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bougheyrm
Reviews
Beautiful Creatures (2013)
Okay but it could have been better - major spoilers so don't read if you haven't seen the movie or read the book
An okay movie rather than Twilight bad. Unlike Twilight the characters are at least distantly likable but it does share the latters bad habbit of thinking that doing nothing for ages is actually interesting.
I always think that it's so unfair to have actors (Jeremy Irons and Emma Thompson) in a movie like this as everyone else just looks like they're waiting to say their lines. To be fair Alden Ehrenreich is okay but that's about it. The film has a very nice natural look at first but then descends into a very garish CGI wizarding world that looks more like the Adams Family than anything else.
I've not read the book so I've no idea if that doesn't make sense or if the movie makers simply forgot to put in part of the story but it certainly doesn't hang together...
spoilers to save him Lena makes Ethan forget her but over the next six months no one in the town asks them why they've split up? The town is hit by a massive storm than appears to, at least, injury a lot of people but no one comments? Macon dies but Ethan doesn't say he's sorry to his niece Lena? Okay I know it's not drama but come on how much suspension of belief are we asking for here.
Cloud Atlas (2012)
I saw this free on a preview and nearly walked out
Okay I didn't pay to see this and I nearly went home early. At 172 minutes it's too long and whilst well made and well acted it's tedious (which really is a terrible thing to say of any movie). The post-apocalyptic Hawaii story is actually entertaining and you get the feeling that if they'd made that one and ejected the book they'd have actually got people to see the movie. Tom Hanks is surprisingly good (again especially in the future segment) but no one else really gets going (to be fair Ben Whishaw is very good as Robert Frobisher but let's be honest that's like fish in barrel and might as well have been a BBC period drama - or an episode of Morse/Lewis). Of the others Jim Broadbent comes out the best and is excellent but again both his Vyvyan Ayrs and Young Cavendish characters seem to be from the set of a BBC drama.
It's not that anything is that bad and certainly the movie looks nice but it's too long and you really don't care.
Iron Sky (2012)
Great to see at the cinema in the UK
In the Uk it's today or never to see Iron Sky at the cinema so I went along this lunch time and really enjoyed it.
I thought it was well made and it (mostly) worked well. The thing that does let it down is the writing rather than the effects or the acting (though to be honest most of the acting is a little over the top). It really could have used someone to tidy away some of the worst of the script and it only really has a couple of moments of humour - I'm not sure how many of those are intended.
In our show the subtitles were too low (no idea if this was the projectionist or the film) but this added to the amount of subtitling isn't going to go down too well at the cinema so maybe they were right to only show it briefly at the cinema.
Obviously they want to do a Mars sequel and I'd be happy with that.
Serbuan maut (2011)
Absolutely great to watch this at the cinema
I saw this recently at a Showcase and was so pleased that they would show a subtitled film at a mainstream cinema. Admittedly I was with just two other people but
I really enjoyed this movie; it's taught and doesn't bother with much back story or fiddling about (and this includes the end which is just that). There are some niggles: why aren't the police better armed and as ever why is it so complicated when you have the gun and the other person doesn't – compare this to Statham's "Safe" for a comparison. The fight scenes are excellent and very balletic – I particularly like the first corridor hand to hand scene with it's very clever de-weaponing fight.
A word about the colour: it's shot very dark but unlike some films that take this approach that doesn't make it impossible to see what's happening. When colour does appear it seems strange and I'm not sure how much this contrast was planned.
Overall an enjoyable movie, if you like single storyline fight films.
Gantz (2010)
Great moments but generally not great
I've never read manga series or watched the TV show but after seeing this title knocking around for a while I decided to rent it and give it a go.
I enjoyed it and thought that there were some great moments in it. I love the teleport effect of slicing the person (although I notice that there is the usual Star Trek transporter quirk that sometimes people arrive as they were sent but at other times they don't). I also like the basic concept of a hidden war (and that it's not too certain who are the good guys.
Yuriko Yoshitaka is stunning to look at but has nothing to do (Ken'ichi Matsuyama as Kato is the same to be honest). The down side is that there are occasions when terrible decisions are taken simply because no one could (presumably) think of a better way to write the scene. for example when Kato is killed it takes forever to die during which time Kurono could have been trying to kill the alien and so save him.
Overall a good and some pleasing design
The Samaritan (2012)
Okay but strangely it doesn't really engage
Love Samuel L. Jackson and I enjoyed this film but it just doesn't do it for me. Where is the real sense of dislocation after twenty five years inside? Why doesn't anyone resolve anything by taking other decision?
It's only 90 minutes long but in reality the story is about 45 minutes long. It would make a great piece of TV and really that might have been the place for it.
I liked the character of Foley but to be honest the father/daughter thing wasn't very interesting and yes there was the pat reason for why he just doesn't kill Ethan but overall there was nothing that made me want to watch it again.
Piranha 3DD (2012)
A let down
It's not that I had any high hopes for this movie but the first one was funny and tightly executed (admittedly some of the actors were very poor - I'm looking at you Jerry O'Connell). This one is very predictable and showed a remarkable lack of any sense of human biology or basic plumbing. The main shock to make sure that this was an 18 rated movie was sign posted so far in advance that it was simply dull when it arrived. The 3d was remarkable low key this time and in all honesty this will play better at home on the telly simply because you can have a laugh with your mates and talk about something else whilst the dull bits are on.