Tag: Movie

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Morning Glory (2010) Review

Ben

There are some films I will watch, regardless of the kind of film it is, just because of the actor who is starring in it. Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington are two examples because they very rarely make a bad film. Jim Carrey is another because of how good he can be, even if he isn’t being wacky and crazy. Along the same lines is Will Smith, more because he is very cool and usually his roles reflect that too. Other actors just don’t make films that frequently anymore that when they do star in one, it catches my attention. Harrison Ford is … Continue reading Morning Glory (2010) Review

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St. Elmo’s Fire (1985) Review

Ben

I have completely missed the popularity of certain 80’s films. I’m going to make a confession – I’ve never seen Sixteen Candles or Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. I have seen the Breakfast Club and it was ok, not exactly the classic that a lot of people say it is, but it doesn’t feel like it was made for me. None of these types of films do. The people who grew up in the 80’s seem to have an affinity with the characters, who are mostly coming of age or rebelling, and feel like the film is reflective of their lives in some way. … Continue reading St. Elmo’s Fire (1985) Review

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Hanna (2011) Review

Ben

It’s not often I’ll think a film should be longer. If anything, I usually prefer my films to be around the two-hour mark, long enough to tell a decent story for most movies, without the usual waffle. I’m not someone who can sit through an epic, a key reason why I didn’t enjoy the Lord of the Rings trilogy as much as most other people, unless its hugely entertaining, like The Dark Knight. Two hours won’t always be enough though. If a film wants to try something slightly different, a bit more ambitious, then two hours isn’t going to cover … Continue reading Hanna (2011) Review

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30 Minutes or Less (2011) Review

Ben

Since seeing him in Zombieland, Adventureland and of course, Social Network, I’ll watch pretty much anything with Jesse Eisenberg in. He’s carved out a great niche character for himself, an awkward, geeky but fast-talking guy who fits into the zombie apocalypse as comfortably as he does running a multi-million company. You could argue that his character is very similar from film to film, even when he’s playing Mark Zuckerberg, he seems to play a likable, awkward but intelligent guy who is just trying to do his best to get by (ok, not exactly Zuckerberg.) Where that is killing Michael Cera’s … Continue reading 30 Minutes or Less (2011) Review

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The Crazies (2010) Review

Ben

Timothy Olyphant is a very underrated actor. If you take a quick look at his past films and tv roles, what you find is a man who provides consistently decent, sometimes brilliant performances, which fall just short of public awareness. He is becoming much more a go-to actor rather than a stand-out lead and I think there is something to be said for that. There are some great performances that many wouldn’t even realise was Olyphant. One of the chasing cops in Nicholas Cage’s Gone in Sixty Seconds, the high-tech villain who was outdone by Bruce Willis’ blunt force in … Continue reading The Crazies (2010) Review

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Puss in Boots (2011) Review

Ben

Puss in Boots benefitted from being released with most people’s expectations being quite low. It wasn’t the fault of the character but more the fault of the franchise that created it. The Shrek movies had become a perfect example of how to run a successful and much-loved franchise into the ground with unnecessary sequels. After Shrek 4, there was only one way the Shrek franchise could successfully continue and that was by branching out with another character. Puss in Boots wasn’t the best of characters from the franchise. He served a purpose in the second film and there were some great gags to be … Continue reading Puss in Boots (2011) Review

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The Dilemma (2011) Review

Ben

The Dilemma strikes me as a film that doesn’t know what it wants to be. It has all the makings of a buddy comedy, something that Judd Apatow would be comfortable making. The central actors are two that are synonymous with comedy, Vince Vaughn and Kevin James. Unfortunately, the story itself never really goes to the comedic extreme it could. It feels like a difficult story to get comedy out of anyway. Vince Vaughn realising that his best friend’s wife, played by Winona Ryder, is cheating on him, then struggling with the dilemma of whether he should tell him or not. It’s … Continue reading The Dilemma (2011) Review

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The Change-Up (2011) Review

Ben

By copying an idea that has already been done a few times, you are almost setting yourself up for an automatic fail. Most people will see the idea, usually in the trailer, and decide that they’ve seen it all before and that it’s another “lazy movie” rather than something unique. You can certainly make that argument with The Change-Up which bares more than a passing resemblance to both Freaky Friday (which itself has been remade once at least) or Vice-Versa, which is the same as Freaky Friday but with Father/Son rather than Mother/Daughter. Add that to the fact that in many … Continue reading The Change-Up (2011) Review

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Youth in Revolt (2009) Review

Ben

Michael Cera is seriously typecast. He is an actor that suffers from his own success. Films like Superbad, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist and Juno, have sealed his fate as the likable, sweet and vulnerable “boy-next-door.” He’s done very little to destroy this image and unfortunately it seems like his career is beginning to suffer because of it. It’s very refreshing to see him play on that typecasting, whether intentionally or not, in Youth in Revolt. He does seem to play the usual “Michael Cera” character, hopeless with the girls but sweet and likable, but this time with a Jekyll and … Continue reading Youth in Revolt (2009) Review

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Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) Re-View

Ben

The reason that the Pirates of the Caribbean sequels fail to impress is because the original Pirates film should never have been successful or even “worked” in the first place. It was a film idea that originated from a theme park ride. It was a film about Pirates, which until this film had come along, were camp, stereotypical and silly. It starred Johnny Depp pretending to be Keith Moon pretending to be a pirate. The film shouldn’t work! Except many of those reasons is why the film does work. Shockingly, Pirates was an original idea. It was based (loosely) on a … Continue reading Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) Re-View