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oliver9184 · 12-22-2009, 01:29 PM

Avatar 9/10 in 3D Imax. This will only be worth 6 or 7 on a small screen and I suppose 8 in a not-Imax or not-3D cinema. The story is pretty feeble, very old-fashioned and need not have taken up so much time; the characters are likeable enough in their shallow way; and there is plenty of drama of the safe, childish and unchallenging kind. That's what's not so good about this film. What is very good is some of the best action scenes since - well, since when James Cameron was last working. It's so refreshing to see big-budget fantasy action done well for a change after so many awful action scenes (Iron Man, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight) in otherwise decent films which, after all, more or less trade on the action they contain. Before I saw it I knew Avatar would cheer me up like this and I was not disappointed. Films that do Avatar-style stories better than Avatar, but less spectacularly, are Disney's Pocahontas (1995) and Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke (1997)

McVicar 8/10 is a British cockney crime/prison drama from 1980 starring Roger Daltrey (from The Who) and with a sountrack by the same. Star has a swaggering, menacing physical presence and constantly adopts a tone of fuck you! insolent obtuseness that's funny, engaging and fits the period and character perfectly.

The Lucky Ones 7/10 is a comfortable and easy to watch road movie drama about three returning US Army soldiers who are forced by circumstances to go on a road trip together. They get into scrapes and find things out about themselves and each other. This would have been a good deal harder to like and watch without Rachel McAdams; Michael Pena and the conspicuously tall Tim Robbins also do well.

The Last Kiss 2/10 is an awful supposed romantic 'comedy' which is not at all funny and not really very romantic either. Almost every character (played by Zach Braff, Jacinda Barrett, Rachel Bilson, Blythe Danner, Tom Wilkinson, Eric Christian Olsen and especially Micheael Weston) is so instantly dislikeable - the only exception is Casey Affleck - that watching the banal and predictable events unfold is a hateful ordeal. This would get none or only one out of ten without Casey.

Braindead 9/10 was the first time Peter Jackson got his hands on a decent budget, and the film that perhaps makes best use of his considerable imagination. This is something really rare and unique, I think: the film combines some of the broadest and most universal comedy - really physical silent-film slapstick stuff - with a lot of very wild, professionally accomplished and realistic gore effects. It's like an old Norman Wisdom film made by Lucio Fulci or as if Frank Spencer somehow got transported into Dawn of the Dead. Such ripe comedy wouldn't work without such over the top effects, and vice-versa, but a perfect balance is somehow reached and the two complement each other excellently.

12-22-2009, 01:29 PM	#3697 (permalink)
oliver9184 Psycho	Avatar 9/10 in 3D Imax. This will only be worth 6 or 7 on a small screen and I suppose 8 in a not-Imax or not-3D cinema. The story is pretty feeble, very old-fashioned and need not have taken up so much time; the characters are likeable enough in their shallow way; and there is plenty of drama of the safe, childish and unchallenging kind. That's what's not so good about this film. What is very good is some of the best action scenes since - well, since when James Cameron was last working. It's so refreshing to see big-budget fantasy action done well for a change after so many awful action scenes (Iron Man, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight) in otherwise decent films which, after all, more or less trade on the action they contain. Before I saw it I knew Avatar would cheer me up like this and I was not disappointed. Films that do Avatar-style stories better than Avatar, but less spectacularly, are Disney's Pocahontas (1995) and Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke (1997) McVicar 8/10 is a British cockney crime/prison drama from 1980 starring Roger Daltrey (from The Who) and with a sountrack by the same. Star has a swaggering, menacing physical presence and constantly adopts a tone of fuck you! insolent obtuseness that's funny, engaging and fits the period and character perfectly. The Lucky Ones 7/10 is a comfortable and easy to watch road movie drama about three returning US Army soldiers who are forced by circumstances to go on a road trip together. They get into scrapes and find things out about themselves and each other. This would have been a good deal harder to like and watch without Rachel McAdams; Michael Pena and the conspicuously tall Tim Robbins also do well. The Last Kiss 2/10 is an awful supposed romantic 'comedy' which is not at all funny and not really very romantic either. Almost every character (played by Zach Braff, Jacinda Barrett, Rachel Bilson, Blythe Danner, Tom Wilkinson, Eric Christian Olsen and especially Micheael Weston) is so instantly dislikeable - the only exception is Casey Affleck - that watching the banal and predictable events unfold is a hateful ordeal. This would get none or only one out of ten without Casey. Braindead 9/10 was the first time Peter Jackson got his hands on a decent budget, and the film that perhaps makes best use of his considerable imagination. This is something really rare and unique, I think: the film combines some of the broadest and most universal comedy - really physical silent-film slapstick stuff - with a lot of very wild, professionally accomplished and realistic gore effects. It's like an old Norman Wisdom film made by Lucio Fulci or as if Frank Spencer somehow got transported into Dawn of the Dead. Such ripe comedy wouldn't work without such over the top effects, and vice-versa, but a perfect balance is somehow reached and the two complement each other excellently. Last edited by oliver9184; 12-24-2009 at 09:51 AM..