Daybreakers - Really creative, constant tension, stacked cast, damn good film. Really liked what they did with the concept. 8/10
The Wolfman - This really could've been great, but a lot of the usual things went wrong. Insane amount of CGI, jump-heavy blockbuster scares without much atmosphere or showmanship to them, bizarre pacing, etc. I love a lot of Joe Johnston's stuff but I think he's just not a horror director. M. Night Shymalan could've done a great job with this. Every actor does very well though. Hopkins saves the whole film. 5.5/10
I just read that they cut 17 minutes from the final cut of the film for theaters because the studio wanted audiences to get to the first Wolfman transformation sooner. Joe Johnston's putting these back for the DVD, which I want to see.
Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland - I think as entertainment this is pretty much critic-proof. It has a lot of the same problems with missed showmanship that Burton's Charlie And The Chocolate Factory had, but at the end of the day it's a fun tribute to Carroll's world packed with colourful, captivating visuals, a great cast, and a good old-fashioned fantasy quest element woven through which it's fun to see the well-known characters participate in. Where else are you going to be able to see
a Jokerized Johnny Depp using a garment mannequin to swordfight a one-eyed Crispin Glover?
7/10.
The Crazies - An interesting take on the Zombiepocalypse genre and an effective, suspenseful, scary film overall. Literally every second is suspenseful, never letting up. 7.5/10
Daybreakers B+ a fun movie. It reminded me of Dark City with Vampires. Sam Niel was pretty entertaining, but William Defoe was too cheesey for me. Ethan Hawk was solid too. The opening was probably the best moment. Still, a good start to what's looking like a genre filled start of the year.
The Book of Eli - B+ Very solid, and I loved all the nods to the post-apocalyptic genre, but I felt like it could have been more. Gary Oldman was fantastic as a villian that easily could have been a hero in another movie. Still, I can't help but think of what might have been.
Legion D - pretty bad. Everything here was pretty cookie cutter, tho Taye Diggs had some pretty good lines. That doesn't make a movie worth it.
From Paris With Love B+ Taken this is not, but that's okay. Travolta is really entertaining, Johnathan Reese-Myers is solid, and while the plot takes a bit of a left turn at the end its still pretty fun. Plus the whole Vase bit was great.
The Wolfman B not nearly as bas as I was expecting. There was obviously some stoyline issues, and I personaly take offense to getting one of the best prostetics guys who have ever lived and then still CGIing everything, but I still had fun.
Shutter Island - C I read the book Shutter Island a few years ago and I feel that it was a hinderance to enjoying the movie. Scorcese was making a specific type of movie here and that isn't the same... tone as the book. The book had this great feeling of everything being subtly off in it without resorting to obvious halucinations. In the book everything feels more organic and natural. I didn't think DiCaprio had the best handle on Teddy either. Now the supporting cast absolutly owns this movie. Mark Ruffalo was perfect, as was Ben Kingsly, Freddy Kruger and Stotlmyer from monk.
Cop Out - C this... this had so much potential. But then we had the opeing scene with some amazingly akward expositionary dialoge then a gag that completly fell apart. Tracy Morgan isn't funny. I think this is the last thing I intentionaly watch with him. And the score. It sounds like it was scored by someone who was learning the synthisizer and only had the score from Escape from New York to teach him. Dispite all my complaints I will say Sean William Scott was great in it.
The Crazies A This is how you do a Zombie Movie people. Yes, they're as much Zombies as the 28 franchise. We've got suspense, creepy ****, and a few good jumps. A decent plot that does exactly what it needs to, and a character that keeps you guessing as to his status. Anyone who wants to see a movie like this should really check it out.
Alice in Wonderland A- Quite entertaining except for one thing. Johnny Depp wandered around playing a mix of sweeny Todd and a rainbow. And that dance at the end... but everything else was good. I really enjoyed it.
Repo Men B Everything it needed to be. Fun, gory, funny. Very funny actually. They totally stole the ending from
sleeper
tho, but its the first time in a while it didn't feel like a total cop out.
Green Zone Besides the fact that I got in for free because the guy I went with knows the manager at the movie theatre I went to (we also got a tour of the projection room...I felt like a little kid) the movie was pretty good. It was very politically charged with an obvious bias against the Bush administration, but whatever. It was also a weird experience for me because this movie had more historical context in my life than any other movie I've ever seen. It was about something that remember. The opening scene had the date March, 2003 and I immediately thought of the day my senior year of high school when President Bush gave Saddam a deadline for surrendering. I was living in New York State at the time and three hours before the deadline came up and the US declared war on Iraq, a US Navy recruiter called my house and asked if I was interested in enlisting. I laughed at her bad timing and then told her I was Canadian. All that to say, the ability to put the movie in context with my life added a really unique texture to the film that made it that much more interesting to me. Though I hate the shaky camera thing that Greengrass always uses. -- B
Daybreakers B+ a fun movie. It reminded me of Dark City with Vampires. Sam Niel was pretty entertaining, but William Defoe was too cheesey for me. Ethan Hawk was solid too. The opening was probably the best moment. Still, a good start to what's looking like a genre filled start of the year.
The Book of Eli - B+ Very solid, and I loved all the nods to the post-apocalyptic genre, but I felt like it could have been more. Gary Oldman was fantastic as a villian that easily could have been a hero in another movie. Still, I can't help but think of what might have been.
Legion D - pretty bad. Everything here was pretty cookie cutter, tho Taye Diggs had some pretty good lines. That doesn't make a movie worth it.
From Paris With Love B+ Taken this is not, but that's okay. Travolta is really entertaining, Johnathan Reese-Myers is solid, and while the plot takes a bit of a left turn at the end its still pretty fun. Plus the whole Vase bit was great.
The Wolfman B not nearly as bas as I was expecting. There was obviously some stoyline issues, and I personaly take offense to getting one of the best prostetics guys who have ever lived and then still CGIing everything, but I still had fun.
Shutter Island - C I read the book Shutter Island a few years ago and I feel that it was a hinderance to enjoying the movie. Scorcese was making a specific type of movie here and that isn't the same... tone as the book. The book had this great feeling of everything being subtly off in it without resorting to obvious halucinations. In the book everything feels more organic and natural. I didn't think DiCaprio had the best handle on Teddy either. Now the supporting cast absolutly owns this movie. Mark Ruffalo was perfect, as was Ben Kingsly, Freddy Kruger and Stotlmyer from monk.
Cop Out - C this... this had so much potential. But then we had the opeing scene with some amazingly akward expositionary dialoge then a gag that completly fell apart. Tracy Morgan isn't funny. I think this is the last thing I intentionaly watch with him. And the score. It sounds like it was scored by someone who was learning the synthisizer and only had the score from Escape from New York to teach him. Dispite all my complaints I will say Sean William Scott was great in it.
The Crazies A This is how you do a Zombie Movie people. Yes, they're as much Zombies as the 28 franchise. We've got suspense, creepy ****, and a few good jumps. A decent plot that does exactly what it needs to, and a character that keeps you guessing as to his status. Anyone who wants to see a movie like this should really check it out.
Alice in Wonderland A- Quite entertaining except for one thing. Johnny Depp wandered around playing a mix of sweeny Todd and a rainbow. And that dance at the end... but everything else was good. I really enjoyed it.
Repo Men B Everything it needed to be. Fun, gory, funny. Very funny actually. They totally stole the ending from
sleeper
tho, but its the first time in a while it didn't feel like a total cop out.
Hot Tub Time Machine A Hot damn this is one funny movie. I mean really, really freaking funny. It sends up almost every time travel trope I can think of and manages to do so in style. Being the sucker for Time Travel that I am I might have to see it again. And actually pay for it this time. I had only one question.
Who was in the Bear Suit and what did he do after being stuck in the past?
Maybe its after the music video at the end, I left before that was over.
Kick-Ass - Fantastic film. Equal parts hilariously funny, clever and dark, this is by far the best film I have seen this year. Hit-Girl's introduction (in her costumed persona anyway) is up there with the Pencil Trick scene in The Dark Knight.
9.99/10
Daybreakers - Really creative, constant tension, stacked cast, damn good film. Really liked what they did with the concept. 8/10
The Wolfman - This really could've been great, but a lot of the usual things went wrong. Insane amount of CGI, jump-heavy blockbuster scares without much atmosphere or showmanship to them, bizarre pacing, etc. I love a lot of Joe Johnston's stuff but I think he's just not a horror director. M. Night Shymalan could've done a great job with this. Every actor does very well though. Hopkins saves the whole film. 5.5/10
I just read that they cut 17 minutes from the final cut of the film for theaters because the studio wanted audiences to get to the first Wolfman transformation sooner. Joe Johnston's putting these back for the DVD, which I want to see.
Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland - I think as entertainment this is pretty much critic-proof. It has a lot of the same problems with missed showmanship that Burton's Charlie And The Chocolate Factory had, but at the end of the day it's a fun tribute to Carroll's world packed with colourful, captivating visuals, a great cast, and a good old-fashioned fantasy quest element woven through which it's fun to see the well-known characters participate in. Where else are you going to be able to see
a Jokerized Johnny Depp using a garment mannequin to swordfight a one-eyed Crispin Glover?
7/10.
The Crazies - An interesting take on the Zombiepocalypse genre and an effective, suspenseful, scary film overall. Literally every second is suspenseful, never letting up. 7.5/10
Hot Tub Time Machine - Absolutely The Hangover meets Back To The Future, this was hilarious. With a little more effort they could've approached a BTTF level of changed-the-future emotion and satisfaction at the end, but it was still a borderline great movie. 8.5/10
Shutter Island -- B Top-notch acting, cinematography and editing in Scorcese's latest. One of the rare films that, on a second viewing, is a completely different movie. But it's too long, and the twist too gimmicky. No "Cape Fear." Waking Sleeping Beauty -- B This archival footage documentary, which takes you behind the scenes at the House of Mouse during Disney's Second Golden Age (1989-1994), presents the all too familiar tale of the Disney Wars between Michael Eisner, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Roy Disney. But it also spotlights the talented people who put together "The Little Mermaid," "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Lion King," and it's a delight to revisit such a well-loved period of time when the hits just kept on coming. Alice in Wonderland -- C+ The worst Tim Burton film I've ever seen all the way through. Mia Wasikowska ("In Treatment") as Alice was a great casting choice, however, and she does a lovely job.
Daybreakers -- C -- Meh. The film was ok. I think my growing boredom of the oversaturation of vampires didn't help. The cinematography was good...the special effects were surprisingly great...but the story didn't really wow me. I kept waiting for the film to be over with the entire time. Its like I was watching a really long "what if" episode of True Blood but without the all the crazy drama.
Book of Eli -- B+ -- Not Denzel's best movie. Not by a long shot. But there's something engrossing about a Denzel Washington/Tony Scott film. Loved the action...loved the story...and kinda saw the twist at the end coming about 20 minutes into the film, but it was still a shock when it was revealed.
Legion -- D -- So.....boring. I mean impatiently boring. The film is the equivalent of that black wheelchair kid from Malcolm in the Middle. You just sit there waiting for whatever scene to finally get to the point.....and when it does.....it just sits there. And much like Wheelchair Kid, it had it's moments. Unfortunately they were all too fleeting.
Shutter Island -- C+ -- Scorcese's biggest contradiction. The story/mystery is totally gripping! It pulls you in further and further every minute that passes. The score is both haunting and menacing....a perfect match for the entire film. The acting is fantastic pulp/noir throwback. Too bad that once the film ends....you almost forget everything that happened and can't really recommend it to anyone. But after 40 years of filmmaking...Scorcese's allowed to have this kinda film every now and then. Maybe it's time to switch lead actors Martin? Leo has been in the lead in all of your movies since the start of 2000.
Alice In Wonderland -- D -- Not entertaining at all. The only reason I continued to watch the film was to see the special effects and hear who was voicing which characters. Loved the voice acting for all the CGI characters, but everything else was totally boring. The only 2 scenes I actually liked was the "warm pig belly" scene and seeing Johnny CGI breakdance. Other than that....pass.
She's Outta My League -- C- -- Romantic Comedies are all the same. Some scenes were charming...some were funny. But the story is always the same and so is the ending. This is easily worth a rental....but nothing more. The "ball shaving" scene was the highlight of the movie....take that how you will.