Submitted by GuyGG on Sun, 03/14/2010 - 12:59am
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One thing is for sure, I'm officially sick of handheld camera work. Aside from that, I found this to be a well made, engaging and rather clever thriller. Many jokingly refer to this as the fourth Bourne film, and to be fair it kinda works well as one. Most of what made the Bourne films what they were are here as well, never mind the same star, director and many others amongst the crew. The acting is well done, the production is fantastic, the editing is slick (the movie moves forward at a breathless pace) and the cinematography is quite good if they could only find camera operators who weren't in the late stages of Parkinson's.
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Submitted by GuyGG on Sat, 03/13/2010 - 12:59am
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I suppose comedy is something of a subjective like or dislike kinda thing, but I will say that this one worked very well for me. I'm a fan of Jay Baruchel and TJ Miller (and Lindsay Sloane, who gets a rather thankless role in this film), so it had that going for it automatically. But the charming and goofball sense of humor of the film comes through nicely. It's certainly edgy when it wants to be, but it never loses that core, simple charm.
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Submitted by GuyGG on Tue, 03/09/2010 - 12:59am
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For the record, I've never been much of a fan of Alice In Wonderland in general. I thought this was a well produced and imaginative enough variation on it, but only moderately enjoyed it. I didn't have any huge problems with it, just that it didn't do much beyond basic entertainment for me. The highlight for me was seeing the Tron Legacy trailer for the first time, and in glorious IMAX 3D.
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Submitted by GuyGG on Tue, 03/02/2010 - 12:59am
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Is it surprising that this feels like little more than a lamer knock off of recent rom-com films like (the vastly superior) He's Just Not That Into You? No, particularly since this film gives story credit to the writers of He's Just Not That Into You. Overall, this film isn't horrible, and is harmless enough to entertain. But the plot is spread too thin, amongst characters that aren't well enough defined nor given time for the talented cast to really sink their teeth into. In particular, Bradley Cooper & Julia Roberts get almost nothing to work with. Emma Roberts gets the best chance to shine.
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Submitted by GuyGG on Sun, 02/28/2010 - 12:59am
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One of those very rare examples of a horror film remake that's better than the original. To be fair, the low budget original 1973 film isn't exactly the greatest horror film ever made. This remake is a very slick production, with a great cast and an effective enough genre script. With well paced editing, it really moves along nicely, too. Olyphant & Mitchel are two of my favorite actors, and they do a great job with this film. Overall, certainly one of the best horror films in recent years.
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Submitted by GuyGG on Sat, 02/27/2010 - 12:59am
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A disappointing Kevin Smith directed movie. I get the idea of doing a throw-back buddy cop film, and like certain elements that they did pull off. But for each joke or scene that does work, there is at least one that is awkward at best. Add to the fact that Tracy Morgan is an actor that only works in small doses (and quickly grows tiresome on screen in a full feature length film), and you've got a comedy with problems. Even the great Adam Brody can't save things. At least Harold Faltermeyer's perfectly retro buddy-cop score hits the mark very well.
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Submitted by GuyGG on Sun, 02/21/2010 - 12:59am
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Beautifully shot, wonderfully edited and brilliantly performed. I've never hid the fact that I'm not much of a Scorsese fan, but this is a great thriller. It's certainly my favorite Scorsese film to date (The Aviator's the only previous film of his I particularly liked). DiCaprio, clearly a favorite actor of Scorsese with this being their fourth consecutive project together, comes through with a spot-on performance. And the script comes through in interesting ways. Overall, fantastic flick.
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Submitted by GuyGG on Thu, 02/18/2010 - 12:59am
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The cast certainly elevates this beyond the obvious movie-of-the-week that it likely would have been (heck, the movie is produced by CBS Films). While it has some of the flaws you would expect from the genre (including a way-too-saccharine finale and a couldn't-be-more-generic-if-it-tried score from Andrea Guerra), it turned out to be better than I was expecting. This ain't no fantastic film or the like, but it's certainly engaging and entertaining enough to work.
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Submitted by GuyGG on Sun, 02/14/2010 - 12:59am
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A great cast and highly experienced crew bring a decent script to life. It's actually kinda hard to believe this movie finally got released, as trailers for it have been playing for a LONG time. I may not always love Hopkins as an actor, but when he's playing older, wealthy characters, he's always great, as he is here. Del Toro and Blunt may not have perfect chemistry, but they do a good job. Weaving is his usually dry self, and it works very well. The visual effects aren't perfect, but they are certainly good enough. Overall, it was very enjoyable, and better than I was expecting (given the studio's constant delays).
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Submitted by GuyGG on Sat, 02/13/2010 - 12:59am
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Pierce Brosnan, Sean Bean, Steve Coogan, Catherine Keener, Uma Thurman, etc, etc, etc. How in the world do you get such a cool roster of co-stars and drop the ball so completely? This movie was such a generic bore that I was very happy once it finally came to an end. Were I to have had somewhere I needed to get to, I probably would have walked out near the end.
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Submitted by GuyGG on Sun, 02/07/2010 - 12:59am
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An utterly ridiculous action movie, but it's darn fun. With two lead cast members who have no interest in reality, but rather try and have as much fun as possible chewing up the scenery and dialog, I couldn't help but have a great time watching the destruction and mayhem. Director Pierre Morel did a surprisingly great job with Taken, which helped make up for District B-13. This might not be quite as great as Taken, but it's still a fun action flick.
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Submitted by GuyGG on Sat, 02/06/2010 - 12:59am
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A highly effective "what if" thriller. From the beautiful cinematography to the surprisingly realistic production, this is one of those modest budget films that in no way feels low budget. With nearly the full film centered around just three characters, it's a good thing they got a great, and relatively unknown, cast. I was familiar with Shawn Ashmore (Veronica Mars, The Ruins, The X-Men films, etc), but not the other two main cast members. They all did a nice job. This is definitely a highly recommend little undiscovered gem of a film
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Submitted by GuyGG on Fri, 02/05/2010 - 12:59am
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A somewhat silly apocalyptic thriller that works somewhat thanks largely to a great cast and a pretty good production. When you put Paul Bettany and Dennis Quaid into the mix, it's hard to completely fail. Those two will lend gravitas to pretty much anything. Heck, Quaid even managed to make Jaws 3D entertaining (well, sort of). Not a great end-of-the-world movie, but far from the worst.
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Submitted by GuyGG on Sun, 01/31/2010 - 12:59am
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As a major fan of Kristen Bell, I naturally had to see this one no matter what. Frankly, it's the cast that makes this cast movie work at all. The script is every kind of silly and predictable. The direction is pedestrian at best. The production at least pulled off some nice Guggenheim Museum footage (then again, The International did it to a much more impressive degree). But it's the cast who rose to the challenge to try and make it work. Bell & Duhamel do a nice job with the lead roles, and the supporting cast really hams it up and makes their roles fun. Hardly a great romantic comedy, but it works well enough to be adequately entertaining.
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Submitted by GuyGG on Sat, 01/30/2010 - 12:59am
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You know, I could watch Mel Gibson and Ray Winstone in their respective characters for an entire film. The two of them are fantastic individually, but absolute magic together. The low keyed menace and respect between the two is spot-on perfect. Solid production lends a lot to the film, such as Martin Campbell's steady direction and Stuart Baird's experienced editing. Not an absolutely perfect script, but a very good genre story. And for the record, I've not seen the series this is based on, so I've got no basis of comparison. One thing is for sure, it's great to have the return of Mel Gibson. Hurray!
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