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One word reviews
Godfather- 10/10 unbelievable
Little Miss Sunshine- 8/10 cute
World War Z- 2/10 boring
Man of Steel- 6/10 fun
This is the End- 4/10 funny
Mud- 9/10 great
Fight Club- 10/10 fantastic! #1
 
Edward M said:
Now You See Me

Fun. I would suggest it for Micheal Caine and Morgan Freeman alone, but the beginning is very good. After the first hour though, it gets worse with every minute. It also has the worst twist ending in every film that doesn't go with the film nor makes sense at all. I would still see it. 6.7/10

Yeah I saw this the other week at a special preview. It was very meh. There was just so many awful special effects for what was clearly a very high budget feature. The whole Las Vegas scene made me want to vom all over the place, sooooo poorly made.

I do like the cast though and they do their best with a very mediocre script.
 
Monsters University: 8.9/10

This is the first kids movie I've ever really liked (maybe besides Cars, that was cute) and is very well. I liked it better than the original actually and I've seen the original 8 times in fact. I had super low expectations but I was wrong. It is a great family movie and is just good ol' fun. It is worth seeing, and I like it a lot. I don't think it made my top ten but yeah, it's really good.

Iron Man 3: 10.0/10

THIS MOVIE IS SO GOOD! I actually think this beat Shawshank Redemption for my favorite movie. It has so much action throughout the whole movie and you never get bored. I love this movie a lot and is one of the few movies I want to go see for a 2nd time in theaters. You MUST go see it.

I want to see Lone Ranger, Despicable Me 2, Man of Steel & Now You See Me. I also want to see Iron Man 3 again stated above.
 
Man of Steel

Probably in my top three all time favourite films, have always liked the Superman 'story' and 'brand', so I am a huge fan of the new film and dismiss the negative reviews it has received.
 
After Earth

It was... well... OK-ish. Good visual effects, the acting wasn't noticeably horrible (Then again, I wouldn't recognise bad acting if it'd punched me in the face), and the premise of the story is OK.

But on the other hand... this film requires you to leave your brain at the door and then forget it ever was in your head in the first place. If you're the kind of person who questions the movies you watch, you'll have way more fun picking it apart than you would ever have by simply watching it. I had so much fun that I want to post a full review. Massive spoilers ahead:

At the beginning of the film, it's mentioned in passing that "Aliens dropped these creatures down to Earth. They were bred specifically to kill humans" (when talking about the main antagonist monsters in the movie). Said aliens are never mentioned again. Way to just completely overlook what would have made a decent antagonist, or at least a decent backstory.

It early becomes obvious that the script makers for this movie never saw or read any harder sci-fi than Star Wars. The "Ursa" monsters are presented as a threat to humanity, and the reason why there are no humans on Earth any more. Except... they are big, bulky insect-ish creatures that fight only in close quarters (okay, they can spit venom too, but their range of action is still limited to less than twenty metres). Any man with a firearm of any fashion would easily defeat one from a comfortable distance. And to make matters worse, they have only one sense to find their prey with: they can smell fear, but are otherwise blind and deaf. One would wonder how these things manage to get around without bumping into trees or walking off cliffs. Either way, a Predator drone would easily clear a small country of those monsters in an afternoon, without any danger to the machine or its operator whatsoever. Even a Vietnam-era helicopter would hard counter any threat the Ursas would pose, only limited by ammunition and fuel.

Then comes the part of the movie that exists only to get Will Smith and his son to the (now-abandoned) Earth. They board this super-high-tech spaceship flying between two space colonies, but are surprised by a meteorite storm (Discovered when "It's two thousand kilometres to our starboard"). For some reason, the trained ship crew and its sensors can't detect the threat, but Will Smith's gut feeling can. Cue an immediate peltering of space rocks (seemingly hurled at them at highway speeds, which is hilariously slow for interstellar travel - unless they had been catching up to the cluster from the rear, in which case I can't suspend my disbelief any more - there's a limit to reasonable stupidity).
They decide to send the ship through a wormhole (why weren't they travelling by wormhole already, if that sends you wherever you want immediately?), and are spit out in high Earth orbit. Next follows a crash survived only by Smith and his son. The latter because he was strapped into his seat, the former because... no idea. The cockpit, where the two pilots were strapped into their seats, is shown intact. Still, the pilots and the rest of the crew apparently die (makes you wonder what kind of safety measures were implemented), while Will Smith, being thrown around the ship like a pea in a tennis ball, is all fine save for a pair of broken legs.

The emergency beacon in the bow part of the broken ship apparently couldn't survive a rough landing. Fine Fisher-Price quality of the ship's vital equipment. How realistic. Anyway, Smith jr. has to get to the rear part of the ship, which landed a hundred kilometres away, to pick up the spare emergency beacon and activate it, so people could find the wreckage and get the Smiths home. The Ursa the ship happened to be carrying also may have survived the crash, though that is presented as extremely unlikely and it would probably be badly hurt anyway. So, it's obvious it's alive and healthy and set to appear at the climax of the film.

Before young Smith leaves the ship, he is warned by his father: "This is Earth. Since the alien invasion, everything here has evolved specifically to kill humans". One would think specialization in human-killing would be a mighty disadvantage when the planet now is completely devoid of humans, but anyway. Cue a few scenes of spectacular wildlife completely ignoring Smith jr., until he directly attacks a monkey despite his father's direct orders and gets a whole flock after him. Said flock of super-monkeys, who are shown to outrun him in several consequent shots, but never catch up with him, all stop the chase when he jumps into a shallow river.

On his four-day trek towards the other half of the wreck, Smith jr. also has to be wary of two plot devices: Insane temperature differences between day and night, and lack of a breathable atmosphere. Luckily, there are so-called "hot spots" several places along the route (which he has to reach before sunset), and he has special capsules allowing him to breathe. A dose lasts for 24 hours, and of course he doesn't have enough to last all the way. But don't worry: he'll stumble upon the wreck just as the last dose is depleted. Why the dramatic temperature fluctuations don't lead to terrible storms, is never discussed. I uess the writers simply didn't care.

Then comes the definite facepalm moment of the movie: The beacon can't be turned on because there's no signal! A cloud of ions howering above the area blocks all coverage. First, a beacon transmits, it doesn't receive. It doesn't need signals, it's the source of the signals. Second, a cloud of ions would quickly regain neutral charge by means of electric discharge: A lihtning bolt, in other words (this is the reason why ions are never stable: they stop being ions after exchaning electrons with their surroundings). Note that back at the crashed ship, Will Smith can still even monitor the freakin' heart rate of his son. Those signals from his backpack apparently have no problems leaving the area.

Anyway, Smith jr. has to climb an eruptin volcano to get above the layer of ions. This involves a dive throuh aquifers in the volcano (which in real life would contain highly sulphurous, and probably boiling, water), a climb up throuh narrow cracks, and a fight with the Ursa at a narrow plateau hihg up in the mountainside. Smith jr. quickly learns to overcome his fears, becomes invisible to the monster, and slays it with a pair of knives. With all that volcanic ash in the air, the signal conditions probably wouldn't be any better up on the volcano, but at least the view is nice... After activating the beacon, he collapses from exhaustion, and presumably dies because the volcanic ash he inhaled turned to cement after mixing with moisture in his mouth/lungs (a very real threat near real volcanoes, and a key ingredient in cement is, indeed, volcanic ash). There is a happy ending, though, so I guess the writers didn't care about that either.

"The writers didn't care" seems to be the central theme of the movie. Now well. It provided some entertainment, at least.

Best part of the movie? In a so-called emotional scene (with violins and all) where Smith jr. repeatedly shouts in frustration: "I'm not a coward!". Though, his voice keeps cracking, so it ends up sounding like "I'm not a cow!".


P.S.: The letters g and h may be missin from a few words in this post. My keyboard is a little broken, and I had to ctrl+v the letters in where appropriate.
 
furie said:
Judge Dredd (The new one).
Dreddful (ahahahahaaa), but very pretty film. It didn't really deliver in terms of scale or anything. It was just a "quick, knock out an action film" affair which was watch-able enough, but was really just lots of shooting in dark corridors. At least there's wasn't a huge end set piece with a massive building exploding or anything (they had that in the middle instead). Competent, but nothing compelling - the slow mo' bits were fantastic though, so pretty - an overused one trick pony sadly. 6/10
Judge Dredd was awesome, easily one of the best new films this year! The old Sly film was horrible, but this new one got it right on all the aspects where the old one failed. The dark atmosphere and the fact that Dredd never showed his face where spot on. And, as you stated, the film didn't try to hard. All of the action take place in one building/"block", instead of trying to put in as much as possible. It's stripped and focus more on getting us in the right mood. And it's a very pretty film as well :) Biggest suprice for me this year: 9/10
 
This is the End

I was concerned this would turn out to be one of those films where all the good bits are in the trailer, I was so pleasantly surprised then when the whole film was hilarious. It's actually got really decent CGI too and just helps it become a better film all round. It is very funny and there's a cred at the end!


Despicable Me 2

However much I wanted a sequel I was concerned how they'd continue with this franchise. There was no need for concern, they managed to make a sequel using the best things about the first film while not forgetting to add a decent story. Minions <3 Bring on the Minion spin-off!!!
Oh and the 3D on the film is probably the best I've ever seen (but even the first film was good in 3D)....EVERYONE GO SEE IT!!!
 
peep said:
Despicable Me 2

However much I wanted a sequel I was concerned how they'd continue with this franchise. There was no need for concern, they managed to make a sequel using the best things about the first film while not forgetting to add a decent story. Minions <3 Bring on the Minion spin-off!!!
Oh and the 3D on the film is probably the best I've ever seen (but even the first film was good in 3D)....EVERYONE GO SEE IT!!!

This makes me so happy, seeing it when it comes out here on Wednesday, to say I am excited is a GIANT understatement. I'm already counting down for the minion sequel. Doubt I will see it in 3D though, too cheap/doesn't add all that much to animated films.

The Heat

Seeing as it's directed by the guy who did Bridesmaids, which is one of VERY few movies I have ever turned off for being such garbage, I wasn't looking forward to it. This, well, 500 cackling women laughing at the unfunny parts of the jokes before the real punchline/laughing at all the stuff in previews like it's the funniest thing in the world. They gave away so much in the previews. I chuckled a few times, but other that, it was ****. Melissa McCarthy annoys me. Alot.

Didn't help I had a "talking woman" sitting next to me, you know the older women who say "oh no" or something along that whenever they see something they don't like? EXTREMELY annoying. They have to justify anything they can be judged by liking or condoning by blurting out disgust towards it in the movie. Case in point, in 42, there is a part where they drop the N word like 40 times in 5 minutes, and the "talking woman" gasped EVERY time it was said. We get it, you don't approve, shut the hell up we are trying to enjoy a movie./rant

So movie was basically Bridesmaids with a different sotry, women will ABSOLUTELY ADORE IT and men will think, eh, kinda sucked at best.
 
The Heat- constant laughing, Funny and Entertaining

Comedy Wise 8/10
Film Wise- 4.5/10

PS: actually really looking forward to Despicable Me 2.
 
andrus said:
Judge Dredd was awesome, easily one of the best new films this year! The old Sly film was horrible, but this new one got it right on all the aspects where the old one failed. The dark atmosphere and the fact that Dredd never showed his face where spot on. And, as you stated, the film didn't try to hard. All of the action take place in one building/"block", instead of trying to put in as much as possible. It's stripped and focus more on getting us in the right mood. And it's a very pretty film as well :) Biggest suprice for me this year: 9/10

I'm actually really confused by Dredd actually. It reminds me of a lot of 80's films like Near Dark, Mad Max 2 and stuff. They're films which have a low/middling kind of budget, but are completely competent and at the same time utterly unremarkable - yet interesting to watch. They're not "meh", but they're not big enough to be amazing.

The confusion is that it's this type of film - which is stepping out of the formulaic "direct by numbers" blockbuster Hollywood are backing - that should be celebrated for trying to be different. The problem is, the film didn't really do anything, or go anywhere. It really was just "walk down this dark corridor, shoot some people, get shot at, repeat for next corridor. Characters were thin, plot was thin, it was just completely mediocre - yet it stands out for being so (and it's 1,000 times better than the massive budget Sly Stallone train wreck). It didn't rely on huge CGI set pieces (well, there's the slow mo' stuff, but no huge CGI monstrosities and ridiculous, Earth shattering explosions), it didn't rely on huge stars, or create a massive new world. This should be a good thing, but for some reason it kind of isn't if the film doesn't really achieve much.

Then again, I'm not a fan of the original comic, so that probably works against the film to a degree for me. It was entertaining, just nothingy, but kind of in a good way :lol:

Anyway, finally Django Unchained. **** brilliant. Absolutely superb from start to end. Some incredible acting, incredible story, incredible filming, incredibly gratuitous - loved it :)
 
Man of Steel

Spoilers etc. etc.

I've always disliked Superman as a character; he goes along with Thor and Captain America as being really boring due to the lack of weaknesses (plus he's an alien so he's not even a real superhero) and I went into the film with low expectations. The first half of the film was pleasantly surprising, the acting was great, especially from Michael Shannon, and Henry Cavill and Amy Adams do a really good job in their respective roles too. There were ridiculously laughable moments, like with the cliche high school bullies, but overall it was pretty good.

Then it became very, very bad. I really can't understand how such a huge budget film can have such a terrible storyline (still not quite as bad as Avengers), especially with Christopher Nolan co-credited with penning it, but it really is that bad. Russell Crowe claims he has a fantastic scheme for stopping the bad guys, which ends up being Superman smashing their spaceship with his fists. The final fight sequence is exactly the same as all the other fight sequences; lots of smashing about with absolutely no consequence. And then of course, having had his head smashed through hundreds of buildings, General Zod is finally killed by the classic Judo neck break. ****. They also threw in some horrible dialogue, namely the post-kiss conversation between Superman and Lois Lane, and "He's kinda hot!" from some military girl.

There were a few nice moments, the explanation for why Supes is so strong on Earth, and the inclusion of Lexcorp signs here and there, but generally it was terrible.

5/10 for the spectacle, the looks of Amy Adams and Henry Cavill, and the decent first half

Also "There's only one way this ends Kal, either you die, or I do!" Yeah I'm pretty sure that's two ways Zod...
 
^Coulda told you the 2.5 hour train ride would suck.

White House Down

Cheesy as ****, ridiculous as ****, ****.

6/10

The Internship

Didn't want to see it due to rating, but I love Wedding Crashers, and was hoping it would be similar, until I saw rating. I absolutely loved it, I was laughing out loud the ENTIRE time, the strip club scene is **** hilarious. Much better than I thought, can't wait for an eventual unrated version.

9/10

Despicable Me 2

What a letdown. Pulled a Cars 2 for Pixar people, and just was underwhelming. WAY TOO MUCH KRISTEN WIIG! Just her voice was enough to annoy me. Story was ****, abandoned everything from #1 that was good, and made the minions not nearly as good, but still by far the best part of the movie. Disappointment.

7/10
 
Casio hit the nail on the head with Man Of Steel. Took the words right out of my mouth.

Anyone got any thoughts on World War Z? I don't know whether I enjoyed it or not (apart from the part where Brad Pitt crash landed in a little welsh town not far from me. That was epic coolness)
 
tomahawKSU said:
Despicable Me 2

What a letdown. Pulled a Cars 2 for Pixar people, and just was underwhelming. WAY TOO MUCH KRISTEN WIIG! Just her voice was enough to annoy me. Story was ****, abandoned everything from #1 that was good, and made the minions not nearly as good, but still by far the best part of the movie. Disappointment.

7/10

>Says film is disappointment
>Rates it 7/10


How it can be compared to Cars 2 as well is beyond me...
 
Re: RE: "Now Showing"

It can be compared to Cars 2 because it takes the **** side characters and makes them the focal point. In the first one it was more about the girls and Gru being a prick, this one starts with him being epic dad, then you can literally forget the girls exist, which their interactions with all the things made the first one. The beginning was good, and then downhill. I understand everyone loves minions, but wait until the minion movie to make a minion movie.

Even as a disappointment its still better than a lot of animated movies.
 
Last week I saw Monsters University

I wasn't sure what I was going to expect, but I enjoyed it, and there were some funny moments. Not as good as the first one, but better than some of the other Pixar movies. It was a nice warm hearted family movie. 8/10

I am also actually looking forward to the LEGO Movie next year.
 
Despicable Me 2

I was terrified it'd be crap. It's made of AWESOME. Had me lol-ing all the way through and didn't once make me think "eugh, this is just a crap re-hash of last time". The songs at the end actually made me cry with laughter.

O for Owesome.
 
Yay for Despicable me 2 <3


Saw a couple of flicks today. The East

A decent film if a bit slow at times.


Much ado about nothing

I don't like Shakespeare related things, I find them tedious. I thought I'd give this one a go because Joss Whedon doing something different to what he usually does intrigued me. It has it's moments but its made me feel really tired for the rest of the day, not a fan.
 
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