July 2013!!!!!!!

The Month of July brings with it four films to review the first being "Pacific Rim" Starring Idris Elba, Charlie Hunnam and Rinko Kikuchi.

 

  Plot

"As a war between humankind and monstrous sea creatures wages on, a former pilot and a trainee are paired up to drive a seemingly obsolete special weapon in a desperate effort to save the world from the apocalypse".

My Thoughts

This was one of my most anticipated films for the year, first off I am a huge fan of Guillermo Del Toro films and I have always wanted to see giant robots facing off against monsters on an epic scale and this is what the doctor ordered. Sadly the film didn't play out on the screen the way, I thought it would play out at all. I will say the CGI and the fighting scenes where top notch and some of the best I have ever seen (Only Avatar I would rate above it). First off the acting (besides Idris Elba and Ron Pearlman who where the only standout),  I especially want to single Charlie Hunnam his role as the main character of this film was way below par, he walked around with what i felt was a smug factor and to me it rubbed me the wrong way his portray of his character ruined the film for me.  out was below par to say the least all of the actors in this film gave forgettable performances. The pacing of the film was decent. I felt it flowed well and the movie while over two hours long did not feel as long which is indicative of good pacing and setting for the film. Now on to my biggest problem with the film which really killed my score which was the predictability of this film anyone who sees this film will be bale to find all of the cliches in this film and it makes the film not entertaining and was not enjoyable  to watch as you know what is going to happen and when it happens it is just, there was not one shock for me in this film and the ending was utterly predictable and not surprising it sets up a potential sequel which is fine but I wish some of the scenes where done in a different way. Rotten Tomatoes   gave this film 72% saying "It may sport more style than substance, but Pacific Rim is a solid modern creature feature bolstered by fantastical imagery and an irresistible sense of fun". I agree with what they said and the score is not far off from what I feel the movie felt like. Overall this film had huge expectations from me and failed to reach them, the planned sequel I hope will do something different and from what Mr. Del Toro has said it may be completely different which is something I would look forward to.

Rating

I liked the idea of the film, Disappointing in the end on the execution front  7.2/10!!!!!!!!!!




The Second and final movie for the month of July is "The Conjuring" Starring Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga and Lili Taylor.

 

 

Plot

"Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren work to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in their farmhouse. Forced to confront a powerful entity, the Warrens find themselves caught in the most terrifying case of their lives".


My Thoughts 

I must admit this film only crossed my radar only recently (before two months ago had no inclination to see this film), I am very happy that I decided to see this film. It was one of the best films I have seen this year and easily joins "Insidious", "Sinister" and "Mama" as one of the best horror films I have seen in recent memory. I want to start out by saying this film was expertly executed, I am not one who is fearful or jumps when watching a horror film (and that remained the case in this film) but I did not ice a decent amount of jolts from the row behind me and the row in back of me, which is a sing that there are some scars in this film. The acting in this film was very good for the genre of film from the children to the parents of the haunted family to the paranormal investigators played expertly by Patrick Wilson and Lili Taylor this was a solid acting job by the entire cast overall. There was no huge amount of CG in this film which I always welcome, the less use of Cg to me the better it displays that the director still wants to have some sense of "purity" in the film. I could go on and on about how well this film was done but I will leave it with this if you are a fan of horror movies and actually want tot see one that was executed well by the directed and acted out well by the cast this is the film for you to see. Rotten Tomatoes gave this film a 85% saying "Extremely well-crafted and gleefully creepy, The Conjuring ratchets up the dread with a series of smartly delivered, terribly effective old-school scares", I agree this film it did a very well job at what it tried to accomplish, this was a very good movie that I almost completely missed out on.

Rating

One of the best of the year I have seen so far, you will not be disappointed 8.5/10!!!!!

Mid Point Nominees 2013!!!!!

It is now the midway point of the year and for the first time I will have my midway point Nominees where i have a few categories and will give my top 5 pics for each category (no winners or losers just nominees)

Worst Film

Texas Chainsaw 3D

Jack The Giant Slayer

 Iron Man 3

After Earth

Oblivion

Best Films 



Mama

Snitch

Evil Dead

This Is The End

World War Z

Best Performance (Male)

Sylvester Stallone (Bullet To The Head)

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (Snitch)

Lou Taylor Pucci (Evil Dead)

Brad Pitt (World War Z)

James Franco, Danny Mcbride, Craig Robisnon, Jonah Hill, Jay Baruchel and Seth Rogen  (This Is The End)

Best Performance (Female)

Jessica Chastain (Mama)

Jane Levy (Evil Dead)

Lena Headey (The Purge)

Keri Russell (Dark Skies)

Daniella Kertesz (World War Z)

Worst Performance (Male)

Ryan Gosling (Gangster Squad)

Bruce Willis (A Good Day To Die Hard)

Channing Tatum (G.I. Joe:Retaliation)
 

Will Smith, Jaden Smith (After Earth)

Nicholas Hoult (Jack The Giant Slayer)

Worst Performance (Female)

Gemma Arterton (Hansel & Gretel:Witch Hunters)

 


Alex Daddario (Texas Chainsaw 3D)

Eleanor Tomlinson (Jack The Giant Slayer)

Adrienne Palicki (G.I. Joe:Retaliation)

Gwyneth Paltrow (Iron Man 3)

That is all for now, lets see what the rest of the year has to offer and see if anything changes.

June 2013!!!!!!

The Month of June brings with it 3 films to view the first being "The Purge" Starring Ethan Hawke, Lena Headly and Max Burkholder.

Plot

"A family is held hostage for harboring the target of a murderous syndicate during the Purge, a 12-hour period in which any and all crime is legalized:.

My Thoughts

i first want to say that when I first saw the trailer for this film and read up on the plot for this film, I was hooked the idea for this film was something I had never seen done on film and I eagerly anticipated this film.  Now that I have seen this idea executed on film I was left disappointed, the film wasn't horrible but it left a lot to be desired especially with the script. The acting in this film was for the most part unbelievable and poorly executed  (except for Ethan Hawke and in some scenes Lena Heady), the actors who played the children where horrible for the most part and honestly served no real purpose to the film (and whoever wrote the lines for the son should be fired, all they did was make him extremely annoying). The whole premise of this film had so much potential in my opinion, if you think about it how would the real world be if for one day a year for 12 hours you could do anything you wanted and not have to face any repercussions (I know most people would say they wouldn't do anything different but I think its always how you act in the moment, it is easy to say you would never commit a crime in fear of going to jail, but what if you wouldn't go to jail) the while idea was fresh and I really liked the idea, It played out how i thought the filmmakers would have it play out on the screen, and I was horribly off what I envisioned was nowhere near what I saw on the big screen. There where not many bright spots in this film for me the huge bright spot was the main villains who who up to the doorstep of the family's house looking for their "target" the actors did a really good job making them seemed like affluent, educated people who for the night had decided to let loose and "let it go" so to speak, they all did a masterful job in their portrayals. their is a scene at the end of the film that involves the neighbors, I don't want to give anything away but this was a clever twist that is mildly given away earlier in the film if you catch the hint you may not be surprised by this scene at the end, I thought this was a good scene and added a nice twist to the film.Rotten Tomatoes gave this film a 41% saying "Half social allegory, half home-invasion thriller, The Purge attempts to use thriller formula to make an intelligent point -- but ultimately only ends up sinking in numbing violence and tired clichés.". I agree overall I really wanted to like this film I loved the idea of it but it was poorly done, for the most part terribly acted an overall fell flat.

Rating

Very interesting Premise, Disappointing execution 6.9/10!!!!!!


The Second film for the month of June is "This Is The End" Starring James Franco, Seth Rogen and Craig T Robinson.

Plot

"While attending a party at James Franco's house, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel and many other celebrities are faced with the apocalypse".

My Thoughts

I am going to keep this very short and to the point if you like comedies see this film it was really funny and enjoyable great performances by all of the cast. Rotten Tomatoes gave this film a 85% saying "Energetic, self-deprecating performances and enough guffaw-inducing humor make up for the flaws in This Is the End loosely written script"I agree completely great film for a comedy.

Rating

If you are a fan of comedies and/or any of the actors in the main cast you will like this film 8.0/10!!!!!.


The third and final movie for the month of June is "World War Z" Starring Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos and Daniella Kertesz.

 

Plot

"United Nations employee Gerry Lane traverses the world in a race against time to stop the Zombie pandemic that is toppling armies and governments, and threatening to destroy humanity itself:.

My Thoughts

When I first read about the plot on this film I was on the fence, from what I could gather from reading on it the film did not sound that interesting. That all changed once I saw the trailer, it provided me the final push I needed to show me that this was a film that I needed to see. I am a huge fan of Zombie films and try to see as many as I can and this was a i interesting take on the genre. I have to say I have not seen many of brad pitts's films but in this film he did a very good job as the father who was suddenly thrust into a role that he thought he left behind in order to save the world from this plague. The pacing of this film was very good for a horror/suspense film I commend the director for that. Other than Brad Pitt the actor who stood out to me was Daniella Kertesz who played the role of Segan a member of the Israeli army who joined pitts character in his quest, I do not know anything of her other work But I look forward to seeing things from her in the future, the rest of the cast did a good job in their roles and there was no one performance I would criticize as bad. The cg in this film was very subtle which I really liked you only really noticed its use fr some of the Zombies and only when  a mass amount of them where on screen at one time. This was a really solid film I had no huge complaints other than the fact that I felt Brad Pitt's family served of no real use other than to give his character the audiences sympathy, I honestly felt the film would not have been much different if they would have just had Brad Pitt not have had a family and had him just continue his job and continue his quest, but I am just nitpicking it s not a major problem at all. Rotten Tomatoes Gave the film a 67% saying "'s uneven -- and fans of the book may be annoyed by how thoroughly it diverges from the source material -- but World War Z still brings smart, fast-moving thrills and a solid performance from Brad Pitt to the zombie genre". I agree somewhat but I felt a 67% was to low the film was better than that and I agree Brad Pitt's performance was solid he did a good job as I mentioend before the film was all around solid.

My Rating

Solid Film anyone who likes Zombie films and wants to see one done on a big budget scale with solid acting should see this 8.5/10!!!!!!

May 2013

The month of may brings with it two films to review the first being the blockbuster and highly anticipated Iron Man 3 starring Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle.

Plot

"When Tony Stark's world is torn apart by a formidable terrorist called the Mandarin, he starts an odyssey of rebuilding and retribution".

My Thoughts

I want to start by saying that I was a fan of the first two Iron man films, and also that Robert Downey Jr. is tony stark, I do not think or want tot fathom someone else playing his role. I do not think anyone else could play the role after the masterful way he has played the billionaire hero these last few films. Having said that I was highly anticipating this film and had really high hopes for this film, after seeing the film I wished I had lowered my expectations going in this film got it wrong in so many places I cannot believe this film was released in its present state. First off the script was horrible the way this film was written it had Downey Jr. trying way to hard to get cheap laughs which I did not find funny in the least (except for one part during the big fight scene at the end when he called his armor to himself),  the dialogue overall was bland and the one liners even for a marvel superhero flick where to cheesy for my liking. The trailer would have you believe that the Mandarin (played well by Ben Kingsley initially) was the main villain and prior to seeing this film I did some research on the mandarain just to have an idea of what to expect going in, Boy was I surprised by the horrible,inaccurate handling of his character, I do not want not give much away but the way his character was done once i saw it happening on the screen I decided then and there this film was a "disaster" and it could not be saved and I was right. after the atrocity that was the mandarin, I honestly did not care for the film anymore and was just watching this slop to see how it played out, the ending heaped on the this garbage pile of a film I wont spoil it in the least but I will say Tony Stark does not finish him  off, I also did not like how they handled Don Cheadle's character, I felt he should have had more time especially with Downey Jr, the few scenes they had where one of the few bright spots in the film,. The action in this film was underwhelming most of the film Downey Jr is not even in his armor which for me didn't work well wit the pacing of the film he should have used his suit more and when he was in his suit he was very vulnerable in my opinion,m he didn't look as powerful as he had in previous films which I am putting down to the horrible script written for this film. The special effects for this film where good but with a film of this budget caliber that is expected and this is the one department it didn't disappoint. the only other bright spot was Downey Jr,even with the bad script I felt he did his best to deliver all of those cliched and cheesy lines to the best of his abilities. Rotten Tomatoes gave this film a 78% saying "With the help of its charismatic lead, some impressive action sequences, and even a few surprises, Iron Man 3 is a witty, entertaining adventure and a strong addition to the Marvel canon". I agree with the charismatic lead, everything else i disagree with wholeheartedly. this was a huge disappointment, the biggest of the early movie season for me so far by a wide margin,

Rating

Huge letdown 6.1/10!!!!!!!!!!!


The second and last film for the month of May is "After Earth"  Starring Will Smith, Jaden Smith and Zoe Kravitz.

Plot

"A crash landing leaves Kitai Raige and his father Cypher stranded on Earth, 1,000 years after events forced humanity's escape. With Cypher injured, Kitai must embark on a perilous journey to signal for help".

My Thoughts

I have to start by saying this, I never though I would say I have seen a terrible Will Smith film, but after watching this wreck that has all changed . This film was an utter disappointment and I honestly have to say I should have seen it coming  especially knowing Jaden smith was going to star in this film. I do not want to say that the only reason Jaden Smith will get work is because of the influence his father has in the movie industry but that is looking more and more like the reason he gets any roles at all. I honestly do not even want to comment on this film the plot was unrealistic the acting was terrible especially by Jaden Smith, it seemed to me Will Smith tried to add some emotion to his role and unlike his Son delivered a decent performance nothing great but much better than his Son, he utterly ruined the film for me with his acting, I also want to add that M.Night Shaymalan after the disaster that was "The Last Airbender" was a surprising choice in my opinion for another big budget film and his streak of bad films continues with this film, if will smith hhad a hand in who was director I have to say he made a bad choice on this one terrible plot,setting,pace and overall just bad. Rotten Tomatoes gave this film a 12% saying "fter Earth is dull, ploddingly paced exercise in sentimental sci-fi -- and the latest setback for director M. Night Shyamalan's once-promising career". I agree on all counts this film was so far the worsst I havre seen of the year and would not reccomoned it eve nto waste an hour and a half of your time.

Rating

Horrible film, Jaden Smith has shown me nothing in all the films I have seen Will smith tried but this film was just overall bad 6.0/10!!!!!!

April 2013!!!!!

The Month of April brings with it two films to review the first being "Evil Dead" Starring Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez and Lou Taylor Pucci.

 

Plot

"Five friends head to a remote cabin, where the discovery of a Book of the Dead leads them to unwittingly summon up demons living in the nearby woods. The evil presence possesses them until only one is left to fight for survival"."

My Thoughts

A lot of people that where avid film fans in the 80's will know that this film is a remake/re-boot of the classic "Evil Dead" series, I never saw any of the films from the 80's and I do intend to watch them someday but that has nothing to do with this review. This film takes the same premise of the first film basically with friends meeting up at a cabin and strange events begin to occur once a book is found and passages from it are read out loud. The setting for this film was perfect the area around the cabin really lent to he atmosphere really well and helped draw the viewer in. The actors in the film are basically unknowns to most of the general audience, Which I felt was a good decision as a big name in a film like this would to me ruin it. The acting in the film was of good quality for a film of this nature no one actor did a bad job or stood out for a bad performance, I will say Lou Taylor Pucci gets a special mention in this film for me he played the character Eric who unknowingly caused all of the craziness that happens in this film, nonetheless his character for me the overall best character in terms of the writing and the way Lou Taylor pucci played him really made him stand out. When reading up on this film I was pleasantly surprised to see that the director decided to go the no CGI route, in today's times it is so much easier to just use CGI especially in a horror movie and I was happy to see that Mr.Alvarez decided against that completely and I felt it added a certain realness to the film that many horror films now a days are missing. If you area fan of gore and a lot of blood this is the movie for you this movie piles on the blood with more blood and I loved it it is very graphic and does not try to hold anything back it defiantly felt like a 1980's horror movie which was the golden generation for horror films, I was really happy to see a film like this being done so often you see a trailer for a horror movie and then after the trailer ends you see PG-13 and you know it is going to be watered down which is unfortunate but it is all about making money and more people will a chance to see a film if it is rated PG-13 and not R, Overall this was a very good horror film filmed when plenty of gore and "jump" moments if you are the type who is prone to that. There was not much I did not like about this film a few minor points about the film that I did not like, first the ending for me was not very good in the way it was executed,I wont say anything but I just did not like the ending, leading into my second gripe about the film had to do with the ending when a certain entity is awakened, all I will say the proper steps where not all fulfilled for this to happen which are mentioned in the film.My last minor gripe has to do with the beginning of the film the whole set off point of the film, the reason for them being in the cabin and the way they handled the situation once bad things began to happen for me was a tad unrealistic some may disagree with me but I didn't really believe the whole "kick" the drugs bit at the beginning especially the response they gave once outlandish things began to happen again i am really nitpicking none of these are major reasons they are all very minor.Rotten Tomatoes gave the film 63% saying "It may lack the absurd humor that underlined the original, but the new-look Evil Dead compensates with brutal terror, gory scares, and gleefully bloody violence", I have not seen the originals to comment on the comedic part of the new film contrast to the old films (the only chuckles in the film for me where given by the character Eric). the bloody,gore and all that I agree with wholeheartedly, this was a very good horror film that I highly recommend.

Rating

If you are a fan of Gore, Blood and "Jump" scares this is the film for you. 7.9/10!!!!!!!


The second and last film for the month of  April is "Oblivion" Starring Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman and Olga Kurylenko.

 Plot

"A veteran assigned to extract Earth's remaining resources begins to question what he knows about his mission and himself".

My Thoughts

I will be the first to say that I am not a bug Tom Cruise Fan, none of his films (with exception of "War Of The Worlds" ) I would say i enjoyed, this film kind of crept up on me , I had no intention of seeing the film until i saw the trailer and decided then and there I would go see this film. I think I should have stuck to my guns and decided against seeing this film, the trailer pulled a fast one on me, this film was not very good in any way shape or form, I don't really have anything to say about this film other than the execution and the acting was not good at all and the ending for me just ruined any chance of this film being any good at all. the one plus i WILL say is the CG was top notch but it is a Tom Cruise film so the budget will be a high one.Rotten Tomatoes gave this film a 56% saying "Visually striking but thinly scripted, Oblivion benefits greatly from its strong production values and an excellent performance from Tom Cruise". I agree with everything they say except the score from me would be lower, there is nothing I liked about this film and i felt like i got sucked into "oblivion" by the time it was over.

Rating

Nothing to see here pass 6.7/10!!!!!!!

March 2013!!!!!!!

The Month of March brings with it two films to see, the first being Jack The Giant Slayer" starring Nicholas Hoult, Eleanor Tomlinson and Ewan Mcgreagor.

Plot

"The ancient war between humans and a race of giants is reignited when Jack, a young farmhand fighting for a kingdom and the love of a princess, opens a gateway between the two worlds".

My Thoughts

I will start by saying I had really high hopes for this film the moment i laid eyes o n the trailer, I knew this was a film that I was going to see......Boy was i wrong this film from the start had no passion or excitement to it at all, the plot was boring, the script was bland the acting was rigid and the execution was flat out done wrong in all facets. The premise of this film had so much potential a violent take on the classic story of the most people have hears, what really let me down with this film was the lack of action between the humans and the giants in the fighting sense, even though I am sure anyone reading this or whoever saw the film would guess that the giants would crush the humans in a fight, the fact they they never properly battled ruined it for me, the whole film was building up to the moment when the two faction came face to face and when the moment had a chance to happen...nothing happened huge letdown, it basically built up for about 25 minutes and the nothing (biggest disappointment for me since the kraken scene in clash of the titans). that was a disappointing ending to a film that was riddled with disappointments one after another, the acting was second rate especially by the leads (except for Ewan McGregor who i also must give props for the hair was excellent) other than him who  in all honesty is the best actor of the cast, everyone else did what a bunch of no name younger actors thrust into a big budget role would do. this was so far the worst acting job I have seen this year collectively between a cast. The CG was top notch but so much was used that I could not help but become numb to it and soon got tired of it especially with scenes that heavily involved the giants, I will say the giants where rendered well and I like the moments where you got to see some of the huge differences between the races, which I did enjoy. The running time for the film was a good and it did not feel to long or to short but just right considering how the film played out. Rotten Tomatoes gave this film a 52% saying "It's enthusiastically acted and reasonably fun, but Jack the Giant Slayer is also overwhelmed by digital effects and a bland, impersonal story". I somewhat agree with this except the score I felt this was to high, I agree with story being bland it really was, and I am hugely disappointed a film that could;d have been so good ended up being a huge letdown.

Rating

Huge Letdown not much to like here 6.5/10!!!!!!!.


The second and last movie for the month of March is G.I. Joe:Retaliation Starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Channing Tatum and  Bruce Willis.

Plot

"The G.I. Joes are not only fighting their mortal enemy Cobra; they are forced to contend with threats from within the government that jeopardize their very existence".

My Thoughts

Anyone who saw the first G.I. Joe will tell you that the three biggest problems with that film where (Channing Tatum,Channing Tatum and Channing Ttatum) without giving to much away I can safely day that will not be a problem for anyone who sees this film, I will say though that I was disappointed but not surprised that Rachel Nichols (Scarlett) and Marlon Wayans (RipCord) were both not in this film and felt there presence for at least me would have made the film a better one. The cast that is in the film does a good job (other than Adrienne Palicki who played Lady Jaye) I saw her in another film late last year "Red Dawn" and she was terrible in that film and was terrible in this film as well her acting added nothing to the film and I honestly felt after reviewing her scenes she was nothing more than Eye Candy and I felt the film might have actually been better had she not been a main character I felt the same way about the character who played flint both were unimpressive. The rock did a solid job in his role as the character Roadblock and I had no complaints. This film was better than the original but that is not exactly saying much, in this case it is saying enough only if you understand what to expect from this film and that is its mindless fun filled with action. I took this approach when seeing this film but I still felt somewhat let down even with my lowered expectations. The film still felt like it was not done quite right (all the scenes with the RZA being useless in effect and acted badly in my opinion) snake eyes was underused and when he was used I felt could have been used more effectively in this film, I also did not like the way Storm Shadow and his back story where done in this film, the special effects in this film where pretty good which is expected with a bug budget film nowadays..Rotten Tomatoes gave this film a 29% saying "Though arguably superior to its predecessor, G.I. Joe: Retaliation is overwhelmed by its nonstop action and too nonsensical and vapid to leave a lasting impression". I tend to agree this film was better but in the end that was not saying much and I felt letdown in the end which for me was ultimately disappointing.

Rating

Better than the original but in the end that is not saying much, not a horrible film but nothing special either. 7.1/10!!!!!!!!!

February 2013!!!!!

Thwe month of February brings with it 4 films the first being "Bullet To The Head" starring Sylvester Stallone, Sunk Kang and Jason Mamoa.

Plot

"After watching their respective partners die, a New Orleans hit man and a Washington D.C. detective form an alliance in order to bring down their common enemy".

My Thoughts

This is a Stallone flick, so there is no need fore m to go very in depth in this review at all, if you like action movies with passable to decent acting, cliche situations and puns, and filled with explosions and gun fighting look no further. Stallone showed me in this pic he can still get it done at his advanced age. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 49% saying "Bullet to the Head's unapologetically trashy thrills evoke memories of its star and director's proud cinematic pasts -- but sadly, those memories are just about all it has to offer". I agree somewhat it does take you back to some of Stallone's glory years with the way the film is executed and for me there is nothing wrong with that, this is an action movie in the purest sense of the word, if you know that going in you will not be disappointing, I wasn't.

Rating

 if you go in knowing what to expect you will be pleased with this film 7.7/10!!!!!.


The next movie for the month o f February is "A good day to die hard" Starring Brice Willis , Jai Courtney and Sebastian Koch.

Plot

"John McClane travels to Russia to help out his seemingly wayward son, Jack, only to discover that Jack is a CIA operative working to prevent a nuclear-weapons heist, causing the father and son to team up against underworld forces".

My Thoughts

My action movies reviews are always short and this one will be no different. If you didn't notice the biggest actions stars of the 80's and 90's (Willis, Stallone and Schwarzenegger) all have released films this year if I had to rate the three films it would go 1.The last Stand 2.Bullet to the head and 3. A good day to die hard, while all three are solid action films for me "A good day to die hard" felt the least fresh (which is understandable considering the film is part of the die hard series) and while that may be true, Watching this film I did not feel that much interest or depth with the film, Bruce Willis said some of the most ill timed lines I have heard recently in a film and the story line with his some added nothing to the film it felt just like a die hard film and his some felt more like another partner than his child. throw in the run of the mill European who hates Americans and you know what top expect here. Rotten Tomatoes  gave this film a 16% saying "A Good Day to Die Hard is the weakest entry in a storied franchise, and not even Bruce Willis' smirking demeanor can enliven a cliched, uninspired script". I agree on all fronts this was a very bland and dry film that lost my interest very quick. if you are a fan of Bruce Willis or die hard films its worth checking out just to see but if you are expecting a great action film I would say pass.

Rating

Bland,Dry and uninspiring if you are a fan of Bruce Willis or the Die hard franchise see but if not pass. 6.7/10!!!!!!!.




The third film for the month of February is "Snitch" Starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Barry Pepper and Susan Sarandon.

Plot

"A father goes undercover for the DEA in order to free his son who was imprisoned after being set up in drug deal".

My Thoughts

Let me start by saying I am a huge fan of the "The Rock" when it comes to wrestling and in my opinion he is the best professional wrestler of all time, His acting career while looked over by most I like most of the choices he has made so far (other than those Disney films such as tooth fairy) but his actions films I am a fan of. Most people would say the rock does not have the acting ability to do a anything other than action films, and for that very reason I am happy snitch was made. The plot for this film is basically what the trailers depicts, the rocks son is caught with drugs and the only way for him to decrease his sentence is to rat out some of his friends, which he is unwilling to do. with his son facing up to 10 years in prison the rock takes matters into his own hands. The acting is this film was very good and surprised me I did not expect this level of acing from the entire cast everyone did a very good job in their roles and I could not complain about any roles they where all very convincing, especially the rock he showed a range I am sure most people would not have expected form him.the pacing of the film went very will with the script and it flowed smoothly and honestly I could spot no major plot holes or anything of that nature this film was put together very. Overall this was a very well done film with solid acting a good script and great acting from the entire cast especially the rock I was very happy to see him do a film like this, not an action movie where he just walks around and beats everyone up, but a film where he shows some range and shows that he can play a character who can be vulnerable , I also liked the message this film portrayed even in an unrealistic way to the lengths a parent can go to to save a child. Rotten Tomatoes  gave this film a 53% saying "
though it features one of Dwayne Johnson's more thoughtful performances, the presentation of Snitch's underlying message is muddled by lackluster storytelling and some tonal inconsistencies". I disagree I thought this was a very good film.

Rating

Very good film, with good performances by the cast as a whole worth seeing 8.1/10!!!!!!!


The last film for the month of  February is "Dark Skies" Starring Keri Russell, Josh Hamilton and Dakota Goyo.

Plot

"As the Barret family's peaceful suburban life is rocked by an escalating series of disturbing events, they come to learn that a terrifying and deadly force is after them".

My Thoughts

This film didn't catch my intention till son before it was released, I saw the trailer one day during and decided to add it to my watch list for the year. This film is one of those films that make you asks "are we really alone in the universe" this film takes its own twist by having an average American family being the focus and how they would deal with the situation. Keri Russel is an actress who I have heard of a lot but have not seen her in any feature films, I will say she did a commendable job of playing a mother who is thrusts int this world where she and her family are in danger and will stop at nothing to protect them from being threatened. Josh Hamilton played the father and he is an actor who I had never seen in anything before and for this role he did a pretty good job as the father who has to project stability for his family but is also struggling with trying to find a job and provide for his family, the rest of the cast did a good job the actors who played the children of the parents did a good job for what they where asked to do and I had no complaints. The settign and pace of this film was really good and it had the feel of a psychological thriller which I assumed is what they went for. films rarely make me jump but I can see some people being surprised by some of the scenes in this film and it will also help to keep the viewer interested with the jump scares.One part of this film that I did not like was the horrible CG that was used to depict the visitors ,  after seeing this film i looked up the budget which was only 3.5million and I understood that with a budget that low there is only so much they can do, but still if they cant make the CG life like then I would have used actors in costumes but that is my opinion, other than that the film was pretty solid and I had no other major complaints not a great film but solid.Rotten Tomatoes gave this film a 30% but have no comments on the rating, I feel that rating is way to low considerign what the film was and the budget, this was a solid film and if your interested in seeing how a family deals with being thrust into a intergalatic wencounter I woudl reccomend this film.

Rating

Solid film, nothing spectacular but passable 7.4/10!!!!!!

January 2013!!!!

The first month of the new year brings with it five films, the first being "Texas Chainsaw 3D" Starring Alexandra Daddario, Trey Songz and Dan Yeager.

Plot

"A young woman travels to Texas to collect an inheritance; little does she know that an encounter with a chainsaw-wielding killer is part of the reward".

My Thoughts

Let me start by saying I am a huge fan of the "Texas Chainsaw" series with my favorite being "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Beginnings". My anticipation level for this film was pretty high, and I have to tell you I was severely let down by this film, everything about this film was poorly done and poorly conceived from the acting t the plot to the setting it was all bad. I will say a good reason i wanted to see this film was due to Alexandria Daddario who played Heather the main character and honestly other than the outfits and the situations they placed her in this film, she was disappointing in the acting department as was basically all of the cast not one decent performance by anyone they where all forgettable.Back to Daddario she showed no emotion and her attempts at screaming where not believable  at all and I have never seen someone fall so many times in a film in a long time. Trey Songz made his first attempt at acting in this film he played Ryan, Heather's Boyfriend and for hist first attempt at acting he was serviceable nothing special but I have seen  worse I know he is a big reason that many women will see this film and if any of the mare expecting top notch acting  from him I will tell them to look elsewhere, I did find it odd that one of his songs was actually played in the film and I hope he did not suggest that, if so bad idea. This film was supposedly shot in 3D and i have high standards when it comes to seeing a film in 3D and i read just some 3D impressions of this film before I went to see it and everyone of the slammed the film for poor 3D and most claimed it was just thrown in to add to the box office numbers, with that in mind I skipped the 3D version and just saw the regular 2D version and I am glad I did, you can usually tell what scenes are meant for 3D and literally I only saw two instances that looked to have the 3D effect to them. Rotten Tomatoes gave this film a rating of 18% saying "As an ugly and cynical attempt to rebrand Leatherface as horror anti-hero, Texas Chainsaw 3D is a bold move for the franchise." I agree with what they are saying it was kind of odd they tried to make leatherface sympathetic somewhat in this film and without giving anything away I felt that was a bad idea and really added to the misery this film heaps upon the viewers. Overall this was a horrid way to start the 2013 viewing but as they say "it is not how you start, but how you finish" and there are plenty of films to view this year, as A side note the ending for this film was very predictable if you knew what to look for and I was hoping to at least be shocked but that was not the case unfortunately.

Rating

Disappointing nothing memorable in this film 6.0/10!!!!!! Skip unless you area fan of the series or have 90 minutes to kill.

PS. there is a scene after the credits.


The next film for the month of January is "Gangster Squad" Starring Josh Brolin, Sean Penn and Ryan Gosling.

Plot

"Los Angeles, 1949: A secret crew of police officers led by two determined sergeants work together in an effort to take down the ruthless mob king Mickey Cohen who runs the city".

My Thoughts

I will admit that this film was not on my radar till late , I have not seen many gangster/noir films (my current favorite would be "Devil In A Blue Dress")when I saw the cast for this film is what caught my attention for this film,  I am not a fan of Ryan Gosling or Emma Stone (both overrated in my opinion and I haven't seen either in a great performance, though I thought Emma Stone was decent in "Zombieland"). But I am a fan of Sean Penn and Anthony Mackie and  Josh Brolin. I liked the plot and who the story was based on (Mickey Cohen) .The setting for this film is late 1940's LA, the film did a god job with the setting aspect of this film it looked very close to realistic in my opinion and I applaud the crew for their job of showing that era in a good way. The acting for me is where this film lost some of its luster, I want to start with  Ryan Gosling his accent and tone of voice which was probably norm for the time and setting of this film was very annoying to me and every time he opened his mouth It made me dislike the film more and more and this performance by him if anything made me even less of a fan of him then before, Emma Stone was nothing special and I felt her character added nothing to the film but give Ryan Gosling's character a love interest she had the same presence to me as Natalie Portman in "Thor" unforgettable, Sean Penn was awesome as Mickey Cohen he the amount of emotion he conveyed for the character for me was very good and honesty should we expect any less of Sean Penn I think not. Josh Brolin for me was okay in this film he did enough but his performance wasn't a standout. The rest of the cast did well and I have no complaints in that regard, I do wish however that Anthony Mackie's character was give a bigger role he and Robert Patrick's characters where my favorite of the "Gangster Squad"The rest of the film was paced fairly well and there where no major plot holes or major gripes I had with the film just minor issues, such as the use of "Slo-Mo" cam in certain scenes it made no sense to me to use that type of filming and ruined the scenes it was used, another gripe I had with the film was maybe just a hint of to much violence some times it felt that the writers couldn't think of any dialogue so they threw in a shootout or gun fight as filler and one thing that always irks me is lazy writing. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 33% saying "Though it's stylish and features a talented cast, Gangster Squad suffers from lackluster writing, underdeveloped characters, and an excessive amount of violence". I agree with everything they said in what they are saying about the film, I am not saying this was a bad film but couple bad acting from some of the main characters with lazy writing and that is not a great recipe.

Rating

Not a horrible film but some certain aspects of the film irked me 7.2/10!!!!!!!


 The third movie for the month of January is "The Last Stand" Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Forrest Whitaker and Johnny Knoxville.

Plot

"The leader of a drug cartel busts out of a courthouse and speeds to the Mexican border, where the only thing in his path is a sheriff and his inexperienced staff".


My Thoughts

I am gonna keep this review shirt there is not much to say here, this is an action movie at heart the plot the setting and the characters are not as important as the action and in this movie there is plenty of it, Good to see Arnold back on the big screen, he may look older but he still can bring it, if you wanna see an action movie to the core with some cheap laughs and actually decent acting for the genre than look no further RottenTomatoes gave this film a 57% saying "There's nothing particularly distinguished about it, but for Schwarzenegger fans The Last Stand provides perfectly undemanding entertainment". I agree this movie is nothing special but if you go in knowing what to expect this film delivered.

Rating

If you know what to expect then this film will deliver for action fans 7.8/10!!!!!!!!!!



The fourth movie for the month of January is "Mama" Starring Jessica Chastain,  Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Megan Charpentier.

Plot

"Annabel and Lucas are faced with the challenge of raising his young nieces that were left alone in the forest for 5 years.... but how alone were they?".

My Thoughts


Guillermo Del Toro Projects are quickly becoming some of my favorite films whether he be attached as the director or producer. Mama was a film for me that I had found out about late in the year of 2012. After looking into the film more and finding some background information and details about the plot, and also hearing that Guillermo Del Toro was also attached to the film made the decision easy. The plot f this film is basically 2 young girls who had lost both their mother and father are found after surviving in the wilderness for 5 years by themselves. They are taken in by their uncle and his girlfriend who was played brilliantly by Jessica Chastain she was easily the best actor in this film and I have nothing but good things to say about her performance in this film, she started out as a woman who did not want to take on this burden of raising kids especially ones she had no ties to, but as the film progressed you could see her open up more and more and begin to care for the children very much. The tone and settign for this film was perfectly set it gave just enough jump scares to keep the viewer interested. One part of this film I really enjoyed was the back story for "Mama" I do not want to give anything away so all I will say is the way this film was did the back story for "Mama" was for the way to do it, I dislike films where the ghosts is jsut random and has no back story I  prefer this methid as it gives the viewer an idea if wht they are watching. There was not much that I did not dislike about this film If I had to nitpick I would say that I felt the ending was weak and that the film could have ran longer than 93 minutes, I felt another 10-15 minutes of running time could have helped flesh out certain parts of the film and again the ending for me I did not like, I felt it could have been better. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 62% and had this to say "If you're into old-school scares over cheap gore, you'll be able to get over Mama's confusing script and contrived plot devices". I disagree with the rating I felt the script and the plot were well done and a 62% was to low. In my opinion this ranks up there with some of my favorite horror films of that past 2-3 years (Insidious, Sinister)


Rating

Very good film one of the  best horror films I have seen in the last couple years 8.1/10!!!!!!!


The Fifth and Final film for the month of January is "Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters" starring Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton and Famke Janssen.

Plot

" In this spin on the fairy tale, Hansel & Gretel are now bounty hunters who track and kill witches all over the world. As the fabled Blood Moon approaches, the siblings encounter a new form of evil that might hold a secret to their past".
 
My Thoughts

I am sure plenty of people have heard the "Hansel & Gretel" story if you are like me I never spent one minute thinking they would turn the idea into a film, but then again Hollywood made Abraham Lincoln a vampire hunter last year so anything is possible.When I first heard about this film I was instantly excited to see it and I was disappointed last year when it was pushed back to this year. The setting of this film is 14th or 15th century Europe and I feel this makes the film feel more real and authentic if the film had been placed in the 21st century, I do not think it would have felt right honestly, this was a good time period to place the film in.The acting for this film was okay to even sub par in some parts, but considering who the min cast was comprised of (Arterton, Renner and Janssen) I expected better especially from Jeremy Renner who in the films I have seen him in has been really good, Then again in a action film do you really expect great acting so I will not criticize to much. The acting of Gemma Arterton was really below par for me in this film and I really expected better from her, I will say though the supporting cast was actually pretty good and I felt they all did a better job then the main cast in their roles. One part of the film I liked where the fight scenes between the hunters and the witches I liked the ideas of weapons that where thought up for this film and the cherography in the fights as well, the praise for this is all going to Jeremy Renner's character he did a really good job in his fight scenes, Gemma Arterton on the other hand I felt in the fight scenes was underwhelming she spent most of her fight scenes on the ground or being pummeled, I am nto sure if they had her tdo any training for this film from what I saw I would say no.The special effects which was mostly used for the witches was not very good you could blatantly see that it was special effects and I do not like to see that especially in the age of technology we live in, studios should be able to seamlessly incorporate special effects to look life like, even more so when a film has a budget like this one did. Rotten Tomatoes gave this film a 17% saying "Alternately bloody and silly, Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters fails as both a fantasy adventure and as a parody of same". I honestly do not have much more to add to this film and agree with Rotten Tomatoes this film was over all below average all around couple in Bad Special effects with below par acting leads to a below average film for me.

Rating

Below average all around nothing special here 6.8/10!!!!!!!!!!