| Movie | Rating | Review | Date | Your Rating | Match | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In Bruges - R |
For its first two-thirds, In Bruges is an intelligent, gently paced thriller about what happens to hitmen when they screw up. The movie crawls at a deliberate pace for most of its running length, allowing the characters to be fleshed out and offering opportunities for mordant humor. As one might guess from its title, there are also some gorgeously scenic shots of the Belgian city Bruges, where the action takes place. Unfortunately, the film's final act doesn't come close to equaling what precedes it. Once the shooting starts, everything collapses, and the ending is the kind that causes head-shaking. It's as if the filmmaker realized he wrote himself into a corner and had to resort to a contrivance to bring things to a close.
Thw film's discouraging climax and conclusion make it difficult to recommend. McDonagh appears to have fallen victim to a common failing of filmmakers - the hope that viewers will care enough for the characters that they'll overlook plotting deficiencies. Unfortunately, it rarely works that way. It's because the characters are well developed that the way the screenplay toys with their fates is hard to excuse. In Bruges tantalizes with possibilities but ultimately frustrates. |
December 23, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Body of Lies - R |
Besides the spectacular visual display delivered again by Scott, there a lot to chew regarding the screenplay. As the title suggests, Body of Lies also dispenses untold falsities, misdirections, half-truths, and deceptions. Monahan has penned a land mine of confusion that blows this thriller to smithereens. Allies shift, rules constantly change, covers are blown, and safe houses are exposed. DiCaprio barks at Crowe for "interfering" in his mission, though we're often unclear what the mission was, how Crowe disrupted it, or even why he prevented Leo from accomplishing said goal. The only truthful thing I can tell you is that I never understood exactly what was happening, to whom it was happening, or even why.
DiCaprio and Crowe are excellent, though each do completely different things for the good of the film. It's a beautiful sight seeing Crowe pack on pounds and hunch his dominant frame to portray a good-old-boy bureaucrat. Both megastars are upstaged by Strong, however. His Middle Eastern mafioso is silky smooth, intense, intelligent, and deadly. |
December 23, 2009 | N/A | |||
| The Blind Side - PG-13 |
The entire cast is great, but it's really Bullock's performance that lifts The Blind Side above the typical sports drama. Bullock is ferocious as Leigh Anne, a real powerhouse of a woman who doesn't take no for an answer. It's a side of Bullock we haven't seen before on film, and The Blind Side really benefits from her ability to go there and not back down playing this woman who finds herself while helping out a homeless teen.
The Blind Side's a feel-good film that should attract both sexes due to the subject matter. There's gridiron action as well as fully developed characters in this compelling tale of family and football. To paraphrase a quote from an ex-NFL coach, The Blind Side is what we thought it would be, but it's also a whole lot more. Inspiring, heart-wrenching, warm, and funny, The Blind Side is a real winner. 
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December 21, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Catch Me If You Can - PG-13 |
The simplicity of the story and filmmaking is deceivingly perfect; there's a wealth of significant undercurrents to the film - the complexity of the father/son and surrogate father/son relationship, the disintegration of the American family, the willingness of people to believe what they're told, the determination of a boy to set things right within and for his family. These things are at the heart of the film, which is ultimately about a boy growing up, related through a loving sense of nostalgia that evolves into an acceptance of reality and responsibility.
The casting is, unsurprisingly, impeccable. Leonardo DiCaprio has been selective in his roles since Titanic and has had little luck as a result, but his performance here is a testament to his possibilities as an actor and a star. DiCaprio is undeniably charismatic here and makes the transitions in age from 15 to his mid-twenties with ease. There's also the subtle ways in which DiCaprio ages Frank in personality and spirit as his innocence slowly begins to fade. Tom Hanks is all process and heavy Boston accent as Hanratty, and his moments of development give one of the film's central relationships an added level (I just could'nt stop luaghing every time I heard "his Knock, Knock - joke"). Perhaps Hanratty wants the same kind of relationship with Frank as Frank wants with him. Christopher Walken's turn is remarkable. After years of seeing him playing eccentric villains or other assortments of criminals, to see him pull off a hard-working father with such a complete sadness to him is a revelation. 
As if Spielberg hasn't shown himself to be the foremost American cinematic storyteller yet, Catch Me If You Can solidifies his status even more. This is the kind of film that reminds you of the absolute enjoyment of watching a great story in the hands of a great director and cast working with a love for the cinema that radiates from off the screen. But let's get one thing straight: Spielberg doesn't automatically make great movies because he's a great director; he's a great director because he has the ability to make great movies. Catch Me If You Can is one of them. |
December 21, 2009 | N/A | |||
| It Might Get Loud - PG | December 21, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| 8 Million Ways To Die - R | 8 Million Ways to Die has the seriousness of the old thrillers, which, no matter how far-fetched, were always obssesed with the honor of the lonely, incorruptible man... | December 20, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Imagine That - PG | Imagine That is by no means a landmark, but it is a remarkably pleasant surprise - so few movies aimed for the whole family show an understanding of why it's actually healthy to pretend. | December 20, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Crazy Heart - R | December 16, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| (500) Days of Summer - PG-13 | December 15, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| GoodFellas - R |
Liotta starts as a gofer for laconic neighborhood godfather Paul Sorvino, gradually coming under the tutelage of Robert De Niro, cast as a middle-aged Irish hood of considerable ruthlessness and repute.
"Being somebody in a neighborhood of nobodies" in "Goodfellas" means going along with whatever brutalities are required. This is made clear right from the credit sequence, in which Liotta queasily watches De Niro and Joe Pesci perform a coldblooded execution. Scorsese never spares the viewer the heinousness of the murders regularly punctuating the story. 
One of the film's major flaws is that De Niro, with his menacing charm, always seems more interesting than Liotta, but he isn't given enough screen time to explore the relationship fully in his top-billed supporting role. 
Bottom line, I gotta admit that Scorsese made a masterpiece (outlining the genre's characteristics), that depicts a world of violence, showing every single detail about the mafia life, with an incredible amount of realism. Definetl, one of the best gangster movies ever... 
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December 10, 2009 | N/A | |||
| The Good Girl - R | Every scene in The Good Girl has the same dreary, frustrating melodramatic tone of a soap opera, but without even passionate tension. The usually charming Aniston can't generate a single flicker of heat during her countless love scenes with Gyllenhaal. It's not really their fault; the talented faces collected here just have nothing to do, thanks to a nearly unconscious script. | December 10, 2009 | N/A | |||
| The Princess and the Frog - G | December 9, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Bottle Rocket - R | not bad...I'm very sursprised to see owen's short hair... I've read that Martin Scorsese placed Bottle Rocket on his list of the ten best films of the 1990s, which gives some indication of the respect accorded to this little-seen film... | December 8, 2009 | N/A | |||
| The Skeptic - Unrated | December 8, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Jungcheon (The Restless) - Unrated | I'd say that its strong points are the visual footage, which is mainly spectacular, and some of the special effects whichwere nicely done. Other than that, it's supposed to be an epic film which combines various elements/genres like romance, fantasy, sword plays, martial arts and the never-ending fight between good and evil. But, of course, is hard to stand out, and thus, inevitably, the ending battle it doesn't succeed in outcoming its cliche-like delivery... | December 8, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Havoc - R | I don't even know why I gave it 2 and 1/2 stars...Very poor acting, especially from Anne Hathaway, which was supposed to play a spoiled socialite. Not even one of the actors had a decent amount of credibility... | December 7, 2009 | N/A | |||
| In & Out - PG-13 | December 6, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| A Better Tomorrow - R | December 6, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Shorts (Shorts: The Adventures of the Wishing Rock) - PG | December 6, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| The Art of War - R | December 6, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| The Legend of Bagger Vance - PG-13 | December 6, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Femme Fatale - R | December 6, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| The Bachelor - PG-13 | December 6, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| The Time Machine - G | December 6, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes - PG | December 6, 2009 | N/A |
3689 ratings
323 reviews
