Login

Spangle · 10-11-2015, 01:46 AM

Quote:Originally posted by Maxy@Oct 11 2015, 12:03 AM
Have you seen Matchstick Men Spangs? One of my favorite Nic Cage movies.

I have. Love Sam Rockwell.

Spangle · 10-18-2015, 12:48 AM

[Image: 220px-SinisterMoviePoster2012.jpg]

8/10 - This one has jump scares, but good jump scares. Too often, bad horror films will rely on jump scares that startle more than they do scare. However, in Sinister, it does a fantastic job crafting an eerie and fully unsettling atmosphere thanks to a great back story, mysterious happenings, and the phenomenal score (did I mention the score?). Sinister is successful because it does not rely on these scares, rather it is the atmosphere that keeps you on edge and thrills you throughout. Ethan Hawke and the rest of the cast do a good job, but really, this shows director Scott Derrickson truly does have talent. With this atmospheric and creepy horror film, any claims to the opposite can be disregarded. A truly haunting experience, Sinister works well not only as a horror film, but as a crime film with a truly captivating story behind it that you try and piece together along with Hawke. If this film does not scare you, I truly envy you, because I was petrified from the very beginning.

9/10 - The Orphanage is a truly brilliant work from director J.A. Bayona, Guillermo del Toro's protege. As a horror film, "El Orfanato" is incredibly terrifying and has you on the edge of your seat until the very end. The use of sound, mystery, and great horror acting, all combine to make for one seriously scary film. However, where The Orphanage truly knocks it out of the park is the ending. Truly, it manages to take it from being a great horror flick to one of the better films I have ever seen.
*SPOILERS*
The ending is truly great for its portrayal of death and loss. There are few films that deal with it as well as this one. It still works as a horror film by allowing in the emotional element, but works very well even as a non-horror film, even though all of the scares are explained by largely rationale things.
*END SPOILERS*

The Orphanage is an absolutely impeccable film with a fantastic story, beautiful costumes, a creepy atmosphere, beautiful set pieces, and an overall wonderful ending. Truly, you must watch The Orphanage.

7/10 - This one will not appeal to everyone since it is a character study of a deeply flawed woman, but I really enjoyed it. Not only is it beautifully filmed, but Reese Witherspoon turns in a fantastic and emotionally vulnerable performance that really serves as a great example of her talents. Director Jean-Marc Vallee sure knows how to get a good performance out of his actors and it is not just limited to Witherspoon, but to the whole cast as well. Wild is a tale of self-discovery and making amends for your past demons. What it truly does well it is feels authentic, it feels like an open book that is desiring for human connection, and it is not afraid to get dark or to get light (it is quite funny at times). Wherever the story went, it felt real and, honestly, was deeply affecting. This journey rides on Witherspoon's performance and with her turning in such a heartfelt and down-to-earth performance, there is no way the movie could be bad.

8/10 - We know the stories of refugees. We hear about their wars. Beasts of No Nation allows us to see it first hand. Director Cary Fukunaga may be one of the best directors around when it comes to showing us absolutely brutal and incredibly visceral looks at life in war torn regions (Sin Nombre being the other film by him to do this, but in South America). Incredibly powerful, violent, and intense, Beasts of No Nation will undoubtedly go down as one of the best films of 2015. The cinematography is gorgeous, as in all of Fukunaga's work, but the strongest element in the film are the characters. Every character truly elicits an emotional response within you. Their stories, their presence, and their power, all resonate with the viewer. Fukunaga does a great job creating characters we care about in such a mess of destruction and devastation. Through both his direction and writing, we truly get the full impact of their trauma and that makes this one all the more powerful. The acting is also incredible. Abraham Attah turns in one of the best performances from a child actor I have ever seen and Idris Elba is phenomenal. A truly wondrous film, Beasts of No Nation is one of the best films of the year and deserves to be recognized as such.

9/10 - Ah yes, a modern day Ridley Scott film. The man has not made a good film since Kingdom of Heaven in 2005, so no way this one will turn out well, right? Wrong and thank God for that. One of the funniest, exciting, and most well crafted, films of the year, The Martian will stand tall amongst the heavy hitters of 2015. Matt Damon is fantastic, as is the entire ensemble cast, namely Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, and Chiwetel Ejiofor. The film is brilliantly directed by Ridley Scott who's return to science fiction is most certainly a welcome one, as he manages to perfectly manage the blending of Mark Watney's colorful personality with the hard science, without getting bogged down in the details. I would also be remiss if I did not mention the breathtaking cinematography. The shots taking place on Mars and in the ship are perfection, as are the visual effects, which are truly stunning. One of the best science fiction films of the century, The Martian is an enjoyable, masterfully made, and visually spectacular, film that deserves its praise and will hopefully net some additional recognition for its star, who turns in one of the best performances of his career.

9/10 - Denis Villenueve has more talent than anyone could ever dream of having. After Prisoners and Enemy, for him to manage top both of them so resoundingly with Sicario is impeccable. A brilliantly directed, intense, and edge of your seat film, Sicario is a phenomenal movie. Sicario manages to cover the drug war and cartels as violently and as bleak as it should without being too violent or too bleak. Though, it still paints an incredibly grim picture of the situation and nobody winds up looking good in this situation. I should also mention that Roger Deakins is the best living cinematographer. His work on this film is magnificent. One of the best shots films I have honestly ever seen, this one follows up one beautifully shot scene with another beautifully shot scene and uses every technique in the book to the very peak of its potential. Emily Blunt is phenomenal here, but is actually outdone by Benicio del Toro. I love Del Toro's work, but this has to be his very best. He is out of this world in this role and hits a complete home run. Sicario is a fantastic film and one of the year's strongest works, but what do you expect when Villenueve, Deakins, Blunt, and Del Toro, work together?

BasedMinkus · 10-18-2015, 12:55 AM

Reese Witherspoon sex scene =D>

Also I just watched a movie called Jupiter Ascending.... so bad really

Maxy · 10-23-2015, 08:04 PM

<div align="center"> [Image: unfriended_ver3.jpg]

8/10

Was honestly VERY pleasantly surprised by this one. The movie focuses on the suicide of a high school student after a video is posted online of her at a party. She begins getting cyber bullied and ends up killing herself. The rest focuses around 6 friends who are in a Skype call with each other as what seems to be the ghost of the girl that killed herself torments them.

The premise sounds really dumb, but the execution was really well done. The entire movie takes place on a computer screen and the visual effects are very well done. The story itself is pretty run of the mill but the small twists and turns it takes are intriguing. This isn't what I would qualify as a "Horror" movie the same vein as more traditional horror movies because there wasn't a moment where I was scared, more so incredibly thrilled. It's better suited as a thriller movie with horror elements and it succeeds in pulling them off. The characters are for the most part entirely unlikeable (As most high schoolers are, after you're not in high school anymore) yet the acting performances by those involved were well delivered enough that I didn't actively root against the majority of the characters, at first. The movie goes on and gives you a reason to dislike most of the characters even more and in the end there were only 3 characters that left me thinking they were even remotely good human beings. Despite all of this the actors turned in great performances that aside from a bit of corny dialogue was all very believable and enough to make me truly believe that they were in terror.

There's enough twists and turns to make the movie enjoyable, and some of the most enjoyable aspects of the movie were borrowed from other movies in premise, but done in a more original way that made me want to keep watching. Most movies I can enjoy them and still do something else at the same time (Play a video game, browse the internet ect.) but for some reason this movie grabbed me and it held my interest which really surprised me.

In the end the overlying tone is a bit strong, looking back at it, kinda reminds me of the After-School Anti-Drug PSA's that played on TV, in a way. But the movie wouldn't have worked without this ridiculousness. All-in-all Unfriended is a movie that I'd certainly recommend as a movie to watch once and enjoy the originality (There's another movie on Netflix called The Den that I saw before this, and while they seem like the same film on the surface the Den strayed from what made it intriguing and became too convoluted while Unfriended ran with the concept). The only thing about the movie that is a real negative was the ending which I think was legitimately the worst possible way to end the movie.

Rent it from Redbox for a night, remember what a douchebag you were in high school, enjoy the story and remember that cyber-bullying is wrong Wink

</div>

stevo · 10-25-2015, 01:39 PM

Don't watch Let's Be Cops

GCool · 10-25-2015, 01:49 PM

The Martian was INCREDIBLE.

Jogurtaa · 10-25-2015, 02:08 PM

no no... Everest is incredible. One of the best films I have seen this year.

Spangle · 11-01-2015, 01:09 AM

3/10 - Jupiter Ascending has some of the most beautiful space sequences in any film I have ever seen. Tragically, it is like that hot girl who can barely string together a coherent sentence. It gets a 3 for the beauty, but everything else is irreparably bad. The CGI orgy on the screen every five seconds made it look like a Michael Bay film and the subject matter reminded me of Star Wars if they removed everything that made those films good. The dialogue is cringeworthy throughout and absolutely brain dead moronic. The acting is somehow worse than the dialogue with Eddie Redmayne truly stealing the show. Wow was he horrific. He was the conductor of this massive train crash and he went full speed ahead on that crazy train. What may be the worst feature of the film is that it is two hours yet feels like it was ten hours. It was never truly slow, but just dragged on and on and never seemed to end. An incredibly stupid film that should have been killed humanely before it ever had $175 million spent on its production, Jupiter Ascending is impressively bad.

7/10 - Insidious does a fantastic job creating a terrifying atmosphere and then utilizing that atmosphere to scare the living hell out of the viewer. Certainly one of the scarier films I have seen, Insidious got me really good more than a couple of times. Director James Wan really knows his way around a horror movie and it shows here. The cast, led by Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne, is also really good. However, where Insidious falters is in the very far-fetched final act. Horror movies are obviously typically unbelievable, but good ones ere on the edge of possibility. Insidious goes completely off the reservation and gets lost out there. While it does not undo the terrifying first two acts, the third act could have been significantly better without trying to outsmart itself.

3/10 - Brick is the type of movie to really piss me off. It feels so self-important and, honestly, gives off an air of being better than everybody else. This comes through loud-and-clear in the dialogue as it just feels like an immature and juvenile film that was made by some obnoxious film school student. Tragically, I do like Rian Johnson and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, but this film annoyed the living hell out of me. The plot is aimless and stupid and when it all comes together at the end, it somehow becomes dumber. A film made on a shoestring budget, it certainly shows a lot of directorial promise for Johnson (that was certainly fulfilled with Looper), but man oh man was I let down by this. Brick is the film equivalent of an annoying teenager who thinks he's smarter than everybody else.

8/10 - There are far scarier films out there than The Ring, but that does not mean it did not scare me at times. There are some truly terrifying moments to be found in The Ring, but really, where it succeeds is a non-reliance on those scares. Through a truly creepy atmosphere set by director Gore Verbinski and composer Hans Zimmer, The Ring keeps you on edge without having to terrify you. In this way, The Ring is far more thriller than horror film, rather it is a thriller with horror elements. The way it adds to this with a great mystery/detective component as they try to figure out the backstory to the tape is captivating and truly engaging. I know it is a remake, but it still felt very refreshing in that way. Naomi Watts is great in this one, as are David Dorfman and Brian Cox. There may be scarier horror-type films out there, but not many as well crafted and put together as The Ring. What it lacks in scares, it more than makes up for with great direction, music, acting, and a killer story.

8/10 - Let the Right One In is not so much scary, as it is unsettling. An at times truly disturbing film, Let the Right One In also manages to be very emotionally impactful as you watch this relationship blossom between a lonely 12-year-old boy and a vampire girl. Very well-written, Let the Right One In treats both its subjects with incredible respect and extends the same respect to vampires and the genre it sits in. It may not be the scariest horror movie ever, but it definitely is a horror movie that has a deep respect for the genre. Tomas Alfredson does a fantastic job with the direction of this one, crafting a film that rides on atmosphere and tension when it does create scares, but he also shows a great non-reliance on scaring his audience outright. Rather, he is willing let you into the world's of the protagonists and see them for the disturbing (yet innocent) individuals they truly are. For a vampire movie, it also managed to not be very gory, which I appreciate. There is some blood obviously and some pretty gruesome scenes, but they are minimal and do not last long. Finally, the cinematography and imagery here are impeccable. Truly a beautiful made film that shows a mastery of the art, Let the Right One In is a horror film of the highest order.

8/10 - A bloody good time, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a stellar musical. The score is phenomenal and the musical numbers are entirely enthralling and brilliantly done. They are so good, in fact, you almost forget you are watching a film about a barber who slits peoples throats. The acting and singing from the entire cast is very good and this is truly a role only Johnny Depp could play. Brilliantly shot and designed, the film is simply beautiful to look at with some seriously killer costumes to be found here. Tim Burton really hits a home run with the direction of this film, managing the extreme gore with the emotional element at the center of the story, as well as not overdoing it with the musical numbers. The ones that are here are exceptionally well done, but luckily it never feels like overkill. Above all though, I fell in love with the look and feel of the film. Truly, it was really beautiful. Overall, Sweeney Todd is a winner.

7/10 - Centurion is a mixed bag, but there is far more good than bad. However, let's focus in on the bad. For one, it is far too violent. After a certain point, it becomes numbing and the CGI blood just becomes a major nuisance. You do not have to slit everyone's throat or show blood spurting from every wound for me to understand that war is bloody. Like, I got it. In addition, the character development is incredibly poor. Other than a few main characters, the names of these people really just slipped my mind immediately after I heard them. In war films, characters often remain largely anonymous due to a focus on action. Centurion is no different as I could not tell you who any of these people are. In saying this, however, there are many positives. For one, the film is breathtakingly gorgeous at times. The cinematography is stellar. The fight choreography is also brilliantly done, which goes hand-in-hand with the excellent action sequences. There are a good number of them, but they are all edge of your seat exciting and perfectly sequenced. The direction from Neil Marshall is not fantastic, but it gets the job done. The film feels coherent and is extremely well-paced, to the point that it feels shorter even with an already short run time. Finally, the acting from Michael Fassbender and Dominic West is great. Olga Kurylenko even does well with zero lines of dialogue. She did a great job capturing the terror instilled by her character even without uttering a single word. Overall, Centurion is a good action film that will be too violent for some, but if you can deal with that element of it, you are in for a surprise.

10/10 - It Follows is truly a brilliant film. An edge-of-your seat master class effort of horror, It Follows scares from the very beginning due to the absolutely phenomenal use of sound. The sound in this film is what convinces me this film is a truly brilliant work. Yes, it is a great horror film on its own and is truly terrifying. The concept is fantastic and wonderously executed. Director David Robert Mitchell knows how to truly scare you and he does it with pure glee and abandon by keeping you on edge from the get go. The acting from Maika Monroe is great. The cinematography is also fantastic. However, none of this would be enough to make it as good as I believe it to be. Rather, the sound is what sets it above all other horror films that do everything else I mentioned very well. The sound is unsettling, creepy, terrifying, awe-inspiring, atmospheric, and other adjectives, to describe its true brilliance. It Follows is the best film of 2015. I do not need to see anything else from this year to know this.

8/10 - Insomnia is largely by-the-numbers when it comes to detective films, but that does not stop it from having truly great things that sets it above other thrillers of this ilk. First off, Al Pacino and Robin Williams are phenomenal. I love comedians doing roles that are completely against their type and boy oh boy did Williams do that here. He was phenomenal, creepy and unsettling all wrapped into one and he nails the role. Director Christopher Nolan shows incredible talent here as he manages to creepy a truly unsettling atmosphere that never scares you to be sure, but certainly keeps you on edge. The script is very good and the characters are very well done, to the point that you are never truly sure who is good and who is truly bad. Overall, Insomnia is a good, but not great thriller that is not Nolan's best work, but that certainly does not mean it is ever bad.

8/10 - Crimson Peak is a hard film to identify. Yes, it is a gothic romance, but with it blending so many different genres on top of that, it is certainly hard to fit into any circle. That being said, I am more than happy to let it be on its own and just sit back and enjoy. Thanks to truly beautiful visuals, Crimson Peak absolutely soars and confirms my love of Guillermo del Toro's films. It can be truly violent a couple of times and does manage to scare on a couple of occasions, but its usage of ghosts in a non-scary role is truly brilliant. The design of the supernatural elements is great and they are certainly metaphorical of something, but I am personally having trouble placing my finger on what. Though it is not scary, the film manages to still be deeply unsettling thanks to the great performance of Jessica Chastain. Mia Wasikowska and Tom Hiddleston were also particularly strong here. There are numerous things that stand out to me beside these things, including the symbolic usage of bugs, the brilliant costume design, and the fantastic production design. The whole lore of the mansion, the explanation of the name, and my God the visuals. I know I mentioned the visuals, but the cinematography and visual effects were absolutely phenomenal. Those alone are worth the price of admission. Crimson Peak will ultimately be looked down upon for not being scary thanks to a horrific marketing campaign, even though its intent is not to scare you, which is truly tragic because it is a wonderful film that is masterfully directed by del Toro and has a powerhouse performance from Chastain.

7/10 - Many will think Bridge of Spies is boring, but to me, it was anything but. It may have been slow, but still the pace never was an issue. Instead, we got to focus in on a fascinating story that features a fantastic performance from Tom Hanks at the very center of it. A captivating story from the Cold War, Hanks plays a man who is keenly aware of the situation around him, but does not let it cloud his humanitarian beliefs, which is truly noble. He knocks this role out of the park and his talent is only matched by a terrific performance from Mark Rylance. The direction from Steven Spielberg is also very good and he reminds us of just how talented he truly is. The Coen brothers script is also very good as expected and really shows how good of a writing team they are, though I obviously love when they're in the director's chair too. However, what holds Bridge of Spies back is that though I find it truly captivating, it is a true story. As such, no matter how captivating, it is held back a bit by the constraints of that and its dedication to accuracy. As such, it winds up not being quite as good of a film as it tries to cover so much pertinent information and, as such, winds up being a little longer than needed. That being said, Bridge of Spies is still a good film that is a great combo of great acting from Hanks and direction from Spielberg.

***WannabeFinn*** · 11-01-2015, 01:17 AM

Martian - Love me some Matt Damon. Was really entertaining.

Beast of No Nation - I don't like when movies make me sad but this one was solid.

Spangle · 11-14-2015, 02:09 PM

8/10 - A beautifully crafted western, Unforgiven is Clint Eastwood working at his very best as a director and an actor. The film is well-paced, well-directed, and well-acted on all accounts, especially Eastwood, Gene Hackman, and Jaimz Woolvet. Freeman is also good here, as is Richard Harris. The cinematography throughout is beautifully done and really captures the Western feel necessary for this one. In addition, the writing is great and the characters are all really well crafted and fleshed out. For as many characters as there were, it was never hard to identify what made them tick. It is not hard to understand why Unforgiven is so well liked by many, as it is definitely one of, if not the, best westerns of recent memory and features a more modern Eastwood reminding us why we love him in the saddle so much. Overall, Unforgiven is a great western film that features all of the elements you love from the best westerns and just presents it to a modern audience.

9/10 - Life Is Beautiful truly shows why life is beautiful. A film about the Holocaust, the film shows how one man's energy and passion for life can shield his young son from the atrocities surrounding him. The film toes the line between tragedy, comedy, and romance, throughout, but knocks all of them out of the park. It is heart warmingly funny and Roberto Benigni has an absolutely irresistible charm that almost distracts the viewer from the horror they are watching. The romantic element is touching and brilliantly executed (it also has the best non-sex sex scene, I've seen). Finally, the tragedy is hard-hitting. This film will truly break your heart and those last 20 minutes are guaranteed to at least leave you on the brink of tears. As a whole, Life Is Beautiful is a wonderful film that differs from other Holocaust films in that it brings some a different human element to the table, other than despair. Rather, it injects an adrenaline shot of hope and optimism that is largely unmatched in film.

2/10 - Generic, stupid, and aimless, Kingpin is the worst that comedy has to offer. Insipid, basic, and annoying, would be three other adjectives that come readily to mind for this one. I knew where it was going to wind up within five minutes, which is tragic because there was nearly another two hours left. Save yourself and do not watch Kingpin.

7/10 - Don't let the Seinfeld episode convince you otherwise; The English Patient is nowhere near as bad as Elaine says. Instead, it is actually quite good. It is quite long, but it never becomes boring and plus, the visuals are so stunningly beautiful throughout, there is no way for you to possibly become bored anyways. Wondrously crafted and bold in scope, The English Patient may not be truly brilliant, but director Anthony Minghella certainly did a fantastic job. However, I will say I never found this one too romantic. People gush about how romantic it is, but it is simply about two scumbags who wind up having sex with one another. Maybe I am just jaded and have extra hatred for cheaters, but anyways. Ralph Fiennes is fantastic, as are Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, Kristin Scott Thomas, Naveen Andrews, and Colin Firth. Though I did not find the love story to be charming or romantic, the story told by Fiennes' character is still incredibly moving and full of human drama. The romantic part of the film, to me, would be aimed at the desert, which is beautifully captured at both its best and its worst. A captivating World War II romantic drama, The English Patient is quite long and could stand to be shorter, nor it is particularly impactful, but it remains a beautiful film that does not deserve the negative impression I had going in.

5/10 - The Crow is not a bad film by any means, but it does stop short of being a good one in today's world. As of now, it is incredibly dated and shows many signs of its aging. In addition, the premise is pretty dumb and, even worse, the world in which Devil's Night is some night where entire towns are lit on fire is a bit far fetched for a film that is not science fiction. In spite of that, the film is quite stylish and this, combined with Dark City, show exactly the visual palette you can expect from an Alex Proyas directed film. Brandon Lee (RIP) is quite good here, though Michael Wincott truly steals the show here. His performance is magnetic and every time he is on screen, he completely owns your attention. The action is pretty well done though it too is a touch dated. The plot, aside from the premise, is pretty interesting and is well paced. The runtime is almost a little short, but works pretty well and Proyas ensures every minute is used very well. As a whole, The Crow is not really my thing, though it is incredibly well done.

8/10 - A film that is expertly made by director Jim Jarmusch, Dead Man is slow moving, but never becomes boring thanks to that great direction and a great performance from Johnny Depp. Considered an "acid western", the film stars Depp as an accountant who heads out west for a job and, once there, undergoes a major transformation and becomes a true western gunslinger. The film is also notable for a great performance from Gary Farmer as a Native American who helps Depp. The gentle and sympathetic portrayal of Native Americans living near whites is great and really helps bolster this one. All at once, Dead Man manages to be your typical western, but also manages to be completely unique within that genre, which is a weird place to be and makes this one hard to judge. However, thanks to great dialogue that is used only when needed, great performances from Depp, Farmer, and Michael Wincott, as well terrific direction from Jarmusch, it is tough to look away from Dead Man.

8/10 - Paul Verhoeven's films are kind of a guilty pleasure of mine. Incredibly juvenile, obnoxious, and loud, Starship Troopers is a ton of fun. However, it is an incredibly smart film that aces its satirical goals. The acting is bad, the nudity is unnecessary, and the gore is excessive, but it is fun and has some great special effects. The satirical element, as I said, is great. It really skewers the military industrial complex of our country and the blind loyalty we have towards the military. Honestly, it is not hard to draw comparisons between the depicted conflict and the ones we currently find ourselves in. Thus, no matter how loud and juvenile it can be, this fantastic satire truly elevates it multiple levels for me. Plus, as I said, Paul Verhoeven's films are a guilty pleasure of mine at this point. The aesthetic and visual style he uses is great to me. As a whole, Starship Troopers is very much imperfect, but more than accomplishes the goals it set for itself.

5/10 - "Don't fix what isn't broken" is an old saying that The Cabin in the Woods completely disregards. It tries to offer an explanation as to the happenings of all your favorite horror movies and, in doing so, winds up undoing itself and being plain stupid. Yes, it is a ton of fun and can be scary at times, but the scares are undone with the explanation. Horror rides on mystery and this one completely destroys it and turns it into a game. Though it is well thought out, I honestly wish they came up with something better to do with, well, all of this. It blends horror and comedy really well, extracting and playing with the expectations of both throughout, but man, it is stupid. The acting is undeniably poor and despite its subversion of expectations, it manages to remain predictable. Ultimately, if this one ends after an hour and removes some of the extra garbage to leave no unanswered questions, it would be way better.

9/10 - Primer is a phenomenal film that was somehow this good in spite of being shot on a $7,000 budget by first-time director Shane Carruth. Complex, confusing, and all over the place, the film is brilliant in the way it captures all of those feelings so expertly. The characters are confused and have no idea what is happening, thus neither do we. The acting is very good and down-to-earth, which is perfect for this film and the film never looks as though it was shot on a $7,000 budget. On the whole, everybody involved with the production of this film is incredibly talented and it really shines through. Primer is a brilliant work that deserves to be seen by more people because no film has left me so utterly confused, yet so entirely impressed as Primer has.

8/10 - We Need to Talk About Kevin is honestly bone chilling. An almost hypnotic experience, the film is told non-linearly and is honestly a jarring experience. The terrifying part is the realism and the accuracy with which all of the characters are portrayed. Tilda Swinton is brilliant, Ezra Miller is great, and John C. Reilly is great as the enabling father. The first film I have seen from director Lynne Ramsay, this one virtually guarantees I will be checking out her other work. Brilliant direction on her part to really capture the mental anguish the actions of one kid can cause and the long lasting damage that comes with it. However, the film does a great job leading up to it and really building to the event that really provides a good context for the actions taken by Kevin and shows how it could have been prevented if somebody had done something. As a whole, We Need to Talk About Kevin is a great film that features stellar performances across the board and is a truly haunting experience in a way that most psychological thrillers can only dream.

5/10 - Goosebumps is a fun adaptation of the popular books for kids that will certainly please kids and entertain the adults who watch it with them. The acting and story are pretty standard and this one is a great example of a film that takes literally zero risks. However, the film remains cute and entertaining, plus the special effects are very cool. Plus, as someone who loved the Goosebumps books, it was cool to see the monsters I read about come to life on the big screen. Finally, the lore behind their existence and all that is pretty interesting and compelling, so points for that. Overall, Goosebumps will entertain, but certainly not wow at any moment. It is a children's film through and through.

8/10 - Some of the special effects are beginning to look dated, but all the same, Poltergeist remains a horror classic. Thanks to great music and the classic Spielberg touch, this one is all together fun, magical, and downright terrifying. The backstory, pacing, and the way in which the scares are created, are all great and interesting. What I also enjoyed is the curiosity surrounding the poltergeists in the home that the family has before things start to get scary. This one can get a little silly at times for sure, but is brilliant all the same and though the ending is odd as all get out, it remains scary. The acting is also quite good for a horror film and as mentioned before, the score is very good. Overall, Poltergeist is a classic of the genre.

Spangle · 11-22-2015, 03:49 PM

9/10 - It is honestly impressive how much of this went over my head, but I did understand a good portion of it and loved all of it the same. This film is masterful in every way. Lars von Trier may be a petulant, egotistical child, but damn can he make a film. Brilliant cinematography with beautiful shot after beautiful shot, great musings and visualizations of depression and its effects, and phenomenal special effects, all come together for a visually stunning film that leaves you awe struck. It may be slow, but it is methodical. No matter how much it hits the breaks sometimes, it is always engaging and did I mention beautiful? Yeah, it is beautiful. Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg are absolutely phenomenal in this film that has to be one of the most meticulously crafted and damn near perfect films I have ever seen. Like, this film is fantastic. Did I get that idea across at all?

7/10 - Cosmopolis is cold and distant, but it is with a purpose as our protagonist is not one of us and is a member of the 1%. We are supposed to feel disconnected from him. Robert Pattinson is absolutely phenomenal here. He brings a measure of openness, but at the same time, smugness and pompousness that was needed. He is brilliant. The supporting cast is also great. The direction from David Cronenberg is great as usual and so is the cinematography. Honestly, it is impressive for a film to be so cold and uninviting, yet so brilliant at the same time. This film is incredibly divisive, which is understandable. It simply won't appeal to everyone, but regardless, Pattinson is a thing to behold here and this a film that should move to expunge Twilight from his resume.

8/10 - The Descent is an expertly crafted horror film. Directed by Neil Marshall, the film is not only claustrophobic and incredibly uncomfortable. The performances are all very good, the score is solid, and the set design is great, but above all, it is entirely unsettling. Multiple times I was freaking out and scared out of my mind, which is a great thing for a horror film. The creature design was great and the whole story behind it was very compelling. For a film as contained as this one, the tension was always incredibly high and was very well put together. We are really inserted into the mind of the characters and that ups the terror even more. On every front, The Descent knocks it out of the park and is a really entertaining and fun film to watch.

[Image: The_House_at_the_End_of_Time_Spanish_poster.jpg]

[Image: The_House_at_the_End_of_Time_Spanish_poster.jpg]

8/10 - The House at the End of Time is imperfect, but is brilliantly crafted and a truly scary film. The direction taken by the plot is compelling and very unique as a true blend of genres that I was not expecting at all. My one complaint would be that the ending kind of undoes some of the fear and tension created by the film and confuses itself a bit. All the same, it has a great core and director Alejandro Hidalgo knows how to produce scares. Overall, The House at the End of Time is a well-crafted, well directed, and overall scary experience that delivers some heady and well-thought out thrills.

8/10 - Featuring three of my favorite newer actors; Oscar Isaac, Domhnall Gleeson, and Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina was always going to be great in my eyes due to their presence. However, beyond them, the film remains brilliant. A compelling look at artificial intelligence, of the possible pitfalls, and the ethical questions surrounding them (are they real? how far is too far?), Ex Machina delivers some heady thoughts and manages to thoroughly entertain beyond that as well. The acting is great, yes, but the direction and writing from Alex Garland are also great and he really brings this one home. The design of the artificial intelligence is brilliant, as well. More technically, this one's pacing is perfect and it is just as long as it needs to be and the score is brilliant. The score sets the scene perfectly every time and is used to perfection. Overall, Ex Machina is one of the year's best films and establishes Garland as a force to be watched in the director's chair as well.

7/10 - Better than the original, The Bourne Supremacy is the rare sequel that takes what the original did well and improves upon it. Matt Damon is still dynamic as the titular Jason Bourne. The action can be a little hectic, which is what holds this one back a bit, as it can be hard to follow during the action sequences. It can also get a little bogged down in the details like all spy flicks, but all the same, this is a very good action spy thriller. Director Paul Greengrass certainly knows what he is doing and knows how to tell a good story. The film is thrilling, the score is good, and the cinematography has moments of absolute brilliance (the shot of Bourne walking to his car in snow covered Russia comes to mind). Overall, The Bourne Supremacy is a good film that manages to entertain in spades even if it does nothing different from other spy films.

[Image: 220px-Findingneverlandposter.jpg]

9/10 - Finding Neverland is an absolutely brilliant film. Rarely does a film move me to tears, but this one absolutely succeeded. Packed to the brim with magic, imagination, fun, and a childlike wonder, this film inspires hope and belief, all while tearing you down emotionally. I know it may not be as historically accurate as some would hope, but this is what a biopic should be. It covers the relevant topics and still touches you in a way only fiction can, a truly challenging task for most biopics. Johnny Depp is fantastic here, as are Kate Winslet and all of the young Davies boys. The film's magic and sense of wonder it inspires never really ceases, but certainly extends to the overall message of the film that captures the essence of Peter Pan as well; just believe. The film's cinematography is great, especially the final sequence with Sylvia and the score is also very well done. Finally, the plays within a film that get put on throughout the film are fantastic and brilliantly done, capturing that same imagination and suspension of reality. Finding Neverland is a truly wondrous work.

8/10 - I love films about Hollywood and My Week with Marilyn is no exception to this. It is honestly a really, really good film that somehow manages to be a book about some guy's week he spends with Marilyn Monroe, yet so brilliantly capture what made her Marilyn. There is a certain electricity and pull she had that this film bottles up to suck you in like she did with men. The film has an elegance and beauty that is largely unmatched thanks to Michelle Williams' electric, engaging, and ravishing, portrayal of one of the most magnetizing figures in history. Eddie Redmayne and Kenneth Branagh are also very good here and both show how easy it was to be pulled in by her even when you resisted. A wonderful time capsule of a film from old Hollywood, My Week with Marilyn is a beautiful film in every sense of the word and seduces you with ease.

Spangle · 11-26-2015, 01:33 AM

8/10 - Beetlejuice is a funny twist on classic horror film tropes that manages to not just make you laugh, but also really make you feel for the ghosts trapped in haunted houses around the world. It is certainly not easy being dead and this feel exemplifies that. The world created here by Tim Burton is wacky as expected and has so many layers to explore that shows just how expansive and creative this film is. Michael Keaton is over-the-top, yet hysterical and Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis do a great job as the bumbling idiots who recently died. Winona Ryder is also great here. The writing here is also very strong as it manages to wring every possible joke out of the pretty dark premise. Overall, Beetlejuice shows very little signs of aging and remains a funny, enjoyable ride.

9/10 - If you get the chance, run to the theater to see Room. Do not walk. This film is a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle that will thrill you and leave you fighting back tears. Rarely do I ever feel my heart pounding out of my chest, but I was sitting in theater wondering if I was about to have a heart attack my heart was racing so fast, then just like that, I was fighting tears back. This film is incredibly powerful all thanks to the masterful work of director Lenny Abrahamson. How somebody can create a film so briliantly moving and beautiful I will never know. Truly a wonderful job on his part. Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay are both stunning and have fantastic chemistry as mother and son. In addition, the writing is fantastic. Touching, moving, and powerful, all of the dialogue really hits home and makes you sit back and think. Room is damn near perfect and deserves all of the accolades coming its way. This film is thrilling, entertaining, dramatic, emotional, and all-around a phenomenal work of cinema that stands tall against the competition.

8/10 - A classic in every right, All About Eve is all about its characters, who are brilliantly brought to life by Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, Gary Merrill, Celeste Holm, George Sanders, and Hugh Marlowe. The film is a great look at acting and the way actors come up and the cyclical nature of the business. As time goes on, new talent emerges as the old talent fades. To become talent, you may have to do some unsavory things to get a chance. A certified classic that is somehow 65 years old now, All About Eve has aged like a fine wine.

8/10 - The second best journalism-based film ever made after All the President's Men, Spotlight is a brilliant work that brings tension, drama, and true hardcore emotion, to a very sensitive topic that it handles gracefully. Director Tom McCarthy does not shy away from the hard-hitting and tough to listen to facts that surround this case. The acting here is phenomenal. Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery, Billy Crudup, Stanley Tucci, Brian d'Arcy James, Neal Huff, Paul Guilfoyle, Len Cariou, and the list goes on. Everybody who had any single line in this film was great. This film is built around the powerful performances delivered by these talented people and the passion their real life counterparts brought to their job, which really shines through. This film has power in spades and as the onion is peeled back, you are left stunned at this true story. A film that makes you overwhelmed and needing a long bath to try and cleanse all the grime of the world off of you, Spotlight is a great work that deserves all of its forthcoming accolades.

Spangle · 12-02-2015, 02:48 PM

6/10 - Attack of the Clones is not bad. To me, people who have a major hatred towards this film look at the originals with nostalgia glasses on. While Episodes V and VI are great, A New Hope is horrifically bad at times. Featuring awful acting and even worse special effects and writing, the original Star Wars film seems to be the basis for the prequel trilogy, as Attack of the Clones has some awful, awful writing (particularly the cringeworthy romance scenes) and some bad sequences of CGI. However, I will say that the special effects on the whole are vast improved. The acting, while not good, is nowhere near as bad as it was in the original. The original felt like amateur hour. In this one, you can tell these people are professionals, while is good. The action sequences in Attack of the Clones are all very good and the fight choreography is vast improved when compared to its predecessors. Finally, there is some killer cinematography in this one that really underscores how much time was put into making this one good. Overall, Attack of the Clones is not as good as the best of the Star Wars franchise, but is far from being the worst entry in the series.

9/10 - Laura is a brilliant work that truly stands the test of time due to its engrossing plot, terrific acting, great direction, great cinematography, and brilliant look at the pitfalls of obsession. A classic noir in every right, Laura grabs you from the very beginning and leaves you guessing as to who really pulled the trigger. Laura is timeless.

7/10 - Revenge of the Sith is imperfect and still has some pretty rough writing, but it is far better than Attack of the Clones. Hayden Christensen, Natalie Portman, Ewan McGregor, and Ian McDiarmid, are all great and kill their respective roles in this one. The special effects are great and the fight choreography is out of this world. However, what really elevates Revenge of the Sith is that it is the conclusion. In being the conclusion of the prequel trilogy, it is blessed with the ability to be able to have the sequence in which Anakin becomes Darth Vader, which is truly a gift because it is brilliantly done and his transition to the dark side is handled wonderfully. This film is incredibly poignant at times and really retains that biblical element from the original trilogy and beats you over the head with it (lol savior being tempted by the dark side lololol get it? 66? lolol get it yet? omg guys, we read the Bible). I mock it lightly, but I do love the Biblical element all the same. Ultimately, Revenge of the Sith is a good conclusion to the prequel trilogy that is the first film in the prequel trilogy to feel, well, coherent and deserve being compared favorably to the original films.

8/10 - I love the way this film handled the antagonists, not really focusing on them and instead focusing on Will Kane and his efforts to fight them off by rallying support. High Noon loses much of its impact now because it has been copied so many times, but is still incredible. Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly are fantastic and really dominate the screen. In addition, as I said, the aura created around the antagonists is great and gives them this larger than life feel that drives home why the townsfolk are so scared of him and his gang. Overall, High Noon is a classic western that is expertly crafted and highly influential.

[Image: CinemaParadiso.jpg]

9/10 - A film about love in all of its forms, especially a love of the cinema, Cinema Paradiso is a phenomenal film that really pulls the heart strings and is a great visual representation of what movies mean to people and how they can truly touch you. All of the actors who portray Salvatore at the various stages of his life are great, as is Phillippe Noiret. The direction and writing are great as well. I really liked the way the story was told with hints towards the future and the multiple stages of Salvatore's life. The production design is also great, as is the score. My one complaint is the lack of depth to Salvatore's love of a girl named Elena. Symbolically, it makes sense, but I'd still like to see more, but regardless, it doesn't detract from the overall quality of the film. A brilliant work, Cinema Paradiso is a love letter to love and movies.

Jesus The Mexican Way · 12-02-2015, 02:54 PM

Spangle wtf. A new Hope is the best Star Wars movie. Episode V is trash.

Jesus The Mexican Way · 12-02-2015, 02:58 PM

Spangle just salty he cant bullseye womp rats in a t-16 back on mos eisley.

Navigation

Extra Menu

About us