| Movie | Rating | Review | Date | Your Rating | Match | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Right at Your Door - R |
"Right at your door" is one of those films that, seemingly not received well upon release, will in future years will be regarded as a bit of a cult. It has everything a thriller needs; tension, realism, scares and a protagonist who is altogether human and trying to cope in what can only be described as exceptional circumstances.
Only one other film has kept my pulse racing from the first to the final minute and that was the 2004 adaption of "Dawn of the Dead". It is easy to see the similarities; a world gone crazy and the authorities are overwhelmed in the face of the devastating event. The film does not suffer for the lack of money; I would even go so far to say that it does better with a small budget than so many blockbusters could ever do with their bottomless pits of cash. It starts as any normal working day would. The wife Lexi gets up for work, goes through the daily routine, kisses husband Brad goodbye and heads off for another day at the grindstone. Brad puts the radio on and soon after, the music is broken by a special announcement; downtown Los Angeles has been hit by four simultaneous explosions. Brad continually tries to phone his wife but gets no answer. Never before has the sound of an unanswered phone sounded so sinister. Brad then leaps into his car and tries to get downtown to find his wife. He eventually gives up realising that the authorities have already blocked off his way through. But that's not the worst of it all, the unfolding horror reveals that the explosions were chemical devices and the spreading cloud contains toxic fumes. It is a race against time to get the house sealed, angst and desperation overwhelms Brad as waits desperately for news both on his wife and on the city. I would be lying if I told you that this was a feel good film; I would be lying if I said that it is anything but an emotionally intense film that doesn't let up for a single minute. However, it is easily one of my favourite films. An INSTANT favourite. |
July 16, 2007 | N/A | |||
| Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer - PG | July 12, 2007 | N/A | ||||
| Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - PG-13 |
OK. Yes stuff was left out. Yes some things were inaccurate. And yes, at times the story jumped around. But I'll tell you what, if that's the price to pay for being able to see fantastic literature on the big-screen...I'll take a few inconsistencies any day.
For having the task of taking 870 masterful pages and turning them into a 2.5 hour movie, David Yates did one heck of a job. This movie is a must-see, no matter how you look at it. For book-readers, sure you notice the absence of certain parts, but you finally get to see what you've imagined in your head for years take place in real-live motion on the screen?and you know what, those few things left out, help you gain a better understanding anyway, because you have already read the in-between stuff. Then, in the same breath, this is a great movie for non-book-readers as well. For those HP fans who take the lighter approach of skipping the books and simply following along by the movies?you won't know what you're missing anyway. The biggest complaints about this movie will be from book-readers who wanted a 10-hour long, word-for-word re-creation of the book. Other than that, there is nothing to complain about. Acting was great, story-line was great, and the special effects were flawless. (Slight Spoiler In This Paragraph) Being a book-reader, I knew heading in that I would have to be prepared to accept substantial cuts from all that takes place in the book. However, the parts that Yates chose to focus on, were by far, the most important ones; and the way in which he did it, left me speechless. Yates was clearly at his best at the movie's climactic ending. When reading those last few chapters, when Harry is at the Ministry, and there is the great battle, the book reads like a whirlwind. Everything is happening at once: death-eaters here, death-eaters there, Sirius finally getting the chance to fight, Moody kicking ass, Ginny going on a tear and straight-up owning people. And you try to picture in your head what all this would look like?a million things going on at once, and trying to picture how wizards and witches really "fight" each other. Somehow, someway, Yates was able to create that fast-paced, action-packed, confusion, and then all of a sudden, like an orchestra going flat after their last booming note, Sirius Black is gone?just like in the book. This was the hardest part for me to swallow when reading the book, as tears ran down my cheeks, not only because Sirius was my favorite character, but because you go from such a "high" of seeing the Order save the day, to the unbelievable "low" of seeing Harry's godfather simply fade away. This is an emotion and thought process which was excellently portrayed in the film. Ironically enough, Yates was only warming up. As for the Dumbledore/Voldemort showdown, I don't think that it could have been done better. In a Star Wars type fashion, Harry is being tempted by Voldemort to release his anger, to have his revenge on Bellatrix Lestrange, to have a taste of the dark side. And as we sit there fearing for confused, helpless Harry, we see a green fire of hope, and more like Master Yoda than any other fictional character, Albus Dumbledore appears and engages Voldemort in a wizard-duel that puts Gandalf and Sarumon to shame. The way the movie engaged the audience and got their emotion kicking is a great film-making talent not found in many movies anymore. Think of the way Yates made you HATE Umbridge, just like the book. The way you felt bad for Snape when you saw his hidden past, just like the book. And think of the best two lines of the movie where you felt comfort, confidence, and safety on Harry's part. The first of these lines was Sirius Black to Lucius Malfoy: when the death-eaters are over-whelming the kids, Sirius appears behind Lucius with a firm, "get away from my godson." Then once again, when Harry is alone with Voldemort, Dumbledore appears and almost as if to initiate the duel, says, "It was a mistake for you to come here tonight, Tom." Overall, the movie was fantastic. The best of the five?by far. You just have to put aside the gaping holes of chapters that were left out, and look at what was done well. For the book-readers, imagine if you were forced to take only 400 of the 870 pages out of the book?you would take the most important ones that relate to the plot. So as much as the "prefect storyline" and the "Harry/Cho drama" and all that other stuff is a great read, the big screen simply doesn't allow enough time for it. As for the non-book-readers?pick up the books and get busy. Because as great as a job that Yates did with the movie?the woman he got the story from, Ms. Rowling, might just be one of the greatest authors of our time. |
July 12, 2007 | N/A | |||
| Crash - R |
I think the first thing I need to mention are my preconceptions before first seeing this movie. I do this as I think your view of a movie can be affected by your preconceptions. For example I am sure I do not rate Gladiator as highly as it deserves due to the fact I caught it late on DVD after I had heard and read people raving on about how great it was, I was disappointed at least partially due to my expectations being overly high.
With Crash however although I did not catch it until after it had won the Oscar I was not convinced it was going to be a great movie as I was indifferent about the cast and on reading the cover I could see it looked like one of those movies which would either work or just be an incoherent mess. Besides "Gladiator" and "A Beautiful Mind" had won Oscars in recent years both of which I do not rate that highly! I was slightly worried by the opening scene, it features Cheadle (probably the actor involved I rated highest before seeing this movie) but seemed to contain awkward dialogue, was not particularly visually inspiring and bottom line just failed to grab me. However the scene was just a setup scene out of context as the movie quickly moves into the true first act set a day before within the time line of the story. The story quickly progresses to show various characters from different walks of life within the city of Los Angeles living through the previous 24 hours. All of the stories involve the subject of racism and all end up being intermingled in the style of previous films such as the brilliant Magnolia. The script is often funny whilst at other times heart breaking and even though it has the sense of being contrived with the aim of getting an emotional response from its viewers it can be forgiven for this because at the end of the day it does work. For me a major revelation was Matt Dillon, he is one of those actors I had not seen much of before for whatever reason and he shone for me in a truly first class believable performance. I won't spoil the plot for those who are yet to see the movie but the road accident scene involving him and Newton is plain awesome and I love the interaction between them in the car and the way although his prejudices are wrong they do not in themselves define him as a bad person - just a messed up one. The film is not without its critics and many think it is Hollywood dribble with no clear or relevant message. I believe it shows none of us to be without prejudice of some form or another even if this is sometimes hardly a conscious thing. |
June 26, 2007 | N/A | |||
| 28 Weeks Later... - R | May 19, 2007 | N/A | ||||
| The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift - PG-13 |
Improved on the 2nd film!
Not as good as first! Awesome addition to the franchise. But this film lacks good acting, and contains many cheesy lines-Which sucks frankly >_> But still enjoyed this action packed FUN film |
May 16, 2007 | N/A | |||
| 2 Fast 2 Furious - PG-13 | Lacks excitement of 1st, a step back, some may say (well alot would say), but still thought this film was okay and made an okay addition to the franchise | May 16, 2007 | N/A | |||
| The Fast and the Furious - PG-13 | This film also suprised me! Thought it was great FUN film | May 16, 2007 | N/A | |||
| Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan - R | Okay, I loved this film when it 1st came out, but sooo bored of it now, but still remains in my faves | May 16, 2007 | N/A | |||
| Goal! The Dream Begins (Goal!: The Impossible Dream) - PG-13 | Shocked how much i actually liked this! The plot may not be the most original (rags to riches story), but this was a really good film, would give it 5*s but it got really cheesy in some parts, which is never good >_> | May 16, 2007 | N/A | |||
| The Breakfast Club - R |
Well what can I say about this film apart from-80s classic!
Acting-superb Soundtrack-Awesome Think this IS and will REMAIN a classic |
May 16, 2007 | N/A | |||
| 8 Mile - R | A modern musical classic... Eminem a suprising outstanding performance by him! Enough said! | May 16, 2007 | N/A | |||
| Napoleon Dynamite - PG |
When i bought this-thought it was gonna be C-R-A-P!!! And i was correct! On my 1st viewin. Thought it was a utter waste of my money.
But i decided to watch it a 2nd time, i liked it, 3rd time i loved it, 4th time-even better! NOw have watched this film countless of timess and don't seem to get bored with it. I loves it ^_^ |
May 16, 2007 | N/A | |||
| Casino Royale - PG-13 |
Well I thought that I was going to be totally bored with this film as i seen the run time of it, and this was the 1st Bond film I ever seen, all way through.
BUT nope! I loved it, It seems to be one of those films that gets better every time you watch it |
May 16, 2007 | N/A | |||
| Severance - R |
Funny and scary... what more do u want..,best film of 2006..
This is a KEY example of what British comedy's shoud be like. Also this film is a horror, but is not the scarest film you'll ever see! But I feel this film should have done much better at the box office. A different, yet compelling British film |
May 16, 2007 | N/A | |||
| Donnie Darko - R |
Great film. my fave in fact! Whoooo! loves it *
This film is OFFICIALLY a modern classic,when I first placed this DVD into my DVD player, I did not know what to expect, I hated it first viewing, but after my 2nd viewing I realised how amazing this film really is. Film everyone should see before they die!-FACT! |
May 16, 2007 | N/A | |||
| This Is England - Unrated |
AMAZING BRITISH FILM!!!
A brilliant portrayal of the underdog, the outsider showing a grim side to Britain in the glossy 80's. A vividly realistic film that is both very funny and very hard hitting. Like some of the great 60's realism films (Saturday Night, Sunday Morning) This Is England is excellent. The acting, the 80's detail and the soundtrack are spot on. |
May 16, 2007 | N/A | |||
| Rocky Balboa - PG | Best one! | March 19, 2007 | N/A | |||
| Blood Diamond - R | March 19, 2007 | N/A | ||||
| Eragon - PG | March 19, 2007 | N/A | ||||
| The Hills Have Eyes II (The Hills Have Eyes 2) - R | March 19, 2007 | N/A | ||||
| White Noise 2: The Light - PG-13 | wasn't scary..but was enjoyable overall! | January 12, 2007 | N/A | |||
| Black Christmas - R | Scary & funny! really good! yur part of my family no-ow! lol | January 11, 2007 | N/A | |||
| Perfume: The Story of a Murderer - R | January 8, 2007 | N/A | ||||
| Children of Men - R | January 8, 2007 | N/A |
487 ratings
74 reviews
