| Movie | Rating | Review | Date | Your Rating | Match | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wanted - R | Good messy fun, even with McAvoy's Tom Cruise accent. Like Shoot 'Em Up, but with a little bit more to it, and bullet-bending. As some other guy just wrote on here, it's like a cross between Office Space and The Matrix. | July 1, 2008 | N/A | |||
| The Happening - R | Hmm, unfortunately once you've worked out what's 'happening', there's not really much else to hang about for. Ropey dialogue and definitely not Marky Mark's best performance, and nowhere near enough character development/background. Good idea but could have been executed far better - Shyamalan really needs to get back on form. | June 25, 2008 | N/A | |||
| Gone Baby Gone - R | Not a film I'll watch again... however, that's more because of the subject matter than the quality. A slow-burner that really gets you thinking, and all the performances are great. A lot of morality and ethics to think about during and after, it's classy stuff from the Afflecks both in front of and behind the camera, without trying to tell you what's right and wrong. | June 23, 2008 | N/A | |||
| Speed Racer - PG |
I saw the IMAX version. Wasn't expecting a lot of the acting/plot, but neither were that bad, given the whole feel of the film. Visually it had everything you'd expect - its own style in many different ways, cutting-edge CGI, and green-screening that was done pretty well for once (correct lighting etc.). Also some unexpected smaller British actors in the film, from This Life and Coupling! So, if you're happy seeing a mash-up of F-Zero/Wipeout/Wacky Races/Cars/Talledega Nights/Mario Kart that's aimed at kids, or just want to see a real feast of visual animation, it's definitely worth a look. The only dubious point was the lead character's name - 'Speed'. He should have had a brother called 'Weed', a sister called 'Heroin' and a girlfriend called 'Ecstasy'... ;-) |
June 10, 2008 | N/A | |||
| Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - PG-13 |
Much like with the other major Lucasfilm franchise, watching this makes you realise that films were a different beast in the 80s and I'm not really sure Lucas and Spielberg are keeping up with the times. Having said that, they clearly had fun recreating their own teenage memories from the 50s, though I wasn't expecting the X-Files to have such an influence. The CGI worked well enough (ILM doing their thing of course), but definitely problems with the lighting in parts which made it obvious when the actors were on top of a blue/green screen as they weren't lit according to their backdrops. Also interesting to see the scene styles borrowed from Star Wars - the jungle chase (as in Return Of The Jedi), and the wedding at the end just like the ceremony at the end of A New Hope, to name but a few (also 'you're not my father', 'I've got a bad feeling about this', and the young new hero [modelled on the Fonze at first?] swinging around like Leia/Luke did in the Death Star). All that said, I think the film just about worked. Actors who can act, a story that planted all the seeds at the start and let them grow and flourish until the end, and enough humourous moments to keep things bubbling along nicely. It was basically as good as it ever could have been. |
May 29, 2008 | N/A | |||
| Iron Man - PG-13 | Highly entertaining comic book caper, with everything you expect from a Marvel film - the background story, the motive for doing good, the close friend/family becoming the enemy, the cameo from Stan Lee (this time mistaken for Hugh Heffner) and its director (Jon Favreau, playing Stark's chauffeur), amazing CGI, a handful of laughs, a romance that never quite makes it... and thanks to Downey Jr., it just about pulled it off. | May 15, 2008 | N/A | |||
| Persepolis - PG-13 | Beautiful visuals (obviously), and a compelling and relevant story, albeit with an abrupt ending. Some lovely little slices of humour thrown in to lighten the mood, makes it well worth a watch; big or little screen. | May 6, 2008 | N/A | |||
| 21 - PG-13 |
Probably started off as a great idea, but was wrapped up heavy-handed packaging and a bit of a mess. Also became annoying/stupid how they never changed their system to avoid detection, or even just tried it at different casinos. Hope Spacey got involved as a means to an end (paying for his less profitable London endeavours). Having said that, was fairly entertaining, so not a failure. |
April 22, 2008 | N/A | |||
| Hard Candy - R | Great performance from Ellen 'Juno' Page, but frustrating as a film because I felt more for the man than her character, which I'm not sure if was the desired effect. Having said that, it was invovling with punchy dialogue. Not for the feint-hearted though... | April 18, 2008 | N/A | |||
| Son of Rambow - PG-13 | Sweet film - lovingly made and brilliantly British. About kids, set in the 80s, but watchable by anyone. | April 15, 2008 | N/A | |||
| Broadcast News - R | April 12, 2008 | N/A | ||||
| Run Fatboy Run - PG-13 | Pleasingly quite good. Great if you love seeing the capital on celluloid too, or laughing at inappropriate-use-of-swear-words jokes. | April 10, 2008 | N/A | |||
| Drillbit Taylor - PG-13 | Meh... had the odd funny bit, but overall a bit of a half-arsed effort, when compared to Superbad for instance. Catch it if you've nothing better to do (as I did). | April 9, 2008 | N/A | |||
| Vantage Point - PG-13 | Interesting idea (though apparently by no means original), but executed in a heavy-handed way, without any subtlety, and left me thinking it thought it was cleverer than it actually was. Soundtrack was also heartstring-pulling-by-numbers, which for someone who listens as much as he looks, became a bit annoying. Ironic that the first sequence had a sub-plot about dumbing things down. Certainly not a bad film though. | March 25, 2008 | N/A | |||
| The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi - R | Classic quirky yet elegant samurai film - highly recommended. | March 25, 2008 | N/A | |||
| Oldboy - R | March 23, 2008 | N/A | ||||
| The Other Boleyn Girl - PG-13 | Not historically correct, which kind of undermines the purpose of retelling a true story, especially one that has been told many times before. Shame, as the acting standard was satisfactory, and some interesting cinematography, music, and of course the period costumes and settings. Worth a watch but nothing special. | March 21, 2008 | N/A | |||
| Office Space - R | Funny little quirky film. | March 21, 2008 | N/A | |||
| Le Scaphandre et le Papillon (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) - PG-13 | Lovely honest film, good/great in almost every department. However, I think The Sea Inside, a similar film in many ways, had much more to say and for me personally was much more emotional. If you liked this, make sure to see that. | March 14, 2008 | N/A | |||
| The Bank Job - R | No great marks for acting, but the pace was good, had a broad cast, the story was told well and 'twas fun to see London in the 70s. | March 11, 2008 | N/A | |||
| Semi-Pro - R | Semi-funny. Some amusing moments, but Farrell is not enough to carry this, and none of the other characters get to be funny (aside from the commentators). | March 11, 2008 | N/A | |||
| On Her Majesty's Secret Service - PG | February 26, 2008 | N/A | ||||
| Black Sheep - Unrated | February 26, 2008 | N/A | ||||
| Once Upon a Time in America - R | February 26, 2008 | N/A | ||||
| Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: An IMAX 3D Experience - PG-13 | February 26, 2008 | N/A |
1327 ratings
304 reviews
