Change Your Image
sniperx360
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Fruitvale Station (2013)
Where's the Story?
I have read a lot of reviews and acclaim for this film and when I finally got around to watching it.....it was very underwhelmed. There is so much praise for Michael B. Jordan and Octavia Spencer. These two actors do a great job. I do not think either of them are Oscar-winning, but perhaps Oscar-nominating. Michael B. Jordan's performance is great, but that alone is no reason to see this movie, instead, just watch Chronicle where he is still great (although, compared to Dane DeHann in Chronicle nobody in that movie is a great actor). There is no doubt that this story is tragic. A loss of life is still a loss of life, especially when the incident is an accident, it's just not a very good film.
This film is very confidently made and it shows. The direction and acting is certainly there, there are just two main issues that I cannot stand. First of all, the film has no story. This is based on a quick incident that was caught on some cell phone footage, nothing to make a full length feature film out of, a one hour documentary would have been fine. They spend a little over the first two thirds of this film leading up to the events, all of which really don't matter. The only reason for this is to get a sense of the character, but that doesn't work because of my second reason. This film is completely, 100%, biased. This story makes Oscar out to be a saint Now, I knew nothing about anything relating to this film before seeing it. They spend so much time trying to force his likableness down our throats and it just seems too pushy.
I have no problem when a film is biased on one side, it is just when it is based on real events that I really cannot stand this. This is not like Batman where we are supposed to be biased to one side. This is a story that rather than exploring options, takes every single route to Oscar and injustice. This is not one of those films where there is an antagonist who is the film's protagonist, like Law Abiding Citizen, and taking the biased route only causes more problems than it solves.
Upon exploring more into this, I have come to the conclusion that this whole incident is just a series of mistakes taken on both sides. The cops were too aggressive, but so was Oscar. The cop then responded as he should and taze him in order to relax him, but upon a mistake, grabbed his weapon and wound up killing him. This film makes it out so that every step was wrongfully taken by the cops and there was no justice. If you ask me, I'd say justice was served. The cop who fired the shot was sentenced for two years in prison for involuntary manslaughter and wound up getting out in 11 months. This seems a bit too short for what happened, but I'm sure there is a perfectly good reason made by the people who study law rather than the person sitting on his computer.
Ultimately, a well made movie does not make it a great movie. I had the same problem with The Conjuring, a very well made movie, but lacking in so many other aspects that I could not stand it.
This is a great story that would be a very interesting documentary, but I would only recommend this film strictly for its confident approach in filmmaking.
Don Jon (2013)
A few tweaks from greatness!
I really liked Don Jon. I love every second on this screen, but its what is not on screen that cap its' potential. This movie had potential to be wonderful and charming while still vulgar and real much like Silver Linings Playbook, but better. The two of these films line up very closely, but Silver Linings takes much more time on the characters ultimately leading to a better film.
Let me first say how much I enjoyed the premise of this movie. The premise is only porn. That's it. It moves from many different sub-stories within that that form one comprehensive story. This premise is absolutely genius. Joseph Gordon-Levitt does a fantastic job here as he dives deeper into each layer and giving new perspectives every few scenes. The plot of this is very simple, yet complex, much like the ideology of porn. There is something about it that is simple and easy (to access or rid), but there is always something bringing us back, and we don't know what that is.
Here is where the movie falls short though. Standing at 90 minutes, Don Jon lacks depth. We see many main characters and we are only scratching the surface with them. Julianne Moore and Scarlet Johansson's characters both are very interesting, yet we only see them for face value. We see a broken Julianne Moore through her interactions, but never dive fully into her brokenness. We see a sheltered Scarlet who upon confrontation refuses to accept reality and goes about her way. Primarily though, we see Jon. We go through all these changes in concrete and perspective with him. Jon is a very relateable and venerable character. His perspective is the only true depth we get. We go through his trials every step of the way and every step brings a new perspective we did not see before whether it be something unnoticed through Scarlet, Julianne, the Church, or even his workout routine.
When it is time for the movie to end, JGL takes 5 minutes to wrap everything up. The way this is great because it shows the true unfinishedness of life and choices, but the problem is we don't get enough of the other characters for the ending to make a real impact. If these characters were explored throughout the movie for total of 30 minutes extra, the impact would be phenomenal. I love the way the film ends, but it seems rushed. With an extra 10 minutes to see Jon pour himself into these other characters, I would have been much more satisfied.
Ultimately, Don Jon is great, but with an extra 40 minutes of completing characters, this could have been exemplary. Silver Linings Playbook spend an hour more and had about the same amount of story. It was that extra filler that really made the movie great, but it was missing relatability. Silver Linings was wonderful, but I felt a real connection with the character of Jon. I gave Silver Linings a 9/10 and I give Don Jon an 8/10, but with more character, this could have easily been a 10/10.
Olympus Has Fallen (2013)
Die Hard for the modern generation.
I am not saying that Die Hard is outdated... in fact, i think opposite. No movie fan, no matter what age, should go without seeing it. However, this is the closest thing we are going to get to another movie like the original Die Hard. Both movies share many similar characteristics, only the stakes are much larger in Olympus Has Fallen.
In Die Hard, the only thing was a lot of money was going to be taken. This time, not only is the President's life at stake, but it evolves into a much more high-risk situation.
Olympus Has Fallen shows great acting in it's talent. Veteran Morgan Freeman brings a performance as strong as the rest of his. Along with that, Aaron Eckhart brings his "A" game, much like The Dark Knight. Last, but certainly not least, Gerard Butler delivers the best performance of his career.
Olympus Has Fallen delivers the sense of awe that i have not experienced in a while. The entire White House attack scene will leave you with an open jaw, watered eyes, and a sense of despair. The attack scene ranks among the most unforgettable action scenes of the last decade.
Is Olympus Has Fallen perfect? Absolutely not, there are flaws and some things that make no sense whatsoever, but it is definitely one of the most entertaining films (so far) of the year.
Gangster Squad (2013)
Has some major issues.
Overall, by the movie alone, this movie is worth about an 8/10. It is highly entertaining, has some fun moments, and gets the setting right. This is exactly how I imagine 1940s LA. Yes, the movie is cliché, but oh well, what movie isn't now!
I give it a 7 only because of the fact that there are huge moments in the true story completely screwed up in this film. I'm okay with movies being different from their source material, just not when the source is a real story.
I read the book first and found the book not that exciting, but an interesting piece of history. The book is for the story, the movie is for the action. They go hand-in-hand rather well.
However, I got really ticked off when there were way too many faults with the movie and the true story like:
The real Gangster Squad consisted of 8 members, not 6; The real Gangster Squad didn't consist of a Mexican, Black, or old sharpshooter; Connie had a baby girl; Grace Faraday's character was completely fictionalized, Jerry Wooters was on Vice Squad before Gangster Squad and was not part of the original 8; (and the three that mainly made me mad) Mickey was never convicted of murder (he went to jail because of taxes (like Capone)); Con Keeler was not killed in real life, he was actually the last to die of the original 8 in 2012. and Jack Whalen was part of the Gangster Squad, not Mickey's crew, and was shot off-duty (suspected by Mickey Cohen) in the head and killed which lead to a very intense court battle, which never took place in the movie.
Overall, even with those faults, it is still entertaining as heck! This is a definite buy for me, but not immediately unless they release the original cut with the movie theater shootout because I really want to see that!
Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)
Transformers: Dark Of The Moon
Warning: spoilers
anyone who has seen this movie knows what i'm talking about when i say that the first two movies had a small plot: this person wants to take over earth. we have to kill him. and i really like the first two films a lot, but the cast and crew really put some effort into making this movie as good as it can be. the movie starts with the moon and a ship, but then evolves into betrayal, the destruction of Chicago, and involves HUMANS working with decepticons. because of all of these reasons and many more, Transformers: Dark Of The Moon most definitely deserves at 9 rating.
the only problem i have is that it was predictable in some points. (ex) when Carly gets into the car after her and Sam find out that Dylan is working with the decepticons, i think almost everyone predicted that the car that Dylan gave her was going to transform into a decepticon. Also when you see the shuttle go up in space, i knew that they were going to blow it up to tie up loose ends. also that they weren't really in the ship when it got destroyed was a given.