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Not being a fan of boxing I wasn't really looking forward to this picture. I didn't even knew who Micky Ward was! When I saw the previews I thought to myself; Raging Bull 2 . Well, I couldn't be more wrong, except some slow-motions "à la Scorsese" during the fight we have a movie of his own. I assume that David O. Russell ( Three Kings ) was very meticulious to not redo something that has been done before. I categorize this kind of picture has an actor movie. Clearly the performances of Mark Wahlberg, Melissa Leo, Amy Adams and the greatest actor of his generation Christian Bale are top notch. One can say that Wahlberg didn't gives the best performance of the year. I wouldn't disagree completely but the character he portraits is a low profile man while his brother Dicky (Christian Bale) is more explosive and exhuberant. Bale gives one of his best performance, he is unrecognizable: the way he walks, his huge crack smocker eyes, his omnipresent intensity even when his character is sitting in a chair. He is Eklund. The film stands as a metaphor on how drugs, dreams, family... Even if sometimes you think you're at the end of the barrell you can always turn right with the perfect combination of good and evil and succeed in life. It's the American Dream set in the 1990's. How you should never stop believing in yourself and get people around you that will bring you higher than you can even expect. It may seem like I've seen a Disney picture or something like it, but still. Even if the Ward family is a little "white trash" and that many characters are unpleasant to watch the film quickly wraps up to a simpler ending than what the social tensions presented in its central chapter. There's also a clear off-beat point in the middle of the film where the time and discomfort is palpable and I think that it slows and weakened the rhythm of the story. Anyway, it reprensents probably many families where the mother wants to control everything and where everyone tries to put his or her nose in the things of the other... I believe that Dicky's problems with drugs were important and crack is one of the worst out there, but somehow I think that the film was a little too moralistic about it. I like that instead of praising it, it condemns it and it's a great achievment that he got out of this shit. It's just that at moments Bale is so great on the screen that the focus should be about Micky. Isn't it his film after all? Far from being a great film The Fighter is a good movie that gives you more than the regular Sports movie or Drama. It's a Social drama about a family that lived for boxing. I am curious to see how the movie will do at the Oscars because I thnik that this is the kind of film the Academy likes to praise. Small town people that can get into the big world of corporate boxing and earn their success through adversity...
Starring Casper Van Dien and the gorgeous Catherine Bell, “Thrill Seekers” (alternate title: “The Time Shifters”) is an excellent sci-fi flick filmed in 1999. Tom Merrick (Casper Van Dien) is a former reporter, who gives in to alcohol and depression after the tragic death of his crew in an accident for which he holds himself responsible. His wife left him, and he is unemployed. Finally, he decides to do something with his life and he finds a job in a small magazine dedicated to the paranormal. Merrick is given the task to make an article about the biggest tragedies in history. While researching the subject, he finds something very unusual – in 3 photos, from 3 tragedies that span across a 100 years time the same man appears, not looking a day older. ”Thrill Seekers” really surprised me, in a positive way. Yes, it’s budget constraints are visible, but it’s very well (and celeverly) filmed. It certainly has an interesting plot, but the execution is even better. Many films aim too high, and end up being big disappointments. This one doesn’t. It’s pretty down to earth, but not boring or dull, well written and directed. It has solid special effects, good performances, soundtrack, action, plot twists – it’s great fun. Oh, and Martin Sheen has a small role, too. It’s nice to see Casper Van Dien in a good film, and it’s nice to see Catherine Bell and her big bust anytime. Yay! Rating: 8/10
RATING 7.5/10 BOTTOM LINE: Carried by a strong performance by Sandra Bullock, “The Blind Side” proves to be a very watchable, and not-overtly Hollywood take on a rags-to-riches story based on a man with no prospects who succeeds at becoming one of the best college football prospects ever thanks to some unexpected help. THE GOOD: The rags-to-riches tale has been done over and over again, but where “The Blind Side” earns extra points is its low key approach. This film is not filled with rousing music, sentimental anecdotes, manipulative emotional sequences or the obligatory happy Hollywood ending. Director John Lee Hancock takes a subdued approached that evokes a documentary quality, but with the technical precision of a feature film. Sandra Bullock is spot on as a successful business woman Leigh Anne Tuohy, who takes in to her home Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron), a black teenager who has been dealt a very unfortunate hand in life. Because of his race and prospects, nobody wants to do anything for him, but with Tuohy’s help, and a teacher or two at his high school, Oher comes out of his shell and becomes a huge success. Bullock is surprisingly good in this film, balancing the hard-nose business and empathetic qualities with great skill. Quinton Aaron is a big bear of a man, but delivers a gentle performance where you cannot help but feel for him. The film does not make blatant attempts to elicit sympathy or sentimentality, instead presenting events in an “as-they-occur” method, which allows the film to avoid the traps of being overtly manipulative, as most Hollywood films like this tend to be. “The Blind Side” is a very watchable tale of triumph over adversity. THE BAD: The film feels somewhat drawn out. It may be the problem that this type of story can be predictable, but the film could have been twenty minutes shorter and still gotten the job done. The film also tends to have a TV-quality look to it; some times this adds to the “realness” of the proceedings, but at other times, it significantly detracts. These points aside, the film is a remarkable achievement given its low budget, and puts many Hollywood films with budgets ten times the size to shame.
Rating: 4.5/5 I loved this film! I wasn’t sure what to expect going in, I only knew it was a true story about a soccer coach and is 44 days with Leeds United. When it comes to Italian soccer, I know names and a bit of history, but I know pretty much nothing like that when it comes to English soccer, so this story was new to me. I am sure I’ve heard Brian Clough’s name before this film, but I had no idea about what he did. This is kind of a bio-pic about him, going back and forth between his time with Leeds and his time with Derby. At the core is the partnership and relationship between Clough (played by the excellent Michael Sheen) and Peter Taylor (Timothy Spall, amazing in this role). The story here starts off with Clough going to the Leeds club, and we see their former coach Don Revie (A fantastic Colm Meaney) has left the team for the national team. But just how did Clough get the gig of coaching the top team? We see his rise at Derby with Taylor, as ego’s grow with the teams massive success. Clough does not get along with the Leeds team, trying to do things his way is not what the players want. His time there it seemed his ego had gotten the better of him and a falling out with Taylor is obvious since he isn’t there at Leeds with him. It is really fascinating to see this all unfold, it was almost like a history lesson with English football. Clough the film character is likable, I really enjoyed Michael Sheen’s performance. There was a lot of passion and emotion behind it. The same can be said for Timothy Spall, he was fantastic as Taylor (even if the physical resemblance wasn’t there). Maybe it is just me, but I do think these two men are fantastic actors, and the chemistry between them was electric. Because their partnership and relationship are so important to the story, if the two actors didn’t have the right chemistry between them wouldn’t have worked. Luckily for the film makers, they struck gold here. Colm Meaney always seems to show up in small roles, and even in Star Trek I think he proved he can do fantastic work. He was excellent, I know nothing about Revie but I felt this performance was perfect. At least it fit with the film, and the showdown he has towards the end of the film with Sheen was just full of such tension. Such a great and solid cast, I was a bit smiley when I saw Stephen Graham show up as Billy Bremner the Leeds Captain. Another fantastic actor, certainly deserves more credit. And keep an eye out for another amazing talent, Jim Broadbent. If I had to fault this film it would be the pacing, it does fail the film a few times, but as engaging as it is I didn’t notice it too much and it certainly didn’t ruin the experience for me. I do enjoy films that are based on true events and real people, when done right they can be engaging and thought provoking. This was well made and entertaining, I think this is the kind of film even if you aren’t a soccer fan you’ll enjoy it. Certainly a film I can easily recommend, if anything just check out how fantastic Michael Sheen is. First published at SuperMarcey.com
...WITH FEELING! Genre: Comedy Sports Drama (Japan) Starring: Yôsuke Kubozuka (Tomie: Replay • "GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka"), Arata (20th Centure Boys • Zatoichi: The Last) Directed By: Fumihiko Sori (Vexille • Ichi) Overview: This is the story of two friends, their competition, and their Ping Pong. When friends discuss films with the added praise of 'it's probably my favourite film of all time', it's a recommendation that's hard to ignore. When they follow up by putting the DVD in your hand, well you need a pretty good excuse to turn it away... well, at least when those titles aren't Backdraft or The Day After Tomorrow. Ping Pong is one such film that was thrust into my palm with the warning that it may not be as bleak as I'm accustomed to. Well, to all my readers out there, I can safely say that of all table tennis films I've seen, this is the best. Furthermore, this film is so worthy that I've allowed it to drive a wedge in my 1001 films study to tell you all about it. Put simply, Ping Pong is a Japanese Comedy Drama about table tennis teams competing to win the annual high school tournament. The story revolves around our two characters, "Peco" Hoshino, an extremely proud and cocky table tennis player who spends his days at the dojo playing to make a career out of it. His best friend "Smile" Tsukimoto, so named because he never does, is a brooding sort who has always played ping pong for the fun of it and nothing more - so much so that he often lets others win to spare their feelings. This year's tournament will have stiff competition from the usual uber-devoted team in black lead by Dragon , but there's also a new player emigrated from China who may make things difficult for our heroes' school. . Ping Pong has so much going for it, that it's hard to chose where to begin. Fumihiko Sori's first feature film is without a doubt exciting to watch. It was obvious from the start that Ping Pong had its roots in either comics or videogames, and lo and behold, Ping Pong comes from the manga written by Taiyō Matsumoto, author of Blue Spring and Tekkonkinkreet. The film opens up with introductions so dramatic that they could compete with the introductory flair of Jesus of The Big Lebowski . Stunning cinematography during tournaments include over-the-top close-up shots of ping pong balls crushing into paddles in slo-motion as they fly back across the table to whiz past incredulous players. Shots during practice montages include rooms of students practicing ping pong katas in unison and paddles red with the blood of devotion. Those more into the art-house will be pleased at frequent symbolic visualization effects that enhance our characters' development, which is where our movie shines. The magic of this film is in the characters and not their sport. Although there's much time spent at tournaments, the character development arcs are based on far more than victories and losses at that 9' by 5' masonite table. Yes, they include those of Peco and Smile, but we also follow their coaches as well as the lives of Demon, China and Dragon. And best of all, though the scenes play out logically, they don't do so predictably, which is what makes Ping Pong a surprising fun film, and, for me at least, a major sleeper hit. . Oh, and when the Japanese make fun of China, their race humour is gold! . That's what I'm talkin' about! Performance: 9 Cinematography: 9 Script: 8 Plot: 9 Mood: 10 Overall Rating: 90% (Ping All Your Friends For This One) Aftertaste: When I finished this film, I mourned how many gems like these have passed by me unknown and unseen. Ping Pong is obscure enough being a Japanese movie made for the Japanese. Granted, having a website has allowed me to get recommendations from readers as far as Australia, and I can count myself lucky frequently enough to make my site worth it. Being cinemaniacal makes for an endless search, and it's something that needs to be done in volume. *sigh* Time to stick another celluloid in my vein... I know it's bad for me, but when movies like Ping Pong spring out of of left field like this, it makes it all worth the slag-sifting.
Now there's a man with a kink... Genre: Sport Drama Starring: Billy Bob Thornton ( Bad Santa ; Monster's Ball), Lucas Black (Sling Blade; The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift) Directed By: Peter Berg (The Rundown; Very Bad Things) Overview: Based on the true story of a Texas town football team in 1988, trying to make it to the State Championship, and the coach who led them there. Performance: Oh Billy Bob, you never disappoint me. Another great performance. it was somewhat shocking to see Lucas Black (Sling Blade) all grown up and playing football, and he did really well too. The heavy scenes are well played out, not too hammy, the characters all have enough differentiating them to be unique and interesting. This was great. Rating: 8 Cinematography: Vast! Panoramas, crane angles and helicopter shots of the stadium. Vibrant colour and great night lighting mixed with quick cuts of plays and cheerleaders. Real big feel, and real effective. Rating: 8 Script: You know going into this kind of movie that there will be a lot of pep talks and inspirational bits of wisdom and patience, bordering on the saccharine but not quite. Well I was surprised to see coaches yelling in player's faces, "What the HELL do you think you're DOING! Think, with your HEAD! HOW the hell did you lose your HELMET!". Yes, there's some moving scenes, but this movie is far more realistic than expected, lots more 'urgent-on-the-field-get-it-together-toot-sweet-or-we-lose' yelling and angry kind of dialogue too. Rating: 8 Plot: Along with the script, one would expect some overwhelmingly dramatic slow motion last second victory stuff. The situations that the characters are in are far more realistic and down to earth. Honestly it's not about that last moment, it's about the voyage, real refreshing. It's more than just everyone's hopes rely on this game, it's not that grandiose... Like I said, it's more realistic, and it focuses less on the actual obvious stuff, it digs deeper. Rating: 8 Mood: This movie is more than a team trying to win the big game with a coach telling them how to win it. It's all about the small town feel, all inhabitants holding the big dreams of 'Going to State', and carrying with it the weight of future memories for the players. The weight of 'Responsibility' throughout the movie along with the real yet wholesome attitude works excellently! Rating: 8 No, no it's actually a real football movie, not one of those fruity... well ok, it's a little fruity... Overall Rating: 80% (Real Entertaining) Aftertaste: Friday Night Lights is entertaining and interesting to watch, especially watching Lucas all grown up. And Billy-Bob puts on a hell of a show. I know it's a football movie, and I hate sports, but all in all, this is one of the movies that I'll remember for a good long while.
"Everybody glint your wheels and blind them all!" Genre: Sport Documentary Starring: Mark Zupan, Joe Soares Directed By: Henry Alex Ruben, Dana Adam Shapiro Overview: This is the documentary of the rivalry between the Canadian and American quadriplegic Wheelchair Rugby teams who eventually compete for Gold in the 2004 Paralmpics in Athens. Performance: The unscripted and natural portrayal by these people is astounding. It's like they have no idea there's a camera in front of them. The only person who seems to make any play for the camera is the Canadian Coach's son, and he can walk. The characters here are given just enough focus. It's like the director knew that the Canadian coach and the American Zupan, and of course that 4 month new quad are really the only ones we care to study at length. Rating: 8 Cinematography: The images were fine and all, I mean that intro is great, the little graphics and all, but I really would have liked to have seen more of the actual GAME being played. From what we saw, there were no exciting moments captured. It was 'guy with ball gets to end zone' then cut to 'other guy with ball gets to end zone'. Well what about those plays where they stop the guy with the ball? And I don't mean just the ones where guys get chucked outta their chair. Good otherwise. Rating: 7 Script: The words are unabated. Zupan is unforgiving, the recently injured quad is touching, and the coach is relentless, holy jumpin'. He'd rather have a heart attack than stop screaming. When you watch this, the characters tell you little secrets of the life and I'm talking real secrets here. It's fun to learn, let me tell you. Rating: 7 Plot: The way this unfolds is great. The Canadian Coach twist is a very dramatic tale which adds good rivalry. The Canadian element and the rooting for the home team is offset by our love for Zupan, and in the end no matter who wins and who loses we really feel for the teams. That ending scene after the game is over is tear-jerking. It's a movie more about the condition, it's a doc that's more about the game. It's human and it's dramatic and it was a real fun trip. Rating: 8 Mood: The mood is unrelenting determination at this sport, versus the new guy having to get used to life this way. From denial to acceptance is a really long way, and we get that. Once these people become players however, boy do they ever give up on giving up. And hey, can't go wrong with songs by Ministry. Rating: 8 What the...! WTF! He's not allowed walking! NO WALKING!" Overall Rating: 76% (Killer!) Aftertaste: I got what I expected and a little more. At this stage in life I can pretty much guess how it's going to be just reading a little bit about it. I have faith in the filmmaker and in the documentarist to make what I expect and want to see. This went a little further and told me things I didn't know, and aside from watching a rivalry come to a head, I learned a lot along the way.
After I have seen this movie I realized how little do people know about real, good movies. Bunch of people will rush to the cinemas to see Meet the Spartans or Sex and the city, but who knows about classics like this one? Almost nobody. I have heard of it before, but I didn't decide to watch it until I saw Hot Fuzz, in which Point Break is referred to as master piece. So, what's it all about? The movie was made in 1991, and tells the story of cool FBI agent named Johnny Utah (uber cool Keanu Reeves), who is assigned to uncover the truth behind the gang of bank robbers, named „The ex-presidents“. To do that, Johnny must go undercover , and the only lead he has is a fact that robbers are surfers in their free time. He and his partner Angelo Pappas (moderately cool Gary Busey) are doing well on cracking the case, but the problems begin when Johnny falls in love with Tyler Ann (Lorry Petty) and becomes friend with Bodhi (unbelievably cool Patrick Swayze), the leader of the gang. Now, what actually makes this movie so good? It's the fact that everything in it is perfect and cool&awesome. First, the leading role of Keanu Reeves-he is one of my most favorite actors, if not the most favorite one. In this movie he plays equally cool character of Johnny Utah, whose name just radiates with coolness. And when it turns out that he was a football star, a quarterback whose injury prevented him to pursue that career, and he enlisted in college and later became an FBI agent, I must say:that's freakin' awesome! Second, Patrick Swayze, also one of my favorite actors. He is not really an A-rated actor, which is quite unfair because he knows how to act and is generally a pretty cool guy. The role of buffed but also smart, adrenaline junkie and the leader of the gang, fits him perfectly. Third, other actors have also done their jobs really well, and I was most surprised with Gary Busey. I'm not a big fan of his, but in this movie he has proven he can act quite well, and the role of elderly, a bit frustrated agent who, in the end decides to do the right thing, fits him perfectly (yeah, this movie really has awesome casting!). The script is excellent, the work of not really famous W. Peter Illif. I was also surprised by fact that the movie was directed by a woman, namely Kathryn Bigelow. I'm not sexist, but I didn't expect that a woman could direct good action movie, followed by a fact there are not many female directors. But, she made an excellent job, it's too bad that she didn't make more movies like this (there is K-19, that's pretty good movie). And all other things in the movie are also awesome, action sequences are very well made, characters are realistic, and the story is dynamic. Of course, all of that is enhanced with some plot twists, excellent soundtrack and original ending. Besides all that, there is also one more thing worth mentioning, the scene that is unbelievably cool, and is the object of tribute in Hot Fuzz. That scene is the moment where Keanu chases one of the robbers and gets ready to shoot him. In that moment he realizes that he is actually Patrick(Bodhi), and he has a split second to decide if he can shoot the criminal who is actually his friend. He can't shoot him, and in emotional burst he shoots dozen of bullets in the air, enraged. If there was nothing else good in the movie, based on this scene I would give it high rating, but since everything in the movie is perfect I simply can't give it nothing less than perfect rating. RATED PURE GENIUS Rating: 10/10 - review by Magnum
Rating: 3/5 Okay first off, this really should be called The Kung Fu Kid, considering Karate is not featured at all and they do Kung Fu in this film. The only reason it kept the Karate Kid title was for marketing, apparently people are stupid and wouldn't notice there is no Karate in the film. That aside, it is not secret I was not happy to hear about a remake of one of my favourite films starring Jaden Smith. Again it is not secret I can't stand the spawn of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett, thanks in part to the horrible The Day The Earth Stood Still remake. I figured I would go into this with an open mind, it has gotten some positive reviews and surely Jackie Chan would be good? Well Jackie Chan is good, and the film isn't that bad. Of course they have changed a lot of things, instead of moving across the country, this one sees the mother and son move countries. So our setting has changed, but it is still a fish out of water story. They also changed the age of our main character, whereas the original he was 17, here he is 12 and this for me provided a few problems. Of course as I already mentioned, since the film is set in China, we get Kung Fu and not Karate. Mr Miyagi in the original was an old man, here Mr. Han is a lot younger obviously and that was just fine. Changing the age to someone younger as I just mentioned provided a few problems, especially in this day and age. Of course we know the relationship between student and teacher is innocent, but it seems a little odd that the mother in this film just lets her son run off with a middle aged man without investigating, I find that a bit off. Also in the original we have the classic scene where Daniel tries to get revenge on the bullies but ends up in a fight where he is out number, only to have Miyagi come to his rescue and beat up the bullies. Those bullies were 17, and while it seemed an old man probably couldn't have the strength ect to beat them up it didn't seem wrong. Here we have a similar scene and Mr Han comes to the rescue but it seems a bit wrong having a 50 year old man beating up a bunch of 12 year olds. Sure they deserved to be taught a lesson, but getting beat up by a middle aged man doesn't seem right to me. As mentioned the new film follows the formula of the first film, having similar scenes and scenario's and why wouldn't they? Despite the heavy cliche's they keep to something which was proven to work and I do applaud that. While they do have things that are the same they do make them different, and it does work for the new settings ect. As far as the situation with the bullies go, I didn't feel this film explored that enough like it did in the original. It would have helped if we got more of an idea how much of a hard time they gave Dre (Jaden Smith), and whether or not it was just them that made him miserable there. In a scene where he 'breaks down' and tells his mother he hates it there, it didn't feel like we got enough of why he did. The scene I felt was not very well down, Jaden struggled with the emotions and the mother (Taraji P. Henson) was just not a likable character and it didn't help the actress was terrible in the role. At least they showed the bond between Dre and the girl Mei (Wenwen Han), it was a cute little friendship and a strong part of the story. I felt again we didn't get enough of the bullies, I just thought we needed more a threat there. We hardly see their teacher, and he didn't seem like the real bad ass that was Martin Kove as Kreese was in the original. The scenes of the training were alright, the whole jacket thing felt like it went on way too long, the scenes on the great wall just seemed to be a little bit too much. The lessons presented were good, like picking yourself up, not being afraid, all similar lessons and themes to the original and of course always relevant. Jackie Chan really owned the role of Mr. Han, he is a sad man with a sad past, and Chan shows that he can actually act when you give him the chance (that is in an English speaking role). Mostly we are used to him being in comedies or comedic roles (again I am talking the English speaking films), and to see his break down scene was something very different and it had a great impact. Not only is he teaching Dre, in this scene we see Dre is teaching him. I felt this was one of the strongest scenes for both Chan and Smith. Amazing Jaden Smith actually turned out to be alright here, he's given some decent material to work with. His character is of course a bit cocky (Daniel was too in the original) but it isn't an overly annoying cocky. He's alright for most of the film, I did warm up to him as it went on, but like I said it help he had decent material to work with. He's certainly a very flexible kid, and he must have done a lot of training. He's certainly a lot more flexible then Ralph Macchio was in the original, but this film does feature a lot better martial arts. The bullies weren't terribly good, aside from making mean faces but I get the feeling they were hired more for their Scott Adkins like abilities rather then their acting chops. Over all this turned out to be an alright film, entertaining enough, and keeping with the spirit of the original. It has a really nice score, props go to the awesome James Horner (Titanic, Avatar), it has similarities to the original film's score in the sense that it'll stick with you. He did a really good job, and I had no idea he did the score for this until I saw it in the credits. Of course I am always going to love the original because it is a favourite of mine, but they did a decent job of remaking it and you got to give credit where it is due. First published at SuperMarcey.com
/</gidiv style="clear: both; text-align: left;"/>/giToday's cinematography (as well as society as whole) thoroughly lacks manliness and manly movies. That's why I had to dig up some old movie to make up for it, and I'm satisfied with what I have found. Over the Top was made back in 1987, the Golden Days, and tells the tale of Lincoln Hawk (Sylvester Stallone) a broke truck driver, whose ex-wife is on deathbed and her last wish is that Linc picks up their son Michael from some junior military academy graduation and drives him to her in the hospital. Actually, she knows that she is dying and wants them to bond because Mike hasn't even met his dad, due to the efforts of his grandfather. At first Mike doesn't want to do anything with Linc, but slowly their relationship grows as Mike realizes that he is better off with his real manly father than with his granddad. But that's not all! Since Linc is without money he decides to earn some in Las Vegas by winning International Arm Wresting Championship! Arrghghgh!!! The first prize is 100 000$ and bigass Volvo truck, just enough for him to start his own small company. And so the two plots intertwine and bring the expected but still awesome conclusion. You can expect good performance by Sly (as always) in which he reminded me of Rocky (same underdog story). While Over the Top isn't Rocky, it's still a good runner-up. Michael is played by David Mendenhall, but good „performances“ also come from other arm wrestlers, mostly Rick Zumwalt as Bob Hurley and Bruce Way as John Grizzly (the man starred only in one movie in his life, and it was this). It's interesting to mention the names of the main competitors in arm wrestling – Hawk, Bull, Grizzly, Smasher, Mad Dog etc. What a merry bunch of badasses. The soundtrack is also pretty good, filled with that cheesy rock music which was made to be played in movies like this. One of the authors is Frank Stallone, Sly's brother, which is also cool. Listen to this or this and say that it's not awesome. To conclude this (short*) review I highly recommend this movie to anyone who would like to buy his own truck/car/bike and ride across the US while blasting rock, if you know what I mean. *If you're wondering why this review is so short, it's not because of my laziness (well, not entirely because of it, at least) but because the movie is so goddamn manly that I don't have any more words to describe it. Just watch it. RATED PURE GENIUS Rating: 9/10 - review by Magnum
THE SCOOP Director: John G. Avildsen Plot: A small time boxer gets a once in a lifetime chance to fight a heavyweight champ in a bout in which he strives to go the distance for his self-respect. Genre: Action/Drama/Romance/Sport Awards: Won 3 Oscars - best picture, director, editing. Nom. for 7 Oscars -best actor, actress, 2 supporting actors, screenplay, sound, original song. Runtime: 119min Rating: PG for some language and violence. IN RETROSPECT Even though the Rocky series spawned four disastrous sequels (with a sixth one coming early 2007..."Oh shucks!"), the original Rocky is the one that rocks. Sylvester Stallone gives the performance of his career portraying a lonely part-time boxer seeking an opportunity to shine on the big stage. Talia Shire (The Godfather trilogy) shows her acting versatility, depicting a quiet and equally lonely young woman. Amazingly, Stallone wrote the Oscar-nominated screenplay in three days (I didn't know he could write, let alone write that quickly). Bill Conti's score is very much pulsating and creative, serving the film well. However, I still can't believe that Rocky and its director won both the Best Picture and Best Director Oscar Awards. Surely Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver ’s the far more accomplished motion picture of that year. Nevertheless, Rocky 's able to give us exciting ring action as well as compelling drama. For that it triumphs. SCORE: 8/10 [www.filmnomenon.blogspot.com] All rights reserved!
Iron? There's no iron! There's not even a putter! Genre: Comedy Musical Starring: The Marx Brothers - Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Zeppo ( Duck Soup ; A Night At The Opera) Directed By: Norman Z. McLeod ( It's a Gift ; Monkey Business ) Overview: Huxley College finally has a chance this year of winning the football game against Darwin College, but with ringers playing for the opposite team and a couple of bumbling buffoons playing for Huxley, it's going to be a rough ride. Performance: Finally some decent direction. Most of the actors in this know their lines, speak without being stuffy, and look comfortable in front of the camera. In short the actors look like they actually know what they're doing. I guess the director did a decent job in making this barely passable too. Harpo's not a total letch in this either. Rating: 7 Cinematography: Not only are the musical numbers kept at a minimum, but the choreography isn't a turd. There's some great moments on the football field and during the 'attempted kidnapping of the huge football ringers' scene, so again you won't be too sorely disappointed. Rating: 7 Script: "Two-thousand dollars for ice? I can buy an Eskimo for two hundred and make my OWN ice!" And finally after three films we have one where the comedy was amusing and actually got a laugh out of me from time to time. This was far less filled with groaners and bad puns and had more genuine humorous humour. I'll go as far as to say I got a kick out of it. Rating: 8 Plot: We also have a real story! Unfortunately, the film itself was only 65 minutes, so I couldn't revel in the fact that this was the best Marx I've seen for too long. I suppose they didn't feel the need to add any filler like in all those that came before. There's suspense, action, drama... a touch of comedy of errors (typical Marx), some double-crosses and a comical and witty wrap-up that shows that this film had real professionals involved in storyline. Yay! Rating: 8 Mood: I don't know if I've gone to the other end of the Marx Brothers spectrum of appreciation, watching this decent film and comparing it to the other three fecalicious previous ones and being relieved that it was not a total waste of time. I must say I actually liked it. The Marx Brothers mood here is the best you'll find and any good fan... will have already watched this I suppose... I mean they really don't have that much stuff out there, come on, this isn't Hitchcock with his 65 films. Rating: 8 "No fighting? But I've already taken off my coat!" Overall Rating: 76% (Feather or Not You Like This Is Up To You) Aftertaste: Clearly the more along their film career we get and the further away from the Great Depression we find ourselves, we have better Marx films than have come before. I don't know if it's simply the fact that they've grown on me a little, but I guess it was most likely the opposite. I was getting sick of them for a while there and the only reason I stuck with it was because I got a Marx Brother DVD collection from the library and I only have it on loan for a week, so I really had no choice the way I see it...
There's really nothing masculine about having your arms ass deep behind a man's balls Genre: Silent Family Comedy Sport Romance Starring: Harold Lloyd ( Girl Shy ; Safety Last! ), Jobyna Ralston (Wings; The Kid Brother ) Directed By: Fred C. Newmeyer & Sam Taylor ( Slapstick Symposium ) Overview: A naive young man goes off to college in hopes of becoming the most popular boy in school. He soon finds that being on the football team is a necessary step. Here's another one of the absolute mediocre films I feel I need mention , yet don't feel the need to waste too much of my time with, priorities being what they are in life. Rather than give a long-winded explanation of why this is passably acted in the style of the time, and shot in such a way that the camera serves to do nothing but frame the tale, I'll just tell you this: of all the Harold Lloyd films I was told I had to see 'Before I Died' by a big fat tome , this was the most unimpressive one to date. I don't know if it's because in today's day and age this warm and snugly cliché is about as lively as a necrophiliac's horse, or if it's just that of all the predictable slapsticky gag moments imaginable, this used pretty much every single one. All in all this was probably so important a film in its time because since then I've seen this movie rehashed about fifty times. "Really? He actually comes through and wins the big game?! NO! What a twist!" Yeah, not so much. When a woman does it on the other hand...HOT Overall Rating: 62% (Kinda Smelly If You Ask Me) Aftertaste: While looking into this, I read the words 'Harold Lloyd's most loved film,' which makes it obvious to me that the person who wrote it hasn't seen a single other film of his. What's awesome about Lloyd is his stunts. This one really has none of that; it's a cute little story about a dude with a bucket of insecurities trying so hard to be famous that he looks like a gullible goof. What's the lesson here, don't be a dweeb? Thanks I learned that back in the days where I was measuring my wink in junior high.
Hello Bladies! Genre: Sport Comedy Starring: Will Ferrell ( Old School ; A Night At The Roxbury), Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite) Directed By: Will Speck, Josh Gordon Overview: When the best singles figure skaters are banned from competing for life, they must put their rivalry behind them and team up to capture their dreams! Performance: A smattering of successful and recognizable faces certainly helped these budding directors smooth things out on the ice. Besides the leading men we have Will Arnett ( the blue shirt in the middle ) and Craig T. Nelson . Even Rob Corddry and Luke Wilson got throw in for some bit parts, with Luke getting laughs just for being recognized. How nice for him. Consistent over-the-topness equals greatness. Rating: 9 Cinematography: Some touches of the epic, some observations of the evolution of CGI turning ever more seamless, a couple interesting pans... that lands us in the professional-to-be-expected zone. The outfits on the other hand, and the choreography of course, well.. if you go just to see the outfits, you'll be happy. Rating: 8 Script: You put the bone in Zamboni. Are you an official here? 'Cause you've officially given me a boner. How'd it go with your lady? Carve up any ice?...With your weiner? It's effin' hilarious, and not just all the cock jokes, plentiful though they are. What sets the script apart and shoots it up into the realm of 'absolute greatness', aside from the constant wit, retort, and re-retort, is the way it cradles 'cliché' enough to let you enjoy the exaggeration, while still being serious enough to prevent it from becoming a mockery of itself in that overdone SNL way. Rating: 10 Plot: This is a Will Ferrell comedy, so you know what to expect in the way of storyline. The characters, caricatures as they are, are three-dimensional with motivations rich in back-story. The tale is more an exploration of the people who will lead us to a predictable end, and the joy that comes from the fresh take on these simple character arc elements. The awkward telephone conversation that leads to the first kiss, the rivalry turned friendship, the double-cross set to right, they're all done in an original fashion that is rich with subplot and character development. Light and fun. Rating: 8 Mood: Homoeroticism never had it so good. Blades of Glory plays it up, but without constant fag jokes. Silence speaks volumes as macho and effeminate collide and overcome the taboo of men's pairs figure skating competition, spanning sexuality, and becoming as one for the sake of capturing a dream! And for once a comedy with a love interest that barely hardly almost skims the surface of Rom Com ! Add a final scene that just perfectly takes the figure skating flair to the next level... aw so sweet. Rating: 9 Roboti Glitterati Overall Rating: 88% (Smooth As...Um... I Have No Appropriate Metaphor) Aftertaste: First 2007 film I've seen this year, and I wasn't disappointed, no sir. It's good to know that Jon Heder didn't putter out after Napoleon Dynamite, and he's proven that he can play a different role than the Jamiroquai-dancing geek he nailed his fame with. He's one to watch... and I guess so's Will Ferrel... I suppose when I take an occasional break from serious film study, I should get around to Talladega Nights...
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