Tarantino has done it again. Another great movie to add to his cartography of films. Inglorious Basterds is the fictional story of two groups of people during World War II. All the stories intertwine in a brilliant combination of comedy and satire.
The first story we come across is the story of Shosanna Dreyfus, played by Melanie Laurent. Shosanna, a young Jewish woman who was hidden when Col. Hans Landa, Christoph Waltz, comes in and shoots her entire family. Shosanna then runs off into the distance.
We are then introduced to Lt. Aldo Raine, brilliantly played by Brad Pitt. This Lt. has gathered a motley crew of army men, who just happen to be Jewish themselves, to go behind enemy lines and hide out in the woods and do nothing more then kill Nazi's. They call themselves the Inglorious Basterds, and they take great pride in what they do to a point where it becomes comical.
Brad Pitt really proved he has some chops left with his portrayal of Aldo Raine. The character is so brilliantly written and portrayed that it clearly falls into one of my favorite character ever in a movie. The only issue with this whole movie that stands out like a sore thumb is you only see the Basterds for about 20 minutes of actual screen time.
This film is broken up in traditional Tarantino fashion as chapters. Although, his chapters actually line up threw me for a loop at first but this movie should have been longer. I don't say that very often but the characters who were so enthralling just needed more time. Parts of the movie were a tad slow but only if you weren't paying that close attention to the plot but if you were, this was truly a story that was music to my ears.
This movie forced my thought process going again after a long summer of unsatisfying movies, and makes me want to go back and see it again. While also making me laugh at the absurdity of the characters and the witty satirical dialogue. Without even taking a second thought, this movie pulls a 9.5 out of 10.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
District 9
District 9 was one movie that I never had my radar on to because I didn't see much about it that really sparked my interest. Even the online buzz never brought me into it, what really made me go see this film was Peter Jackson's name attached to it. I figured he deserved at least one redeeming movie since King Kong, and hopefully this would be it.
Most Alien movies are the humans trying to fight for survival whilst the aliens terrorize the planet, or more simply New York, or somewhere in the USA. This movie flips that norm on its head when aliens, called Prawns for how they look, come to Earth and just hover over Johannesburg and don't invade at all. Instead, the government takes it's place and takes the aliens out and put them on Earth so we can "help them be healthier". I don't want to give to much away because this was such a great story and to really know anything is to ruin some of the amazement of the story.
This film was filmed in a very interesting way. It started out as a documentary with interviews and scene footage. Then turns to a regular movie and then closes as it would have if it was a documentary. Throughout the movie they show scenes from local news shows just to keep the mythos in mind that this is actually going on now. Some of the camera shots were just spectacularly shot and literally makes you feel the uneasiness of the people in this movie.
To my surprise, there is not one big name actor in this movie. The actors in it do a decent job of seeming like ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. Though none of them really shine through as amazing actors but they pull off their characters as if they were merely extensions of themselves.
This was the movie you've been waiting to see all summer but didn't know it until you walk out of that theater. It was cleverly hidden and given just that little bit of mystique to draw you in. Strangely, the only problem I had with the movie was the simple fact that everyone in the movie didn't really have much of a back story other than the main character Wikus, played by Sharlto Copey. Though, it doesn't really matter because they cleverly close up all story elements and there are small twists that show intents that could lead us to a District 10.
Like I said, this is the movie you've been waiting to see all summer without knowing it. District 9 gets a 9 out of 10.
Most Alien movies are the humans trying to fight for survival whilst the aliens terrorize the planet, or more simply New York, or somewhere in the USA. This movie flips that norm on its head when aliens, called Prawns for how they look, come to Earth and just hover over Johannesburg and don't invade at all. Instead, the government takes it's place and takes the aliens out and put them on Earth so we can "help them be healthier". I don't want to give to much away because this was such a great story and to really know anything is to ruin some of the amazement of the story.
This film was filmed in a very interesting way. It started out as a documentary with interviews and scene footage. Then turns to a regular movie and then closes as it would have if it was a documentary. Throughout the movie they show scenes from local news shows just to keep the mythos in mind that this is actually going on now. Some of the camera shots were just spectacularly shot and literally makes you feel the uneasiness of the people in this movie.
To my surprise, there is not one big name actor in this movie. The actors in it do a decent job of seeming like ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. Though none of them really shine through as amazing actors but they pull off their characters as if they were merely extensions of themselves.
This was the movie you've been waiting to see all summer but didn't know it until you walk out of that theater. It was cleverly hidden and given just that little bit of mystique to draw you in. Strangely, the only problem I had with the movie was the simple fact that everyone in the movie didn't really have much of a back story other than the main character Wikus, played by Sharlto Copey. Though, it doesn't really matter because they cleverly close up all story elements and there are small twists that show intents that could lead us to a District 10.
Like I said, this is the movie you've been waiting to see all summer without knowing it. District 9 gets a 9 out of 10.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Push
How is it that a movie that looks like it's going to be a sequel of a terrible movie can come out and actually a pretty good movie? Well this is exactly what Push is able to succeed in doing. At first glance the movie looks like it's going to be a sequel to Jumper, a terrible movie that tries to show off as many "cool" special effects and places that they can physically can. Although, once you get into the movie you realize that this is not only it's own movie and has nothing to do with Jumper, but it pulls off it's own storyline better than Jumper ever could have.
Imagine a world where people with powers are controlled by a government group called Division. Super humans are put into groups of similar powered people, i.e. Movers are Telekenetic, Sniffers can smell or touch an object and know where it's been, Watchers can see the future (but it's constantly changing), Shadows who conceal objects, Screamers who... well, scream and break things, and Pushers who can get into your brain and make you do things.
The story follows Dakota Fanning as Cassie Holmes, a second generation Watcher (meaning her mother was a watcher also), who runs into Chris Evans, aka Nick, who is a second generation Mover. Though Nick is terrible with his powers since he rarely uses them, Cassie and Nick set off to find a suitcase with six million dollars in it when things turn sour once they find that the future changes and shows them all dead.
The movie does a very good job at not having the abilities take over the film. The abilities are very well used and only used to enhance the scene rather than to control the scene. One scene in particular jumps out, Nick walks into a restaurant and draws two guns, but not with his hands. He uses his abilities and floats them five feet above himself to give the appearance that he came unarmed.
As sad as it is to say, the major draw back from this movie was the fact that Jumper came out first. This movie wasn't a brilliant masterpiece but it was a lot of fun to watch. Dakota Fanning has matured a lot but still seemed to hold something back from finding true greatness in her character. While the special effects were actually on par with this movie it's hard for me to say that this movie is worth the price of a theater ticket.
I would have to say that if your interested in a movie to have on for just a fun time I would recommend Push. The story may have some holes, and it may not be the best super hero movie out there. It definitely does well for starting a story from the middle and doesn't keep you wondering about the past or the history of the characters.
Basically, if it's a rainy day, and you want something to amuse yourself, pick up Push because if worse comes to worse, this movie won't make you hate yourself. Rating for this movie? Wasn't spectacular but it wasn't terrible so 5.5 out of 10
Imagine a world where people with powers are controlled by a government group called Division. Super humans are put into groups of similar powered people, i.e. Movers are Telekenetic, Sniffers can smell or touch an object and know where it's been, Watchers can see the future (but it's constantly changing), Shadows who conceal objects, Screamers who... well, scream and break things, and Pushers who can get into your brain and make you do things.
The story follows Dakota Fanning as Cassie Holmes, a second generation Watcher (meaning her mother was a watcher also), who runs into Chris Evans, aka Nick, who is a second generation Mover. Though Nick is terrible with his powers since he rarely uses them, Cassie and Nick set off to find a suitcase with six million dollars in it when things turn sour once they find that the future changes and shows them all dead.
The movie does a very good job at not having the abilities take over the film. The abilities are very well used and only used to enhance the scene rather than to control the scene. One scene in particular jumps out, Nick walks into a restaurant and draws two guns, but not with his hands. He uses his abilities and floats them five feet above himself to give the appearance that he came unarmed.
I would have to say that if your interested in a movie to have on for just a fun time I would recommend Push. The story may have some holes, and it may not be the best super hero movie out there. It definitely does well for starting a story from the middle and doesn't keep you wondering about the past or the history of the characters.
Basically, if it's a rainy day, and you want something to amuse yourself, pick up Push because if worse comes to worse, this movie won't make you hate yourself. Rating for this movie? Wasn't spectacular but it wasn't terrible so 5.5 out of 10
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Funny People
Judd Apatow finally shows the true range of his brilliance with his newest movie Funny People starring Seth Rogan and Adam Sandler. Upon first seeing the trailer, I believed that this movie was going to be all laughs just like his other movies but this time focus on the lives of comedians. Boy was I in for a special treat! This movie was much more serious than Apatow's other films but still has a great amount of comedy to lighten the mood and make sure the movie doesn't go to far into the drama.
The movie centers around George Simmons (played by Sandler) who use to be a great comedian and actor, but recently, just found out that he has a type of lukemia and will probably die soon. What does he do? Goes back up on stage and does more stand up. His first show he bumps Ira Right/Weiner's (Rogan) set back. After the show George asks Ira to write jokes for him and thus begins the apprenticeship of George and Ira.
The whole movie is centered around three themes which are Love, Death, and the apprenticing of George and Ira. While many of these themes can be very depressing and turn Georges life into a dark place where one can only wonder if this is was ever suppose to have comedy in it.
I truely was blown away by the fact the Apatow could really write and direct a movie that was so serious that I was sucked in. The characters are so completely believeable and played so well by the actors that no matter who you are, you'll find someone in this movie to see bits and pieces of yourself in them.
This movie was so up and above my expectations of Apatow that I'm almost speechless, and was speechless afterr the movie. There are so many cameo's in this movie of actual comedians like Sarah Silverman, Andy Dick, Dave Attell, Ray Romano, and so many more that just throws laughs right at you.
This movie clearly deserves a 7.5 out of 10.
The movie centers around George Simmons (played by Sandler) who use to be a great comedian and actor, but recently, just found out that he has a type of lukemia and will probably die soon. What does he do? Goes back up on stage and does more stand up. His first show he bumps Ira Right/Weiner's (Rogan) set back. After the show George asks Ira to write jokes for him and thus begins the apprenticeship of George and Ira.
The whole movie is centered around three themes which are Love, Death, and the apprenticing of George and Ira. While many of these themes can be very depressing and turn Georges life into a dark place where one can only wonder if this is was ever suppose to have comedy in it.
I truely was blown away by the fact the Apatow could really write and direct a movie that was so serious that I was sucked in. The characters are so completely believeable and played so well by the actors that no matter who you are, you'll find someone in this movie to see bits and pieces of yourself in them.
This movie was so up and above my expectations of Apatow that I'm almost speechless, and was speechless afterr the movie. There are so many cameo's in this movie of actual comedians like Sarah Silverman, Andy Dick, Dave Attell, Ray Romano, and so many more that just throws laughs right at you.
This movie clearly deserves a 7.5 out of 10.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Dead Snow
Let me start this off by saying I'm not going to use any of the actors names because I don't know how to type them with a keyboard (it's a Norwegian film).
Ok, well for all you horror genre fans like me out there. Here comes the best zombie movie I have seen since the remake of Dawn of the Dead. This twist on this zombie tale? They are Nazi zombies that were frozen in the snow.
The movie centers around 7 medical students, well 8 but the first one dies before the opening credits. Didn't anyone teach you not to go wondering around alone when your in a horror film? Well either way, these kids are all on Easter Break and heading to their friends cabin to hang out and have fun. First night there, a creepy old man wanders in and tells the kids about the history of the land. But being normal people, they just laugh it off and continue on their marry way till everything just blows up in their face.
This film was spectacular, simply put I loved every minute of this film and I am very critical of my zombie movies. The soundtrack was German heavy music and played along with the atmosphere of the film. The theme song is a fantastic choice with "Peter and the Wolf".
I can't really speak to much on the acting since it was a German film, it was shown to me using dubbs. I know, upsetting, but the movie was amazing. These zombies are a new breed of zombies that we haven't seen and the closest thing we can come to is Land of the Dead zombies but that doesn't come quite close enough. These zombies were freakishly fast, could climb trees, use weapons... Ridiculous!
There is one scene in familiar that stands out to me and it centers around the death of one of the female characters. It's a first person shot which was fantasically done with all the effects. Which leads me to the effects. Normal zombies have a great deal of decay showing, but since these have been in the snow frozen for all these years, that haven't decayed much which brings more fear into these mindless madmen.
Overall, this film kept me laughing, scared of zombies once more, and showed that truely brilliant shots have yet to be shown to the public. THis film gets a 9.5 out of 10.
Ok, well for all you horror genre fans like me out there. Here comes the best zombie movie I have seen since the remake of Dawn of the Dead. This twist on this zombie tale? They are Nazi zombies that were frozen in the snow.
The movie centers around 7 medical students, well 8 but the first one dies before the opening credits. Didn't anyone teach you not to go wondering around alone when your in a horror film? Well either way, these kids are all on Easter Break and heading to their friends cabin to hang out and have fun. First night there, a creepy old man wanders in and tells the kids about the history of the land. But being normal people, they just laugh it off and continue on their marry way till everything just blows up in their face.
This film was spectacular, simply put I loved every minute of this film and I am very critical of my zombie movies. The soundtrack was German heavy music and played along with the atmosphere of the film. The theme song is a fantastic choice with "Peter and the Wolf".
I can't really speak to much on the acting since it was a German film, it was shown to me using dubbs. I know, upsetting, but the movie was amazing. These zombies are a new breed of zombies that we haven't seen and the closest thing we can come to is Land of the Dead zombies but that doesn't come quite close enough. These zombies were freakishly fast, could climb trees, use weapons... Ridiculous!
There is one scene in familiar that stands out to me and it centers around the death of one of the female characters. It's a first person shot which was fantasically done with all the effects. Which leads me to the effects. Normal zombies have a great deal of decay showing, but since these have been in the snow frozen for all these years, that haven't decayed much which brings more fear into these mindless madmen.
Overall, this film kept me laughing, scared of zombies once more, and showed that truely brilliant shots have yet to be shown to the public. THis film gets a 9.5 out of 10.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen
Ok, before I even get into the review, let me just say that if, no... correction, When you go see this movie be prepared for one of the most amped up, epic movies ever to hit the screen.
Micheal Bay has turned what started out as a movie to promote toys into something that well has turned into it's own cult following and this second movie only solidifies the fact that only Micheal Bay with his infamous explosions should be the only one to touch this franchise.
First off lets start out by saying that in the first movie we only see a handful of transformers and what we saw in that movie was epic enough to be the iceberg that sank the Titanic. This second movie takes everything that was good in the first and gives it that extra push to become something absolutely breath taking. We see at least a hundred or more transformers from both Autobot and Decepticon sides.
The movie takes place two years after the previous movie and Sam (Labouf) is heading off to college leaving everyone behind. This includes the amazing Megan Fox (I would never leave someone like that back at home alone), Bumblebee, and the Autobots. The Autobots have joined forces with the government and started to hunt down any and all Decepticons that come to Earth.
When Sam goes to leave though, he grabs the clothes he wore when the Autobots first came and finds that a piece of the cube had been attached to him. When he touches it, things go bananas for him and he starts to see Cybertronian writting everywhere, much like his relative that found Megatron.
Ok, enough of the plot because I don't want to give much away, but the simple fact remains that everything in this movie was amped up and become a movie that has very few faults in it. The acting especially shines here, even though you don't get much acting out of normal action movies this one just brings everything it has and you really begin to want certain characters to live and others to.... well, fade into the sunset.
The only thing I can say that might be remotely negative is about the Twins. These two autobots are basically the Jar Jar Binks of transformers but in a better way. They talk just about as much as Jar Jar did and at first I really was upset with them but the more I saw them the more I realized that these were just two more characters in this universe that fit perfectly. Think about it. Don't you have that one friend that you invite because you know they'll complain if you don't? That's the Twins.
Even with them though this movie is astounding and I sat there and was just thinking to myself that I had mothing bad to say about this movie. It was Epic in the most simplist of terms, I'm still speechless. Easily 10 out of 10, without even thinking about it, this movie deserves it.
Micheal Bay has turned what started out as a movie to promote toys into something that well has turned into it's own cult following and this second movie only solidifies the fact that only Micheal Bay with his infamous explosions should be the only one to touch this franchise.
First off lets start out by saying that in the first movie we only see a handful of transformers and what we saw in that movie was epic enough to be the iceberg that sank the Titanic. This second movie takes everything that was good in the first and gives it that extra push to become something absolutely breath taking. We see at least a hundred or more transformers from both Autobot and Decepticon sides.
The movie takes place two years after the previous movie and Sam (Labouf) is heading off to college leaving everyone behind. This includes the amazing Megan Fox (I would never leave someone like that back at home alone), Bumblebee, and the Autobots. The Autobots have joined forces with the government and started to hunt down any and all Decepticons that come to Earth.
When Sam goes to leave though, he grabs the clothes he wore when the Autobots first came and finds that a piece of the cube had been attached to him. When he touches it, things go bananas for him and he starts to see Cybertronian writting everywhere, much like his relative that found Megatron.
Ok, enough of the plot because I don't want to give much away, but the simple fact remains that everything in this movie was amped up and become a movie that has very few faults in it. The acting especially shines here, even though you don't get much acting out of normal action movies this one just brings everything it has and you really begin to want certain characters to live and others to.... well, fade into the sunset.
The only thing I can say that might be remotely negative is about the Twins. These two autobots are basically the Jar Jar Binks of transformers but in a better way. They talk just about as much as Jar Jar did and at first I really was upset with them but the more I saw them the more I realized that these were just two more characters in this universe that fit perfectly. Think about it. Don't you have that one friend that you invite because you know they'll complain if you don't? That's the Twins.
Even with them though this movie is astounding and I sat there and was just thinking to myself that I had mothing bad to say about this movie. It was Epic in the most simplist of terms, I'm still speechless. Easily 10 out of 10, without even thinking about it, this movie deserves it.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Update
Hey Guys, Sorry that I haven't had many updates lately, I got fired from my job as a grill cook. I went to the beach and let them know ahead of time that I wasn't coming in and they fired me. First shift I didn't come to and I told them and they fired me.
Oh well, I got free advanced tickets to Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen so I'll definitely start this back up again once I start working at Best Buy. But meantime I'll write up my review of Micheal Bay's Transformers 2 Revenge of the Fallen which will be up June 24th since I'm seeing it on the 23rd.
Oh well, I got free advanced tickets to Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen so I'll definitely start this back up again once I start working at Best Buy. But meantime I'll write up my review of Micheal Bay's Transformers 2 Revenge of the Fallen which will be up June 24th since I'm seeing it on the 23rd.
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