The Grey: NR #17

Is it just me or is Liam Neeson in too many movies. Two of the trailers, back to back, had him in them. While Neeson is still the coolest thing since Chuck Norris, he is in a a lot of movies lately. Not saying it's bad, just hoping he doesn't get over saturated. Speaking of Liam Neeson, this weeks movie is a film where Neeson doesn't just fights wolves, but also Alaska it self! This weeks film is...

 

Let's Begin

PLOT

Ottway is a tough as nails survivalist, hired to protect an oil drilling team in Alaska from wolves. That night on the plane ride home, the plane spectacularly crashes in the middle of Alaska, leaving Ottway and 7 other men alive. With little to no food or water, the freezing Arctic temperatures, and the mutant wolves with the power of tactical intelligence (not really, but they sure act like it), Ottway and the others must survive long enough to find help, or be killed.

PROS

The atmosphere is haunting. It's just so creepy and quiet that you never know when a wolf might attack. I literally felt cold while in the theater, This isn't called The Grey for nothing.

The film is extremely unpredictable, you'll never know what happens next. While you will know which guy will die next, you'll never know how. There is one scene that comes so unexpectedly that it left me gasping for air!

This movie is brutal and unforgiving, blood will be shed, people you like will die, and language will be said. Everyone in the theater had to look away at some point.

The movie isn't all about action, in fact the wolves are hardly a big part of the film. It's more about asking provocative questions and how people react in the face of danger. It's almost like an art film with a budget, almost.

The direction is amazing. There is one scene where a character is a strong river and the camera moves in such a disorienting way that you feel like your in the water with them.

This is the first time in a long time I had to look away from a movie. I won't say when but I'll just say I hate heights.

CONS

The characters are all stereotypes. You got the annoying one, the cocky one, the funny one, and the level headed one. It makes the movie have less of an impact.

The dialogue is bad. It makes the characters even more stereotypical.

CONCLUSION

You may have heard that this a "MAN'S MOVIE FOR MANLY MEN WHO DO MANLY THINGS WITH OTHER MANLY MEN IN MANLY WAYS!!!!!". While that's somewhat true, it's not the main focus. This a thought provoking film covered by B-movie antics. I highly recommend it, just don't go in expecting Taken with wolves.

RATING

WALK TO    

 

       

Ponyo: CR #15

Time for my first Classic review of the new year. We'll begin with my second Miyazaki film, and my favorite out of the ones I've seen. Another one of his least liked, this is...

Let's Begin

PLOT

Loosely based off the Little Mermaid, Ponyo tells the tale of a small boy named Sosuke who lives on a cliff by the sea with his mom. His dad is a woker on a ship and is never home. One day Sosuke finds a goldfish by the waves and names her Ponyo, but this is no ordinary goldfish. Ponyo is the daughter of two beings who help keep the balance of the sea and is mostly taken care of by her father. She's always dreamed of being human and living on land. Once she meats Sosuke, she falls in love with him and heals a cut on his finger. Because of this she starts to turn into a human andthe balance of the world goes into disarray. The only way to return it to normal is for Sosuke to prove his love for Ponyo.

PROS

The film's animation was done by Studio Ghibli, one the greatest animation studios of this generation and they don't disappoint here. The film is just amazing to look at. The underwater scenes and water in general is something to behold here. Once again, amazing job Ghibli.

The score by Joe Hisaishi is breathtaking. I found myself humming the music to myself after I saw the film.

 The American voice actors to a great job. Tina Fey and Liam Neeson are fun, and even the kid actors are good, well one of them is.

The movie doesn't try to "modernize" itself. What I mean is that it doesn't rely on adult humor or some bad pop song to get by, it's just a simple, timeless film for kids.

CONS

Noah Cyrus (Miley Cyrus's little sister) plays Ponyo and... She is really annoying. She has to yell everything and never has a subtle moment. Now I'm pretty sure that's the point and she's learning about new things on land, but they could have at least toned it down a bit.

CONCLUSION

To sum it all up, I like Ponyo. It's a simple, fun little kids film that the parents can enjoy too. Now I'm going to rate this from my perspective, but if you have kids under the age of 8, I'd definitely say see it. It's perfect for kids that age and they'll love it too!

RATING

WALK TO

 

 

Double Review, Contraband, Ghost Protocol: NR #15 & 16

That was a mediocre Golden Globes wasn't it? Everyone got the award they were predicted to get, Rango got jibbed as an animated movie, and Attack the Block was sadly no where to be seen. They could have at least nominated it for best original score, I mean have you heard that score? Anyway, I'm not here to debate the "Please watch this show/movie that no one watches" awards, I'm here to do my 4th double review or two action movies, some have more action than others, but they both seem to be making a ton of money. I'm talking about..

Let's Begin

CONTRABAND

PLOT

Chris Farraday is one of the best smugglers in the world, but has since retired to a simple life by settling down with a wife and kids and starting up his own security system business. Meanwhile, Chris's brother-in-law is caught in a bad situation when he losses the drugs he was smuggling in for a drug dealer. Now this dealer is threatening to terrorize his sister's family; Chris's wife and family. Now Chris must get back into the smuggling business to get the money to save his family.

PROS

Giovanni Ribisi as the villain is the best part of the movie for all the wrong reason. He is so unintentional funny that he becomes the most non-threatening villain I've ever seen. I was praying that he would come on and make me laugh or at least get some emotion out of me.

CONS

Mark Whalberg is sleep walking through this entire movie. He's not bad yet not memorable, and that's a problem.

My biggest complaint is that this movie is SO BORING. I was bored to tears and then some. It starts out slow, then it picks up with the twist, and gets boring again.

We have no stake in what is happening. You don't care about these bland, cookie cutter characters because they are bland and cookie-cutter.

The film is too predictable, the group I went with were guessing crucial plot points that would happen at the end of the movie in the middle of the movie.

CONCLUSION

It probably seems like I hate this movie, but I don't. I can't explain it, but I never at any point hated this movie and I may feel this way since I can barley remember this movie. I feel that you don't need to see it in theaters, but if you are interested in seeing it wait 'till DVD or when it comes on cable.

RATING

RENTABLE

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 4: GHOST PROTOCOL

PLOT

After an IMF agent holding nuclear launch codes is killed, IMF decides to bring Ethan Hunt back to save the world again, but with a team this time. When a mission at the Kermlin is botched and it explodes, the blame is put on Ethan and crew. The president then initiates Ghost Protocol and disbands the IMF. Now Ethan and company must discover who set them up but with only the limited resources they have left.

PROS

Remember when I said Tintin had the best action scenes of last year? Well this sure gave Tintin a run for its money. The action scenes here are some of the most tense scenes of 2011. I found myself almost falling out of my seat I was so close to the edge.

The biggest complaint against the Mission Impossible films has been the fact that it's never a team effort, it's always the Tom Cruise show. Well here it's always about the team. Everyone has a moment to shine and be helpful. Tom could never do anything here alone.

The direction is great, and we have Brad Bird to thank for that. You may not know the name, but you definitely know the movies. He's the director of such classics as The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, and Ratatouille. You may notice that all of these films are animated, well he makes a seamless transition from animation to live action.

This is a personal Pro, but Simon Pegg is given a lot of scenes to do what he does best, be funny. He even gets a few scenes to be action packed.

CONS

The script is actually pretty bad, but Brad's directing and near constant action keeps your from thinking about the story. But the script is still stupid.

CONCLUSION

This is an action-packed rollercoaster ride full of adrenaline that will leave you tired and worn out by the end of it. I had a lot of fun and think you will too. And if you can help it, see it in Imax, It supposedly is amazing in Imax.

RATING

RUN TO 







My Top 10 Films of 2011!!!

2011 was a great year for film wasn't it? It was the year Ryan Gosling had his comeback, the year where every superhero movie (except one that is GLOWING GREEN with envy) was great, the year that indie films rose up and were mostly good, the year we saw a revolutionary, international, decade long phenomenon end with one of the best movies in its franchise, and, sadly, the year where every single animated film was Pixar standard EXCEPT the Pixar movie. What a year. Well I'm here to tell you what my personal favorites are and what movies you should go see right now, whether in the theater or through Netflix. These are My Top 10 Films of 2011!!


NUMBER 10

When Marvel reveled their plans to make an Avengers movie and show the last two origin stories of Thor and Captain America, no one thought they could pull it off. Then Thor came out and shut everybody up. Now all eyes and judgements were on good 'ol cap to seal the deal on selling us on an Avengers movie. Well it succeeded with flying colors. Captain America was a near perfect superhero movie, perfect story, perfect action, even perfect character development. And the way it ended made it impossible not to be excited for The Avengers. Even the villain was great and blew away all of my fears of whether or not I could take him seriously. Now all we need is for Joss Wheadon to direct a great Avengers movie and we can all die happy, we'll just have to wait and see

Here's a link to my review

http://evilterminator5moviereviews.blogspot.com/2011/07/captain-america-first-avenger-nr-review.html

NUMBER 9

Remember when I said all other animated movies were Pixar standard? Well this one is beyond Pixar. Rango feels like a movie made for adults that was forced into a kids movie. Their are so many subtle old Western cliches and references here to fill an Edgar Wright movie. The animation is gorgeous and extremely detailed to an almost creepy level, and the action scenes are some of the most creative in an animated movie this year, but not THE best, just one of the best.

NUMBER 8

The best Superhero movie. I really don't know what else to say. It has terrific acting, action, character development, it follows the source material (I mean the movies, not the comics) extremely close. What more do you want. You can read my review for more, I mean this was my first review ever.

Here's a link to my review

http://evilterminator5moviereviews.blogspot.com/2011/06/x-men-first-class-nr-review-1.html

NUMBER 7

I don't care how much better the Swedish version supposedly is, this was awesome. For all of the things I was afraid would not work, David Fincher slapped me in the face for even doubting him, and Trent Reznor came back for round two. Not only a great mystery, but also a great adaptation. I can't say enough about Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander, she truly embodies the character and is on a straight shot to stardom. I can't recommend it highly enough, just leave the kids at home, please leave the kids.

Here's a link to my review

http://evilterminator5moviereviews.blogspot.com/2011/12/double-review-tintin-and-dragon-tattoo.html

NUMBER 6

   

Now I'm not a big politics guy, and I've never seen a political thriller, or one known as a political thriller. So I came into this movie cold on what a political thriller is about. I will definitely search out more of these movies. I was entranced by this movie, I couldn't take my eyes off of it and I loved every minute of it. Ryan Gosling showing us how amazing of an actor he truly is, George Clooney convinces us of his directing chops by making it a slow film where the trills come from the story and conversations and not random out of place car chases, and it got me interested in politics. I salute you Ides of March

NUMBER 5

Now I've been excited for this ever since I saw who was working on this, directed by Steven Speilburg, produced by Peter Jackson who will direct the sequel if it's made, and written by Edgar Wright, Joe Cornish, and some guy who writes for Doctor Who. I have to say they delivered and then some. Not only the return of Speilburg, but also the ultimate show off for motion capture technology and Weta (Peter Jackson's visual effects company who are responsible for this, Cesar in "Rise of the Planet of the Apes, King Kong, and Golem) With high flying action and just plain old fun that hasn't been in a Speilburg movie since The Last Crusade, Tintin deserves its spot on any top 10 list.

Here's a link to my review

http://evilterminator5moviereviews.blogspot.com/2011/12/double-review-tintin-and-dragon-tattoo.html

NUMBER 4

One of the biggest surprises for me this year was Limitless, a smart, stylish thriller that showed us that Bradly Cooper can hold his own as a leading man. It also showed us that marketing is everything. The way the film was marketed made it look almost completely different from what it actually was, and it still made a crap ton of money. This was an experience I'm glad I had.

Here's a link to my review

http://evilterminator5moviereviews.blogspot.com/2011/08/double-feature-cr-5-6.html

NUMBER 3

I actually re-watched this yesterday (Januray 6, 2012) just to make sure it still was as good as I remembered it being. Well it totally held up and was even better a second time. The one scene that made me put this at #3 is this scene..

WARNING: THIS NEXT SENTENCE WILL HAVE SPOILERS, SKIP THE LINE IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THIS AMAZING FILM

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The scene where Cesar grabs hold of the taser and Malfoy quotes the line "Get off me you damn dirty ape". Cesar says in a loud, empowering voice "NO!"

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I remember when I saw this in a packed theater, everyone was pushed back in their seat and there was a felling of tension in the air. This guy behind us and me both had the same reaction...Oh Sh!t. If I can feel more for an ape than any other character, human or not, in any movie I've seen, then this demands to put on this list, Go see this.

Here's a link to my review

http://evilterminator5moviereviews.blogspot.com/2011/08/rise-of-planet-of-apes-nr-8.html

NUMBER 2

Not only the first Woody Allen movie to make a huge profit, but also my first Woody Allen movie. This is the kind of movie made for your parents, but still has a lot to offer to the kids. This movie is just happy and makes you happy, and there is no other to describe it. It's funny no matter how old you are, and the cinematography is gorgeous to say the least. If you see this movie at the store, don't hesitate to pick it up.

Here's a link to my review

http://evilterminator5moviereviews.blogspot.com/2011/07/midnight-in-paris-nr-review-4.html

And finally...

NUMBER 1

  

The most underrated film of 2011, maybe even of all time, Attack the Block pulls the amazing feat of having us sympathize with despicable characters that you hate from the start, but you soon love and care about. Full of originality and just plain old Britishness, Attack the Block is the must see film of 2011 that you should seek out at all cost and spend as much money as you can on a copy.

Here's a link to my review

http://evilterminator5moviereviews.blogspot.com/2011/11/attack-block-cr-12.html   

And those where my favorite movies of 2011. Put in the comment section or on Facebook what your favorites of this year were and remember, just because I didn't put a movie you liked or a put a movie you hated doesn't mean I'm wrong, it just means that I have an opinion.