Army of Two: The 40th Day

What's interesting about this game is the clash between great ideas and terrible ones. On one end, you've got the fantastic team mechanics, great weapon customization, fun levels and original set pieces, but on the other end, you've got a bad interface, a strange control scheme, a bland colour palette and, worst of all, horribly placed checkpoints before unskippable cutscenes. These bad aspects of the game never really ruin it (though the checkpoints come close), but they're really kind of a shame, as this could've been a far better game with just a bit more polish.

Still, this manages to remain very fun to play with a friend, and presents you with a rare thing: tough moral decisions. I found myself totally stumped more than once, not knowing which choice was morally sound. The final decision you make is probably the hardest and most ethically grey decision I've seen in a video game.

It's not worth buying, but a rental with a friend is highly recommended, so long as you prepare yourself for a bit of fiddling.

In a sentence:

Tons of fun with a friend and has some great moments, but hindered by poor design choices and a poor interface.

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Couples Retreat

The reviews for this were pretty bad, but I think that's mainly because the trailers made it seem like this was a comedy. In fact, this is more like a lighthearted romance with a few jokes, and there's nothing wrong with that, really. The life lessons are caricatured and not really shown with much subtlety, but they're well-chosen and pertinent to a lot of people, which means some people might really associate with the story. The plot itself is fairly relaxed and not all that original, but it makes for a very enjoyable movie to watch to just unwind. The fantastic location where this takes place definitely adds to that with some ridiculously beautiful and paradisiac spots and general atmospheres.

All in all, this is a great film to watch as a couple to just cool off. It won't get you to laugh that much, but you'll have fun nonetheless.

In as sentence:

Not that original or funny, but a great cast and a fantastic location end up making this film quite enjoyable despite its faults.

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The Rocker

As you can imagine, this is an extremely predictable film with a pretty generic script. Nonetheless, the actors make valiant efforts to save the movie, and in the end this actually ends up being a really fun and relaxing flick. The portrayal of recording labels as being comprised of evil, profiteering losers is pretty fun (despite them not being nearly evil and dumb enough), and the original music is surprisingly good. Generally speaking this is a great movie to watch with friends.

In a sentence:

Formulaic and predictable film + Rainn Wilson and Emma Stone = really fun film!

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An Education

This is a kind of peculiar film, in the sense that it's never addressed how creepy it is that a 30-plus-year old man is going out with a 16-year old girl. Admittedly, the girl is very mature for her age, but the blind acceptance from everyone around her is nonetheless odd.

Once you get over that, though, this is actually a really interesting film that analyses the pertinence of an education in a very satisfying way. By the end of it, you feel like you've really been shown the advantages and disadvantages of both choices (education or none). The writing is believable and the acting is fantastic, but the cinematography feels a bit lifeless, although that might be on purpose.

Basically, this is a very interesting character piece to watch with some themes that are pertinent to a lot of people. It does have some flaws, but they do not end up bringing the whole picture down.

In a sentence:

Displays fantastic acting and good writing, but bland cinematography and an above-average level of creepiness.

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Fantastic Mr. Fox

When I first saw trailers for this, I wasn't sure if I was really going to like it. It looked oddly calm and possibly dull, and the animation seemed choppy. Turns out those are actually qualities. This film oozes with style and heart, and the calm and unique style is integral to that. It's actually quite fascinating in context, and not annoying like I expected. One particular scene involving a rat threatening one of the secondary characters to a beat was pure genius.

There's a crazy amount of artistic vision in the making of this film; characters never do what you'd expect, and nearly everything that happens in this movie has a twist that makes it much cooler, be it visually, auditory, conceptually or atmospherically. As for the voice acting, it is excellent and nuanced, with some great casting, and contributes very well to the whole feel of the movie.

In a sentence:

An extremely cute and simple little movie with some surprisingly smart and original artistic flourishes, and some excellent voice work.

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King Kong (2005)

I'd forgotten how much fun this movie was! It's got a sense of adventure that you don't really find nowadays, slowly building up the voyage to get you excited, then throwing everyone in a new and strange world, and climaxing with the classic King Kong New York rampage. In terms of emotional depth, it's not the most three-dimensional thing in the world, but it does get you thinking quite a lot about what should or could have happened, as well as analyzing Kong himself. The story structure itself is perfect, however, and the dialogue works despite a few cheesy lines. The acting is fantastic, with Jack Black's best performance of his career and a mesmerizing Naomi Watts.

However, the strength of this film, much like Avatar, is transporting you to a new world. Creatures are strange and scary (though in a 1930s way instead of in a 2154 way), the visuals are still fantastic five years on, and Kong shows layers of emotional depth you probably won't find in any other movie animal. You really do get to care about him, likely enough to get some people to cry at the end, which in my mind is a success on all fronts.

If there is one thing that bugged me, though, it would be the dramatic pauses when characters look at each other. Maybe it was because of the Extended Edition re-edit, but those things just lasted too long... I mean, Ann would sit there with a Dinosaur behind her, pause... wait... wait... sloooowly turn around.... wait.... and THEN the dinosaur would rawr. Or there would be a 10 second shot of her staring at Jack, and then one of Jack staring at her. Shaving a second or two off might've helped a bit. Still, it's relatively minor.

Then there's the length, which is admittedly pretty ridiculous at 3h21 for the Extended Edition and 3h08 for the Original Release. Frankly, though, I think it's easily justifiable as I never got bored. Cutting anything out would have lowered the overall quality of the film.

This is probably my third favourite remake/reboot (after Star Trek and Casino Royale), which considering the amount of remakes coming out these days is a pretty big compliment. It's certainly not something everyone will like, but those that can get into the awesome 1930s adventurer vibe will have a blast.

In a sentence:

A long but fascinating, brilliantly produced and excellently acted adventure through 1930s nostalgia. They don't make movies like this anymore.

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Stranger Than Fiction

Wow, what a poetic film. It's very much the kind of poesy rife with metaphors, hidden meanings, artistic indulgences and intimacy that you'd normally find in literature. The story would lend itself perfectly to a full analysis, as many different things could be taken out of it depending on context and perception. The ending has a slight "the Studio messed with it" kind of feel, but contrary to custom, it's actually handled well and ends up making sense in the grand scheme of things. The acting is excellent but very subtle, the cinematography is original and well-handled and the pacing is generally excellent.

All in all, literature fans would definitely get a kick out of this, as would anyone looking for one of those rarer intelligently and silently poetic films.

In a sentence:

An excellent and very deep script is supported by great acting and cinematography, resulting in a very smart little movie.

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Drag Me To Hell

This getting five stars has a lot to do with how emotionally wrecked I feel right now after watching this film. The first thing you need to know is that it's directed by Evil Dead director Sam Raimi. The second thing you need to know is that he's only gotten better since then.

This film has some of the most batshit insane things I've ever seen on a screen, and doesn't even consider holding back on the disgusting things and the perfectly timed jumps. All the while, it keeps a sort of tongue-in-cheek approach to it, which means that sometimes in addition to going "OH HOLY MOTHER OF MOSES!!" you also burst out laughing. One moment in particular will most likely go down as my favourite scene involving gore from any movie I've seen (it's the one involving... er... a heavy metal object, if you watch it). Through all this, the pacing stays spot on in every aspect, and you never feel a dull moment. It toys with you, managing a few times to bring you some jumps that you didn't actually anticipate beforehand, which is a rare feat these days in horror films. Even when you do anticipate them, they're never quite what you'd expect.

Acting-wise, Alison Lohman is so good that I really wonder why she isn't more famous. Much like Bruce Campbell before her, she walks the fine line between horror and comedy with skill, only leaning one way when it'll actually be beneficial. Lorna Raver plays the perfect evil old lady with surprising talent, and Justin Long is, miraculously, not annoying in this movie. All in all, this adds up to what is now by far my favourite horror movie.

Oh yeah, and the last act is genius.

In a sentence:

Perfect pacing, acting, lighting and a mastery of the horror/comedy genre results in a movie that is probably Raimi's best, and thus my favourite horror movie.

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Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Well, chalk this one up for another GOTY award. In fact, this is probably one of the greatest games I've ever played, and is right up there with Call of Duty in terms of cinematic scope (although it does so with finesse rather than mind-melting explosions). Not that explosions and building collapses are scarce, but they're experienced in a much more engaging and edge-of-your-seat fashion than anything that's been created up to this point. In fact, this is one of the things that make this game so memorable and addicting: you're always just on the verge of dying, yet somehow the game manages to guide you through the chaos in an inexplicably effective way, which makes for some incredible sequences. Even when the game slows down, the set pieces, environments and scripted events remain genius.

Gameplay-wise, it's like a mix of Gears of War shooting (with better controls and more polish) and Tomb Raider/Prince of Persia-esque platforming (with better controls and more originality). The graphics, while not as impressive in context as were Gears of War or Crysis when they came out, are still absolutely legendary. Environments are lush and vividly detailed, and despite the game taking place almost exclusively in Borneo and in Nepal, every chapter manages to feel fresh and newly fascinating.

The story and script are surprisingly excellent, actually keeping you interested in what is happening and how the characters feel. The banter between Nate and his partners is witty and reminded me a lot of the 2008 Prince of Persia game, except better executed (characters quip context-sensitive lines that often make you smile, or in some cases match exactly what you are thinking at the time, e.g. "OH SHIT!"). The voice acting is among the best I've ever heard in a game (I'm talking movie-quality stuff here).

Now for the downside. The second half of the game is hard. Like, die-4-to-5-times-at-certain-parts hard. Turning the difficulty down to Easy would've probably solved it, but while I eventually managed to figure out a way to get through, dying so often ended up somewhat breaking the near-death mechanic that the game had been pulling off so masterfully since the beginning of the game. Easing up a little on the one-shot-kills and crazy rampaging villains might've been better, though in context it does somewhat make sense. It's a small problem, though, as the game ends up being just as fun by trading in some immersion for some challenge.

This is a game every person who calls him or herself a gamer cannot allow themselves to miss. You must play it. Period.

In a sentence:

Jaw-dropping visuals, incredible set pieces, mechanics, controls, polish, writing, voice acting and general design add up to the best game of 2009 and one of the greatest games of all time.

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True Romance

Pretty standard stuff here. It was written by Tarantino, so the dialogue is generally excellent, but otherwise it's just your basic drug deal action movie with a stupid one-dimensional "love at first sight" love story thrown in. However, the final act is much more Tarantino-esque than the rest of the movie, and is thus much more entertaining and original, with the exception of the very end, which is absolute Hollywood garbage. Apparently, though, it was changed from Tarantino's written ending by the studio (hint: it's happy now!). Gotta love those guys. The acting is above average, but the girl gets incredibly annoying by the time you get about halfway through the movie with her incessant giggling and toothy smiles. Maybe that's the point, as this is pretty clearly some sort of parody of romance movies, but it's still annoying.

Despite all of this, I was entertained enough to watch it till the end. If you're a Tarantino fan, this is probably worth a watch. It's no Pulp Fiction, though.

In a sentence:

Great dialogue, good acting, average plot, terrible love story, awful ending. But some great Tarantino-style scenes sprinkled throughout. It might be too much 90s for some to handle, though.

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The Girl Next Door

Pretty much the predictable, cheesy teen film that you'd expect. It does try to pass some pretty good morals, but while still exploiting the porn star/sex themes as much as possible at every opportunity. The story itself is preposterous and impossible to believe from the start, but that might be on purpose (maybe it's just supposed to be a dream). The acting from Emile Hirsch is basically the same guy he always plays, but it's decidedly above everyone else here.

It'd be fun to watch with friends just for laughs, but avoid it otherwise.

In a sentence:

A predictable and exploitative romp through preposterous plot points and one-dimensional characters. Still, the morals are pretty good, and it's generally entertaining.

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The Hurt Locker

A near-perfect war film that is a surefire contender for a Best Picture Oscar and likely the best war film of the decade. It is by far the best film about the Iraq war, and it achieves this by following an American EOD team close to ending its rotation as it defuses a number of bombs in a number of different and unique scenarios. This allows for some fantastic character exposition and some incredibly tense situations that couldn't really be found in any other war. The acting is spotless, and the cinematography is finely honed to deliver exactly the right feelings for each part of the movie.

This is a film that will grab hold of you from the get-go and won't let go until the very end. And you'll come out with a better understanding of what war has now become in the 21st century.

In a sentence:

A fascinating film, utilizing a huge amount of finesse in its cinematography, writing and acting to deliver a unique portrait of what war is like in Iraq.

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Featured Review

Note: this site has been discontinued

Army of Two: The 40th Day

Couples Retreat

The Rocker

An Education

Fantastic Mr. Fox

King Kong (2005)

Stranger Than Fiction

Drag Me To Hell

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

True Romance

The Girl Next Door

The Hurt Locker

Eric's Reviews

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