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Film
Prophet's Movie Reviews Page 17
Alice in Wonderland (2010)
Starring Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne
Hathaway, Crispin Glover
Film Prophet's Review...
Viewed in 3D, the classic story by Lewis Carroll story is told through a
combination of live action and performance-capture technology. However,
the eccentricity in this version was ridiculous, silly, and
uninteresting. Before the fantasy stunts begin, Alice is shown with her
life planned out for her and who she has to be married to. Alice is not
a little girl in this version, but an older teenager. This beginning of
a British period piece will have people yawning as it is a boring start
to a fantasy film. The story is thin and the pacing is unusual for a
huge mainstream film. Most of what Alice says is about how she still
thinks this is all a dream she’s in and every other character comments
about if she is the real Alice. This becomes very redundant. Along with
the poorly written dialogue and lazy effects, the art direction and
costumes are mostly unappealing. Some little mouse picks out eyes of
enemies and the animal cruelty in this film at a comedy expense by the
Red Queen may be offensive. Bad enough, this movie has familiar
territory to the adaptation of The Chronicles of Narnia. With the Red
and White Queens and an armor-wearing Alice against the Jabberwocky,
it’s just a complete repellent spectacle. All the memorable and literary
characters here, such as the Cheshire Cat and the Blue Caterpillar,
serve little purpose. They go in and out of the story and make minor
appearances. The characters are all over the place in the scattered
world. They don't really do much other than showing off some of their
own individuality. Depp in the role of The Mad Hatter acts bizarre while
going over the top which is what he does well at. However, it's like he
is on autopilot because he is always a top choice to cast in roles like
these. Comparing to the Disney original film, people would agree to
stick with the cartoon. After the drinking and eating part that’s
illustrious where Alice shrinks and grows taller, the rest is a quite
blur. The rabbit-hole fall placed at the bottom of a tree was much more
effective in the original. The overall world is also more believable.
The red queens' guardsmen look better animated than CGI. There is an
awful amount of red color. The playing cards looked natural and menacing
in the cartoon. Here, they just stand around in a group and point their
weapons. Also, almost every character has these red colored eyes. The 3D
effect wears off quickly, but clearly it’s mainly for the money and
viewing entertainment.
Final Grade: C+
Shutter Island (2010)
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle
Williams, Max von Sydow, Emily Mortimer
Film Prophet's Review...
Directed by Martin Scorsese, the story follows a U.S. Marshall who is
sent to a remote New England island in the summer of 1954 to investigate
the disappearance of a patient from the island's prison mental facility.
This movie messes with the mind heavily. It puzzles around and
manipulates pieces together. It is a character study nonetheless and the
complexities that revolve around their surroundings. There are plenty of
twists that some might say that were too many that could ruin the movie
for them. The conversations are great to listen to. Nearly each one is
thought-provoking. The dialogue and acting are nothing short but bright
here and the plot is thick. Who to believe and what to believe from the
shady supporting characters is always a wonder. The film comes with a
steady pace. The entrance of Leo and Ruffalo getting off the ferry boat
onto the and being driven up to the hospital with strict and strong
protocols handed by Deputy Warden McPherson acted by John Carroll Lynch
are instantaneously gripping. The bad storm arrives in and this sets the
mood of threat and menace. One of the best features of the film is Leo
himself in this strong performance. It is exciting to follow Leo’s
character as the story engages while rousing the intellect. It’s like
something from The Twilight Zone. Without being a horror film, it sure
gives off genuine horror scares, especially when Leo ventures into a
powerless building of the worst criminals. It never allows the viewer to
feel at ease. One can easily tell Scorsese was behind the camera
especially the flashback scene of lining up the guards by a prison camp
fence. The cinematography is atmospheric especially the decorative
broken dream sequences that are haunting. The fantasy and reality in
this is mixed up. Then again, all it would take is about four small
words to spoil and completely ruin the movie for any potential viewers
like in The Sixth Sense. It certainly plays games with the audience's
perceptions and once the punch is delivered, it is harder to take than
it should be.
Final Grade: B+/B
The Lovely Bones (2009)
Starring Saoirse Ronan, Stanley Tucci, Mark Wahlberg, Rose McIver,
Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon
Film Prophet's Review...
Directed by Peter Jackson, a young girl who was murdered is stuck in the
afterlife watching the effects of her death on her family as she
narrates on. Her father becomes obsessed in finding the killer and her
sister grows into the woman she could have been. The bottom line is that
after seeing the trailer many times one would realize after watching
this that it did show way too much. This movie is a prime example of
when a trailer reveals more than it should. When a scene begins, there
are moments where it can be traced back to the trailer and pointed out
that a certain part is coming up. When something hasn’t happened yet,
the viewer can expect a moment from the trailer should arrive. For
instance, breaking glass, seeing things get blow apart, someone chasing
someone, and so on. Not only that, but there are not many surprises in
the story since the plot is the premise. Saoirse Ronan is fine in the
opening of her character when she is alive as a schoolgirl almost
falling in love. Knowing what will happen to her soon is devastating.
The killer is no secret who it is also. Stanley Tucci once again
transforms himself and steps up in this role huge. Of course, the visual
effects are wonderful and the production design is nice to see. It is
set in the seventies and it is done well without having to make pop
culture references to that time period. It flips back and forth between
the afterlife setting and current setting, but that isn’t a problem. The
girl’s navigation of choosing when to stop is similar to the father’s
decision of how serious he takes matters into his own hands of finding
the killer. The Grandma Lynn character was an unnecessary addition to
the story. There was a sequence of her filling in for the family that
lasted a few minutes. The audience doesn’t need to see her mess up in
the laundry room for humor. When the girl gets closer to Heaven, the
audience wants the family to seal the deal on the killer where there’s
no evidence. The film during these times is not uplifting and more so
sad. Watching people overcome obsession and angst is not that fun. The
sexual assault, which is never mentioned, and murders are never shown
though blood and dead bodies are. Most of the violence occurs off-screen
and the aftermath is shown later. To hide the uncomfortable situations
might have been a wrong choice to make this a PG-13. There could have
been a deeper emotional significance than just grieving a tragic loss
with an afterlife to look forward to.
Final Grade: B/B-
The Hurt Locker (2009)
Starring Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Guy Pearce, Ralph Fiennes, David Morse
Film Prophet's Review...
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, a troop in Iraq tries to defuse bombs while
possible sniper fire is surrounding them. It’s as threatening as a job
can come and this movie does excellent at it by observing people living
there who observe them at work. Paranoia is the word as the Iraq people
can either be attempting to shoot at them or just curious to what’s
happening. Many times there is nothing to it and when it is least
expected, people drop. The film is not afraid of dispatching characters
without warning. It is an intense, straightforward war-action film with
no extra political message or psychological analysis involved, which
makes this film special. Bigelow’s camerawork she uses is very shaky to
show that it could have been shot like a documentary and so that the
footage seems more real than it is. It’s about three soldiers and their
different attitudes about their duty. Jeremy Renner and Anthony Mackie
are very outstanding in their roles. Each character reacts in various
ways which gives this film an unbiased implication. The one to follow
most is Jeremy Renner who is fearless of danger. His character is
believable as a working-class guy while Mackie’s takes pride in hard
work. Every scene they go back at it again. It is predominantly an all
male cast outside of a minor and underdeveloped wife character by
Evangeline Lilly. The distant and shadowy figures behind the bombs are
never really revealed. Not once is the real enemy shown who assembles
the bombs. The soldiers want to fight the enemy but there is no central
one to be found to stop planting bombs. It's pure and simple. They have
a job to do and there’s no focus on leadership or mission orders. All
that matters are that the guys are there fighting a war against a common
enemy they have no true sight on.
Final Grade: B+
Sherlock Holmes (2009)
Starring Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Mark Strong, Eddie
Marsan, Hans Matheson
Film Prophet's Review...
Detective Sherlock Holmes and his partner Watson engage in a battle of
wits and brawn with a nemesis whose plot is a threaten all of England.
Aside from the absence of some source material and then modernizing it,
Holmes has more a physical presence than ever. He is seen here fighting
with fists and dodging harm to crucial detail. His best is when he is a
detective to detail knowing everything from material form. Sherlock
Holmes is in essence of observing detail and figuring out everything by
the look of something. His main concern is stopping a villain who uses
black magic. Of course this looks better on a movie scale, but Holmes
and Watson don’t solve a normal crime together that isn’t to the big
picture. What develops most from the film is the crime solving plot that
is prepared by the villain. Near the end of the finale, it is revealed
there was a backend to most of the minor details that were overlooked
early on. It’s a heavy plot to every step a mystery took place. It goes
so in depth once things are discovered to trace back what happened.
Before that all occurs, there are two sides to the approach of this
movie… the physical brute and the wisdom. The physical parts deal mostly
with hand combats and escapes. The wisdom part is the detail examination
of actually being a detective. This is fun to watch and hear as it is a
careful study of surrounding. There is a boxing scene which puts both of
them together. This is big because it setups Holmes’ credibility
physically wise for later portions to give him plenty of attitude.
Director Guy Ritchie returns to his London setting. He uses slowed down
effects and jump cuts, but this is actually a bearable Ritchie film.
Most of the action effects are very creative holding some near death
experiences that are memorable to see. There’s a set untrustworthy
secondary characters no need to get into talk. The film also begins like
sequel which may be a turn off. If people can look past most of Holmes’
trademarks such as a pocket watch, saying the word elementary, a
deerstalker hat, and so on, which shouldn’t even be a problem, there’s a
ton of variety. There’s some comedy and romance and action, but by at
large, it should be a crime detective film that shouldn’t act
contemporary at all.
Final Grade: B
Nine (2009)
Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Penélope Cruz, Nicole
Kidman, Judi Dench, Kate Hudson, Fergie
Film Prophet's Review...
The musical follows fame Italian film director Guido Contini aging past
his prime trying to balance his women in life and his personal crisis
toward the end of his career to come up with his next project that’s
already in production. There’s no question the single attraction to this
film is not the music, it is the performers. The list of names is
astounding and they all perform to expectations if not more. However,
their time on screen to do something notable was not. With all the women
in the film, none of them ever share any real scenes or dialogue
together. Other than just appearing on the same platform during fantasy
sequences, they don’t communicate to one another at any time or anything
really. They all have smaller parts than expected. Director Rob Marshall
is no stranger to this costume musical territory. He won an Oscar
picture for Chicago. While everything looks magnificent and grand, the
songs just seemed to be there. They don’t advance the plot that much and
most of them are not within the story itself proceeding along. They are
done in flashbacks or fantasies or contained in someone’s head just
thinking back. This goes against traditional musicals where songs just
move from one to the next in some narrative sense. The best musicals
have song and dialogue blend in. These songs also won't make people
break out into song and dance when the film ends. They sound fine and
physically performed well, but they aren’t that catchy. Whether they
should be there or not, every actress has a solo song and performance.
Marion Cotillard gives the most passion and intensity in hers. Nicole
doesn’t appear or say much until later in the film. Day-Lewis is
effective in between the whole burlesque appeal and mistresses. He lies
to the media and everyone around him as he tries get away because he has
no idea what is next film is about. This is over half of what Day-Lewis
does in this role… act exhausted and tired with a major writer’s block.
Fake things and play out things by imagination than writing. Not much is
cheerful. The sets look great and the women are sultry. Sixties Rome is
always nice to see on film. Though, it keeps up the whole stress thing,
not being ready, and being sidetracked to disappoint by not see anything
come to fruition. People eventually could figure out what will happen,
but won’t expect it to come until the final couples minutes left.
Final Grade: B-/C+
An Education (2009)
Starring Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina, Olivia
Williams, Dominic Cooper, Rosamund Pike
Film Prophet's Review...
The story of a soon to be seventeen year old London schoolgirl provides
a romantic adventure outside of parental guidance and the school system
to the rich lifestyle of older adults. This change of environment
embraces a mature and smart girl played by Mulligan who accompanies an
older Brit played by Sarsgaard. He courts her with the sixties London
culture of jazz clubs, auctions, traveling, and classical music back in
the day when people can smoke mostly anywhere really. It’s a very simple
beginning of a movie ending in quite a predictable fashion. It acts as
an exploration of traditional education in school versus a shortcut to
adult life with old English accents and decent humor only they find
humorous chatting about London university, culture, clothes, and the
French, which can be a bit of a disconnect to American audiences.
Mulligan is the one to watch in this film as twenty-four year old
playing a guileless London schoolgirl. The reason why this film deserves
attention is because of her and not the unsophisticated story and lesson
from it. She appears in pretty much every scene and her facial
expressions without having any words in a scene or moment light up the
screen. She displays timid gasps, awes, and grins and her every move is
sincere. The plot is less important than the acting and characters.
Aside from Mulligan, the other important character is the man doing all
the courting. Finding out who and what he does is just as inquisitive as
her discovery of where she is. The man tries to charm her and her
parents as the father can be judgmental often. ‘It's not always what you
know, it's who you know.’ He opens her eyes in the real world before
entering adulthood on her own or even in college as she wants to attend
Oxford. All it is for the most part is a wealthy man courting a young
lady. At about an hour and a half is all the time it needs about a girl
going out with an older man. It is nothing more and goes without a punch
for a long time. In the meantime, the viewers can draw comparisons on
her being pampered with luxurious and fun ways versus the hard,
expensive, time-consuming, and boring education through a school that
would follow in the future… which one is enough education leaves the
viewers to decide. Growing up too quickly and giving up a future for a
glamourous man is an education.
Final Grade: B
Up in the Air (2009)
Starring George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Jason Bateman,
Danny McBride, Zach Galifianakis
Film Prophet's Review...
There isn’t a movie more relevant and significant about current change
and the status on where the country is than this one. It is a seamless
moral representation of where life in America is through a mixture of
the economy and personal and family relationships at the end of the
decade. There’s a strong message about developments of technology and
how it affects companies and lives at home. What makes this great is
that it is never preachy about it like a documentary and never seems
like it at all. It all falls in place naturally. Jason Reitman directs a
story about a human resources company who travels and fires employees
for other corporations. George Clooney is excellent at this and a role
that suits him… he enjoys traveling and tallying up his miles in the air
with his Hertz Club Gold Card and is also a frequent corporate lecturer.
Anna Kendrick is dynamite as new age graduate with big ideas that will
change this company from the road to something technological. She is
affecting, endearing, and complex as her character grows by learning the
ropes of the company. The firing practice scene at the office in person
between Kendrick and Clooney when they first meet is spot on fantastic.
The movie’s script is razor sharp beginning with puns through excellent
dialogue where generic audiences can get lost in the words. “That’s
kinda like firing someone over the Internet” is the film’s best quote
when it’s delivered. Clooney holds the movie together with his casual
charisma, bright voiceover narration, and professional attire swiping
his many cards in and out of priority member access all around. He gives
some helpful tips about airport security and how to be quick and
efficient too. There are so many little, subtle things going on in the
movie that all add up to its magnitude… communication over text and
video, corporations cutting work forces all around the country,
traveling, the flight industry, the importance of a having a job, the
value of family and reconnecting, and facing and handling industry
changes. It is all done well with a doze of comedy and drama each to
them. This film didn’t have any special effects and actions… and didn’t
need any. There are many powerful moments in the final twenty minutes
that cover death, marriage, employment change, loneliness, infidelity,
and evolution on modern technology on its culture. This is no where near
a romantic picture despite scenes and conversations about marriage and
becoming a couple. There is a however an amazing scene where Kendrick
and Farmiga discuss in detail about their different expectations of the
ideal man. There's a whole bigger picture about life not always being
fair. In its own way, it defines relationships and life choices on a
personal and family level. How one would react to being fired and how to
fire many people puts the viewer in the seats of the individuals in the
movie. It is one of those films where the audience will look back and
think about how several vital things resolved up and then relate and
connect to it as a warning about some harsh sides of relationship and
economy reality. It is bittersweet to leave these characters when the
movie ends... audiences get the notion that they were real and should
want them to be real and have a Q and A session afterwards. There is
such an intimacy and resonant ingenuousness about them.
Final Grade: A/A-
Avatar (2009)
Starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang,
Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi
Film Prophet's Review...
Viewed in Digital 3D, the visual wonder of this movie is ambitiously
extraordinary with a heap of liveliness. First thing is first, it is
from James Cameron who directs and writes this and second is that it is
a really expensive movie. Did it pay off... the answer to that is it
really did big time. Cameron delivers what might be the most astonishing
presentation ever of an alien world. This experience is new, fresh,
cool, and freaky. It is among the decade’s best in terms of an eye candy
perspective, but also all the conventional film basics with the
characters, conflicts, story, emotions, editing, and themes. The general
themes in this movie come from tremendous conflicts and they excel to
the top of all of them which makes this more special. Machinery on war
and Man versus Nature are two of the most important ones. Don't mess
with nature. If one of the goals was to marvel the audience by watching
something that hasn’t been screened before, it did that not only by the
technology of live-action computer generated graphics, but the
characters and settings are fleshed out too. The super colorful and
vivid world has a whole unique vision on people connecting to the forest
and nature. The creation of another language, plenty of animals, and
faith stored in part of the nature is full of majesty. The creatures and
plants are not only unique but relevant to the whole storyline and life
of the inhabitants. Reminiscent of The Lord of the Rings films,
creatures in these worlds are both secondary characters other than for
just a showcase… they come to aid later on and have an influence on
what’s going on. They are all observed carefully. With the plan of
strip-mining the distant alien moon Pandora set in the year 2154, the Na'vi people of the moon must leave or else their home will be bulldozed
down. To help the process, synthetic Na'vi characters known as Avatars
are remotely controlled by humans to gain insight in their world and
deliver the message. Sam Worthington plays the one man central Avatar to
root for similar to what District 9 did in the same manner a few months
before almost from moving from one kind and culture to another. Here, he
is deemed as 'the one' as that old concept is present but taken up a
notch. Nothing is flashy about him though he is a paraplegic ex-marine
with little of this Avatar creation knowledge on the world he is about
to embark on. He does provide some narration and has daily video logs on
his adventure in the fantasy world as a Na'vi. The ‘this is our land’
speech near the final battle is stirring. There’s plenty of action in
the finale with the military, flying ships, shooting arrows, ammo, and
so on. Without the big battle, it would have missed the impact it had.
Same goes for the strong human villain lead led by Stephen Lang. In
discovering the Na'vi and their world, there’s a lot of time spent on
running around the land, flying, and jumping around trees, but this
whole outlook is quite interactive. It puts the audience to imagine
what’s it like placed stranded on a hostile, unknown environment and to
that top, in a new physical form. The ex-marine embodies this new
presence and customs to the Na'vi and this is all interesting in the
first two-thirds of the movie before the action takes place. It is worth
all the two and a half hours long. There hasn't been an impact this much
by a new fantasy movie in a long time.
Final Grade: A-/A
Invictus (2009)
Starring Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon, Tony Kgoroge, McNeil Hendricks
Film Prophet's Review...
Clint Eastwood directs this film about Nelson Mandela and South Africa
hosting the 1995 Rugby World Cup where chances their own country would
get to close winning it was very slim. Freeman is a perfect choice for
Mandela because he looks the part. He fills expectations, but most of
the time he is just sitting around looking calm and not doing anything
dramatically special. Damon’s character is not an important figure in
the early portions of the movie and he’s only in a few minor scenes
then. He is big though in the second part once winning rugby games
becomes the top feature. The rest of the rugby players outside of the
only black African as Chester don’t receive any spotlight. Before the
rugby action, the attention was mainly on the bodyguards of Mandela and
their concerns with his safety and security. There are plenty of scenes
of them just following him outside or entering stadiums. He has tons of
bodyguards but there are never any real exterior threats though it makes
the audience believe there will be an attempt on his life. Manipulative
maybe, but it worked. Once that occurs, the skin color conflict arises.
This conflict isn't awfully bad. There are no verbal arguments, racial
slurs, or big drama revolving around it. It is just an issue… a
simplistic one though. Mandela goes about reading newspaper headlines
and counteracts with them, but in this movie, politics is not a main
subject... sports is. However, this is not a full politics movie or a
full sports movie. One might wonder why the rugby topic was the center
of the story out of all the Mandela things. Aside from the few quick
mentions and scenes about him being in prison, inspiration, teamwork,
determination, and uniting the country as one are what this movie is
about. It’s all a sports metaphor to the big picture. Instead of
focusing on major economic problems, it drives by it. American audiences
unfamiliar with the game might actually learn something about how rugby
is scored as the games are played on, but not a whole lot is explained.
The final rugby game is about twenty minutes where a chunk of it near
the end is in slow-motion. Manipulative maybe, but it worked, again.
From somewhat a bland movie evolves into a pure inspiring underdog story
that can be uplifting.
Final Grade: B/B+
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009)
Starring Gabourey Sidibe, Mo'Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey, Lenny
Kravitz, Sherri Shepherd
Film Prophet's Review...
It’s 1987 in Harlem where an overweight sixteen-year old girl is
pregnant with her second child. The movie holds nothing back at telling
this right away. It portrays two crucial responsibilities in her life…
her school and home life… both in which people may overlook and take for
granted. Food, health and most importantly, education soars how
important they are here. In what is probably the best climax position in
the movie is a character played by Mo'Nique, the overbearing mother who
stays at home. Any time she is on screen means something will modify
with her quick temper and controlling manner. Audiences used to finding
Mo'Nique in comedies will be astonished by the acting chops in her first
real drama as one of the most monstrous parents ever. The dad is never
shown in present time and remains a bad figure in the past. There are a
few striking scenes both with Mo'Nique featured in. The scenes of the
mother screaming from the bottom of the stairs up to Precious and the
confession with the social worker at her desk part are very memorable.
Home life is not helping Precious’ cause. To escape reality, Precious
dreams at the moment of her wishing where she was right now. These
sequences play often as they contain her with fashion and attention that
she can not contain herself and soon that hurtful reality thrusts back
at her. Her ambitions can not be accomplished. Mentally and physically
well below the norm at her age, harmful twists are thrown at her and she
makes it and goes on. She is judged and stereotyped and her home life is
abusive. Even more, she opens up in a voiceover narration in the film
and also from notebooks she tries to write for her class. Other notes
are that there’s a teacher who looked like Alicia Keys whereas Mariah
Carey looks like a bleak version of herself without makeup where she
accomplishes a fine supporting character. The precise movie with a
strong, but beat down character has one of those stories that remind
peoples elsewhere others have it rougher. Though it won't really make
anyone saying it is one of their favorite films seen, tears will fall as
it is both uplifting and heartrending.
Final Grade: B+/B
The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)
Starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Ashley
Greene, Anna Kendrick, Dakota Fanning
Film Prophet's Review...
This is not a vampire movie. It’s all about the teen romance again as
vampires are absent during the middle act. Bella Swan’s romantic choice
between Edward Cullen and Jacob Black goes back and forth and it seems
like it will stay this way for a while. It plays out as the main
conflict here. The lead male of Robert Pattinson is around in the
beginning and the end, but his real presence is missed as he is gone
while Bella spends time with Jacob. During this time, she goes on
motorcycle rides, fixes a bike, and jumps off a cliff to get a rush
while the vampires are no where to be found. Though, there wasn’t much
werewolf activity either during this time. It moves away from vampires
to werewolves which is interesting to see develop on its own and makes
it different than the first movie. There were plenty of hints for
werewolves before manifesting, except the main one… a full moon. The
movie’s title is New Moon which is based on the novel’s title.
Ironically, there isn't a single moon shown in the sky during the movie.
These werewolves don't change under a full moon... they change on spot
when they want, which rules out most werewolf theories. The
characteristics of being a vampire aren't important to this movie
either. Most of the vampires here walk around wearing amber contacts and
looking pale instead. The blood level is very low. There are rarely any
victims in this film. Vampires aren't biting or even killing anyone.
There was one part with a bad vampire leftover from the previous film
who posed a threat, but had a short appearance. The other leftover named
Victoria is just chased around and runs fast. Generally vampire movies
are close to horror. The change here has been its alternative of young
romance. The only thing that matters is Bella's relationships that are
very sensitive not only with the two guys, but with her compassionate
father who she lives with and her human high school friends who get
plenty of time. There aren’t many surprises… it's just sweet on the
Romeo & Juliet scale the film refers to several times. It was more of
the same as before… Bella and someone stands before one another looking
in pain and share their feelings in a slow-paced first half with a ton
of drawn out one on one love dialogue scenes. Even the special effects
are slowed down considerably during fights or chases to give time to
show how fast vampires can move in action. There are plenty of laughable
scenes also. For instance, when Edward walks to Bella in the school
parking lot is another example of slowing something down in the film.
There are a lot of scenes with guys with no shirts on and a lot of age
jokes about how old each other is. Dakota Fanning is in one long scene
who was nearly forgotten that she was in the movie to begin with. It did
further develop the werewolf characters as the local Indian tribe who
are enemies with vampires. It still has that chance of getting better
with its next film too.
Final Grade: B-/C+
A Christmas Carol (2009)
Voices by Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Cary Elwes, Bob Hoskins, Robin Wright
Penn, Colin Firth
Film Prophet's Review...
Disney's new adaptation of Charles Dickens' beloved story directed by
Robert Zemeckis viewed via 3D is darker than before. It’s true that this
is a Disney film though it may not appear that way since it is slightly
more overcast than magical spreading a unique illustration to a
well-known story. Ebenezer Scrooge, Bob Cratchit, and Tiny Tim along
with everything else that is remembered about the novel and films are
back. There was bunch of shots of Jim Carrey screaming in the trailers
so one couldn’t really tell much about it, but the title recognition of
the story should be enough for a wide audience to watch it. The three
spirited ghosts’ appearances then when they appeared was more of a
surprise. The same performance-capture effects used in The Polar Express
is here. The visuals are stunning to look at especially in 3D. The snow
is actually its best feature when it falls down which is actually the
nearest to the audience. It's easy to see a lot of stuff is tossed
around the city top. It goes from Scrooge flying and the movie zooming
over London’s landscapes on a great ride to some still cold setting and
scene of talking. There’s no surprise on who Scrooge is by now. However,
the build of his character in the early part of this movie before the
spirits visit was important to do. Changing from the greedy and lonely
man is vital to show to the whole movie. There was a mix of just being
angry at the world and not caring about Christmas than emboding what any
evil is. To depict something happy or Christmas like early on while
Scrooge’s misery is all happening, kids slide down an icy road on their
feet at night just for fun, which is risky behavior not associated with
the holiday, but the season. The charity guys asking Scrooge brings out
some of the best moments along with a Scrooge’s nephew’s dinner. The
horse and miniature Scrooge sequences were something new, but
distracted. The movie has been remade so many times that the new things
just look extraneous. The spirits aren’t anything noteworthy or
fascinating this time around. The balance of cold and warm moments was
off-putting. Scenes interchange when the three ghosts appear to which
they are relevant or not, but Scrooge seems to have a grasp of
understanding this transformation of what is happening to him. There is
a less affect to the audience unlike previous versions that were more
effective and charming all around.
Final Grade: B-
Jennifer's Body (2009)
Starring Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried, Johnny Simmons, Adam Brody
Film Prophet's Review...
It follows a teenage girl in a dozy creek town whose life turns when she
becomes possessed and begins killing young men in her town who lust
after her. The main interest in this movie was finding out what exactly
is Megan Fox's character, who plays Jennifer. The initial attraction
here is Megan Fox to see if she can act as a lead though she plays a
sexual tease and she’s stuck in one mode of sultry poise. Jennifer is
some sort of demon with blood dripping from her mouth, speaks no words,
and screams like a beast in one scene. ‘Hell is a teenage girl’ opens
the narration, but it is Amanda Seyfried who does the voiceover
throughout as Jennifer’s best friend in high school. Her admiration for
Jennifer is clear and she manages to do it nicely without becoming
obsessive. She is nicknamed the kicker and it starts in a mental
hospital and lands back in a high school without explanation despite
this narration that won't stop where there's more of that than dialogue
which is actually better scripted since parts of the dialogue can be
ignored. However, it returns to the place because the whole thing is
easily predictable where it will end up, who is Jennifer’s next target
victim, and what will happen. It does not show any of this man eating on
screen for a while. One early scene sets foot in a cold and dark bar and
moves to more teen angst. From there, no horror hints anywhere as this
movie is a comedy-horror and provides little trying at comedy. It never
finds the right balance of the two. The finale is in a bizarre swimming
pool some place that has a mix of horror and comedy five seconds after
another and the audience won't know what direction it wants to take.
It's never really scary or funny. Aside from the horror and comedy
attempts, hormone driven activity fills out the rest of it, or really
just desire talk that stops and goes when it wants when people ask each
other out in the halls. According to Diablo Cody's script, high school
is about sadness and hooking up. None is appealing and has dire results
here. There’s plenty of middling conversations regarding mourning and
fear that appears lazy in method. All characters appear exhausted,
despondent, and tired which makes for an unentertaining film that isn’t
original. Someone even asks, ‘no offense, but you look really tired.’
Around the hour mark is where it gets slightly better discovering what
happened to Jennifer that made her what she is. However, it is Amanda
Seyfried who demonstrates she can act while Megan Fox has a
one-dimensional role as a seducing flirt with a bite.
Final Grade: C/C+
Zombieland (2009)
Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin
Film Prophet's Review...
In this horror comedy, an epidemic broke out prior to the film’s current
time where the majority of the population turned into zombies. It swept
across the globe as a boy and a man team up to survive. It begins with a
ton of sickening shots of mouths spitting out blood and also gore and
guts being bitten away. There was blood in every shot. This all loosens
up though. It started out gross which might turn some viewers away too
early. This first five to ten minute sequence is complete chaos watching
people fly and crash out of cars landing in a bloody hard fashion
because they are running away with fear of zombies. However, patience
will only see a petite storyline where there is much less gore and more
humor than pure flesh eating. Jesse Eisenberg runs his mouth during the
whole movie as the narration by pointing out his list of rules to follow
against zombies. When a rule happens, it is displayed by text on screen.
Due to the fact that roughly five total characters actually speak
English during the entire movie, most of the movie is limited to one
person's narration and dialogue with others. This constant voiceover
narrates everything going on and his phobias reminds the audience of his
rules of survival when they occur. For the horror comes some shock
value. Watching zombies barf dark red blood or seeing an image of a
clown underneath a bathroom stall can do the trick. The comedy is mainly
sick and sarcastic. The best bit is a top-notch cameo making the most of
someone’s presence… hint, there’s Ghostbusters play. Woody Harrelson’s
performance is all about business. His fearless attitude that he has at
first lightens up when he seeks out a crazy urge of Twinkies. His macho
manner never leaves though and it is fun watching him kill zombies with
his set of weaponry at times when they enter new places. There are a
couple of young con girls who join the guys as this film can also be
considered a road trip traveling across the country. There are fewer
zombies in the second act when they hit their destination of California
until the big finale with literally a annihilating roller coaster
ending. By the end, it serves as a fun zombie flick with some sight
comedy and entertainment.
Final Grade: B-
Year One (2009)
Starring Jack Black, Michael Cera, Olivia Wilde, Juno Temple, David
Cross, Vinnie Jones, Hank Azaria
Film Prophet's Review...
There was some great anticipation for this movie seeing some big names
such as Judd Apatow, Harold Ramis, Jack Black, and among others
involved. After being pounded away with bland trailers, there was less
and less interest in watching it. There was virtually no story or real
jokes in the trailers. It actually took months to finally get around in
seeing this… much later than expected… and it proved why it took so
late. Two men from a distant prehistoric village turn into slaves with
too much of a nonsensical appeal. Both leads do exactly what they have
been doing, but no reason to care here. Much of movie involves Cera and
Black communicating with each other about jabber connecting to the next
random thing in a jungle where these seem like poorly connected
sketches. Other than the agendas of 'laying' with certain women of their
desire, there’s too much of them just standing there talking to each
other without story for the most part. It slightly touches upon Bible
stories here and there, but no, it doesn’t really. Michael Cera in a
loincloth was unappealing. There are many shades of the color brown
everywhere. It looks like they are goofing around in cavemen costumes
with makeup but then talking about how they don't bathe or clean up. The
Stone Age era is silly and pointless really adding little to the film.
The two men go on finding a world of life outside of their little
village and later, Jack Black floats with this idea of being the chosen
one then he is a slave the next scene and goes back and forth with this.
There’s a lot of repetitive talk about being chosen by gods that go no
where. However, he wears out his welcome when he has too much screen
time and forgettable lines sooner or later. Christopher Mintz-Plasse had
a really minor role... he also came in past a third in the movie and did
noting of importance. Both female agendas for the two guys disappear
rather quickly, as they do suddenly appear soon, as the men go wander
around finding new places and different types of people to gag with.
None of it is entertaining although it tries to on a juvenile level. Not
only is the setting and story quite bad, the comedy is the worst of it
all. The stale sex and dick jokes overstay their time. There's one just
about every five minutes and they're very cliché. There's a part where a
woman plays with a banana, which is so uncreative. There's peeing on a
face and there's even a disturbing conversation about circumcising that
goes on for a few minutes and only provides uncomfortable moments. One
has to wonder when the writing team thought of having Jack Black find
poo in the forest and picking it up was a bright idea... or having men
examining a pile of intestines on a table. The gross-out humor is
completely ineffective here. Oiling a man with massive chest hair should
never be shown on a movie. There is no sense of timing or dignity. There
is even a scene where two guys are trying to sleep and the other tries
to make a mockery out of farting during the night… utterly unbelievable
thinking movies are way past putting in scenes like that in. This movie
felt like an incomplete series of deleted scenes that is left with
featuring some of the lowest of the lows in mainstream comedy film.
Final Grade: C-
The Final Destination (2009)
Starring Bobby Campo, Shantel VanSanten, Nick Zano, Haley Webb, Mykelti
Williamson
Film Prophet's Review...
After a premonition of a deadly race-car crash helps save the lives of
several attendees, death eventually catches up on them who escaped their
destiny. Made for 3D this time, just almost one every three years now
are made. It has the same format as the prior three that involves the
order of sequence of deaths from the opening disaster and everything
else regarding around the central character who has these premonitions.
Besides all the obvious 3D effects, what separates this from the first
three is that this is very basic of the original concept. It's kept to a
minimal... the run time doesn't exceed an hour and a half and the
characters are mostly stereotypical this time in short form. In fact,
the lives of the young characters’ work or school are never portrayed or
told. It goes straight into the danger and teases away at making
memorable on screen deaths to when looking at an everyday real world
item later scarily reminds a viewer about a particular calamity in the
movie. It doesn't go beyond the concept, whether that's fine or not who
knows but it is uncomplicated. It’s understandable by now the logic will
be the same. Nevertheless, it is still terrifying to watch the scenes
play out before death may or not happen. It is fun to watch deaths setup
before it happens... pointing out who will die in the first sequence is
so obvious. The idea of place and destiny and influence of others are
shown well. There are a few false alarms that catch the audience off
guard where scenes build up to a horrific accident but in the end, death
does not happen at the moment... all prior three do this extremely well
too. They are elaborate, drawn-out, and far-fetched scenes that are
exciting to watch them play out. The most painful one to sit through was
the haircut scene. The downfall of this film is the visibly bad CGI
death effects... they don't even look that real and there's too much
computer work into it. Blood splats and it is easy to tell what parts in
the film are made just for 3D that is distracting. Also new are the
skeletons effects and the premonition sequences that definitely for the
3D effect like most of this film... they are loud and show some
excruciating and destructive items interchange with each other and
that's the clue for the next death. The Deja vu part was somewhat clever
after it became known. Final Destination still remains the best horror
franchise of the decade and has tons of tricks up it sleeve to find out
new ways how to build up and kill someone off from weird accidents.
Final Grade: C+
The Informant! (2009)
Starring Matt Damon, Joel McHale, Tom Papa, Rick Overton, Melanie
Lynskey, Thomas F. Wilson
Film Prophet's Review...
The film tells the true story about a corporate price-fixing scandal in
the nineties involving how a company executive cooperated with the FBI
in collecting evidence against his colleagues. Directed by Steven
Soderbergh, he creates a believable web of lies from his main character,
acted by Matt Damon who packed the pounds for this role. Damon is also
the unreliable narrator to his whistle-blower character as the satire of
corporate lawyers continues along. It goes without being overdramatic or
too serious. Damon mainly keeps the material interesting and his
voiceover narration carries out throughout the entire movie, not
explaining the storyline, but rather dishing out some metaphoric facts
that could relate to the situation of the scene… or not. It’s almost
goofy in a manner jumping from one topic to the next disconnecting the
scene as other people speaking it in are cut off. Numbers usually
consist of these voiceover statements, and plenty of scenes do. This
movie is a big law and economics film, but one has to wonder why this
content was even made out for a movie and how to make it worth being
somewhat entertaining. The blithe music score selection made it merry
and light, which does help to glue the viewers in scene after scene. For
some reason, the movie is rated R purely from language, despite being so
whimsical. Most of the scenes are in the office when Matt Damon walks in
to his own room and then people follow right after to discuss. These are
authority figures who get told the mistruth or not and want to know if
it is the truth. Most of these are the same however. The middle of the
movie has Damon across the world in Europe and Japan making agreements
and recording tapes for the FBI. His wedding ring is a noticeable item
of him... he is definitely a family man from the beginning to the end...
one of the only things he keeps straight with him. There are plenty of
business meetings talking about kickbacks and price fixes, which all
might not go over well with an average educated audience, but nothing is
too detail or involved. There are lies on top of convincing lies that
none of the audience can separate out early on. The audience doesn't see
what lies until near the end are when it becomes evident.
Final Grade: B-/C+
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Starring Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Mélanie Laurent, Eli Roth, Diane
Kruger, Daniel Brühl, Martin Wuttke
Film Prophet's Review...
Quentin Tarantino directs and writes a film about a renegade troop of
Jewish-American soldiers who in due course cross paths with ominous
German Col. Hans Landa into Nazi-occupied France. It’s a spin on World
War II history comprising of Jewish revenge on the Nazis as the general
consensus. There is a startling opening scene revolving around hiding
Jews, as the malevolence that comes out of this scene sets the mood for
the rest of the movie… the German Nazi soldiers are evil… and in order
to retaliate, a group just as brutal as them called the Inglourious
Basterds led by Brad Pitt are featured to scalp the Nazis. The story is
divided in five chapters. From the first chapter, it starts out
extremely raw and authentic, as this follows to the rest. Even though
some of the content is exaggerated and fictional, it's so full of
unpretentiousness for mixing fact with fiction. From a filmmaking
standpoint, Tarantino created something outside of the box. Usually fans
of Tarantino brag about his exceptional film work and tend to overvalue
the guy sometimes, but here he is nothing short of what might be his
best work of late. The camerawork here is phenomenal. It stays on one
area in a scene and it extends it longer and longer… hence the possible
reason of the film being almost three hours in length. The camera
focuses all around the focal point in a scene, usually around a table,
and there's no extra flashy business, unless counting the movements over
certain stories of wall structure. The cuts and edits here are kept to a
minimal and the acting shines through. In other words, it is intense to
watch self-assured performances as the focus never knowing when violence
may occur, even for being such a wordy film. There could be a homage to
foreign and western films by Tarantino’s part with all the characters’
talk about foreign films and the long endless camera shots too. That
statement is in no relation to the European language translation that is
spoken often in the film... or the subtitles going on. One can estimate
just about half of the dialogue was in subtitles, and it wasn't a
problem. The foreign film talk happens mainly in discussions of
international film stars and about a theater in France. For a Western,
there are plenty of drawn-out and sometimes quiet conflicts
characterized by body language. Again, the camera makes sure facial
reactions are priceless. The audience can see fear or bravery in
characters easily - French actress Mélanie Laurent stands out here - or
at other times, sure confidence with evil smirks, which is happens a lot
of times especially from Pitt. The settings are also a strong point of
the film. Nearly every chapter of the film has itself a single memorable
place that stays put for an extended duration. The violence level is not
high here however. There are no chase scenes and incredible special
effects involving action. There are no war battles going on either. It's
mostly conniving dialogue that mostly ends in a short burst of
unbelievable killings or shock moments. For example, the basement bar
with the actress playing that card game. The majority of the scenes have
characters around a dinner table with concentrated discussion of subtle
and devious threats that aren’t really deliberate. Christoph Waltz, as
the menacing antagonist, does so well at this. He plays one of the most
despicable villains as Hans Landa. There's a ton of debriefing on his
part and it's all great to watch. It's also interesting to see these two
parties of the Nazis and Basterds interact with each other because they
both use similar brutal madcap behavior. This is not a movie about Brad
Pitt's character. It cuts back and forth between a few storylines and
his screen time may be limited, but he might actually have the most.
There are other characters to be concerned about too. There’s the
comical portrayal of many individuals - and their nicknames - and events
that are played out wonderfully. It's practically within what's going on
that makes the audience laugh. None of it is intentional or forced like
modern comedies can push out either. Look out for the Negro and King
Kong joke though. One can say Eli Roth bares resemblance to Zachary
Quinto too. Also, David Bowie’s Cat People song should see an increase
in attention. The storylines culminate in some of the most alarmingly
callous screen moments ever. To note for example, the entire German
movie premiere scene might go down as among the greatest not just
recently, but ever. The entire last half hour is a sensation. The climax
at the end of it is that plausible... it's a standout to remember. For a
movie title that has misspellings, it is certainly a glorious film and
one to even study.
Final Grade: A-/A
Taking Woodstock (2009)
Starring Demetri Martin, Jonathan Groff, Imelda Staunton, Eugene Levy,
Liev Schreiber, Emile Hirsch
Film Prophet's Review...
During the summer of 1969, a small uptight farming community witnesses a
colossal music festival full of hippy visitors in their hometown.
Directed by Ang Lee, he faces the challenge that people generally could
be over the whole Woodstock event. Though it is in its fortieth
anniversary, the release date of the film was ideal in August marking it
exactly that long ago. Lee takes the event and puts the focus on the
crowd’s freedom and sexual liberation than the music. There’s a message
of peace observing hippies and their behavior. In fact, one of the few
times the film takes notice of the stage of music is when there wasn’t
any… there was an electric shortage. Elliot Tiber, played by comedian
Demetri Martin, pretty much hosts this event in his hometown in Bethel
and yet he is never really close enough to be consumed by the music
going on. In one scene, he encounters a detour in a tent to go on an
acid trip. This was about a ten minute bizarre sequence that could have
been cut down, but look out for Paul Dano in it. The drug exposure isn't
really up front though it sure is there everywhere... nothing is graphic
other than the random displays of group nudity. Elliot's sexuality is
touched upon for a bit, but never surfacing to coming out fully. Martin
plays him very calm and relaxed, but isn’t a very strong protagonist. It
is weird seeing Liev Schreiber, who just played Victor Creed as
Wolverine's brother, as the transsexual guy… total opposite characters.
Jonathan Groff has a cool and easy movie role of mainly saying ‘far out’
and ‘very cool’ almost every other short line he has. Emile Hirsch
seemed like a cliché piece as a Vietnam War vet, but still fun to watch.
Imelda Staunton was convincing as Elliot’s mother. There are a couple
scenes to look out for… when two members of a mob visit them and
Elliot’s press conference about freedom. However, the details behind the
event’s commercialism didn't become known. The bags of cash to fund the
concert was in question, as well as how did people find out about the
concert so fast… the movie shows how so many people attended and what
needed to accommodate them properly, but not how the word got out
suddenly and quick to the right audience. There sure were plenty of
weird people in the film, and they like their local chocolate milk. The
first portion of the film dedicates a long time to exhibit the open
spaces that Ang Lee can notably picture well along with farm land that
was unused and had potential for this festival to be placed there. There
is a huge state of nothing in the area and this becomes a flat movie
with it as the very few locals there are concerned about this music
festival. They shouldn’t be so concerned after all since the music in
the movie was left out. The event is mostly remembered for the music.
Evidently, more things took place than just the music, but it does too
little to make a big splash with primarily hippy exploits, unlike what
the actual cultural event did. The only real drama was between Elliot
and his parents for a bit regarding money and savings. It isn't a big
disappointment by Ang Lee, as a lightweight, comedic film was expected
from this after a while.
Final Grade: C+
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