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Oxy-Morons (2010)
Oxy-Morons : A controversial, important, must-see independent film!
Oxy-Morons has the most important message of any movie I've seen in recent years. The setting is gritty as is the language and the violence. Some people in the screening that I attended left early because they could not handle the graphic realism of it all. But let me tell you, if you sit through it you will be tremendously rewarded.
The acting is magnificent. Johnny Hickey was actually at the screening I attended and hearing him tell his story afterwards just made the movie that much better.
I really don't have the words to describe this movie. But all I am saying is take time out of your day to find a place to see this. The message of redemption at the end is completely satisfying.
Help get this movie out there. And be sure to leave the kids at home for this one...
Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)
A horrible plot combined with epic battle sequences
Okay, truthfully, no one who goes in to see a Transformers movie honestly cares about the story. They just come to watch giant robots beating each other up and blowing stuff up.
On that end, Dark of the Moon delivers tremendously. The visuals are stunning, the battles are intense, and the final climatic battle between Optimus Prime, Sentinel Prime, and Megatron was my absolute favorite part of the whole movie. The 3D in this is used well too. Shots of robots shattering apart in slow-motion or people swinging through the chaotic mayhem are breathtaking.
Now the plot. Okay, warning in advance that there are spoilers ahead in this next chunk and that the plot was garbage. So read on. So the whole premise is that there's a teleportation device from the Autobots on the moon. Like the last two movies, they have to race against the Decepticons to get it first and, unfortunately, like in the second movie, there is a long, complicated, and elaborate setup to make it work for the Decepticons that gives the Autobots just enough time to destroy an entire city and save it. There is a twist near the middle where a seemingly good robot goes bad and just had me thinking - what? Also, there is a second twist where you find out one of the supporting characters is a villain and is working for the Decepticons. However his motives are stupid, his lines are cheesy, and that whole subplot just felt dumb. Between the instances of robots killing each other, Michael Bay fills the dialogue with some humorous one-liners and situations but they eventually grow old and feel overdone - the Asian guy (Ken Jeong) from The Hangover was funny in this but it got old after the first minute or so.
The acting I guess was so-so considering there weren't a whole lot of instances where they really needed to try. Of course, everyone's wondering about Megan Fox's replacement - Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. She does good for most of the film though I did catch a few instances where I just sort of cringed - kind of like, "oops, she messed up." Shia LaBeouf is pretty funny and for once, while the parents are still in the film, their roles do not feel overdone.
Overall, Dark of the Moon's plot was a horrible, jumbled, inconsistent, plot-hole filled mess that some amazing battle sequences at the end manage to help you with in enjoying the movie.
Don't expect anything different from the others but be prepared for the best visuals this year!
Buried (2010)
A intense, edge-of-your-seat thriller
Wow! This movie was crazy! For those of you who don't know, the entire movie takes place inside a coffin so the entire atmosphere is very claustrophobic particularly in two separate scenes in particular.
I went into this movie not knowing what to expect at all. All I knew was that it was about Ryan Reynolds waking up in a coffin. And he is the only person you ever see. Rodrigo Cortes and the script writer are brilliant in finding enough things to occur within the small confines of a coffin to keep you on the edge of your seat.
The ending is specifically designed to make you go "WHAT?!!" and I'm sure some will hate the movie for it but I thought it was clever, or as one reviewer wrote - diabolically clever.
I recommend this to anyone looking around for a good thriller and to anyone who has a slight tinge of claustrophobia just so you can see how far you can make it through the movie.
Well done!
Inception (2010)
The Decade's Best Film! Job Well Done, Mr. Nolan...
When Christopher Nolan's name is attached to a project, that is a sign that you should automatically go see it. And Inception is a movie that everyone needs to see! It has been nominated for Best Picture of the Year, right behind The King's Speech and the Social Network. And I think that this movie more than deserves to win. Not only is it intelligent but it is extremely entertaining, two qualities that any one film never seems to successfully combine.
First, the story. The previews don't give hardly anything away so I don't want to either. But mainly it revolves around Leonardo DiCaprio as Dom Cobb, an extractor who steals information from people while they are sleeping. After a failed attempt, he is offered a chance at redemption by planting an idea in someone's mind instead of stealing one. It is confusing if you don't follow it very closely but otherwise it's easy to follow though after it's over you will feel compelled to watch it again to see all the stuff you missed.
Second, the visuals. A folding city, exploding buildings - some in fire, some in pieces, and rotating hallways. One of the more impressive facts is that besides the folding city, Christopher Nolan managed to perform almost all the effects with little to no CGI: an impressive feat in itself.
Finally, the acting. Everyone did an outstanding job. Leonardo DiCaprio and Cillian Murphy were particularly good in my opinion though after writing that I feel like I just backstabbed the rest of the cast. They were all magnificent and should all be nominated for an Academy Award.
Overall, Inception is definitely the best movie, not only of the year, but of the decade. It is absolutely fantastic! It's smart, entertaining, action-packed, and has one of the best endings I've ever seen! Mr. Nolan, I look forward to your next project!
Tron: Legacy (2010)
Tron: Set to Build Its Own Legacy
Let me get this out of the way: I never saw the original Tron. So I'm not one of those people who can compare this one to that one.
Overall, I thought it was a very entertaining movie. The visuals were fantastic and for once in a movie the 3D was put to good use and didn't take away from the overall effect of the film.
The soundtrack was a perfect fit and really made you get into each scene and feel like you were in part of the action.
Acting was pretty good but this is where my deduction from a perfect score comes in: the script. Some of the writing was just awful. I feel like the scriptwriters wanted to make their characters sound cool or modern by making them say things like, "I'm not digging this, man." or "You're still rockin' it." Hearing that come from Jeff Bridges just sounded a little awkward.
However, the rest of the movie was very good and I recommend it to all who want to go to the cinema for nothing more than a fun experience.
The Last Airbender (2010)
The Worst Movie I Have Ever Seen!
I don't even know where to begin with writing this review. Lets start with some background. I have never personally seen any of the 'Last Airbender' TV show but I have heard many people say it is extremely good.
Knowing the movie was directed, written, and produced by M. Night Shamalayan I knew the movie was going to be mediocre at best.
Now to the movie...
What a worthless piece of trash! I couldn't even imagine that it would've been this bad. The acting was stiffer than cardboard but (as Roger Ebert says) that's insulting a useful packing material. I suppose the bad acting partially goes to the ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE writing by M. Night Shamaylan. Many of the lines seemed out of order and made no sense in the scene they were in. Also, the main character, Aang, actually screws up one of his lines when he was supposed to say something else. Many characters also repeat the same line with different words right after they say it as if to add more "dramatic" effect.
The filming was bad also. There were many awkward, cheesy close-ups of character's faces. Also, at one point, when the camera is moving through the woods you can see a leafy branch crumple as the camera hits it.
The story itself sucked and was entirely disappointing especially when it came to the climax which ended up being an utter failure. * SPOILER ALERT* - Remember when you see that giant wave about to crash over all the Fire Nation's ships in the TV commercials. Well guess what. All that happens is that Aang holds the wave threateningly over the ships and then slowly lets it back down. The Fire Nation decides that this was too freaky for them and so they simply just turn their ships around and head on back. I mean...WHAT THE HECK!!!!!! Around the last half hour or so of the movie they decide to throw in a romance between two characters that has absolutely no development and ends with them kissing as one of them willingly dies to save (wait for it)Moon Spirits. And we are supposed to be feeling that this is a sad, dramatic part of the film. Nope! The visuals themselves were extremely cheesy looking. The water bending looked more like transparent tentacles flying around and the glowing fish didn't even look like fish.
The only reason I even give this film 1 out of 10 is because there was one, semi-good bit of acting and that was from Dev Patel (super great actor from Slumdog Millionaire). With all the wooden, terrible lines he has to deal with, he manages to make the most of them. I applaud him from that.
But I don't think you would pay $12 bucks just to watch one person do a semi-decent job acting. If you want to spend money on this, be prepared to feel completely used. Absolutely terrible acting, terrible dialogue, terrible stories, terrible visuals, and a terrible climax all add up to the worst movie of the decade: The Last Airbender.