True Grit One of my friends has a dad in the Academy, so we watched this on DVD last night. It's good, but not great. The acting is strong across the board (especially Jeff Bridges and the girl, who will both get Oscar noms), but the story moves at a snail's pace for the first hour. It's also very dialogue heavy which can get tedious with the country accents (I honestly probably understood half of what Jeff Bridges was saying, which was actually kind of awesome). This is definitely a movie to see, but it's not the movie of the year. Probably not even in the top 5. I guess I was sort of hoping for shades of No Country for Old Men, but it's completely different. It's an old school Western, which means a lot of riding around on horses and sitting at campfires before stuff starts happening. 3.5/5
True Grit Here we have a rarity: a remake (I wouldn't call it a remake since it's much more faitful to the novel) that tops the original not only as a movie, but in every single way. Sure, John Wayne had his best role in the original and won an Oscar (even though he didn't actually deserve to win) however this film blasts it apart with the Coen's patented trademark of high tension and great humour. Jeff Bridges is entirely believeable as a much less appealing and much more mean spirited Rooster Cogburn, an unrecognizable Matt Damon is a drole riot as the fearless, over-dressed, pipe-smoking LeBeouf and I was surprised with Josh Brolin's villain not being as much of a monster as he is a rudderless simp. Another bonus is the fact that the girl in this (I forget her name) is also terrifiic, played by an ACTUAL 14-year-old instead of the obnoxious 21-year-old bitch from the 1969 version. Gorgeously shot on breathtaking locations, this is the best western in a long time. This film truly lives up to the title: a razor-sharp thriller that's as humourous as it is ferocious. See it. 8/10
Black Swan: I'm going to agree with KIMaster for about half the film. The first half did indeed use all the lame OHMYGOD THERE'S SOMEBODY BEHIND ME cliches of...basically every horror movie, and were easy to spot and blah blah blah blah. The second half was much much better, once they got away from all that and started to play with the perspective of everything. On first glance, yes, the way they staged what was going on (this is hard to explain without spoilers) with Natalie Portman was just like the other movies, but it really wasn't. Can't say too much more without spoiling things, and I don't feel like typing a whole shitblob in a spoiler tag that you'll inevitably open anyway. It really does boil down to the first half being a shitty horror film and the second being...actually good. Probably going to get the Oscar nod, but I don't think it'll win best picture. Also! Lesbian scene: enjoyable very much so. Fuck numbers, just go see the goddamn thing.
Oh, I saw True Grit too. Getting $100 in Regal cards kind of forces you to see a few movies. Honestly? Standard Coen Bros. fare, meaning it was a very well paced, enjoyable movie. Not better than No Country, but up there. Definitely one of the better movies to come out of 2010, which is a little sad because it's not holygroundbreakingmoses. 2010 HAS been slow. Definitely worth a theatergoing.
RED RED is based on the DC comic but unless you read into it you would think it's just a sharp action-comedy, which it is. It brings back the fun to a hybrid genre that's been gone for a while, with a peerless cast that has makes the most of a somewhat contrived script. John Malkovich, who's has his share of shitty roles the last decade once again gets to shine in a priceless role as an insane ex CIA killer. Every facial expression, line, momevent he does is priceless in the film. Bruce Willis and Karl Roden both play down their primary roles with intense, brooding characters- and they have a criminally short but great fight scene in an office. Ther's nothing really super-special as far as plot or style goes- most things you've seen before but it has plenty of laughs, some good thrills and the cast makes it solid entertainment. 7/10
Another free movie! This time? TRON: If you took the original Matrix, Star Wars Attack of the Clones, and Lord of the Rings The Two Towers, put them all through the SlapChop, ate the result, shit it all out, and handed the shit to a Walt Disney exec, you would have this movie. Completely awful. The only redeeming features were Daft Punk and Olivia Wilde looking attractive, and there wasn't enough of either. I'll save you the whole movie:
When In Rome. Oh jebus, I was barely able to sit through this one, I need a stiff drink now. This movie had a bunch of D-list actors from the past few years in it including Napoleon Dynamite, Pedro, and Danny Devito. (Granted Devito is pretty funny in Sunny, he should stick to TV shows from now on). Christen Bell was pretty hot though, so I guess that's a redeeming quality. For the ladies, Josh Duhamal was his usual dumb self. The entire movie was wildly predictable. I could tell from the second the plot was revealed exactly how it was going to end...and sure enough, it did. All the D-list actors did their parts awkwardly. It was, I don't know, not even a chick flick, it was just kind of there. Don't waste your time watching this on Netflix or anything, you'll thank yourself later.
True Grit- This basically sums up the movie for me. I hope like NCFOM it will grow on my after multiple watchings. The difference was that NCFOM was truly stunning upon first viewing, it just took me a while to really like it (I still prefer There Will Be Blood to NCFOM, though the latter is probably a technically made better film). Ill repeat the positives. The girl is great and deserves an oscar nom. The Cinematography is stunning. Pacing is great. Dialog is top notch. But I can't help but wonder if the original story was something that deserved a remake or retelling in the first place. Ive never seen the original and Im not trying to compare the two. What I mean is, is that the general story has been done a billion times in westerns. As solid as a lot of the aspects of the film are it just seemed like a standard fare western story.
Tron: Legacy was basically the greatest music video clip I have ever seen. It was two hours of sublime trippers bliss and it was made to be experienced, not watched as a movie For the love of god, don't try to watch it as a movie. Best taken with acid.
The Green Hornet I did not find it to be near as bad as most of the professional critics. It is played for laughs which differed from the television series. I say this as it took me a bit to really get into that mindset. I do think that the actor they have playing Kato will be heard from again as he really did a good job with the part. If you are a fan of fast cars, there are some really nice rare ones as background pieces. It would probably make a good rental movie.
Finally got around to True Grit (2010)- A determined, sharp-tongued young girl hires an old, alcoholic, one-eyed US Marshall (Bridges) to go after her father's killer in Indian country, while a rival Texas ranger (Damon) tracks the same man for the death of a state senator. The film is terrific; in parts, it's very funny, during others, it's suspenseful, and there's a perfect mix of action and story throughout. Most importantly, it has an unflinching, harsh realism; at no point does the movie succumb to cliches or a Hollywood ending. In a lesser film, for instance, Damon's character Spoiler would have been either a complete oaf or a villain, but that doesn't happen here. The acting and verbal wise-cracks are great, but so is the whole recreation of the West; the sallow, ugly faces, rotting teeth, dusty clothes, and dirty bags of tobacco. Oh, and I absolutely love the ending. Maybe the best film of 2010. 80/100
The King's Speech I wasn't sure what to make of this movie when I first saw the promos, but when I saw that Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush were the main characters, I was in. The film chronicles the difficulties George VI (Colin Firth) has with public speaking. As he is the Prince of York, he is second in line to become King after his brother, Edward (Guy Pierce). The film opens with a scene that makes you incredibly uncomfortable and immediately you understand George's problem. He and his wife, (Helena Bonham Carter) have been to see every speech therapist to no avail. In essence, George withdraws from public life to a great degree. Nonetheless, George's wife enlists Geoffrey Rush to help George. I don't want to spoil what happens, but the relationship between Firth and Rush is absolutely amazing. Well acted, well scripted, sweet, sad, touching, even if it glosses over Edward a bit, this movie is well worth the view. Frankly, it is the best drama I have seen in the theater in years. 9.7/10 - I subtracted .3 because of the historical glossing over of Edward's alleged Nazi tendencies which may well have played a part in his abdication. In other words, see this film, but you certainly can wait for the small screen because there are no special effects.
Saw Green Hornet last night. Really enjoyed myself, terrific popcorn movie. Very cool action scenes, funny dialogue, Christopher Waltz was terrific as the bad guy. Some of the conflict was a little manufactured, but I wasn't looking for expert storytelling, I was looking for an entertaining action comedy and that's what I got.
Yeah its been reviewed by a bunch of you, but I got around to seeing it last night so heres my take on True Grit I love the original and the Coen Brothers version does it solid justice. I like to rail on about how I hate remakes, but at least the original was from 41 years ago, and not the same god damn decade. Bridges is a better Rooster Cogburn than John Wayne and Matt Damon plays an unconventional supporting role. His character was interesting and he did a pretty good job. Another great note was Hailee Steinfeld, who gave one of the best performances by someone her age that I have ever seen, Dakota Fanning has nothing on this girl. The one part I didnt quite like was the ending, Spoiler I felt it was a little abrupt the way they cut back to 1903. However I suppose it would have been a little dramatic for Rooster to die while carrying her to safety, at least thats what I was expecting. Overall, it was the first film I had seen in theaters since I saw Expendables in August, and as for the last big movie that opened in 2010, it was a good closing to an otherwise terrible cinematic year. 8.5 / 10
Green Hornet The good: If you think Seth Rogen's schtick is funny, you'll like this. Christoph Waltz's villain is priceless and it pokes fun at the superhero and buddy genre in a way that is enjoyable. The bad: Cameron Diaz is pointless and fugly, Seth Rogen is a tremendous douche, Jay Chou can barely speak English, the action sequences are less realistic than "Shoot Em Up", etc. Bottom line: Ehh...pass. It had some moments, but nothing I would encourage other people to see.
Right Place I think this might be the greatest 5 minute movie ever made. It's hard as hell to engage an audience in that short a span, let alone do it from the first few seconds. Not a single frame is wasted, and it manages to tell a complete story. I had no idea one can do this much with so little;
Just went out and caught "The Rite" last night. I don't usually write reviews but I feel the need to save people some money. Think of the Exorcist, compress all the scary freaky shit to about 5-10 minutes, move it to 30 minutes in. Before that, make sure that everyone knows before (and reminded after) that this was based on a book, inspired by a true story, but not based on one. Take Anthony Hopkins and ask him to carry the movie, which he did. Then subtly toss in about of stuff about its bad to be an atheist. Then craft a line of logic about belief that explains: to beat the Devil, you need to believe in him, if you believe in the Devil he's going to fuck you over/kill you, unless you believe in God to defeat him so you better fucking believe in God. It is one of those movies where a lot of things happen plot wise because they have to for the story to go forward. They also keep referencing a phrase and flashback that has no bearing on the anti-climatic ending. The ending makes sure to point out that the main character is still performing exorcisms in Chicago and is one of the only exorcists in America approved by the Vatican. The movie is not so subtle with its "Yay Catholicism! Our priests are heroes!" I'm actually surprised the movie didn't end with "Brought to you by the Vatican!"
I just saw the trailer for this film. I have read the book that the film is supposedly "based on" .... well more like very loosely based on. The book is quite interesting in that not all exorcisms portrayed in it are the head spinning , pea soup vomit type and the main character is an American Priest that goes to the Vatican school to be trained as an Exorcist and I'm guessing takes a far more balanced approach than the movie. http://www.amazon.com/Rite-Making-M...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1296387974&sr=1-1
BLUE VALENTINE I enjoyed the movie in the same way that I enjoyed Revolutionary Road, absolutely painful to watch at times and left me feeling a bit empty after. But at least I was feeling, which is something that I can't say for many of the movies that I watch. The story focuses on the disintegration of a marriage cut with flashbacks of the same couple falling in love. Kind of a proof positive that all of the things that you love about a person can somehow become all of the things that you hate about them. What brings the movie to life is the fantastic acting, both Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling are phenomenal. I know Natalie Portman is a lock for the best actress Oscar, and she deserves it for totally transforming herself physically into a "ballerina" and emotionally into her character. But I love Michelle Williams portrayal here, she is able to speak so much even at parts with so little dialogue.