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Reviews
Project X (2012)
Not deserving of the hate it got
Right off the bat, let me say I enjoyed this movie a lot. I'm pretty cynical when it comes to comedies, but every now and then I get lured into watching one and sometimes I come out enjoying it, needless to say, this was one of those times.
The premise is simple: A bunch of nerdy teen guys organize a party, lots and lots of people show up and thrash the place. The way this story is realized is through the use of 'found footage'-style images, which in short means someone else was filming everything so the camera becomes a part of the actual movie instead of a voyeuristic peek, including the cameraman being spoken to a few times and actually talking himself. We get to see a whole lot of debauchery, nudism, teens getting drunk and high, wanton destruction of property, callous disregard of neighbors, dancing teens and loud music. All of this adds up to a, in my experience, very enjoyable watch displaying the biggest, noisiest, most depraved and most anarchistic party in the history of cinema, and it's displayed in a way that's actually pretty realistic in the 'you feel like you're there' kind of way. Some of the stuff that happens is pretty out there/far fetched, some of the teens are way more hedonistic than anyone would ever believe them to be, I'm pretty sure midgets won't get thrown into ovens in a real party and I have personally never seen a garden gnome filled with xtc get smashed by a baseball bat, resulting in free dope for everybody, but that's not the point.
The point is, that this is a movie about partying. It is what it is, it's not a movie about responsible teens throwing a party and growing up, taking responsibility and becoming adult. It's a movie that borders on the verge of exploitation because all it tries to do is show the biggest and wildest party ever captured on celluloid.
Most of the flak this movie received (and still receives) focuses on two things:
1: Nobody takes any responsibility in the end, lives are left in shambles, the place gets completely wrecked, adultery, casual drug use, you name it. It all happens and there's no repercussions at the end.
2: The old 'I hate these depraved teens' argument, from people who generally don't like this kind of movie anyway.
To both these critics I repeat: It is what it is. The movie was obviously not made with the intention of being a 'coming of age' flick, and as long as the actual movie is as entertaining as it is, I couldn't care less if there's no message at the end. It's pure, unadulterated anarchy and depravity raised to a level rarely seen before, it's escapism at its finest. It sets out with *one* goal in mind, and it delivers the goods like a movie of this type rarely does. The fact that in the Netherlands there's a matter of a girl organizing a party through Facebook, accidentally not making it a private event, thousands of people planning to come and the media calling it 'Project X' speaks volumes in my opinion.
In the end, it's a movie that makes you want to party and I salute Nima Nourizadeh for directing this wonderful flick. Party on and thanks for reading!
Drive Angry (2011)
Bringing pulp to a new level
I went into this movie as pretty much a blank slate, having only seen a trailer on the internet and because nothing else really played. Based on this trailer I expected an action movie with little depth, lots of explosions and hot women and some true Southern-state-gung-ho attitude, starring Nic Cage which raised some skepticism (if you think of Nic Cage you think of puppy eyes, not a mean ass-kicking-machine) and a vague story about hell and damnation which was probably forgettable, some dribbling about a baby and a satanic cult and lots of explosions and violence.
What I got however, was far more than I expected, and I will tell you why.
First of all, the main attraction of this movie is its adult content. The characters curse, have sex, drink, smoke and generally do everything god forbids and they are good at it. One of the two main antagonists, played by Billy Burke, is your stereotypical 'satanic cult-leader and self-proclaimed messiah' drinking blood, wearing pentagrams around his neck and generally being a hillbilly and the other antagonist is a dry-as-sand suit-wearing cold-and-calculating William Fichtner who is hunting Nic Cage, Cage is hunting the satanic hillbilly and his cult of followers/gun-wielding goons because they killed his daughter and stole her baby to sacrifice for satanic rituals, and the hillbilly and his satanic cult are on the move, trying to get to whatever place they are trying to go to sacrifice the infant.
Nic is assisted by the lovely Amber Heard, playing the token female lead which should always be present in a popcorn action flick like this, and delivers the eye-candy we all hoped for. Nic looks bad-ass wearing his scars, bruises and sunglasses and overall pulls off a very enjoyable Milton, who escaped from hell to 'resolve some unfinished business'. Spitting one-liners, wielding giant weapons and overall being an angry SOB he holds up admirably, against all expectations. Billy Burke pulls off a great hillbilly messiah, together with Elvis looks and southern-state accent but the real star, in my opinion is William Fichtner, the 'Accountant' sent back from hell to tie up loose ends, which in this case means bring back Nic Cage. His lines are great and delivered with great, dry wit, he pulls off the bored, better-than-you attitude amazingly, even in the face of extreme violence and every scene with him in it is a highlight. Mix in some cops being fooled by the Accountant into chasing Nic, evil cultists trying to summon the apocalypse at all costs for Nic to go through and you're left with a greatly enjoyable action flick with many memorable moments, which at times remind of great movies like Shoot 'em Up or Die Hard, a great and fitting soundtrack that never fails to get you pumped, eye-candy (every female in the movie almost) and a great performance by the main characters, some pretty good 3D (even though the objects-flying-at-spectator-level was a bit high at points, but I guess it fits a movie going for pulp and over-the-topness) and an overall great gritty vibe and you are left with a thoroughly enjoyable action flick.
Does it have its flaws? It sure does. There are a couple of plot holes, some things happen quite abruptly and without explanation and it's certainly not thought-provoking, but if you take it for what it is, you will not be disappointed. I graded it a 8/10, because it is the most fun I've had in the cinema this year, so far, but this is entirely subjective and in the grand scheme of things it's no Godfather or Citizen Kane, but it's obvious what this movie is going for from minute one, and the things it sets out to do it does so admirably.
The Master Demon (1991)
Boring
This was one of the biggest wastes of time I have ever witnessed. VERY bad acting, monotonous action sequences (hey 10 ninja's, hey another 10 ninja's) and the 'martial arts' looked like they came straight out of a power rangers episode. Several inconsistencies. Where did cameron come from after the master demon was defeated? Bad acting. People look like they are reading boards while speaking their lines. The weapons looked like cardboard with some paint. Who choreographed the fights? The worst fights I have ever seen in any movie EVER (even jeff trent's suckerpunch in plan 9 looked more believable) Worst lighting I have ever seen (every shot featured 10-meter shadows even while people were talking ?) The story was ok, but overall this was a pretty bad movie which I was hoping to END, END, END as long as it lasted.