SirEddieCook

Hacksaw Ridge is a cinematic Masterpiece. Lush cinematography, an unusual sensitivity with incredibly crafted action under a most moving story. Performances from Andrew Garfield, Luke Bracey, Vince Vaughan, Theresa Palmer are all first rate. This will be viewed and praised for decades to come. Is it better Saving Private Ryan? Better story, more impressively crafted, and no stupid CGI ending. Mel Gibson is a titan filmmaker, who has learned well from his Masters -- Peter Weir, George Miller and actually has topped himself(Braveheart, and the immensely genius Apocalypto). WOW. That's a film. A miracle achievement in film, about a story that is a miracle.

Ridley Scott goes retrograde. Nearly all of his films have been ahead of its time, even historical titles(Duelists, 1492, Gladiator) had a modern style of its day. The Martian is more of a 90s popular film, propaganda for the Obama World view: Americans/Germans are led by a female captain to Mars, they leave the wise-cracking botanist who "Sciences the **** out of It" at every turn. Even the Communist Chinese in Beijing decide to save the day, while the Russians are nixed from any sort of existence. Ironic, considering NASA rides their rockets to space these days. Every single choice is politically slanted, and Ridley Scott returns to his TV Commercial roots. What is he selling? The film has no spiritual backbone, no depth, no real surprises and it recycles shots and models from Avatar and other films. It's a really ****ty movie, with a decent final 10 minutes. It's anti-introspective like Gravity, anti-curious like Interstellar, and sinkhole compared to 80s films like 2010 - when that was considered mediocre in 1984.

Vastly underrated upon release. Incredibly well thought out and crafted, summer escapism picture works on nearly every level. Instead of a typical temper tantrum plot, the protagonist hero isn't feeling sorry for himself, and things are quite meta(love, God, family) under the surface. The suspense and technical achievement combined make for an exciting picture that is highly involving, and especially delivers a great adversary, with nods to early Spielberg(Jaws and Close Encounters), some bashing of later Spielberg(totally overrated JP). The action sequences are complex, easy to follow and beautifully captured. Godzilla delivers on a huge build up, and the monster fights are great. Thank you Thomas Tull for hiring Gareth Edwards.

About 40 minutes too long. Entirely too much laziness and too much emphasis to Samuel L. Jackson. Action scenes go into some CGI overkill, and much of the fighting is redundant. More people get killed than all the Rambo movies put together, with no blood. Has a Transformers feel in terms of the Michael Bay style. Here's the good: Chris Evans is a very good actor, and does both Captain America justice and is a better actor than the material, the Winter Soldier is a formidable villain, very adept action sequences for the most part, some suspense. Women will not want to see this movie, at least women that I want to know.

This is a very good movie. The first 30 minutes is outstanding. George Clooney delivers a great performance, and nearly steals the movie. The script and the production values are AAA. I actually like Sandra Bullock as a film actress, but she could have added more depth based on her character arc in the script.

Neil Blomkamp's sophomore outing slumps along and is easily dwarfed by the far superior District 9. This movie looks and feels like a cutscene from a videogame(but maybe that's an insult to good AAA titles). Claustrophobic action, a bouncy camera, and heavy handed free healthcare for all message left my audience dead quiet and disengaged. The CGI doesn't always look top drawer. The EXO Skeleton concept is completely a waste. Only somewhat amusing is Sharlto Copley's turn as a South African mercenary named Krueger.

Pacific Rim is a one of a kind movie: a 100% commitment to its genre and target audience with absolutely no apologies for its material. Exceptionally well crafted, with full saturation of neon colors, rain and goo. Director Del Toro probably takes the uber geek fan film into a territory the general audience might not want to go. The battle scenes deliver, and the performances from the actors deliver maximum dedication to the material. My bet is that the film will find a devoted audience, and especially inspire young kids. This is far closer to the Godzilla 1998 film should have been. The executive who greenlit this film was fired, so be grateful that this blank check geek epic got made.

The best movie JJ Abrams hasn't made is probably how he pulls it off to manage Star Trek, Star Wars and make homages to 80s Spielberg all at the same time. This new one has some good ideas after a clunky first act, with a very good actor in Benedict Cumberpatch and a dramatic revival from Peter Weller. The Kirk and Spock chemistry is super lacking, even though the dramatic choices and homage-laden finale lays entirely upon emotional investment that there is a deep connection between the two. Both Zachary Quinto and Chris Pine are blocks of wood, so it really hurts the overall impact of the movie. Though I didn't like this movie very much, it's better than the 2009 version. The movie has improved SFX, and some cool stuff in terms of scope, but it's not really clever in terms of tactical space battles and the lack of emotional investment hurts the overall impact. And the movie is overly fast-paced, with too many abrupt all-of-a-sudden moments.

Emotionally accessible, expertly crafted film about boxing, brothers, family, the Cold War, hard work and redemption. This is a very uplifting movie about real life. The fight footage is spectacular, and the supporting characters in who surround the Klitschko Brothers including the recently passed Emmanuel Stewart shine with humanity and spirit, while dedicating their lives to the real-life perils of professional boxing. The film is directed and delivered by a German crew, so it has a less than familiar sensibility for American audiences. The Blu-Ray is highly recommended.

Dredd is brilliant Science Fiction. Perfectly constructed, with a lean and clean narrative, and yet, sensitivity to each character and scene that raises the bar significantly for the genre. This movie is deeply intense, with strong delivery in visuals, art direction along with fantastic performances from every single actor in the film. It's scary, uncompromising and a work of art.

A promising new lead and decent anticipation turns to a considerable let down. The latest Bourne film is Boring. Jeremy Renner is a quality actor, who this time plays a rougher, more aggressive, more believable bad ass member of Secret Government Operation: Treadstone. The main issue with the film is that it doesn't deliver the action, the villain or build into anything interesting. The final act in Manila features one of the weakest car chase sequences of all time. The film is more missing Paul Greengrass than Matt Damon. The action and tension isn't there.

Simon West's impressively mounted comeback feature after Con Air, is packed with a collage of 1980s era testosterone action awesomeness, homages, references and a very good time at the movies. The Expendables Team is far more comfortable in their roles, and the added players, especially Chuck Norris and Van Damme greatly contribute to that rare sequel that dramatically surpasses the original. The action sequences are well crafted, production values are higher than expected from the trailers - and most of it all works. Stallone and Team have created a great vehicle for expendable talent in front and behind the camera to showcase they've still got it, or for deserved stars like Terry Crews, those who should have a feature shot. Redemption for the lame original has been earned.

A powerhouse ending, beautiful story and thematic intensity make the final Dark Knight film a triumph. Nolan end his trilogy in grand fashion, taking heavy risks and succeeds in asking the audience to look at an apocalyptic threat to Gotham City. The film doesn't always have the crispness in dialogue, or tight packaging in the action sequences of its predecessors, but the emotional investment is far greater with Bruce Wayne's willingness to sacrifice himself to save Gotham, finally paying dividends in unexpected ways. It is awesome in IMAX

There isn't a frame of Prometheus which is suspenseful, mysterious or fresh. The narrative and logic get jumbled unnecessarily after the first 20 minutes or so, and then everything gets clunky and uninspiring. Who is the protagonist? Who is carrying this picture(Fassbender, Rapace or even Theron)? The film does answer this question only in the final 10 minutes, with an almost laughable ending. The movie has a great sequence and detail in the beginning where a character watches and emulates TE Lawrence(Peter O'Toole) from Lawrence of ****'s a very cool piece to see David Lean's epic in 3-D. The rest is TV Material at best.

The Avengers accomplishes its goal as a fun, super geek event movie. It's not a film, but a movie and a good time. Once people take another look, they will likely notice a weak narrative, not so great special effects, big plausibility issues and less than A+ level filmmaking. Technically, there are many aspects of the movie that are B-level. The actors have a good time, and Robert Downey Jr steals the show.

The Hunger Games is highly successful at delivering a substantial emotional investment. The premise of a Most Dangerous Game alternate society has been done before, but the story has a far greater humanity and depth than the genre has ever delivered. It has the neon of the The Running Man, and some similar B-movie characteristics. However, the lack of slickness and advanced technology filmmaking allows for some young actors to do some very good work. It's an emotionally engaging movie. Jennifer Lawrence is a real movie star. She is a very good actress and has electricity on screen. The action sequences and final act aren't spectacular, but these are characters I want to follow for their next adventure.

Very poorly crafted party movie lacks humor, fun and humanity. The actors do a terrible job. The found footage format goes out the window for Girls Gone Wild montages matched with the heavy thumping soundtrack. All the guys are sloppy and vulgar; all the girls look like a Playboy College issue. None of the jokes work. The imagery of the partied up women is more Larry Clark than Bob C. Clark, if you know what I mean.

Will Smith is an especially popular actor who makes particularly bad movies. He is usually serviceable in his performance, but never any good. This film is a remake of the far more enigmatic and entertaining B-movie from the 1970s, Will Smith walks around abandoned Manhattan and tries to survive against heavily CGI vampires. There is no villain. There are no great action sequences. There aren't any great lines. It's actually boring. The only part of the movie that was somewhere good was the opening sequence where the US Military has to shoot down the Brooklyn Bridge to quarantine Manhattan because the plague is starting. But that part had nothing to do with the rest of the movie.

Somewhere is an arthouse film that reminds us of great eras in smaller films, the Italian and French films of the 60s and even quite a few early 90s indie movies. Each shot and scene is put together with exquisite details and nice touches, it makes for a movie that can be seen more than once. Stephen Dorff plays an enigmatic, working cool actor shacked up in LA's Chateau Marmont hotel on the Sunset Strip. He bangs models, wannabe actresses and is a bit of a rocking guy. Emotionally empty and isolated, he finds solace in his 11 year old daughter played by a very talented Elle Fanning. The movie produces a great father and daughter relationship, tragic by design and circumstance, a love story that has nowhere to go. I really thought Dorff was an underrated, naturally cool and talented actor before. And Sofia Coppola creates a collage of memorable imagery, unusual sensitivity and an understated depth to Dorff that really shines. I liked this film more than Lost In Translation. The music is great too.

Lower than average heist picture is more about getting a quick paycheck than making an actual film. Most of the actors phone in their work(besides Giovanni Ribisi, going too over the top). It's only mildly suspenseful or compelling, where a mediocre narrative is the main driver to the film over any notable acting or action sequences. We've seen this sort of thing on TV.

The Grey is a very well shot, minimalist-written survivalist story where some very good actors face the Alaskan Wilderness and CGI wolves. Joe Carnahan gives the movie an existential edge, where the fierce weather serves as a back drop for some high integrity acting and metaphysical contemplation when a team of Oil Workers survive a plane crash only to face a pack of wolves. Poetic, Romantic, Contemplative - and in most sequences, a lot of fun. The weakest thing in the movie is the wolves.

Having viewed the Swedish Millennium Trilogy, I have newfound respect for Fincher and Zallian's Dragon Tattoo film. It's impeccably shot(as expected), but I think they made many good choices as it relates to improving the source material(cinematically speaking). I even think they improved the latter narrative and suspense in most cases. The trouble with the Dragon Tattoo movie is the pacing between Salander and Blomvquist; it's jumpy and at times unnecessarily speedy. It also tries to much to adhere to the source material, when I think they could have made a few more changes and cranked up the 2 hrs and 44 minutes into some more meaty details regarding the plot. I hope they radically change films two and three if the trilogy is going to be remade. The Swedish/Danish production falls flat by film 3 in a big way, and Lisbeth Salander character deserves a better story.

A Lifetime movie with an outstanding performance that it doesn't altogether deserve. Meryl Streep and the young actress who play Margaret Thatcher are excellent. Streep does Lady Thatcher justice. The movie creates a superhero origin story, matched with an equally interesting final act where Thatcher struggles with a combination of Alzheimers and a Romantic Heart. The movie clearly thinks that Thatcher is of high integrity, whose policies were of great benefit to 1980s England, and reveres her humility and dignity in old age. It's a very modest production, so it doesn't have the scope the content deserves. But the treat is that there are numerous long scenes where the camera is still, and Streep shows what a superstar actress she can be.

Carnage should have gotten meaner. Essentially a One Act play, the film features some fun acting in what is a black comedy, a bit of a critique of hypocrisy from Roman Polanski to the modern United States Culture that has banished him. Jodie Foster goes for the extreme the most, and comes away with the best of the 4 main performances. Instead of going for a War of the Roses level of domestic extremes, it's really a Virginia Woolf/Breakfast Club type movie where we aren't left with any major revelations, other than these are MISERABLE PEOPLE. It seemed like the actors had a great time making this movie, but not all of it came through on screen.

State of the Art in both Technical Wizardry and Production Scale - TinTin never reaches the emotional connection that early Spielberg movies did so well. Spielberg's attempt at Motion Capture technology looks fantastic, with great art direction and lighting with scenes that almost look perfect. The script is designed to inspire children to wanting to learn, explore and become smart kids. It's a literate, clever and high brow family film that really could have reached more greater heights. The trouble is in the three central characters - TinTin, Snowy the Dog(who was my favorite) and the weakest of the bunch - A Drunk Sea Captain who struggles under the lineage of a damned Sir Francis Drake. I didn't connect with the human characters in the film. Neither the narrative or the characters match the scenery and fun that a movie like this should have. This could have been much better.

I liked Mission Impossible: GP, but it isn't really a good film. Tom Cruise works very hard to make this film energetic, exciting and take the audience to exciting places - Budapest, Moscow, Bombay and Dubai. He even hired Pixar and Animation hero Brad Bird, who mounts a good looking movie that leans in segments closer to Brian DePalma's 1996 blockbuster, which works really well. The IMAX action sequences and Tom Cruise's physicality and willingness to do whatever it takes to regain AAA status in Hollywood delivers an earnest entertainment. It doesn't have an overly suspenseful climax, but the JJ Abrams emotional ending got me, and put some needed depth into the latest Ethan Hunt outing.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

The first third of Warrior has some of the best blue collar acting, blue collar writing and American filmmaking in decades. Joel Edgerton, Tom Hardy and Nick Nolte give outstanding performances. The last third of the film, which is an MMA tournament is very good, but by that point, Warrior has poured on more plot that ten movies. We know a great deal about these characters. We care. But the plot is thick and heavy. I hope the film finds an audience on video.

A technical and dramatic powerhouse. This is the best film so far of 2011. The opening action sequence in downtown LA is the best cinematic representation of Modern Los Angeles I have ever seen. Top Notch filmmaking across the board. Ryan Gosling actually built his car for the film, loaded with precise details and outstanding creative choices. This is a film that will be highly valued decades from now.

I like George Clooney. I really like Matthew Lillard. This movie just isn't much emotionally, spiritually or even artistically. There are some nuanced moments that work, a bit of Alexander Payne's trademark irony in scenes, sure. But this was a tough 2 hours to sit through. It's a depressing film about people struggling with little or no humanity. It doesn't have a pulse. The photography and production values are dreary and uninspired. George Clooney struggles with the Oscar clips, and comes off like a bloke(a likeable guy, but he really is just an aging good looking dude.) There are no great lines. It's actually super misogynistic about the youngest daughter, the 20 something daughter, the realtor's wife and the wife in the coma.