I was surprised by how much I loved this movie. It's a great take on american crime movies, with some fantastic character development, great acting, lots of style and some truly great robbery scenes. It's one of those movies that critics like so much due to its near perfect blend of emotion and intellect, as well as its methodical and intentional filmmaking. Heartily recommended.
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Emma Stone is why you should see this movie. She is quirky, cute, funny, confident and perfectly cast in this parody of 80s movies with a twist. Sure, the story takes some rather cheesy turns near the ending, but it's all in good heart, and it's not like you watch this sort of movie to find a new meaning to your life. Tons of fun, and will make you love Emma Stone.
This is what gaming was always prophecised to be - an interactive movie that is entirely dependent on your actions. If you don't run fast enough, you will get caught - but the game keeps going, you've only changed the outcome. If you don't see an important clue, you might not catch the killer in time. If a character dies, he stays dead. It's a very exciting mechanic, and it makes the action sequences vastly more exciting to know that you can really fail. It's a shame, then, that the game is lacklustre in the actual game department - walking controls are clunky, the camera is annoying, and sometimes your frantic button mashes don't register. But frankly, the story is so ridiculously engaging, and the system makes for such amazing moments that you don't really care about all that other "game" stuff. This is a taste of the future.
There are only three characters in this sharply written and constantly surprising film, yet tensions are always near breaking point and intrigue is always bursting at the seams. There are more twists than I thought possible within this structure, and the actors do a great job with what is a very actor-dependent script. All in all, a very cunning and intelligent yet emotional and brutal film that will please thriller fans.
Well, you've heard all about this game already, and the reviews had it right. The graphics are still mind-blowing 3 years later, but the gameplay never strays far from mediocrity. The beginning portions of the game when you can roam around freely and choose how to approach your objectives are the high point of the game, and the unremarkable linear alien sections of the late-game are the low point. The game is definitely not bad - it has its moments - but there are many, many superior shooters out there.
I watched this because it's seen very highly by many comedians and actors (Michael Cera, for instance), but I was expecting something much better than a decent parody of 80s summer camp movies. The movie has 3-4 truly great moments, but it's dissolved by average everything else - it's quite reminiscent of SNL. It's worth watching and you'll definitely be entertained, but it's not the comedic masterpiece some people make it out to be.
This is a very strange movie, playing off the fact that it knowingly has no point - much like Burn After Reading. The characters are stupid but supremely memorable and brilliantly acted (my favourite is "Jesus"), and the filmmaking from the Coen Brothers is top notch. Basically, it's weird and random, but somehow the directing and acting makes it all feel completely intentionally unintentional.
Probably my second favourite Will Ferrell movie after "Stranger Than Fiction". This movie actually feels like it has some heart behind it. The jokes are still classic Ferrell, but instead of running through the motions like in, say, "Land Of The Lost", he seems to be creating them as he goes (which makes sense considering it's his first movie after quitting SNL). The character of Ron Burgundy is also decidedly superior to Ferrell's other characters, and the backing cast here is above-average for this kind of movie as well (especially in the hilarious battle royale scene which includes a ton of awesome cameos). The movie doesn't do much in the way of story, but it does have a neat setting and theme that feel relatively original. So basically, it's an above-average Will Ferrell movie, which means it's just a "good" movie in my book.
In a sentence:
Will Ferrell plays an interesting character in an interesting setting with some above-average actors alongside him, and a higher than usual good-joke-to-bad-joke ratio. So it's an above-average Ferrell comedy.
This wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It's actually got a couple of really good jokes among the cheesy "trying-too-hard" SNL humour, but in the end, the story wasn't anywhere near as engaging enough to get me through the movie in one sitting, and it basically felt like a lame american take on Hot Fuzz. Guess it can be fun to watch with some friends, but clever this ain't.
In a sentence:
The acting ranges from great to dreadful and the story basically treats you like a 4-year-old, but it's got some nice moments and some jokes that actually aren't half bad.
Generally speaking, I'm not much of a horror fan. They're fun to watch at night with some friends for the excitement factor, but as art they usually fail (with a few notable exceptions, notably Raimi's work). This movie comes close to being very good, and it would have been had the last 5-10 minutes been completely cut out. You see, the film develops the main character - a preacher who has lost his faith and now wants to expose Exorcisms as a sham - in a surprisingly effective way, using the handheld documentary filming style quite well throughout. The real stroke of genius, though, is that the movie keeps you wondering for most of the movie whether this girl really is possessed or if it's all psychological. You do see some freaky stuff, but it can be explained... kinda... or maybe not... well, maybe. You get the point.
But then, just as the movie seems to be ending on what I think is a hugely original and well-crafted tone, it does a 180, gives you a crappy and entirely random ending, and ruins everything that it built up to. Too bad.
In a sentence:
If you stop watching this movie about 5 minutes before the ending, it's a surprisingly original and well crafted bit of horror. If you see the copout ending, it's just another horror.
Boobs and gore. That's all this movie is ever going to offer you. Actually, offer is the wrong word - "shovel into your face" is a more apt expression here. I honestly do not think a more disturbingly gory and gratuitously nudity-exploitative film has ever been made. Naked girls swimming in slow-motion in the ocean get interrupted with people being gnawed to the bone, getting their eyeballs ripped off, screaming in agony, and generally just bleeding everywhere. As a crazy over-the-top parody of Jaws, this works beautifully; just know what you're getting into beforehand, because this is a terribly generic movie otherwise. If you watch this, it's because you're with a group of friends, and in the mood for some insane gore and nudity in 3D. Honestly, you can't get better than this movie if that's what you're after.
In a sentence:
Unprecedented amounts of gore and nudity in the context of an overdone (classic?) killer fish story framework. Fantastic to watch with a group of guy friends.
It kinda shows that this wasn't made by the same people, both in a good and a bad way. The good news is that this movie seems to have regained some life since the last one, and it tries some new things instead of just going through the motions once more. The bad news is that said new things aren't necessarily better. In fact, this movie was even less funny than the already mediocre second outing, leaving it so far removed from the original that it feels like it shouldn't even be in the same series. Okay, there are some pretty funny moments, but it's never even close to being as clever as "The Naked Gun: From The Files From Police Squad!" or, for that matter, "Airplane!". Plus, the leading lady, already useless in the second movie, is now more annoying and cheesy than ever, somehow finding a way to make her age difference with Leslie Nielsen feel weirder than usual.
Basically, stick to the first movie from this series - ignore the rest.
In a sentence:
Continuing the decline in quality since the first film, this has some good moments but is marred by a convoluted plot, an annoying female lead and no remaining traces of cleverness.
Eric's Reviews
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- I watch a ton of movies and TV Shows and play a ton of games, which is rather unproductive. So, I have decided to review as many things as I can, to at least get something that might be useful to others out of it. Sorry if I end up bashing a movie you like, as I'm in critic mode when I write here. In reality, I can enjoy every movie, even zero star ones! Hope you enjoy the site!
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