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Reviews
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)
One of the best I have ever seen
Disclaimer: this review will mainly act as a counterargument to the criticism I have seen.
This movie is a blast. Extremely entertaining and funny. I loved the cinematography. The movie looks like it is one shot. They may have cut the movie during a pan shot, and I noticed some moments where the screen went almost black and you could imagine that there was a cut, but isn't that what happens on stage?
Michael Keaton gives an Oscar worthy performance. All the actors are great. The movie feels like it is improvised, I love it. In fact at IMDb's trivia section it says that some moments were slightly improvised.
A common criticism is this: the long takes were gimmicky. It did serve a function. It made it look like a stage production. And it may also act as a reflection of our celebrity-culture.
I have heard that this movie was boring. This point is extremely subjective, but I still can't understand how anyone can feel that way. It was fast paced, it was fun to look at, and the characters were interesting.
Pretentious...
attempting to impress by affecting greater importance or merit than is actually possessed: pretentious art films | the pretentious jargon of wine experts.
I'd like to mostly focus on the part where it says: attempting to impress. The movie did try to impress me, but the movie did impress me. To some degree aren't all movies trying to impress me. I feel like it is a meaningless criticism.
You are starting to look more and more like the archetype critic from Birdman. That doesn't disprove your point, but I do believe that this movie is more truthful than you are aware of.
You're all entitled to your opinion, but please present me an argument. Don't turn into the critic from Birdman. I think this quote sums it up pretty well.
(I had to censor some parts. IMDb won't let me post the uncensored version, even if it comes from their site. The beeps are the f-word.)
"Call the police... let's read. Lacklustre... That's just labels. Marginality... You kidding me? Sounds like you need penicillin to clear that up. That's a label. That's all labels. You just label everything. That's so *beep*in' lazy... You just... You're a lazy *beeb*er. You know what this is? You even know what that is? You don't, You know why? Because you can't see this thing if you don't have to label it. You mistake all those little noises in your head for true knowledge."
Tombstone (1993)
A fistful of clichés
This movie is extremely cliché. Montages, grinning villains, romantic subplot and of course: the NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO https://youtu.be/4yfr_Zj1iU4?t=5s The movie is a lot of fun though.
This movie is a cheese festival. Sometimes it is painfully bland, and sometimes it is extremely over the to, in a good way. https://youtu.be/4yfr_Zj1iU4?t=5s
The characters are likable. That is the best thing about the movie. Kurt Russel and Val Kilmer are extremely entertaining. Val Kilmer's performance is almost Oscar material.
If you enjoy westerns, check it out.
Yôjinbô (1961)
Badass
If there is one word I can use to describe this movie, it is Badass. This is another Kurasawa/Mifune collaboration, Mifune has acted in Kurasawa movies like Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood and Rashomon.
The movie's star is Sanjuro (Mifune), he is a sword for hire. His loyalty lies where the money lies. He is willing to kill to show his worth. Mifune does o wonderful job portraying this character. He is calm, funny and of course Badass.
I love the black & white cinematography. There is something really appealing about black & white movies. The contrasts between night and day, foreground and background, action and reaction are quite clear. You can often see it in a single shot.
This movie inspired the unofficial remake: Fistful of Dollars. I love Fistful and Yojimbo, but i think that Yojimbo is better. There are definitely things that Fistful does better, most notably the music. However I believe that Yojimbo will resonate with me longer.
Awesome movie, see it.
My Sister's Keeper (2009)
This is the most generic movie I have ever seen
This is an extremely generic movie. I think that is one of the worst thing you can say about a movie. Batman and Robin is a terrible movie, but it's so bad it's good. My sister's keeper reeks of mediocrity.
The acting is just fine. Most of the actors do a decent job, just decent. The directing and pacing is just fine. The cinematography is just fine. The writing is bad.
You know a movie has cheesy writing when you can smell the cliché from a metric mile away. You can smell the dramatic moments from a kilometer away. The movie tries to hard to be shocking. I had the same problem with The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.
It feels like a bad sitcom.
Turist (2014)
A brilliant examination of family and human nature
How would you act when you're afraid, would you protect your family, or would you save yourself. Any movie that makes you question what you would do in a certain scenario is doing something right.
I am surprised this movie wasn't nominated for best foreign language film of the year at the Oscars. This is truly one of the best movies from 2014. It is sad to see that the user score is slowly falling.
The actors do a great job portraying an average family and their problems. Even the child actors do a good job. The movie is subtle, it doesn't constantly tell you what is happening, it allows you to interpret it for yourself.
Some of the shots in this movie are gorgeous. You can truly feel the scope of the mountains. And the avalanche is truly a sight best experienced on the big screen. The avalanche is a great analogy for the events in this movie. I wont spoil it, but you have to see it for yourself.
As someone who has visited several ski resorts it does feel somewhat desolate. The slopes are usually a lot more crowded. There are some scenes where characters don't hear or see what they should be able to hear or see.
This is an awesome movie, check it out.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
Terrible plot, acting and action
This is one of the worst movies i have ever seen. The effects aren't even that good. The dramatic moments have no real emotional impact. And the writing is terrible.
I am going to show you some quotes:
"I know, and I want to help you, I do, but I am not some alien ambassador, you know? I'm a normal kid with normal problems. I am where I'm supposed to be. I'm sorry, I... I really am."
"And you will, my apprentice, in time. For millennia, I have dreamed of my return to that wretched planet where I, too, was once betrayed by the Primes I called my brothers. Only a Prime can defeat me... and now, only one remains."
(sarcasm) That is some good dialogue right there, real subtle, it is really normal that people communicate through exposition. You do hear a lot of werewolves talking about silver, or vampires talking about the sun.
You don't care about any of the characters, the only character that is somewhat cool is Optimus Prime. Megan Fox and Shia la bitch are not compelling at all.
The comedy is not funny. Comedy is subjective, but this is the lazy writing. The mom is one of the most annoying characters of all time.
Some of the action is fun, I like the forest fight. Most of it sucks. The directing and editing is so incomprehensible you can barely tell what is going on. The movie follows a basic 3 act structure, and you can predict a lot of the events.
The worst thing of the movie is this: it is booooooooooooooooooooriiiiiiiiiiiiing. It is about 2 hours 30 minutes.
Avoid it.
Leviafan (2014)
In time, even the Leviathan shall hit the shore
Yesterday I saw Leviathatan, and it was awesome. This is one of the best movies from 2014. I think this is a movie i can recommend to everyone.
The acting is outstanding. I dare you to find a single weak actor in this movie. The characters are believable and nuanced. The movie allows you to find out find out how the characters are related without spoon-feeding you with needless exposition. It adds another layer of realism to the movie.
The best thing about the movie is the cinematography. It is extremely well shot, with long takes. Many of the shots are used at multiple points in the movie. It allows you to observe the changes that have taken place just based on what is happening visually. IF THE TRAILER DIDN'T SPOIL THEM! Do not watch the trailer, it sucks. Do not watch any trailer at all.
Most of the movie does not use music, but the score is amazing. The only problem I noticed (for me at least) was one scene that took away some of the subtlety, I will not spoil it because I think you should experience the movie for yourself.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
Big improvement. SPOILERS FORM THE FIRST 30 MINUTES!
I was a big fan of The Hobbit: an Unexpected Journey, however it wasn't as good as the original trilogy. This one on the other was much better. It has likable characters, great effects, stellar action, good acting, great directing and camera work, and Smaug (won't go into further details on why this dragon is so freaking awesome).
My only problem with the movie is that the first 30 minutes are a bit rushed. The entire segment with Beorn and Mirkwood should've been dragged out more. Martin Freeman i fantastic as Bilbo, Ian McKellen is terrific as Gandalf, and all of the dwarfs are well acted. A common complaint about the movie is that there are too many characters, i would've been lying if i didn't notice this as well. The do take liberties with the source material. I didn't mind with most of them, even though there are changes I didn't like.
Overall: this movie improves greatly on an already great film.