Long time no update! Well here’s finally an update to my movie tally for the year. I’m getting there. Though if I want to hit my target I might need to speed things up again.
Sucker Punch (02/04/11)
A young girl is institutionalized by her abusive stepfather. Retreating to an alternative reality as a coping strategy, she envisions a plan which will help her escape from the mental facility.
Well, erm, it looked fantastic. That counts for something. Well for me that counts for at least 1 point out of 5 that I’ve given it. It all starts off brilliantly, but as soon as we slip into the various fantasy lands things go very wrong. The fantasy lands look amazing though. Some stunning set sequences. Sadly the storyline, characters and dialog aren’t the strongest parts of the film. The dialog in particular, at times, made me cringe it was so bad. And I like films like Fast & Furious, which isn’t known for having great dialog! OK, along with looking very slick the film does have a fantastic soundtrack. Which is on my list of things I need to buy very soon.
Nice attempt from Zack Snyder to create his own movie but it just didn’t work for me. Would have made a great plot line for a console/PC game though. Shame there wasn’t a game tie-in.
Rating: 2/5
Carriers (03/04/11)
Four friends fleeing a viral pandemic soon learn they are more dangerous than any virus.
I thought this was going to be a straight up road trip movie turned zombie flick. I think it got half way there. From the outset I think, as a viewer, you’re meant to think it’s an average college road trip film. But they jump into the apocalypse type world slightly too quickly, as if they’re worried you’ll lose interest if they don’t throw it in from the get go. None of the characters are particularly likeable, so it’s hard to root for any of them when things start going wrong. However I was grateful for the bleak ending. Not everything’s happiness and sunshine.
Rating: 1/5
Source Code (06/04/11)
An action thriller centered on a soldier who wakes up in the body of an unknown man and discovers he’s part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train.
From the director who brought us Moon. That fact alone had my bar raised significantly for this film. Maybe the bar was set a little too high, but that’s not to say Source Code isn’t a brilliant film.
In the beginning I felt as disoriented as Colter Stevens. Though as Colter began to get a grip on things it felt like I did too. Sure a lot of the main plot of the film is devoted to your standard get the terrorist but you’ve got Colter’s story interwoven in that fairly well. Loved the twist at the end. Great performances from everyone. Didn’t quite reach the levels of slack-jawed wow that Moon got from me, but still, one of the better and more intelligent sci-fi films to come out this year.
Rating: 4/5
3:10 to Yuma (09/04/11)
A small-time rancher agrees to hold a captured outlaw who’s awaiting a train to go to court in Yuma. A battle of wills ensues as the outlaw tries to psych out the rancher.
My second Western movie remake of the year! Probably my last too. Only because I can’t think of any others. Oh wait, The Magnificent Seven. Maybe I should aim to add that to my list of films to watch this year.
Really liked the film. Ben Foster plays a creepy villain. Just had sadistic written all over his face. Russell Crowe and Christian Bale were great as the two leading men. I was more impressed by Logan Lerman in this than his recent role in Percy Jackson. Thought he did much better in this film!
I haven’t seen many Westerns so I don’t think I can compare it to anything. Fun to watch with some great action sequences. Can’t ask for much more in a Western.
Rating: 3/5
Walking Tall (12/04/11)
A former U.S. soldier returns to his hometown to find it overrun by crime and corruption, which prompts him to clean house.
Second film remake on this update. Though with this one, I had no idea it was a remake. This was just one of those films that happened to be on whilst I was up and I sat there like a lemon and watched it.
Not a great film at all. Though I had fun spotting various Canada based actors like Ryan Robbins, Aaron Douglas and even Cobie Smulders in it. Lots of action, but none of it anything more than loads of bullets getting flung around. I think I lost the main plot of one man’s mission to single-handedly clean up his home town in amongst the action. Johnny Knoxville actually amused me in parts. Which worried me a little.
Rating: 1/5
Your Highness (13/04/11)
When Prince Fabious’ bride is kidnapped, he goes on a quest to rescue her… accompanied by his lazy useless brother Thadeous.
I think when I first heard about this film and saw clips/trailers I had my hopes set fairly high. I was imagining something like The Princess Bride crossed with Pineapple Express. Almost, but not quite. Thankfully just before I went into the film, I had my hopes knocked down a few pegs.
It’s your typical stoner film with the usual kinds of jokes thrown into a fantasy-esque setting. There was a lot of effort thrown into the film for some of the bigger set sequences. The score soundtrack from Steve Jablonsky did a good job of creating some sense of gravitas in said set sequences. Even though on more than a couple of occasions I was reminded of Transformers and was expecting to see some Autobots roll out.
The accents were all over the place, the jokes were lewd and obvious but I laughed more than once and had fun watching it. It’s what filmage is about!
Rating: 3/5
El Mariachi (14/04/11)
A traveling mariachi is mistaken for a murderous criminal and must hide from a gang bent on killing him.
I love Desperado. I think it’s my favourite Robert Rodriguez film and I promised myself one day I’ll sit down and watch the film that spawned that and Once Upon a Time in Mexico.
Had I not been such a fan of Desperado I’m not sure I would have enjoyed this film as much as I did. Spent a lot of the time watching scenes unfold and remembering those same scenes, polished up a fair bit in Desperado. None of the acting’s particularly good, but that’s not the point. In fact there’s one actor in it who’s Spanish was pretty damn bad.
Once the action started going it got more of a fun film to watch. Though I found it amusing seeing the blood packs underneath a lot of the guys shirts when they were shot. A shot later, the blood pack would be gone and all you’d see is a torn shirt! Magic!
Rating: 3/5
Read on to see the entire list of movies seen this year so far:
37 Movies so far this Year
- The Horse Whisperer 3/5 (1/1/1)
- The Informant! 3/5 (09/01/11)
- The Fighter 4/5 (11/01/11)
- 127 Hours 5/5 (14/01/11)
- The Wolfman 3/5 (15/01/11)
- Believe: The Eddie Izzard Story 4/5 (16/01/11)
- The King’s Speech 5/5 (19/01/11)
- The Town 4/5 (20/01/11)
- Ninja Assassin 2/5 (24/01/11)
- He’s Just Not That Into You 1/5 (25/01/11)
- Imagine That 1/5 (27/01/11)
- Gentlemen Broncos 2/5 (04/02/11)
- Hachi: A Dog’s Tale 4/5 (06/02/11)
- Daybreakers 3/5 (12/02/11)
- The Book of Eli 2/5 (13/02/11)
- True Grit 4/5 (15/02/11)
- Red 1/5 (19/02/11)
- Invictus 3/5 (20/02/11)
- Coraline 2/5 (28/02/11)
- Juno 3/5 (02/03/11)
- Monsters vs. Aliens 1/5 (06/03/11)
- Jennifer’s Body 2/5 (06/03/11)
- Rango 4/5 (09/03/11)
- The Crazies 4/5 (11/03/11)
- Lakeview Terrace 1/5 (12/03/11)
- Battle: Los Angeles 3/5 (13/03/11)
- Submarine 4/5 (14/03/11)
- The Adjustment Bureau 2/5 (16/03/11)
- Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief 2/5 (18/03/11)
- The Happening 1/5 (19/03/11)
- Sucker Punch 2/5 (02/04/11)
- Carriers 1/5 (03/04/11)
- Source Code 4/5 (06/04/11)
- 3:10 to Yuma 3/5 (09/04/11)
- Walking Tall 1/5 (12/04/11)
- Your Highness 3/5 (13/04/11)
- El Mariachi 3/5 (14/03/11)