Just the one movie for this weekend. I’m slowing down a little bit – that’s down to me only wanting to watch Psych, but I’ve nearly caught up with that. I have a feeling once I’m done with it by movie watching intake will go up again.
Lord of War 17/04/10)
Well this movie wasn’t exactly what I was expecting – though in thise case that’s definitely a good thing. For some reason I was expecting this movie to be a bit of a mindless action film with a bit of a message behind it. I was very wrong. I have no idea where that assumption came from though.
It is most definitely not a totally brainless movie, instead it looks at the inner workings of war with some bleak outcomes. Nicholas Cage was good – I don’t think he got to do his usual ‘crazy’ stuff, maybe for a split second. I thought the casting of him and Jared Leto as brothers was surprisingly good! Another thing that surprised me about the film was that some of it was based around true events. Also I liked that the film didn’t get too bogged down in the politics of the situation and instead focussed quite heavily on the family and the characters. Sometimes too much politics in a film bores me.
Rating: 3/5
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In a very short stretch of time I watched more movies than I have done. Well, since I was ill. Here they are:
Green Zone (11/03/10)
Motivation to watch this movie? Matt Damon + Paul Greengrass. Yeah, I love the Bourne movies. A lot. Even though I was late on the badnwagon, though it was Greengrass’ Ultimatum which ultimately led me to watch Identity. Back to this movie – loved it. A lot of reviews are saying it’s Bourne gone epic, which I almost agree with. Other than the fact that lead character, Roy Miller, played by Matt Damon, is only like Jason Bourne in that he takes action. Oh and the hand held camera feel of the movie. It’s a great political thriller with enough action in it to keep the action fiends happy. Matt Damon was brilliant. I was surprised to see Jason Isaacs in the movie – I didn’t know he was in it and his handlebar ‘tache disguised him pretty damn well!
John Powell’s score was awesome. He’s becoming a bit of a favourite with me now. It was all wrapped up a little too well by the end of the movie, but I’m not too fussed. Everything that went on before the ending was brilliant and the last action scene was just amazing. Loved it.
Rating: 4/5
Whip It (12/03/10)
Brilliant movie. Funny and well acted and very, very good. After it I felt the need to go and either see a Roller Derby or join up somewhere. I want to go rollerskating! Cast were brilliant and the story, while simple, well told. Just a shame it’s taken so long coming out here – the soundtrack sounded a little out of date!
Rating: 4/5
Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus (12/03/10)
The less I say about this movie the better. Awful. The best bit was over in the beginning of the movie so I had nothing more to look forward to. So so bad. Not even bad good!
Rating: 0/5
Shutter Island (13/03/10)
I was really looking forward to this film. REALLY looking forward to it. The first trailer just looked awesome. A mixture of thriller and scary film, with enough mystery and jumps to keep me entertained with a great leading man. For the most part it did tick those boxes, but I was left feeling a tad disappointed by the end of the movie. It wasn’t an overly long movie, but it felt long. There was a lot of attempts to fool the viewer of what was really going on and for the most part they worked. I picked up a few things and put the clues together. The ‘twist’ disappointed me – had the twist been better I might have been more satisfied. It did look great, Leo was fantastic and it did keep me mostly entertained.
Rating: 3/5
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With yet more recovery and resting at home, a few more movies have been seen:
Flags of Our Fathers (03/03/10)
I like war movies. Not that I like watching wars or anything, but I like the history aspect and there’s something about them. Maybe the depression in them! I liked this movie. It really made war look brutal and harsh. It didn’t glamorise it at all. It did well at creating the sense or camaraderie there is between men at war. The cast were really very good – I kept seeing actors and thinking, ‘Ooo, I recognise him’ throughout the whole movie. Visually the movie was stunning. The war scenes just looked so bleak.
Rating: 4/5
A History of Violence (03/03/10)
What a brutal and depressing movie. Well partly depressing. Very harsh movie. Viggo was fantastic in it and really sold the role he was playing. I really liked Maria Bello in this movie. The only other thing I’ve seen her in was the third Mummy movie where she did her terrible impression of Rachel Weisz. Great movie. Just not something I’d like to see again any time soon, just because it’s quite harsh!
Rating: 4/5
Office Space (04/03/10)
Why has it taken me so long to watch this movie?! It’s been sitting on my Sky Box for more months than I can even think of. I honestly can’t remember when I recorded it but so glad I did. I loved this movie. Really funny. There’s some bits about that office life that I could relate to, to some extent. The characters were hilarious and I just loved the whole movie. Milton made me laugh a lot and then think, ‘Aww bless’. Fantastic movie.
Rating: 5/5
The Eye (04/03/10)
The movie was on and I wasn’t going anywhere, so I sat and watched it. It was OK, as far as adapted horror movies go. I was getting a bit bored part way through the movie because I felt it took far too long to get to the point of the movie and actually go anywhere. I didn’t understand why Sydney kept going back to the doctor, who clearly didn’t care. But then did care. I didn’t jump at all throughout the whole movie. Nothing that unexpected and it was all a rather happy ending. Well, actually, that I wasn’t expecting.
Rating: 2/5
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It’s been a slow couple of weeks but I’ve managed to try and get a few more movies watched for this year. As soon as the new TV schedule kicks off again, I start lagging behind!
Valkyrie 30/01/10
A movie starring Tom Cruise as one of the German officers who tried to do what they could to bring Hitler’s Germany down… who’d have thought he’d pull it off? Well, in the beginning it was hard for me to ‘buy’ the American accented one as the lead here without having a German accent, but I think it was pulled off well enough. Very good movie of a part of history I know very patchy details on. For one thing I didn’t know there were so many attempts on Hitler’s life. All of which failed. I knew that he committed suicide, but that was as far as my historical knowledge went. Very good movie with a good message of the German officers of that time – not all of them were like him.
Rating: 4/5
Love the Beast 30/01/10
This had been sitting on my hard drive for a while. No idea why it had taken me quite this long to see it, it was cars + Eric Bana which instantly equals awesome in my books. Thankfully it lived up to that! Very good docufilm about Eric’s love of the beautiful Ford Falcon and the Taga Tasmania. After watching the movie, I feel like I want to take part in that race! I’ve always admired Eric Bana for, despite being a very good actor, picks his movies very carefully and isn’t seen in that many per year as he clearly has other passions in his life – cars and his family and friends.
Rating: 3/5
Brick 31/01/10
I was very confused in the beginning of this movie. The dialog was not at all what I was expecting and found it a little hard to understand what was going on. The setting was a highschool but everything that was going on around it and the actions of the characters was something out of a film noir detective story and there lies the genius of this movie. It mixes the themes so very well and you’ve got an extremly unique film experience. Joseph Gordon Levitt was fantastic in it. Really amazing. Totally the highlight of the movie.
Rating: 4/5
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Quite a few more movies to add to the list. I’m doing well so far…
Defiance
Second movie of the year and it’s another war movie based on true events. Which I didn’t realise until the movie ended. Brilliant movie. I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to sit down and watch it. Liev Schrieber really surprised me in this movie. Really strong performance from him. He was really rather good. As was Daniel Craig, but then I expect that from him.
Rating: 5/5
Frost/Nixon
Another movie it’s taken me far too long to watch. Amazing performance from Michael Sheen and Frank Langella. Both were uncanny performances. And it did teach me a few things. For one, I never knew how much of a playboy and risk taker David Frost was! All I know of him is this upstanding political correspondant who’s got a lot of respect for himself because of the work he’s done. Though I found it funny at the end of the movie where they did explain a bit more about David Frost… for the benefit of American audiences.
Rating: 4/5
Dreamgirls
And the ‘based-on-true-stories’ movies continue. Not out of any really conscious thought, believe me! Really amazing movie this is. The songs are beautiful and Beyonce surprised me a lot. She held her own pretty well.
Rating: 4/5
Munich
I was trying so hard to like this movie as I was watching. It’s a very bleak movie that’s solely based on vengeance. Despite a really fantastic performance from Eric Bana I still found it hard getting into the movie. Things were going on but I couldn’t connect to whatever was going on in the movie. So I did learn a lot in terms of what happened at those Olympic games, as I had no idea, but unlike the previous based on true story movies, I didn’t feel anything for what happened in the movie after seeing it.
Rating: 2/5
Ray
I promise, not all the movies I see this year will be biopics or based on true stories! Yet here’s another brilliant one. Jamie Foxx was amazing. Like Michael Sheen and Frank Langella, an uncanny performance from him as Ray Charles. I never knew that his earlier days were so littered with drug abuse, unless that was embelished upon slightly more for movies’ sake. Awesome music and an amazing cast. Loved this movie.
Rating: 5/5
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A few days into the year and I’ve finally seen my first movie of this year.
Three Kings
This movie had been on my to-watch list for far too long and I am happy now that I’ve seen it. It was funnier than I thought it was going to be. The humor worked well in the movie along with the whole message of what went on at that time.
Rating: 4/5
