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Truth or Dare (2018)
Ruined by terrible storytelling
So, I don't dislike this film. The premise is sound enough, the acting done well, it all just holds up as a decent horror film. At least nearly all. This is let down by downright terrible storytelling.
So the premise is a demon has taken over the game of Truth or Dare and when people are asked, they have to do what they choose. If they don't, they die. This is all going well until quite late in the film the whole premise of the game is downright ruined by the demon actually ignoring the rules of the game, taking control of a body and then stabbing who it admits is the only person that could have stopped the game.
So the whole premise of the film is thrown in the toilet there and then. The point behind the whole film, ruined. Why did it need to play the truth or game? It didn't, the demon could have simply done what it wanted all along. A bad ending can't ruin a film completely, the positives are still there, but it leaves the worst taste and knocks the film down dramatically.
Dragonwolf (2013)
Falls flat on so many levels
I'll keep this simple. The story is bad, made absolutely terrible by some of the worst voice-over work I've had the misfortune of hearing, and I've played some terrible games and watched some terrible films in my time.
The action is choreographed reasonably. This doesn't mean it's good, it's passable. It's noticeable too often and there is too much reliance on fighting, making it seem like it's just a wet dream fantasy of some random guy.
This wet dream fantasy is culminated with shoe-horned sex scenes or just random female nudity. Now, granted, this actually is the best part of the film for me, as a hot-blooded male who thought the film was pretty crap. The women were very attractive, but were simply there to be that, which is a shame. I say women, it was just one woman really, and a topless Asian girl right at the end.
Honestly, the film is just plain bad, start to finish. The only redeeming feature is the rare, but nice to look at, nudity. That makes me sound terribly misogynistic, which I swear I'm not (!), but it's the truth. It's not worth watching.
Hanna (2011)
It's hard to say
Acting. Brilliant (for the most part). Direction. Bad. Story. It's hard to say.
It's really hard to put this film forward. While the story has some rather large plot holes/inconsistencies I didn't come in expecting something brilliant. It was advertised wrong, I will say that for certain.
It isn't the thinking man's film because if you think about it, as I did, it can sadly lower your opinion of it, if ever so slightly.
But anyway. The acting is great by the kids especially and I always like Eric Bana. Blanchett gave one of her weaker performances in this film but almost all the acting was marred by the directing and the inconsistency of it. Accents change from scene to scene. Fighting seems cut apart and one minute a guy is thrown to the floor in a move that is sure to break his arm only to be stood up two seconds later.
bleh, it's hard to say. For every bad part there is a good part and then a few good parts thrown in for good measure. Watch it, don't expect something intelligent and whatever you do, don't try to make sense of the plot.
Easy A (2010)
Easy Awesome
When I went into this film I knew absolutely nothing about it. Well, I knew it was a teen comedy of sorts so I knew... something.
So here we go.
To quote Emma Stone "A is for Awesome". She couldn't be any more correct with this film. As Will Gluck's second film this really shows some style and ability though there is no doubt that the brilliant screenplay helped make this film what it is. It's smart, funny and most importantly - genuine. It's not been that long since I was in college I know how things can spread, insanely fast, and how some people can really want to fit in.
The film starts with Olive (Emma Stone) and her webcast and with a brilliance in the script that continues throughout the whole film, she says "There are 2 sides to every story. This is my side—the right one."
To compress the story we have Olive telling a lie which involves sex to her bff Rhi (Alyson Michalka). A lie that so many people tell in real life it's no surprise they all end the same way, they bite you in the arse. In no time at all the arse-biting commences and Olive becomes the schools bimbo thanks to one extremely religious puritan (Amanda Bynes) who spreads what she overheard like wildfire.
Here we link in with the base theme of the story; "The Scarlet Letter". Olive and the rest of her English Language class are reading it and with coincidence as subtle as a . It links in so well as it is meant to, after all this is a sort of modern take on the classic.
Olive meets Brandon (Dan Byrd) in detention and this is the start of Olive's downfall. She feels sorry for him and she, as she does with many other people later in the film, pretends to rock his world. This happens with a number of people and eventually the rumours have made the worst happen. What she thinks is a real date turns out to be somebody who wants to pay for the real thing and the realisation hits her - everybody thinks she's a whore.
The Easy A title and Scarlet Letter links come in not long after the Brandon incident (which was brilliantly funny). Rhi tells Olive that the whole school thinks Olive is a "Dirty skank" which annoys her so she starts to wear... more risqué clothes with a large red A either embroidered - in most cases just over her breast.
A little more on the script. I can't go on more about how brilliant it is. It's so... genuine. Everything seems so real and so much like what somebody would say, even lines like "The Accelerated Velocity of Terminological Inexactitude" which as Olive explains is her obnoxious way of saying lies travel fast. I suppose talking like that hits close to home with me because I can be obnoxious with the use of longer words instead of simplifying. Rhi finds out her identifier are her... sizable breasts and is so happy about that. Somebody I knew was very much like that. Marianne is the only one I couldn't particularly see because while I knew religious people I never knew a religious freak who was willing to condemn me to hell for whatever I did that contradicted their beliefs. Even minor character like Evan(Jameson Moss), an overweight nerd, asks olive and she wants to know why - his line is "look at me".
There's a lot more but generally speaking the screenplay is excellent and acting follows in suite with even tiny mannerisms by all the characters fitting in perfectly. Emma Stone was perfect, it was a role i would say designed for her, with her in mind every step of the way. Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci as Olives parents were the liberal parents, offering support when needed but brilliant comedy also when needed. Thomas Haden Church was great as Mr. Griffith. No matter what the reason was, he sold me as a teacher because he was certainly channelling my old history teacher. The approachable, enthusiastic and understanding. Alyson Michalka sold me as Rhi, a rather vacuous self centred girl but still a good friend. Amanda Bynes was great as the puritanical Christian leader of the school. Lisa Kudrow was even great in her small part. Not too far from her Phoebe character but it had some good moments I didn't expect. Namely when she outright tells Olive she's going to screw her over and she knows that people won't even believe the truth if Olive states it simply because she's the Guidance Councilor.
Really, I could go on forever and then spend another eternity trying to put all this off-the-top-of-my-head review into a perfectly coherent review but I'll leave it with this.
Easy A is the best film of 2010. It doesn't have the effects or big names of Inception. It doesn't have the thought provoking drama or story of Shutter Island or Black Swan (or Inception!). It's not even as stylised as Scott Pilgrim. Why is this film the best? Synergy. Every single part of this film comes together and makes it my personal favourite film of 2010.
Watch it. Now.
Hunt to Kill (2010)
Decent action movie
Right, we need to be honest about some things to begin with. First, this is going to have a lot of people giving it the next title of "WORST FILM EVARRRRR" and while they are all wrong, they are people too!
No, but seriously. When you come into a film called 'hunt to kill' with Steve Austin as the main character, I highly doubt you're going in expecting a film with some Al Pacino style acting, the action equivalent script of The Shawshank Redemption and the cinematography of Lord of the Rings. I suppose my point is that this film isn't that bad, nor is it that great. It's a decent film. The acting on most parts is competent. It's not perfectly shot but I've seen so much worse.
I'm not going to go into the story, it's a basic run of the mill good guy/good guy's family gets caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, stuff happens.
On one note, I hated the character played by "Marie Avgeropoulos". I always have hated know-it-all teens who think they know everything and just cause more trouble.
It's worth a watch either way.
The Proposal (2009)
A Romantic, Touching and Fantastic Proposal
So, being a big butch man an' all I don't go for chick flicks... OK, I lie. I watch a load of chick flicks because they are mostly a nice entertaining time passer - I don't watch them for a good story, excellent characters and great acting.
I expect most of them to be simplistic "we don't like each other" to "WE LOVE EACH OTHER". Although this fits the bill of moving from 'bleh' to 'love' it does it in a casual way and a surprisingly believable way.
Bullock and Reynolds had amazing chemistry together. The way the emotions between the two characters visually developed and there wasn't a defining line where they moved from one end to the other like there is in most films. There also wasn't the very usual "OH MY GOD YOU DID THAT THING WE'LL NEVER TALK AGAIN" twist that leads to the "OH MY GOD WE ARE BACK IN LOVE" re-twist. I enjoyed this film in so many ways because the other cast/characters did fantastic jobs as well. Everything was so genuine which is unusual and one major scene brought a few tears to my eyes.
This film really is a fantastic film to watch. I'd recommend it to anybody and everybody unless you're allergic to emotions... Then go back to watching Saw and keep away from this
Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008)
Good film. It was really worth the Journey
Lets start off here. Now, i know there's been about 50 million Center/Centre (whichever way you like to spell it, depends which country) films. What does this one have to offer? This film has a good story, good adventure and Brendan Fraser. The other actors are good, but i like Brendan Fraser.
I saw the film today originally intending to go out and watch a different film and pass this until it came out on DVD. I'm honestly going to say that i'm really happy i saw it now. The experience is well worth the entrance fee and more. The scenery was done brilliantly. The other effects, such as the dinosaur, was also done really well. I also failed to see anybody laugh at certain parts of the film.
Overall. The film is really worth the watch. Not the best film, but by no means even average. It's an above average film, with good acting, good imagery and a good story. 6/10 at least.
The Number 23 (2007)
A thrilling film
I write this review, as late as it is to the release, due to my feeling that the film is underrated and under-appreciated.
This film. It is plain from the title and film overview that the main character Walter Sparrow (Carrey) reads a book which contains a story around the number 23 and he begins to see it everywhere. The way this is explored is terribly gripping, once the film gets going i found it difficult to even blink until the final. The story does, however, drop off at a rather quick rate, but still has a fulfilling ending which leaves explanations for the main themes of the film and also leaves you with questions that can be answered by paying attention to the details of the film.
The acting in this film was splendid. From Jim Carrey who, without a doubt, has now proved himself to be a well rounded, well-versed actor of any genre and talent. From his comedy of 'Ace Ventura', drama of 'Eternal Sunshine' to the thriller that is 'The Number 23' he deserves more roles and i cant wait to see him branch out more. In addition to him, his partners were great. Virginia Madsen plays the housewife well to begin with, seems to deteriorate in performance to the end for my liking, but still delivers her dramatic moment well. I would say more on that, but that would be a spoiler. I preferred Logan Lerman in The Butterfly Effect, but he also performed as well as can be expected here.
I would say the best part of this film, is the connection you can make to certain characters. Carreys growing obsession. Madsens worry about him or the son just enjoying it all and then getting interested. The people are down to earth and believable, some of the events are almost too much of a coincidence to be true - but isn't that what a conspiracy theory or obsession with any idea is all about? Coincidence is a key to life for people who believe in these conspiracies or any all controlling word/number/anything.
I recommend the film to those who like a psychological thriller. To those who can pay attention and notice little details. I do not recommend it to someone who is planning on walking in and seeing Jim Carrey make jokes for an hour and half, and not for those who expect straight forward shocks.