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Reviews
After Earth (2013)
Why, oh why do they let Shyamalan into sets
This is plain awful. Horrible acting, directing, CG, plot, screenplay, edit. I can't find a single good thing to say about this hip of nonsense. Apparently Scientology makes your brain shrink, I don't have a better explanation for this catastrophe. It's not even "so bad it's good", more like "so bad it's really really bad". How bad it is? Well, remember the worst movie you've seen? Worst than that. Since I have to have at least 10 lines, I'll continue saying how bad this movie is in different ways: This movie is so bad, that it makes you want to curl up inside your popcorn box and die. It's so bad it will make you want to poke your eyes out with the straw. It's so bad that you contemplate becoming a silent monk. It's so bad, that I have to write a review, even if I don't have 10 lines of text to write. It's so bad that it makes ANY other piece of video look marginally better, including all YouTube videos and all those 5 seconds accidental phone videos. It's bad. Really bad.
Still Bill (2009)
Moving and inspiring
I'll make it short and simple: If you want to watch a well done documentary, you've come to the right place. This film is very delicately crafted and grades highly on many aspects. First of all, the soundtrack of the movie is, as expected, simply beautiful. As a musician myself, I can only admire some of the scenes where you can just see the pure talent Bill possesses. Asides from that, it is an inspiring film about the human nature and the struggling journey of one individual through life, seeking recognition and later on - knowing just when to stop. I didn't know Bill Withers' biography prior to watching this and was very intrigued to learn about his life and insights (lets just say that he was a very very late bloomer). I give it a 9 out of 10, if only because it was such a delightful surprise, as I didn't know what to expect.
Criminal Minds: Our Darkest Hour (2010)
Wow! As oppose to this weak season, the finale was brilliant
Although there were weaker parts in the plot, mainly inconsistencies of some characters (Derek especially) most of it was a very good cliffhanger. And when I say it was good, I mean it was EVIL, WICKED, SATANIC, you name it. This is my favorite unsub by far, even better than Foyette. A very nice comeback for Tim Curry, who always looks like a sleek evil character. Here, for a change, he manages to look more authentic, grittier if you like. A very solid performance by Curry which will make your skin crawl. After a weak season in my opinion, I find to my surprise that I can't wait for the next one. This chapter was as sick and creepy as the first season. If you liked the first seasons, you'll love this chapter! P.S. - Having said that, the title for "the most shocking finale episode" has to go to Grey's Anatomy, which literally made me shake for a whole hour after it ended. Probably the best finale of any show for a long long time. Oh, I should probably mention the finale of House's 4th season (the bus accident) as well.
The Detonator (2006)
Badly written, the execution is even worse
I've seen a few bad action movies in my days, but this one's just plain awful. I feel it's a waste of time to even write this but I'll make it short. Why this movie suck? here are 10 reasons: 1. Very amateurly directed and cut. 2. Bad bad bad acting of the whole cast. 3. Silly dialogs and too many clichés. 4. Too many plot holes, a lot of scenes don't add up. 5. Bad photographing (and a lot of continuity issues). 6. Ridiculously bad performance by the lead female actress. 7. Unreliable action scenes (and not too good, either). 8. Even for a Snipes movie, he shows a big lack of acting materials. 9. Outrageous accents (of all the cast). 10. Last, but not least - too many implausible facts, such as a tournament of soccer in the U.S., CIA needing to do background checks to get new information about their employees, a mattress that is explosion proof and so on. In essence - it's a waste of time, it's not funny, not entertaining, not even as a joke - DON"T WATCH IT!!! Seriously, just don't.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
astounding script + great acting = I loved it!
Although I've heard from several people that this movie isn't good just before I saw it, I went to see it any way and I was in for a surprise. This is definitely the best movie I've seen in years, and I'll explain why:
1. Script, script and once more: script - Charlie Kaufman proves himself as being one of the most original script writers in Hollywood. Besides originality (which is like a cool breeze in the "summer of hot movies"), Kaufman shows great sensibility to one's mind and inner thoughts. With what seems to be a magical wand, he manages to illustrate very vividly and accurately what's on a man's mind, including feelings of shame, lust, depression and day-by-day relationships' love.
2. Acting - It comes as no surprise to me that Jim Carrey is a very gifted and versatile actor, yet in this film he shows skills I didn't know where there. Somehow he manages to look like a completely different person, and it's not the makeup. Even Kate Winslet, which I usually dislike, acts marvelously.
3. Editorial decisions - If you're looking for good examples of how to edit brilliantly, this is the place. Finally I see computer effects that are subtle enough, much of the movie is quite hectic (especially with locations) and the editor shows great skill of combining all of these so different scenes together.
4. Casting - Jim Carrey wouldn't have been my first choice for the lead role, but he proved me wrong, didn't he? Kate Winslet seems to be the greatest casting choice in a decade and Elijah Wood is very surprising as Patrick, a refreshing role after the Frodo era. What about Dunst? Well, she's charming, and that's a surprise as well, as we all remember her in Bad Beautiful and Spiderman.
5. Like "Adaptation", this movie is especially interesting for film makers or just film lovers. You have it all here - A good storyline written amazingly as a script that is combined elegantly with means of editing, sound and acting. Altogether I give this movie a rating of 9 out of 10, which is a lot.
6. Some drawbacks though - The movie is very disorienting, so be prepared to be confused. This is also why you should try to stay sober for this one, as it's a clever and complex film. Another thing that bothered me was the ending, but since I don't want to spoil it, let's just say it was somewhat a disappointment.
7. Go see this movie if you want to see a well done drama with slight comic pauses.