Buttered Popcorn: Buzzmans Movie Review Thread

[albidnis]

Agree 100% on tintin. I expected so much more.

 

[Buzzman]

The Artist (2011)

Hollywood 1927. George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) is a silent movie superstar. The advent of the talkies will sound the death knell for his career and see him fall into oblivion. For young extra Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo), it seems the sky's the limit - major movie stardom awaits. The Artist tells the story of their interlinked destinies

The Artist is a film that will take a lot of heat from people who never give it a chance simply because it’s a silent film. I was one of those people all the way up until I finally forced myself to sit down and watch it that was terribly upset with the amount of awards the film seemed to be a front runner for. I thought the buzz was undeserved and it was given to it because of the nostalgia the film brings of cinemas history. When you actually sit down, watch it, and experience it, you will change your mind. It’s not the runaway best film of the year a lot are calling it, but the buzz it’s gotten is rightfully earned.

When silent film star George Valentin is at the top of his career, talking films are starting to be seen from the horizon pushing him away from what he loves doing. This is a very fascinating look into both a star being left behind and a pretty interesting look at Hollywood during this time of transition. Seeing the amount of hits a man’s ego can take without breaking is unreal. Valentin was so against change that he was willing to let himself whither and rot to death before he accepted this slap in the face. It’s both a case of someone loving what they do and being too proud. Seeing the two sides conquer him is actually pretty entertaining. Watching the story begins and seeing the timeline of a revolution in film is great, but there’s a moment near the end where they don’t do something I wanted them to do. I totally understand why they didn’t do it because it fits with the message and metaphors about cohering together and making film better, but as a dramatic telling of George Valenitn’s story, I felt a bit cheated. I can accept that because this isn’t Georgre’s story, but rather a story that he is merely a part of.

Jean Dujardin is great. I have never actually seen a silent film before, but if they all have performances as good this; they must have a lot of great films. His ability to express himself without having to hear him speak is not an easy task, but this downward spiral of depression he falls upon is rough. Watching his pride take the best of him makes you feel rotten yourself, which speaks to just how evolved he has made become into his character. It’s a great performance that I don’t think should win him an Oscar, but wouldn’t be upset if he ended up taking it home. His co-star Bérénice Bejo, on the other hand, seems to be getting a little more attention than she deserves. It was a fine role, but she played the role of the joke most of the film, and doesn’t really take a step in the same way Dujardin did. It’s simply manageable to watch.

The best parts of the movie though didn’t come from a story, or a performance, or even a character; its best moments came from the director. I don’t know if its standard to throw dialogue on screen, but the spots in which they were placed seemed all to perfect in moments prevent you from becoming clueless. It was a pretty neat technique that caught me off guard a bit, which is why I enjoyed it a bit. Other moments when sound is entered in a world of silence, they don’t feel forced or clichéd, but in spots that adds layers to a an already great story. In these moments, you cannot help but appreciate what the did there and just how wrong that could have been if placed in the wrong spots. Michel Hazanavicius just did a magnificent job with the overall presentation of The Artist.

The Artist is a film I would say should be watched whether it peeks your interest or not. It’s a great look into a former pastime and features a stellar way to revisit that through the life of George Valentin; a great make-believe film star. While I tend to think this is a bit overrated because of just how fresh and abnormal it is for films today, it still doesn’t detract the wonderful things it accomplished.

Overall Score: 8.5/10

 

[Buzzman]

The Grey (2012)

In The Grey, Liam Neeson leads an unruly group of oil-rig roughnecks when their plane crashes into the remote Alaskan wilderness. Battling mortal injuries and merciless weather, the survivors have only a few days to escape the icy elements - and a vicious pack of rogue wolves on the hunt - before their time runs out.

A few years ago, Liam Neeson shot a little movie called Taken. It was out in Europe months before coming to the United States, had very little buzz and box office gains, but for some reason Americans fell in love with in upon arrival. That was the day the actor Liam Neeson died and out of his corpse came the action star Liam Neeson. He has run through a stretch of fairly entertaining material since Taken, but nothing was all that memorable. They were films that you’d be one and done with them; no reason to ever revisit them again. The Grey had all the makings to be one of those films, but then the film surprises you with some actual depth and thought put into the story and the characters that are in it.

The opening moments of the film demonstrate just is what to come; it helps establish a much more serious tone for the rest of the film. No matter what circumstance that falls before you, the survival instincts kick in and do whatever it takes to keep going. When a plane carrying a group of oil drillers over the Alaskan countryside crashes, leaving only a handful of survivors left, the worst has yet to come. It’s cold; they have little to no food, and are open prey to a pack of territorial wolves. If you escape one fate, another is there to knock them down. It’s a very intense film that not only scares the shit out of you, but makes you feel cold, feel stranded, and feel just as lost as them. It’s a brutal situation that makes you feel far too happy to watch it in a comfy warm seat. These group of men place fight their way to keep moving, with eh constant variables trimming the number down with the passing minutes. They did a decent job in giving each character some to plenty of background information on them, actually making you care for most fi not all of them. That is just a rare occurrence to come out of a film with such pretty standard character choices. By the time you reach the end, you are dead, you are tired, and you will has been worn down to death, but the survival instincts kick in one last time, even when death awaits. It’s a truly deceiving, yet badass ending that had me on the edge of my seat.

Liam Neeson as the lead of the group, Ottway, is fantastic. He awakes from the coma he has been treading through with all these one note action heroes, but here he is just a man wanting to live. He has no answers that will keep them all safe, he doesn’t know the endgame to their circumstances, and he doesn’t hold back the fear that he doesn’t allow to overtake him. He gives a few great speeches that feel Hollywood, but they add to the scene and intensity of them. It’s a surprising turn by an actor that I had grown tired of. As for the rest of the cast, they all were the stereotypical characters you come to expect from a bunch of oil workers, but they reveal tidbits about themselves and take their characters to new places. I expected to grow tired of a few, but it never happens, they fight on and keep you rooting for them. Such a good cast in an untypical film.

The direction was another great aspect. The wolves were heavily marketed in the promotions but they are not in your face as much as they appeared to be. They linger in the darkness waiting for their prey to make a false move, onlvy visible with their bright white eyes and breathe only visible because of the cold. It’s haunting and they were handled so damn well. Keeping them in the shadows did the film wonders in keeping the intensity at a high level. Then the actual plane crash was scary realistic, from the sound to the abrupt awakening from a dream. It was such a such but fabulous and crucial aspect that Joe Carnahan seemed to nail. The score in the last five minutes are also jizzworthy.

The Grey is a very different film then they advertised and tis better for it. Instead of a wolf punching action film starring Liam Neeson, you watched a gritty, realistic, survival drama that only got greyer the more the minutes passed by. It’s a great January film that doesn’t let the release equal its quality. It’s a good film that feels great.

Overall Score: 7.5/10

 

[Buzzman]

Its obviously worded funky, but I'm sure you get the scenario I was trying to place the audience in you silly sallys.

 

[Houston]

I don’t know if its standard to throw dialogue on screen, but the spots in which they were placed seemed all to perfect in moments prevent you from becoming clueless. It was a pretty neat technique that caught me off guard a bit, which is why I enjoyed it a bit.

lol Yeah that's standard in silent films, can't give credit to this specific director or movie for that. They also all generally have the same amount of those slides(title cards), they don't come up often.

 

[Buzzman]

Chronicle (2012)

Three high school students make an incredible discovery, leading to their developing uncanny powers beyond their understanding. As they learn to control their abilities and use them to their advantage, their lives start to spin out of control, and their darker sides begin to take over.

It would be a mistake to label this as a superhero film. There is no formula the film sticks to from the genre, there are no sides, and this is merely about a trio of high school kids who are lucky enough to stumble across some sort of meteor that gives those around it the ability to do extraordinary things, such as fly and control objects with your mind. It’s a great premise. What exactly would you do with these sorts of powers? Like most teenagers, our trio of young adults uses them to have fun. They mess with people, fly in the sky, and use it to impress attractive women. It’s all some light hearted fun for the first half of the film, but what happens when someone with those powers isn’t in a position to handle them responsibly? That is how villains are made. It works for this film because the film takes so long building up these storylines so they actually add value behind the substance you get during the climax. It almost feels like a tragedy, getting to know these characters, witness them together as best friends, and see the floor crumbling beneath them far before they actually find out.

The three characters of the film, Andrew, Matt, and Steve, are all vastly different, which makes their bond of friendship that develops all the stronger. They were never going to be friends, never going to know each other, but these powers forced them together, and ended up creating a strong friendship that seemed destined to last forever. Dane DeHaan (Andrew) is the actor that gets the juiciest role. He controls every aspect of the film by controlling the camera; you see what he chooses to shoot. Watching him be abused by his father, slowly letting the shell around him break, is done realistically and Dane does a great job. What’s so great about his character is best said by his cousin, Matt. “You were never a bad person, just in a bad situation.” He speaks the truth. Alex Russell as Matt plays the smart leader of the group quite well, and turns in a fine performance as well. Michael B. Jordan aka our boy Vince, is probably the toughest since he plays a character that was never going to be their friend but changes over the course fo the film and reveals the good nature of his character. All three do a great job at creating a satisfying story that with their help feels a bit sympathetic.

The found footage aspect of the film has been done to death and I’ve grown very tired of it. With Chronicle, it was a much unneeded wrench thrown into the story, but they did a pretty damn good job with it. At times I forgot it was found footage because scenes that looked like standard shots were actually from phones, cameras, and other devises other than the camera were used to seeing for much of the film. Not until a repeat viewing will you appreciate just how much effort went into the actual found footage aspect of the film. Then with the CGI, it’s funny that something like a tiny baseball can look so damn fake, but they can make the destruction of a city look downright awesome. Smaller films constrained by a budget will always impress me with their CGI far more than the summer blockbusters.

I feel Chronicle is the first must see film of 2012, which is a giant improvement over 2011, which took almost 4 months to put out a great movie. If you have any doubts about this film, put them to bed, it’s a great film. If you haven’t been to the theater to see it, make plans, it could be a while before we get anything remotely as good as this.


Overall Score: 8/10

 

[BrntO4Life]

A GREAT PREMISE.

The modern bar has been set so low.

 

[Buzzman]

A GREAT PREMISE.

The modern bar has been set so low.

What would you do with powers? The possibilities are endless.

 

[BrntO4Life]

What would you do with powers? The possibilities are endless.

I still don't see how it's a great premise. I wasn't wowed by the idea of the plot when I first heard about it.

 

[Buzzman]

I guess I like it because its not flashy. If I got powers I wouldnt try and become an actual superhero and fight crime because a.) I can sew and therefore make a costume and b.) its too much work. Chronicle plays that situation out for me.

 

[BrntO4Life]

If I got powers I wouldnt try and become an actual superhero and fight crime because a.) I can sew and therefore make a costume

:joker:

 

[Buzzman]

Wow total fuck up there. No idea what the hell I typed.

Correct response:

*If I got powers I wouldnt try and become an actual superhero and fight crime because a.) I can't sew and therefore can't make a costume.

 

[BrntO4Life]

Either way it sounds dumb. The costume has nothing to do with it.

 

[Buzzman]

The Woman in Black (2012)

A young lawyer (Radcliffe) travels to a remote village where he discovers the vengeful ghost of a scorner woman is terrorizing the locals.

There a very few classic horror films in today’s wave of films. Instead of creating a tense atmosphere and working for the actual creepy tone to keep your heart beating, a bunch of CGI filled pop outs are thrown at you at such a constant rate they are just not scary anymore. How can you really be scared when you have a pretty damn good idea when each scare seems predetermined based on the situation the characters are placed in. The genre has become something of a lazy and repetitive joke with very few good entries added to it the past few years. The Woman in Black isn’t one of them.

The Woman in Black does create that classic horror feel of a haunted house where lights and weird noises rule the night. It goes to such great lengths to scare you without ever having to actually show some big reveal, which is exactly what I love about haunted houses. The house itself is scary, rather than the monster that lives in it, which practically becomes a character itself. The problem that lies with this film though, is that despite creating the great atmosphere, it has such a terrible plot, it sinks everything good they accomplished by losing your interest barely twenty minutes into the film. You do not care what happened in the past, why the home is haunted, nor what will become of the young Harry Potter; you just want it to be over. Usually, I do not let the story effect my enjoyment of a horror film, but occasionally you get one that’s just plain awful and cannot overlook. That is the case here.

Playing the way too young looking lawyer with a 4 year old son Arthur is Harry Potter himself Daniel Radcliffe. He is merely a pawn on screen, taking you to the destinations it wants to take you. He is there to explore the house and they attempt to scare you through him. His fears become yours. It’s a character they doesn’t really showcase anyone’s talent, but rather a nice attempt to try and shade away his former character that I refuse to believe will ever leave him behind. Whenever I watch him, I will see Harry Potter and nobody else. As far as scary stories go, he’s not bad here, but the plot makes his character seem all that more ridiculous.

If you are looking for a little bit of scares, you should give the Woman in Black a shot for that specific reason and nothing else. If you want anything more out of a film, this will not satisfy them in the slightest, unless of course, it’s for a drinking game, Than you can make some fun of this rubbish.

Overall Score: 3/10

 

[Buzzman]

21 Jump Street (2012)

In the action-comedy 21 Jump Street, Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) are more than ready to leave their adolescent problems behind. Joining the police force and the secret Jump Street unit, they use their youthful appearances to go undercover in a local high school. As they trade in their guns and badges for backpacks, Schmidt and Jenko risk their lives to investigate a violent and dangerous drug ring. But they find that high school is nothing like they left it just a few years earlier - and neither expects that they will have to confront the terror and anxiety of being a teenager again and all the issues they thought they had left behind.

If you end up seeing a movie that is funnier than 21 Jump Street that comes out this year I will be absolutely shocked. This is a film that I thought was going to be a mess when it first went into production; I have grown tired of Jonah Hill normally dislike Channing Tatum, and the TV show it was based on wasn’t very good. It had a lot of things working against it, but when that first trailer popped up I thought it was going to be comedic gold. Walking in with the highest of expectations, I came out feeling they were met and even had been exceeded.

The plot is surprisingly well done, throwing in some wrenches of actual heart felt moments between two dudes that you grow to care and root for while sprinkling in some average looking but hilarious action scenes. In a switch that allows the movie to run with some of its best jokes, Schmidt (Hill) and Jenko (Tatum) flip flop the roles they played in their high school days. Schmidt is the popular one because the cool kids now get good grades, care about the environment, and shit, while Jenko is the dumbass loser that ends up hanging out with the science geeks. It’s a lot funnier than it sounds and the interactions these two have with their select group of friends gets you to laugh, but the key is the scenarios and gimmicks that these two guys goes through keep you laughing the entire film. That’s the key for a comedy, and this one brings a lot of laughs. The other aspect it brought was the bond between the two partners. It feels like sort of a throwback to those buddy cop films of the past, but in a much more light-hearted funny way. Its nothing worth bragging about, but it does help in allowing the audience to like the characters so much.

Over the years since Superbad, Jonah Hill has tired me out of him with each film he does. He’s not yawn worthy like a Michael Cera, but his comedy feels awkwardly improvised that doesn’t actually make me laugh. His work in 21 Jump Street is the funniest he has ever been. That awkwardness feels a bit left behind and a more confident in your face approach replaces it. My faith in the skinny Jonah Hill has been restored. The more impressive of the two is Channing Tatum. I have not been as hard on him as others since I have actually enjoyed some of his earlier work, but the perception of him is that he’s bad. I can see this is the best I’ve seen out of him. He was funny in The Dilemma, and even better here, so maybe comedy is where his niche could be. He’s so god damn funny in this where he plays a goofy version of geek who looks like a jock. A flock of minor supporting characters also chip in with some jokes in their limited screen time such as Ice Cube, Ron Swanson, Johnny Depp, Dave Franco, and Rob Riggle. They all have something to bring and are a very nice compliment to the stars Hill and Tatum. It’s a funny ass comedy that boasts an impressive cast that gels together nicely.

When 21 Jump Street comes out in March, you really do need to take the time to go and see it. The experience I had with this film can only be matched the very first time I watched The Hangover a few years ago. It is that funny, and had me going the entire time. Such a great comedy, and if anything tops it, this will be a great year for comedies.

Overall Score: 8.5/10

 

[Buzzman]

The Vow (2012)

A newlywed couple recovers from a car accident that puts the wife in a coma. Waking up with severe memory loss, her husband endeavors to win her heart again.

I have a super soft spot for romance movies targeted at woman. The actual good ones seem to somewhat appeal to men, but if your entire target audience is toward the female gender, it usually means your movie fucking blows. That trend isn’t always correct, but it’s a formula that you can mostly feel confident in ringing true. The Vow has all the makings to be one of those same shitty films but the trailer is somewhat deceiving. It’s not as cheesy as it seems, and the perspective comes from the male perspective, which adds a layer of freshness that shouldn’t really be there since it’s not as original as it seems. It’s a film that tries to outrun cheesy clichéd filled romance but just can’t run fast enough. It reminds me a lot of the movie The Break Up.

The first few minutes early in the film is really bad; Absolutely dreadful to watch. It’s slow, cheesy, cringe-worthy, and makes you want to punch the characters in the face. They are quite annoying with their all too perfect life. Then the accident happens; his wife doesn’t remember him anymore. The convenient placements to have her forget only the time in which she was with her husband. Everything else is intact. Here they have two sides of the story. There is her side of it, where she sees a man she doesn’t love and is told she actually does. She seems to be a bit of a bitch throughout the entire process and even in the conclusion cannot redeem her with the way they take the character. Her husband’s side carries a bit more sympathy. This is the woman he loves and it’s much harder for someone to move on knowing their past rather than forgetting it. His wife never seems to place her in his situation and how this affects him. She doesn’t seem to realize it’s tough for the both of them. It’s much easier to root for the husband than the wife. The relationship heads into an interesting direction that feels far too unlikely to actually happen because than it would actually have a chance to be good, but alas, it heads down a road of predictability. It might not have gotten there how you expected, but it still lands in the same conclusion you were expecting walking in. It’s a bummer because it could have been somewhat redeemable with the proper ending.

If you are a Rachael McAdams fan, this may not be the film for you. She plays an absolute bitch with very little redeeming qualities. I guess it’s not her fault more of the script, but she’s very unlikable her, which goes against her other roles. Normally you cheer for her, but I found myself hoping she’d die because her husband was far too good of a man to be with her. Channing Tatum, again impresses me more than he should. He gets my sympathy for playing a character that only faces disappointment. No matter how hard he tries, he just cannot win. Tatum plays the character well after the first thirty minutes and has slowly moved up my list of interesting actors. This year has already been too good to him. This cast in the relationship isn’t a winner at all, but maybe that is supposed to happen since it’s supposed to represent the strangeness between them since her memory is gone. I doubt they were that smart, but it could be a possibility.

Even fans of romance films will have a hard time enjoying this more than what it is. An average to below average film. It’s somewhat cheesy but has some real sentimental moments that could make it worthwhile. If you were into the previous works of Nicholas Sparks, this is right up your alley, but if that wasn’t your thing, this won’t change your mind.

Overall Score: 5/10

 

[Rivers17ncsu]

Buzzman getting his Channing Tatum on!


I've been sort've interested in 21 Jump Street.

 

[Buzzman]

Buzzman’s Worst Films of 2011

Another year means another round of absolutely shitty films that flood the market. A pretty drastic change from last year to this when comparing my worst films list, last year’s worst films for the most part were always going to be crap with very little chance of turning into something decent. This year, a lot of the films that fell onto the list were some films I was anticapting, some films I had some hope to enjoy, but after walking out, seemed to disgust me; hell the my worst film of the year happened to be nominated for a bunch of Oscars. It’s been a strange year and the worst movies don’t seem to contradict that statement at all. Some of you may agree, some of you may think I’m crazy, but here are the worst films of the year through my eyes and thoughts.

#10 | No Strings Attached (January 21)

This was one of the earliest films released that is on this list and January/February is always prime real estate for some of the year’s worst, but surprisingly this is the only film that was released in the first two months. It featured a typical sleep walk performance of Ashton Kutcher in yet another rom-com, but the real disappointment was Natalie Portman’s trip into doing more mainstream appeal that was a disaster. She can be funny in small doses, but this film and Your Highness proved that she should stick to her hardcore dramas that’s she’s more than excellent at. What seems to make this movie even worse is the exact same film came out months later (Friends with Benefits) and shit on it in every way imaginable. It’s not funny, it’s not romantic, and it’s not very good.

#9 | 30 Minutes or Less (August 12)

Zombieland’s director was returning to turn in his second feature film. Nothing about it screamed like it was going to be the next big comedy but you’d think with Danny McBride, Nick Swardson, and Michael Pena, you’d at least get a consistent amount of laughs from the film, but all I got from it was awkward pauses and jokes where you could hear the crickets chirping. Most of the jokes fell flat, seemed too badly improvised, and even the few action scenes were nothing short of generic in today’s day of age. It was a sure-fire miss for everyone involved, but hopefully the director to bounce back with his much anticipated Gangster Squad next year and forget that this film ever happened.

#8 | Paranormal Activity 3 (October 21)

The franchise for myself has been a very strange one. I hated the first one in the series, I initially loved the second one but it had so much shock value that it’s just about trash on repeat viewings, so the third one was in a place that had nowhere to go but up it felt like. Then they went and did something stupid; they added witchcraft into the story and completely lost even the small amount of interest I still had in the series. The franchise is old and tiresome; it needs to die, but will end up going the Saw route with a half dozen more sequels to come, but for once I can say I won’t be there to see them. I am done with this franchise.

#7 | Real Steel (October 7)

It may not seem that bad when you watch it, but if you really think about the film, it has every quality of being an absolute joke of a film. The boxing story that comes with it is every bit generic as every other movie that told the story better, but they have robots in it so they think its fresh material. And then there is the aspect of the father played by Hugh Jackman; who is certainly the front runner for the worst dad of the year. The list of things he does: sells his kid for money, abandons his kid next to a cliff leaving him alone to carry a heavy ass robot up the mountain, gets his son beat up, and consistently verbally abuses him. Don’t worry though, they have a heart-felt moment at the end for about five minutes that completely erases everything that has happened earlier in the film. It’s all good.

#6 | New Year’s Eve (December 9)

Was there really any doubt that this was going to make the list? It’s an absolute mess. It’s like going to the city pool on a hot summer day and seeing way too many people in it. The only thing that even sops this form being higher on the list was I found the character played by Zac Efron to be a complete tool that I found myself laughing at most of the things he did. Nothing more really needs to be said of this garbage.

#5 | Larry Crowne (July 1)

This film isn’t absolutely terrible, but rather just extremely lazy. It’s like they said lets throw two former Hollywood A Listers in Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts onto the screen and watch the audience just ooze that they were given the opportunity to see this. It’s a pretty dull, boring, generic, paint by numbers romantic comedy that isn’t funny, isn’t romantic, and has the eyars worst side-characters ever. They are literally just there with no background information or any information for that matter. They just show up and ride scooters with Tom Hank’s and then go back to his place and sell off his possessions for money. We expect this kind of film from Gerald Butler and Katherine Heigl, but not form you Tom, not from you.

#4 | Green Lantern (June 17)

At no point did I think Green lantern had a chance to be good. That first trailer revealed that garbage that it was and everything that came after it didn’t matter. But I was never prepared to think it would turn out as bad as it was. Ryan Reynolds as Green lantern was terribly miscast, looked like a goofy mother fucker in costume and had to take on two of the worst comic villains in recent memory. At what point did they studio watch the film and not go whoa why does that pervert with the bigass head have orgasms every 5 minutes on screen and wasn’t that polluted cloud already sued In the second Fantastic Four movie? There was one scene where Blake Lively’s character cannot tell Hal Jordan is Green lantern when all he has covering his face his Zorro eye-patch. It was comedy gold. The true icing on the cake has to be the use of the powers themselves. You can create anything in your head with this ring, yet you choose to make a racecar and a terminator gun? Great imagination. This could have been the death of experimental comic book characters; thanks a lot of Green Lantern.

#3 | Sucker Punch (March 25)

At one point early in the year I thought for sure this was going to be the worst film I had the pleasure of viewing. It fucking blew because I really expected great things out of it. It was supposed to be Zach Snyder’s passion project filled with amazing action and hot oozing young woman running around half naked in a fantasy world. A few days before it came out, I saw a tv spot for it and at the end I saw a PG-13 Rating and nearly spit my drink out. How the hell was this not going be rated-R? Everything I imagined wouldn’t work without it, and surely enough, everything was too safe, too repetitive, and had nothing of value. It’s alright to have a 90 minute film of gun fights, but when you have no consequences in those fights they become meaningless. This is easily one of the worst films of the year, but also one of the most disappointing ones on top of it.

#2 | The Sitter (December 9)

The red-band to this movie is so god damn funny. It had all the raunchy humor I enjoy packed into a 150 second time frame. Too bad I didn’t stop there. The actual movie is such a chore to get through. A lot of the jokes feel rehashed from other better films, and Jonah Hill just phones it in before he gets skinny. There are times when you can overlook plot points for a film, but when every single scene feels disconnected from the next featuring a wide range of fake characters, it’s hard to enjoy. If you ever see this movie sitting in a store you should just grab it and throw it in the garbage and save someone the trouble. It’s an awful film in every sense of the way.

#1 | War Horse (December 25)

Now I am not saying this has nothing good about it. In fact I enjoyed the film making aspect of it with the great scenery, camera shots and score, but god damn fi there wasn’t boring film this year. It was almost three hours long about a horse going through every moment of the First World War and the boy who would do anything to get him back. Bear in mind this boy knew the horse for all but thirty god damn days. How the hell can you root for the two protagonists to find each other when you simply weren’t given enough time to give a shit about them. After sitting through this repetitive film for all but three hours, when they finally reunited I was half surprised he didn’t start fucking the horse right and then. I guess that came much alter, while off screen. It was nominated simply because of the name of Spielberg but at this point n his career, there seems to be nothing truly special about him anymore. He’s a mediocre filmmaker that seems to be clinging to his past of fortunes. If Lincoln flops enxt year, we can all but seal his coffin shut and pretend he died.​

 

[j.hen]

I agree for the most part but what were you really expecting from 30 Minutes Or Less? It was barely an hour long, was good for a few laughs. (but after Social Network I'm pretty Eisenberg biased) Paranormal Activity 3 was easily the best of the series. And I promise you there's a real story within Sucker Punch, however esoteric it's symbolism may be. Also I thought The Sitter really wasn't that bad at all honestly. Coulda been worse.

 

[Buzzman]

I guess its all about expectations.

- 30 Minutes or Less never should have cast Eisenberg in a comedy, dudes not funny.
- I hate witchcraft in every shape and form (PA3)
- Sucker Punch had a good first introduction and a great conclusion, but everything in between was so Syner-ish.
- I walked into The Sitter expecting it t be the best comedy of the year based on the red-band.