vince vaughn is a national treasure. sadly, he's in a troupe of steady comic actors that specialize in making movies that are just funny enough. not too funny. stiller, vaughn, ferrel in any combination means you'll laugh, but you'll wish they'd worked a little harder. nothing different here.
puh-leeeze.
formulaic, slow-witted and predictable to a depressing degree. wes craven is capable of mot sucking, but he doesn't seem interested in not sucking.
it's not the worst soundtrack for your popcorn out there, but you should really see something else. then when you finally watch it on Starz a year from now it will still be fresh.
a sweet, mannered little comedy that might struggle to find an audience in the michael bay age, but worth the effort to seek out. a "baxter" is the safe guy who ultimately doesn't get the girl. the writer/director is a member of "the state" and "stella" comedy troupes. it's surprising to see that this is the film he was carrying around in his heart all that time, but it's a pleasant surprise.
pacing can be a little slow, and you see the ending coming miles away, but pleasing nonetheless. recommended.
i've been away from this for a while. you must have heard the universal raves about this film before now. if you haven't seen it, and you have even the meanest flintiest heart left beating in your chest, go.
antarctica. giant flightless birds in formal attire. survival drama. come on. who are you kidding, tough guy? go see it.
this one is going to get nominated for best documentary - and it's probably going to lose to the penguins. this will not be fair.
the penguin movie is spectacular, but in a way, easy. murderball is hard.
murderball is a movie about hard lives, hard choices and learning to really see the things that tempt you to look away. watching guys in wheelchairs barreling into each other rugby style is hard at first. By the end of the film it's exhilarating. You will not be unmoved.
it's also funny, and bawdy, and uplifting too. highly recommended.
i know that there are people referring to this as a john le carre film, or a ralph fiennes film. i am going to consider it a fernando meirelles film.
fernando directed "city of god" - for my money as beautifully shot and epic a film as i've seen in the 21st century. although there are solid performances throughout, it's fernando's eye that defines this picture.
as a thriller, it's passable. as a collection of acting performances it's good. as a visual spectacle, it's stunning. i don't normally suggest that people see movies based entirely on how they look, but it's worth seeing this one for that reason alone.
the trailers for this movie are awful. the film itself is borderline sublime.
steve carrel is as wonderful as you'd expect him to be (so great i forgive him for abandoning the Daily Show) andthe supporting cast is mostly funnier than i had any reason to expect. this movie is so funny that i found myself laughing at Paul Rudd.
the premise is thin enough that the title pretty much explains it, but this is a movie about execution, not premise. It doesn't throw as many jokes around as a will ferrel-type comedy, but so many more of the punches land that you won't notice.
This movie is the cinematic equivalent of a basket of puppies. It's impossible to shoot a movie about 5th graders learning ballroom dancing and not end up with a cute, compelling and appealing movie.
The kids are great - you see the physical confidence they're gaining, the characters being forged by competition, the mastering of the fear of cooties. The teachers are interesting and inspiring.
The only beef I reall have here is that there isn't much about the aftermath of the competition. But that's small complaint indeed. If you liked "Spellbound," go see this film. If you didn't see "Spellbound," see them both.
You already knew it was gonna suck, so I'll be brief. If you can convince the projectionist to run it with the sound off, it's a compelling film. If he won't.. stick something large in your ears.
Seriously, the talking ruins everything. The Lucas genius for coaxing wooden performances out of good actors remains in full effect. No amount of VFX shots can cover for the terrible things he makes the actors say and the awful way he lets them say these things.
The ruining of my favorite childhood movie franchise is now complete. Kudos, George.
I saw this at a preview screening and at least ten people walked out. If you're not a fan of severed limbs and high-Fangoria nonsense, you probably will too.
In the 70's slasher/I Spit On Your Grave tradition, the violence is heavy and frequent, brutalizing its audience as much as the characters. What it lacks in terms of making a success of that formula is catharsis. The movie is cruel without being redemptive - it makes you gasp without allowing you to exhale. The climax resolves nothing.
As if that weren't enough, the movie is mostly dubbed. Dubbed movies almsot universally suck.
I recommend it to just about no one.
Also:
<Spoiler alert>The plot twist at the end is freaking stupid.</Spoiler alert>
