Just as he struck the **** in Inglourious Basterds, Tarantino takes his aim in Django Unchained at Southern slave owners before the Civil War, etching their moral defects into a brutal tale of freedom and intrigue. After the first scene set in an isolated forest where wily German bounty hunter "Dr. Schultz" finds and frees Django in order to lead him to a bounty, the teamed duo embark on a killing odyssey, jumping bounties, getting rich and facing all of the vile and ingrained implications involved with racist Southern slavery into a series of action-packed vignettes. Some might say Tarantino has offered us just another violent-frenzied exploitation film, but he does so in the best way possible, knowing when and where to tug to make the audience laugh and cringe, and does so with great characters, dialogue and tension. He knows how to do what every great director should know how to do.
Billed as a horror movie, Joon-ho Bong's "The Host" is more of a farce, immersing itself in over-drama, wasting no time on suspense, and not even developing any type of setting. The acting is all over the place - take one instance when the family is mourning over the loss of the little girl (the hinging factor of the movie), and all of the actors transition instantly from mourning to just plain silliness, making the entire sequence ineffective. The monster itself, as awesome as it looks, doesn't even feel like a threat most of the time, which is a result of both bad writing and bad sound editing - bad writing because the entire city doesn't seem to worry about a colossal river creature eating and stealing humans, and bad sound editing because every time an action sequence begins, the volume of the soundtrack and effects drop significantly, which really kills the intensity of those moments.
"Rififi" is often considered the landmark film that modernized heist movies, and it shines brilliantly as a suave, sexy crime noir (that happens to be French). There are flashes of expressionism throughout - the tantalizing 'Rififi' nightclub song sequence and the shadowy night shots, but the classic quick-slung dialogue and refined criminal setting really give the movie its stride. Of course, it would be impossible to review this movie without mentioning the heist - a complex suspense sequence that takes up a full 28 minutes of running time and has no audio other than the slightest tap of a hammer or patter of a footstep. You can hear your own heartbeat race as each new step of their setup is revealed, bringing a new fear that it won't work or they may be discovered. Even though they carry the stride of first-class cons (they break into the jewelry store wearing complete suits), the characters express both confidence and doubt in their maneuvers, making every second of the continuity exhilarating. When it is finally over, you breathe a sigh of relief for these guys. Even though the heist is the pinnacle of the film, it only takes place halfway through. The second half is a moralist plug that chronicles the downfall of the cons after their perfect crime. Though it has some great scenes and completes the circle of development of each of the characters, it feels like the movie blew off most of its steam by the end. Even though the tension has all but left, there is a strange sense of loss seeing all the characters you cheered for in the first half take their inevitable fall. It's a classic tale, but told with complexity and craft that was completely new for its time, and served as a basis for every other heist-crime movie, from "Reservoir Dogs" to "Ocean's Eleven."
I rated this movie the total number of times I snickered throughout its entire 97 minutes. It really boils down to the fact that Jack Black and Michael Cera are a bad combo; combine that with the movie's lackluster writing and you get "Year One."
"Suspect Zero" is really as bad as thrillers come - it looks and feels like it took its inspiration from daytime television and bad serials. The movie builds tension and suspense, but at no time did I wonder what's going to happen next - I just kept wondering why the movie was going through so much effort to get there. Ben Kingsley could be considered a saving grace, but to me the fact that he is in here at all is more an indicator of how badly his career has fallen this decade (just look at his recent filmography).
"The Iron Giant" is a soft-hearted and whimsical take on period movies (I've rarely seen a better take on Communist-era America) that is an absolute joy to behold. The combination of great animation and satirical dialogue makes every character memorable and fun and the finale is as gripping as animated films come.
Keisha Castle-Hughes put all other child actors to shame in her dramatization of Paikea, a girl whose destiny as the leader of her people is constantly subverted by the traditional ideas of her grandfather. However, as awe-inspiring and inspirational as the story to "Whale Rider" is, director Niki Caro goes to unnecessary lengths to make sure you know why the movie was made, which detracts from the overall experience.
In short, one of the worst movies I have ever seen. In long, it's an insipid trip through China where virtually all of the humor is derived from cheap sexism and racism (I'm really a guy that can appreciate the humor in this, but all of the jokes were so unoriginal and flat), as opposed to the fun and ridiculous situations in the first Rush Hour. Jackie Chan's acting is more tired than it has ever been before, and Chris Tucker's antics get worn thin after the first 5 minutes. To me, this ranks among the worst sequels ever made (right alongside Lawnmower Man 2 - there, I said it.)
"Ghost Dog," the story of an inner city dweller who lives by the way of the samurai soaks up its premise not in blood splatter but in level-headed absurdity and complexity, a focus that takes much more time to absorb. Still, the movie is fun in ways that you wouldn't expect - the antagonists are comprised of the worst ...mob probably ever caught on film: they are regularly shown whacking the wrong people, watching cartoons (the movies sly way of equating mob violence to cartoon violence) or falling behind on their rent. Ghost Dog, played by Forest Whitaker, is quite a character himself, trying to make sense of the world through Zen judgment and ancient ways by frequently quoting relevant passages from Hagakure, the book of the Samurai. Furthermore his 'best friend' is an ice cream truck man who can only speak French. This combined with the fact that the movie isn't afraid to address questions of morality and racism make the movie even more of a head-scratcher but nevertheless entertaining. To top it all off, RZA's soundtrack is one of the highlights of the film, layering it with great old-style Wu-Tang hip-hop that is enough to make the movie worth watching itself.
If you think the plot of "21" sounds as if it was slyly brushed out of screenplay purgatory, just wait until you see how bland the movie actually plays out. For being a group of renegade college students, the characters really aren't very interesting at all and the actors constantly allow Kevin Spacey to steal the scenes, even when he's in the next room getting coffee. Props to Jim Sturgess for giving some especially bad narrating, too. If anything, though, the movie's effective editing does do a good job of capturing the excitement and tension of counting cards as a team.
"A Prophet" is a completely engrossing experience that plays out like a genre film, colliding gangster politics and prison society for a satisfying thriller. However, what really gives the film its drive is the grit and social realism (two aspects rarely afforded by genre) packed into every scene, giving a completely unique crime drama. Unfortunately, the fact that it is French allowed it to fly completely under the American radar - though I doubt it will ever be as iconic or influential, I hope time will allow the movie to takes its rightful place along the ranks of "The Godfather" and "Goodfellas".
Stallone's effort to recreate the heyday of 80s/90s action flicks is a tired look-alike that doesn't even meet the low expectation of sitting through a collage of high-adrenaline and explosions. What he seems to forget is that in order to make your heroes look badass you really need a good villainous plot for them to fight against. In this case, the evil bossman (I don't even remember his name, but he was played by Eric Roberts) doesn't have nearly enough motive or screen-time to develop himself as a villain worthy of the collective of action heroes. On top of that, this collective isn't even that great of a team - Jet Li and Mickey Rourke seemed like they just showed up for the paycheck because their characters are completely useless. This, along with the tired storytelling, leaves us with a movie that could only possibly be enjoyed by unwavering action aficionados who need their fix.
Between "Amores Perros," "Babel" and this movie, Gonzalez Inarritu has produced some of the heaviest dramas of the past 10 years. Perhaps it is because they all deal with such **** characters - in this case we are given a man who has just undergone heart replacement surgery which temporarily alleviates the strain ...between him and his separated wife, a born-again man who suddenly finds himself responsible for running over and killing a husband and two girls and the woman who has lost her whole family in that car accident. Each of these characters are faced with the idea of moving on with their lives; as we watch them adjust, we see that the difficulty isn't overcoming the past - it's the realization that they don't even understand what their lives are anymore. The serious performances from the three leads (Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro and Naomi Watts) are really what give the film its depth, and even make up for Inarritu's completely unnecessary nonlinear style, which seems to serve no purpose other than to make the viewer pay more attention.
If "Princess Mononoke" displayed Miyazake's eye for epic scale and "My Neighbor Totoro" showed his charm, "Spirited Away" best represents his innate talent for storytelling and enchantment. The movie literally sweeps the viewer into another world filled with imagination and absurdity following the misadventures of main character Sen as she tries to understand and adjust to the world around her, a perfect allegory for coming of age. It easily ranks among the best animated features of all time.
Even being a huge fan of the video game series, I feel like this movie is best remembered as being forgotten. Not only was it not as technologically revolutionary as it promised, it's just a plain horrible movie.
Quentin Tarantino has taken some more worthy **** than this movie. Even fans of the first one will find little to cling on to, and bad dialogue makes the already bad acting just plain horrendous.
David Lynch presents his greatest stride, giving us a surrealist pop dream that is as irresistible as it is confounding, raising a huge middle finger to Hollywood conventions while never compromising entertainment. The movie stands on its own just fine, but the more movies I watch, the more I see its influences: Bergman's "Persona," Godard's colorful capricious style, Fellini's self-conscious abstractions, Buñuel's vicious humor. I wouldn't draw such grand comparisons if I felt they weren't earned, but Lynch delivers on every front, giving us a movie that is sure to leave you spellbound.
Easily the best movie made about the Iraq War, and one of the most memorable war movies I've seen in general. The director, Kathryn Bigelow, charges almost every scene with suspense and tension, producing action sequences more exhilarating and gripping than most high-budget blockbusters. Also, wtf with people complaining about the movie's real-life credibility? It's not like "Apocalypse Now" represented the Vietnam War as it was, it just tried to be a great movie, which it was and "The Hurt Locker" is the same.
Just as "The Velvet Underground & Nico" spurred wannabe musicians to actually go forth with their dreams, "Killer of Sheep" opened up the door to independent filmmaking to anyone with a camera and the vision. As a film, the 'story' relies on a series of episodic scenes (accompanied by an incredible soundtrack) to depict poverty in the Watts ghetto. This is both the film's greatest strength and weakness, because even though the neorealist style forces the viewer to experience the hardships with authentic intimacy, the lack of character development or plot makes the impression somewhat empty, (though not without a profound effect)
A film that shows, in an American-surrealist context, that life and love are the biggest mysteries of all. It's unfortunate that it wasn't until "Mulholland Dr." that David Lynch hit such a great height again.
The movie that is best known for its surprise ending, and if it has not been spoiled for you already, it will literally take your breath away. But when the ending of a film falsifies everything you have just watched, as a viewer you have to question the validity of the first 90 minutes of the movie. I dare you to watch this movie more than two times and still have it impact you.
The set up is perfect, but for being an almost two hour film, the laughs are pretty sparse, and Steve Carell seems to be sleepwalking through his role.
The movie might lose its focus in the second half, but the whole thing has that crude charm that only Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly together can give us.
This biting tale of power and corruption plays out as smoothly as its tantalizing Jazz soundtrack. Burt Lancaster is impressively evil as the newspaper columnist trying to keep a hold on his sister's life.
Johnny Depp shines in his role as the infamous quirky film director trying to hit it big with grade-Z movies. As absurd as it is brilliant, this definitely ranks as one of Tim Burton's finer films.
Hey, what do you know, it's Clint Eastwood's least depressing movie! :D (and a damn fine Western at that). It truly deserves to live alongside John Ford's finest films.
Just as the film explores what the limits of freedom are in an unjust and prejudiced world, the actual movie pushes the limits of the quality of a picture produced by two drugged-out stars on the road, defying the logic of big, Hollywood, money-bloated moguls. But just as the taste of total freedom turns sour in the movie, the question of whether this movie should be considered a classic is a shaky "I don't know..."
This movie basically spawned my dislike of Adam Sandler. It's interesting that he always chooses to play characters that the viewer is suppose to sympathize but have no reason to deserve our sympathy. Oh, and on top of that it isn't funny - it has scenes and lines that are meant to grab our attention, but that's about it.
Just shows what amazing things the Coen Brothers can do even when they have writer's block. The performances are all top-notch and there's enough symbolic and surrealist glee to leave you scratching at your head for hours, yet everything seems fits nicely in place in the end.
It's hard to resist smiling through this movie. It's rarely laugh-out-loud funny, but there's an undeniable intrigue through the oddity of it all, and that's what gives the movie its strength.
A minor miracle of a film, this movie manages to pull off everything a major motion picture should have (great scripting, amazing acting, drama, etc.) with a mere budget of ~$7,000. It's simultaneously captivating, confusing, frustrating, and in the end, completely gratifying - even if you can't put all the pieces together on the first viewing. I already can't wait to watch it again.
More proof that M. Night Shyamalan is, indeed, a one-trick pony that relies on the same techniques in every film. Whereas some of his other movies occasionally have good acting and cinematography to pick up the slack, this movie has nothing. It's just crap.
This movie makes being cliche look badass, and is so well constructed on top of that, you pretty much have to give it credit as one of the movie masterpieces of our time. But seriously, it's not the greatest movie ever made *cough*imdb*cough*
Who thought having a dinner party could be so difficult? Still, Bunuel shows his genius in taking a simple and absurd plot to make harrowing criticisms of its characters: the rich, the political, the religious, the militant - pretty much everyone.
It's pretty much the same old fare with a few Asian people thrown in for good measure (and abominable snowmen?) Honestly, two years later can anyone honestly say they remember this movie?
A pure, technicolor spectacle that, despite its flaws, is pretty much impossible to resist. The Wachowski brothers might have their shortcomings as writers, but they always know how to make a movie that is fun to behold.
The movie has its little pleasures (such as the man getting struck by lightning and the tugboat captain), but it feels like the "aging-backwards" basis is no more than a playful trick to tell an otherwise normal and uninteresting (and loooonng) story.
A surprisingly fun and imaginative family film. The overused "divorced mom" sideplot was a unnecessary and the ending was somewhat bland, but Adam Sandler was really fun to watch throughout (wow, did I really just say that?), and the blending of fantasy and reality was shockingly restrained, and all the better for that.
The neorealism and morbidity of of the subject might shy away some viewers, but everything about this movie is handled with such delicate care - the acting, the cinematography, the absence of a film score - that it really does **** you into it's existence, forcing you to feel the hardships of living in a state of oppression. Moral of the Story: don't live in a place where abortions are illegal.
It doesn't necessarily bring anything new to the table, but provides an interesting look at sex and relationships and all the kinks in between the two. You have to give director Steven Soderbergh credit for making a movie that focuses completely on sex without having any actual sex scenes (or even nudity). It's also nice to see a film that deals with the subject matter so maturely without having to get Woody Allen involved.
Though the book was tantamount for the series, this is most definitely the weakest of the Harry Potter movies. The biggest travesty is that the movie completely loses steam halfway through and ruins arguably the best climax of all seven books because of it. It's also frustrating to watch the movie straddle between being a "grown-up" vs. a "kiddie" movie, as if the producers struggled to plaster the movie with a PG rating while it was destined to be PG-13.
This documentary zig-zags between being an inspiring story about a man using his uncompromised talent to garner himself acclaim to becoming a stripped-down look at the disturbed psyche that produced the images he drew. The movie brings up interesting points, such as the fuzzy line between pornography and art and the paradox of a creative mind getting commercial success. The movie also definitely doesn't leave anything to the imagination - all of the characters are stripped down to their most bare states (it's not surprising that his sisters both declined interviews). Absolutely fascinating.
Though it may present itself as such, I don't really see the movie as a mockery of the horror genre but rather an explanation of why the same formula has worked for so long (and uses ubiquitous terms to explain it, such as "Survivor Girl" and "Ahab") . If anything, I see it as a criticism of documentary journalists, who often stand by and let horrible things happen in real life without bothering to interfere for the sake of getting an authentic take on camera for a quick buck. But anyway, back to the movie - it's funny, fresh, well-written and still campy enough to please any horror fans.
It's definitely the best silent film ever crafted, and arguably one of the best movies of all time. Silent films usually try to avoid complex plot and multiple storylines because of the limitations of the medium, but Fritz Lang succeeds in connecting all of the loose ends in his monumental vision to produce one of the greatest stories to grace the silver screen.
As a movie with no running plot, the screenplay has to purely rely on the antics of all the characters interacting with each other to keep some sort of tether to the ground. Unfortunately, this tactic doesn't really start working until about 30 minutes into the film, when the viewer can finally start understanding some of what the hell is going on between the surplus of characters. Overall, it's just not as cohesive and smooth as Altman's later work, but is still a great directorial debut. Also, to be fair, it does have more than its share of hilarious and memorable moments.
Lampooning religion isn't the most difficult thing to do, but with Bill Maher at the helm and use of fast-cut editing, the movie turns into a joyride of blasphemy. Still, it's not perfect, and has the usual flaws of a sensationalist documentary (i.e. Maher only goes for the lowest common denominators to argue with, most of it is comical and lighthearted until the unexpected doomsday ending, etc.)
I'm typically not a big fan of the "Asian-Extreme" genre that seems to be blowing up these days overseas, but "Oldboy" has a philosophical hinge to it that keeps its storytelling from flying out of control to pure exploitation. Strangely enough, the movie has the pacing and feel of a Hitchcock film, but the violence and over-the-top twist brings a whole new perspective to the genre.
why, why, why, why, why?
Note to directors: if you're going to film whatever **** flies through your brain, at least have the common decency to make the final product less than 2 hours. That being said, it was probably the most well-acted roles I had seen by most of the big-name actors in the movie (most notably Justin Timberlake). But still, why!?
There were a lot of things the movie did right, and plotwise, it stayed faithful to the original medium. However, there were enough missteps/inconsistencies and an unfulfilling style that it comes off as a purely enjoyable film, rather than a great, memorable one. Also, those watching the movie who haven't read the graphic novel will find little to cling on to, and might find the ending bemusing, but not anywhere near as impacting as what's presented in the book. The whole soundtrack also just needed an overhaul (If you're gonna feature "Hallelujah" in a movie, at least let it be Jeff Buckley's version!) Anyway, I need to get some sleep...
A very well-thought out movie that unfortunately offers very little kick. Still, the saving grace here is Kevin Spacey, who as always churns out a performance worth remembering.
