Change Your Image
broen99
Reviews
Burke & Hare (2010)
A bit stiff
This is what happens when you put two actors who shouldn't be anything but support in the lead. Pegg and Serkis are great when they don't have to carry the entire movie or at least when the antagonists have bigger parts. That being said you might get the idea that I don't like the two. This isn't the case it just feels like they are going a bit will Ferrel on me. Playing the characters they have become rather than the characters they were hired to play.
Its definitely a case of the just going through the motions. So many lines which should have been hilarious just made me go hmmm. The biggest chuckles I got from this movie were from the kind of physical gag that you could see pretty much any comedian do.
I wont go over what pretty much every other reviewer good or bad did. I will merely say that the fact that there is like 0.01 Scottish people in this movie must have become a rolling joke on set because no one seems to have taken it very seriously.
For the 10 seconds bill Bailey, Christopher lee and Stephen merchant were on screen couldn't they have switched them out for some real Scots? Finally was I the only one who immediately thought that Peter Capaldi should have played the bartender(small as the part was)? No one swears like that man.
The Pacific (2010)
And the award for worst line goes to...
I believe in ammunition.
What the hell is this? They lost me with this line. Spent the whole first half crying and now he's Rambo.
If you are going to re-write historical figures do it consistently. That was the biggest problem with character development. Yes there was character development but its was so schizophrenically written that each character became a new one every other scene.
The action was terrible. You can tell the researchers slacked off. Every battle is nothing more than a shot of blinking lights while Spielberg's go-fer throws dirt at the lens. In Band of Brothers the lines of both Americans and Germans were identifiable. The tactics they used were outlined perfectly. Not so in The Pacific. Someone obviously said "hey how are we going to shoot this?" to which the reply came " we'll throw dirt at the cam while shaking it and yelling". "What about the really epic battles?" came the voice again "we'll use some leftover jungle set" was the reply.
Comparing it to band unfair? The pacific was marketed as the spiritual successor of Band so not really. This is a soap opera plain and simple. populist marketing at its worst. The problem is they are just trying to make it too accessible. That's called pandering and ultimately makes the show less accessible.
Yume jû-ya (2006)
Brilliant
This is one of those films that is extremely Japanese. From my western perspective I would put it in the same field as Izo.
The only section i didn't like was the animated bit. Which was extremely on the nose in its symbolism and metaphor. It kind of felt like I was watching something a depressed high-schooler would make in A/V class. The rest of the film is refreshing in its weirdness. The first film especially got me excited for what was ahead. The use of lighting and even the filming of the set exterior were marvelous. Giving the feel that this was not just a story but an ever recurring drama. the characters are not actors but the constant and immovable forces which inhabit the land of tears.
Besouro (2009)
Amazing
Let me just say that I would have given it a 10 had it not been for some pacing problems.
This is not a historical account so much as a spiritual one. Spirit being what Besouro has tons of. Given what the average person looks for in a hero its easy to see why some wont get this movie. Also while history does take a backseat to the soul and legend of the story. A knowledge of history is important to the understanding of the people and the general climate amongst ex-slaves.
If you are expecting a boot-to-the-head-fest you will be disappointed. If you are looking for a film about The trials of a people and their ability to overcome this is for you.
From Paris with Love (2010)
Glad I didn't pay to see this
Ignore the terrible story, Ignore the cookie-cutter characters, the implausible scenarios and actions of said characters.
Its the action that makes this movie crap. Its an average buddy cop movie (switch cop for spy) now insert every action movie staple you can think of. Triads with uzis, Check. Gunfight in mannequin warehouse, Check. Unstoppable rampage through a major city with no ramifications, Check. Faceless enemies with unclear motives, Check. Main character betrayed by lover, Check. Slow motion explosions, Checkaroo. Car chase.....
If the above paragraph seems drawn out its because thats how the movie was. Throughout, Like i said above it felt like a cop movie. It almost seems like this was written to be about two cops in over their heads. Travolta's character is the absolute picture of the hard boiled vice cop. If this movie had been about regular cops I probably would have liked it. But the image of a secret agent acting with such reckless abandon is utterly unbelievable. People like that get 'disappeared' for blowing their cover.