Category: Review

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The Fighter (2010) Review

Ben

Do the sports parts of “sports movies” actually have to be any good? To explain further, what I mean is, can you make a good sports film if the worst part of the movie is the bits where you portray the sport being played? I made the same argument in my review for Your Highness, I asked the question if a comedy film can be good if it doesn’t actually make you laugh. This is the problem I have with pigeon holing movies because there are plenty of films that do what they are designed to do badly but are … Continue reading The Fighter (2010) Review

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Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) Review

Ben

Grease is the perfect musical. It has a simple story, generally a love story, that can be easily punctuated by catchy, musical set-pieces that range from huge, perfectly choreographed numbers to something much more solitary and intimate. It is full of songs that stand-alone and have in fact had chart success long after the film’s release. You ask anyone to name five songs from Grease and most people will do it without a second thought. Loads of musicals have this formula too. I’m not a huge musical’s fan. I have only seen a handful but those that I have enjoyed … Continue reading Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) Review

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21 Jump Street (2012) Review

Ben

I love being surprised by a film. I stand by the fact that I will pretty much watch anything, regardless of director/actor/genre and with my girlfriend getting into films as much as I am now, that sometimes means sitting and watching something I usually wouldn’t. It is pretty hard to go into a film without any preconceived ideas. The perfect example of this will be Dark Knight Rises. I’ve written before why I think that my own ideas of how good this film should be will probably mean I don’t enjoy it as much as I should. It has worked … Continue reading 21 Jump Street (2012) Review

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The Smurfs (2011) Review

Ben

LoveFilm made me watch The Smurfs. A bold claim but I’ll explain. I have three lists on my LoveFilm, a “Priority” list of all the films I want to watch, a “Random” list of films I’m only generally interested in and a “Girlfriend” list, of films that both me and my girlfriend want to watch for when we are together. The Smurfs were on my “Random” list. I’m not completely free from blame, I did add The Smurfs to my LoveFilm list but I added it to the “Random” one because that list also had over 300 other films on there too. … Continue reading The Smurfs (2011) Review

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The Tourist (2010) Review

Ben

  When is the last time you saw Johnny Depp play a “straight” or “normal” role. What I mean by this is when is the last time he wasn’t covered in make-up, acting goofy or part of a cast/movie which required him to play an eccentric. Don’t get me wrong, Depp is fantastic in those roles. There is no doubting that Pirates of the Caribbean would be nothing without him and that he was clearly the best thing in Charlie and Chocolate Factory (even if his take on Willy Wonka wasn’t how I’d have interpreted it). I saw the new trailer for Dark Shadows, the new … Continue reading The Tourist (2010) Review

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Religulous (2008) Review

Ben

I’ve got to make one thing clear before I actually review this film. This blog is supposed to be about my views on films, not religion and people’s beliefs. You’ve got to be careful when you make comments on anything to do with religion because it means so much to so many people. It isn’t my place to convince people that their religion is the wrong religion or to tell people that what they believe is foolish. I try to avoid arguments with people about their religion because I am quite ignorant to what a lot of religions are actually about and what their faith … Continue reading Religulous (2008) Review

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Tucker and Dale Versus Evil (2010) Review

Ben

There are some ideas that seem too good to be true. The idea must start as just a small acorn of a thought and then it slowly grows into a huge oak tree of an idea that has branches of development reaching out and creating something that could, just might, work as a film. The main problem is, most films really have to work over ninety minutes. An idea can be brilliant and have a good ten minutes, maybe even half an hour’s worth of development and life in it, but I have watched a ton of films that have a … Continue reading Tucker and Dale Versus Evil (2010) Review

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Horrible Bosses (2011) Review

Ben

American Pie has a lot to answer for. Back when American Pie was released, it was a film like no other. Porky’s had been around in the 70’s but American Pie was really the first of that “teen gross-out movie” that spurned Road Trip, Euro Trip and a host of other imitators. It appealed to the 16 – 25 (roughly) demographic and was ridiculously successful. It was genuinely funny, poignant in places and had moments that people could talk about at school/college/work the next day. Then we grew up. American Pie 2 was brilliant but American Pie 3 tried to keep the … Continue reading Horrible Bosses (2011) Review

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Source Code (2011) Review

Ben

I loved Quantum Leap. It was the perfect mix of both sci-fi and drama. I was only about ten years old when I first got into it and though I didn’t hugely appreciate the drama aspects of the show, the moment where he jumped into the person’s body at the beginning and the end of the show was enough to keep me watching. If he punched someone during the episode, that was even better. As I got older I began to appreciate the actual story of the show and what he had to do each week. Even now I’ll find myself watching a whole … Continue reading Source Code (2011) Review

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Your Highness (2011) Review

Ben

If I watch a comedy and really like some of the action pieces and cooler parts to the story, but don’t find it that funny, does that make it a bad film? I made this argument in my review for The Switch. This wasn’t necessarily a bad film but marketing it as a romantic comedy meant it didn’t really do what romantic comedies do. It was a great drama but not very romantic or funny. Your Highness suffers from the same sort of problem. As a concept it’s great. A medieval stoner prince and his impressive, hero brother go on a quest to rescue a … Continue reading Your Highness (2011) Review