Film Reviews Thread
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how ya been?
Jayk Bakner
Good, apart from the distinct lack of internet recently (I'm currently in the labs!). Hows about yourself?
fine thanks- just been on hols so im not as happy as i was
Jayk Bakner
Ah well...holidays always suck when they end 
Anyway; I must be off...I've been in these damn labs for almost five hours, and my arse is numb
Don't leave before I get back! Otherwise I may cry! 
Anyway; I must be off...I've been in these damn labs for almost five hours, and my arse is numb
Don't leave before I get back! Otherwise I may cry! ok wont 
bye bye ;console; thats for your bum 
This is from the Guardian, it's a brilliant review though, one of the funniest things I've read in a long time;
The Holiday
"I'm a book editor from London - you're a trailer-maker from LA. We're worlds apart!" In this new romantic comedy about Americans and Brits falling in love, Jude Law actually has to say that line. He has to open his mouth and say it. To Cameron Diaz - whose character makes film trailers, by the way, not caravans. Poor Jude Law has to say this line, without wincing or crying or being turned into a column of soot by an angry Old Testament God.
The line is very important, you understand, in showing how adorably different the characters are, and yet how deeply and felicitously they understand each other. In fact, their utter mutual incomprehension is far more serious than the movie ever concedes. Jude Law's character might as well say: "I'm a geologist from one of the moons circling Pluto; you're a chub fuddler from the Forest of Dean. We're worlds apart!" What Jude Law the actor might say is: "You're an attractive Hollywood star whose career could go either way, and so am I! We're from the same world! If we had sex, it wouldn't be legal, because we're already practically conjoined twins!"
Cameron Diaz - her beaming, hyperactive face almost entirely devoid of ordinary human emotion - plays Amanda, a movie executive who has come to England on a cute "house swap" holiday with a stressed English journalist called Iris (Kate Winslet). Iris has had her heart broken and strikes various Bridget Jonesy poses of snuffly, tissuey, jumper-wearing despair around the house, before snapping up the house-swap offer and zipping over to live in Amanda's spiffy Los Angeles home for the Christmas holidays, leaving behind her roguish brother, Graham. This is the pulchritudinous Jude Law, the "book editor" with whom Amanda has raunchy sex with her bra on. Out in the US, Kate Winslet finds herself drawn to quirky, vulnerable musician Miles (Jack Black) - chubby, yet hubby material.
This glutinous film is coated in a kind of buttery stuff, a soft golden glow of ersatz romance. It's as if they have taken the brown gooey contents of a million Mars bars and used it to develop the film - with the leftovers being poured down our throats. Everything is bizarrely unreal. Iris is allegedly employed as court and social correspondent of the Daily Telegraph, whose premises writer-director Nancy Meyers imagines as having an indoor cladding of Tudorbethan panelling, like the ground floor of Liberty department store. Amanda comes to live in Iris's chintzy cottage in "Surrey": a part of Surrey usually accessible only from the back of a wardrobe. Unforgivably, Meyers's script has someone saying that Cary Grant was from Surrey. My suspicion is that Meyers knows perfectly well Grant was from unpicturesque Bristol.
Meanwhile, out in LA, Kate Winslet has befriended an ageing scriptwriter from Hollywood's golden age, played by Eli Wallach, whose elderly, twinkly-eyed, life-affirming wisdom heals poor Winslet's emotional wounds, and prepares her for the big new romance with Jack Black. If you get a chance, take a look at the poster for this film, on which the paired photos of Winslet and Black are smiling blandly, blankly in each other's general direction. It's entirely representative of what's not happening on the screen. They could be two waxworks together. Forget chemistry - were they even on set the same day when their scenes were filmed? It's a kind of bluescreen acting. Black had more of a relationship with King Kong. And Black just does not work as a romantic lead: his face is hardwired for wacky comedy. When he smiles in what is clearly supposed to be a winning way, it just looks creepy, or as if he is having some sort of intestinal spasm.
But for real creepiness, for real oh-my-God-I-think-he-might-be-a-serial-killer creepiness, Jude Law's character wins hands down. When he shows up at Cameron's house-swap cottage, tipsy and needing somewhere to go to the loo and stay the night, my blood ran cold. Something about his cuddly overcoat, lovable scarf and Brit specs, made me think I was watching a remake of 10 Rillington Place. It seemed like Graham was going to wind up keeping Amanda in various sections of the freezer. Nothing quite so deplorable occurs, yet this is how he playfully rebukes Amanda, after some fairly sober talk about relationships and such: "You're seriously the most depressing girl I've ever met!" Diaz, who is 34 years old, plays a high-status professional who is surely entitled to consider herself exempt from the indignities of being addressed as a "girl". But she never betrays, with word or deed, any emotion other than awestruck gratitude for all this.
Cameron and Jude are supposed to be the beautiful ones; Kate and Jack clearly less so. And yet it is Winslet, by persistently looking like a real human being, and maintaining an air of cheerful good humour, who weirdly emerges from this train-wreck of a film with her class intact. Like everyone else, she never gets any decent lines or convincing characterisation, and yet she somehow always looks at ease, unlike the unrelaxed other three. In this Christmas season, it would be lovely to have a romantic comedy that soothed away our workaday cares. But this doesn't feel like a holiday. It feels like two hours and 10 minutes of very hard graft.
The Holiday
"I'm a book editor from London - you're a trailer-maker from LA. We're worlds apart!" In this new romantic comedy about Americans and Brits falling in love, Jude Law actually has to say that line. He has to open his mouth and say it. To Cameron Diaz - whose character makes film trailers, by the way, not caravans. Poor Jude Law has to say this line, without wincing or crying or being turned into a column of soot by an angry Old Testament God.
The line is very important, you understand, in showing how adorably different the characters are, and yet how deeply and felicitously they understand each other. In fact, their utter mutual incomprehension is far more serious than the movie ever concedes. Jude Law's character might as well say: "I'm a geologist from one of the moons circling Pluto; you're a chub fuddler from the Forest of Dean. We're worlds apart!" What Jude Law the actor might say is: "You're an attractive Hollywood star whose career could go either way, and so am I! We're from the same world! If we had sex, it wouldn't be legal, because we're already practically conjoined twins!"
Cameron Diaz - her beaming, hyperactive face almost entirely devoid of ordinary human emotion - plays Amanda, a movie executive who has come to England on a cute "house swap" holiday with a stressed English journalist called Iris (Kate Winslet). Iris has had her heart broken and strikes various Bridget Jonesy poses of snuffly, tissuey, jumper-wearing despair around the house, before snapping up the house-swap offer and zipping over to live in Amanda's spiffy Los Angeles home for the Christmas holidays, leaving behind her roguish brother, Graham. This is the pulchritudinous Jude Law, the "book editor" with whom Amanda has raunchy sex with her bra on. Out in the US, Kate Winslet finds herself drawn to quirky, vulnerable musician Miles (Jack Black) - chubby, yet hubby material.
This glutinous film is coated in a kind of buttery stuff, a soft golden glow of ersatz romance. It's as if they have taken the brown gooey contents of a million Mars bars and used it to develop the film - with the leftovers being poured down our throats. Everything is bizarrely unreal. Iris is allegedly employed as court and social correspondent of the Daily Telegraph, whose premises writer-director Nancy Meyers imagines as having an indoor cladding of Tudorbethan panelling, like the ground floor of Liberty department store. Amanda comes to live in Iris's chintzy cottage in "Surrey": a part of Surrey usually accessible only from the back of a wardrobe. Unforgivably, Meyers's script has someone saying that Cary Grant was from Surrey. My suspicion is that Meyers knows perfectly well Grant was from unpicturesque Bristol.
Meanwhile, out in LA, Kate Winslet has befriended an ageing scriptwriter from Hollywood's golden age, played by Eli Wallach, whose elderly, twinkly-eyed, life-affirming wisdom heals poor Winslet's emotional wounds, and prepares her for the big new romance with Jack Black. If you get a chance, take a look at the poster for this film, on which the paired photos of Winslet and Black are smiling blandly, blankly in each other's general direction. It's entirely representative of what's not happening on the screen. They could be two waxworks together. Forget chemistry - were they even on set the same day when their scenes were filmed? It's a kind of bluescreen acting. Black had more of a relationship with King Kong. And Black just does not work as a romantic lead: his face is hardwired for wacky comedy. When he smiles in what is clearly supposed to be a winning way, it just looks creepy, or as if he is having some sort of intestinal spasm.
But for real creepiness, for real oh-my-God-I-think-he-might-be-a-serial-killer creepiness, Jude Law's character wins hands down. When he shows up at Cameron's house-swap cottage, tipsy and needing somewhere to go to the loo and stay the night, my blood ran cold. Something about his cuddly overcoat, lovable scarf and Brit specs, made me think I was watching a remake of 10 Rillington Place. It seemed like Graham was going to wind up keeping Amanda in various sections of the freezer. Nothing quite so deplorable occurs, yet this is how he playfully rebukes Amanda, after some fairly sober talk about relationships and such: "You're seriously the most depressing girl I've ever met!" Diaz, who is 34 years old, plays a high-status professional who is surely entitled to consider herself exempt from the indignities of being addressed as a "girl". But she never betrays, with word or deed, any emotion other than awestruck gratitude for all this.
Cameron and Jude are supposed to be the beautiful ones; Kate and Jack clearly less so. And yet it is Winslet, by persistently looking like a real human being, and maintaining an air of cheerful good humour, who weirdly emerges from this train-wreck of a film with her class intact. Like everyone else, she never gets any decent lines or convincing characterisation, and yet she somehow always looks at ease, unlike the unrelaxed other three. In this Christmas season, it would be lovely to have a romantic comedy that soothed away our workaday cares. But this doesn't feel like a holiday. It feels like two hours and 10 minutes of very hard graft.
I've just rented Final Destination 3 ... will watch it later ;yes;
wiggles
Indeed. First one I loved. 2nd one was average. 3rd was a joke.
Agreed! First one has a proud spot in my DVD collection; next to - bizarrely enough - Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. God...I need to rearrange that bloody thing. Superman's next to Spider-man! Of all things, that is probably the worst!
I loved thefilm ;yes;
Will post a review later even though tis slightly old ;yes;
Will post a review later even though tis slightly old
;yes;
i can't wait to see:
the simpsons movie
shrek 3 (Actually the trailer was funny)
pirates of the caribbean 3
the new chinese action packed movie with lots of swords and the queen fighting (forgot the name)
the new will smith movie - in pursuit of happiness or something...
spider man 3
fantastic 4, the silver surfer or something
oooo soo many new movies,and not out till at least 2 months time
the simpsons movie
shrek 3 (Actually the trailer was funny)
pirates of the caribbean 3
the new chinese action packed movie with lots of swords and the queen fighting (forgot the name)
the new will smith movie - in pursuit of happiness or something...
spider man 3
fantastic 4, the silver surfer or something
oooo soo many new movies,and not out till at least 2 months time
This thread can be used to review any films, right, not just recent ones? Cos I've just signed up for that thing at Blockbuster where you pay 15 quid a month and can get as many movies out as you want, but three at a time, and they even send them to you based on a list you make online of films you want to see. So I've decided I'm gonna watch all the films I'm always hearing are amazing, or are always being referenced in pop culture, that I've never seen, and also a few that friends have recommended. My list so far is:
Resevoir Dogs
Citizen Kane
Goodfella’s
The Godfather
The Godfather Part II
Pulp Fiction
Dr Strangelove
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
The Graduate
2001: A Space Odyssey
Schindler’s List
Dances With Wolves
Apocalypse Now
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Harvey
Twelve Monkeys
The Devil’s Backbone
Kes
Clockwork Orange
Spirited Away
Amelie
Baseketball
Near Dark
Ghost World
Taxi Driver
Scarface
Mad Max
Mad Max 2
Bound
Pleasantville
so it'll take quite a while to get through those.... but if there are any that I find amazingly great or incredibly crap, or just inspired to write a review about one, then I will do so.
Resevoir Dogs
Citizen Kane
Goodfella’s
The Godfather
The Godfather Part II
Pulp Fiction
Dr Strangelove
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
The Graduate
2001: A Space Odyssey
Schindler’s List
Dances With Wolves
Apocalypse Now
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Harvey
Twelve Monkeys
The Devil’s Backbone
Kes
Clockwork Orange
Spirited Away
Amelie
Baseketball
Near Dark
Ghost World
Taxi Driver
Scarface
Mad Max
Mad Max 2
Bound
Pleasantville
so it'll take quite a while to get through those.... but if there are any that I find amazingly great or incredibly crap, or just inspired to write a review about one, then I will do so.
I might as well join, working in a cinema and all.
Now, a film to review:
Employee of the month
Now, from the blurb you can instantly tell that this is going to be one of those underdog triumphs films and as such is going to be fairly predictable. Within the first 5 minutes you are introduced to all of the main characters, from the lovable slacker whose network of work friends enable him to do practically nothing, to the anal retentive head cashier who is in reach of management.
The film sets out the heroes and villains early on and gives you plenty of reasons to love and hate them respectively. After the introduction, the film coasts along comfortably, charting the progress of our hero as he tries to become Employee of the month (so he can sleep with the new girl).
I found the plot to be far too formulaic and the laughs a bit lacking, not to mention the all too predictable ending.
Now, a film to review:
Employee of the month
Now, from the blurb you can instantly tell that this is going to be one of those underdog triumphs films and as such is going to be fairly predictable. Within the first 5 minutes you are introduced to all of the main characters, from the lovable slacker whose network of work friends enable him to do practically nothing, to the anal retentive head cashier who is in reach of management.
The film sets out the heroes and villains early on and gives you plenty of reasons to love and hate them respectively. After the introduction, the film coasts along comfortably, charting the progress of our hero as he tries to become Employee of the month (so he can sleep with the new girl).
I found the plot to be far too formulaic and the laughs a bit lacking, not to mention the all too predictable ending.
Name of Film: Smokin' Aces (Joe Carnahan, 2007)
Delivering on promises. It's a relatively uncommon character trait, especially for movies. But Smokin' Aces is perhaps one of those rare few. It more or less promises a balls out, bloody action thriller, with maybe a little bit more going on beneath the surface than initially apparent, and boy does it deliver.
As you may or may not know; Joe Carnahan is a great writer-director. He's the man who brought us Narc - proving that an entertaining, gritty cop thriller can be brought to life with a miniscule budget. Now, with this one, he's got a slightly larger budget, and bigger names in his pocket, and once again, he's delivered.
It starts off at a fairly slow pace - FBI surveilance, and talk, talk, talk - and somehow it still manages to be entertaining. The dialogue is snappy - and with no small amount of Carnahan's dry wit thrown in for good measure ('You brought the light fifty? The **** you planning to shoot down? A jumbo jet?') - and it unfolds the dilemma slowly and skillfully. Buddy 'Aces' Israel is an informant; the Mafia wants him dead, and they've put out a million square bounty on his head. Inevetiably, this pulls in hitmen from everywhere, looking to grab the score, and of course, there's the FBI agents who have to protect Aces, whatever the costs.
And it simmers at that level for about fifty minutes, promising an explosion, but never detonating. It's like...like a botched beheading really - Carnahan the executioner, us the baying crowd. The first few strikes draw a bit of blood, but the executioner can't get through the bone, but when he does...when he finally cuts the damn head off...my God what an explosion!
It's an orgy of violence for more-or-less thirty minutes. I use orgy hesitantly, because that usually implies something relatively good; this is cold, visceral, bone-shudderingly realistic violence. One scene in particular stands out in my mind as being a crowning moment - and also the film's most disturbing one: a sequence in an elevator involving a hitman and one of the FBI agents. There's a glimpse of it in the trailer, but that doesn't give you even a vague idea of what it's really like. I won't go into it too far, but it's very brutal, and if you've not got the stomach for that sort of thing - as with the squealing lady sitting two seats down from me - you may want to look away when that scene percipitates.
Amidst this bacchanalian spectacle of violence, there are actually some fantastic performances. Ray Liotta, Jeremy Piven, Andy Garcia (dodgy accent aside) and even Ben bloody Affleck but in exellent turns as their respective characters. Those worthy of special mentions are threefold; Ryan Reynolds puts in his best 'serious' performance to date, and is suitably intense as Agent Messner; Alicia Keys puts J-Lo and Beyonce to shame with her bisexual femme fatale; and finally, Arrested Development's Jason Batement puts in perhaps the kookiest bit part of all time. Also, fun aside; look out for Lost's Matthew Fox doing a slightly strange hotel security guard. It's an ensemble piece in terms of performances, and it all come together beautifully.
So, if you're looking for a slice of action that's intensely violent, frequently amusing and always edge-of-your-seat; this is certainly one to see. Though I do have to say again, some of the scenes are particularly intense, so if this really isn't your cup of tea, it's best you avoid it. This is a hard 18 rating, and it's not pretty. However, if you can get around that, it's definitely worthy of your attention.
Rating out of 10: 7
Delivering on promises. It's a relatively uncommon character trait, especially for movies. But Smokin' Aces is perhaps one of those rare few. It more or less promises a balls out, bloody action thriller, with maybe a little bit more going on beneath the surface than initially apparent, and boy does it deliver.
As you may or may not know; Joe Carnahan is a great writer-director. He's the man who brought us Narc - proving that an entertaining, gritty cop thriller can be brought to life with a miniscule budget. Now, with this one, he's got a slightly larger budget, and bigger names in his pocket, and once again, he's delivered.
It starts off at a fairly slow pace - FBI surveilance, and talk, talk, talk - and somehow it still manages to be entertaining. The dialogue is snappy - and with no small amount of Carnahan's dry wit thrown in for good measure ('You brought the light fifty? The **** you planning to shoot down? A jumbo jet?') - and it unfolds the dilemma slowly and skillfully. Buddy 'Aces' Israel is an informant; the Mafia wants him dead, and they've put out a million square bounty on his head. Inevetiably, this pulls in hitmen from everywhere, looking to grab the score, and of course, there's the FBI agents who have to protect Aces, whatever the costs.
And it simmers at that level for about fifty minutes, promising an explosion, but never detonating. It's like...like a botched beheading really - Carnahan the executioner, us the baying crowd. The first few strikes draw a bit of blood, but the executioner can't get through the bone, but when he does...when he finally cuts the damn head off...my God what an explosion!
It's an orgy of violence for more-or-less thirty minutes. I use orgy hesitantly, because that usually implies something relatively good; this is cold, visceral, bone-shudderingly realistic violence. One scene in particular stands out in my mind as being a crowning moment - and also the film's most disturbing one: a sequence in an elevator involving a hitman and one of the FBI agents. There's a glimpse of it in the trailer, but that doesn't give you even a vague idea of what it's really like. I won't go into it too far, but it's very brutal, and if you've not got the stomach for that sort of thing - as with the squealing lady sitting two seats down from me - you may want to look away when that scene percipitates.
Amidst this bacchanalian spectacle of violence, there are actually some fantastic performances. Ray Liotta, Jeremy Piven, Andy Garcia (dodgy accent aside) and even Ben bloody Affleck but in exellent turns as their respective characters. Those worthy of special mentions are threefold; Ryan Reynolds puts in his best 'serious' performance to date, and is suitably intense as Agent Messner; Alicia Keys puts J-Lo and Beyonce to shame with her bisexual femme fatale; and finally, Arrested Development's Jason Batement puts in perhaps the kookiest bit part of all time. Also, fun aside; look out for Lost's Matthew Fox doing a slightly strange hotel security guard. It's an ensemble piece in terms of performances, and it all come together beautifully.
So, if you're looking for a slice of action that's intensely violent, frequently amusing and always edge-of-your-seat; this is certainly one to see. Though I do have to say again, some of the scenes are particularly intense, so if this really isn't your cup of tea, it's best you avoid it. This is a hard 18 rating, and it's not pretty. However, if you can get around that, it's definitely worthy of your attention.
Rating out of 10: 7
Name of Film - Rocky Balboa
Ill keep it short and sweet.
The Good Back to the basic storyline of the Rocky franchise - the underdog going in for one last round. Took the viewer back to Rocky 1, showing that even when you lose (as Rocky does on split decision), that you can still be a winner. I thought Sly did an amazing job considering he wrote the film, directed it and starred in it.
The Bad Not much bad about this film in my opinion although at times, it was slow moving on with the story.
Verdict 8/10
Ill keep it short and sweet.
The Good Back to the basic storyline of the Rocky franchise - the underdog going in for one last round. Took the viewer back to Rocky 1, showing that even when you lose (as Rocky does on split decision), that you can still be a winner. I thought Sly did an amazing job considering he wrote the film, directed it and starred in it.
The Bad Not much bad about this film in my opinion although at times, it was slow moving on with the story.
Verdict 8/10
wiwarin_mir
I might as well join, working in a cinema and all.
Now, a film to review:
Employee of the month
Now, from the blurb you can instantly tell that this is going to be one of those underdog triumphs films and as such is going to be fairly predictable. Within the first 5 minutes you are introduced to all of the main characters, from the lovable slacker whose network of work friends enable him to do practically nothing, to the anal retentive head cashier who is in reach of management.
The film sets out the heroes and villains early on and gives you plenty of reasons to love and hate them respectively. After the introduction, the film coasts along comfortably, charting the progress of our hero as he tries to become Employee of the month (so he can sleep with the new girl).
I found the plot to be far too formulaic and the laughs a bit lacking, not to mention the all too predictable ending.
Now, a film to review:
Employee of the month
Now, from the blurb you can instantly tell that this is going to be one of those underdog triumphs films and as such is going to be fairly predictable. Within the first 5 minutes you are introduced to all of the main characters, from the lovable slacker whose network of work friends enable him to do practically nothing, to the anal retentive head cashier who is in reach of management.
The film sets out the heroes and villains early on and gives you plenty of reasons to love and hate them respectively. After the introduction, the film coasts along comfortably, charting the progress of our hero as he tries to become Employee of the month (so he can sleep with the new girl).
I found the plot to be far too formulaic and the laughs a bit lacking, not to mention the all too predictable ending.
i didn't need to watch it to know that
from the trailer,you could tell it was easily predictable what would happen.jessica hasn't helped herself by starring in it.she should get a proper role next time,even if a small one.if not people will remember her here and think she can't act,and she'll never make it.Quick Reply
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Uni of York didn't acknowledge my EPQ in my offer?
