butchfilms Reviews

Terminator Salvation (2009)

The worst film in the Terminator Series

[4/10 · 13 June 2009]

I had great expectations about this film being a Terminator 1 and 2 movies fan , thinking it would be much better than the mediocre "Terminator 3" but I was wrong because T4 is not just bad but it is also very boring.

I didn't like the plot that is more focused in the Marcus character than the one that we all care about which is John Connor, who in this opportunity is played by the wooden Christian Bale (I don't even like him in the Batman movies). I found the action scenes just OK, there was nothing new. The only thing I liked about T4 was the character of Blair Williams (I love her), which reminded me Sarah Connor, even though she has a limited screen time.

It is 2018 and the humanity live in a post apocalyptic world. John Connor is one of the leaders of the Resistance who fights against the machines from the Skynet system, but in this opportunity he will be able to meet his still teenager father Kyle Reese and Marcus a mysterious man who may help him to destroy the Skynet system or maybe not .......

4 starts = Boring

Funny Games (2007)

Interesting and Entertaining Thriller but with a disappointing ending

[7/10 · 4 June 2009]

I liked a lot the first 3/4 parts of this movie but the final part is boring despite that it has 2 unexpected moments.

The performances are very good specially the ones of Naomi Watts and Michael Pitt. "Funny Games" worth a watch because excepting its final part it is very interesting and entertaining, like the uncomfortable situations that the 2 evil young characters make going through the Naomi's character at the beginning which are rare and funny. If I could rate the first 3/4 parts of the film I would rate it with 8 stars (very good).

I didn't like so much the final part because I found that it was unnecessarily too long, there were scenes that should have lasted fewer time and there is a scene that I found it like cheating the audience for part of the director.

Father, mother and son at their lake house are visited by 2 teen boys who seems very polite at first sight but they really are evils ..........

6.5 stars = Regular +

The International (I) (2009)

Watchable only for the shooting scene

[6/10 · 17 April 2009]

The only thing I liked about the movie was the shooting part in which is involved the leading (Clive Owen), this scene is great but the rest of the movie is boring.

I know this film shows us how the world really works but it could have been made more entertaining, or at least in a shorter time (118 minutes is too much), I think 100 minutes would have been much better. On the other hand I have to say that the performances were good.

Louis Salinger (Clive Owen) is an Interpol agent who wants to bring to justice one of the world's most powerful banks for money laundering and arms trading but he will find this goal very difficult and dangerous ......

6 stars = regular

(note: Without the shooting scene I would have given it 5 stars = bad or boring)

Seven Years in Tibet (1997)

I liked the first half of the film the most

[6/10 · 12 April 2009]

I found the first half of the movie very interesting and entertaining when the Heinrich character is climbing and when he is wandering around the Tibet (a film for at least 7 stars), but once Pitt's character gets to the city of Lhasa the film begins to diminish in being entertaining and becomes more a regular feel good movie which is not as interesting as it was at the beginning, even though is not so bad either. I have to say that the photography of this film is great.

Heinrich Harrer (Pitt) is an Austrian mountaineer who leaves his pregnant wife in Austria in 1939 in order to climb the Nanga Parbat in India but once there he is going to be arrested with his team mates because Germany attacked Poland (WW2) , he will get to escape with a team mate and his way of seeing life will change forever when they get to the city of Lhasa …..

6 stars = regular

Along Came Polly (2004)

Entertaining and very funny

[8/10 · 11 April 2009]

I can't believe it that this film has such a low rate of 5.8 in IMDb, this movie deserves at least a rating of 7 stars.

Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston are very good in here, and there is very good chemistry between them too. Philip Seymour Hoffman is very funny in his supporting role of once a very well known child actor. The plot is entertaining and has many moments that will make you laugh.

Reuben Feffer (Stiller) is a insurance actuary who has just been left by his wife for another man in their honeymoon. Back home he will meet Polly Prince (Aniston), a free spirit former classmate, with whom he will begin dating but they will have problems when they realize that they are very different and Reuben's wife comes back ......

This is the kind of movie to just watch and enjoy and not being so demanding because the main goal of this film is just to be funny.

8 stars = very good

Fast & Furious (2009)

Entertaining

[6/10 · 7 April 2009]

There is no doubt that the first half of the film is the best of the movie which involve 2 great action sequences, one at the beginning in the highway that one could watch a small part in the movie's trailer and the other it's a race at night in the city's streets in the middle of the traffic, after the latter sequence the movie diminish a lot in its quality until the end. I think this film deserves 6.5 stars, even though I have to say that it was much better of what I expected.

Dominic and Brian meet again and join forces, the first one to get revenge for losing a very close person and the other to catch the boss of a drug mafia ......

6.5 stars = regular +

Disturbia (2007)

Not much of a Mystery

[6/10 · 5 April 2009]

I liked more this film as a teenager movie than as a mystery one.

The actors are good in here specially Shia LaBeouf, Sarah Roemer (she looks so cool and beautiful as Ashley) and David Morse, there is a good chemistry between Shia and Sarah; but it is how the film is developed that fails because "Disturbia" looks more like a comedy romantic teen movie than any other thing.

Kale is a teenager who has been punished not being allowed of getting out of his house otherwise he will go to a correctional, but his boring life at home will change when the beautiful Ashley move next door and at the same time he begins to suspect that one of his neighbor is a possible wanted serial killer ........

6 stars = regular

Deception (2008)

Entertaining but with a terrible ending

[7/10 · 31 March 2009]

I had low expectations when I saw this movie mainly because of its poor rating at IMDb. After watching it I have to say that I liked it until a tragic thing happens to the leading character after that the movie is just regular and it has a bad ending. I think this movie deserves 6.5 stars.

I found the first half of the movie interesting and entertaining, the performances of the 2 leadings are very good and Michelle Williams is good for what is needed of her. I would have liked that this movie had been more like the Michael Douglas film "The Game (1997)" but in a sexual aspect.

The life of Jonathan McQuarry,a lonely accountant, will have a big change when he meets Wyatt Bose and begins to hang out with him being introduced to a kind of sex club where he will find the love of his life but he might lose her too .....

6.5 stars = regular +

Gran Torino (2008)

Walt Kowalski is tough but a lot of fun too

[7/10 · 25 March 2009]

I think this is an entertaining and interesting movie, Clint Eastwood is very good as the tough Walt Kowalski, but this movie doesn't deserve to be in the top 250 IMDb.

The plot is interesting, it has some funny moments too, and Clint is great when he is acting macho, this must be one of his best performances next to his roles in "Million Dollar Baby" and "The Unforgiven". The actors who play his neighbors are good specially the one who plays Sue.

Walt Kowalski is an old Korea war veteran widower who just lost his wife and doesn't get along with his Asian neighbors but when they will have problems with a gang he will help them .......

7 stars = good

In the Valley of Elah (2007)

Good Performances in this regular movie

[6/10 · 20 March 2009]

The beginning of the movie promised much more of what it finally delivers. The performances of the leadings is what saves this film of being a boring one. Tommy Lee Jones and Charlize Theron are very good as Hank Deerfield and Detective Emily Sanders respectively. Susan Sarandon is good too despite her small role.

Hank Deerfield is worried because his son has returned some days ago from the Iraq war and hasn't called home, so he goes to his son's headquarter to find out what happened to him, Hank will get the help of the detective Emily Sanders in his searching of the truth .........

I would recommend to see it if you don't have anything better to do, or if you are more interested in watching good performances instead of how entertaining might be the movie.

6 stars = regular

Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989)

Laura San Giacomo makes it worth watching SLV

[6/10 · 19 March 2009]

I didn't like so much this movie, I found it a little bit entertaining and interesting but at the end it didn't leave me anything special, but I am glad I watched it because of Laura San Giacomo's performance as Cynthia (she looks so sexy and cool in here), I can't believe she wasn't nominated for a supporting Oscar for her role.

I didn't like James Spader performance, I found his character boring instead of mysterious or interesting. The plot is interesting but I think it could have been better developed specially the parts of the character of Graham.

Ann and John are a young married couple who doesn't have sex anymore and John is cheating Ann with her sister Cynthia. One day Graham, a John's old friend, visits them and changes their empty lives with his videocamara which records women talking about their sex experiences .......

6.5 stars = regular +

Heartbreakers (2001)

Silly, Entertaining and Funny

[7/10 · 18 March 2009]

I really liked this movie despite it is a little bit silly but Hey I had a lot of fun watching it and it has the most important thing about a movie that it is being entertaining which is very rare for a silly comedy film which last 2 hours (a lot of time for this kind of movies which frequently last 100 minutes top).

The performances are really funny, Jennifer Love Hewitt looks great with all the sexy clothe she wears through the film (this is a very good reason just to see it). The plot is good and interesting too.

Max and Page are mother and daughter who get a lot of money from men. First Max gets married with them and after short time she finds them cheating at her with Page which lead to a divorce and a lot of money, but one day Page will fall in love with one mark, and a former mark will go after Max ........

6.5 stars = regular + (entertaining)

Blade Runner (1982)

Too slow and boring

[4/10 · 15 March 2009]

I had heard a lot about this movie that it was one of the best SF movies ever, but after watching it I have to say that it is very boring in spite of its interesting plot and characters.

The main problem with this film it is how it was developed with an extremely slow pace which wastes its interesting plot and entertaining characters. The performances are good specially Harrison Ford who looks like a detective from the film noir movies. How the movie looks is great; BUT ITS PACE IS TOO SLOW which made it VERY BORING, I had to struggle to not fall asleep.

I know that this movie is very important because it makes us to think about the environment, the corporations, the evolutions in genetic science and in many other things, but to me the most important thing about a movie is that it has to be entertaining first and after that whatever you want, and I found this one very boring.

The Contract (2006)

Entertaining

[7/10 · 14 March 2009]

When I saw the rating of this movie of 5.6 stars I thought that this had to be a very bad and boring film to have such a rate despite having very good actors (Freeman and Cusack), but after watching it I liked this film which I found entertaining.

This movie gets what it tries to achieves which is just being a 96 minutes entertaining action film nothing else. I liked the performances specially the one of Morgan Freeman who looks so cool like the killer Carden, and I liked the comments of his character too, John Cusack is very good as the nice man who cares a lot about his son.

Ray and his son go camping to the forest but their plan changes when they find the injured killer Carden over there, and they will have to take him to the police despite Cardens friends are looking for him ...

7 stars = good

Interview (I) (2007)

Entertaining just by the performances

[6/10 · 13 March 2009]

This movie is entertaining just by the performances of Steve Buscemi and Sienna Miller despite its silly screenplay.

I have to say that I liked the movie despite it was bad written, and I think the reason is because Steve Buscemi is a very good actor and Sienna Miller is likable in here, even though they play 2 characters who spend a night together in a very unrealistic situation acting in a very estrange way.

Pierre Peders is a former political journalist now making interviews to the show business people thing which he doesn't like at all. One evening very strange things will happen to him when he interviews Katya a movie and TV actress ....

6.5 stars = regular +

Watchmen (2009)

Interesting but It could have been much better.

[1/10 · 9 March 2009]

I had heard a lot about this movie that I really thought this would be much better, don't get me wrong this film is entertaining and interesting but not to be in the top 250 IMDb that is why I give it 1 star despite I think it deserves 6.5 stars.

The special effects are great specially those scenes involving the Dr. Manhattan, the characters are interesting to watch but Dan Dreiberg which I found very boring. The plot is interesting, I liked most the parts involving the investigation made by Rorschach and the scenes where Dr. Manhattan appears. I found boring the parts in which Sally Jupiter / Silk Spectre & Dan Dreiberg / Nite Owl II are together. I think that this movie could have been much better.

Because of the murder of one of the watchmen (The Comedian), Rorschach is going to make an investigation to find the murder who may be trying to kill all the watchmen; and at the same time there is a great probability of a war world 3 between USA and URSS ......

If you like this kind of superheros movies give it a try otherwise don't.

6.5 = regular +

Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)

Just Regular

[6/10 · 5 March 2009]

I expected a much better movie, I like most of the movies of Woody Allen, this one is entertaining but nothing more. I think this movie deserves 6.5 stars.

The plot is interesting, the performances are just OK (except for Scarlett Johansson who is a very limited actress), the one who is very good is Rebecca Hall as Vicky, I have always liked the work of Penelope Cruz and I found her work good in here but not to have won an academy award. I found very stupid the scenes when the characters Juan Antonio and Maria Elena discuss in English when the are alone in a room and Cristina is in other part of the house.

Vicky (a serious engaged woman) and Cristina (a free will spirit) are 2 young Americans friends who are in Barcelona on vacations and meet a painter named Juan Antonio (who has a little crazy ex wife called Maria Elena), the 2 women are going to have some kind of relationship with him that is going to change their way of looking life forever .........

6.5 stars = Regular +

Panic (2000)

Very Interesting Film

[8/10 · 22 February 2009]

Wow I really liked this movie, William H. Macy is great as the quiet hit-man Alex.

All the performances here are really good, the plot is interesting and entertaining.

Alex, a married hit-man (like his father)with a little son, is going through a middle age crisis and wants to quit the family business so he goes to the psychiatrist for help and in this place he meets the young free will spirit Sarah of whom he falls in love to. One day Alex doesn't know what to do when he gets a job to kill a person he knows.

I recommend you to watch it if you like mature interesting movies.

8 stars = very good

28 Weeks Later (2007)

Better than the first one

[7/10 · 22 February 2009]

I liked this movie better than the first one (which I rated with 6 stars = regular) because this is a much mature and intelligent film, on the other hand "28 days later (2002)" look like more the kind of film focused mainly for teenagers.

I liked mostly the two adults leading characters, the beautiful medical officer Major Scarlet Ross and the cool sergeant Doyle. The teenagers actors are good too and actor Robert Carlyle is really good as their father Don. The plot is interesting and entertaining, the action and suspense scenes are great. What I liked most about it is that it doesn't end as one would think it could end once one has already met all the main characters.

People are coming back to London for re-population after 28 weeks, once all the people infected of the Rage virus have starved to death in Britain. London is under control and protection of the US army, but one day the epidemic will appear again and the USA army will declare "code red" ......

I recommend this movie to everyone who likes terror or zombies movies .

7 stars = good

He's Just Not That Into You (2009)

Watchable

[6/10 · 21 February 2009]

I think the biggest problem with this movie is that it try to be a drama and a comedy at the same time and at the end it doesn't achieve what was expected.

I think if this would have been a 100 % drama (parts of Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Aniston and Jennifer Connelly)or 100 % comedy (parts of Drew Barrymore and Ginnifer Goodwin) the result would have being much better, it's like two very different movies would have being mixed. I am not saying that this is a bad movie but it's just watchable. This could haven been a very good movie if it only would have focused in the drama part which had a great potential to be exploited. Another problem is that the movie last too long (129 minutes) I think that 100 would have been OK. I liked a lot the performance of Jennifer Connelly, in a more serious film she could have got nominations for her role.

The movie is about 5 women who are looking to be happy in their sentimental life, 2 of them live with their couples and are looking to reinforce their relationships and the other 3 are single and are looking the love of their life in different ways ......

If you are a man I would recommend you to watch it only with your girlfriend or in a date otherwise don't (wait there are 4 beautiful reasons to watch it: Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore and Jennifer Connelly) . And if you are a woman you can watch it alone or with your girl friends.

6 stars = regular

Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Overrated movie

[1/10 · 20 February 2009]

I really don't understand why this film is so appreciated, OK it has a very strong love message and its beginning is very good but it decreases its quality each time the plot advances until the end. I think this film deserves 6.5 stars, but I give it 1 because it shouldn't be at the 250 top IMDb.

The movie is divided in 3 parts: 1)when the leading characters are little children, 2) when they are young teenagers and 3) when they are old teenagers. The first part is great, the second part is entertaining but a little silly, and the third part looks like a bad movie, except by the last kissing scene which is very good and touching. If I had to rate the 3 parts it would be like this: part 1: 8 stars; part 2: 6 stars; part 3: 4.5 stars. Ah by the way I liked the final dance at the end.

I didn't buy the circumstances under which the leading is questioned by the police by the suspicion he had cheated in the contest. I bought the parts where he knew the contest's answers (I liked the way they made it how he knew the answers) because we have always watched on the news about very rare good things that happen to people. As I said before the third part is very bad developed specially the scenes involving the under world of the Salim character.

Jamal is a contestant of a TV program who is being questioning by the police by the suspicion he has been cheating. Jamal tells the police how the contest's answers are related with some facts of his life since he was a poor kid, and that he only wants to recover the love of his life by being part of this TV contest............

I recommend watching this movie with your family especially because the children actors are very good.

Human Desire (1954)

Very good film-noir

[8/10 · 15 February 2009]

I liked this movie very much, it's entertaining. The performances, the characters, the plot, the dialog, the way it looks are very good. The only weak point of the movie is the character of Ellen Simmons which I found very naive even though this kind of characters were very common in the movies of that time.

Jeff Warren returns to his former job as a train conductor after fighting in the Korea war but he will get involve with one of his coworker's wife beginning a secret relationship that could lead him to commit murder in order to get her free from a terrible thing that she and her husband have done .....

If you are a film-noir's fan then this is a must see for you.

8 stars = very good

Stir of Echoes (1999)

Entertaining and Interesting Mystery movie

[7/10 · 14 February 2009]

I liked this movie, I found the performance of Kevin Bacon just right for what the movie needed. The plot is interesting, the parts when the character Tom begins acting estrange around the house are good. The boy who plays Jake does a good job, I would have liked to see more of the character played by Illeana Douglas which I found very funny and interesting.

Tom Witzky is a common man who is married to Maggie, they have a little child called Jake who is always talking to his imaginary friend Samantha. One day Tom is hypnotized and he will begin to suspect that Samantha is not really an imaginary friend but someone who really wants something ....

I recommend this movie to everyone.

7 stars = good

Two If by Sea (1996)

Watch this romantic comedy movie with your girlfriend

[6/10 · 10 February 2009]

This is the kind of movie to sit, watch and relax without demanding too much of it.

The stronger point of the movie are its likable characters (except Evan Marsh). Sandra Bullock is like a fish in the water in this kind of movies and she has a good chemistry with the other leading Denis Leary. The supporting characters are good like the FBI Agent O'Malley and the group of thieves (especially when they discuss between themselves making funny comments).

'Frank' O'Brien has stolen a very expensive painting and he will go to an appointment with his girlfriend Roz to sell it, what he doesn't know it is that the FBI Agent O'Malley and his thieves friends are after them

Magnolia (1999)

Great drama, one of the best movies I have ever seen

[10/10 · 10 February 2009]

Magnolia must be one of the best 10 films from the 90s, a good decade for the movie industry. This is a great drama with great performances especially from Tom Cruise and Julianne Moore . I have watched it 3 times and each time I like it more. Maybe there will be a few people who will not find this movie entertaining but they will agree when it is over that they had to watch it because of the strength of the casts performances that must be one of the best in the history of cinema.

"Magnolia" is about how the life of a group of people are connected in some uncommon way during a day in Los Angeles where they have to face their past, some apologizing and others forgiving or maybe not ......

This is a must see for everyone who consider him/herself a true movie fan.