Article: Palooz Presents: 2013 in Film

[kmanharris]

71. Out of the Furnace
Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Woody Harrelson, Zoe Saldana, Forest Whitaker, Willem Dafoe, Sam Shepard, Boyd Holbrook

Director(s): Scott Cooper
Writer(s): Scott Cooper, Brad Ingelsby
MPAA Rating: R
Release Date: December 6th
RT Score: 52% (90 fresh, 83 rotten)
The Plot by Palooza:
Comments:
Yikes. What an unfortunate movie this is. It's not bad, but it should be great. An A-list cast, a nice little crime/revenge story. Not entirely sure what went wrong here whether it be my overexposure to movies, the revealing trailers or just an extremely predictable movie in general, but after an intense "this guy is a psycho, got it" scene, the movie slowly rolls down hill into a big pile of shit. The viewer can see the pile of shit from the top of the hill, so there's no reason to roll with it and get lost in the movie. The movie relies too heavily on the actors to use their performance to lift the film, but there's just so little characterization that you don't care. You know Casey Affleck's character is going to die and Bale is going to avenge him. This is an okay thing to make obvious if you kill him early, but he dies at least 2/3 of the way through. Poor storytelling. Crazy Heart was also not a very good movie that was carried by great performances within a cliche story/setting. Scott Cooper, you've been found out the jig is up. He can be next seen directing the Whitey Bulger biopic starring Johnny Depp. That looks to be a disaster.

Spoiler Alert: Bale gets his revenge.
Grade: C

Saw this the other night. If the acting wasn't as superb as it was, this movie would have been absolute shit. The storytelling was awful and predictable but Bale and company made it respectable.

[Palooza]

60. The Counselor
Michael Fassbender, Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Brad Pitt, Rosie Perez, Natalie Dormer, Edgar Ramirez, John Leguizamo, Dean Norris, Goran Visnjic, Ruben Blades, Bruno Ganz, Emma Rigby, Donna Air, Fernando Cayo, Sam Spruell, Richard Brake, Alex Hafner

Director(s): Ridley Scott
Writer(s): Cormac McCarthy
MPAA Rating: R
Release Date: October 25th
RT Score: 34% (65 fresh, 134 rotten)
The Plot by Palooza: After being told in a million different ways that he is going to be in over his head, The Counselor (Michael Fassbender) gets in over his head in the drug trade as everything that can possibly go wrong for him, does.
Comments:
Cormac McCarthy is a great writer. He has the short & sweet, dark, depressing and violent down pat. Cormac McCarthy is not a screenwriter. He is a novelist. With the Counselor, his first non-adaptation screenplay, it is obvious the man needs a filter. A filter preferably by the name of Coen, but a filter nonetheless. The movie is a series of long, drawn out monologues about the drug trade and how they reflect everyday philosophies with a few glimpses at some creative violence. On paper, this should work, but it doesn't. I don't blame any specific person; everyone seems to do their job quite well actually - everything is well acted (except one person), Ridley Scott's slick directing works perfectly here and the writing is top notch (except the repetitive plot line of 'speech about not getting into what hes getting into' followed by heinous act of violence, rinse and repeat), if a little heavy handed. The problems reside in the aforementioned need for McCarthy's work to go through a filter, overseen by a top tier writer/director team and also, the biggest problem, is the only character who doesn't seem to have shit fall at their feet at every turn is played by the least likable actress on earth, an absolute piece of dog shit of a human. Cameron Diaz - if you are not cast in this role I could have tricked myself into believing this was a good movie, but no. You make out like a fucking bandit while everyone else cries or dies. Seriously, fuck you.

There's a lot of enjoyment to pull out of this movie if you aren't getting caught up in the high expectations that are created by how great this movie looks on paper. The violence is great, the dark worldview is signature McCarthy, and the combination of the words and how they roll off the actor's tongues is ear porn. Unfortunately, Cameron Diaz is cast in the meatiest role and meanwhile Assbender spends the entire movie reacting to speeches given by other characters or being upset he didn't heed anyone's soliloquial advice.

Spoiler Alert: Penelope Cruz doesn't look as good without a head. Diaz gets over on em all.
Grade: C+

[Palooza]

59. Iron Man 3
Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Ben Kingsley, James Badge Dale, Stephanie Szostak, Jon Faverau, Ty Simpkins, Paul Bettany, Ashley Hamilton, William Sadler, Dale Dickey, Adam Pally

Director(s): Shane Black
Writer(s): Drew Pearce, Shane Black
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Release Date: May 3rd
RT Score: 78% (219 fresh, 61 rotten)
The Plot by Palooza: Iron Man has to save the world from bad guys.
Comments:
The major talking point for Iron Man 3 is the handling of the Mandarin and the overall spectrum of villainy. So, if you haven't seen the movie and care about details you should piss off right about .... now. There will be spoilers throughout this "review", but not quite yet...

This is the first look at the Marvel Cinematic Universe post-Avengers and it's significantly underwhelming. The Marvel Cinematic Universe (for the rest of the way will be referred to as MCU) has a very distinct formula that works almost perfectly, but when it is not executed as best as it can be or the little sprinkles that rises these movies up beyond mediocrity fall flat, you have yourself a problem. Not unlike it's lazy, embarrassing predecessor, the film relies much too heavily on Robert Downey Jr's charisma, which is perfectly placed without some really nice action set pieces. Unlike Iron Man 2, the execution is much more properly done here. However, there's the botched "twist" and bastardization of a well known villain matched up with an excessive amount of Pepper Potts, a weak Iron Man-less second act and a cartoonish villain.

Let's not ignore what the film actually does very well - Shane Black is an action movie god. The combination of action and humor is unmatched by anybody else in the business. Robert Downey Jr's comeback came almost entirely from his brilliant turn as Harry in Black's Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, add this to RDJ's comfort with the character and you have a wonderful film on paper. On paper. The attack on Stark's house is an amazing display of high scale destruction. The ominous nature of the Mandarin is absolutely beautiful... up until the reveal. And this is where I run out of nice things to say about the movie. Beyond the action and RDJ's charisma, there is a lot left to be desired. Up until the twist reveal, you are able to tolerate Guy Pearce's cartoonish villain, but once we find out the Mandarin is just a puppet for Pearce's bitter genius, your dick goes from midnight back down to six. It's really underwhelming and we spend the rest of the movie following Pearce as he manipulates Pepper Potts and she becomes an awful sidekick to Iron Man. She is infected with some shit that makes everybody superstrong and she kicks some ass at the end of the movie, much to my disappointment. It's weak and ridiculous. I hated every second of it. That's not to mention that the entire second act consists of Tony Stark and no Iron Man as he struggles to regain his "powers" and hangs around with a dumb and annoying child. Wildly disappointing.

Spoiler Alert: Iron Man wins.
Grade: C+

[SethMode]

I am sure that this has been discussed a lot somewhere on the internet but: what the fuck is up with Shane Black and Christmas? Has he ever come out and said anything about it?

[Palooza]

I am sure that this has been discussed a lot somewhere on the internet but: what the fuck is up with Shane Black and Christmas? Has he ever come out and said anything about it?

I started to type "how come Shane Black..." and the first suggestion was "likes Christmas"

I found this - http://vodzilla.co/blog/features/wha...n-man-3-carol/

“What a bright time, it’s a right time…”

That’s exactly how you expect a festive favourite to begin: the screen opens onto a soaring shot over a city, as Jingle Beck Rock serenades the season. Then, a woman surrounded by tinsel and Christmas lights. She leans forward to enjoy an early present: a line of the white stuff straight from Santa up her nose. Then, she walks out to her apartment balcony and jumps. The storeys of the building fly past, every now and then interrupted by a burst of blurred fairy lights.

So this is Christmas, Shane Black-style.

In 1987, Lethal Weapon blew Christmas wide open. It turned out that Christmas films didn’t just have to be festive and feel-good; they could be both of those things and feature guns, swearing and prostitutes too. Happy fucking holidays.

That use of Christmas as a concept, as a whimsical backdrop for an action movie, was so good that Die Hard copied it – a combination that’s led to it being universally recognised as the best Christmas film of all time.

“I did Lethal Weapon back in ‘87 and we did Christmas, and Joel [Silver] liked it so much, he put Die Hard at Christmas and there was some fun to that,” Shane told Collider. “You don’t have to do every film that way,” he added. “I tried to explain that.”

But Shane enjoyed the seasonal setting so much that he has since used it in pretty much all of his films, which makes it easy to tell a Shane Black project apart from the rest of the thriller genre.

shane black Christmas films

His Santa obsession continued this year with Marvel’s Iron Man 3, which completed the writer-director’s ultimate Christmas trilogy: Iron Man 3, Lethal Weapon and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

So what’s the deal with Shane Black and Christmas?

Doing the promotional rounds for Iron Man in the summer, he offered an answer: “Christmas is fun. It’s unifying, and all your characters are involved in this event that stays within the larger story. It roots it, I think, it grounds everything,” he told the lovely folk at Den of Geek. “At Christmas, lonely people are lonelier, seeing friends and families go by. People take reckoning, [they take] stock of where their lives are at Christmas.”

It’s true that Shane Black’s characters are usually lonely. At a time when the world is concerned with family, and Homicide Sergeant Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) is celebrating his 50th birthday, Narcotics Sergeant Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) couldn’t be more different: widowed after a traffic accident, he spends his Advent nights pondering suicide. During the daytime, his reputation as a reckless madman means that nobody wants to work with him.

Shane Black’s script, directed by Richard Donner, emphasises the contrast between Riggs’ loneliness and the communal holiday spirit: shootouts take place in a pen of Christmas trees, while Christmas songs signal the opening and end credits. Gibson, meanwhile, conveys his character’s tragic desperation with a likeable charisma – that other key quality for a Shane Black protagonist.

In Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, our anti-hero is Harry Lockhart. Once Harold The Great, a child magician who performed at fetes in front of local crowds, he’s now a failed father in LA. We first meet him Christmas shopping. At night. With a torch. And a balaclava. But not only does he not pay for his son’s present, he doesn’t even know what his son wants (in the land of Christmas, the ultimate crime). His ex-wife on the phone explains that he needs to find Cyber Agent. “Protocop, protector of man,” comes the babbled reply. “Is that it? Protocop? He protects men.”

Where Lethal Weapon juxtaposed Riggs against a wider, warmer community, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang takes Harry into the seedy underbelly of LA, where everyone is a lonely screw-up. Michelle Monaghan’s love interest, former childhood crush Harmony, is an equally failed actress who thinks nothing of the idea of a man touching her boob while she sleeps. Val Kilmer’s Gay Perry, meanwhile, is as cold as they come.

“Merry Christmas,” he grins cruelly at Harry. “Sorry I fucked you over.”

As the cool detective flick unwinds its twists, the frosty pair start to warm to each other – a relationship that helps Harry to redeem himself by not giving in to the cold un-Christmassy world around him.

Odd couple chemistry, rapid dialogue, post-modern voiceover and occasional explosions? If Kiss Kiss Bang Bang was the role that announced Robert Downey Jr. was back on the scene, it was just a build-up to what happened next: Iron Man 3, a darkly hilarious film featuring odd couple chemistry, rapid dialogue, post-modern voiceover and occasional explosions. It was Kiss Kiss Bang Bang 2 as much as a Marvel movie; a Shane Black film that happened to have superheroes in it.

Along with all the other Shane staples came, of course, Christmas.

“I’m Tony Stark. I build neat stuff, got a great girl, occasionally save the world. So why can’t I sleep?” voiceovers Tony Stark, taking stock of his life as December 25th rolls around once again.

Tony Stark, like Riggs and Harry, is another outsider; not just because of his armoured suit that can blow up a tank or even because of his lavish lifestyle and obscene wealth, but because he choices to be. Shaken up by what happened at the end of The Avengers, he panics whenever anyone mentions it and hides behind his suits to avoid connecting with others, including Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow). But it’s more than that; he refuses to take things when people hand them to him too. By his own volition, as well as others’, Tony is lonely. And as Shane says, at Christmas time, he’s even more so.

That introspective streak turns Iron Man 3 into Marvel’s most character-driven blockbuster yet; a journey of – here’s that word again – redemption that sees Tony change his ways and learn about himself, as well as kill a psychotic bad guy.

Sound familiar? That’s because on some level, you could read Iron Man 3 as A Christmas Carol. Shane Black even did that when writing the script: “We actually started talking about this as ‘A Christmas Carol’ episode of Iron Man. Certain characters in Iron Man 3 are analogous to different ghosts from the Dickens tale.”

Certainly, there’s an element of Tony’s past coming back to haunt him; repeated flashbacks to his time in Geneva when he “created his own enemy” in The Mandarin are complimented by the introduction of young Harley Keener (Ty Simpkins – watch out for him in Jurassic World), who, like Tony, has an absent father and is prone to playing with the odd gadget. Scientist and former lover Maya Hansen (Rebecca Hall), meanwhile, arrives at his house one day to warn him of what’s to come, Marley-like, before reminding him of their historical Swiss connection.

Into all of that steps Guy Pearce’s Aldrich Killian. A smart guy with a neat line in suits and smiles, he opens up Tony’s eyes to the world that’s around him now, a present where his girlfriend is borderline leaving him and he’s lost sight of his purpose.

The spirit to leave the biggest impact, though, is The Mandarin. Played by Ben Kingsley, he terrifies Tony into action with an ominous rumble. “I’m gonna offer the choice: do you want an empty life, or a meaningful death?” he warns, threatening to strip the superhero of all symbolic meaning – painting a grim future yet to come for America, as well as our lead man. Then, The Mandarin disappears in a puff of a smoke, leaving Tony to take stock once more.

All three festive films follow anti-heroes finding redemption. It might not sound particularly original, but when done right, it’s a moving narrative; one so powerful that Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol has been adapted for the screen dozens and dozens of times.

Even It’s a Wonderful Life, that perennial favourite, echoes a similar character development: a man coming to realise his own worth. The notion of someone thinking the world would be better off without them is present in Lethal Weapon too. That Christmas setting tips us off to the inevitably heartwarming, feel-good resolution, but that doesn’t stop it from being a satisfying watch. As Riggs runs into Murtaugh’s house to share in their dinner, even his dog comes in from the cold. Awww.

As well as flawed protagonists taking stock, it’s that sense of togetherness that gives Shane Black’s Christmas trilogy its entertaining punch: these are stories of fathers or husbands reuniting with their family, or men finding a group of friends to make a new family of their own.

“If you’re doing something on an interesting scale that involves an entire universe of characters, one way to unite them is to have them all undergo a common experience,” comments Black. “And there is something at Christmas that unites everybody.”

That driving force for a hero to connect with someone else is a universal thing we all recognise – and rather than a cliched romantic subplot or a kidnapped child in need of rescue, why not use Christmas as an emotional shorthand for an action movie backdrop?

Snowing and blowing things up, it makes Black’s movies bushels of fun – perhaps not for the whole family, but for an audience of people who are brought together by that shared love of humans trying to come good for the holidays. And guns. And swearing. And prostitutes.

I haven't read it yet though

[Palooza]

60. The Counselor
Michael Fassbender, Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Brad Pitt, Rosie Perez, Natalie Dormer, Edgar Ramirez, John Leguizamo, Dean Norris, Goran Visnjic, Ruben Blades, Bruno Ganz, Emma Rigby, Donna Air, Fernando Cayo, Sam Spruell, Richard Brake, Alex Hafner

Director(s): Ridley Scott
Writer(s): Cormac McCarthy
MPAA Rating: R
Release Date: October 25th
RT Score: 34% (65 fresh, 134 rotten)
The Plot by Palooza: After being told in a million different ways that he is going to be in over his head, The Counselor (Michael Fassbender) gets in over his head in the drug trade as everything that can possibly go wrong for him, does.
Comments:
Cormac McCarthy is a great writer. He has the short & sweet, dark, depressing and violent down pat. Cormac McCarthy is not a screenwriter. He is a novelist. With the Counselor, his first non-adaptation screenplay, it is obvious the man needs a filter. A filter preferably by the name of Coen, but a filter nonetheless. The movie is a series of long, drawn out monologues about the drug trade and how they reflect everyday philosophies with a few glimpses at some creative violence. On paper, this should work, but it doesn't. I don't blame any specific person; everyone seems to do their job quite well actually - everything is well acted (except one person), Ridley Scott's slick directing works perfectly here and the writing is top notch (except the repetitive plot line of 'speech about not getting into what hes getting into' followed by heinous act of violence, rinse and repeat), if a little heavy handed. The problems reside in the aforementioned need for McCarthy's work to go through a filter, overseen by a top tier writer/director team and also, the biggest problem, is the only character who doesn't seem to have shit fall at their feet at every turn is played by the least likable actress on earth, an absolute piece of dog shit of a human. Cameron Diaz - if you are not cast in this role I could have tricked myself into believing this was a good movie, but no. You make out like a fucking bandit while everyone else cries or dies. Seriously, fuck you.

There's a lot of enjoyment to pull out of this movie if you aren't getting caught up in the high expectations that are created by how great this movie looks on paper. The violence is great, the dark worldview is signature McCarthy, and the combination of the words and how they roll off the actor's tongues is ear porn. Unfortunately, Cameron Diaz is cast in the meatiest role and meanwhile Assbender spends the entire movie reacting to speeches given by other characters or being upset he didn't heed anyone's soliloquial advice.

Spoiler Alert: Penelope Cruz doesn't look as good without a head. Diaz gets over on em all.
Grade: C+

59. Iron Man 3
Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Ben Kingsley, James Badge Dale, Stephanie Szostak, Jon Faverau, Ty Simpkins, Paul Bettany, Ashley Hamilton, William Sadler, Dale Dickey, Adam Pally

Director(s): Shane Black
Writer(s): Drew Pearce, Shane Black
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Release Date: May 3rd
RT Score: 78% (219 fresh, 61 rotten)
The Plot by Palooza: Iron Man has to save the world from bad guys.
Comments:
The major talking point for Iron Man 3 is the handling of the Mandarin and the overall spectrum of villainy. So, if you haven't seen the movie and care about details you should piss off right about .... now. There will be spoilers throughout this "review", but not quite yet...

This is the first look at the Marvel Cinematic Universe post-Avengers and it's significantly underwhelming. The Marvel Cinematic Universe (for the rest of the way will be referred to as MCU) has a very distinct formula that works almost perfectly, but when it is not executed as best as it can be or the little sprinkles that rises these movies up beyond mediocrity fall flat, you have yourself a problem. Not unlike it's lazy, embarrassing predecessor, the film relies much too heavily on Robert Downey Jr's charisma, which is perfectly placed without some really nice action set pieces. Unlike Iron Man 2, the execution is much more properly done here. However, there's the botched "twist" and bastardization of a well known villain matched up with an excessive amount of Pepper Potts, a weak Iron Man-less second act and a cartoonish villain.

Let's not ignore what the film actually does very well - Shane Black is an action movie god. The combination of action and humor is unmatched by anybody else in the business. Robert Downey Jr's comeback came almost entirely from his brilliant turn as Harry in Black's Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, add this to RDJ's comfort with the character and you have a wonderful film on paper. On paper. The attack on Stark's house is an amazing display of high scale destruction. The ominous nature of the Mandarin is absolutely beautiful... up until the reveal. And this is where I run out of nice things to say about the movie. Beyond the action and RDJ's charisma, there is a lot left to be desired. Up until the twist reveal, you are able to tolerate Guy Pearce's cartoonish villain, but once we find out the Mandarin is just a puppet for Pearce's bitter genius, your dick goes from midnight back down to six. It's really underwhelming and we spend the rest of the movie following Pearce as he manipulates Pepper Potts and she becomes an awful sidekick to Iron Man. She is infected with some shit that makes everybody superstrong and she kicks some ass at the end of the movie, much to my disappointment. It's weak and ridiculous. I hated every second of it. That's not to mention that the entire second act consists of Tony Stark and no Iron Man as he struggles to regain his "powers" and hangs around with a dumb and annoying child. Wildly disappointing.

Spoiler Alert: Iron Man wins.
Grade: C+

we've moving on to page 6, don't want these to get lost in the shuffle...

[Palooza]

58. Pacific Rim
Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day. Max Martini, Robert Kazinsky, Ron Perlman, Clifton Collins Jr, Burn Gorman, Diego Klattenhoff, Ellen McLain

Director(s): Guillermo del Toro
Writer(s): Guillermo del Toro, Travis Beachum
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Release Date: July 12th
RT Score: 72% (181 fresh, 72 rotten)
The Plot by Palooza: Monsters attack the world, robots and neural handjobs are the only way to save the world.
Comments:
Yeah, sure this movie is pretty good. There's some strong action and one guy actually acting, but there are few things more displeasing than consuming something that is only pretty good, when you KNOW it should be great. This movie should be in my top ten. But it's not. It's a colossal disappointment and I don't blame anybody for finding enjoyment in it, because I certainly did. But the blind supporters of this film make me hate it even more than I want to. For instance, try saying something negative about it on reddit. It was hard not to boost your expectations up to 100 when there was a non-sequel, non-remake, non-superhero, non-comic book that revolved around giant robots fighting giant monsters. How could it go wrong? In almost every single way. I will state that the movie looks absolutely stunning and there's one amazing scene that woulda been a fucking sweet short film if left as is.

There are problems throughout the entire movie and it's impossible for me to ignore, even with my brain completely shut off. I don't even know where to start so I'll just jump right into it. Besides the fact that the entire movie plays out like Top Gun, the plot is somehow obnoxiously complicated and simple simultaneously. The lingo is absolutely horrendous with neural handjobs being dropped left and right, obnoxious names like Stacker Pentecost and Raleigh Beckett, (which were most certainly formed the same you do your porn name - by combining your first pet's name and the street you grew up on) and Charlie Day slinging exposition at every chance. The whole movie is force-fed to you with each character's dialogue consisting of explaining exactly what is going on in the moment. They're even kind enough to tell you how they are feeling and why they are feeling that way. This actually winds up being a blessing in disguise because there is absolutely no acting going on from anybody in the movie, except for Idris Elba, who does his best but nobody seems to be able to keep up. Charlie Hunnam goes straight into Jax Teller mode, losing his accent and flaring his nostrils at every opportunity, as if him explaining his emotions weren't bad enough. His co-horts consist of the prototypical hot head who doesn't respect the main character and the old, wise fella who respects the main character and apologizes for the hot head. All three of these characters look exactly the same and if I hadn't been so well versed in telling white people apart, I would have gotten lost. Add Hunnam's brother in from the beginning (you guessed it - he dies and it affects Hunnam's outlook on life) is Homeland Mike, who is the most generic looking white guy in Hollywood.

So a majority of the movie follows these fuckboys as they squad up inside of a robot, needing two because one needs to control one half of the robot and another needs to control the other half but they need to merge their brains. Like I said, so retardedly simple, it's complicated. Why does this need to happen? Who gives a fuck, we need personal connection to run through the film! We need these characters to exude emotion some how. Kill partners, affect the surviving partner's outlook on life! Use neural handjobs as excuses for flashbacks and exposition! Use neural handjobs to reconnect two damaged people! Don't you see! The asian girl and Jax Teller are a perfect match! CAN'T YOU SEE! LOOK! YOU CAN TELL BECAUSE I AM TELLING YOU! These two are supposed to be absolutely 110% a match, but only because the movie tells you that. How do we know otherwise? They fight with sticks and somehow thats them connecting on a personal level. Look, we fought with sticks now we are drift compatible! I very much enjoy turning my brain off and enjoying shit exploding, but not if the movie makes me feel dumber afterward.

I really don't want to knock del Toro's directing because the movie is fucking beautiful, but it's kind of comical how not-scary the kaijus are. There is nothing dark or ominous about them. There is a way to manipulate the camera so that things look gigantic and horrifying and make the people look small and helpless. Here, they always present things on an even scale, so why am I supposed to be afraid of these things? Robots and Kaijus go head to head and even if the robot gets its ass torn apart, I do not feel threatened. The movie fails to present the bad guys as terrifying, something that could have gone a long way into my emotional investment in the film. I didn't care about anything because I didn't have to. There is one scene when Hunnam and the AZN girl are first neurally fingerblasting eachother or w/e and he sees a horrifying memory of hers. In it, a small asian girl runs away from an absolutely gigantic and terrifying monster that is causing a ridiculous amount of destruction. As everything falls down around her, she crouches into a little ball, ash and dust pouring out from every angle. This is hands down the best scene in the film, but we never get a glimpse of the kaijus like this. It's always from an aerial view or at a distance, which is not the proper way to portray a horrifying monster.

The potential was through the roof, the execution was subpar. Flame away, mfers.

Spoiler Alert: They cancel the apocalypse.
Grade: C+

[SethMode]

I was in the hospital when I watched Pacific Rim, a movie that I had been dying to see. I was going so stir crazy for anything to do (stuck there, no TV for the majority of the week), that I thought that a movie I was really excited for would be a slam dunk, and that I would be biased because of my circumstance.

I was very underwhelmed. I wanted to love it so much, but I just found almost every aspect to range anywhere from just missing the mark, to HUGELY missing the mark. Less surprising: my Mom and girlfriend hated it.

[NAHSTE]

I saw Pacific Rim in a theather at an afternoon showing with a friend, we were both sufficiently #altered and stuffed full of burritos. I knew it was gonna be dumb as fuck but I had a great time. Totally concede on all of Palooza's criticisms, not gonna go out of my way to defend it. Just wanted to say I saw it in an ideal setting and subsequently enjoyed it.

[SethMode]

I saw Pacific Rim in a theather at an afternoon showing with a friend, we were both sufficiently #altered and stuffed full of burritos. I knew it was gonna be dumb as fuck but I had a great time. Totally concede on all of Palooza's criticisms, not gonna go out of my way to defend it. Just wanted to say I saw it in an ideal setting and subsequently enjoyed it.

I definitely regret not seeing it in the theater when I had the chance, as I'm certain that's the way this movie is "meant to be seen".

[Palooza]

I also saw it in best situation possible and enjoyed it fine, but felt really disappointed. I told all my friends it was going to be fucking sweet when we left Iron Man 3 really disappointed. I distinctly remember saying "Don't worry, Iron Man was pretty whack but Pacific Rim is going to fucking fantastic." And then we saw it and those simps liked it so much more than me.

I just dropped my longest review and I complained the whole time but that's because I just rewatched it on HBO. Problems are glaring when you're not salivating over the beauty of it.

[Palooza]

57. Europa Report
Anamaria Marinca, Micheal Nyqvist, Karolina Wydra, Daniel Wu, Sharlto Copley, Christian Camargo, Embeth Davidtz, Dan Fogler, Isiah Whitlock, Jr

Director(s): Sebastian Cordero
Writer(s): Philip Gelatt
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Release Date: August 2nd
RT Score: 80% (59 fresh, 15 rotten)
The Plot by Palooza: A group of people venture to one of Jupiter's moons to disastrous results.
Comments:
Europa Report is a soul crushing survival in space movie that uses the found footage genre in one of the better ways since it's introduction. The film follows a handful or so of people on a privately funded mission from Earth to Jupiter's moon, Europa. The mission is a series of bad situations and lots of self sacrifice. They do a good job of crushing expectations, as you can see by the order of death in the spoiler alert section, the person they portray as the main character dies very early on, jumping to the next logical main character and killing them next. Once they land on the moon, the movie introduces the ominous blue light/potential alien life that fills in as the villain along with the horrifying nature of space in general. Michael Nyqvist is probably the best character along with Anamaria Marnica as an engineer who slowly loses his mind and the unlikely hero of the film, respectively. A dark and scary space thriller, Europa Report is a surprisingly solid movie and a quick watch so long as you can get past the found footage, docu-style filmmaking.

Spoiler Alert:

 

They all die in mysterious ways after seeing an ominous blue light. They die in this order - Sharlto Copley, Karolina Wydra, Daniel Wu, Christian Camargo, Michael Nyqvist, Anamaria Marnica. They are able to send all their footage back to Earth as Nyqvist sacrifices himself to turn the coms back on and Marnica sacrifices herself so that they can get a look at the blue light.

Grade: B-

[Palooza]

56. Shadow Dancer
Clive Owen, Andrea Riseborough, Gillian Anderson, Aiden Gillen, Domhnall Gleeson, Brid Brennan, David Wilmont, Stuart Graham, Martin McCann

Director(s): James Marsh
Writer(s): Tom Bradby
MPAA Rating: R
Release Date: May 31st
RT Score: 82% (71 fresh, 16 rotten)
The Plot by Palooza: After being caught in the middle of a botched attack, IRA member Collette (Andrea Riseborough) agrees to spy on her IRA family for Mi5 Agent Mac (Clive Owen)
Comments:
A dark and gritty look at a woman torn between her freedom and her family, Shadow Dancer is a nice little paranoia thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat, rooting for the main character and sympathizing with her causes. Everything is well acted and there are a lot of familiar faces. The ending is a bit flat, a quick twist that is mostly unsatisfying, quick and complicated and there lacks any real excitement minus constant tension she will be caught and/or killed. It reminded me of the boring, but tense parts of The Americans. A "cold war" so to speak that everyone tip toes around, using people as pawns toward a goal they aren't exactly sure of besides getting over on the other side.

Spoiler Alert:

 

Collette was Mac's informant, Collette's mother was Gillian Anderson (Mac's boss)'s informant. Riseborough gets away with her snitchery, but her mom is caught and killed. Collette blames her mother's death on Mac, so she goes double agent and gets Mac killed in a car bomb. I think that's how it all goes.

Grade: B-

[mgoblue2290]

Europa Report was pretty awesome. I stumbled upon it randomly and liked how everything played out. It seemed pretty low budget too but they did a good job with everything. The ending was definitely well done. Solid sci fi flick.

I felt just Palooza walking into Pacific Rim. Fully accepted it was just going to be an awesome action flick but I still ended up not liking it. Just couldn't get into it.

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Pacific Rim was crap...but fuck it, its got giant robots and giant monsters beating each other up.



/SRS, if not for the Smith Family in that one movie...Charlie Hunnam should have won a Razzie for his performance in PR. Total shit.

I really liked Europa Report.