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Reviews
Kill the Messenger (2014)
Another fictionalized True Story.
Outside of the inaccuracies and certain fictionalizations the real issue with this film is the poor performance, and the look and feel of the film felt like a cheap rip off of "Blow" (2001). The worst parts of this film come whenever the Lucas Hedges speaks, he has to be one of the worst new actors around, but most of his scenes are horrendously cheesy. This isn't much of a spoiler at all, but when Lucas Hedges confronts Renner about what happened in another city, because he overheard a conversation about dirt being brought back up, it was one of the most god awful sequences in film history. This is an immensely strong year for film, and it's a shame to see Jeremy Renner waste his talents on this film, I can understand the political motivations but I thought he could actually act after watching "American Hustle" (2013). The dialogue is extraordinarily weak, this is truly a dull, nothing new, nothing special type of movie, it would have been better suited as a TV release through HBO or ShowTime.
Just to be clear, it's not just that this is a strong year for films, but there are so many films which are worth seeing before this film which are listed below.
Birdman, Whiplash, Gone Girl, Pride, American Sniper, Foxcatcher, Inherent Vice, The Babadook, A Most Violent Year, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Interstellar, The Drop, Life Itself, Selma, Boyhood, The Theory of Everything.
(Officially 2013) Starred Up and Jodorowsky's Dune
These are all well crafted and masterfully executed films which deserve attention, not this film which shows more of an agenda than "American Sniper", which is about a military man who was the typical Republican Hero and is directed by Eastwood who is still seen as the old man that spoke to the empty chair. That film took an honest look at a mans life and provoked thought about a lot of things which were not politically friendly to anyone. When it comes to the story of Gary Webb, it's better to learn about it through text and realities.
Whiplash (2014)
Not just Great Performances but a Great Film.
Obviously going into this film the hype was high with word of J.K. Simmons and his masterful performance, however I was pleasantly surprised by just about everything pertaining to this film. The performances, dialogue, lighting, cinematography, and over all direction was extremely well executed. There is a specific event in the film which kind of crosses a line into a completely unbelievable circumstance, however it does recover itself. The editing at points felt abrupt and rough, however it doesn't hinder the film too much. Just about every actor is over shadowed by the absolutely masterful performance by J.K. Simmons, one thing to be noticed by the end of the film is the performance of Miles Teller who seemingly solidifies himself as (as cliché as it is to say) one of the best young actors around. This film is certainly worth watching, no matter if you like Jazz or not.
Also, I would like to say that I've noticed a few negative reviews regarding the "intensity" of some characters and the vulgarness of some of the lines. These people are politically correct douchebags, the type of person who get offended for other people, and who think a film showing assault simply means the creators condone that behavior. If anything, this movie is enjoyable if you've experienced life, persevered, and even after doing everything right you're told it's wrong, that's life and this film nails it. It makes you feel defeated at points, and it makes you feel enthused about something only to get slapped in the face (in a good way).
American Sniper (2014)
Great performance by Bradley Cooper in a very good movie, which unfortunately came out in a year full of Great Films and performances.
To start, this film seems to be over shadowed by the early comparisons to Lone Survivor and with any movie on war people will call it propaganda before in viewing, especially when you're dealing with a controversial figure like Chris Kyle. People can say that this film glorifies America, or that it has strong religious undertones but if a man is religious I don't think it should be cut from the adaption to film. The film itself asks great questions regarding the mental stability of soldiers, and although the questions aren't openly asked you can tell by Bradley Coopers performance that this is a heavily troubled man trying to deal with his demons completely on his own. I don't see the film as glorifying or as propaganda, it simply shows what goes into making these people, the events which started to open their eyes to the path they would eventually take. This film is a lot different than Lone Survivor, which I don't think would stand a chance at an Oscar Nomination no matter how weak the year was. I feel American Sniper could compete and could have won awards had 2014 not proved to be such a strong year for performances and film in general.
Just a side note, I went in to the film not a "fan" of Chris Kyle purely because I knew of him more as a guest on Opie & Anthony. I also noticed how often he'd crop up on situations like Fox News, so my political views are quite different than his, and I'm also not religious. You shouldn't allow these things to stop you from watching this film, think of it more as another Good Eastwood movie with a really good stand out performance by Bradley Cooper.
Tusk (2014)
Funny idea, stretched out and extremely weak.
The Podcast which inspired this film was extremely funny, I normally enjoy the Smodcast and have been a fan of Kevin Smith for years. His endeavours into horror, although well intentioned, have a trend of poor dialogue and unfortunately poor execution. I came into this movie not a fan of Justin Long, he has never really impressed me as an actor nor has he been a stand out for me in any comedic roles. The role which Justin Long plays is a seemingly unredeemable douche, yet his world is written as though he's the complete opposite, it's odd because in the scenes with his girlfriend and she treats him like a good guy yet even with her he's an unbelievable douche. The problem with Kevin Smith and horror seems to be that within the script he makes his protagonists unredeemable. The problem with this movie, feels like the length they had to fill to have a full movie, I can still listen to the Smodcast episode and laugh.
Not the worst movie ever made (Joel Schumacher didn't direct it), the question is, is it worth watching? Well, if you've seen Red State, was that worth watching? I'd say Red State was better, but it's also nothing special.
Below Zero (2011)
One of the worst films.
Saying this film is god awful in every possible way, would be putting it nicely. This is one of the worst lumps of crap I have ever seen, randomly threw it on while looking through Netflix (and I'm in Canada, Canadian Content Laws guarantee tons of garbage content, this is worse than the Don Cherry movies). This movie was not suspenseful, it was not thrilling, it is a horror by attempt, which it fails miserably at. It actually becomes angering when this movie tries to mimic scenes from The Shining or Misery, the only way this film could've been made, is if the screenwriter produced the film herself (which she partially did). All of the actors stunk, the sound mix was garbage, the directing wasn't the worst or causation for this debacle. Do not watch this film, watch anything but this film, if you want to watch a terrible movie find HardRock Zombies, if you want a good movie, go elsewhere.
The Equalizer (2014)
Semi-stylish, weak script, good acting.
The biggest issue with "The Equalizer" has to be that it is an adaptation of an old TV show, the script is full of the basic cliché which have been seen in numerous action films, from the protagonist showing a character a picture and the facial expression gives it away that they know the character (in a bad way of course) or the "let me tell you a story" where the protagonist sits the antagonist down to tell him about someone, the protagonist getting beaten down struggling in the final fight against the big henchman, the reason why this film isn't ruined completely is the very well done performances by Denzel Washington and Marton Csokas. Antoine Fuqua is a very poor mans David Fincher, at least in terms of this film, this is one of his best film since Training Day but it is nothing special especially during a year like this which is filled with great films and performances. It's certainly tolerable as an action film, with this film a lack of humour didn't hurt it too much whereas I found Olympus Has Fallen suffered tremendously from it's lack of humour. I also find Mr. Fuqua's use of CGI a bit alarming in regards to how it looks, I've noticed this in a few of his films where the CGI just looks bad and really sticks out. The ending is immensely weak, and although Chloe Grace Moretz does a good job with what little she's given, it really feels cheap the way they bring her in right at the end after being absent for so long, showing Denzel emailing her would have made more sense and wouldn't have looked as forced.
This shouldn't be a spoiler but if it is, you'll probably love this movie, The finale occurs in the Home Hardware place where Denzel's character works. Now I didn't like the department store fight of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, this one is a little bit better but not much. I personally found it underwhelming as the first trailer I saw I figured, you know what would be convenient for the screenwriters, if they end up having a big shootout in the end inside that store. These screenwriters obviously work in conveniences, and Fuqua would have a decent style, if David Fincher didn't exist (I'd say this film is almost like Fuqua mimicking Fincher, however all of David Fincher's films are comparatively better, outside of Alien 3).
Gone Girl (2014)
Another masterpiece from Fincher
If you like previous Fincher works like The Game, then you will thoroughly enjoy this, as it is full of stylish twists and turns in the film making. As someone that's not a huge Affleck fan, I felt he really did a good job with this role but Rosamund Pike steals the show with her performance. The Soundtrack is really well done sounding like a mix between Vangelis and Nine Inch Nails at points. I believe films should be advertised purely by who directs it, as a David Fincher fan this film is truly damn near perfect from the subtle perversion within editing, the innovative soundtrack and especially great social commentary. I honestly feel this film will receive negative reviews purely for the issues it looks, essentially the opposite effect of a movie like "The Butler."
Catch Hell (2014)
A film that tries to be something, ends up being nothing.
This was quite a bad feature film, and as a debut film it truly shows a lack of potential, as in all of the influences are starkly obvious and the film adds none of it's own originality to the mix. This is most certainly a film to avoid, the performances were sub-par, the dialogue & Character Development were horrendous. The ending of this film gave me the exact opposite reaction which Misery gave me, as in the protagonist in this film showed no redeeming features what so ever and I wouldn't have cared less if he had lived or died. This film is not comparable to Misery which is a masterpiece next to this, which provides you with how the protagonist was captured and how the escape attempts come in to play and the mental war between the fan kidnapper and the fading sane celebrity. I feel sorry for Ryan as he seems like a good guy based off of his appearance on Opie & Jim this month (one of the reason I watched this film), but if he sees this character as a representation of self, he must see himself as quite a Giant douchebag without any redeeming features. It's hard to say this film had potential as the subject matter has been done much better, and the directing ability appears to be that of someone who enjoys watching movies, but isn't a cinephille by any means, and he is in the film industry already, why not? Well Mr. Phillippe, this movie is exactly why not.
Autómata (2014)
Don't Believe the Hype (What looked like Blade Runner meets District 13 is actually a bad Daft Punk video without the music and still no coherent story)
When I saw the trailer for this film, I will admit I almost instantly had high expectations as it looked like a Blade Runner mixed with the scenery of District 13. This movie looked like it might provide good performances by Antonio Banderas and Dylan McDermott, however Antonio simply played the same character he always plays and Dylan McDermott's performance as well as his character were extremely underwhelming. This film was more like a Daft Punk video without the loud music to distract you from the lack of real story, but still maintaining value in it's unique ideas, however they fall well short of what one would expect after watching the trailer. One of the worst things about the film is Melanie Griffith who just seems completely out of place, even in this plethora of under whamming performances. The character development of Antonio Banderas in the movie is monumentally minimal, to compare this to Blade Runner as a full feature film is not even thinkable.
Deliver Us from Evil (2014)
God awful hunk of Crap.
This film Stinks, and is one of the worst films of the year with ease. This movie is pathetic in the way that it tries to be a "real" horror instead of the gore porn which has taken over horror, the problem is the script for this lump of garbage is as weak as a gore porn flick like a Saw movie. Quintessentially, they have only replaced the gore scenes with cheesy "jump-scare" moments which are some of the worst in film history, ranking right up there with Stephen King's Maximum Overdrive and the jack in the box jump scare, LAME. I would suggest anything else, unless you consider your self Stupid, or if you simply watch everything in vein hopes o someday becoming a movie reviewer. There are almost redeeming feature, but due to choices in directing and writing, the somewhat redeeming performances are muddled, although they cast Olivia Munn, so that shows how serious they were about obtaining good performances from their actors, luckily for them Eric Bana always shows up and does his job and Joel McHale was also quite good (although a lot of his comedic lines were garbage and just didn't fit/felt forced). The one thing I have to back me up regarding how much Scott Derrickson, would be his career, the remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still.
Lucy (2014)
"I feel everything" well I certainly felt douche chills
Luc Besson has continuously disappointed me, it's almost simplistic how he develops his female protagonists, an terrible or tragic event sets up the revenge, and use a plot device so she becomes a trained killer. I try not to compare this movie to Luc Besson's earlier work, as it makes him seem to repetitive, and he is a good film maker, although it's hard to call his work purely original when the influences are so obvious. I would compare this film to Transcendence, and in comparison, this film has better ideas, however the execution of Wally Pfister was much better considering he worked with Christopher Nolan and Lucy feels like it was made by someone trying to be Christopher Nolan. There are things which Luc Besson does in this film, which are extremely French for a mainstream movie, and certain aspects don't feel right, mainly the percentages which display periodically throughout the film. If Wally Pfister and Luc Besson switched movies, Lucy would've looked the way Luc Besson wanted it to, and Transcendence would have been interesting, with cheesy dialogue which only a Frenchmen would write.
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014)
One of the worst movies of the year
This is easily one of the worst movies of the year, quite possibly of all time. I, like a lot of people, am a fan of the original, however it was known quite quickly after it's release and success that there was going to be a sequel. Now for it to take Nine Years to produce and release a sequel, you would think that there was either creative issues or casting issues, and after watching this it's obvious they had both. This "film" contains some of the worst dialogue I have ever heard, below the standard of a romance novel which a grandmother would purchase. There are action sequences which contain more exposition than most movies, and I understand that this is somewhat of a style, but it's not a very good one for film. There are scenes which visually look appealing, nothing spectacular by any means, this movie was awful, and made me want to watch a Michael Bay film to counter the extra expositional moments that come one after another, like endings during the last 45 minutes of "Return of the King".
There are going to be people who love it, most likely purely for the names attached, but this film was truly horrible. If you enjoyed the "From Dusk till Dawn" TV show, you might enjoy this movie, as that TV show is a lump of crap compared to the original "From Dusk till Dawn" movie.
The Homesman (2014)
Tommy Lee Jones is the best thing on screen, especially after the end of the 2nd act, however before that the film is seriously lacking.
The biggest issue with this film is that it came out after the remake of "True Grit" which was a more fulfilling story overall. The performance by Hilary Swank was quite good, generic Swank performance really, I do not think she will receive many award nominations from this film. Tommy Lee Jones does not provide a powerhouse performance when he first comes into the film, he's more a subtle version of Jeff Bridges from "True Grit" until a certain event near the end of the 2nd act. After the event aforementioned, Tommy Lee Jones truly gives a Powerhouse performance worthy of an Oscar, the only issue is the other actors seemingly let down the director in making this a solidified meaningful movie. There are some cameos which fit in perfect, actors giving believable performances, mainly James Spader. Meryl Streep felt like an unnecessary addition to a stacked cast, overall the ending felt unsatisfying.
This movie truly seems to try and be a companion piece to "True Grit" to the point of having Hailee Steinfeld whose character might as well have been called Mattie Ross.
The Giver (2014)
Generic in many ways, this one was best left as a book.
This movie is quite terrible in many fashions, firstly you have the Black & White, Colour thing, which is a decent enough idea but looked terrible in this movie, there are scenes were colour is supposed to creep in, then once the Protagonist sees colour everywhere that is how the film is presented, until he leaves his community, at which point the community goes back to being shown in Black & White. Quite simply, Pleasantville used a much better tactic in obtaining this effect, it also provides a much better film overall with more carefully constructed social messages. Something I notice like a sore thumb, was every time we had these "Flashackesque" sequences, we literally hear someone in the flashback describe what is happening, for example, Jeff Bridges introduces the kid to music, then the kid visualizes a wedding celebration from which we hear "It's a Wedding!" (this is not a joke, that line is literally said during the sequence, because that's normal dialogue). Further examples of this lazy script, Jeff Bridges mentally transports the kid to a war, obviously they're depicting Vietnam (to the point of having the enemy solider a female, as if this were some lame ass homage to Full Metal Jacket with the female sniper), and during this scene, clearly heard over the solders radio, "Women and Children are Dying on us!" Finally we get a vision given to the kid by Jeff Bridges (this is actually in no particular order, the script writer didn't care, why should I?) is of an Elephant hunt, once elephants are being shot and killed, the protagonist says, "They're killing elephants!"
This movie is like watching Joel Schumacher trying to make a Terrence Malick Picture, especially when it gets near the end and they try to have sequences which came off like a cheap knock off "Tree of Life." Do not watch this film, read the book, if you have finished the book, wait until you are an adult to watch this, do not let this film taint the book for you (not that it was a masterpiece, but when you're a kid, you should be building the visual world in your own mind, and by doing so, you will only create a more entertaining and well thought out world than the one which was created for this film).
Mi mefakhed mehaze'ev hara (2013)
Not a masterpiece, but close
Watching this film, I was saddened as there is so much potential and really the only thing which I feel kneecaps the film from truly reaching the pinnacle of suspense is the a lost forced humour. There are many instances at attempts of humour, however if you were to remove them, this film would be much more intense, almost to the point of perfection. The acting could've been much better, especially in the case of Tzahi Grad, who has a tough role in playing the father of a murdered and sexually assault girl who is pursuing vengeance. Although he nails down the sadistic aspects of the role, it's the lack of emotion towards the fact that his daughter has passed away, the singular moment in the film in which the character shows emotion towards this was during the scene when he has to be held back at the scene of the discovery. The movie is certainly worth a watch as a Revenge Film, I believe this film is a lot better than "Blue Ruin" which was a good film but extensively long in certain parts and overall unfulfilling. Without the comedic parts, this film would probably stand on the same level as "Spoorloos" however people who watch films purely off the recommendation of Quentin Tarantino, please understand his style before you complain, look at the movies he produces (not the ones he writes and directs) and also maybe actually listen to the man speak about films, what he likes about them and maybe also a list of his favourite movies for the year or decade. (Tarantino puts "Speed" above "Fight Club" and says that "Speed" was one of the best movies of the 90's)
Get on Up (2014)
Don't Believe the Hype.
Without question, the singular reason to watch this film is the performance by Chadwick Boseman. Everything else about this movie is uncreative, lazy, and offensively unfunny at points. There is a sequence in the film involving a white couple which objects to staying in the same hotel as James Brown and the band, their scenes included some of the worst dialogue ever provided to actors. This couple is used later as comedic relief, because you know, even if you're racist you love James Brown music, not a white man alive could not enjoy the music he produced. The movie is extremely predictable, one scene where James Brown hits his wife is so poorly done, it was an embarrassment to biographical films. It is almost like the director watched Ray, picked up the style and just didn't even bother with the context of the story. Dan Aykroyd returns to form in being terrible at actually acting, he was actually good in Behind the Candelabra. Where 42 had at least one redeemable white person, this movie literally tries to have not one positive white character, the only white character outside of Dan Aykroyd, who doesn't come off as racist, is a pool cleaner at the end who is used purely to make the point, look how far we've gone, now the white man cleans our pool. The movie is actually more about the relationship between James Brown and Bobby Byrd by the end, which is obviously a big piece of James Brown's life, but I find it disrespectful to avoid the real problem which James Brown faced in his life. Cocaine is seen once in the film when he rolled up a joint laced with cocaine which he apparently smoked right before the shotgun accident. Now when you are dealing with some iconic, that doesn't mean you try to make them look better by telling a made story. Walk the Line and Ray were critically acclaimed because they dove into the problems which the subjects had, this glosses over every problem and tells you that the only problems James Brown ever faced were Financial, Racists who hadn't heard his music before being ignorant and a bit of a mental problem, but because the directing is soo awful it's hard to tell if certain moments are supposed to interact with the audience, much like Zach Morris in Saved by the Bell, or show that James Browns mind would drift away from him. This movie is simply an over rated, it reminds me a lot of The Butler, which was just another awful movie, which was over hyped and completely done in a manner where the historical facts are extremely rare. I also must say, they really over exaggerated the car chase after the shotgun accident, it makes the ending of Argo look tame.
Highlander II: The Quickening (1991)
Worst Sequel in the history of film.
This movie is terrible. It has absolutely no redeeming features at all. The movie makes no attempts to have any connection at all with the first, even while having the same actors and in the case of Sean Connery, the same wardrobe. This film is one of the laziest films ever conceived, not just in terms of a sequel, but as a film in general. I bought this movie thinking it was the first movie (the sticker for the 2 for $20 was on the 2 and I was kind of in a rush) and I must say, this was one of the most disappointing lumps of crap I have ever watched, not that the first movie is a masterpiece but it did have nostalgic value. Safe to say, I did not request a refund due to my own negligence to read the back of the case, and it has never been viewed again. These are films that are so bad, that they are amazingly fun to watch, The Room, HardRock Zombies, Blacula, this is not one of those movies. After watching this movie, it's safe to say that Christopher Lambert is one of the worst actors to have ever lived, and Sean Connery obviously got his paycheck and never looked at this lump of crap franchise again. The only thing that could've made this movie worse, would be if it was directed by Joel Schumacher.
Les Misérables (2012)
Good film, one glaring problem.
The film is a very well done piece, the music is truly top notch, however while listening, you will notice one glaring issue, Russell Crowe. Russell Crowe is a pretty damn good actor, he can bring a sense of badass to just about any character from a Professor to Noah, however he can not sing worth a damn. When Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe sing talk to each other, it's like listening to a Broadway actor trying to teach a high school student how to do it. Russell Crowe gave a performance which was terrible, Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway deserve better as actors, especially Hugh Jackman who had to interact with Crowe the most. I am a huge fan of Russell Crowe as an actor, this movie was a bad choice on his part.
Now You See Me (2013)
Save your time
This is one of the worst movies I have ever watched, purely based off of the hype, people actually told me this movie was smart, I now seriously doubt their intelligence. If you want to watch a movie about magic, please watch "The Prestige" and see what a Film made by someone whose main concern is the quality of the picture. I especially dislike a movie when Mark Ruffalo is garbage, this is one of his worst movie, and I feel that he is an actor smarter than the script of this movie, so I do not know why he did it. I guess it can be good when a movie leaves you with questions, but my questions were Why did Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Mark Ruffalo, and Woody Harrelson do this lump of crap? The younger Franco brother has a good screen presence about him, but this movie really did stink, if you like the Fast & Furious franchise and are up to date with that series, this film just might be for you.
Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park (1978)
An unbearable piece of crap.
This "film" is an embarrassment to cinema, it makes the fourth Jaws film seem like an Oscar worthy picture. This movie represents everything that the band "Kiss" represent, which is mindless stupidity in a vain attempt to swindle money from their fan base. Much like the way Michael Bay treats the viewers of "Transformers" as mindless fools who will pay in as long as the CGI robots fight for 2 hours of the movie, Kiss knows all they had to do was show up on a film set and their fans would go crazy, name one thing Kiss has put their faces on which didn't sell, hell the Kiss Coffin sells, there are a lot of really Dumb people alive and Kiss takes advantage of these people. If you feel that you have respect for anyone in this hunk of crap band, please watch this movie, and then listen to their song "Great Expectations" because Kiss is absolutely the worst thing to grace entertainment.
The Act of Killing (2012)
Breathtaking
This is possibly the greatest documentary I have ever seen. When I title this review Breathtaking, I don't mean visually (although it is beautiful) I mean morally, the re-enactments are probably the most powerful, scary, gut wrenchingly real re-enactments ever put in to a documentary film. This is a must watch. This film evokes emotions in the viewer which are not pleasant, but are vitally important to human life, this film will make you feel bad in all the right ways, and leave you shocked and maybe even emotionally drained.
This film, I believe, much like "Fog of War" is an absolute must watch for any human interested in ideology, society, human nature, politics, and life. I have never watched a film so morally disturbing, yet, not unwatchable, not trying to go out of it's way, giving you a plan and simple horrifically disturbing truth.
The Whale (2011)
A good companion piece to Blackfish
I was rather surprised to come across this documentary on "The Movie Network", mainly because Ryan Reynolds (Whom I am not a fan of) seemed to be the man driving force behind the picture. The movie is a beautiful piece of film, obviously made with care. The main question of this film, for me, was how to address abandonment by whales from their pod, in other words, the rejection of the young. Albeit rare, the question remains, should they let this whale be free in the water, where he interacts with humans and floatation devices or should they encapsulate the animal in a facility like "Seasworld."
I saw one review saw that the humans are the reason behind the animals split with it's pod, and it was the humans who prevented this whale from reuniting with his pod. In the film it is clear that this whale is interacting with the humans at the marina, there are points in the film where humans are trying to trick the whale to capture it to bring it to a facility, but it's also humans (Native Americans) who help prevent that. The truth is, we are just getting the technology to study these creatures the way we need to, in order to fully understand them, and although this is a story which brings joy, the ending is sad and appears to be avoidable, however to avoid it, would have to be to encapsulate it. (Either way, people who are literally insane about animal rights would blame humans for the situation, be it death or put into a facility).
Finally, I ask that people watch before reviewing movies, especially on a film like this, where Blackfish gets a lot of attention, it didn't ask the right questions. When dealing with animal rights, people become insane, but you have to be able to look at the reality of the situation.