Buttered Popcorn: Buzzmans Movie Review Thread

[Buzzman]

The Town (2010)

Plot: Career bank robber Doug and his volatile partner, James, hit a roadblock when Doug falls for bank manager Claire, whom he kidnapped during their last heist. Worse, an FBI agent is now trailing the thieves around their Charlestown, Mass., territory.

Story: The Town does nothing truly groundbreaking as far as heist movies go, but it does provide a consistent two-hours of entertainment. It starts off immediately with a heist being performed but you get a hint that one it’s members is starting to lose his edge by taking a hostage with them. When there leader, Doug MacRay checks up on the hostage, Claire, things start to get complicated for him and the group. He falls for her and starts to imagine a life away from Charlestown, but the rest of the group, specifically his best friend James, want no part of that. He’s forced into doing one last job, but with all movies we know they never go as planned. It’s ending is fairly predictable and a little anti-climatic, but the characters and scenery make it more then just an average film.

Characters: Ben Affleck as Doug MacRay is good here. He never is the star on screen, but he has finally rid himself as the laughing stock in Hollywood and actually deserves to be respected with great screen presence. He kind of takes a back seat to Jeremy Renner, who dominates the screen whenever he’s in the scene. He’s the type of character that is easy to enjoy. He’s a little bit nuts, but he secretly is thinking in his head, which makes him such a dangerous threat. The hostage, Claire, plays out exactly like Ashley Judd’s character in Heat. She is placed in a conflicting situation with the law, acts in a questionable manner, but ends up as a very likeable gal. Jon Hamm playing the relentless FBI agent is a bit of a waste. Other then a short conversation with Doug, he doesn’t get to show off his talents with some ordinary character direction.

Also, do Boston whores really act and sound like Blake Lively?

Other: The greatest accomplishment Affleck created with The Town was the scenery of Boston. Affleck knows the city and captured the accents, the city, and the atmosphere. The first two heists were disappointingly short, but the final heist is lengthy and plays out in one of Boston’s most recognizable places. It plays out a lot like the big one in Heat, and the similarities don’t end there. Everything with Claire and the conclusion felt like this was a remake of Heat but from a different perspective. That’s not a bad thing though, because if you’re going to borrow from a movie, why not one of the best heist movies ever made. The Town is worse in comparison to Heat, but great compared to any other film in the same genre. Go in with high expectations and you might be disappointed, but should satisfy very much as long as you’re not expecting constant action.

Overall Score: 8/10

 

[Buzzman]

Machete (2010)

Plot: Hired to assassinate a politician, vigilante and ex-Federale Machete (Danny Trejo) nearly dies when a sniper shoots him during the job. Out for revenge, he's joined by a reluctant old buddy (Cheech Marin) who's become a pacifist priest.

Story: Machete is the tale of two halves. In the first half, you have great old-school action. Machete is a killer, and that just happens to be the problem for the people that betrayed him. They had no idea what they were getting into. This is a man that will use your intestines as a rope to jump down to a lower floor. Everything he does is mindless fun. It’s when the film starts to dwell into a bigger metaphor of real life situation is when it starts to just fall apart into a black hole. The entire revolution at the end and the conclusions to some characters were just a complete mess and either made for pointless affair or just plain shit.

Characters: Danny Trejo as Machete fits perfectly for him. It’s the exact type of role that he was meant to play. He’s a badass Mexican Federale that is in the wrong place at the wrong time. The thing’s he does are over the top awesome and brings back memories of the 80’s action heroes. Robert De Niro tries to recreate that magic he once had, but he’s lost it. There is probably nothing he can do to bring it back. A bunch of other characters seemed cast to bring in a familiar face like Segal and Lohan, but there characters felt stupid and out of place. But none were more out of place then Jessica Alba as the immigration officer turned Mexican revolutionist. She was flat out the dumbest character I’ve seen in a long while. The only explanation is the half nude shoot they show of her, because other then that, she brought nothing to the movie.

Other: I can understand why they created a movie based on a fake trailer. It had awesome action that was reminiscent of old, but it’s hard to pull together a whole story and that’s exactly what happened with Machete. It was a shame because the first hour was very fun and entertaining, but the obvious immigration laws of today made its way into a movie that had no right in trying to point out there flaws. If you enjoyed The Expendables, this film is right up your alley.

Overall Score: 5/10

 

[Champ]

Machete is the second best movie to come out this year.

 

[Fox1994]

I like how you said De Niro's lost it and is never getting it back. Haha.

 

[Buzzman]

Machete is the second best movie to come out this year.

You must have only seen two movies this year.

 

[stevsta]

I would have to disagree with machete I saw it and it was a great movie that didnt take itself seriously at all and had some great scenes. although I guess the likability of the movie depends on the viewer as this movie is not for everyone.

 

sieriously with the amount of naked women and arms getting cut off who could not like this movie + alba gets naked insta 10 lol

 

[Buzzman]

Alba was complete shit in the movie. Her 1 second half nude shot doesn't make up for the atrocious plot movement her character provided. And it did start to take itself seriously in the second half which is why I started to not enjoy it. If you can't see the GIANT fucking metaphor of today's immigration laws, your blind or ignorant.

 

[stevsta]

Alba was complete shit in the movie. Her 1 second half nude shot doesn't make up for the atrocious plot movement her character provided. And it did start to take itself seriously in the second half which is why I started to not enjoy it. If you can't see the GIANT fucking metaphor of today's immigration laws, your blind or ignorant.

giant metaphor what are you talking about I thought the white senators not wanting to have cheap labor and wanting to send wetbacks back across the border was everyones opninons oh and almost forgot all the people who enforce the border are incompetent so "patriots" have to take it in their own hands to save their country lol

I would have to agree though towards the end after the

 

machetes brothers death it started to go downhill

however it still doesnt make this movie one of the worst of the year

I would put it in the top 5 I've seen in terms of overall enjoyment and if you took anything political out of a robert rodriguez trailer based movie then I guess ill have to take all your reviews with more salt than before

 

[Buzzman]

a 5/10 doesn't make it one of he worst of the year, it just makes not one of the best of the year. If it truly is in your top 5, then you must not have seen many movies.

Have you not kept up with whats going on in Arizona? The director was even talking about how today's events effected the movie and the movie received a lot of backlash for taking sides.

 

[Maynard]

why is it that you shit on people who might like something you dont? as a reviewer wanna be, your supposed to give a review, not tell everyone who disagrees why they are wrong or ignorant.

shit man, u gave kick ass a 9 out of 10. thats a great score if your reviewing things for the 8-18 crowd

 

[Buzzman]

sure.... I was so so acting like a badass. They said it was one of the best movies of the year, awesome for them, I have no clue why they would think that unless they haven't seen many movies or don't mind dumb action like the Expendables. I see a debate, not bashing. There will always be movies that get disagreed upon.

You might be the only one who didn't fucking love Kick-Ass. 95% of people I have talked to loves the movie to death. That's coming from ages 11 to 42. Hell even Dell gave Kick Ass 10/10.

Y

 

[stevsta]

sure.... I was so so acting like a badass. They said it was one of the best movies of the year, awesome for them, I have no clue why they would think that unless they haven't seen many movies or don't mind dumb action like the Expendables. I see a debate, not bashing. There will always be movies that get disagreed upon.

You might be the only one who didn't fucking love Kick-Ass. 95% of people I have talked to loves the movie to death. That's coming from ages 11 to 42. Hell even Dell gave Kick Ass 10/10.

Y

I respect buzzmans opinion and dont take anything personally as no one should different people have different opinions ill just agree to disagree with him on this movie

 

[Buzzman]

Easy A (2010)

Plot: Ambitious student Olive (Emma Stone) decides to boost her popularity by pretending to be the school slut. As the school's swirling rumor mill increases both her notoriety and her finances, Olive enjoys her newfound status but eventually must decide which is more important: popularity or self-esteem.

Story: It was nice to actually watch a high school comedy that relied on it’s witty writing rather some poorly thought raunchiness. It has very charming dialogue that turns a very ordinary story into a fun film experience. The virginity tale has been run and done with it being the driving point in most films of the genre, but by having a female lead that pokes fun at the subject actually gives it a freshly coated perspective. It falters a bit near the end, having a very bland predictable conclusion, but the first three-quarters provides you with plenty of laughs that you in someway can connect with.

Characters: Stone finally jumps into the leading lady role and boy does she impress. She dominates the screen every second she’s on it. The clever dialogue combined with her natural abilities combine for some funny moments that keep up a constant pace all film long. It’s pretty impressive because no one else had more then fifteen minutes of screen time; it was all on her and she passed with flying colors. From the minor roles, Stanley Tucci stood out the most as her father with some hilarious one liners.

Other: Not much left to say. This is a one actress show who upgrades it to something enjoyable. It could have had a better ending, but I can’t really see where else it could have headed. The one peeve I have is when a film tries to pass a hot person off as a geek. No world does Emma Stone go unnoticed in high school. That’s just stretching it too far. If you’re a male over 30, this might not be your tatse, but for everyone else you should find it pretty entertaining.

Overall Score: 7/10

 

[Buzzman]

Get Him To The Greek (2010)

Plot: Ambitious young record company intern Aaron Green (Jonah Hill) will let nothing get in the way of his planned rise to the top in the music business -- not even the unruly rock star (Russell Brand) he must escort to Los Angeles for the start of his anniversary concert. Doing whatever it takes to get the rocker from Point A to Point B, Aaron encounters all manners of mishaps in this comedy

Story: Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Aldous Snow were such hits for Hollywood, they felt you needed more of him. It’s risky what they did here because most of the time small roles are great because, well, they were small. Here they made a supporting character into a lead for a full 90 minutes. When the film is looking for laughs, it is all awkward and forced, but when it’s actually goes into depressed mode, it actually works well. It just fits better with the rock and roller life. This was a rare movie in which it was crap until the last half hour.

Characters: I hate Russell Brand. I’ve never really enjoyed him in anything, including Sarah Marshall, but here he provided an occasional laugh, but showed some impressive acting when the movie turned serious. The depressed, rock-n-roller part seems meant for him. His buddy in crime, Jonah Hill, continues to be pathetic since Superbad. Every movie, he tends to get fatter and less funny. He relies on the same awkward dialogue and crude humor for every role and I’m really starting to dislike him. P Diddy is the worst though. Since he’s black, he uses several old jokes centered on his race that are old and flat.

Other: The film, other then Aldous Snow himself, only references Sarah Marshall once, but it was kind of an out-of-nowhere scene that was pretty amusing. The film didn’t work as a comedy, but I wouldn’t have worked as a drama either. It was stuck in-between and probably came out as best as it was going to be. I’m still a little puzzled as to why they would cast Jonah Hill as a completely different character then from the one he played in Sarah Marshall. But if you enjoy Russell Bland, you should have no problem enjoying this film.

Overall Score: 6/10

 

[stevsta]

I think I might watch that easy-A in a week or so (after 2k11 of course)

emma stone is hot :yep:

 

[CCBrink]

Do the Social Network next :yep:.


SN: It was P.Diddy in the movie, not Kanye.

 

[Buzzman]

Do the Social Network next :yep:.


SN: It was P.Diddy in the movie, not Kanye.

:facepalm: black people all look the same to me. /sarcasm

 

[CrimsonGhost56]

get him was one of the funniest movies of the year. dont know what the fuck you were watching.

lol - dude didnt even know it was p diddy, not kayne. buzzman's movie reviews = where credibility reigns.

 

[Buzzman]

What parts did you find to be hilarious?

 

[j.hen]

What parts did you find to be hilarious?

Just about every conversation Russell Brand has throughout the movie is hilarious, obviously a lot of the dialogue with his character was improv'd. Even the way he introduces himself to Hill's character was gold, "I'm Aldous Snow the rock star." *sips his beer*

And the whole scene with the jeffery was one of the funniest I've seen for awhile.