aourchan Reviews

The Bucket List (2007)

Exactly what you would expect, but thats not a bad thing

[7/10 · 20 January 2009]

This movie is exactly what you would expect to see if you saw any of the trailers or previews for it. It is a feel good movie with two legendary actors who play their parts very well.

Before seeing the movie I could probably have told you basically the entire plot, but sometimes its nice to just sit back and watch a movie that you know will lift your spirits. It is a good story, one that everyone on the planet probably has dreamed about actually living out, and nothing crazy is thrown at you. They do not take many risks in the story, but who cares. What the storyline does do extremely well is make you feel like running out and living life to the fullest. Hopefully there are people who do not need a movie like this to make them feel extremely high on life, but there are definitely people out there who can use a pick me up like this.

The acting is as you would expect from two great actors and each of them have their moments when they shine. Everyone in the movie does a really good job with no complaints, except for the doctor that is taking care of Jack. He doesn't really do anything wrong, but I just remember him from Numb3rs and it is strange seeing him as a doctor rather than an FBI agent running around with a gun in hand.

Anyways to sum it up, you get exactly what you pay for with this movie, a feel good flick that will lift your spirits and provide some good moments from two legendary actors.

Beowulf (2007)

Didn't Like it

[5/10 · 19 January 2009]

I am a big fan of the epic film genre, but from the start this one just didn't get me into it.

First for the life of me I cannot understand why every film has to completely change the plot of these epic poems/stories that have been around for ages. I do not care how some writer interprets the story, I want to know the story of Beowulf the way that it is written. The story is a compelling one of one of the greatest warriors that the world has ever seen, why change it? Adding details here and there to bring the actual man to life rather than just the hero are understandable, but the story is completely changed from the three actual fights that Beowulf had into one long battle in this rendition.

Next the CGI or whatever they used to actually make the movie just didn't work for me. I have played numerous video games that actually have better looking and more realistic characters than this. Now I realize that realism may not be the look that they were going for, but to me this turned out more like Shrek than the epic that it was supposed to be.

Although I complained about the change of the storyline, I can live with it if it works. But for me the plot just sort of jumps all over the place. Everything is flowing quite nicely and then suddenly it is way in the future and then five minutes later the plot jumps out of control again with another major plot point that is not explained and not shown. The film just never really finds its pace and it is too jumpy for me.

Other than the flaws above, the voice acting is pretty good. One thing I like is that they are not constantly trying to hit a home run with every line that is delivered like some other films in the genre (300). I can't say that I particularly liked any of the characters, and that is probably because none of them are developed in any way shape of form. Unferth for instance, suddenly out of nowhere changes his stance on Beowulf without the audience really seeing why this happens.

To me the story of Beowulf deserves a great film, and this just did not do the story justice, not by a long shot.

Mad Men (2007–2015)

Big time let down

[7/10 · 7 January 2009]

After watching the first season I read a comment about how it is nothing, but down hill after that the first and hoped that it was not true. Unfortunately after watching the second season I realized how close this show was to being great and how they screwed it up, pretty badly.

First thing, the ending to the second season for me is pathetic I hate when a show ends a season just gearing up for the next one rather than ending with a bang and then rebuilding during the next season. This idea is not only possible, but in practice with some of the biggest shows around that just have superior story lines and can keep rebuilding every year.

Another part with it missed out is in the past of Don. I mean good God talk about a fascinating subplot. Unfortunately the writers decided to include next to nothing in both seasons about who this mystery character actually is.

Really the only reason that I find myself watching this show is because I am bored and it can keep me entertained enough. There are never those episodes where you simply cannot wait to watch the next one. If I am bored enough then I just decide to watch a couple episodes, but it really does not do much to keep me hooked.

All in all a great idea, with a mediocre show.

Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

Not Enough Credit

[10/10 · 17 December 2008]

I see that this is number 19 on the top 250, but I do not think that this does it justice and in general I don't think that people give this film enough credit as it deserves. Everything is perfectly combined to make for an amazing film that you cannot take your eyes off, even through some of the slower moments early on. The acting was absolutely superb, the directing magnificent, the plot amazing. The best part of this film for me was the music though. Every second of music played is essential to the film as a whole and to the moment that it is being played at. The harmonica is sublime, every time I hear it a chill just runs through my spine waiting to see what is going to happen. As a youngster of 19 this film is quite a bit ahead of my time, but even someone who is watching it for the first time 30+ years after it was released can instantly see that this is one of the all time great films ever made. I cannot point to one second of the film where I think to myself that it is not essential to the film as a whole. Finding older movies to watch is not the easiest thing in the world, and some of the other great classics just don't fit my taste. For me though this is a new age film that is 30 years old. I cannot believe how anyone who grew up in the era of this can not put it near the top of their all time movie list. Looking through people's "Top 20" or "Top 30" or whatever you do not see OUATITW nearly enough as it should, but it will definitely be in mine.

Mr. Brooks (2007)

Pretty Good

[6/10 · 6 August 2008]

For me, this was a pretty solid movie. It had some good acting, a solid plot and a couple of twists along the way to keep you on your toes.

Lets start with the acting. Costner does a good job and actually surprised me a bit because I was never a fan of him at all really, but he did a very good job as the serial killer torn between two minds. Dane Cook, when I saw that he was going to be playing a serious character I had my reservations about him, since he has only been in very sub-par movies thus far, but I think that he plays the regular dude that is pretty weird and confused about his life and what he wants pretty well. His character was strange at points and did what I imagine a person in that situation would do for the majority of the movie (which is a rarity for me), so all in all I think Dane does a good job. nothing special but sufficient. The stand out performance and the one that really made the movie for me was William Hurt. His character really makes the movie what it is for me, and I always found myself listening a little bit more when he was on screen. He really did a great job and for being the subconscious or whatever he is he really steals the show. Then Demi Moore and everyone else does a solid job as well, nothing special but nothing bad either.

I like the fact that the plot kicks off right away, and the characters are developed along the way instead of having to wait half way through the movie to finally get the main conflict. There were a couple of problems that I had, but nothing too big really. First I hate in TV/movies when cops just walk into houses or apartments or whatever without a warrant or anything and just think that they can just go poking around and looking at everything with their pistol drawn. I don't know too much about the law but I don't think that you can just walk into someones house just because the door is unlocked if you have no warrant and no reason to be entering, this always makes me mad. Second, at first I thought that it was kind of stupid how she gets so suspicious about Cook's character when I don't really think that he does anything to be suspicious about in the first place. She later says to her partner that it is a "hunch" and that shes following her gut, which I guess gave me enough to not be too upset about this, but I still think that she is overly suspicious of Dane for no real reason.

For a second I thought that the ending was gonna be pretty dumb, but they fixed that when he woke up (I was just waiting for the daughter to do that by the way at that point).

All in all I thought it was a pretty good movie and could be worth a watch if you have the time.

Reservation Road (2007)

Very Good

[8/10 · 29 July 2008]

I didn't know much about RR when I grabbed it off the shelf at my local video store, but I was enticed by the cast so I decided to take it for a spin. It really ended up surprising me because I hadn't heard anything about it and wasn't really expecting too much out of it. In the end though, I ended up liking the movie a lot. There were parts where I was very very moved and it was just too hard to not be on the side of Joaquin, and then moments later you flash to Mark Ruffalo and I understood in a way what he was going through. Throughout the movie my feelings for Ruffalo changed greatly. At first, of course, it was immediate hatred for him, but as I got to know him I started to feel for him before again being completely sickened by him in the end. Most movies can't take you on a ride the way that I was taken for this one, I was really moved at parts and completely sickened at others. These days you don't get many movies that take you on this kind of a journey, and I salute any film that doesn't just stick with a simple cookie cutter plot that I can predict before it starts. Sometimes we need something like this to remind us what good movies really are. For me the acting was superb and the plot kept you thinking. This is definitely one that I think you should go out and watch.

21 (2008)

Typical

[4/10 · 29 July 2008]

I'm not going to pretend that I am some sort of movie professor or something like that, but am I the only one who expects more from movies? I don't understand how this movie has a rating of about 7. Before watching the movie I could have told anyone who would listen the exact plot line up until the last 7-10 minutes of the movie where they finally decide to add a slight twist to the plot. Other then those few minutes this is just your typical Hollywood movie these days with a cookie cutter script. The difference in quality of this movie compared to real movies is just incredible, because everyone who was a part of this movie just decided that they wanted to make some stupid popcorn flick movie for some teens and people who think they can learn to count cards from this movie. Everything about this movie reeks with mediocrity, apart from maybe Kevin Spacey and Laurence Fishbourne who I think play their parts well. This is just another typical movie made in a time when it is better just to pump out crap rather than take a chance and try to make something that 1. makes people think 2. makes people feel something. I hate movies like this but they are becoming more and more common. I mean movies are made to entertain, but seeing the same cookie cutter plot in 50 different movies each year is not entertaining. This movie is not good and its not bad. If I were to make a recommendation I would say not to waste your time watching it, because even if you haven't seen this movie you've seen this plot before.

Iron Man (2008)

Nothing special

[6/10 · 26 May 2008]

I must admit, when I first saw the previews for this movie I thought that it wouldn't be anything special, but would probably be a fun movie to watch. After reading reviews however I thought that maybe we would get something more, but unfortunately I cannot see what everyone is raving about. What you get is exactly what I expected an entertaining popcorn flick with a lot of special affects that is nothing special.

Robert Downey Jr. does a good job in his role and provides some very humorous moments, but this doesn't make for a great movie. The movie starts as if it is going to add some sort of realism, but then immediately decides to go the other direction. Now I don't have a problem with a good old fashion hero flick with lots of fun and a couple of laughs along the way. It may be a bit harsh of me to say that I was disappointed by the movie, in reality it was exactly what I expected, but the build up that I heard made me think that maybe it could be a lot more.

So much of the movie just makes no sense what so ever. To start, OK I will accept that this one man makes the greatest weapon that the world has ever seen in a cave in a month or couple of months or how ever long he was in there, fine I'll take that. He then goes on to perfect his creation which takes at least a couple weeks, I remember him saying day 11 at one point but can't really remember anything else about how long he was doing this for. But what I don't understand or accept is how Obadiah goes on to make a better suit in what seems to be a couple of days with scientists that could not even make the basic part to the suit in the first place (the part that Tony made very quickly and with relative ease it seems). How am I supposed to believe that these very same scientists go on to build a much better and more complicated suit in a shorter time frame.

Another part in the movie which didn't really make much sense to me was when Pepper goes to Tony's office to get the info and for some reason Obadiah lets her go with no fuss at all after walking in and immediately saying "I know what your doing Pepper" or something like that? How does that make any sense? Then two scenes later he suddenly decides that she needs to die? This whole sequence was pretty stupid to me. Continuing with this whole sequence, Oba goes to talk to his scientists and then manages to beat Pepper back to Tony's house? Why on Earth does Pepper not immediately go with the agents to get Tony to make sure that he is OK? This is just plain stupid to me. Now I can live with characters in movies not being very smart, but this whole sequence of events just makes no sense what so ever to me.

In the end Iron Man is alright, it doesn't provide anything new really and to me there are some holes in the plot. It is an alright movie that is pretty fun, but is definitely not worthy of all of this hype that it is getting.

Gladiator (2000)

Magnificent

[10/10 · 18 January 2008]

Ridley Scott created a classic that will go down as one of the greatest movies of its genre. The acting is superb all the way down, from Russell Crowe truly being Maximus to Djimon Hounsou plays magnificently what is one of many memorable performances. Joaquin Phoenix is a compelling antagonist, as Commodus, and in every role I cannot picture anyone doing a better job then what was done by the actor in that role.

The story pulls you in and doesn't let you go until the last second of the film. Maximus' cause becomes yours, if he fails then so do you. "The general that becomes a slave, the slave that became a gladiator, the gladiator who defied an emperor," sums up the story perfectly and takes you through each of Maximus' highs and lows.

Everything about this film screams spectacular and it is completely deserving of any praise and awards that it has received.

This one is a classic