film. The dialogue may seem needlessly anachronistic to those who just want a straight-up mystery and don't much care for the feel of the thing. Also for those who did not grow up reading Hammet and may struggle to understand the concept of shining a gat while you blow the burg, or why you might want to clam to the bulls until you can drag the real players out of their holes.
Rent it unless you understood more then eight words in that last sentence, in which case Buy it without the slightest guilt that you're buying a film without having seen it first (because while that's acceptable with games and books with films it just feels weird) and glory in mankind's ascendancy to a higher plane of low-budget cinematography.

[Bombot]

Cargo
Passable sci-fi film (in German, with subtitles). It's not very original, but I found it perfectly watchable and the sets and effects are decent enough given the film's limited budget. Rent It

Rambo (the new one)
If bits of meat being blown of caricatured baddies floats your boat, then go for it. Pass

Following
Christopher Nolan's first film. It didn't cost much to make (about $6k apparently), but it's a tight little film, and the black and white style makes for an effective noirish London. Somewhere between Rent It and Buy It (it is cheap after all)

[Easy E]

Brick (2005)

Buy it without the slightest guilt that you're buying a film without having seen it first (because while that's acceptable with games and books with films it just feels weird) and glory in mankind's ascendancy to a higher plane of low-budget cinematography.

I have this sitting on my DVD shelf, as I bought it out of a bargain bin, but I am obsessed with NetFlix Instant so I haven;t gotten around to watchign it. I only hear great things baout it, and I think that is making me afraid to actually watch it.

[ColShaw]

I have this sitting on my DVD shelf, as I bought it out of a bargain bin, but I am obsessed with NetFlix Instant so I haven;t gotten around to watchign it. I only hear great things baout it, and I think that is making me afraid to actually watch it.

Ah, the sweet song of Netflix Instant. I've lost a lot of hours since getting a Roku box hooked up to my TV.

[Codsticker]

The Green Hornet- I have to agree with what has been posted earlier regarding this film. Although I enjoyed and (generally) like Seth Rogen it's not a great movie by any stretch and Seth Rogen is no longer acting: he is just playing Seth Rogen (much like Robin Williams has done for most of his career).

[New Cult King]

El Orfanato: Or The Orphanage to us English-speaking movie-watchers.

The closest thing I can compare this to is The Others, but that is unfair to El Orfanato. A Spanish language film in English subtitles and directed by Guillermo del Toro, El Orfanato is another slow-boil supernatural thriller (gee, I wonder what my fave genre is? ).

Set in a seaside orphanage, involving child ghosts and a slow descent into madness, this film is utterly excellent. Again, I can't say too much about the plot without ruining it, but del Toro has a deft touch when it comes to setting mood, and a couple of scenes are spine-tinglingly spooky.

I only rented it, but I intend to buy.

[Nocculum]

Cult, I read your review as:

El Orfanato:

Del Toro made it.

Verdict: I just put it in my Amazon basket!

[New Cult King]

Cult, I read your review as:

El Orfanato:

Del Toro made it.

Verdict: I just put it in my Amazon basket!

I actually laughed out loud at this He's a bit like that hey.

I really need to watch Pan's Labyrinth again...