Planet-man
Well-Known Member
Daybreakers - Really creative, constant tension, stacked cast, damn good film. Really liked what they did with the concept. 8/10
The Wolfman - This really could've been great, but a lot of the usual things went wrong. Insane amount of CGI, jump-heavy blockbuster scares without much atmosphere or showmanship to them, bizarre pacing, etc. I love a lot of Joe Johnston's stuff but I think he's just not a horror director. M. Night Shymalan could've done a great job with this. Every actor does very well though. Hopkins saves the whole film. 5.5/10
I just read that they cut 17 minutes from the final cut of the film for theaters because the studio wanted audiences to get to the first Wolfman transformation sooner. Joe Johnston's putting these back for the DVD, which I want to see.
Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland - I think as entertainment this is pretty much critic-proof. It has a lot of the same problems with missed showmanship that Burton's Charlie And The Chocolate Factory had, but at the end of the day it's a fun tribute to Carroll's world packed with colourful, captivating visuals, a great cast, and a good old-fashioned fantasy quest element woven through which it's fun to see the well-known characters participate in. Where else are you going to be able to see
6.5/10.
The Crazies - An interesting take on the Zombiepocalypse genre and an effective, suspenseful, scary film overall. Literally every second is suspenseful, never letting up. 7.5/10
Hot Tub Time Machine - Absolutely The Hangover meets Back To The Future, this was hilarious. With a little more effort they could've approached a BTTF level of changed-the-future emotion and satisfaction at the end, but it was still a borderline great movie. 8.5/10
Kick-Ass - Apart from a few details I would've changed, and maybe a different lead actor, this was so ****ing good. 9.5/10
Clash Of The Titans - This wasn't directed very well, and is one of the poorest uses of the 3D process I've seen yet. Worthington's still good, everyone was, especially Mads Mikilsen, there were some AWESOME moments(the whole
was probably my favourite part), and it benefits from the original story still being so good. In a lot of ways it's a great old-fashioned movie, but one of the most powerful feelings it elicted in me is still "appreciation for Peter Jackson". But I still enjoyed it. 7/10
A Nightmare On Elm Street - Barely scary and cluelessly directed, for the most part. But Haley is great and this film's story, and Freddy Krueger, are excellent and way, way more interesting than in the original. Some real horror direction, subtlety and scary imagery could've made the most of that story, but as it is this was still decent overall. 6/10
Iron Man 2 - This was amazingly engaging and entertaining, filled with captivating performances and some of the best effects-fueled action sequences in the whole superhero movie genre. The story parts didn't flow quite as well as in the first film, but the story was far bigger and more ambitious too, and in my opinion, worth that price. I loved every minute of it. 9.5/10
Ridley Scott's Robin Hood - Take Gladiator, mix it with 300, Kingdom of Heaven, and Beowulf and Grendel, now strip it of all the character, the spirit, the fun and the point. Pretty much. A "gritty reboot" of a character whose legend has been kept alive for a thousand years largely because of the merry, swashbuckling, fantastical elements was simply a bad idea. Crowe was great as usual and a potential sequel could really be something. This was not. 5/10. Ebert's review is spot-on.
Edge Of Darkness - I was basically expecting your usual Taken type of thing, but this was so much more(both plot-wise and overall quality). I forgot it was a Martin Campbell film until the end credits, but it's certainly up to his standard. Mel Gibson was amazing. 8.5/10
The Imaginarium Of Dr. Parnassus - This is vintage Gilliam. The only frustrating thing is that CGI has replaced his traditional models and clay, which used to account for so much of his signature brand of surreality. Nevertheless, this is a fine film with a great story, tons of excellent performances from an eclectic, amazing cast and the fact that Burton's Alice In Wonderland made like ten times as much at the box office is pretty much a disgrace. Oh well. This will endure where it counts. 9.5/10.
Shutter Island - I swear to god, I watched the first minute of the first trailer when it appeared, decided I wanted to see it and shut my eyes for the remainder of the trailer, and hoped that.... this.... wouldn't be how it ended. When the all the hype over "the twist" started popping up, I assumed that it couldn't be what I was thinking of. At yet it was. I don't know how "the twist" got any hype or acclaim. I barely even get how they decided to put up the effort to make the whole movie and seriously do that ending, let alone also drop rock-solid hints to it throughout. However, every single other aspect of the entire film, acting, directing, editing, cinematography, and most of all characterization and development, was so good that it's still totally worth seeing. Also,
8/10
Splice - The first great creature feature I've seen in a long time. Excellent effects drive a daring story, with really dark humour, solid leads and loads of suspense. Delphine Chaneac's "Dren" is hypnotic. I also was fortunate enough to see it with a great audience who was really into it, laughing and clapping at all the right moments. Anyway, recommended. 8/10
The Book Of Eli - Fallout 3 with Christianity instead of the American Dream. The main reason I was looking forward to this was to balance out the bleakness of The Road(a great film) and explore the more fun side of the post-apoc genre, but it was quite a bit better than I expected. It has a lot of the stuff I hate about religion and faith, but also stuff I love about the idea of God, and they explore it from different sides fairly well. The action was excellently stylized, but sometimes felt kind of out of place in this film. Gary Oldman and his character were excellent, and the musical score was my favourite yet this year.
An entertaining and powerful film. 8/10
If you get it on disc, make sure to check out the animated mini-comic about Billy Carnegie as a kid. More great music too.
Toy Story 3 - Aside from easily being the best film I've seen so far this year, and easily Pixar's best since The Incredibles, this can sit on the shelf next to 1 and 2 as one of the most amazing movies ever made. The twelve year wait made it even more special, and it's a good thing it requires 3D glasses at this point because I don't think there was a dry eye in the house at the end. I remember seeing 1 at age six and 2 at age nine(same ages as Andy) in the theatres as clearly as anything. Seeing 3 at age twenty was another one of a kind experience, and purely epic. 10/10
The Wolfman - This really could've been great, but a lot of the usual things went wrong. Insane amount of CGI, jump-heavy blockbuster scares without much atmosphere or showmanship to them, bizarre pacing, etc. I love a lot of Joe Johnston's stuff but I think he's just not a horror director. M. Night Shymalan could've done a great job with this. Every actor does very well though. Hopkins saves the whole film. 5.5/10
I just read that they cut 17 minutes from the final cut of the film for theaters because the studio wanted audiences to get to the first Wolfman transformation sooner. Joe Johnston's putting these back for the DVD, which I want to see.
Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland - I think as entertainment this is pretty much critic-proof. It has a lot of the same problems with missed showmanship that Burton's Charlie And The Chocolate Factory had, but at the end of the day it's a fun tribute to Carroll's world packed with colourful, captivating visuals, a great cast, and a good old-fashioned fantasy quest element woven through which it's fun to see the well-known characters participate in. Where else are you going to be able to see
a Jokerized Johnny Depp using a garment mannequin to swordfight a one-eyed Crispin Glover?
The Crazies - An interesting take on the Zombiepocalypse genre and an effective, suspenseful, scary film overall. Literally every second is suspenseful, never letting up. 7.5/10
Hot Tub Time Machine - Absolutely The Hangover meets Back To The Future, this was hilarious. With a little more effort they could've approached a BTTF level of changed-the-future emotion and satisfaction at the end, but it was still a borderline great movie. 8.5/10
Kick-Ass - Apart from a few details I would've changed, and maybe a different lead actor, this was so ****ing good. 9.5/10
Clash Of The Titans - This wasn't directed very well, and is one of the poorest uses of the 3D process I've seen yet. Worthington's still good, everyone was, especially Mads Mikilsen, there were some AWESOME moments(the whole
Medusa sequence
A Nightmare On Elm Street - Barely scary and cluelessly directed, for the most part. But Haley is great and this film's story, and Freddy Krueger, are excellent and way, way more interesting than in the original. Some real horror direction, subtlety and scary imagery could've made the most of that story, but as it is this was still decent overall. 6/10
Iron Man 2 - This was amazingly engaging and entertaining, filled with captivating performances and some of the best effects-fueled action sequences in the whole superhero movie genre. The story parts didn't flow quite as well as in the first film, but the story was far bigger and more ambitious too, and in my opinion, worth that price. I loved every minute of it. 9.5/10
Ridley Scott's Robin Hood - Take Gladiator, mix it with 300, Kingdom of Heaven, and Beowulf and Grendel, now strip it of all the character, the spirit, the fun and the point. Pretty much. A "gritty reboot" of a character whose legend has been kept alive for a thousand years largely because of the merry, swashbuckling, fantastical elements was simply a bad idea. Crowe was great as usual and a potential sequel could really be something. This was not. 5/10. Ebert's review is spot-on.
Edge Of Darkness - I was basically expecting your usual Taken type of thing, but this was so much more(both plot-wise and overall quality). I forgot it was a Martin Campbell film until the end credits, but it's certainly up to his standard. Mel Gibson was amazing. 8.5/10
The Imaginarium Of Dr. Parnassus - This is vintage Gilliam. The only frustrating thing is that CGI has replaced his traditional models and clay, which used to account for so much of his signature brand of surreality. Nevertheless, this is a fine film with a great story, tons of excellent performances from an eclectic, amazing cast and the fact that Burton's Alice In Wonderland made like ten times as much at the box office is pretty much a disgrace. Oh well. This will endure where it counts. 9.5/10.
Shutter Island - I swear to god, I watched the first minute of the first trailer when it appeared, decided I wanted to see it and shut my eyes for the remainder of the trailer, and hoped that.... this.... wouldn't be how it ended. When the all the hype over "the twist" started popping up, I assumed that it couldn't be what I was thinking of. At yet it was. I don't know how "the twist" got any hype or acclaim. I barely even get how they decided to put up the effort to make the whole movie and seriously do that ending, let alone also drop rock-solid hints to it throughout. However, every single other aspect of the entire film, acting, directing, editing, cinematography, and most of all characterization and development, was so good that it's still totally worth seeing. Also,
the last line in the film is kind of a mini-twist in its own right and makes it a whole point higher.
Splice - The first great creature feature I've seen in a long time. Excellent effects drive a daring story, with really dark humour, solid leads and loads of suspense. Delphine Chaneac's "Dren" is hypnotic. I also was fortunate enough to see it with a great audience who was really into it, laughing and clapping at all the right moments. Anyway, recommended. 8/10
The Book Of Eli - Fallout 3 with Christianity instead of the American Dream. The main reason I was looking forward to this was to balance out the bleakness of The Road(a great film) and explore the more fun side of the post-apoc genre, but it was quite a bit better than I expected. It has a lot of the stuff I hate about religion and faith, but also stuff I love about the idea of God, and they explore it from different sides fairly well. The action was excellently stylized, but sometimes felt kind of out of place in this film. Gary Oldman and his character were excellent, and the musical score was my favourite yet this year.
Most surprising of all, I liked the ending way more than that of ''Shutter Island''.
If you get it on disc, make sure to check out the animated mini-comic about Billy Carnegie as a kid. More great music too.
Toy Story 3 - Aside from easily being the best film I've seen so far this year, and easily Pixar's best since The Incredibles, this can sit on the shelf next to 1 and 2 as one of the most amazing movies ever made. The twelve year wait made it even more special, and it's a good thing it requires 3D glasses at this point because I don't think there was a dry eye in the house at the end. I remember seeing 1 at age six and 2 at age nine(same ages as Andy) in the theatres as clearly as anything. Seeing 3 at age twenty was another one of a kind experience, and purely epic. 10/10
