Big thanks to Cineworld for the unlimited advance preview of Looper.
Once you get out of the habit of analysing all the paradoxs this is a very good film. Yes the plot has its flaws whereby there are things that then mean that previous things should not have happened but I guess thats part of the fun of a time travel movie.
A reasonable performance by both Joseph Gordon-Levitt and by Willis, although the fact that they look nothing like each other meant that the 30 year aging scequence is farcical, with a slight older looking Gordon-Levitt suddenly becoming Willis clearly dressed with a wig it just doesn't work.
Interesting concept for the storyline, although the plot is a little slow, and at times clunky.
The undoubted star of the movie is the young child Pierce Gagnon playing Cid.
on the whole, and enjoyable movie, just so long as you don't look too closely 7/10
Tuesday 25 September 2012
Killing Them Softly
September must be the month for violent bloody films, after Dredd and lawless now we have this. I am not a huge fan of this type of Genre, but there are other issues with this film.
The constant use of the "f" word as part of normal speech began to grate on me, at one point I started counting and in one short scene it was used 9 times in about 7 or 8 sentences. If you start using it that often it ceases to have an impact.
Secondly some of the Characters just appear in a scene and start having a conversation where the characters name is not used, then later on the Character is referred to by name and you are trying to work out who is who.
I just found the whole thing confusing and difficult to follow, coupled with the fact that I had a stinking cold, and was trying hard not to annoy the cinema audience with coughs and sniffles, I just didn't really enjoy this.
I have read some reviews that say it was great and had a great undertone about the economy, and all the bits with Bush and Obama on TV's and Billboards in the background was showing that the government had left these people to rot. Maybe I'm just not aware enough to pick up these subtle messages and see what the filmmaker is trying to say behind rubbish dialogue.
all in all, this film was not for me 5/10
The constant use of the "f" word as part of normal speech began to grate on me, at one point I started counting and in one short scene it was used 9 times in about 7 or 8 sentences. If you start using it that often it ceases to have an impact.
Secondly some of the Characters just appear in a scene and start having a conversation where the characters name is not used, then later on the Character is referred to by name and you are trying to work out who is who.
I just found the whole thing confusing and difficult to follow, coupled with the fact that I had a stinking cold, and was trying hard not to annoy the cinema audience with coughs and sniffles, I just didn't really enjoy this.
I have read some reviews that say it was great and had a great undertone about the economy, and all the bits with Bush and Obama on TV's and Billboards in the background was showing that the government had left these people to rot. Maybe I'm just not aware enough to pick up these subtle messages and see what the filmmaker is trying to say behind rubbish dialogue.
all in all, this film was not for me 5/10
Monday 17 September 2012
Lawless *plot spoiler alert*
I don't know why I had been putting it off, but I finally got to see Lawless last night
My only major issue with this movie is that when Forrest has his throat slit, there is absolutely no way that he would live, let alone be up and ready for a fight within such a short time frame.
The Level of violence is a little above my comfort zone. I did consider walking out at one point, but stuck with it and was glad I did. A really good performance from Shia LaBeouf, who did much to rid himself of the rubbish that is transformers, A very intense story line and some equally intense hair cuts!
Violence and Major plot fail aside, this is a very enjoyable movie 7/10
My only major issue with this movie is that when Forrest has his throat slit, there is absolutely no way that he would live, let alone be up and ready for a fight within such a short time frame.
The Level of violence is a little above my comfort zone. I did consider walking out at one point, but stuck with it and was glad I did. A really good performance from Shia LaBeouf, who did much to rid himself of the rubbish that is transformers, A very intense story line and some equally intense hair cuts!
Violence and Major plot fail aside, this is a very enjoyable movie 7/10
Hope Springs
Unlike some other films where I have gone in with high expectations and been disappointed, this film was a very pleasant surprise. Having seen the trailer I didn't think I would enjoy it, but I really did.
The Performances from Tommy Lee Jones and Meryl Streep are absolutely brilliant, The Laughs come thick and fast, and they get several of the best laughs without having to say a word.
Extremely funny its a film that knows how far it can push the sexual innuendo without being crass or crude.
I would say this is the best Rom Com of 2012 so far, an absolute breath of fresh air 9/10
The Performances from Tommy Lee Jones and Meryl Streep are absolutely brilliant, The Laughs come thick and fast, and they get several of the best laughs without having to say a word.
Extremely funny its a film that knows how far it can push the sexual innuendo without being crass or crude.
I would say this is the best Rom Com of 2012 so far, an absolute breath of fresh air 9/10
Saturday 15 September 2012
Paranorman
Having really enjoyed Coraline I was looking forward to this film by the same makers. This is a animated movie about a misunderstood kid, with lots of heart and some really moving moments
Unlike a lot of animated "childrens" movies this deals with some very deep issues with several subplots going on along the way, and it manages not to patronise its audience.
There are superb voice performances, particularly from Jodelle Ferland as Aggie the Witch who had me absolutely spellbound.
Maybe not one to take really small children to, but definitely the best animated movie of the year so far 9/10
Unlike a lot of animated "childrens" movies this deals with some very deep issues with several subplots going on along the way, and it manages not to patronise its audience.
There are superb voice performances, particularly from Jodelle Ferland as Aggie the Witch who had me absolutely spellbound.
Maybe not one to take really small children to, but definitely the best animated movie of the year so far 9/10
Thursday 13 September 2012
The Sweeney
The trouble with making a 2012 movie based on a 70's TV series is that policing methods have changed. this means that the Sweeney bears absolutely no resemblance to modern day policing.
Ignoring that fact, this is an enjoyable film, lots of good action sequences, a couple of decent laughs, and a plot with a few twists.
A decent performance by Ray Winstone as you would expect from an actor of his calibre and experience, unfortunately the same can't be said for Ben Drew, who should really stick to his day job of making music, his performance was quite wooden.
On the whole though, a decent couple of hours entertainment.
Entertainment factor 9/10 basis in reality 0/10 acting 6/10 overall score 7/10
Ignoring that fact, this is an enjoyable film, lots of good action sequences, a couple of decent laughs, and a plot with a few twists.
A decent performance by Ray Winstone as you would expect from an actor of his calibre and experience, unfortunately the same can't be said for Ben Drew, who should really stick to his day job of making music, his performance was quite wooden.
On the whole though, a decent couple of hours entertainment.
Entertainment factor 9/10 basis in reality 0/10 acting 6/10 overall score 7/10
Monday 10 September 2012
Dredd
Annoyingly there does not seem to be a 2D version of Dredd, which meant I had to pay the extra, wear the glasses, and endure the resultant headache. I really don't like 3D for live action films, I think its great for animation when you can have some fun with it, but for something like this I don't think it really adds anything. and as my blind in one eye friend pointed out, "I see everything in 2D anyway, so why should I have to pay the extra for 3D that I can't enjoy"
The film itself is a little bit to violent for my liking, Lots of blood and guts, and as one of the plot devices in the movie is a drug called "slow mo" which slows down your perception of time, there are lots of scenes of Blood and Guts in slow motion, which just adds to the gore factor.
Karl Urban's performance is not that great with the inevitable comparisons to Stallone, The plot is full of holes (like how they survive a hail of machine gun fire that wipes out half the building without taking a single hit) and although its only 90 minutes long, it felt much longer. I generally judge my boredom factor by how long it take me to look at my watch to see how long is left, in this case it was 20 minutes.
Certainly not the best movie of the year, or the month, not even the best movie of this weekend and certainly not worth paying the extra for 3D 5/10
The film itself is a little bit to violent for my liking, Lots of blood and guts, and as one of the plot devices in the movie is a drug called "slow mo" which slows down your perception of time, there are lots of scenes of Blood and Guts in slow motion, which just adds to the gore factor.
Karl Urban's performance is not that great with the inevitable comparisons to Stallone, The plot is full of holes (like how they survive a hail of machine gun fire that wipes out half the building without taking a single hit) and although its only 90 minutes long, it felt much longer. I generally judge my boredom factor by how long it take me to look at my watch to see how long is left, in this case it was 20 minutes.
Certainly not the best movie of the year, or the month, not even the best movie of this weekend and certainly not worth paying the extra for 3D 5/10
Anna Karenina
Having seen Kira Knightly in previous period films such as Atonement and The Duchess, I had high hopes for this movie, unfortunately It didn't really live up to those hopes.
Throughout this film, and particularly in the first half an hour, there is this weird theatre style scene change device going on, where someone will walk through a door, then the wall will be lifted, the extras suddenly change costume and you are into a different scene, or the camera will pan round from the stage to the floor of the theatre and you have gone from some outdoor painted backdrop, into a ballroom. Its all very strange, and for me just didn't really work in allowing you to work out what is supposed to be going on. in fact it got annoying, which detracted from my enjoyment of the film.
The performance from Knightly is decent, in my opinion not as good as others mentioned above, but overall the Characters came to life, and had a bit of soul and depth. This is not a bad movie, its a decent couple of hours entertainment, but it just failed to sparkle.
On the whole, I'm glad I saw it, but it just lacks that extra something, once you get past the annoying way the films changes scene its perfectly passable 6/10
Throughout this film, and particularly in the first half an hour, there is this weird theatre style scene change device going on, where someone will walk through a door, then the wall will be lifted, the extras suddenly change costume and you are into a different scene, or the camera will pan round from the stage to the floor of the theatre and you have gone from some outdoor painted backdrop, into a ballroom. Its all very strange, and for me just didn't really work in allowing you to work out what is supposed to be going on. in fact it got annoying, which detracted from my enjoyment of the film.
The performance from Knightly is decent, in my opinion not as good as others mentioned above, but overall the Characters came to life, and had a bit of soul and depth. This is not a bad movie, its a decent couple of hours entertainment, but it just failed to sparkle.
On the whole, I'm glad I saw it, but it just lacks that extra something, once you get past the annoying way the films changes scene its perfectly passable 6/10
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