XavierBlaq

I have to give 9 credit for having me great heart at its core, but I refuse to give it credit for much else. The voice acting, though better than terrible, was not convincing enough to make me truly care about the characters. Worse still, the characters, in particular 9, are of the type that good voice acting is needed in order to bring in sympathy for them. Therefore, the tragic and ultimately bittersweet story was touching only so much as its actual plot. However, this plot, despite its terrible pacing, is the movie's only saving grace, and the only reason I will not say it is not worth watching. Honestly though, if you are a fan of Tim Burton-style animation (Corpse Bride, The Nightmare Before Christmas), the visuals will probably be worth it by themselves, since they are quite impressive.

Twister, though it does have decent acting and good intentions, is a completely ignorant movie that makes little to no sense throughout. Though the special effects are good (considering the time it came out), the implementation of these effects are completely ridiculous, making me feel like I am watch a terrible z-movie rather than a serious drama. Also, multiple characters (the main characters included) are supposed to be intelligent weather experts, yet they act on multiple occasions like idiots and make decisions that only common sense would tell anyone are not smart. Finally, the use of a tornado as a monster like Jason or Michael Myers does not help their cause at all. A tornado is not some serial killer trying to murder people, it is a product of nature that has no complicity to act sadistically. All together, these aspects made Twister nearly unbearable, and only the acting (which, as I said, is not bad) kept me able to watch this movie to its conclusion.

Though Dark City starts off terribly with poor acting and a disorienting pace, the movie improves vastly as it goes along, and eventually becomes a deep, engrossing film (with amazing acting) that was entertaining and thought-provoking. However, do not think this means the film spares any expense to deliver thrilling action and graphics that, despite looking terrible now, were amazing at the time of release and do not throw off the movie even now. Overall, I recommend it to science fiction fans, particularly those who loved the themes and cinematic elements of The Matrix Trilogy, as this movie is very similar in both (though slightly poorer with the graphics since it was released before The Matrix).

One thing that must be understood about this movie right off the bat is that it comes from the Blade and Riddick tradition of dark, violent action thrillers, and is therefore not meant to be excellent in terms of what critics would normally judge a film by. That said, the acting could still have been at least existent in the film. Overall, I got the feeling that reading the script would have shown more expression than most of these actors do. However, the vampire idea used in this movie is fairly unique compared to most movies, and the plot and action sequences were interesting enough to keep my attention.

In a vast landscape of cheesy, over-the-top superhero movies that lack a true heart and soul, Chronicle is a story packed with philosophical and emotional punch with amazing acting and a first-person "camera" perspective that fits the movie perfectly. The characters and their situations are so realistic and so easy to relate to, that it is hard not to sympathize even with the antagonist. My only complaint might be the long time it takes for the real theme of the movie to be easily seen, but since the movie is only 90 minutes anyway, the action in the meantime makes this complain a minor detail that can easily get lost in the otherwise brilliant movie.

This film of very harsh realism and large amounts of symbolism definitely comes from the postmodern tradition, and was interesting and thought-provoking enough for the majority of it to be entertaining. But then came the final scene to ruin the whole movie. Apart from the annoying repetition of the Mad-Max-influenced nickname "Lord Humungous," the scene destroys the deep insights gotten from the rest of the movie by seeming to make the whole film's theme a glorified version of "bros before hos." Still, the characters and filming was good enough to make the film not completely ruined, but very disappointing nonetheless.

Dead Man is a western-themed psychedelic tragedy with heavy comedic elements, something I did not know could even exist until I watched this movie. With decent acting, mind-blowing visuals, and high-brow comedy that left me either rolling or speechless, Dead Man impresses on all the common levels of cinema. However, beneath all this mind-boggling weirdness is a soul that, once found, can move one to think more about their own existence, as Blake does. Therefore, the film might be one of the weirdest movies ever, but it still has a heart whose beats can be heard through the excellent guitar work of Neil Young.

Though I agree with many other reviewers that the historical inaccuracies of Shakespeare in Love are extremely bad, Shakespeare in Love is not really about historical accuracy. It is instead a beautiful story of romance with more than its fair share of laughs that makes it a perfect example of how to do a great romantic comedy. Having never seen Saving Private Ryan, I cannot say whether this movie deserved the Best Picture Oscar or not. However, having seen Shakespeare in Love, I can say that its suburb acting and beautiful plot make it a great film regardless.

The Other Guys is not a film that will be included on any "Best Movie Ever" lists anytime soon, but that does not mean that this action comedy is not good at what it tries to do. Very similar to other Will Ferrell films like Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, The Other Guys revels in over-the-top ridiculousness, but manages to come across as a well put together film at the same time. Honestly though, this movie would not even be half as good if anyone had been cast instead of Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg. My only complaint is that the crude humor can get a little overwhelming at times, but this never breaks the rhythm of this great comedy that deserves far more praise than it gets.

The Social Network is genius, simple as that. With a look at what is happening to our society and what happens to relationships when money and fame become involved, this film is a philosophical masterpiece wrapped by amazing acting by everyone, a symbolic and emotional plot, and dialogue that raises this film above all its peers. It is a movie almost as ingenious as the idea Zuckerburg had and has made billions from.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Limitless may not be the worst film of all-time, but it certainly tries to be. All with the air of seriousness, this movie has one of the stupidest plots I have ever seen, absolutely terrible acting, annoying narration that only makes me hate the protagonist, and a theme that seems to encourage being a terrible human being. This was not a movie to give a happy ending to. This was a movie that should have ended before it put a stain on the careers of everyone involved.

An absolutely terrible movie, The Last Airbender takes the first season of a decent kids show and makes it into a mess of horrible acting and confusing plot that makes the movie completely unlikeable by newbies and more than disappointing for fans of the series, having watched it with the former and been the latter. However, the saddest part of this film might be that it takes itself so seriously. In the end, it deserves ever Razzie it got.

While Delta Farce may have its moments of being hilarious, it is overall a terrible comedy that barely warrants the time put into watching it. Sadly though, this movie looks like the best it could possibly be considering the terrible actors they got to play the lead characters. However, I can easily see this movie appealing to many people who love ridiculous comedies like Airplane, so it might be worth trying for diehard fans of this type of comedy.

A largely misunderstood, and therefore underrated, film by master director Francis Ford Coppola, Rumble Fish is an experimental film that acts in some ways as a companion piece to The Outsiders, but is actually the better film of the two. Visuals and music are used superbly to illustrate multiple themes, which makes the film the perfect example of how these two things can be used to add to the idea of a film. In my opinion, this one ranks up there with Coppola's best, and, in some ways, surpasses them.

A movie of epic ridiculousness, Anchorman is a comedy that has many peaks and valleys in its hilariousness. While many of the jokes do fall flat, there is no denying that this film goes to extraordinary lengths of stupidity to deliver them, which almost makes me admire it. If there is one thing Anchorman is not guilty of though it is not being memorable. Even the scenes I did not like as much still stuck in my mind, but luckily there were more good ones than bad that made this film well worth watching from start to finish.

Though a few morbid scenes might make this a little much for really young children, this animated masterpiece from Wes Anderson is the funnest movie I have seen in years. Honestly, I couldn't believe this adaption of the Roald Dahl classic could be this good but the voice-acting is among the best I have ever seen, so the characters, who are just as important as the plot in this film, come to life in a way that is simply amazing. This movie must be seen to be believed.

As one should expect from a Wes Anderson movie, it has quirky characters, a classic yet unique plot, that certain style of editing that no one else does (if you have watched a Wes Anderson movie, in particular Fantastic Mr. Fox, you know what I am talking about), and Bill Murray (seriously, he is in almost every movie Wes Anderson has done). However, past the deadpan lines, deliberately outrageous action, and surreal visuals is a story that actually proves to be quite touching, and universally appealing. Therefore, the movie left me in tears by the conclusion, and I could not tell if it was the comedy or the heartfelt story that was the cause.