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Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
Beautifully presented and Entertaining as Hell
I had low expectations going into Alita: Battle Angel, especially seeing as I'm not a fan of flashy blockbusters or of the films of Robert Rodriguez (Spy Kids, From Dusk till Dawn) and James Cameron (Avatar, Titanic). But those expectations were shattered, and then some.
By far the most compelling part of this film is its unique visual style. The animation genuinely blues the line between animated and live action filmmaking. The action scenes are on point and are the best parts of the film. The performances are amazing, especially from the consistently great Christoph Waltz and the towering Mahershala Ali.
However, the film is flawed. The script and the writing feels a bit strange, as if it has been mistranslated from another language. The dialogue is probably the lowest aspect of the film for me and feels clunky and awkward. Fortunately Cameron and Rodriguez know exactly when to fling the audience back into the action with a lot of gutsy standoffs and brilliant set pieces showing the best of their abilities. The story is still very dynamic and exciting.
Another negative point is the ending, which very clearly baits a sequel. I would have been absolutely fine with this and I want to see the next movie, but the movie cut off at a strange point which felt like the directors saying "eh, let's just stop there". I can understand why the studio would want a sequel and I'm not annoyed that they've set this up with that in mind, but they were quite heavy handed in the way they went about it.
Overall this film is definitely recommended for anyone who's willing to let the dialogue go and enjoy an action packed, fun-filled romp with beautiful visuals and great fight scenes. 8/10.
Searching (2018)
Incredibly ambitious and brilliantly executed: one of the best films of 2018 so far
This film was a huge risk. From the innovative and highly original way in which it was shot, to the minimal use of dialogue in favour of letting the visuals tell the story, to the helter-skelter plot (I can't even count the number of plot twists in this film) to the casting of John Cho in the main role (he's the first Asian-American to lead a mainstream thriller movie in Hollywood), every decision made by director Aneesh Chaganty pushes the boundaries of contemporary cinema. What surprises me even more, though, is how many of these risks paid off. Although it starts slow, and the writing does dip in quality from time to time, this film was one of the most tense and gripping films I've ever seen, with every last second pushing the plot forward at a relentless pace. Go to the bathroom before you see this movie, because this film isn't waiting for anyone.
The Greatest Showman (2017)
You probably won't read this review, seeing as it's negative. But hear me out.
This review won't stop anyone seeing this movie but I'm gonna put it on here anyway. I'd read a lot of hype for this movie, mostly on IMDb and from friends, and really wanted to enjoy this. I did not. Minus points: The plot is so predictable I don't even have to spoil it for you: just watch the first ten minutes. I didn't care about any of the characters at all, and the director decided to give the (actually interesting and engaging) romance between two characters 1 out of the 11 songs and about 5 minutes of screen time. Most of the lines didn't make a shred of sense or were interrupted by random songs (which all sounded like trashy 2013 Top 40 chart fodder - absolutely insufferable) and the direction was awful. Plus points: Loved the dancing. The costumes/sets/makeup were good. The acting was alright. The cinematography was passable. The popcorn in the cinema was pretty decent.
If you enjoyed it, good for you. But I hope you can see my point of view on this.
Birdemic: Shock and Terror (2010)
It's like someone holding a blowtorch to your balls.
Tl;dr : no.
As someone who has written a couple of reviews in the past, I'm at a loss at how to start on this review. I'm typing this extremely, extremely slowly, just searching for a way to approach this. I guess I had better start with the most prominent feature of the film.
Alan Bagh. I act as a hobby, and I've seen my fair share of terrible actors. But Alan Bagh is worse than the worst actor I've ever seen. Ever. Not just on screen - he's worse than the kid who played the innkeeper in my school Christmas play when I was 5 (his only line was 'No. Goodnight,' and he forgot it). He puts Tommy Wiseau to shame. Whitney Moore is slightly better, but not by much - the most realistic thing about her is that she plays a model for Victoria's secret.
I don't even want to talk about James Nguyen, the 'director' and 'writer'. But James, if you're reading this, I want you to know: You're a sick, depraved man. This film has shattered my faith in the art of film-making. I wish I was exaggerating. I wish this was just some joke, but it's not. I think the scariest bit about the film is that... everyone was trying their best. This was the best James Nguyen could do. His best shot. Alan Bagh wasn't acting like that because he was joking. He was acting like that because that's what he thought acting was like. And at the end of the day, they all patted themselves on the back, and congratulated each other on a good day's work.
Just let that sink in.
Sure, the first 30 minutes are funny. But it slowly turns sour, as you just watch your faith in humanity crumble before your eyes. It's like getting drunk with friends - at first, it's all laughs and in good spirit, but slowly over time it turns into something which threatens your entire wellbeing and the wellbeing of everyone you love. That's what it's like watching Birdemic. At the end of the day, it'll never reach the same cult status as The Room, because while The Room is some semi-playful BDSM, this is like someone holding a blowtorch to your balls. I'm giving this a 1/10 officially, but right after this, I'm going to email IMDb and ask them to put a 0/10 rating in place. Because what was the one point for? What in this film warranted the point? Where was the part of the film where I though 'yeah, this deserves a point'? I'm going to take a nice long shower and have a bit of a cry, now. I'm done.
0/10
The Disaster Artist (2017)
Hilarious, even if you haven't seen the Room.
***TL;DR - Really funny film about a classic cult movie with great starring performance from James Franco, a killer script with a unique true story and still accessible for everyone who hasn't seen The Room (although it may be worth watching The Room beforehand, it isn't necessary at all). Only criticism is that it should be longer, because it's so funny. 9/10***
It would be wrong to call The Disaster Artist a film about the creation of The Room, because it's so much more. It's a story about film-making, friendship and failure. Epic failure. It is about what happens when you follow your dreams regardless of those who doubt you, those who tell them that you're not good enough - but instead of proving the doubters wrong, you fail so badly that fourteen years later James Franco creates an Oscar-worthy film just so people can laugh at how badly you failed. Believe it or not, this is a true story about an actual film in 2003 (the biggest complaint from test audiences was that they thought The Room could not possibly exist).
James Franco puts in the performance of a lifetime as the title character Tommy Wiseau. Any decent Hollywood actor can pull off an impersonation of someone like Tommy for a cheap laugh, but James Franco does better - he disappears into Wiseau so totally that even the parts of the film which don't directly deal with The Room or some aspect of Wiseau's background are really funny. People who haven't even heard of Tommy at the start can, by the end, understand his crazed psyche - it's not just one big Room in-joke. I'm glad he was nominated for a Golden Globe - he deserves it.
Another aspect of the film which went above and beyond my expectations was the screenplay. The writers manage to strike a balance between references and homage to The Room and Tommy Wiseau, and accessible and funny original humour. One of the reasons why The Room has developed such a cult is because it is so quotable (from 'Oh hai Mark' to 'Anyway, how is your sex life?' and a million lines between). The writers aren't content with referencing these quotes to comedic effect, they create their own quotes which will, if you ask me, become iconic quotes in their own right. They also didn't restrict themselves to a comedy-of-errors style narrative, and one of my favourite aspects of the story was the friendship between Greg and Tommy (which is touching but not overblown), as well as some of the more serious themes of unfulfilled dreams and how ruthless the industry can be (Tommy ended up paying 6 million US Dollars in budget, partly because the industry took advantage of how naive he was).
Overall, the acting was good, although it is difficult to act when you have a character who is as scene-stealing as Tommy Wiseau. I think the cast did an admirable job, especially Dave Franco, Seth Rogen and Zac Efron as Chris-R. The list of cameos goes on and on, and the smaller roles really helped breathe life into the movie.
I felt the film was a bit short, and could have explored some of the topics it touched on in greater detail. The laughter at the end (in the premiere scene) was over-the-top and only really served to affirm what we already know: it's a bad film. I also felt there were a couple of unnecessary scenes which could have been exchanged for scenes which drove the plot forward or explored some of the more interesting and crazy aspects of The Room (for example, Johnny was originally going to be revealed as a Vampire).
This film is hilarious, even if you haven't seen the Room. It brings a great cult movie into the mainstream by allowing there to be in-jokes for the Room crowd but also making the jokes aimed at non-Room fans funny for everyone. It is also a touching story about friendship and about how not everyone can achieve their dreams (although in Tommy's case this is because of a severe lack of talent more than anything else). It has brilliant acting, a laugh-out-loud script, a true story which you couldn't make up and celebrity cameos for days. It also has just the right amount of heart without becoming sappy.
I would give it a 9/10 rating and I would recommend it to any film fan who doesn't already have it on their radar, especially fans of comedy. If you haven't already seen The Room, it may be worth watching it beforehand, but you'll still have a great time if you haven't (I went with a few of my friends who haven't seen The Room and they could not stop laughing). To quote Wiseau himself: "Haha! What a story, Mark."
Coherence (2013)
Perfect
This has to be one of the best movies I have ever seen. Filmed on a budget of $50,000 at the director's own house over just 5 days, the actors were just given cards with their backstories and what they had to convey, as well as major plot points which they would have to get to. Nobody knew anything on the others' cards. All the reactions are spontaneous - there was no script. One of the actors even said that he didn't know how the movie ended (because he wasn't in the final scene) until he saw the movie itself on screen.
Even if I didn't know that about the movie, it would still be one of the best movies I have seen in my life. One of the most incredible things is how it toys with your perspective - how much you know about who's who and what's going on versus how much the characters themselves know amongst the tangled mess of relationships and who-did-what-when.
I guess that aspect has something to do with the fact that the cast themselves didn't know the whole picture (apparently the director told them 'Show up at my house in a couple of days. I can't really tell you what we're doing, trust me I'm not going to kill you. It should be fun'!). It feels like you're watching the most f**ked-up, complicated party game unfold before your eyes. And the way it pieces together at the end is just magic. The twists and turns and new discoveries made by the characters and us the audience blew my mind in the same way that Mulholland Drive or Shutter Island blew my mind. But this blew my mind more.
Part of me wishes I could make this film (or something like this) at my house with my friends for such a low budget, but I have to say I could never do something like this. Never in a million years. Hats off to the director and the cast especially, but also to the gorgeous music and editing. If you're going to watch this movie, my one piece of advice is to CONCENTRATE because otherwise it's a waste of a good movie. Sit down, make sure you catch what the characters are saying, because you're in for a hell of a ride.
Midnight Special (2016)
Good, but definitely not for everyone.
The latest work by up and coming writer/director Jeff Nichols isn't as entertaining as I would have hoped, nor is the more artsy aspect of it particularly avant-garde, but it's a well-directed and beautiful piece of filmmaking. It follows a boy who possesses extraordinary powers as he struggles to find out who - or what - he is, while being chased by both the US Government and a religious cult which has formed around him and sees him as God.
I have to admit, the plot is quite linear and doesn't tend to wander off course. However, the course which Nichols has selected isn't, I believe, the most interesting, entertaining or exciting one. The story just goes and goes and goes and goes and then ends quite abruptly.
The main positive points of the film were its gorgeous score and minimalist tone throughout. Little emphasis is put on dialogue, which is challenging for the cast, who hold the piece together remarkably well. Nichols' writing is excellent and it is very well shot. The ending is also very emotional and sad in a way. But the luscious ambient score is definitely one of the high points, especially in an era of identikit orchestral fanfares and high-energy strings.
8 / 10 (Great). More of a film for a lazy day as opposed to a weekend with your friends, but I get the feeling that having landed Kirsten Dunst, Joel Edgerton, Michael Shannon and Adam Driver - as well as the very talented Jaeden Lieberher - we haven't seen Nichols at his peak quite yet. But, by all means, this bodes well.
Prem Ratan Dhan Payo (2015)
If you wants to see why some people hate Indian films, watch this.
Some movies are so bad they are funny and thus in a weird way entertaining. Birdemic is one of these films.
Others are so bad they want to make you cry and vomit at the same time. Prem Ratan Dhan Payo is one of these films.
A motto of Bollywood is "Wholesome Family Entertainment". This film tries so so so hard to be that, but fails so spectacularly, with every cliché, bad joke, ultra-soppy ending, ridiculous music, sweaty camera angles, the 'whoOPS!' sound effect whenever someone slips up, a Heroic Hero and a Damsel In Distress, evil villains and the prevailing theme of Love. The hero of the film is literally named Prem (Love in Hindi). CRINGE.
It's pretty much a 2 and a half our long soap opera with plots and settings which don't even make sense ("There's a Prince in 21st century India", "Salman Khan plays two separate roles" "People break into song and dance for no reason at this point"). Khan is a bad actor as it is: we don't need to magnify that by giving him two roles to play. And Sonam Kapoor is just a more S**t Priyanka Chopra with half the acting talent (if you can imagine such a thing). Her sole purpose is to stand there and let the airbrushing department do their work.
I can see very clearly why for some people this will be the last Hindi film they will ever see. Personally, I hope that they make a Redux version with an extra 15 minutes in which all the characters kill themselves, because by the end of this movie I was waiting for sweet sweet death to come and take me away.
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016)
Never Go Back is more like 'Never Go in the First Place'
It's just so so so bad. Cliché, No action and dreadful production.
I had heard about how bad this movie was from a friend, but since me and some other guys were stranded in a shopping mall with nothing to do for 3 hours, I decided to just let go and enjoy an action blockbuster for once. I was so wrong. It's an atrocious piece of filmmaking, which has literally EVERY cliché in it, from the stroppy teenager to the Afghanistan reference to 'These people were under my command!!!!!!!' to the person in the control room shouting 'I want eyes on every asset they've got / I want to know everywhere he's slept in the last four years, I want to know how he takes his eggs, what his favourite flavour of ice cream is...'. This is why we need to stop Tom Cruise from producing his own movies, because he can't carry a whole movie on his own. The directing is atrocious and the script is disgusting. Tom Cruise is okay, but everyone else might as well have been picked straight from the street. There is literally NO ACTION UNTIL THE LAST SCENE. Anyone who says this movie is 'Action Packed' is lying. Just don't watch it: these people don't deserve any more money after putting such sh*t in my face.
Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)
Disappointing to say the least
With film franchises making it big these days it was only natural that the instant classic Independence Day be rebooted. However, after a 20 year gap and with Will Smith leaving, we might have been able to spot this one from a distance. However, it turned out to be more of an abomination than I had expected.
1. The acting was absolutely terrible and most of the characters seemed to serve no actual purpose. Two of them were there to serve no purpose other than to be Chinese, to tell the truth. 2.The effects were so see through even my dad could have seen through them and the editing looks like the director left his laptop open for his dog to do it. The direction is equally ridiculous and contributes to the overall stupidity of the movie. 3. The script used words which literally don't exist in science and have been made up to make the people who made the movie sound like they did some research. Also had too much 'initiate' and 'sequence' etc. 4. Most of the budget looks like it was spent on developing the 3D effects of the movie so you can see the dramatic failure in even more detail. However the 3D cinematography is good as a result :). 5. The plot was predictable from the moment the ******SPOILER ALERT****** aliens started coming. Its pretty much Independence Day but with 100 times more aliens and no Will Smith. The ending is exactly the same as independence day except for the additional 15 minutes at the end where everybody realises what a c**p movie they have made and starts scrambling to fix it without spending another $165 million.*******END SPOILER*********
Overall the goal of this movie was to use 3D and over-long action sequences over an unoriginal plot and bad everything else to make gullible people and fans of Independence Day give the directors their money only to leave the theatre wondering what other movie they can then watch to get this out of their system.
DO NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE. But that probably wont stop you. By the way they're going to make a third one judging from the ending. Oh no.