Re: FOG Reviews the movies!!

[Squall Reyes]

Oh trust me Kathryn I know July movies fall under the blockbuster category. As I myself am excited and worried about Avatar as well but, like I said it's a long summer with a lot of movies so I was going to break them up since I was wanting to talk about all the "blockbusters." Trust me I'll get to the movies in July and August later.

[Kathryn Lacey]

Okay. I'm just a little obsessed which makes me pushy. I look forward to reading your review once it comes to theatres. I'm dragging Misery to see it, and my best friend who is also an Avatard ((because of my persistence that she watch the series)) is going to drag her boyfriend. We're going to try to make it a double date.

Misery thinks it's going to suck, but he has a biased opinion because he hates Shyamalan's movies. However, my opinion is also biased because I love them. XD

[Squall Reyes]

Oh I completely understand being obsessed. I've been a bit obsessed with the marvel movies. Not you know Spider man or X men, but the Marvel movies made by Marvel. Your Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk. I was at the midnight showing to both and will be at the midnight showings of Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America and the Avengers.

But you do bring up the interesting and roller coaster career of M Night. I stand in the middle, I think he could have been the most prolific film maker of our generation. But has fallen well short of that as of late. I think we all know the story of the young Indian filmmaker who came out of no where to blow peoples minds with a suspense master piece "The Sixth Sense." Who went on to write would could be looked at as the rough draft for the "realism" genre of comic book movies perfected later by Christopher Nolan. (M Night himself has said he tried to promote it as a comic book movie instead of a psychological thriller. Which it really was, it was the studio who insisted it fallow the 6th sense formula. So yeah fuck you Hollywood. Fuck you.)

Then he seemed to peak again with the impressive film Signs. An amazing film that kept suspense in the foreground yet allowed a deep look at faith, the human spirit in the face of supernatural events, and gave us one of the biggest jump scene ever in movies. (You all know what I'm talking about the mother fucking birthday party.) However sadly it seemed as though M Night once again fell into the trap of trying to making a second Sixth Sense, ignoring both plot and pace in order to give us "the twist" at the end of his movies. Ending with Marky Mark and the Happening. Need I say more than that? Perhaps though Avatar will be Night's great revival, his big action coming out part. Which Unbreakable could have been if he had gotten that damn twist out in the middle of the damn picture.

[Kathryn Lacey]

I loved the Iron Man movie that was made. I saw it in theatres, and it was fantastic!

There's no way he can really add his signature twist to The Last Airbender though I'm sure he'll be happy about the "twist" that comes at the end of Book Two: Earth that will become the second movie if this first one doesn't bomb.

I guess Book Three: Fire also had a twist... but the fact that it's still in line with the plot means it's acceptable ((despite the deux ex machina at the very end)). Maybe that's why he was so interested in making it! XD

[Squall Reyes]

It could very well be, it seems today that the modern blockbuster is required to be 3 acts. WB is pushing for Nolan to finish his Batman Trilogy as we all know and Night could very well be anticipating to do 3 Avatar movies. Which I say bring it on, because to me it was not the WRITING of the twist but the way he carried it out.

[Shekinah]

So I just saw Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes - finally! -

Well, first of I have to say that I absolutely ADORE Robert Downey Jr. ever since I saw him in Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang and he keeps showing me why I love him so much. He does it again as he plays Holmes, with Jude Law as his sidekick Dr. Watson. The man just has this natural feeling for humor so specific, not many actors can say they have it too. He's charming yet sarcastic in a sympathetic way at the same time. As Sherlock he's all that and more, as he's also this depressed narcissist who's in love with the game way too much for his own health.

I like Ritchie's movies a lot most of the time. He's one of the directors who can pull it off to create a fast paced action movie that still has intelligence in it and almost always a touch of whodunnit and even though he goes over the top, it is in function of the movie, while lots of other action movies are filled with useless scenes and useless action. Ritchie isn't one of those directors (even though he too can make mistakes - Revolver wasn't one of his better movies) but Ritchie also understands that if you're going to make an over the top movie as it is anyway, it's a good trick to add some nicely done humor. Well, as I'm more a fan of British humor than of American humor (with exceptions of course) this most of the time works for me. In Sherlock Holmes it works as well.

What bugs me - although it somehow entertains me too - is that a lot of people immediately feel the need to 'attack' Ritchie for not creating a credible Holmes as Holmes wasn't supposed to be an action hero, but just a plain (serious) detective. Since when is it forbidden for a director to show us his interpretation of a well known character? Isn't it what we all do when reading (hell, even when watching a movie too!) a book? My Holmes would never be the same as yours. What does it have to do with you in what way Ritchie sees Holmes? If he can pull it off to create a good looking, action movie with the proper action, the proper humor, the proper actors then wtf is your problem? I don't get how people can get pissed off my Ritchie doing so; it's a free world ladied and gentlemen! Even if the movie would suck, it's Ritchie's choice, not yours and if it was yours, you wouldn't be waiting on this useless comments either. And besides: Ritchie himself said it was never his intention to create an oldschool, traditional Holmes.

I really enjoyed this movie: I had a few good laughs, the couple Law and Downer Jr. was a good one, the script was good, the whodunnit was good especially if you consider the fact that we all know who the bad guy is from the first minute we see of the movie, but Ritchie still pulls it off to let us touch in the dark as to how the bad guy did it. Because he did it that way, there was always an element of guessing in the movie. We weren't waiting for the discovery of the bad guy, but for the discovery of how he pulled everthing off which was done in a very good way. Yes, I absolutely liked it!

[Kathryn Lacey]

I completely agree with your assessment of Sherlock Holmes. I really loved the movie, but I hate the actual stories. Traditional Holmes was boring, and I never liked the movies that were made of the stories until this one. I think that Ritchie made the action-oriented brawler Holmes completely believable because of the methodical, intelligent way Sherlock went about it.

The cast was perfect for that movie, too, and I want to see who they have playing Sherlock's nemesis in the sequels ((if they make sequels)).

My only negative comment is about the predictability. I was able to discern how most of the "magic" effects were done long before they were discussed at the end.

It was still a great film, and for me, it has re-watch value, even knowing how everything is accomplished.

[Shekinah]

The cast was perfect for that movie, too, and I want to see who they have playing Sherlock's nemesis in the sequels ((if they make sequels)).

Yes, Ritchie's busy doing number 2 as we speak With Downey Jr. as Holmes again

[Kathryn Lacey]

Good! It wouldn't be the same without him. Downey is the best Holmes I've ever seen. ^^_^^

[Shekinah]

Yesterday I also saw Das weisse Band - Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte by Michael Haneke (2009).

This movie's also Germany's movie that's nominated for an Oscar for best foreign movie of the year. Well... I guess it's just me, since everyone's squeeling over it and being lyrical over it; I didn't really like it... Maybe I just didn't get it, but when the movie suddenely - in my eyes anyway - ended after nearly 2,5 hours (another thing I nowadays can't really stand anymore: long movies, unless they really suck me in) I felt as if the director did no longer feel like making this movie and therefore he just abruptly ended it. Or maybe I was expecting too much of the movie because of all the reviews I had read and because of the subject of the movie.

What's it about? Well, it's set in a northern village in Germany, a few years before the beginning of World War I and while the villagers are working, going through their days via a strict routine, someone is pulling (criminal) pranks on them and they get worse with every new prank, until they're downright life threathening. No one knows who's behind this, but everyone is eager to find out.

Well, that does sound like a movie that's perfect for me, but it didn't suck me in. After an hour had passed, I felt as if I was watching for two hours already (though that feeling wasn't nearly as bad as I had when I watched the Russian movie Izganie (The Banishment) by Andrei Zvyagintsev - 2007, another movie I was really looking forward to, which had a running time of 2,5 hours and at the end of it I had the feeling I was watching the movie for well over 6 hours, that's how slow it went...) The movie is shot in black and white, something I can actually appreciate (I really enjoy the real black and white movies too) and the acting wasn't bad either, I just found it to be plain boring... it didn't have me seated on the tip of my chair, I only wanted to know who the culprit was so this boredom could end. Haneke stretches his story and therefore his analysis of the villagers so far out, that I in the end felt as if I was just watching how those people spend their days, how they dealt with the dangerous pranks and how they were looking for the culprit, while the consequences of the pranks were much greater than anyone could have anticipated on. Well sure, that's not bad at all, in fact, it can be rather interesting and the acting was absolutely well done, especially considered the time the movie was set in, but I never had the feeling I could actually get a grip of what was going on. I had a difficult time understanding who was who and what role they had in the whole story and I had the feeling the director jumped from one scene to the other without really closing off what he was showing me.

So no, I didn't really like it. I won't say it wasn't any good, because like I said: the story was good, the acting was good and more stuff like that, I just couldn't get a grip on it and I never had the feeling I actually understood the movie/what was going on. There are more movies I don't understand but the difference is that a lot of those movies were made to be difficult to understand (Like Mulholland Drive by David Lynch) and I didn't have the feeling Das weisse Band was meant to be like that, which is why I can't stand that I couldn't understand it.

[Squall Reyes]

Here we go....

Alice in Wonderland: Now I kind of doubt this review will do any much of good. If you were going to see this movie you are going to see it because either A. You love Tim Burton regardless of his movies flaws, despite how big they are. (I'm looking at you Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Planet of the Apes and Mars Attacks.) B. You love Johnny Depp. (Quite frankly I can't think of a single movie he was poor in.) or C. All of the above because Tim Burton uses Depp in all of his fucking films. And if you weren't going to see it this review will change nothing. There are very few in the middle when it comes to this movie. But I suppose I am one of the few who fall into the middle. I believe Tim Burton is woefully overrated with his films coming off as more style than substance with his last movie coming close to having substance being Big Fish and before then you have to go all the way back to Nightmare before Christmas. (Don't get me started on how he butchered the Batman movies. Yes as bad all the others. Thank god for Nolan.)

Alice in Wonderland is not a remake but a sequel with a now adult Alice once again following the white rabbit down the rabbit hole. And then the story turns into a subpar and standard good vs evil affair and if you've seen the trailers I don't need to tell you which characters are involved with which side. (They give Alice a sword, a FUCKING SWORD and the Mad Hatter gets a god damn BROADSWORD. Do I need to say any more to prove just how much of a standard action movie this plot is? Do I really?) Now this is not a knock on any of the performers, they bring their A game. But an A+ talented actor can only do so much with a C or C- script. Yes imagery and CGI is pretty but really what fucking major Hollywood production isn't? It might have been impressive 20 maybe even 10 years ago, but come on, the times they are a changin'.

Quite honestly the only part of the movie I truly enjoyed was when the movie bucked the main storyline and went on to be Alice in fucking Wonderland. You know, a book that used a fantasy world to show how strange of a world it is for children to grow up. Alice went around ran into interesting characters as you would if you were a child and made interesting observations of their habits. That's why the book works so well for children because they see it every damn day they go out. Don't you remember how strange the world was when you were a child? The book captures it, and this movie turns it into god damn Transformers, with better acting. It's a real joy to see the old characters again but they could have made this plot about growing up. I mean god damn it her god damn father just passed away and you make an action movie? REALLY?

In the end this is yet another Burton movie of style over substance and sets a low bar for the coming summer movie season. But I suppose anyone one the fence wants to know "should I see this?" Well. If your bored and wouldn't mind seeing a pretty but standard action movie. Go for it. If your strapped for cash and looking for something more? Save your cash we have a whole summer to go.

[Shekinah]

Hey! Don't forget Edward Scissorhands! That one had substance too!

I dunno whether or not I'll agree with you (but I guess I won't, since I'm one of those Burton lovers and Depp lovers and Burton + Depp lovers) but if this truly is a style rather than substance movie, I guess it should be treated that way. There are just movies that don't merge the two of them into one (though The Fall is a VERY good example of a movie that mixes style and substance almost perfectly), but I get the feeling you're writing it off because it's not a substance movie. If it's not, I guess it should be reviewed as what it is according to you: a style movie, and if it succeeded in that purpose, then maybe it's not such a bad movie after all? Don't get me wrong, of course you're entitled to have your own opinion, I'm just having this feeling that you're not critizing at the points where you should

Kinda like what I did with Das weisse Band. I REALLY didn't like it, I was fucking bored watching it and wishing it would end, but that doesn't mean the movie is really that bad Or like There Will Be Blood: it was absolutely a good movie (one with substance too ) but I HATED IT!! What a damn bore that was!!! (Though I have great respect for Paul Dano, being able to stand and keep standing in front of actor veteran Daniel Day Lewis, both of them were absolutely brilliant in this movie.)

[Squall Reyes]

Yes I am kind of a hard ass with movies of just style. To say a movie isn't suppose to have substance cause it's a style movie is the same kinda excuse people tried to give Transformers 2. (Though in the end it lacked everything and was one of the worse movies of the decade.) In my mind a movie no matter who makes it or stars in it should try to accomplish higher goals than one can set. If Burton was looking for stylish action movie, well he got the style right. Because even the action was lacking.

As for The Fall, are you kidding me?! I loved the movie it as you mentioned had a great mixture of imaginative style and sublime substance. It made all the action and all the style MEAN something to me when I saw it because of the writing and acting. As I've mentioned before I am bored to death of so many movies being high on CGI and lacking in plot. (By the way if Avatar wins best picture I'm going to be sending a big ol' FUUUUU to James Cameron. And wonder how 2 of his worst movies Titanic and Avatar got him best picture when he has so many other better films. Like Alien or hell Terminator 1 and 2!)

And oh that's blasphemy. There Will Be Blood is an amazing movie who like you said made up its lack of action for earth shaking performances by DDL and Paul Dano. But it just had the rotten luck of being made in the same year as a new modern classic No Country for Old Men.(Which by the way if you haven't seen it you need to rent it now. Go on I'll wait.) Amazing book too by the way. Not every day a movie is just as good as the novel it was based from.

Also don't get my critique wrong, if I make little to no mention of something like say the CGI that means it was good. Like how I didn't mention how the music was sublime, but then you look and its Danny Elfman and it kinda goes without saying that he will always deliver. Oh and worry not I have not forgotten about dear Edward. I just thought we had explored enough of Burton's career at that point. lol

[Shekinah]

Good come back! Love to talk with you about stuff like this

Well yes, like I said: There will be blood WAS good, it just bore me. I saw No Country for Old Men yes, ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!!! If only because of Javier Bardem, but of course the whole movie was a success: everything was right, down to the humour in it.

Yes, Danny Elfman!!! I love him too!

AND THANK GOD FOR WHAT YOU SAID ABOUT WHAT IF AVATAR WOULD WIN THE OSCAR FOR BEST MOVIE!!! Even though I'm not really in the position to have an opinion about that one, since I haven't seen it yet (and to be honest: I doubt I ever will) but as for what I've heard and read, I understand the movie's only that good because of the 3D thing and not because of the story because that sucked, if it was even there. If that's really true, then it shouldn't even be POSSIBLE that a movie like that can get nominated for best movie. Without ever having seen Precious (which I REALLY want to see) I can blindly say that that movie should have more chance of winning than Avatar, because of the substance.

The Fall is one of my all time favourites and I hate how almost NO ONE rented it when I worked in the video store and ALWAYS recommended that movie. I believe in all of the time I worked there, only three people took my advice on that movie (and all of them agreed with me after having seen that one ). By the way, another movie that has been able to mix substance and style perfectly was Pan's Labyrinth by Guillermo del Toro.

But about Alice again: I haven't seen Planet of the Apes nor Mars Attacks! ( and I don't think I ever will, because, to be honest, I'm afraid they will make me have to admit that Burton's not ALWAYS that great (even though he already showed that with - indeed - the Batman movies, but I can 'forgive' him for that, because those movies have a highly nostalgic feel to them for me :p;))) but I don't think I'll be as disappointed as you seem to be. Then again: maybe I might say the complete opposite after seeing it.

Thanks for the reply dude!

[Squall Reyes]

Oh no thank you it is always great to have a civil discussion on well any topic on forums. Just because we can both geek out on movies makes it all the better. XD Trust me I can easily see why There Will Be Blood would bore you. It would have bored me if not for the A++ performances. Like I said I believe No County for Old Men is a modern classic and will defend that position to the end. XD

And that was pretty much my review of Avatar. It looked pretty in 3D but after that the movie falls flat. Precious Oh Precious, I'm not sure if I did a review of it here but to sum it up. One of the most amazing heart warming/wrenching stories of the last decade, and a mind blowingly first performance by Gabourey Sidibe. You see her on screen and your mind starts almost screaming "This CAN'T be her first movie ever!"

If there is any sci fi movie that deserves best picture it is District 9, which is another perfect example of mixing style and substance. Oh and thank you for that smile you put on my face by mention Pan's Labyrinth. Guillermo Del Toro is god to me right now, with Hellboy 1 and 2 under his belt as well. Oh and also he's making the Hobbit and (comic fan get ready to geek out.) Doctor Strange. SKEEEEEEE

Ok I'm better. But seriously when does this man sleep?

[Shekinah]

Hahaha, I dunno In the meantime he also produced the fucking good El Orfanato!

Hmm funny you should mention Hellboy 1 and 2, because aside from the style (here it is again ) I didn't like those movies very much. I mean... seriously, if you're a bad ass and you have to say: "I wouldn't do that if I were you..." then you suck as a bad ass in my eyes But I'm looking forward to The Hobbit and Doctor Strange, because even though I didn't like Hellboy 1 and 2, I do know what the man is capable of SO SHOW ME AGAIN MR. DEL TORO!

You saw Percious? I'm so jealous... this is why I hate living in The Netherlands: we almost always get movies an awful lot later than you guys. (though that's kinda logical...)

I also still need to see District 9, but I've heard and read only good reviews about it! (Then again: I also did about Das weisse Band Okay... that wasn't a bad movie, I just didn't like it )

[Squall Reyes]

Yes, after 2 weeks I have returned with more reviews of the newest movies. And if you have to ask what movies I saw last week, it was Green Zone. Was it any good? Oh lets see I didn't bother to make a review for it. So no. If I wanted to see a Jason Bourne movie, I would have seen a Bourne movie.

Today however I saw a movie I have mentioned several times before. Repoman. Or as I not so fondly call it, Ripoff Man. My problems with the movie have been well discussed. The movies seemingly copy and paste job of Repo: The genetic rock opera. So perhaps it was with a negative bias I went into the theater with. Perhaps I just went so I can rip it apart tonight, but then again. Perhaps I went in because I have a strong belief of giving movies a chance. Well most movies, (I'm looking at you Twilight Series.)

So you could imagine my surprise as now that I write this I must admit I was wrong. Not about it being a rip off, lord no, I'm still quite convinced they copy and pasted the script. But I was wrong assuming that this movie would be bad. Though I will not say it was by any means an amazing movie. Because it was not. Visually, if you've seen any of a dozen sci fi movies in the last 20 years then nothing Repomen will blow you away.

What this movie gets right is the details, the actors, and yes even the fairly obvious slap in the face message this movie gives. So to get the message out of the way quickly since well the movie does within the first hour of the film. Humanity can extend its life using artificial organs which an evil corporation had a monopoly on, and you think your credit companies screw you over now? Wait until you see this movie.

Anyways when you are unable to pay, and notice I say WHEN not if, repo men hunt you down and....retrieve the companies product. In other words, credit bad and the chance of immortality will be our downfall. Yeah like we didn't get that message from the dozens of other books, comic, and movies with the same message. But who am I to refute a big slap to the face to the credit hungry public. Anyways moving on before political rant ensues.

Jude Law finally finds a badass action role he actually looks decent in. (Road to Perdition is NOT an action movie.) He plays the standard repo bad ass who after an accident gets outfitted by the same company and when he can't pay he has a bit of a change of heart. (Funny how they all come AFTER the shoe is on the other foot. But again I'm coming off topic.) The rest of the cast puts up good performances, but one man out shines all the others.

His name is Forest fucking Whitaker. He owns the screen every moment he's in a scene, first as a loveable buddy of Law's character, then as the slowly revealed complete psychopath that hides under all the smiles and pats on the back. Quite simply the movie FEELS empty without him front and center. Also something that this movie hasn't really promoted is its level of gore. This is a bloody fucking movie, most of it happens during the surgery but there is an Old Boy wanna be hall way scene which just delivers buckets of blood. (Also included into that is films first sex/hacking/blood/gore/what the fuck am I watching scene EVAR. Seriously guys. I don't know what I saw on that one.)

All in all this was not the disaster I was predicting, but I wasn't far off. I would not go out of my way to see this, but if you have time to kill and don't mind gore and whatever the fuck else I saw in that scene. Then yes by all means see it, if only for Mr. Whitaker's awesomness.

[Squall Reyes]

Ok. It’s REALLY GOOD...What? What do you want me to say? It’s a fucking comedy for Christ sakes. It’s not gonna revolutionize the film industry. All you want to know is if it was really really funny. And yes, yes it is. And I can’t say much else. Why? Because it’s a god damn comedy. I can’t TELL you the jokes. If I did then the joke in the movie is dead!

Just trust me all the jokes work, the actors are great. You know the story and if you don’t. Here it is.

In short. It’s funny. Go see it. And stop asking questions.

Next week we should hopefully have a bit more to write about when it comes to the movie. Clash of the God of War. I mean Titans!

[Ominous Flare]

The Matrix - I've realized that Neo isn't as interesting as Morpheus, but still, story/effects are amazing.

The Pianist - Powerful personal experience of WWII/Holocaust. The last 30 minutes of almost no dialog suffering are amazing.

The Road - If 2012 was ALL effects, this is ALL character. Reveals that apocalypse means loss of humanity, not big landmarks.

Predator - Great concept, action, one liners & characters. Part Drama, War, Horror and Sci-Fi movie, it's a classic.

Art of Action: Martial Arts - Really great look at how East has influenced West filmmaking and action. Awesome interviews.

The Blues Brothers - Manic energy in front and behind the camera. Absurd, inspired, genre bending. Gotta respect the stunts.

District 9 - This is why I love cinema. Doc style of The Office meets City of God & Children of Men - best movie of the year!

Scarface - Sooo many quotable lines..over the top at times, but still, absolute classic w/ Pacino/DePalma/Stone at their best.

The Apartment - AMC's Mad Men owes a lot to this Billy Wilder masterwork. Captures 1960s big business/male/female zeitgeist.

The Terminator - Proof that story and characters are more important than effects. Redefined action/sci-fi for the 80's.

Terminator 2: Judgement Day - A sequel better than the original? Again it redefined action/sci-fi and effects for the decade.

The Dark Knight - How can you stop watching once you've turned it on? Definitely one of the best movies of the decade.

Koyaanisqatsi - Revolutionary for its time: film as meditation. Pretty pictures, unique score = big screen Rorschach Test.

And that's all for now. Might post more in the future.

[Squall Reyes]

Clash of the Titans, (Yeah I’m done with the Clash of the God of War joke. But more on that later.) is a movie I had to try very hard to go into with a non bias gaze. Difficult considering as I love the original 80’s version for the flawed piece of work it is, and not to mention my well known disliking of them taking the story of Clash of the Titans and turning it into a God of War rip off except without Kratos awesome badassery. And no, I do not love the 80’s version because I’m an 80’s kid. I’m a 90’s kid thank you very much but I did see it when I was younger along with the other 80's Greek mythology movies. Nor do I even think the original is the best one of Hollywood’s temporary love affair with Greek mythology during the 80s. (That award still goes to Jason and the Argonauts.)

The story, which in the 80’s a very loose adaptation of the story of Perseus and Andromeda, has now been twisted and changed to a story about humanity getting sick of the Olympian God’s and their curses and mood swings and what have you. They try to fight off the shackles and the God’s grow angry enough to threaten the Kingdom of Argos with their giant sea beast the KRAKEN. (Frankly, I like the Pirates in the Caribbean Kraken better.) The bastard son of Zeus is called upon to find Kraken killing weapons, read that as Medusa's head.

Well at least to my delight the movie was much less of a rip off of God of War than I feared. Sure Perseus family is killed by the God’s and sure he wants the God’s to fall, but that is about as much of Kratosic story we get. But then again, maybe in the end it was BAD for the movie to stop there. The film sure as hell could have used a bit more of the God of War emotion rage, because it was lacking any emotion entirely. The movie feels like it doesn’t know what it wants to be. (It knows it doesn’t want decent dialogue though. ZING! )Even the action scenes itself feel clunky and disjointed. And really when the ACTION scenes of the ACTION movie are lacking you can see why I’d say save your money from this.

What astonished me is the extreme lack of human drama in this movie. All the scenes that are not involving monsters or some kind of fight feel so rushed, its like the director himself was just simply BORED of the characters he created and wanted to get back to giant scorpions and a Medusa who is more like a snake with a bra than a half woman half snake hybrid. No one but Worthington gets any real screen time or character development. Even Andromeda herself has one maybe two scene worth giving a damn about and this is where action movies seem to fail over and over again.

I don’t give DAMN how awesome the fight scenes, how scary your monsters are or how powerful or crazy the villain is. When you don’t give a shit about the people having to fight them, then you don’t give a shit about the action. (Unless you’re the kinda douche who LOVES Micheal fucking Bay movies.) How hard is it really to follow that formula Hollywood? All in all, it’s not as bad as Transformers II and I suppose if you just HAVE to get your summer movie blockbuster fix now instead of waiting a few more weeks then maybe you can forgive all the mistakes this movie makes. (I didn’t though.)

P.S. I know I can hear some of you going well was there ANYTHING in this movie he liked? Yes. Mads Mikkelsen. For what little screen time he has he absolutely runs circles around Worthington. I hope we see this guy get some more lead roles now in Hollywood.

P.P.S. I went to the 2D version, because the movie wasn’t SHOT in 3D. The 3D was added afterwards which means barely any of the fucking film is 3D anyways so why spend 2-4 extra dollars on it? If you do go see it see it in 2D save yourself some money. You won’t miss much. I promise you.

[Shekinah]

Alice in Wonderland: Well, what to say? As I expected, I wasn't disappointed but I have to admit, I wasn't entirely satisfied either. Though the visuals were - again - stunning, I believe the 3D aspect didn't really add anything and I have the feeling this wasn't planned in the first stage of making this movie. In fact, I think Disney came up with this plan at the final stage, especially when you consider how many movies are going to be 3D released (only think about Beauty and the Beast for instance) and because of the smashing success Avatar had and I believe most people don't understand the huge difference between the two: where Avatar was filmed in 3D, Alice and other movies were shot in a normal way, and were turned into 3D after the filming was over.

Also, this is by far not Burton's best, but even he has to do a pretty damn good job to be able to surpass his own Big Fish and Edward Scissorhands for two examples. He wasn't able to do that with Alice, though I still believe this is partly due to Disney's involvement in the movie. If you want to see it, go do so, but just don't expect to much out of it, because chances are that you will indeed get disappointed that way. I still don't think the movie was meant to be any more than a good looking drama/action movie and because of that, I'll forgive the movie it's lackness for deeper thoughts, but I do think it's a shame that Burton didn't put Bonham Carter's acting talents/skills more to the test.

The Hurt Locker: First things first: I was really upset when I heard that Avatar was even NOMINATED for Acadamy Award for best picture of the year, even though I think the Academy Awards aren't all that. But to think that a movie that ONLY gained his success because of a 3D filming technique got nominated for best picture of the year... no, I really thought that was shocking. So even before seeing The Hurt Locker, I was already happy that this movie won the best picture of the year Acadamy Award (and I loved the irony in it that Bigelow is Cameron's ex-wife).

Then: I LOVED it! Really, nothing really happens in this movie, it really isn't a real thriller or action movie as we are used to, as we just follow the events of a bomb dismanteling squad in Iraq. But the way this has been filmed... seriously, it got me to the tip of my seat even at moments were I knew what would happen. There's only one thing I really disliked about this movie, one thing that made me think Bigelow dragged it into the movie by its hair, just to have a deeper element of drama, and that's sergeant James' subplot with the boy Beckham. I read comments about soldiers who said this was in no way the real deal, that this was not how things work out there, but then I'm always like: dude, therefor it is a movie, if we're always comparing what we see in a movie to what's real because we know this stuff, I think you should stop watching movies as movies in ESSENCE are fiction. Unless of course it's a (auto)biography, but even then there's almost always an element of fiction.

Either way: I think everyone should watch this.

The House of the Devil: Ti West directed his horror movie in the style of the 80's horror movies and since I'm a fan of 80's movies, and always of horror, I wanted to watch this. When I heard about this, IMDb rated this movie around a 7, now it's down to a 6.6. All I have to say is: even that grade is too high if you ask me. I'm a big fan of terrible and horribly made horror, good for nothing horror, but this one is even worse than that...

[Sighlent]

Kick-Ass: Even though the name is brought about from the character portrayed by Aaron Johnson (who has that whole sexy, nerdy thing going on in case the ladies are interested ;D), Kick-Ass definitely lived up to it's name and then some! However, it wasn't Aaron Johnson's character that wowed me. Sure he was the main guy and all but to be honest, Hit-Girl (Chloe Moretz) was by FAR the most amazing character in that movie. I mean, when she got to kicking ass there was no denying the fact that all eyes were on her! Coolest 11 year old EVER! Also, Nicolas Cage when he did have his singular bad ass kick butt scene, seemed pretty damn awesome however his whole mustache just creeped me out. I was a little disappointed with Christopher Mintz-Plasse's character Red Mist and just his character in general. I mean he really didn't do much, and what he did do made me want to punch him in his gonads.

Anyway, definitely a MUST SEE movie!!!!

[Shekinah]

I really want to see Kick-Ass! I'm just so disappointed by Nicolas Cage being in it... In my eyes he's the next biggest non-actor in our age next to Keanu Reeves :S

[Squall Reyes]

While I may be too busy to write a full review of Kick Ass I will say this. Nic Cage IS a great actor. Though he is not an award winning one he plays his roles so well that you cannot but help to like the movie. (See Face Off, National Treasures) However recently he has begun a small move to serious acting chops. (See Bad Lieutenant before making any judgments of that statement.) The same is true in Kick Ass, while Hit Girl makes the movie, Nic Cage as Big Daddy glues the movie together. Sadly though HOW he plays the character may be lost to anyone who was born after the 80's.

[Sighlent]

I got how he was. My grandmother was that way with me, she always called me baby girl, and baby doll. She also called me Honey Bee too but that was more of a personal name.

[Cypher]

While I may be too busy to write a full review of Kick Ass I will say this. Nic Cage IS a great actor. Though he is not an award winning one he plays his roles so well that you cannot but help to like the movie. (See Face Off, National Treasures) However recently he has begun a small move to serious acting chops. (See Bad Lieutenant before making any judgments of that statement.) The same is true in Kick Ass, while Hit Girl makes the movie, Nic Cage as Big Daddy glues the movie together. Sadly though HOW he plays the character may be lost to anyone who was born after the 80's.

Educate me. I always liked 80s movies.

[Spectre]

I saw How to train Your Dragon earlier and i loved it.

At first i hated the main character's voice and didn't think it fit, however i was quickly able to see past it and accept it as a minor flaw in casting. However the voice timing and the actual 'acting' is very good, it's just his voice is rather... i dunno. Annoying?

Anyhow. I very much enjoyed the movie, and would definitely recommend it to just about anyone, really. Cinematography was pretty good too, they had one of the guys who frequents with the Coen Brothers to help 'em out with lighting and stuff for the scenes. Ah. So much life to the dragon, too. It was so cute, and fierce at the same time. Totally worth the theater visit!

[Squall Reyes]

While I may be too busy to write a full review of Kick Ass I will say this. Nic Cage IS a great actor. Though he is not an award winning one he plays his roles so well that you cannot but help to like the movie. (See Face Off, National Treasures) However recently he has begun a small move to serious acting chops. (See Bad Lieutenant before making any judgments of that statement.) The same is true in Kick Ass, while Hit Girl makes the movie, Nic Cage as Big Daddy glues the movie together. Sadly though HOW he plays the character may be lost to anyone who was born after the 80's.

Educate me. I always liked 80s movies.

Not so much 80's movies my friend. Let me just say this, remember how Cage acted as Big Daddy. Now if you were born in the 80's or even early 90's try and think back to the old reruns of the 60's Batman show with Adam West they showed daily at about this time. (Or better yet just watch them again online.) Ok, so watch a few of those old episodes and think back to Big Daddy. Prepare for mind being blown.

[Cypher]

So it was retro-campy and hopped up on amphetamines? I'm sorry, I'm leaping into this without having seen the movie yet.

[Squall Reyes]

(Cypher You might have seen it already but if not. No I'm talking about how his character has an uncanny similarity to Adam West. A murderous Adam West, which is AWESOME.)

So yes I'm back. I know it's been a while. But quite frankly work, wedding and life does matter more than my little movie rants. I missed a lot of films so I'll do short summaries.

*Looks back what movies came out the last few weeks......Looks harder* Huh you know what not much came out after Clash of God of War. (NO I WILL NOT STOP MAKING THAT JOKE!) Ok well maybe I'll put a bit larger reviews. Here we go.

Kick Ass: As a fan of the comics this movie was based off of, and given Hollywood's still horrible record of making comic movies that don't suck. (Unless your marvel studios, Chris Nolan, or Sam Rami (2/3 ain't bad...I guess)) You could understand my concern when I heard about Kick Ass being made into a movie. My fears however had slowly been turned to excitement as the months went on with the announcements of directors, stars and trailers. And at the peak of said excitement I saw said movie and I have to say one thing.

I was not disappointed. The book was always being held back by never quite figuring out if it wanted to be a black comedy or a kids introduction to comics. The movie removes this problem by simply going into black comedy. And by black I mean as black as the buckets of blood spilled in this film. Needless to say the scene stealer was Hit Girl and Big Daddy. (Nicolas Cage playing as a parody of Batman may just be the best film Batman ever. No REALLY.) In the end you've either seen it and liked it, never had an interest and passed it up or seen it and hated it and are fucking retarded.

The Losers: This one is easy. The opposite of Kick Ass. Fan boy went from joy to anger over the weeks. And this movie didn't make the grade.

Nightmare on Elm Street: HORRIBLE. Don't see it! Want to know why it's bad? Two words. Platinum Dunes. Don't know what that is? It's a movie company run by the slime of the movie industry. Micheal Bay! Stay away. Stay FAR AWAY. Jackie Earl Haley does his best to save this train wreck but not even his epic basassness can.

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