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Reviews
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
Not bad
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Unlike previous X-Men films, this movie tells the story of a single mutant, James Logan a.k.a Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) starting with his childhood until the day he lost his memory (directly related to X-Men 2). Many mutants appear in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but I have to say that the most remarkable was Remy LeBeau (Taylor Kitsch), a.k.a Gambit. But I really liked Ryan Reynolds part too.
Even though the fighting scenes are good, I have to say that a little more blood would have given the movie more value. Another con about X- Men Origins, is the lack of consistence between this movie's storyline and the storyline of the previous movies. Details like these can really make a difference in a movie like this one.
So we can say that X-Men Origins isn't a bad movie, but it's not a brilliant one either. X-Men fans would enjoy it, (except the storyline flaw of course), and may like it more than its precedents. It's nothing as good as the comic books though.
Django Unchained (2012)
Genius
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After a very decent Inglorious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino amazes us with Django Unchained. This movie contains the same genius of its writer as 1994's Pulp Fiction. Blood, violence and a lot of other things Tarantino claims to despise are found in Django Unchained, but afterall, this what gives Tarantino movies their beauty. The movie tells the story of a slave-turned-bounty hunter named Django (Jamie Foxx), who, with the help of his mentor, Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz), sets off to find his wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington). The very promising cast, also featuring Leonardo DiCaprio and Samuel L. Jackson, did not disappoint. Christoph Waltz' brilliant performance highlighted the awesomeness of his character, a very charming and dangerous German born bounty hunter. (Way better than The Green Hornet's Chudnofsky) The movie isn't short (2h 45mins), but you enjoy every last minute of it and I couldn't find any boring scenes. In fact, some of them were pure Tarantino genius. Bottom line is, Django Unchained is a must watch movie, enjoyable to the very last second of it.
ParaNorman (2012)
Really enjoyable
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The makers of Coraline and the beautifully crafted but story-lacking 9 brought us another animated movie that did not disappoint. Paranorman was in fact a surprising movie. Unlike any other animated movie, this one picks a new sort of approach, that would probably entertain both adults and children.
The film was shot using a Canon 5D Mark II DSLR Camera. To generate the 3D effect, the camera was mounted on a special rig that would take one shot, then slide to a slightly viewpoint to take another shot. However, to generate all the different faces needed for the characters, the film company Laika used 3D printers.
The movie takes place in the creepy town of Blithe Hollow, whose name is a mash up of two other ghost stories, Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit(1945) and Washington Irving's The Legend of The Sleepy Hollow(1949). Paranorman tells the story of 11 years-old Norman (voiced by Kodi Smit- McPhee), who can speak to ghosts. Unfortunately, Norman has no friends because people think he's weird. Even his father (voiced by Jeff Garlin) regrets how his son turned out to be. The movie is a little too horror oriented, but funny and suitable for children nonetheless.
The characters are well drawn, so you can understand each of their personalities: you have the nice fat kid called Neil (voiced by Tucker Albrizzi), the usual blonde teen (voiced by Anna Kendrick), the bully (voiced by Christopher Mintz-Plasse), and the dumb jock (voiced by Casey Affleck). To be honest, my favorite was Neil.
To end with, Paranorman weaves a fantastically dazzling, consistently engaging and touching story. I really appreciated the level of maturity that has gone into this impressive stop-motion animation. A good movie in about every regard, that is fun and entertaining to watch, for both children and adults.
Lawless (2012)
A gangster western
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If this movie wasn't based on a true story, I probably would have given it a 4/10. But since it's a movie similar to many others, Lawless had to give us something more, and that would be its attention to the 1930s details.
It's in fact a true story, the tale of the bootlegging Bondurant brothers (played by Hardy, Labeouf, and Jason Clarke) during the 1930s. Unlike HBO's Boardwalk Empire, which gives us an inside look at upper- class bootlegging, Lawless takes us into where the alcohol originates: in the country. The story isn't that bad, giving the audience a different look to the bootlegging scene. But, you don't really know where the movie's going until it's there, which, I guess, is the storyline's only con.
Director John Hillcoat does a really good job in this film. The acting was in fact pretty good, with Shia Labeouf giving us a good performance, and a short but meaningful appearance by Gary Oldman. Guy Pearce delivers us the bad guy that everyone will hate. But, Tom Hardy's performance was better than both. Hardy plays the invincible Forrest Bondurant, proving that he was born to play the role of the badass. The supporting cast also did a good job, giving us a movie with a good overall performance.
There's something about a gangster movie set in the atmosphere of a western that would attract a lot of curious watchers. The movie is in fact good and enjoyable. Yet, a slightly better storyline would have risen the movie to be a brilliant one.
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Brilliant
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I was lucky to watch Reservoir Dogs without knowing anything about it, making it a total surprise. It's not your average crime movie, with the crazy shootings and car chases, but it's a movie that brings you close to every character, when in fact, you don't know anything about any of them.
After a jewelry store robbery goes wrong, four of the men hired to do the job return to their safe house, trying to figure out who set them up. Mr. White (Harvey Keitel) brings a heavily wounded Mr. Orange (Tim Roth) to the safe house, trying to fix him up. Mr. Pink (Steve Buscemi) arrives just minutes later, and all three are then joined by Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen) who brings a "pleasant" surprise. The movie avoids all the cliché bullshit, giving us a unique storyline and dialogue. It doesn't have all that unnecessary romantic subplot, nor any goofy scenes clumsily thrown in. Every moment of the film is a new idea, different than any other ideas used in movies at that time. It's a testament that "less is more"; the details of the failed robbery, which the entire movie is based on, are only conveyed in the dialogue, which attracts the watcher to every word said by the characters, and putting our imagination in motion so we can try to picture what happened.
Being one of Tarantino's first directed movies, Reservoir Dogs is perfectly put together. The directing, the producing, the plot, and the acting were sublime. For a story line so straightforward, the actors had a real challenge to highlight what their characters are all about. But, surprisingly, every actor did his job just fine, giving us a great performance, making us believe that they were real criminals in a documentary. And to put up with the actors' brilliant performance, the production had to be at its best, and again, it did not disappoint. Not to forget Tarantino's famous signature, the trunk shot, which I think is really awesome.
Some people may say that Reservoir Dogs is a little too violent, but the violence here is used to develop every character's personality, their disregard towards human life. Every character's own way of being violent shows the difference between him and the others. (Won't add anything to avoid spoilers)
Reservoir Dogs is the kind of movie you can watch again and again without ever getting bored. Because, putting aside the brilliantly crafted Hollywood masterpiece, it's all about a message, making us think about the consequences of our actions. Reservoir Dogs will always be a Tarantino classic, and won't be forgotten by anybody who watches it.
Lincoln (2012)
Better than history books
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To be honest, as I bought the ticket to watch Lincoln, I was thinking that this will be a movie which will show us that Abraham Lincoln was the best president of the best country and that kind of bullshit. But, that was not the case. The movie isn't about the president, nor is it about the Civil War, it's about the 13th amendment that abolished slavery. Although we all know the story, the movie brings us details most of us don't know, helping us to complete the picture about Lincoln's last few months.
As I previously said, the movie is about Abraham Lincoln's fight to abolish slavery. The most important thing about the movie is that it shows us that Lincoln (Daniel Day-Lewis) didn't do it alone. The fight was fought by many people, including The Secretary of State William Seward (David Strathairn) and Thaddeus Stevens (Tommy Lee Jones). In addition, the movie gives us a deep look onto Lincoln's personal life, and an overall look over the Civil War.
The film, from beginning to end, is a visual masterpiece. Everything that was needed to present an accurate 19th century setting was there: the costumes, the decoration, the landscapes, and the accents. Director and producer Steven Spielberg -who spent 12 years researching for the film-, as well as screen-writer Tony Kushner delivered us the 19th century America as it was.
"Chapeau bas" for the acting. The actors did a job well done, perfectly portraying their historical characters. Tommy Lee Jones gave us one of the best performances of his career, making us love his kind-hearted badass character.
The overall performance was great, with a really good job by the supporting cast, but Daniel Day-Lewis was on a different level. The dude is an unsung miracle. During the whole 2 hours 30 minutes of the movie, not once have I thought of the actor. He made me believe he was Abraham Lincoln, portraying the deeply in-pain family man, yet the strong and responsible president. And personally, the fact that he played Bill "The Butcher" Cutting in Gangs of New York, who opposed Lincoln's political plans, makes me appreciate his performance even more.
Better than history books and lessons, this movie brings us details needed to understand Lincoln's last months. Honestly, even though I knew how the movie will end, I didn't want it to end that way. That's probably due to the Daniel Day-Lewis effect, making us love a president from a foreign country and a different century. The movie is definitely a 2012 must watch.
Super 8 (2011)
Something of everything
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Super 8 feels like a déjà vu from its beginning to its end. That's probably caused by the fact that the movie has something of everything. It's a thriller, a drama, a horror movie, a Sci-Fi one. As said, it has something of everything.
Super 8 tells the story of a group of kids, who, while trying to make a movie, witness a train crash. From this moment on, everything in that little town starts to change, people start disappearing, and some secret military base is created. You can easily identify every character's personality; you have the depressed cop who lost his wife (Kyle Chandler), the drunken dad (Ron Eldard), the two teens who fall in forbidden love (Joel Courtney and Elle Fanning), the heartless military general who cares only about getting the job done (Noah Emmerich) and many other usual characters.
J.J. Adam's direction was really good, with the production of Spielberg and other good producers. The film is well crafted, the blood, the explosions, the everything.
The kids performance was excellent, out acting every single adult in the movie. But, Elle Fanning stole every scene she was in, delivering us a brilliant and pretty surprising performance. The acting in general was satisfying, the supporting cast did a good job.
As a fan of Sci-Fi films, I enjoyed this one. It's not one of the best I've seen, but it's good enough to be watched. Touching and entertaining, Super 8 was up to expectations and many watchers will be able to appreciate it and consider it as good movie.
Gangster Squad (2013)
A great gangster movie
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Personally, I didn't expect much of Gangster Squad, but the movie was a pleasant surprise. The film brought us a different approach than the latest gangster movies, which were about the personal life of the characters, by concentrating less on the characters and more on the story.
Set in 1949, Gangster Squad is the true story of a secret police squad, assembled by Sgt. John O'Mara (Josh Brolin), to bring down Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn), who controlled the whole city of Los Angeles, and was expanding his operations all the way to Chicago.
Director Ruben Fleischer and the producers did a job well done, giving us a movie full of action and violence, with a touch of the characters' emotions nonetheless. The cast is expertly put together, with the charming and dangerous Ryan Gosling, who aced his role as Sgt. Jerry Wooters, and the lovable Robert Patrick playing an expert gunslinger called Max Kennard. Even though Emma Stone wasn't perfect for her role, she held her own just fine. While the others did a good job, Sean Penn gives us a brilliant performance, nailing his role as an extremely dangerous and power lusting Mickey Cohen.
Better than all the recent gangster movies (the past 3 years) , Gangster Squad is a must see movie, that can be enjoyed by a large audience. With a really decent storyline, a well crafted action, and a nicely assembled cast, the movie is entertaining, touching, and inspiring.
Frankenweenie (2012)
Stop-motion at its best
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After 26 years of the short movie, Tim Burton brings us a movie with his name written all over it. Creative and original, Frankeweenie illustrates its writer's original roots.
The concept is fascinating. Most of the characters are based on iconic horror movie characters, like Frankenstein and Van Helsing. In addition, the movie is set in black and white, trying to capture the old look of horror movies. And yes, I don't think this film is suitable for children, more like teenagers and adults, containing some scenes that may disturb children.
It's the story of Victor Frankenstein (voiced by Charlie Tahan), who, after losing his beloved dog Sparky, tries to revive him using lightning. The experiment is a success, but no one should know about what happened. Things start to get messed up when Edgar (voiced by Atticus Shaffer) discovers Sparky.
The animation is great. Tim Burton brings us a stop-motion masterpiece, paying attention to every detail from the movie's beginning to its end. The decent overall voice performance does the job just fine, giving us spooky character, Atticus Shaffer's voice gave me the chills. Tim Burton's fine job and the voice actors' performance give us the horror atmosphere necessary for the movie.
Burton is always highly imaginative and creative, but he's somehow missing something. Don't get me wrong, the movie's great, but something would've made it better. Frankenweenie will entertain a good percentage of its watchers, making it a must see 2012 movie.