Time for another round of movie reviews!!! 3 cinema releases, then some stuff I saw on tv or whatever.
Prometheus
As far as I'm concerned, a flawed masterpiece. Loved the atmosphere, really, really loved Michael Fassbender, the first hour or so is one of the best experiences I had in the cinema in recent years. But then I quite like "slow" sci-fi movies based on a spaceship or abandoned planet or whatever (which reminds me, still need to see Moon).
Towards the end though, it falls apart a bit, and some of the 'mythology' in this makes little sense, and we'll have to wait for the true answers until the sequel, which kind of cheapens the experience I think. But even with that it's a very solid 8/10, almost 9, and I'll definitely want this when it comes out on blu-ray.
Avengers
You've all seen it by now I guess, so I don't have to tell you how good it is. And unlike Prometheus I can talk more in detail about it. So, obviously, the best thing about the film is the Stark-Banner bromance. Or any scene with Hulk in it. I mean, try to imagine this film without Banner/Hulk. It would be pretty boring wouldn't it?
I was also quite upset with some agent dying heh (but is he really dead????) What else...Thor/Iron Man fight was good. Loki's speech on why humans are naturally submissive made me lol (for reasons I won't admit here). The climax of the movie wasn't that great I thought - apart from some Hulk stuff - and it made me think of how useless Wolverine and Spider-man would be in this (yes, great one-on-one fighters, but they would be useless taking on an army). It would've been even better if the real enemy was Galactus, but stupid licensing issues kept that from happening.
Snow-white and the Huntsman
Kristen Stewart is a drowned rat, the Thor-dude is wasted in this role, and Charlize Theron...was quite acceptable . Some familiar faces as the dwarves. Otherwise, forgettable movie really. Well, it's on my mind because some things annoyed me. Like, there's absolutely no way Kirsten Scott will ever be hotter than Charlize Theron. It makes the whole premises of the story unbelievable. Stupid mirror!! I was actually half expecting the mirror to be the true evil in this, but they kept things simple and very stupid.
A Single Man
As a (very) single, lonely man, I loved this. So good at showing loneliness and depression, and how random encounters can lift your spirit, even if it's for a short while. If I had a heart, or if I had been a girl, I would cry so much during this film haha. I think it sort of overstayed its welcome though, I did not like the last half an hour or so, where it almost became a sitcom, or the intro of a gay porn. But that's just me I guess, and I still heavily recommend this to anyone.
Agora
Weird but pretty good film set in the late Roman Empire. The film's in two parts, basically, and the first part is pretty simple but also pretty awesome. Second part is rather messy, like they didn't really know what to do anymore. Sad, but because of the weird atmosphere throughout the film, and some really nice visual effects, I think it's very much worth watching (if you're into history in particular. And also if you hate christians and jews, hah).
The Big Sleep
This was on tv on a lazy Sunday afternoon, so I decided to watch it. Apparently it's a "classic". I liked it, good dialogues, and like a lot of 40s and 50s films, it has a moment where the main guy is all "woman, you're hysterical!" and then slaps her silly. So good. Hehe. Good story and performances and all, but not really worth the "classic" tag in my opinion. I'd give it a 7/10.
Blue Velvet
It's a David Lynch film, it's weird, it's disturbing, I loved it. Questions?
Sherlock Holmes - A game of shadows
Saw this ages ago, but I don't think I mentioned it here. While I was entertained while watching it, I have to say I don't remember that much from it. There was something in a factory that was pretty tense, I guess? And then he died but then he didn't, and such. But, you know, even though they're very different, the BBC Sherlock series is just vastly superior in every way.
Centurion
Neil Marshall!!!!!! You might remember him from cheesy awesomeness like Doomsday and yucky horror like in The Descent. So I was expecting something good. Instead, I got something...hmm...kinda meh? It's definitely my least favourite Neil Marshall film, but maybe it's also because I saw The Eagle a few months before this, which is similar and the better film in my opinion. Neither is a masterpiece in any way, but still. Centurion has Olga Kurylenko though, and (for the gays and girls) Michael Fassbender, so you at least have something pretty to look at.
1408
I was tricked into watching this by internet people who claimed this was even better than In the mouth of madness when it comes to psychological horror... Well, I'll never trust internet people again! This was only entertaining in a "so bad it's good" kind of way, and even then it falls short, especially compared to Mouth of madness. Hard for me to understand the praise this gets from "real" horror fans. Not even half as good as Mouth of Madness, and anyone saying this is on the same level as Jacob's Ladder is mad I tell you, MAD!!!
Hook
heh. The first two times I really enjoyed it, but now, some things started annoying me. Like pretty much every Disney film it has rampant racism/stereotyping, but the worst offender was the death of one of the kids. Aww, he's dead, let's play a sad tune for 10 seconds. But yay, Hook is gone, let's celebrate and let's never mention the kid again! Especially now that the fat black kid, who people like just because he's fat, is the new leader!! Yaaay!!!!
I mean...what the fuck. Seriously, what the fuck. Even for a kid's movie, this is, at the very least, a bit off. The movie has quite a few little things that annoy me, but none so much as that. Of course there will always be people who saw this as a kid and will always love it and never see the flaws in it... well, I suppose I envy them heh.
Wolke 9
German film. Old woman, married for a long time, suddenly falls in love with someone else. It confuses her greatly, but the other guy makes her happy. After talking to her daughter about it, she decides to tell her husbands. He (understandably) freaks out, calls her a naive silly cow. They decide to split up. Woman goes to live with her lover. Husbands dies (kills himself).
Since you'll never see this film anyway, I decided to spoil the ending anyway heh. I quite liked this film, and unlike most people on the imdb boards, I did feel some sympathy for the woman. The film is interesting just because of the psychological aspect of her choices. You got the impression she was tired of her husband, and was she just looking for an excuse to leave him, or was she really head over heels with the other guy? And you never really get an insight of what the other guy wants, is he just using her because he's lonely, or does he genuinely like her? It's stuff like that that makes this film interesting for me, but obviously most people will think it's boring as hell.
Get Smart
This is basically Johnny English, without the English, and with Steve Carell and his awkward humour. I love Carell, but...this movie sucks.
La ley del deseo (Law of desire)
Almodovar film I saw when I was in London. Featuring a very young Antonio Banderas. It features all the typical Almodovar elements: love, hate, drama, humour, gays, transsexuals, and someone dying at the end. I enjoyed it, but he's made better.
Extremities
My mum was watching this while I was working (read: tweeting) on the laptop, but I half-watched this, and I had to lol several times, it's so dramatic at times it becomes slapstick. Also some heavy (but non-obvious to the casual viewer maybe) S&M elements, if you're into that sort of stuff heh.
Ray
Same as above, not something I'd watch on my own. Especially now that I've seen so many biographies of musicians, it's all the same really. Oh poor them, growing up poor. Oh poor them, with their childhood traumas following them throughout their lives. No wonder they all end up using drugs, right? But they're forgiven their sins because of their creative output, right? We're lucky we had them, right?
...Meh.
An Education
I was kind expecting a lot of this, since I quite like these 'coming of age the wrong way' kind of films, but this one didn't overly impress me or anything. It's not bad (at all!), I especially enjoyed Alfred Molina as her dad, and it does have a nice flow, but it's not really a very memorable film.
The day the Earth stood still
The remake with whatshisface. I actually would've enjoyed this (well, enough to give it a 7/10 or something), but Will Smith's kid ruins everything. Almost had to vomit at the end when it turns out the kid saved Earth. Vomit. Yes.
The Wolfman
Yeah, it's about as bad as people say it is. It kind of works as a modern b-movie I guess, and it has some good (gory!!!!) scenes. So it works when you're in the mood for that, otherwise it's best avoided.
Puss in boots
Had to watch this with my cousin. It's probably just me, but I thought this was worse than the worst Shrek. It wasn't funny or clever and didn't entertain me at all.
The island at the top of the world
Every Sunday, a flemish tv channel shows really old films, like this one. It entertained me far more than the previous 3 movies I mentioned, despite obvious studio-sets and obviously dated special effects. Pretty sad that they don't make adventure movies like this anymore.
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