I was quite keen to see this film, as I was really impressed with the director’s first film, Primer (2004). I’m not sure how I felt about it. It has very little plot, and I think I spent too long searching for one. That’s one piece of advice I’d give for someone watching this - don’t look for the story too much. The visuals and sound design were beautiful. I’ve rarely seen such a unique understanding of image and audio, actually. It’s very easy to make comparisons with Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life (2011), except this is more abstract. I’ve been reading some interpretations of the film, which seem to make sense, but I’m not sure I understood much of it while watching. It’s definitely something I should watch again sometime. I wouldn’t recommend it to a lot of people, but it was good.
I really liked [REC] (2007) and even thought the second one was decent. Unfortunately, this is what made me kind of hate this film. It largely ignores the first two films, and goes off on its own tangent. It abandons the found footage style after the first act, which would be fine if the direction was any good, but it isn’t. I held out hope for the film, right up until the suits of armour came into it. The whole thing just devolves into a below average zombie flick. The comedic elements were totally lame and unnecessary. All of the characters are idiots, and the actors aren’t any good either. I found myself simultaneously amused and angered at how incredibly stupid the entire movie was. I truly hope the series can redeem itself with the final film.
I thought this was a really cool film, for the most part. I liked how it started off quite innocently, and grew more and more bizarre. It reminded me a lot of Roman Polanski’s Repulsion (1965) and Rosemary’s Baby (1968). It’s too bad they didn’t have a stronger lead, as Keanu Reeves doesn’t really cut it. Al Pacino is awesome though. I was rather disappointed with ending - I wish it had been far more dark and bleak. Overall, though, I’d recommend it.
This is a documentary which contains a whole bunch of theories and ideas about the possible meaning/s behind The Shining (1980). I’m a huge fan of that film, and consider it one of Kubrick’s masterpieces. So, in some ways, I enjoyed watching this to see elements I hadn’t noticed before. However, some of the bullshit these basically conspiracy theorists come up with is kinda ridiculous. Some of them do make good arguments to where I could almost buy what they’re saying, but others just sound like they’re mentally unstable. On one hand, I do believe that Kubrick was a genius and probably layered a whole bunch of underlying themes and thoughts into his works. On the other hand, I think people will see whatever they want to see. In any case, I at least found the film entertaining.
I thought this was a really good and impressive silent film. Some of the sets and production design were amazing. Lon Chaney is great, of course, especially with that make-up. However, the other performances were melodramatic in that typical silent film way. And the story itself felt a little thin, particularly towards the end. Regardless, it’s totally worth a watch.
This was good. Very much Oscar bait, but still. It’s based on an interesting true story. I enjoyed watching stuff about the early days of television, and the power (perceived or real) it had. All the performances were good. Yeah, it was a little by-the-numbers, but I liked it. Also, Martin Scorsese’s cameo was odd. But cool, I suppose.
Mike Leigh’s films have been a little hit and miss for me so far - I really liked Naked (1993), but I had a lot of problems with Another Year (2010). Thankfully, I liked this one a lot. It felt very realistic, which was good, even if I found it painful at times. Some of the characters are so awful, I found it a little hard to watch. The performances are great all around though, with Brenda Blethyn giving a particularly brilliant one. Some of the dialogue wasn’t so good. I think it might have actually been better as a mini-series, as I felt there were aspects that weren’t as explored as they could have been.
This movie is such a shame. The idea of a comedy anthology with a whole bunch of stars in it is a great idea. This end result is godawful. Were some of the shorts better than others? Of course. But were any of them actually good? No. Not a single one. There were small bits that weren’t a complete waste of time, but not many. Far too much immature, lame humour without a bit of taste. I imagine most of the actors involved regret doing this. I know I regret watching it.
This wasn’t nearly as bad as I feared. I mean, it was a pretty terrible film, sure, but it’s far from the worst comedy I’ve seen. I laughed more times than I care to admit. The humour came mostly from Anna Faris and Emma Stone, who were the primary reasons I watched it anyway. They’re very funny women. It was an okay time-waster.
This was a decent action film, I guess. I’m not sure anybody would’ve really bothered to see it if it wasn’t being hyped as Arnold Schwarzenegger’s comeback. It was kind of cool to see him doing action again, I’ll admit. He’s still pretty badass for a 65-year-old. I felt that the tone was a little all over the place. The stuff with Forest Whitaker was all super-serious, and the other scenes with Schwarzenegger and Johnny Knoxville and all that were pretty silly and comedic. The plot wasn’t great or original, and the dialogue left something to be desired, but the direction was fine and it was harmless fun.
![[REC]³ Génesis (2012)
I really liked [REC] (2007) and even thought the second one was decent. Unfortunately, this is what made me kind of hate this film. It largely ignores the first two films, and goes off on its own tangent. It abandons the found footage style after the first act, which would be fine if the direction was any good, but it isn’t. I held out hope for the film, right up until the suits of armour came into it. The whole thing just devolves into a below average zombie flick. The comedic elements were totally lame and unnecessary. All of the characters are idiots, and the actors aren’t any good either. I found myself simultaneously amused and angered at how incredibly stupid the entire movie was. I truly hope the series can redeem itself with the final film.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/7ddef563700decbbfa8c8cf65d0a9a43/tumblr_mmxjcg8ZxR1qfnul8o1_500.jpg)
