Fast Five (2011)

Fast Five (2011)

6/10

Starring

Vin Diesel
Paul Walker
Jordana Brewster
Tyrese Gibson
Chris "Ludacris" Bridges
Matt Schulze
Sung Kang
Dwayne Johnson
Gal Gadot


Directed by Justin Lin

This is my favorite of all the Fast and furious and the only one I didn’t doze off while watching.

I am not a fan of the fast and furious franchise, not one bit. I always catch myself dozing off while watching them. It's ironic because this franchise is iconic for its intense races and out-of-place action scenes (in my own opinion) but its painfully plain characters make me bored and make me doze off.

What do all the fast and furious movies have in common?

Daring car stunts, car chases, and of course the fore mentioned pointless action scenes. Fast Five isn’t any different. But it's the first fast and furious I watched (and finished) without dozing off. The laws of physics are totally suspended in this movie, with cars moving sideways, people surviving some weird accidents and let’s not talk about the vault (I'm sure you've seen the trailers).

The movie starts with Dom (Vin Diesel) in a bus on his way to a 25 years sentence in prison. But, of course, his old partner/nemesis O'Conner (Paul Walker) and his sister, O'Conner's girlfriend Mia (Jordana Brewster), manage to break him out as seen from the previous movie in the franchise.

They head to Rio (Brazil) and O’Conner and his girlfriend get involved in stealing a car from a train for a Mob Boss. This is done with stunts that makes you wonder “hmm..., they really think am stupid”. So the plan went bad of cause and the Mob Boss was pissed and sent gangsters after them.

 
Also let’s not forget the FBI being pissed about the jail break and sends some die hard muscle pumping men to bring them in. This crew is headed by Hobbs Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson.

The characters are given a certain level of depth I don’t feel they had before. Vin Diesel and his unmistakable gravel voice (which should have a casting credit all to itself by the way) was just off the hinges, and Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson was wonderful. He made the movie for me with his awesome goatee. The humor in the movie was a total miss in my opinion.

The movie script has a part where Dom had to steal money. So Justin Lin probably went to the nearest video store and got the whole Ocean’s 11, 12 and 13 films and decided to do the same.
So our protagonist assembled a team of so called specialists, (previous characters from the films) typical to the Ocean’s 11 setting.

Justin, you better get it right next time, because I have never seen a heist go wrong like this, the movie should be nicknamed ‘How Not to Perform a Heist’.

The movie lacked the car racing scenes that seems to plague the other franchise but this is the best I have seen of the Fast and furious franchise.

The Shining (1980)

The Shining (1980)

 
7/10

Staring
Jack Nicholson
Shelley Duvall
Danny Lloyd
Scatman Crothers


Directed by Stanley Kubrick




Here's Johny

A movie of the 80s, 1980 to be precise and it is known as one of the scariest movies ever made and it has the villain Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) named the 25th greatest villain on the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains list in 2003.

The Shining is done by the late Stanley Kubrick, who is better known for his 1968 classic 2001: A Space Odyssey, which won an Oscar for Best Special Effects.

Although The Shining is seen as a classic, upon its release it was a slow starter in the box office, which later picked up and gained a profit and it was the only one of Kubrick's last nine films to get no nominations at all from either the Oscars or Golden Globes.

It is based on a book of the same name by Stephen King. King is quoted to have said that although Kubrick made a film with memorable imagery, it was not a good adaptation of his novel and is the only adaptation of his novels that he could "remember hating."

The movie plot is about a writer named Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) who takes up a job as a caretaker in a hotel for 5 months. He would be there alone for all the 5 months with his son and wife. Snowed in Jack loses it and starts to hunt his own family.

Well for a movie of the 80s i have to give it to Kubrick, though i bet it could be scary to most, but to me it was just a thriller showing off Nicholson at his best.

He did well portraying the character, with this distant stares and the wide eye look. Jack made watching the movie fun.

The cinematography in this movie is exceptional as Kubrick had to use long shots to show complete isolation and perfected the use of the steadicam to pass his message across the silver screen. The movie’s score will do justice in sending chills down your spin.

The movie is not violent though; only get to see Jack use the axe once. The catchphrase and now popular saying "Here's Johnny" is a catchphrase used by Ed McMahon in The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and Jack Nicholson said it so well that many believe that The Shining is the originator of the phrase.

The movie actually has a lot of continuity issues, but that don't matter when watching a great movie.

The movies sad point is Shelley Duvall whose acting was just poor.

The shining is a movie to re-watch

Hanna (2011)

Hanna (2011)

 

7/10

Starring
Saoirse Ronan
Eric Bana
Jason Flemyng
Cate Blanchett


Directed by Joe Wright


Hanna is a high pitched action movie that after you get through the introduction of the characters the movie keeps going on and on in that pace till it ends. Even at the end you still believe there is more, needed to be said.

Hanna is a British-German action thriller film that is fully packed with wonderful cinematography, while the music for the film was provided by the British rock duo The Chemical Brothers.

The movie portrays and contains some conspicuous fairy tale elements that we are used to and the director Joe wright also worked with Saoirse Ronan in his 2007 movie Atonement. The film (Atonement) won an Oscar for Best Original Score and got Saoirse Ronan a nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

The movie plot catches you on aware it tells the tale of an ex-CIA (Eric Bana), who lived in the wilds of Finland, Hanna was brought up and trained to be the perfect assassin. During her point of adolescence her father sent her on a mission where Hanna (Saoirse Ronan) journeys stealthily across Europe while eluding agents dispatched after her by a ruthless intelligence operative with secrets of her own.

The fight scenes are intense and beautifully choreographed. The Acting of the lead character Hanna (Saoirse Ronan) was done perfectly this teen actor who voiced Arrietty in the movie of the same name is one to watch out for in the near future.

She got the character, you start to see her evolve from a lonely girl leaving with her father to a girl running on her own, getting intrigue by anything she comes across with and fascinated by life itself. Watching how the character reacted when she came across electricity was masterfully done.


Joe Wright, pulled a rabbit out of the hat with this one, keeping you on the edge of your sit as you watch this chase thriller and experience all that she (Hanna) is going through as she gets to know who she is. The energy level of the movie is high from the beginning to the end. When the movie first starts you watch Hanna training hard, it can either impress you or leave you skeptical with one eyebrow raised. I was skeptical, about the movie, so i was totally impressed when the chase started and kept going to the very end.

It took me a while to see this movie wasn’t expecting much from it but upon seeing it I recommend it to all movie lovers.

Scream 4 (2011)

Scream 4 (2011)

 

7/10

Starring

David Arquette
Neve Campbell
Courteney Cox
Emma Roberts
Hayden Panettiere


Directed by Wes Craven

Scream 4 is intended to be the first of a new trilogy. Directed by Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson, writer of the original and its sequel, Scream 1 and Scream 2.

The plot has Sidney Prescott returns to Woodsboro after ten years as part of her book tour. As soon as she arrives, Ghostface once again starts to kill students from Woodsboro High, including her younger cousin's (Jill) friends. So the dynamic trio of Prescott, Gale Weathers Riley, and Dewey Riley once again team up to stop the murderer.

"Hey reasonable slasher movie, long time no see". The movie's strongest point is its script. Honestly, enjoying a part 4 movie with what is essentially a rehearsal of the first scream is a feat in itself. The killer (who has truly lost it) didn’t hurt the movie, what i mean is that he made it fun if i may say so. I looked forward to watching this movie for so long and I wasn’t disappointed.

Personal Note: Scream 4 is a lot better than Scream 3 (2000) where we see a bunch of guys in a room and a killer is released on them and instead of our heroes staying together and beating the hell out of the killer, they start to run around and make it a lot easier for the nutcase.

Seeing the old cast again brings back memories, good ones and new memories join them.

The dialogue in the movie is catchy and they added a nice comic undertone such as this conversation that stuck in my head:

What’s your favorite scary movie?

Bambi!!!

I understand dear. I saw it too.

Problems arose with the use of old clichés and some characters doing dumb things while they know a killer was on the loose.

[Spoiler Alert]

Someone wants to kill you, he jumps on the car you're in and he can’t get in so he leaves. You have a phone, you are safe in the car what will you do first?

Well the person probably hasn’t been watching enough TV, because why will I step out of the car in the first place?

I will call the cops then lock up and wait. That’s what I’ll do. I won’t even think about it twice.

That is the reasonable thing to do. Well the person decided to step out of the car and then gets killed.

[End of Spoiler]

Another pro is the fact that Sidney the character showed class, I was impressed by Neve Campbell’s acting. And this is me giving honor to whom honor is due; Wes Craven, You are a wonderful director. He made me connect with each character, even painting the old ones in their new lives as well, without any hollowness.

It’s been a while since I have seen a good slasher movie, maybe that’s why this gets a high score.

My Top 25 Worst Movies of All Time

25. Corky Romano (2001)
This movie lacks originality, imagination, creativity, fun, and good dialogue. In fact, the movie is entirely lacking and unnecessarily dumb.

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24. Kazaam (1996)
Shaquille O’Neal plays a genie trapped in a boombox because, apparently, a lamp his size has not been invented yet. After enduring the lame plot and visuals, the filmmakers decide to torture your ears too—you’re forced to hear Shaq rap.

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23. Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (2002)
Someone tell me what were they thinking with this one? It has such a lame script.

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22. Cheaper By the Dozen 2 (2005)
Why did they have to ruin a good movie by making a sequel? This movie was just too crowded.

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21. Rocky 5 (1990)
So, our hero is broke? What else is new? Then, he gets involved in a predictable street fight that we all knew he was going to win.

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20. Big Momma’s House: Like Father, Like Son (2011)
While watching this mess, I just kept asking myself, “Why? Why? Why? Why are they doing this to me?”

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19. The Whole Ten Yards (2004)
I loved The Whole Nine Yards. But here, the creators thought, “Let’s just add some random bits, remove reason and common sense, and call it a sequel.”

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18. Batman and Robin (1997)
I’m begging you, don’t watch this movie if you haven’t already.

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17. Son of the Mask (2005)
What even was this?

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16. Raw Deal (1986)
I still remember the trailer: “Nobody gives Arnold Schwarzenegger a raw deal.” Yeah, right.

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15. The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002)
You spend the entire time watching this movie searching for a reason to continue.

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15. Meet Dave (2008)
Tied at number 15, these movies go well together, don’t you think? Eddie Murphy at his worst.

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14. Big Momma's House 2 (2006)
I have no comments.

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13. Because I Said So (2007)
“Because you said so” is not a reason.

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12. Half Past Dead (2002)
There’s more to life than this.

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11. Showgirls (1995)
After all the nudity and sex, what’s left? Nothing. Yet somehow, this movie has a huge cult following.

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10. Grease 2 (1982)
Why wreck a classic?

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9. Johnson Family Vacation (2004)
I can’t believe I watched this. Bow Wow? Seriously?

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8. Gigli (2003)
Not only was it a box-office bomb, but it also manages to keep getting worse scene after scene. Just when you think it can’t, it does.

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7. Daredevil (2003)
I have nothing to say.

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6. Miss March (2009)
The only good thing in this movie is the rapper’s ridiculous name: “Horse Dick.mpeg.”

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5. In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (2008)
This movie is a blatant Lord of the Rings rip-off with a storyline so nonsensical that it doesn’t explain why most things are happening.

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4. Basic Instinct 2 (2006)
Why was this made?

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3. Code Name: The Cleaner (2007)
Stupid film.

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2. Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997)
It feels like the makers had some leftover budget and decided to throw random things together for this disaster.

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1. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003)
This movie is as absurd as the “game” they play in it.

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RIO (2011)

RIO (2011)

6/10

 
Starring

Jesse Eisenberg
Anne Hathaway
George Lopez


Directed by Carlos Saldanha

Rio is a 3D computer-animated movie for the family this Easter period. It is crammed with suspense and thrills for the kids. I didn’t expect much from the movie, but I was entertained. Imagine a domesticated parrot, who thought the reason he couldn’t fly was because he probably was an ostrich. Rio is funny, with catch phrases that can make you laugh all through the movie. 

The characters are well developed and the locations are beautifully rendered. The plot is reminiscent of Madagascar (by Dreamworks), but the voice casting to me needed some work.

That means you Jesse. I mean, Jesse? Seriously? When Blu was making a move on Jewel all he had to say was ‘are you on Facebook?’

Rio, is about a domesticated macaw (translated blue parrot) Blu voiced by Jesse Eisenberg, who is stolen from his home in Brazil and smuggled into the States.

He finds his way into the hands of a little girl named Linda and they spend 15 inseparable years together. Linda discovers with some help that the macaw (blue parrot) is almost extinct so she arranges for Blu to be flown to Brazil to mate with a free spirited blue macaw, named Jewel (voiced by Anne Hathaway).

Later on, the rare birds get stolen by smugglers and we are faced with an adventure of how they escape and find their way back, to their owners.

RIO is Blue Sky Studios's sixth feature film, although they are behind PIXAR/Disney and Dreamworks studios when it comes to making the big bucks in the box office, and planting memorable characters in your memory. Blue Sky has found a way to keep their head above water.

They are the makers of Ice Age, Horton Hears a who and Robots. Although the last two movies listed here didn’t make as huge a wave as the Ice Age series or their new feature RIO, we can see that Blue Sky is more interested in making movies that are suitable for all the family to watch.

Rio has something grand to look out for and it is the carnival. How the director made the carnival pivotal to the love between Blu and Jewel is just moving. A down side to the movie is that not only is it predictable (yet funny), the movie is not memorable and you’ll probably forget all that happened 5 minutes after watching. Kudos to the score, you don’t get to feel like the music in the movie is detached from it, like it was in HOP. It’s a movie for the Kids and adults with enough free time on their hand.