brookesbooks Reviews

The English Patient (1996)

Overrated

[4/10 · 16 August 2016]

In my heart, I want to give this movie a lower rating of two. But I've seen much worse things than this, and there is plenty of good things in here. The scenery is gorgeous, and the acting is good too. Seriously, after seeing this I want to vacation in the desert.

Before I get into this, I must admit I haven't read the book which this is based on, so maybe that's why I didn't get it. With that being said, I found this movie to be pretentious. Why on earth am I supposed to care about the lives of snobby rich people? They have these supposedly grand statements about love, lines which only served the purpose of making them look shallow. Hana and Kip seemed like side characters, I think they might've been more interesting as leads.

Finally, this movie goes on for way too long. I wanted to leave, but I kept hoping that maybe I could enjoy it like so many others have. But I can't.

United Passions (2014)

I cannot empathize enough how awful this is

[1/10 · 11 August 2016]

I've seen all sorts of terrible stuff in my lifetime. Gross-out comedies without the comedy, sickeningly cliché romantic movies, and unintentionally hilarious flops. But this tops them all. This is not only bad, it's fury-inducing.

If your like me, you probably want to watch it because you know it's bad and are hoping to get some laughs out of it. Go watch Flash Gordon instead, because while there are some of those funny moments in here, there is also plenty of bad where there is no comedic value.

They make the people who run FIFA seem like heroes. I'll give you one example of a hilarious scene where the FIFA president and his daughter give a speech towards the most cliché pompous and prejudiced British guy. By the way, every single British person in this acts like a Bond villain. Even Sepp Blatter, whose known for rigging votes and for saying women should wear tighter uniforms, stands against corruption and sexism in this film!

Maybe I would believe this film's message if any of the actors cared. Okay, I wouldn't, but I have to point out how bad their performances are. They even hired a Irish actor who made no attempt to hide his accent to play a Brazilian! The script is the worst one ever written, none of the scenes are connected. In one scene, FIFA is about to go bankrupt, and in the next, they're meeting in a nice hotel and have no financial woes. Even the infamous "Uruguay vs. Brazil" game seems absolutely meaningless in this. You think they'd want to really show the 'struggles' of FIFA, but they just rush through everything.

Garbage.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

Takes the Star Trek films in a different direction

[8/10 · 7 February 2016]

If there was one film out of the ones that starred the cast and crew of the Original Series that appealed to the mainstream audience, this would be it. And this deserves it, even if the environmental message isn't subtle in the slightest.

The best part of this film is without a doubt the comedy. All of these actors have a natural talent to make people laugh, and this film exploits that fully. I laughed out loud a lot of times during this viewing.

I also liked how much time we got to spend getting to see the characters play off of one another. Is this film deep or intense like Wrath of Khan? But it's excellent in another way, and this isn't just your standard popcorn fair.

I would recommend you watch this film. Maybe because I'm a fan of 80's comedies in general, but I really liked this film.

She Was Pretty (2015)

Mediocre

[5/10 · 7 February 2016]

Let me start out with the positives, because there are some. I liked the chemistry between the actors, and it's very easy to tell that they got along on set. I also enjoyed the comedy of this, I found myself laughing a lot during it.

The problem is mainly with one aspect of the show, and unfortunately it's a big one. The writing for this is awful. The choices that the characters are not only nonsensical, they're choices that no human would ever make. The main story doesn't flow, and there's a huge plot shift part way throughout the show. There's also this mystery which I already knew the answer to the first time it's brought up. Another thing which got over very irritating was the music, whenever the characters were silent they would play this music which would describe how they feel. Seriously, we know what's going on, we don't need this music.

I'll talk about the four main characters. The main lead's is one of those clumsy characters you either love or hate, I personally found her irritating, this type of character was done much better in other shows such as Ugly Betty. The male lead...okay I guess, though the actor wasn't as good as his costars. The second female lead had the best subplot, and she has several interesting dilemmas. But the spotlight was stolen by Choi Siwon's character, Shin-Hyuk, mainly because the man was hilarious and the character knew how ridiculous everything going on was. Seriously, Shin-Hyuk needs his own spin off, that's how funny he was!

Overall, this drama does have some good moments, but if you're going to watch it throw logic out of the window.

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)

Out of all the Star Trek films, this is the most "Meh"

[6/10 · 16 December 2015]

Over the years, the Star Trek Original Series films have varied in quality, with extreme highs and extreme lows. But all I can really say about Star Trek: The Search for Spock is that it's okay. There's nothing awful in it, but at the same time there's nothing truly great about it, either. What I'm getting at here is that this film is completely forgettable, with only two things that are memorable. Leonard Nimoy was a good director, it's too bad he didn't have a better script to make this movie a great like Wrath of Khan. The best part is the finale, which I must admit is pretty epic.

The main problem about this movie is the villain. Actually, who was the villain? Christopher Lloyd is a good actor, but he didn't bring anything to this character. There's nothing unique about him, he's more like Klingon Extra #3 from the show that somehow got his own ship.

The other major problem is that, unlike the show and other films of this series, we really don't see a whole lot of bonding between the crew. There's a few moments, but I really wish that there were more.

This is the kind of film that you really should only watch is you have a free afternoon and you have nothing else to do.

Little Man (III) (2006)

If you see this film, your IQ will drop by at least 10 points

[2/10 · 9 December 2015]

This is possibly the worst comedy that has ever been created. Every single thing in this film was done wrong. The Wayans brothers stamp was a warning to me, but my family really wanted to see it, so we did.

All of the comedy boils down to gross out gags, but these gags aren't funny in the slightest. The only people that could laugh at this are 12 year old boys who think that the word "hump" is the peak of comedy. The story line is completely ludicrous, and it requires a suspension of disbelief that impossible for any human to achieve. You wonder how these characters can manage to be this stupid.

The acting is terrible, I'm talking as bad as "The Room" or "Fateful Findings". The performances are so flat that you can almost see the prompter that they're reading off of behind the camera.

By far the worse part was the effects. The "baby" effect of shrinking down Marlon Wayans is so awful that it takes what little scraps of realism this movie had and throws it out the window.

SKIP THIS MOVIE!

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

The best Star Trek film

[10/10 · 14 November 2015]

There's a whole lot to like about The Wrath of Khan. Plenty of action, memorable quotes, and an excellent storyline.

The villain is quite excellent, and very memorable. The characters are true to those that we saw in the show, and we even get to delve into them a bit deeper. The plot is very interesting, and it adds a lot to the Trek universe. The ending is so perfect and unforgettable that I don't even want to add any details here. It's truly something that you should see for yourself.

This is a film that is about choices, and how much of an impact they truly have. Khan, if you are unaware, is a villain from the original series, and Kirk's choice about what to do with him is the reason that all the trouble is happening in the first place. It always highlights the fact that Kirk is not a perfect man, which any great epic film does with their heroes.

Though this film is probably best enjoyed by Trekkies who watched the original, there is plenty here for a non-Trekkie to enjoy. Check it out for yourself, it has enough to convert a non fan over.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

Get your watch out, because you'll be checking it

[2/10 · 11 November 2015]

As a lover of TOS, I was very excited to watch this movie. But my excitement soon faded after the movie started. Watching this film was perhaps the most excruciatingly boring experience in my life. I kept watching it, expecting for something exciting to come, but nothing of that sort happened.

There were constant long, drawn out shots of the same thing. For example, when Captain Kirk first goes on the Enterprise, there were long shots of the ship, with the only other thing that we saw was Kirk admiring the ship. The visuals were absolutely stunning, but I got so sick of viewing them.

The plot was also dull, and very pretentious. I can't even bring myself to call the ending a climax because nothing happened in it. This was the first time in the history of watching Star Trek that I didn't care about what happened to the characters.

If you're having a Star Trek Marathon, skip this one. It doesn't relate to the other movies so it won't matter. Plus, you get to kick off your marathon with the excellent Wrath of Khan, instead of this snooze fest. I honestly tried to find one good thing about this movie, other than the cast, and the only thing I can think of are the visuals, which are impressive, but they show those visuals for far too long.

Pinocchio (2014–2015)

Very Good Drama

[9/10 · 16 October 2015]

Pinocchio is a very well crafted story about just how much the media effects people, as seen through the eyes of our main protagonist, Dal-Po. There is also a very nice romance in there.

The main thing I enjoyed about Pinocchio was how well it was able to balance drama and comedy. The main story was where the drama came from, and was kept in the arc of the main characters. The main characters did have some comedic moments, but most of the comedy was kept to the side characters, which I liked. This was one of those rare shows where you really got to know and like the side characters. I also enjoyed how unique the story was. There aren't too many shows about what goes in the world of journalism.

If I must nitpick, I have to say that I wish they would've cut out some of those cliché moments. Yes I know that Korean Dramas are well known for being soap opera-like, and that those moments very rarely occur in this drama. However, it really took out of the realism of it all when there is a long and silent stare while a ballad plays in the background.

This was the first Korean Drama I ever watched, and I'm glad of it. If you are trying to get into Korean Drama, this is a good place to start.

Pan (2015)

Bizarre is the best way to describe it

[3/10 · 15 October 2015]

From the beginning, when the setting is not the Victorian Period but rather WWII, I could tell that this wouldn't be the most faithful telling of Peter Pan. However, there is so much to get to that I can't focus on that. Nor will I get into the fact that the American Indian Tiger Lily is portrayed by the White Rooney Mara, since I'm sure plenty of others will do that.

There's one point in the film that a child is pushed off a cliff which is completely glossed over, something that I thought would be more important. But this film has to much more crucial stuff to get to, like pirates chanting "Smells like Teen Spirit". I'm dead serious.

The visuals were obnoxiously colorful. The costumes, especially those of Blackbeard, were completely over the top. It was very clear that the actors were simply in front of a green screen for a good chunk of it. There were also these birds which were some of the worst effects I've seen in some time.

I gave this movie an extra star since the villains and Captain Hook (who for some reason is Peter's friend) were freaking hilarious. I had to bite my lip to prevent myself from laughing at their hysterical overacting. I believe Hook is trying to be a cowboy, but he acts more like a creepy mascot with an unrecognizable American accent. I'm guessing Hugh Jackman must've been inspired by an insane person for his performance as Blackbeard. I would say I'm shocked that he would stoop this low, but the man was in Movie 43. But the best by far was the nun, who was mugging throughout her performance.

They gave some hint of a sequel for this, but judging by the box office numbers that's not happening, which is a miracle for the sanity of the general public.