| Movie | Rating | Review | Date | Your Rating | Match | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taken - PG-13 | December 15, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Vals Im Bashir (Waltz with Bashir) - R | December 9, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Up in the Air - R | December 3, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Wo hu cang long) - PG-13 | December 2, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Fantastic Mr. Fox - PG | November 28, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Law Abiding Citizen - R | Abandons the best idea it put forward in favor of cheap thrills and a serial killer, generic thriller action scenes. It's well-shot and entertaining but completely preposterous, over-the-top and ridiculous for a movie that makes itself out to be something extremely serious. | November 24, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire - R | November 23, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Entre les Murs (The Class) - PG-13 | Masterpiece! Bound to be on my year-end top 10! | September 17, 2009 | N/A | |||
| The Informant! - R |
Featuring a terrific performance from Matt Damon, and perfectly arriving at a time when corporate greed, corruption and scandals are at the fore of the spotlight, Steven Soderbergh’s The Informant! is the director’s most entertaining and enjoyable film since Ocean’s 11. Based on a true story as reported in the book of the same name by Kurt Eichenwald, The Informant!, set in the early 1990s, centers around Mark Whitacre (Damon), a high ranking executive at agricultural industry giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) and how his life turns into a media circus after he abruptly decides to become a whistleblower for the FBI. When we first meet Whitacre, he has a great job, and seems to love it too. The wheels begin to turn when he is tipped off that someone has been selling ADM’s secrets to its Japanese competitors. Instead of paying off $10 million for the identity of the mole, ADM executives decide to bring in the FBI forcing Whitacre to cooperate with them. Soon his wife Ginger (Melanie Lynskey) is forcing him to tell the agents about the crime ADM forces him to commit – participating in a multi-national price fixing scheme. Eventually he’s wearing a wire, envisioning himself as James Bond, and positioning himself as the savior of the company. Films dealing with this subject tend to be ultra-serious but instead Soderbergh chooses to lighten the tone, focusing on Whitacre, who is frankly, one of the most bumbling, idiotic informants in history. Marvin Hamlisch’s over-the-top jazzy score which plays like something out of a James Bond film, adds to the film’s breezy tone. Soderbergh even adds an exclaimation point to the film’s title, accenting its quirkiness. This is definitely not The Insider or Michael Clayton. What sets this film apart from others in this genre is Whitacre’s voiceover narration. As written by Scott Z. Burns, the narration, gives us insight into his thought process and personal life. However, more often than not, Whitacre’s narration unexpectedly goes completely off the chart becoming bizarre observations on completely unrelated, wildly inappropriate, yet hilarious topics. One moment he’s giving us the rundown of his job, the next he’s babbling about Japanese men buying used girls’ panties in vending machines on the streets of Tokyo. As Mark Whitacre, Matt Damon delivers the best performance of his career. Being aware of his status as the star of an action spy franchise (the Jason Bourne series), Damon buries himself to become Whitacre, who is as far as you can get from Bourne. For the role, the actor put on 30 lbs, and hides his face under big glasses, a weird haircut and a goofy looking moustache. When you compare this role to Jason Bourne, it really is evident how much of an underrated talent Damon is. It’s hard to think of any other actor playing this role as he brings so much charisma and likeability to the character even if Whitacre’s a moron who keeps making stupid decisions. |
September 17, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Observe and Report - R | Disturbing, bizarre and at times down right offensive, Jody Hill's Observe & Report is unlike any comedy I've seen in the last few years. It is certainly a massive departure for Seth Rogan. Rogan plays Ronnie Barnhardt, a bipolar, delusional mall security guard who dreams of becoming a cop some day. He plans on making his dreams a reality by apprehending a streaker who's been terrorizing the mall. The way he goes out about it makes up the bulk of the film. Many have compared Rogan's character to Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver and to be honest, the comparisons are quite valid. This is a really disturbing, very dark but humorous film. Paul Blart it isn't. | September 7, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Adventureland - R | September 6, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| State of Play - PG-13 | September 6, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Fa Yeung Nin Wa (In the Mood for Love) - PG | One of the most stunning, and beautiful films I've ever seen. Easily, one of the best films of the 2000s. The classical motifs are gorgeous, the cinematography is one of the best of all time and the story is incredible. Classic. Wong Kar-Wai will never get better than this. Chungking Express comes close but this is his masterpiece. His usage of color in this film is mind-blowing (from the costumes to the walls to art direction; everything is perfect). You could frame almost every shot of this film. Music and time play a very important role as well. It is the definition of a romantic art-house film. A slow burn whose rewards are endless. A really beautiful piece of work. | August 27, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Duplicity - PG-13 | Great film. Very very underrated and under-seen. Clive Owen and Julia Roberts are both great - they've got good chemistry and it's nice to see them on good terms after Closer. lol. Still... A very under-appreciated film. Tony Gilroy proves again, after Michael Clayton, that he's one of the best writers in Hollywood. It was a little tough in the beginning figuring out who's working for who but when the pieces started to fall in place, it was a great ride with outrageous twists and turns. Clive Owen reminded me of Cary Grant in this... which is always a good thing! | August 27, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Inglourious Basterds - R | Hilarious, over-the-top, and extremely entertaining, Inglourious Basterds is alternative World War 2 at its finest. Filled with stylish set pieces ranging from tense to hilarious to down right scary, Basterds is probably Tarantino's funniest film. Everyone from Brad Pitt to Eli Roth are at their kookiest but the MVP is Christoph Waltz as the antagonist, Col. Hans Landa aka The Jew Hunter who is downright scary and hilarious. One of Tarantino's finest creations, the screen is electric whenever Landa is on. A healthy Oscar campaign is sure to be in the works for Waltz and deservedly so! Melanie Laurent, as the Jewish girl who owns the theatre where the thrilling and brillian finale is set is also fantastic and in a perfect world, would deserve a supporting actress nomination. Don't go expecting a typical World War 2 movie... The promos have it right... You haven't seen World War 2 as envisioned by Quentin Tarantino! However, don't go expecting an action flick either. There is about 5 minutes worth of shoot-em-up action footage in the 2 and half hour running time. Most of the film is spoken in French and German - at least 70% of it. But this is still a Tarantino film, so expect his great dialogues, set pieces, great cinematography (by Tarantino regular Bob Richardson) and strange characters. This is great fun! | August 24, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Shutter Island - Unrated | August 24, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Coraline - PG | A very unique and original film by director Henry Selick (Nightmare Before Christmas). Like "Christmas" it is very dark and twisted for an animated film. It's definitely not for little kids who are sure to be creeped out by its visuals. Coraline has phenomenal animation (even more impressive considering it is stop-motion) and a very well realized story. It's on par with UP as the best animated film of the year. | August 22, 2009 | N/A | |||
| (500) Days of Summer - PG-13 | Charming, cute, quirky but also very honest in its depiction of relationships when it comes to expectations, meeting them and coming to a realization of when to let go. An intelligent script, inventive cinematography and strong performances by the lead duo make this an entertaining time at the movies. The best compliment I can give this film is that it was very Annie Hall-isque which is probably the greatest compliment a comedy/romance/drama can get. | July 16, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - PG |
The breath-taking cinematography is the first thing I noticed! Never has a Potter film looked this good - be it foreboding, dark scenes or Quidditch or even scenes inside Hogwarts - the cinematography was stunning. As for the rest of the film - It was entertaining and it moved reasonably well for a 2 and half hour film. Reading the books certainly helps a lot as you get a lot of important information the casual fan of the films would not get. While there are certainly a lot of scenes I would liked to have seen inserted into the film at the expense of some of the romantic banter, I was satisfied with what I saw. I think it was a good decision to split the last novel into two films since it certainly would have significantly trimmed down a lot of the plot twists and scenes from the book. For a Potter film, Half Blood Prince isn't too bad. It's not the worst film of the series. It certainly isn't the best (That's still Prisoner of Azkaban). For a summer film, it's definitely worth the ticket... What other summer big budget franchise blockbuster has delivered this year (other than Star Trek)? |
July 16, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Up - PG | Pixar's most mature film but also quite possibly their funniest. While it's not as good as Pixar's previous two masterpieces (Wall-E, Ratatouille) it's on par with Monsters Inc., the Toy Story films and The Incredibles. Doug's the best character. Plus, the film has stunning animation. That Best Animated Film Oscar is in the bag! | July 13, 2009 | N/A | |||
| The Hangover - R | Hilarious film with strong characters and a good-treasure hunt like mystery plot to hold it together. | July 13, 2009 | N/A | |||
| The Proposal - PG-13 | Charming film with cute performances from Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock (man, she looked great!). | July 13, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Public Enemies - R | While the action was great and i did honestly enjoy the film, it just felt like something was missing. Something big. Johnny Depp is fine as Dilinger but I didn't really care for him all that much. What made everyone love him so much? Whatever it was, it was missing on screen. Also, Christian Bale's role was severely underwritten. It was the Johnny Depp show for the most part and the character wasn't too interesting at all. I didn't care for the cinematography either, which I thought was a distraction (You should shoot in film for a picture dealing with 1930s gangsters, not digital IMO). Marion Cotillard and Billy Crudup were pretty good. A little disappointed in Mann. | July 13, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Brüno (Bruno) - R | Ridiculously over the top and outrageous. Not as hilarious as Borat though as it seems to me that Bruno was out to shock and freak out everyone more blatantly than Borat who did it in a more subtle way. Also, Bruno is also a more despicable character. It was much harder to sympathize with him. | July 13, 2009 | N/A | |||
| The Hurt Locker - R |
Phenomenal piece of film-making. Ridiculously intense and suspenseful. This is the type of film that must win Oscars although i doubt it will get the attention it deserves at the end of the year. Kathryn Bigelow's direction is the star! Just A level stuff. The movie doesn't really have a plot. It's essentially 38 days of tour duty of a bomb squad in Iraq in 2004. Like the pre-credits sequence notes: War is a drug.. Once you get a taste of it, you're addicted... it takes over your life There's no going back to picking cereals and veggies at delis. Can't wait to experience it again. |
July 5, 2009 | N/A |
751 ratings
174 reviews
