thefonz750 Reviews

The Disappearance of Alice Creed (2009)

Good story and great performances from this gem of a thriller!

[8/10 · 30 January 2011]

The Disappearance of Alice Creed is a much more personal story about a kidnapping. A story not for the squeamish. It deals more with the intricacies that that sort of endeavor might unravel. There are only three people in the entire film. This lets the relationships between all the characters really develop. And boy do they!

Gemma Arterton delivers an emotional roller-coaster of an experience as the kidnapped Alice Creed. From the extremely vivid first scenes to the shocker of an ending. She does phenomenal through it all. This film should show the true range of her talent, despite some of her previous roles that were lacking in the depth department(most likely not her fault). I look forward to seeing her in more roles that show her in a more serious manner.

From watching the first half-hour of this movie I could have never guessed how it was going to turn out. I was on the edge of my seat from the beginning and caught myself holding my breath a few times. This is exactly the feeling you should have when you watch a suspense thriller. I don't feel cheated from watching this at all and will recommend it highly.

Kaboom (2010)

What a perfect title. Cause by the end you have no idea what the hell just happened!

[7/10 · 29 January 2011]

The first half is fairly coherent. About a boy struggling with his identity. Meets a girl. He's in love with his straight, male roommate. His best friend is a girl in a relationship with another woman. Just your regular college days. By this time, the movie has taken itself pretty seriously.

Somewhere around two-thirds through, the film takes some very strange twists. One of the girls becomes a secret-agent out of nowhere. More twists and tie-ins ensue and blam! One of those you-have-to-see-it-to-believe-it kind of things.

Good movie with some genuine moments that undergoes a strange transformation into ridiculousness and the paranormal. If you like films such as Donnie Darko and Southland Tales, then you will probably enjoy this one. Worth the watch, if only once.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)

Great action/comedy with a love story thrown in. All for the Nintendo generation.

[10/10 · 25 January 2011]

I, for one, was not impressed with the trailer for this movie. I had never heard of the graphic novel at the time. Basically, I never planned to go see it at the theater. I don't know if it was the lack of marketing or maybe bad timing.

I will never base another movie off of just the trailer alone. This is an amazing movie and I feel like I missed out on an amazing experience by not seeing it in a theater. Edgar Wright(Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) does an amazing job while completely changing gears from his normal style of directing.

At the beginning, the story itself isn't that unique. Scott Pilgrim(Michael Cera) has a girlfriend and he's in a band. He's kind of a jerk. He finds a new girl that he likes better. It's when he goes out with this new girl, Ramona(Mary Elizabeth Winstead), that things start getting interesting.

I'll admit, it starts off fairly slow at the beginning. That changes all too quickly as the usual stumbling, bumbling Michael Cera(Superbad, Juno) turns into a martial arts expert that has to fight off Ramona's seven evil exes. The visuals are extreme, as well as the soundtrack which revolves around a lot of the band's songs. Anyone from the Nintendo generation will get a kick out of these, as there are multiple times when various scenes will include an homage to classics such as Mario.

These fights are all done in a unique manner and surprisingly well choreographed. Each of the evil exes are type-casted perfectly, in my opinion. From Chris Evans(Fantastic Four, Captain America) playing the over-the-top bad boy, to Brandon Routh(Superman Returns) and Jason Schwartzman playing their roles perfectly. Great supporting roles done by Anna Kendrick(Twilight) and Kieran Culkin(who is hilarious in this). Ellen Wong makes her major motion-picture debut and impresses.

If you are a member of the Nintendo generation(or just a fan of video games in general), or if you like music, or if you like comics, or are a fan of pop culture, or if you want to just have a really fun movie experience done superbly by the director, Edgar Wright, then you need to check out this movie.

The Cape (2011)

Not a replacement for Heroes but good enough.

[7/10 · 11 January 2011]

I really wasn't sure about this show after the first ten to fifteen minutes of watching. Seemed like a show I would watch on the SyFy channel. Somewhere, though, in the fifteen-thirty minute mark, it became really interesting. David Lyon's performance as the tormented hero is quite believable, given everything that he went through. James Frain plays such a great over-the-top villain. Keith David provides the perfect mentor persona. Vinnie Jones and Summer Glau provide some fan-favorite faces.

The whole feel of the show seems like a throwback to the early 80s, with heavy doses of comic-book action and one-liners(again, done excellently by James Frain, so much that I was beginning to wonder if it was just bad acting or dialogue.

It's not quite Heroes, but we will see what the true power of "The Cape" holds in the future. I, for one, am sold on at least a few more episodes.