Kent's Talk

Far Cry

well Uwe Boll strikes again only this time he's directorial skills sucked less. Deffinetly kept the same idea as it had within the game, and the character Jack Carver (Til Schweiger) and Emmanuelle Vaugier played they're part and make something out of this whole movie. I mean yeah, sure first impressions suck, cheap movie, not so good cast, well you might be surprised....or not whatever, for some cheap movie adaptation of a game AND directed by Uwe Boll it's sure worth a shot. To put it this way, it didn't leave a sour taste in my mouth.

Punisher: War Zone

Well for some reason, and it might be just me but Ray Stevenson kept the Punisher alive. Sure maybe not the best choice but can you think of anyone better. He's ruthless, silent and deadly just as The Punisher should be after he's lost his family and taken revenge as his middle name.

However a word of advice, IF you decide to watch this forget anything you know or remember of Thomas Jane, this one is one totally mean son of a bitch, a helluva Punisher if you ask me. And it makes sense since now he's got nothing more to lose. Or does he....

Njoy!!

Underworld: The Rise of the Lycans

to be honest first word coming into my mind is "boring". Too much story and too much chatter, i just wanted for them to shut up and go kill something, since this is the neverendless war between 2 species. But as prequel, yeah guess it's pretty good. The foundation of the lycan hierarchy, and the love between the 2 races, also the truth behind the beginning of this war in the first place. But what better reason to start a war than..love.

Effects, Cast, very long storyline, it's got it all, so overall no reason why this should be avoided, just....try not to sleep! lol

Transporter 3

more intense, more fucked up, more action, more of Jason Statham kicking ass. Need i say more? Helluva movie:D

Push

Deffinetly an interesting concept and a breath of fresh air. Somehow this movie has more genres combined, it really is unique. At first i was like been there done that, im so glad i watched it. The acting can always be good from the selected cast, the effects even though we're used to seeing more and more movies with these effects this one had style, and a mind blowing rush, keeps you watching, never dull a moment. For me any movie that meets these requirements gets a 5/5, so yeah my opinion, it rocks and it's worth watching, provided you want an exhilarating sci-fi action packed option. Have fun!!

The Reader

excelente! me encantó!

Drag Me to Hell

After such a long time, i'm back!!!
It gives me pleasure to write my first review in a very long time for Drag Me To Hell because it's not just a normal release to go unnoticed. This is the savious of modern horror movies and a probable knock on the head to all those wannabe movie makers who attempt to make horror movies but always seem to fail. It's probably because they don't take the material the yare dealing with seriously and they don't even take themselves seriously or they wouldn't have accepted working in lame projects. Well we all thank Sam Raimi for his spectacular vision that once proved that he's a horror genius and after a long absence from this genre scene he came back to lift horror movies up once again.

To be honest, when i first read the plot i thought it would be another ridiculous attempt coz the story has been done and milked so many times in movies that i was seriously getting bored from the idea. We have seen so many movies about people being cursed to go to hell and then try to lift the curse by using paranormal ways which often don't work. Usually i will turn off the tv or stop watching the movie by the middle but i didn't even consider doing that while watching this movie. The movie is an instant charmer from the second it begins. It doesn't waste time with silly introductions that eventually leads nowhere but goes immediately into the story so the viewer will be captivated and enters the mood of the movie instantly.

All those who are familiar with Raimi's works know that humor is an essential part in his movies specially horror ones. Now most horror movies turn out funny and ridiculous unintentionally because of the lack of serious work in it. But Raimi as usual succeeds in adding the humor element in this movie without depriving it from its seriousness but instead relieving the viewer from the tense atmosphere that is always dominating so he will get a chance to take a breath even for a minute. Usually this moments came in really tense scenes or scary ones. It was a risky business adding them in such scenes but it was brilliant. And as i said, the scene never lost its scary or thrilling sense but just the viewer was given a chance to have a laugh in a movie that is dominated by scares. And some scenes will make you laugh out loud, it happened with me!

Now to get to the really important part, the scary terrifying part. To be serious, i usually fall asleep in horror movie not only for the fact that they have lame plots but also coz they miss the main point of them being made which is scaring the viewer. That's a whole different situation here. I jumped off my seat in some scenes. In others my heart was pounding so fast it would stop. It's just a brilliant mood builder and maintains it throughout the whole movie.

What's interesting in Drag Me To Hell is that it was daring, direct and straight to the point. Usually, horror movies that deals with things that has to do with devil are shy to show a personification of the devil. Those fears are sometimes at their place coz maybe this image they show might be ridiculous and then this terrifying image won't be terrifying anymore. Now Raimi was daring in what he did here showing a silouhette in an indirect way but explains how hi vision of the devil is. As typical as it was, it managed to send the message which is this terrifying legendary creature that we all fear.

My only bad critic is Raimi's sometimes cliche use of camera angles that was a bit cheap and not at the level of the whole movie. He was brilliant in his angles and everything but there were some moments when there was some repetitions in his angles.

The performances were a step up for modern horror movies. It's the first one to have such good performances since The Others and The Orphanage. The whole cast as a group wasn't great since some elements only managed to give just fair performances. Lohman was very good in her role. But two people were excellent show stealer. The first was Adriana Barraza in a brilliant appearance. But the real star was that old geazer playing the lady who curses Lohman. She was absolutely stunning and so into the character.

Thriller

The greatest music video ever . Little recomendation from me in memory of Michael Jackson R.I.P

I'm not exactly a fan just an admirier of his music, mainly from the 1980's. Thriller is one I love.

1958-2009

Black Tar Heroin: The Dark End of the Street

It's not hard for this film to be brilliant. The camera just has to be running on these people, and then it is up to the makers to dig through the three years of footage to compile a coherent story.

All of them are young, introspective, resourceful, friendly, and full of potential. But they are also all very filled with sadness, in great despair, in ill health, in dangerous situations, and rarely happy because they are all addicted to heroin. It would not be surprising if a followup done today would reveal all the participants, or at least a majority, to now be dead of a drug-related cause. At the conclusion, two main subjects have AIDS and are not receiving treatment, and one of them is still prostituting despite a looming charge of attempted murder if charged again with prostitution.

Of course when dealing with this topic, the content will be saddening, but the factor that determines whether or not the film is good is if it is revealing. And this film does reveal in horrific detail the reality of junkie living. We see their battered bodies, bruises and burst blood vessels spotting their skin from frequent injection and dramatic weight losses from neglecting eating for fixing. We see them in the throes of withdrawal and, more rarely, doped to the point of complete loss of awareness with their only spoken sentiments being about their specific despairs and missing loved ones. We see them lurking on street corners to advertise for dates, visiting public restrooms to shoot up, using pay phones to contact dealers, and running small dealing operations out of temporary and deteriorating living spaces. We see them attempting relationships with other addicts, but it seems that what draws these people together is their addiction and mutual need for supporting their addiction. We see them attempting to regain their lives when jail or death looms, but we also witness them inevitably falling back into the deadly grip of addiction.

Great documentaries reveal stark reality, and this film certainly accomplishes that.

Star Trek

A chronicle of the early days of James T. Kirk and his fellow USS Enterprise crew members



" I'm a doctor, not a physicist!- McCoy"




Now I have been waiting for this film to come out for so so long and so glad that it finally got the right release date. I am mainly a fan of TNG but equally love the original series which I have watched many many times. I am pleased to say that it exceeded my expectations in every single way and the 2 and a bit hours flew by. Probably one of the best cinematic experiences that I've had...purely because of the fact that I don't normally not notice the time fly by!

One thing that does annoy me is the stingma attached to being a fan of the franchise. Why should people think you must be a geek for liking this? Well, anyway, having watched the original series I can safely say that Abrams has perfectly cast everyone in this film. From the first showings of Kirk, Spock and the crew these actors were the legendary characters that I had been watching. Obviously Zachary Quinto is perfect at Spock but equally brilliant was Chris Pine. Not only does he look gorgeous but he looks like a young Shatner and every mannerism is there to the sitting on the captains chair, to the look to Spock everything was perfect. Karl Urban also made me laugh as he too was just perfect in the role of Bones McCoy. IWhat was interesting there was the fact that I hadn't really any idea of the relationship between Kirk and Bones and that it was so close. Anton Yelchin as Checkov was spot on aswell with that very broken English accent that we all know and love from the orginal series. Zoe Saldana as Uhura really suprised me aswell as I just didn't picture her like that at all. Would love the know about the realtionship between Uhura and Spock, that was something which did baffle me a little I must admit.

The special effects were absolutly incredible which really brought the film alive and kicking into the audience's minds. I think that may really be the reason why It really felt just incredible to watch. I don't think a Star Trek film, even with the Next Generation. I think it will mos likely be up for an Oscar.

What Abrams has done is created a whole new Trek for a Post-modern generation where things like Star Trek are seen as something for Geeks, as I mentioned before. After watching this film, it really feels like a part of popular culture. He's created a Trek, which it is cool to watch and you don't feel like a Geek at all.

Overall, just one brilliant prequel to an already lengendary franchise. One film which you don't have to have seen any Trek episodes at all to enjoy. Look out for a cameo by Lenoard Nimoy and a great performance by Eric Bana. Now eagerly await the sequal

Highly recomended

9/10

Taxi Driver

Brilliant and a bold statement of the film industry. Superb acting, the brilliance of De Niro cannot be denied.

The plot is original and deals with loneliness and paranoia, it also displays violence towards the violent and unconcern towards the shallow.

Martin Scorcese did a fabulous job of directing and made a cult classic that has the most disturbing thematic material and probably the deepest character study ever.

Blindness

Meirelles adds another perspective, that the epidemic might be a good thing if, by being thrown into the darkness together, we may once again recognize the human family to which we all belong. - Bill White

I couldn't say it better.

L.A. Confidential

The bleak, blackly humorous neo-noir may not be everyone's cup of tea, but if you're willing to give yourself over to its hero-less world, you won't regret it. The acting, writing, and directing are unimpeachable on all levels, and the film is exceptionally crafted, with several awesome plot twists and developments.

The Spirit

As a film, this is an absolute disaster of awful direction.

However, with such style, dark humour and Scarlett Johansson (even though her role sucked big time) - it remains massively entertaining.

Not to be taken seriously at any costs, this isn't some spin-off from Sin City.

Watchmen

Being a casual fan of the graphic novel, I never thought the Watchmen could be made into a film - first of all there are too many things going on, second it's just too confusing for a someone who never read the novel to fully understand the story.

Hence forth, I wasn't looking forward for the film. While everyone was amazed at the trailer I just couldn't understand the hype. Yet again, this is always a good thing - for the obvious reasons of course. I expected so little from the film that I was actually surprised how good it actually was.

The action scenes were beautifully executed and added a nice flare to what I expected to be a dead adaptation of the original masterpiece. I enjoyed it - a lot, but my opinion alone cannot be trusted because of my familiarity with the story and the Watchmen's distinct storytelling.

Some of my mates who were watching the movie with me had never read the novel, and without knowing the plot, they seemed lost - during the abrupt transitions - it seemed obvious that some people in the theatre couldn't understand that none of the heroes had actually any super power - except for Dr.Manhattan of course.

Overall, I just enjoyed the Watchmen, even though Snyder seems to disassociate himself from the novel, it still remained incredibly faithful to Moore's best work, while adding that cinematic voodoo that films need but comics can do without.

Now I'm totally looking forward for the full length animated feature: Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter and Under the Hood

Valkyrie

An enjoyable, historically "accurate" film.

Regardless of Cruise's personal outlook and views, his performance here is amazing.

The makers of the film have been blessed with the fact that the details of the plot are still relatively obscure and only those who studied modern history would be aware of the 15 assassination attempts towards Hitler.

However, this almost complete submission to the plot does sacrifice attention to the characters. We never find out why Stauffenberg, or any of the other members of the conspiracy, have gone from Nazi generals to deciding to rid themselves of their Führer. Although maybe the audience?s own knowledge of history is supposed to fill in those plot points for us. Who needs a ?reason? for wanting to murder Adolf Hitler? He was just a jackass with a funny moustache which ahppened to kill millions of Jews.

Martyrs

Tentative rating of 4 on first screening. This is a movie that has to sink in and I need to watch again before I can give an accurate rating.

Two things can definitely be said: this film scores huge points for originality, and the second sequence is just the coolest "fuck off!" to Michael Haneke's Funny Games.
_
March 17, 2009: Rating revised 4 to 4.5.

Now my full breakdown, including many SPOILERS will commence. If you have yet to see this movie, DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER.

Laugier gives us not one, but two astonishing and amazing films. The film has a definite divide, with the first segment being a revenge tale wherein former victim becomes murderer plagued by psychological demons and assisted by a best friend who has been by her side throughout both her victimization and realization of revenge. The second segment is a "torture porn", except it's not so much of the "porn" variety but of the Salo school of torture film as it does have a driving philosophical point.

The makeup and gore are beyond astonishing. This sets new levels of achievement for the genre and proves that the studio chose wisely when they signed Laugier to do the Hellraiser remake. This film is certainly this year's A L'Interieur. Both the imagined demon girl and the actual tortured girl are incredibly frightening and left me shivering.

The high tech basement room instantly reminded me of the setting for the climax in Laugier's previous horror outing Saint Ange.

An interesting thing I noted in the version I saw: once the controlling financiers of the Martyrs project are revealed, the head woman often refers to what the subtitles translate as Anna's "transformation". Using my rough ear for French, I am sure that what she is really saying is transfiguration, which ole wikipedia tells you is "a momentary transformation of a man or woman into someone having the aspect of the divine". This better fits the context and explanation of what the financiers are trying to achieve, and hopefully it's corrected in the DVD english release and I just downloaded a crap subtitle.

Changeling

The story deals with themes such as feminine dis-empowerment, corruption in political hierarchies, the mistreatment of the mentally unstable and the struggle for truth before Forensic science was well developed.

Eastwood doesn't know the meaning of the word "subtle". He always makes sure the dimmest person in the audience will have a clear idea which characters are good and evil. Every single employee at the psychiatric clinic acts like they're villains in a Superman comic book. He seems to be afraid to challenge the audience, so he ends up insulting their intelligence by spoon-feeding even the suppose-to be emotional response. On the other hand, the pace was marvellous, the early 20th century details where spot on.

With the exception of Angelina Jolie (mother) and Jason Butler Harner (the child killer), the film was filled with 2-dimensional characters.

The irony is that this is a true story, if I hadn't read about the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders, I wouldn't have believed this film.

New York Daily News | Elizabeth Weitzman
The script is compelling, the direction confident, the production values professional. But it does not, in the end, feel real.

Body of Lies

Much similar to Bourne, with a more up-to-date overlay with the war on terror.

I've read some people comparing it to "The Kingdom" - yeah what the hell? Were you drunk while watching both films? One's a complete mess the other is a decent spy-thriller.

Watching Russel Crowe, Mark Strong and DiCaprio as a manipulative veteran consultant, the cunning Chief of Jordanian Intel and the ambitious CIA operative, respectively is worth the watch.

There's more than that though, the clever plot boasts the tremendous work such undercover-operatives do.

Then again this picture is no memorable work, unlike the Bourne series.

The New Yorker | David Denby
The movie is smart and tightly drawn; it has a throat-gripping urgency and some serious insights, and Scott has a greater command of space and a more explicit way with violence than most thriller directors.