Smokin Aces I was disappointed with this, I found the action sequences to be disjointed and the 'twist' at the end was unnecessary and pointless to the storyline, also it was so obvious from the start. However the cracking dialogue and strong performances do make it enjoyable and a bit of fun.
The Pursuit of Happyness Good solid performance from Will Smith, his son is very good too, make this quite watchable but its over sentimentality and by the book style filmmaking made it hard for me to be really drawn into it. The very last scene sees Will Smith and son watlking down a street and a very well dressed man walks past them, Will Smith turns and smiles at him. This person, I assume, was the real Chris Gardiner?
The Last King of Scotland Powerful, stunning and fascinating look into the life of Idi Amin. This is a terrific film with excellent performances from the cast. And Forest Whitaker's performance? just give him the Oscar now. One of the must see films of the year.
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Fun film to watch and very funny. I remember seeing the trailer in America when I went to see Talladega Nights. Jessica Simpson, was she smokin' or what... what a body
"On every street in every city, there's a nobody who dreams of being a somebody..."
Howard the Duck - Certainly has its moments methinks. Starts of slow, fighting boredom by wondering when plot is gonna kick later on, when it does its pretty decent with some cool sfx and action but undoubtly its not enough to save the film. Certainly not as bad as i thought or people say but this could have been better. So much talent (creative team) wasted due to the directors lack of vision. Still there was some entertainment value nontheless.
Smokin' Aces. Good fun, a film for the cinema, plenty of gun shots going off in your ears. Nothing ground-breaking, but writer/director Joe Carnahan (Narc) has a great visual sense and the cast give it their all. Jason Bateman's cameo is worth the price of admission alone.
Superman Returns - This is about the third time i'm seeing this and while it is very entertaining, it lacks something.......thats its......i didn't care about the characters
Serenity - Again pretty entertaining and i like the story. Good film but nothing special.
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - not a bad comedy this. I like the way its pure randomness works out in the end. Can be at times very funny. Fantastic climatic action set piece BTW.
Flags of the Father - Meh. Average at best and it felt like it overstayed its wellcome just like Return of the King.
Rocky Balboa While it's does have some cheesy moments at the start, personally I could have done without the flashbacks, this is a film with a very big heart. A warm, touching and fitting end to a screen icon.
Babel Though flawed, this is a hugely enjoyable, engaging film with all round terrific performances. The story is intricate (but easily followed), compassionate with superb photography. Well worth a viewing.
Black Book There was an excellent film screaming to get out here but never quite managed to. In typical Verhoven style he overstates the obvious and plays down what should have been fully explored. Do we get to understand why Carice van Houten falls in love with the Nazi officer? No, but we do get to see her dye her pubic hair. This is a terrible shame because this really could have been a film to stand up with the likes of Downfall and White Rose, but it ultimately falls way short.
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Rocky Balboa: Fantastic finish to an iconic character. The sequels were a bit lame (especially 4 & 5), but this restores the heart of the character back to the screen. some great acting too. 9/10
The Dark Crystal: Probably the first film I ever saw in the cinema. Doesn't live upto watching it as an 8 year old, but was still entertaining - a lot funnier this time round. 7.5/10
Star Trek: Generations: Being a trek fan I rank this below 2,4,6 & 8, but the best of the odd numbered films (and better than 10). 8/10
The Skeleton Key: Bit slow, but the end was ok. 5.5/10
Very good well made film with superb performances from Will Smith and his son. Some very touching scenes and great cinematography of San Francisco. Will deserves to get an Oscar nod for his performance but he looks an amateur against Forest Whitaker!
Edward Scissorhands 9/10
Tim Burton classic. The "Ice Dance" scene still gives me tears in my eyes! Wonderful love story, spectaular soundtrack, acting and photography of the highest quality. Never get tired of this film.
"On every street in every city, there's a nobody who dreams of being a somebody..."
Well acted and a frighteningly realistic look at the UK in the future. I was expecting more from the story though. Premise was good, but somehow lacked direction for me. Clive Owen and Michael Caine were superb throughout.
Hostel 5/10
Finally got round to seeing this. All rather pointless. Acting was wooden and did not relate or care about the characters enough. A disappointment.
"Thank you for your concern, but I never fly economy"
DiCaprio's finest performance so far in my opinion. He totally immersed himself as Howard Hughes and dominated the film. The court scenes towards the end were shot in similar style to Irwin Winkler's Guilty by Suspicion which I thought was terrific. Great support comes from John C. Reilly who is always on the top of his game, and Cate Blanchett is also brilliant. An excellent film about the life of Howard Hughes.
Rocky Balbao 7/10
Perhaps the greatest underdog story of all time. This is a good end to a screen legend. Stallone did a very good job of the film, it's not to be taken seriously of course but there are some touching moments. And fairplay to him for going against real fighter Antonio Tarver who has defeated the likes of Roy Jones Jnr! Rumours on IMDB are that Sly refused to cast Mike Tyson as Mr T, as he was afraid of getting killed but Tyson's cameo is good to watch. You know your watching a Rocky film when the music comes on and he starts training, I felt like doing some press ups right there in the cinema.
The Jerk 9/10
One of the funniest films I've ever seen! I've watched it a few times but it was on TV the other night. Steve Martin is a genius in this film as Navin R. Johnson. A kind, generous individual with the IQ of an amoeba! Love the sniper who randomly picks out his name in the phone book, hilarious.
"On every street in every city, there's a nobody who dreams of being a somebody..."
Blood Diamond The acting and directing are top notch although Leonardo DiCaprio loses the African accent from time to time. While the film flows nicely for the most part, at 140 minutes it is a little too long and suffers from it, there are several scenes that should have been left on the cutting room floor, one in particular when DiCaprio, Connelly and Hounsou are surrounded in the jungle by local militia and they get out of the near death experience by talking photos of them. Aside from scenes like this the film is very powerful and well worth watching. There's a very poignant moment near the end in London where Djimon Hounsou, after all the violence and bloodshed, is looking at diamond necklaces outside a jewelery shop.
The next time you see a blushing bride to be and she's showing off the rock on her finger, think twice.
Bobby Wonderfully recreating the look and feel of the late sixties, this film looks into the lives of hotel patrons and staff awaiting the arrival of Robert Kennedy. Directed by Emilio Estevez, who apparently sold personal belonings to finance the film, this is so obviously a story close to his heart and it shows throughout the film. Terrific performances from the ensemble cast especially from Sharon Stone and Demi Moore. But where the film falls down is I felt there was too many stories being crammed into the running time, it would have fared better had Emilio Estevez cut some of the characters out of the plot and focused on the more interesting ones. Did we really need to see the LSD trip in the hotel room? I don't think so. Also the camera work left a lot to be desired. The movement was very awkward, while we were trying to focus on a character and what they were saying the camera was behind another's shoulder, which was very off putting.
All that said, the film is well worth a viewing and shows a time of hope in a world in turmoil. Which certainly rings true even today.
Hollywoodland Set against the unsolved case of George Reeves, who played Superman in the late 50's. The story follows Adrien Brody as he tries to prove (for his own benefit) that the apparent suicide of the actor was, in fact, murder. Excellent performances from Brody, Diane Lane and the cast but it's Ben Affleck as George Reeves who really shines here. It is really quite a shame that he didn't get an Oscar nod for this, he deserved it. Especially after all the unfair publicity he's been getting in recent years because of his breakup with a way over rated singer/actress.
A nostalgic look at the film empire of Hollywood in the 50's and how everybody wanted to be a star, at any cost. Maybe this was too close to the bone for some of the elite of Hollywood and perhaps the reason it was overlooked by the Academy.
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The Warrior starring Tony Jaa. Not great, in fact, I havent watched a martial arts movie so bad since Van Damnes god awful Rip-Off. I kept watching and hoping that it would improve but apart from the capoeria scene in the burning temple, it was mostly awful. The worst sin that these movies commit IS PUTTING OUT A poor end fight. Up until the end there were some good scenes but it ran out of steam and we ended up with the big guy cliche. Tony, fire yourself as a fight choreographer and draft in someone else. He comes across in this as a wannabe successor to Jackie Chan. Thats been done, move on. I have Ong Bak to watch now, I hope thats a lot better.
Originally posted by rogershoes: The Warrior starring Tony Jaa. Not great, in fact, I havent watched a martial arts movie so bad since Van Damnes god awful Rip-Off. I kept watching and hoping that it would improve but apart from the capoeria scene in the burning temple, it was mostly awful. The worst sin that these movies commit IS PUTTING OUT A poor end fight. Up until the end there were some good scenes but it ran out of steam and we ended up with the big guy cliche. Tony, fire yourself as a fight choreographer and draft in someone else. He comes across in this as a wannabe successor to Jackie Chan. Thats been done, move on. I have Ong Bak to watch now, I hope thats a lot better.
Harsh words indeed! You're not even a fan of the one-take staircase scene?
