Buttered Popcorn: Buzzmans Movie Review Thread

[Buzzman]

The Last Exorcism (2010)

Plot: A troubled evangelical minister agrees to let his last exorcism be filmed by a documentary crew.

Story: The story plays along as a documentary, with a shaky camera crew recording reverend Cotton Marcus’ last exorcism. It’s a very interesting watch because Cotton has lost faith in everything he’s done his entire life and decides to film this exorcism to reveal to the world the truth behind it all. It takes advantage of this creating a terrific parody of the genre with clever dramatic irony, giving the audience a rare laugh. When the film takes a turn and unexplainable events start occurring, you must question whether this particular demon truly exists or not. It creates some good tension and scary moments, but it has a poorly executed ending to an otherwise excellent film. Some might wonder whether they should have ended it earlier at a specific scene, but the film was in a lose-lose situation regardless of which one they used.

Characters: The reverend, Cotton Marcus, is a real treat here. His deceiving act he pulls on this family is well played and his beliefs can correlate with many people on the subject matter. His transformation from beginning to end feel a bit sudden, taking into account his reasons for doing this in the first place, but he chooses his faith without ever realizing it. The teenager getting exorcised, Nell, puts on some creepy faces and body movements that you get with every movie of this genre, but the innocence of her character really makes you tweeter on the edge if she’s actually possessed. Her father provides a nice little mystery on whether he’s the actual problem or not, creating a reasonable explanation to this madness if proven true.

Others: I’ve always been a big fan of the hand held camera type visualization that has become a recent trend in Hollywood. They use it extremely well here and give the film a sense of horror without needing any blood or CGI effects, but with lighting and noise; that traditional horror you got back so many years ago. The Last Exorcism puts up a great 75 minutes of film, but came up with such very boring ending, downgrading it from great to good. It’s still better then the shit you’ve been getting lately in the department, so no need to pass it up.

Overall Score: 7/10

 

[Buzzman]

Slither (2006)

Plot: In the small burg of Wheelsy, housecats are turning into hellcats and townsfolk are morphing into zombies, prompting Sheriff Bill Pardy and the concerned wife of one of the town's richest citizens to uncover the dark forces at work.

Story: Slither is horror-comedy that is heavily influenced by B Movies of the 80s. There never is anything here that will scare you; those slugs can trigger a phobia with how fast they move. The monsters in the film play similar to zombies, but they still talk, saying some pretty funny stuff. The laughs aren’t cheap either. They may have some obvious jokes coming, but most of it is bizarre funny with outrageous situations. The actual plot just adds to that campy B movie style they went for. A man’s body gets used as a host, growing through people, wanting world domination. It was dumb but it worked well in the world they created. The final product of the monster was one nasty fuck though.

Characters: The film has plenty of lovable characters. The sheriff Bill Pardy is funny, in over his head, and a bit too lazy to handle the situation. The monster’s wife, Starla, is a bit of a freak but for a woman holds her ground and is extremely useful character, which is a bit of coin flip between the two leads for its genre. The two scene stealers are Mayor Jack MacRready, who spits out some of the movie’s funniest lines and scenes, and Margaret, the fatty who can’t stop eating. The monster Grant, is mostly puppetry, but is a great villain none-the-less.

Others: Your not going to find anything ground breaking here. It reminds me a lot of Shaun of the Dead, but instead of zombies, its fast slugs and a giant meatpile. Despite the horrible use of CGI, when they used the puppetry it looked much worse, but the look made it feel like a classic. It was more of a reminder of what was instead of what is. It is one of the better best spoofs released this decade and is almost as high as Shaun of the Dead. Its not as funny, but still is a good time.

Overall Score: 7.5/10

 

[Buzzman]

I've been messing around with it lately, but I just can't seem to find anything that fits. I'm trying to change up the reviews a little bit, but can't really settle on anything. Any suggestions? I don't mind my current format, but I feel like it can be a whole lot better.

 

[Buzzman]

The American (2010)

Plot: On the heels of a rough assignment, assassin Jack declares that his next job will be his last. Dispatched to a small Italian town to await further orders, Jack embarks on a double life that may be more relaxing than is good for him. Although duty will surely call, Jack becomes friends with Father Benedetto and falls for villager Clara

Story: Imagine for a minute waiting in line for a roller coaster. After waiting for an hour, you finally get on the ride, where another hour goes by all the roller coaster did was ride in a straight line with no bumps. You can’t wait for it to end so you can get off and move onto something else. That sums up The American all too well. Often things took to long to unfold or lead to nothing, as if they expected everything to have a meaningful metaphor. The film started off with a bang that created great suspense later on, but it never capitalized on it by always following it up with the same act. It became dull, and the ending became predictable, making an already boring film, even more dreadful.

Characters: Clooney as Jack actually is great here trying to do everything he could to add some life to his character, but you could tell the writing let him down. Nothing is revealed about him that you don’t already know just by him being a hitman. He fills his loneliness up with hookers and when he’s done with them he moves on. He doesn’t trust anyone and finally has had enough of his profession. Nothing about him stands out making him such a boring protagonist. The only scene he’s remotely interesting is when he’s building a rifle for his last job. The hooker her falls for, Clare, definitely has a nice body as the show it off often, but she doesn’t have any quality to understand why it’s this woman he finally falls for. She herself is nothing more then you’d expect from a prostitute. The other man Jack befriends, Father Benedetto, felt completely unnecessary because he was only there to teach Jack a life lesson, but never got to the point. This might be the first movie I’ve seen where each character introduced is more boring then the previous one.

Others: Without question, The American is a beautifully shot film that has incredible shots of the characters and the environment; even it’s audio is great by only using the noise the characters make rather then music and busy street. But all of that becomes useless if you don’t have any interesting material to combine it with. What could have been a very good film ends up putting you to sleep. Only watch this if you are looking fro your yearly Clooney fix, otherwise keep moving along.

Overall Score: 4/10

 

[Buzzman]

Defendor (2010)

Plot: Despite lacking any actual superpowers, Arthur Poppington transforms himself into costumed vigilante "Defendor." But danger beckons when the hero tries to protect young prostitute Katfrom an assailant.

Story: Defendor attempts a different approach to the superhero genre with its title character. He doesn’t have powers, he’s not intimidating, and he’s a total nutcase. It’s that instability in his head that lead to the best parts of the film. You as an audience understand everything that’s wrong with his views to take down Captain Industry and you can’t help but feel sorry for this guy. It’s a wonder he’s lasted this long. The impact he makes in the media is well done and entertaining, but the film had the unfortunate problem of only have one possible ending. Its predictability made a somewhat emotional scene long coming and dull.

Characters: Woody Harrelson is one of the most under appreciated talents in Hollywood. He brings a lot to his characters and is no different here. Defendor is a mentally ill man who can’t handle what life throws at him so he changes into a game, but he never does it intentionally. He believes what he’s doing is for a cause and its great how the media interrupts him. He’s a sign of hope. His social awkwardness leads him to befriend a prostitute played by Kat Dennings. She’s kind of awful here. She acts as if she’s playing herself in every role and it just doesn’t fit with the character they made her out to be. No sympathy for her. His name escapes me, but the man who played Defendor’s friend needed more screen time. I’ve always like him but his name escapes me right now.

Others: In the midst of all these comic book/superhero movies, its not a surprise Defendor was overlooked. It doesn’t necessarily appeal to everyone. It’s not the best of its genre obviously but it will still provide some nice entertainment with a few laughs in between. If your looking for a kick-ass type feel, look elsewhere, because this is more of a internal battle with few action scenes and a more serious take on concept of a random citizen donning a mask and fighting crime.

Overall Score: 6/10

 

[SOS4Prez]

I was a little disappointed by Defendor. I thought it would be more comedy-oriented. The drama wasn't bad and I knew there had to be some of it, but it caught me just a little bit off-guard all the same. Harrelson was unbelievable though.

 

[Fox1994]

:bump:

There's no good reason this should be at the bottom of the first page. It's one of our best staple threads, with Dell's two and Woy's... Don't let it fall off, amigo.

:bump:

 

[Buzzman]

Frozen (2010)

Story: Frozen is the tale of three teenage friends with the help of some very bad luck, are stranded atop a chairlift in the freezing harsh environment with very limited options of survival. The choices they make decide their fates. Which ones made the right decisions?

Frozen does a sensational job when you realize they only had three people bunched together on-screen and had them sitting in a chair for majority of the movie. It did so by creating such a constant state of claustrophobia and tension for the main characters. The choices they make all have consequences, but the risks were necessary in order to survive. One character has a fate far worse then you could possibly imagine, but the psychological effect it has on the others gives the movie substance to build on. It kind of dehumanizes them. That gives the film room to build meaningful dialogue in-between the tense scenes to keep the audience interested. The other battle they face is the cold. Stuck in a snow storm, it forces them to make quick, possibly poorly thought choices. They make you question what exactly you would do in their predicament and whether they made the smartest move. The ending is a bit of a downer, but it fit in well with the on-going tone of the rest of the film had, so it shouldn’t come as a big surprise.

Characters: Our three main characters are actually sort of bad, with the occasional good scene, but it never really effected the film in a negative way. It worked in their favor because they never asked too much of them. They just had to say their lines and let the surroundings provide the entertainment. Their emotional scenes were drowned in some awful screams, but it still dealt the emotional blow they intended through music and the claustrophobic environments. No one blew you away, but they did exactly what they were told; puppets in someone else’s play.

Miscellaneous: The best parts that made the film was the musical score. Sure, climbing across a wire 50 feet in the air is scary, but put in some blood pumping music in the background and your going to get the audience’s attention. It happens a lot in the film, and they used it perfectly. The other great factor they used to their advantage was the cold. The longer the characters were left up there, the more it wore on them with, frozen faces, frostbite and one disgusting scene with skin and metal. They just did an all around fantastic job in creating a psychological thriller with so little to work with.

Closing Summary: Frozen is a great small budget film that uses everything to its advantage. It is a strongly recommended film that gets your blood flowing.

Final Verdict: 8/10

 

[dell71]

The American (2010)

Overall Score: 4/10

Hmmm...had high hopes for that one.

Defendor (2010)

Overall Score: 6/10

I keep seeing on the shelf at the video store and contemplating it, just never pulled the trigger on it. One of these days.

Frozen (2010)

Final Verdict: 8/10​

Sounds very interesting. I'll have to check that out.

 

[Buzzman]

Hmmm...had high hopes for that one.

It was one of my most anticipated movies of the year. Maybe I had too high expectations?

 

[SOS4Prez]

Did you see Frozen in a theater or has it finally hit the web?

 

[Buzzman]

Did you see Frozen in a theater or has it finally hit the web?

It hit the web about a month ago. It wasn't in my theater otherwise I would've saw it in February.

 

[Buzzman]

From Paris with Love (2010)

Plot: While working at the American embassy in Paris, low-level intelligence agent James Reece gets involved in espionage when he's pulled into a terrorist plot by high-ranking but uncouth American operative Charlie Wax, who's trying to stop it.

Story: Talking about the plot is an sort of an insult to its viewers. The fact that they tried to throw this garbage on screen and pass it off as a movie should be a crime. It rips off just about every action movie ever made and tries to recreate those scenes with nothing in between and expect you to be entertained. You can’t have that when you have nothing to follow. There is no plan here, just two guys running around Paris completing a checklist that doesn’t officially exist. The climatic shocker was a bit of a joke, making you laugh in the weirdest of moments. It’s a complete mess with the hope that the poorly executed action scenes will carry its terrible plot, but both are dead weight.

Characters: Boy has getting fat gotten to John Travolta’s head. He just doesn’t have “it” anymore that made him famous in the first place. Much like his latest work, he tends to be taking checks while on vacation because he just goes through his lines with whatever he wants. He probably says “fuck” over 100 times, but with his appearance, it carries no effect. Meyers as the by the books agent couldn’t be more boring. If you’ve seen the character in a dozen movies like this, and he brings nothing out of the ordinary to the role. He cries, complains, and cries some more, yet by ends time he’s supposed to become some sort of badass? Definitely not buying it.

Other: The action was obviously the selling point of the film, but it was just as bad as the plot. Nowadays shootouts are a dime a dozen, but if you add some flare into it, the scene can become exciting and entertaining. From Paris with Love doesn’t do that, it’s as bland as it could be. You also have to question the casting choice of Travolta. You’re telling me this guy is one of the best agents? One, he sticks out like a sore thumb and two, he just doesn’t look intimidating. Granted, no one else could have saved this awful movie, but there had to be a more suitable actor out available.

This terrible excuse for a film should be forgotten and passed up fairly quickly.

Overall Score: 1/10

 

[PNovak]

Whats with Travolta doing all these shitty ass movies of late?

 

[Buzzman]

Whats with Travolta doing all these shitty ass movies of late?

because hes become a shitty actor.

 

[PNovak]

It's not his acting. Its his mid life crisis plus shitty directors and scripts.

 

[Buzzman]

It's not his acting. Its his mid life crisis plus shitty directors and scripts.

yea I'm sure that's it:thumbsup:

 

[Epidemik]

Sly is probably gonna make expendables II

 

[PNovak]

Only thing missing from The Expendables was Van Damm. Hope he is in the second one. From what I heard he wanted a lot more actors who either turned it down or were obligated to do other films.

 

[Buzzman]

Only thing missing from The Expendables was Van Damm. Hope he is in the second one. From what I heard he wanted a lot more actors who either turned it down or were obligated to do other films.

It was also missing anything good.