I expected little or even no entertainment value between the time Hancock started and finished, but I was pleasantly surprised. However, I would never want to mislead you, so will tell you straight. This film is Will Smith's worst film ever!! (Although I haven't seen Wild Wild West, so it might be his second worst)
I am a fan of Will Smith and have been since his days in The Fresh Prince of Bel Air but when he is willingly (no pun intended) to b a part of a film like this, the respect I have for him has no choice but to wither.
On the upside, if you have nothing else to watch and you're given the DVD for free, it will pass the time, but as Samuel Beckett said "It would pass anyway". After watching this, I wondered whether or not I should have just let it pass on its own.
Simply spiffing!
Jeeves and Wooster was a very necessary step forward for both Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, which allowed them to get away from the sketch comedy stigma that, even though they had mastered, was becoming all they were, when between them they could do anything.
Evidently, I am a big fan of this duo but even using my unbiased views, it is difficult to see Jeeves and Wooster as a disappointment. It more than does justice to P.G. Wodehouse and shows just how good the pair are at acting seriously, even though, as a comedy, it still allows for more than enough of Fry's (ironically, in this context) superior style and Laurie's buffoon-like mannerisms.
If you're a fan of Mr. Fry and Mr. Laurie, you'll be a fan of Mr. Jeeves and Mr. Wooster, but even if you're just a fan of tongue-in-cheek wit and excellent television "period dramas", thorough enjoyment will undoubtedly ensue.
I think this is the best one Fast and Furious film. To bring the old cast back together is amazing and it also fills in the blanks of 'Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift' which is good because a lot of people where confused how Dom was involved in Tokyo drift - absolutely brilliant!
Boys in the park, jumpers for goalposts, two at the back, rush goalie, 4-4-2, offside, three in the middle, four at the front; one's gone home for his tea: beans on toast? Possibly, don't quote me on that, wasn't it, isn't it mmm? - Marvellevous! I hate Football. Can't stand the game, for all I know; Football F.C. could be top of the Premiere League to determine the Football champions for this season of Football, that said, my disdain for the beautiful game didn't stop me from enjoying 'The Damned United'. A lively, if somewhat absurdist, adaptation of David Peace's take on legendary, larger-than-life manager Brian Clough's short lived tenure at 'Leeds United'. Now we're all familiar with that famous clip where Muhammed Ali was asked to record a message for Brian Clough (a man he'd never heard of much less met); Ali's hilarious, immortal warning could serve as an accurate template for this story: "Clough: Enough is enough!". But it never was, and Michael Sheen ('Underworld') is on top form as the cocky, but gifted, Northerner whose bitter, three way clash with Assistant manager Peter Taylor (Timothy Spall) and 'Leeds United' predecessor Don Revie (Colm Meaney) sees red cards all round and bruises Big 'Ead's sizeable ego. Michael Sheen, so convincing as David Frost in 'Frost/ Nixon', Tony Blair in 'The Deal' and Kenneth Williams in 'Fantabulosa!' is an impressionist who also happens to be an excellent actor. Sheen manages to capture the inner turmoil and Clough's convictions (delusions to some) of grandeur, in much the same way as Jamie Foxx nailed the MO of Drew Bundini Brown in Michael Mann's 'Ali'. Its best to regard this film as a work of hyper-real fiction, for a lot of the people depicted were unhappy about their portrayal and since I'm not an expert on the subject, couldn't tell you either way. As a fictional work of historical drama 'The Damned United' features some damned good performances and is watchable enough. I've got nothing more to say on the issue, is this review all over?...it is now.
Christopher Nolan (director/writer) has certainly outdone himself this time. I believe The Dark Knight holds the equivalent in Christopher Nolan's heart as Michelangelo would hold the Sistine Chapel in his, it's simply a masterpiece. Looking back at Nolan's previous films, most of them, including Batman Begins, turned out to be mediocre or above average at best, this is because they all lack the finesse and quality that The Dark Knight delivers with ease. Nolan takes all the basics in film making and turns them inside out and spits them back out to make pleasurable viewing for the public eye. By this I mean he makes all the most difficult things to achieve in the film-making industry look easy. Especially since this masterpiece that was dubbed for awards by well renowned film critics is a movie about a multi-billionaire playboy who likes to dress up as a bat. Looking at the film in an overall perspective Nolan takes a different approach on how to introduce a Batman movie. The film is based around the psychology of the villain The Joker (Heath Ledger) as well as Batman (Christian Bale), which is totally unique compared to taking a simple and basic approach around the life Bruce Wayne/Batman with a slight insight of what the villain is plotting to unleash on Gotham, which is usually obtained in brief encounters throughout the film. The morals and decisions throughout the film lead up to breathtaking climax whilst leaving you on the edge of your seat. The idea that there is something else, something more fearful than Batman lurking the streets of Gotham that has no morals of right or wrong gives the impression that The Jokers character is actually a scary individual you wouldn't want to bump into on the street. Batman himself does have morals, trying to protect the innocent and install hope among those in Gotham to prevent the city falling into the hands of a mad man therefore having to do the right thing by abiding in some respect the law itself therefore making Joker the more feared throughout the film. Although Nolan's version of the Joker seems psychotic, he's intelligent and manipulative and likes to test the boundaries of a system that he believes is there to manipulate the people in Gotham. The Joker is played by the late Heath Ledger and is portrayed in a new light from his previous outing under the helm of legend Jack Nicholson, this time taking on a darker, gritty and terrifying role. Heath Ledger deserves a lot of the credit for the high praise the film received. He seems dedicated to the role and delivers a first class performance any director would praise, yet it is still Nolan's script that brings Heaths character to life. Quotes of "Why so Serious?!" are now up there with the best movie quotes of all time. The other cast, Morgan Freeman (Lucius Fox), Christian Bale, Michael Caine (Alfred), Gary Oldman (Commissioner Gordon) all deliver what you would expect from Hollywood's A-list, providing only more depth to how Nolan wishes the characters to be portrayed by the world. Newcomer Aaron Eckhart plays a fantastic role as Harvey Dent and has the love interest of Rachel Dawes who is played by Maggie Gyllenhaal replacing Katie Holmes to provide the love triangle in the movie. The cast is a fantastic line up for any movie yet its Nolan's story that deserves the final applause providing The Dark Knight with the final piece of Nolan's highly acclaimed puzzle. The story is backbone of the film, even without the great storyline I am sure The Dark Knight would still have gained praise with the cast it had at its disposal, but Christopher Nolan has not done himself any favours by making one of the most sought after movies of 2008. Surely he must be having nightmares about how to even begin a sequel to what can only be dubbed as perfect representation to a superhero film.... FINALLY!
Never having seen any of the other cinematic Batman offerings (I can sense your shocked expressions), I can't honestly confess to being desperate to see this one. However, albeit long after all the hype, I settled down to watch 'The Dark Knight'. Maybe it was because of my previous appreciation for the work of the late Heath Ledger. Maybe it was just because I had nothing else to do and my family were going to watch it. Whatever the reason, I am very glad that the decision was made.
Satisfaction came in waves throughout the film and not just in a few parts spread over the 152 minutes of viewing time but regularly. I mention the viewing time, as it is certainly more than the average mainstream movie but this mattered not. The action, tension and excitement was held throughout and, even though I did notice its length during the film, it was not out of exasperation. I was more than happy for it to go on and on. The twists and revelations constantly refreshing my interest in what was going on and what was going to happen.
As for the performances by the chosen set of quality actors, they cannot be faulted. Enough has been said by others about Heath Ledger as The Joker and all the positivity is absolutely correct. However, due to the tragic circumstances surrounding its release, many of the other performances may well have been overlooked somewhat and this is a major injustice. Bale, Eckhart, Gyllenhaal, Caine and Freeman - all outstanding in their respective roles. Maybe others could have done the parts as well but I certainly wouldn't risk substituting any of them. And as for Gary Oldman, once again he far from disappoints. He seems to have become an untouchable and cannot make a bad move.
All in all, whether you like the various other Batman films or not, this is a must-see. It requires nothing from you by way of prior knowledge (so you don't have to have seen even 'Batman Begins') but oh, does it demand your attention?
The answer is an unequivocal "yes".
What can I say, this is my favourite film, it's a great story. The life of prisoners usually bores me but this was surprisingly interesting and exciting, an all round quality film with excellent acting. I have watched it 4 or 5 times and would recommend it to everyone, great film!
To be honest I didn't really like the 4th saw, I have the box set and will still be buying the 5th, but for me it was disappointing compared to the other 3 films. There wasn't as much gore or action and I predicted most of what was going to happen which ruined the suspense. I would give it a lowly 4 out of 10.
I have all 3 films and enjoyed every one. The nonstop action thriller is largely exciting and makes you want to watch more and more. The action in Wesley Snipes' films is amazing as he rips apart vampire after vampire, plus the graphics are also immense. These films mustn't be missed and can be watched over again - I strongly recommend them to all you action lovers.
Verdict
Bruno is another thrillingly funny mockumentary from the rude, crude and offensive Sacha Baron Cohen. It's bad taste but you can't help but enjoy it!
When an American oil company engineer is kidnapped by South American guerrillas and held for ransom, his wife enlists the help of a professional hostage negotiator to get him released.
This overlong film makes do with being passable, when it might have been something much more, particularly given the star power of Russell Crowe and Meg Ryan in front of the camera and Taylor Hackford and Tony Gilroy behind. It might have said some important things about the plight of poor people under brutal dictatorships, about the morality of multi-nationals operating in underdeveloped countries; it might have made the guerrillas three-dimensional so that we are forced to engage with their plight and care about their fate... if only it took a break occasionally from confrontations, brutality, and endless tedious 'macho' mouthing off - and that's just the women. You have to laugh when hostage expert Crowe, constructing his 'profile' of the kidnapper, taps into his laptop something like, 'Traits: profanity'. Wow, that really narrows it down.
And yet it does have a surprisingly 'mature' and ambiguous ending following a startlingly visceral action set-piece. Surprisingly, despite the mutual attraction, Ryan and Crowe have not slept together and at the end she opts to go off with her husband, leaving battle-weary Crowe (who has just rescued said husband) to wistfully stare after her disappearing car... Personally I think she was right as David Morse seems to have far more going for him than the moody Crowe. But we're not sure whether she loves him, she loves both of them, she will leave hubby etc, although it seems pretty clear that Crowe loves her... As he stares a song by Van Morrison starts up. We're thinking, why? Why this song, which seems so out of place?
The end credits are long and, remarkably, do not scroll but are title-cards against moving landscapes (I doubt they survive on TV screenings) but finally the list of songs arrives and we learn the title of this particular one... Are you ready for this? It's 'I'll Be Your Lover, Too'. Oh yes indeedy. So, at this point, did the producer, the director, the editor, and every other responsible adult on the production check out, deciding that's it, story over, let's hand this puppy over to some junior-advertising-copywriter-cum-DVD-menu-designer to finish it off? Was said individual, racking his brains to find some poignant and apposite song, struck by a brainwave: there's a song called 'I'll Be Your Lover, Too'? It doesn't fit the film, it doesn't fit the mood, in fact it makes no sense whatsoever in the context, but hey the title is spot on and Van Morrison is way cool. Genius! Thus, in the blink of an eye, is pathos usurped by bathos.
When this controversial French film was released earlier this year, many critics condemned it as torture-porn, criticising its relentlessly brutal nature so strongly, you'd think the devil himself was distributing it. I have sympathy with this view - Martyrs is a shockingly violent ordeal, repulsive and visceral in extreme levels. But it is so much more than yet another torture-porn movie. There is actually an intelligent, powerful and profound point to the violence the viewer is made to witness. And when the twist is revealed, the impact is brilliantly controlled.
The outset of the film sees a young girl running down an empty road. She's crying, bleeding and what little clothes she's wearing are stained and torn. Having fled her abusers, this girl grows up in an orphanage and when she reaches her twenties, she stumbles upon the place of her childhood terror. She calls her friend, gets into the house and shoots the inhabitants. When her friend arrives, she is faced with the dead bodies of a whole family, as well as a horrifying secret waiting to be discovered in the basement.
To say any more would dilute the momentous power of what follows, but I shall express my admiration of the film's use of poetic cinematography and its exceptional capacity to shock with intellectual power. The final moments carry an extraordinary amount of significance and profundity, making this one of the most brave, powerful and important films in recent European cinema.
The "helping-a-friend-with-school-work" story always makes me a bit wary. When two friends help each other with "extra-curricular-studies" in movies, this normally means an excuse for repeated scenes of gratuitous sex. In Dream Boy, a rather clichéd independent film from James Bolton, two teenagers in Louisiana - Nathan and Roy - fall in love during their algebra coaching sessions after school. Nathan is the new boy in town, and is finding it hard to settle in due to his mother's nerves (she's near tears in almost every appearance) and unpredictable father. But when dashing farm boy Roy comes into their lives, driving the school bus and then helping out with maths revision, Nathan's spirits pick up.
But after just one algebra session you get the feeling that sex is just around the corner. It is, and it's a shame the film couldn't pay more attention to the blossoming friendship between the two boys instead of shortcutting to the body-action. But after the love-making, things get a more than a little dark. We start to learn about Nathan's history of sexual abuse at the hands of his father (the reasons for his mother's constant state of upset) and when the boys go on a camping trip with two other school friends, things take a devastating turn. The sweet, almost naive nature of the narrative switches quickly into something far more disturbing.
But anything gritty or remotely hard-hitting doesn't last for long, mostly because the nauseatingly twee and sentimental synthesised score which seems to be on a constant loop throughout. Moments of potential tension or human emotion are robbed of any lasting impact due to overzealous efforts to make the story into some sort of modern day fable or coming-of-age-yarn. In the end this demeans what little integrity the script originally possessed. This is a boy-next-door story which manages, just about, to offer two character studies in varying degrees of competence. Just don't expect the level of quality to reach anywhere near the likes of Brokeback Mountain.
A true story about assisted suicide really doesn't sound like a riotously fun night in, and it sounds even less attractive when you discover Julie Walters is the person you have to watch die. Of course, this is not because Walters is in anyway displeasing as an actress; it's just hard to watch one of the country's most cherished thespians suffer for nearly the entire running time of a harrowing, although superbly made, television drama.
Lovely Julie, who does stern kindness so well, is perfect for the real-life role of Dr Alice Turner, a mother of three who asks for an assisted death abroad when she contracts progressive supranuclear palsy - an illness similar to the one that killed her husband. The chances of this happening twice to the same family are astonishingly remote and, as Dr Turner put it, "rotten bad luck". Her three adult children are aghast at her decision and do their best to persuade her otherwise. But she knows that, if she doesn't act, she will suffer a sustained, painful and torturous death at the hands of her affliction. A clinic in Zurich has the power to give her a dignified exit from this life, and after considering her limited options, she chooses this as a necessary solution.
Walters never lets you down, and here she is particularly convincing in a role that, by an actress of lesser talent, could have been juiced for award-baiting means. Her superb character judgement is explicit to see in a perfectly directed scene where an argument breaks out between Alice and her religious friend Claire over a game of chess. Claire, played equally well by the brilliant, but often underrated, Harriet Walter, questions Alice's decision to kill herself with fire-hot anger, which dissolves into a shouting match between two strong and stubborn-minded women. It's also an opportunity to see two of Britain's best actresses demonstrate their uncompromising ability to turn an already admirable script into something spectacularly compelling, credible and very human.
The final few minutes are harrowing and hard to watch, but not in an overly sensationalised manner, and thanks to a touching glance into the lives of Alice Turner's children after her death, the overall experience of the film feels more rewarding than depressing. This is truly excellent television that handles a morbid and controversial subject with a commendable sense of judgement, surprising humour and above all top-notch acting.
one word ACE! great film
What can I say it's a laugh a minute! The animation is excellent the detail on the small things like the fur is ace! I'd highly recommend this to all fans of animation.
Hours of fun for a rainy night in or just a girl's night in.
This is one the best Classic stories around. A mix of danger, Daleks and Tom Baker's Doctor created a fantastic piece of writing.
Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends are back with more entertaining stories. Join Thomas and his friends as they get in to more scrapes than you can blow a whistle at.
Paul Verhoeven has made compelling films in the past, but these always had a somewhat deliberate and unashamed tackiness about them. 'Black Book' is a departure from previous form; devoid of the comic horror of 'Total Recall' and the sleazy overtones of 'Basic Instinct'. I think it would be misleading to describe this purely as a war movie: it is essentially a revenge thriller with World War II as the backdrop. There are strong performances all round, especially from Sebastian Koch, who excels once again. With a less capable cast, the movie's 140 minutes may grated, but it never fails to grip the viewer over this duration. If it had been produced within the Hollywood system, this would have been a major box office hit. In any event, 'Black Book' is one of the best thrillers of recent years.
"Fearless" tells the true story of Huo Yuanjia (Jet Li), a Chinese martial arts legend. In the film, we see his skill and strength grow from a young age until he is a great force. However, this power also results with a growth in pride and big-headedness, ultimately bringing terrible hurt and shame onto him. It is through this pain he is able to truly understand his power and seek redemption. Director Ronny Yu uses the setting of China at the turn of the century well in bringing this man's story to life. The vibrant towns and wondrous scenery only add to the engaging plot. The story is rich with interesting characters, but most time is understandably spent developing Huo's character. A tightly written script means little time is spent on subplots and all focus and effort can go into the advancing of Huo's journey. The fight scenes are unbelievable: Jet Li really makes art with martial arts. Each punch, kick and grunt is painstakingly choreographed to perfection by Yuen Woo-ping (choreographer of The Matrix, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) . My personal favourite scene involves Huo fighting another gentleman on a small platform high above ground: the speed and variety of these men's attacks is amazing, as is the camera work. Even when the film slows down in the middle third it maintains the interest of the viewer with fantastic character study and excellent acting. The conclusion is inspiring, and I believe Yu succeeds in making a film worthy of the story it is telling. I am not always convinced by martial arts films, but this one delivers the substance as well as the style.
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