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Cop Out (2010)
Popcorn Movie of 2010
I'd never heard of cop out, didn't have the chance to look forward to it, didn't see a trailer, didn't read the reviews or see the rating before seeing it. So for once, I was watching a movie blind (ah, the good old days).
What has been missing in the last few years were good action comedies. Lethal Weapon style, over the top plots, funny movies. Movies that you can sit and watch and enjoy and not worry about the languid realism of the CGI or the depth of the storyline or the lack of any real benefit to society.
The movie may be a bit too over the top for many people. But I ate it up. From the opening scene where Tracy Morgan played out scenes from every movie ever made (and Bruce Willis retorting that he hadn't seen that one to the Die Hard reference). Tracy Morgan is a bitter pill to swallow. I'm a huge 30 Rock fan, but as funny as he is, he's a very difficult style to listen to for an hour and a half. Can he actually act? I don't know. After the first five minutes, it doesn't matter. You put it on the back burner of acceptable losses and are carried away by the hilarious results.
Bruce Willis plays his role well. Enough action. Enough die hard looks. But he's getting old. And he plays that well as well. And what many people forget about his repertoire, his a brilliant comedian. He builds up situations for his supporting actors, delivers underhanded punchlines, and even stoops to some brilliant slapstick comedy.
The storyline is nothing special. In fact, it's downright ridiculous. But it's good enough, believable enough to hold the story together. It's not a heart tugging, moral teaching, twist driven story line. It's not supposed to be. It's not expected to be. But it's strong enough.
But the movie is stolen. From scenes of stomach holding laughter between Willis and Morgan, it's completely stolen by the few scenes Seann William Scott. And I'll leave it at that.
To close off, go and see this movie. It won't win many awards, it won't win many hearts and I'll go out and say that a lot of people will shoot down this movie as pointless drivel. But I think it will have a lot of fans who will get together and watch it and then giggle for hours over the countless brilliant lines and scenes in this movie. Have fun. Forget it when it's over. And go and watch it again. It's won at least one fan in me.
(Oh, and there's not one damn vampire to be seen +1!!!)
Drag Me to Hell (2009)
No Sleepless Nights Here
I'll admit firstly that I hate horror movies. I hate watching them and loving them and then not being able to sleep for a week. And knowing that the mark of the best horror movies is that inability to sleep.
I'll admit secondly that after seeing the trailer for Drag Me To Hell, I was genuinely looking forward to it. And I even braved myself to watch it well after the sun had set.
Yawn. Is it over yet? I was really disappointed. Because I lost so much interest about twenty minutes into the movie, I missed a lot of the fun stuff. Those holes in the story that critics love to point out. And this movie was full of them.
But first, let's stick to the horror side of it. And keep it clean. This movie wasn't that. Clean. It was downright disgusting. Which doesn't equate to scary. An old, hideous woman who can't keep her teeth in SUCKING on a girl's jaw is really not scary. And the only time I even thought about closing my eyes was when the old woman threw up bugs and stuff on the girl's face. Yuck. Not eeeek.
Also, I think I've passed the age where a shadow on the wall is scary. It's not about the lack of shock effect. It's just not...scary. Gremlins was scary compared this (and a much, much better movie). Oh, while I'm at it, I would have thought that flying hankies with faces on it would be relegated to Scary Movie type movies. Seriously? Hankies!!! And don't get me started on the talking goat. That was hilarious. For a second. As for the button - was that huge fight really necessary for the old lady to get the button off.
Actually this movie is pretty funny. But in a shake your head funny sort of way. And then the gaping plot holes. I won't point out all - just the first couple remember.
1. The old lady attacks the girl in a parking lot and there's no doubt it was her; and there's no doubt it happened, and the police were there - to take statements and cordon off the area...but not arrest the old lady. Or maybe they did, and she died.
2. This girl has a hellava lot of money for a farm girl who's trying very, very hard to become assistant bank manager. I mean look at the house she lives in. Not a drudgy apartment at all. And yes, she can't raise 10k.
3. anvil? on a rope? in the garage???? 4. She gets a pretty fat lip in the fight in the parking lot. Don't worry, she's part wolverine. She heals pretty quick from all her bumps and bruises.
There's a lot more. But it's not even funny to type out.
So why did I give it a 4. Not a 1.
The sound's awesome. If it wasn't supporting a shadow, a tap dancing Mexican and a hanky, it would be very fitting. The acting is OK. The old lady is convincing, if she had been less disgusting and more scary - yay. Justin Long is miscast but he doesn't do anything wrong. At the end of the day, it's a movie I'd a complain about. But I probably wouldn't be compelled to walk out on it.
And here's a to a good night of sleep.
Jumper (2008)
Should Have Jumped to a Planet Far Away
First off, i must admit, i had great reservations about this movie. i can't explain why, other than i'm not a great fan of hayden christensen. also i couldn't understand how they could make a movie such as this and keep it down to 90 minutes. as i told a friend of mine before the movie - that's a Disney cartoon.
the movie starts off on a nice tone. nice pace building on a nice idea. and that's how i felt through the rest of the movie...'well at least it wasn't slow...' the directing was OK. the soundtrack appealed to me. and that's where the niceties ended. the dialogue was terrible. the script was terrible. the acting was terrible. and anyone who says the special effects were good, it's just not new anymore. there was nothing in this movie you wouldn't see in any harry potter movie.
what really annoyed me was the gaping plot holes, or gaps in the story throughout the movie. i just sat there thinking...OK you made a point...but why. why was samuel l jackson *so* intense about the capturing. why was hayden christensen *so* special. what was the siginificance of samuel l jackson's knife. and then the jumping...NOTHING was explained. where can he jump to? what were his limitations? give us some scientific edge to it. Back to the Future was a blatantly 'not possible' movie but it explained everything and gave it some weight. jumper floated around in kiddie's movie territory. diane lane's role was significantly under-explained. half the stories were left hanging at the end. they should have made the movie twenty minutes longer and explained a lot of the things.
the other thing that annoyed me was the utter stupidity of hayden christensen's character. highlighted in this - he's lived happily jumping for 8 years. one night he's attacked by someone who knows who he is and what jumping is - that doesn't trigger questions in him, or a need to lie low...he seemingly forgets about it immediately and goes home and goes back to the girl of his dreams, who forgets that he's disappeared for 8 years and takes him back (almost) no questions asked. then he does the silliest thing of all - he takes her to rome - no trail to follow there!!! AND THEN break into the Colosseum. there was a lot of this in the movie - things that just weren't logical and then they weren't explained to make them logical. made me want to scream.
the script, like i said, was terrible. at times i laughed almost apologetically, as if to say, well you're trying. hayden christensen did not let me down and i still believe him to be one of the worst actors i've ever seen. dull, wooden and facial expressions that seem to always be out of place.
the one saving grace in the film (and i really had to look for it) was Jamie Bell and even he couldn't fight the terrible script. Rachel Bilson's character was all over the place. and it wasn't good. wasn't good at all. samuel l jackson? anybody could have played the role in a santa claus outfit and it wouldn't have made an ounce of difference to the outcome.
the fight scenes were sad. absolutely pointless drivel.
Terrible, terrible, terrible....but at least it wasn't slow (and i only had to sit through 90 minutes of it!)
Shoot 'Em Up (2007)
Roller-coaster Ride of Note
Think Shooter. But lose all semblance of the storyline. and drip feed it steroids. That's what this movie is. a non-stop adrenaline ride from the first scene to the last scene.
what i liked about this movie was that it didn't try to hide what it was. it was a mindless action movie. it was a bloody good mindless action movie. it didn't pretend to have a great storyline or a deeper meaning related to the issues that it did hint upon.
but the one thing i must say, the acting was awesome. clive owen says about 10 sentences in the entire movie and he pulls it off with a cold, hard and dry wit that just had a hint of bond about it (but bond on steroids). and the girl - well monica belluci didn't have much to do but look pretty. but the villain - i applaud the person who casted paul giammati. they probably thought - this is a die hard action movie, let's make the villain short, fat and taped to his wife. but man, does that man pull off his lines.
overall, it's a short, fast, movie that will get you breathing faster and holding your breath at the same time. at the end, you'll think to yourself...what the hell was that...and can i go on one more time!
How I Met Your Mother: How I Met Everyone Else (2007)
Best Episode Ever
To say that this episode is the best episode ever is a BOLD statement. How i met your mother is brilliant. but this episode surpassed it's greatest moments.
Barney's Hot Crazy scale!!!. the Vicky Mendoza diagonal. the introduction of Blah blah. Quote - Barney - "let's see how the night is going *draws cartesian plane*. as the night has gone on she has gotten crazier but no hotter...and is now dangerously close to the Shelly Galezby corner. she gained 10 pounds and tried to kill me with a brick." That is just brilliant.
c'mon
4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)
Not Quite Fantastic
i eagerly looked forward to watching the new fantastic 4 (the rise of the silver surfer). maybe that's why i was so sorely disappointed with the end result. the story picks up from where the last one left off, with the imminent wedding of Reed and Sue, Johnny taking to the attention like a duck to water, and ben now coming to terms and even enjoying his role as the big rock. when weird craters and environmental anomalies start cropping up around the world, with the silver surfer's arrival to earth, reed is sucked into the military's investigation, while juggling his upcoming wedding. the movie starts off at a nice pace without really heading anywhere up to the wedding. there's a nice feel to the movie with light heartedness and beautiful special effects. the wedding is interrupted by the silver surfer and a really climactic first meeting between him and johnny. doc doom returns in ultimately boring fashion and his first meeting with the silver surfer results in him teaming up with the fantastic 4. the rest of the story pendulates between the attack on silver surfer, then doc doom and then galactus. this is where the movie lost me. it wasn't balanced. it took so long to get to the battle with the silver surfer and it didn't climax with a rather tame capturing of the silver surfer. the feelgood moment of the movie follows with sue learning of the surfer's origins and immeditely followed by the expected betrayal by doc doom. then doc doom is the bad guy. this leads straight into the battle scene and the story just gets lost in ANOTHER really boring battle scene. doc doom is beaten rather easily after johnny absorbs everyone's powers. then galactus arrives. in about a minute he's defeated. a power that EATS PLANETS beaten in a minute by a silver surfer reunited with his board. the movie overall just didn't do it for me. the humour was corny which worked most of the time but just got really lame after half an hour. the battles were really really really boring. it didn't make the audience feel the constantly shifting balance of power and i don't think i ever felt that the good guys would lose. it's a tried and tested method and everyone does it - because it works. the special effects were brilliant. but that's a given in today's world of movies. and it shouldn't be highlighted as a thing to see the movie for. the acting was OK. nothing bad about it and it kept within the storyline. they delivered the punchlines when and where needed but the relationship between ben and johnny wasn't punched enough. and jessica alba just looked a bit too made up. in today's movies where so many movies are blamed for being too long, this one was noticeably too short. final comment - it did enough - but barely that - to just keep its head above water - but i cringe in thinking all it could have been.
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
Just Awesome
From the trailer kiss, kiss, bang, bang looked interesting. nothing more than that. just interesting. when i had the pleasure of watching it, i still wasn't expecting much. robert downey jnr and val kilmer didn't instill one of those...great actors must watch movie. but omg.
the movie is brilliant. beautiful. great. awesome. the opposite of bad. it starts off at a fast pace and just keeps going.
let's break this down into components. the storyline was intricate but really easy to follow. it was a murder slash mystery at its best with a very film noir feel with downey's narration. if you watch it simply for the whodunnit of the story, it will not disappoint. the end was unexpected and in that did all it was supposed to do.
the script was amazing. it had a feel to it that just yelled comedy. lines that you will use over and over and over again. funny to the point of bringing you to tears. sarcastic, ironic, in your face punchlines - it really had it all.
the acting. now this where i cannot say enough. val kilmer outdid himself as gay perry. he took the role of gay detective with a punchline at every post and just ran with it. looked serious and carried that overtone which just added an even darker side to his lines. Downney junior was even better. he played the role where you could feel he was trying to be cool and even carried it off. you'd watch him light a cigarette or pick up a chick or be the knight in shining armour and he'd pull it - but then two seconds later you'd realise he was such a big dumbass. he pulled it off brilliantly. BRILLIANTLY. and his narrating was awesome as well.
the overall feel of the movie was cool. it was dark and sinister which just contrasted with the humour. its the type of movie we don't see very often and if we do, many people just won't get. the style, the humour, the atmosphere - gelled together with great acting and a brilliant plot and storyline.
one of the best movies of the year but will no doubt be swept under the mat and underrated for years to come. but will be one of my all time faves.
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)
Aaaaaaaaaargh - Tis a Pirates Life For Me
Quick background. i loved the pirates - the first being my favourite. lots of people will not like this movie. they may find it long, slow and not as brilliant as the first couple movies. but i loved it. the feel of the first movies has still carried through - the slightly dark, very real atmosphere to the movie is a complete contrast to the comical natures of almost all the characters. the humour is brilliant - but one must have a penchant for corny humour, silly puns and very graphic humour. but it's not that it's bad. they do it all very well. that was my catch. at one point, one captain is setting up a line and i predicted word for word what he would say...and he said...and i STILL thought it was brilliant because the acting is so above par. corny humour - silly jokes and pirate humour that you must be able to appreciate for it being that and being pulled off. the storyline itself is not that complex and one may feel that parts of it result in anticlimaxes and some parts are left hanging. but overall the story that is trying to be told, is told. for me, it wasn't about all these nitty gritties. it was about the movie as a whole which is pulled off in spectacular fashion and i can't wait to watch it again.
as a footnote - johnny depp - still brilliant as captain jack sparrow with his mannerisms and craziness but in this movie i even think he was one upped by Geoffrey Rush as Barbossa. without doing anything fantastic, he delivered a performance where you wait for his every line - delivered to piratey perfection. BRAVO!!!
The Whole Ten Yards (2004)
Brilliantly Funny
i always approach sequels with a lot of caution. especially one's that follow great first movies, as is the case with the whole nine yards. and even worse, the idea that a movie that it was clever to call itself the whole ten yards just had me wanting to take a book to the cinema with me. i was pleasantly surprised. that's an understatement. i nearly wet myself at how good this movie was. but a prerequisite to truly appreciate this movie is to watch the first one. not just for the storyline but for the characters. bruce willis outdoes himself as a hit-man undercover as a housewife. caring for his chickens and following martha stewart recipes. then his complete turnaround to mental loony running (but with tons of cards up his sleeve). cool and collected as bullets fly overhead but drawn to tears like a big baby over a dead chicken. matthew perry has a lot to do to move away from chandler (his friends character) and here he sorta does it, but still sorta keeps it. brilliantly funny, running around bumbling idiot who has the feel of wrong place, wrong time, wrong universe about him. But above and beyond these two, as well as excellent performances by the rest of the cast - kevin pollak. this man outdid himself. his character rendition of a mob boss with a crazy personality and even better turns of phrases and accents. watch this movie if not just to hear him speak. it will make your day. overall, the story - really complex at times, and rather anticlimactic in the end. but this movie is not about a deep storyline. it's about the minute by minute laugh ride that just didn't disappoint.
Ghost Rider (2007)
Good Old Fashioned Fun
Many viewers may hate this movie. many of friends did. Mainly because it didn't live up to their expectations of a long awaited movie. Personally, i didn't really know the history of ghostrider other than the fact that he looked kick ass. and he looked kick ass in the movie. i'll admit it. i liked the movie. i'll be the first to acknowledge a rather boring script, really really corny lines, wooden acting at times and a movie that just didn't live up to the hype. but here's the truth - i didn't really get into the hype. the corny lines were rather spectacularly pulled off with style by nick cage (in that way only he could really do) and even though you KNOW it's really corny - you can't help but smile to yourself. the special effect were awesome. especially the henchmen who took on the aspects of earthly elements. ghostrider himself - i watched him and wanted to be him - what more do you want in a movie? the chick in the movie was a bit of a let down. she really didn't carry out her role and her acting was on the lower end of the spectrum. can't be helped. but here's the bottom line. for a couple hours, you'll cheer the hero, you'll the hate the bad guys, you'll watch in awe the effects and if you stop picking at the holes, you will truly enjoy yourself. Not a keeper and definitely not one of the best comic movies at the moment, but it really was fun.
Soul Plane (2004)
Not great but highly entertaining
Many people will hate this movie. And i would have too, if i was expecting a clever story, a plot twisting end or great acting. This movie offers none of that. in fact, many would call it derogatory drivel and pointless clichés that have been made a hundred times before.But here's the thing - it was enjoyable and genuinely funny. It's not going to make too many books and be watched over and over again - but at the end of a long day, it was surprisingly good. Tom Arnold was the clichéd klutz of a with his weird family. his son did a remarkable job of being the white kid turned black. snoop dogg was hilarious as the scared of heights captain of the plane who got his flying license from the joint. the gay flight attendant couldn't have been funnier. again, most people will hate this movie and lots will find it humourlessly offensive. but it makes no claims that it isn't offensive - in fact a lot of the time, it is shamelessly obvious how close to stereotypes it is playing - but it is genuinely funny and viewers who watch it with a pinch of salt and without looking for holes in the acting, story etc, will enjoy their hour and a half. not a great movie - but definitely one to give a chance too.