Film Reviews? I think so.

A Serbian Film
Tagline: Not all films have a happy ending
Director: Srdjan Spasojevic
Starring: Srdjan Todorovic, Sergej Trifunovic
Runtime: 104 minutes
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ 5/10

A Serbian Film is about an aging porn super-star named Milos (Srdjan Todorovic) that gave up a lucrative life of sex, women and money to settle down and start a family with the woman he loves. While they are poor, they enjoy a good life. Out of the blue, an old porn-star acquaintance of Milos’ calls him and says a director is offering a ridiculous amount of money for Milos to do one last film, but Milos cannot know what they are filming. After meeting with the director, Vukmir (Sergej Trifunovic) Milos agrees to make the movie. It soon transpires that not everything is what he thought it would be.

I won’t give away any plot details but this film has extremely graphic scenes of physical violence, drug abuse, murder, necrophilia, rape, incest and paedophilia. This could have been a genuinely good film, if not for the torture-porn aspect. The plot itself could be compared to Oldboy (a classic film, go watch it if you haven’t already), but as I said, it’s just way over the top. Where Oldboy is disturbing, A Serbian Film is downright wrong.

5/10 as it is, 6/10 if it wasn’t so extreme.

Green Lantern
Tagline: One of us… becomes them.
Director: Martin Campbell.
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Mark Strong.
Runtime: 114 minutes.
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆☆☆ 7/10

Green Lantern tells one of the many Green Lantern tales. The writers decided to choose Hal Jordan rather than the original Lantern, Alan Scott. I can’t remember why they did this, but it was probably because Hal Jordan is a test pilot, an exciting, modern profession wrought with danger. One day Hal messes up a contract at work, and goes to his nephew’s birthday party, but on his way home is suddenly picked up by a mysterious ball of energy and transported to the crash-site of an alien craft. The alien in question is Abin-Sur, the most powerful of all the Green Lantern Corps. Jordan is then chosen by Abin-Sur’s ring to become the next (and first human) Green Lantern. 

What follows is a slightly muddled tale of growing up, accepting responsibility and ultimately overcoming fear. The pacing is a little off, but all movies are these days as 90% of them are written as trilogies, which Green Lantern quite clearly is. The casting is excellent, Reynolds is perfect as Hal Jordan, and Mark Strong as Sinestro is spot on as an antagonising protagonist. There is also a slight nod (in my opinion, but my cousin also agreed) to the upcoming Captain America/Avengers movies during a sparring scene involving Sinestro and Hal Jordan (look out for it).

The visual effects are superb, not quite as good as TRON: Legacy, the benchmark for which I set visual effects (as far as creating entire CGI worlds goes, anyway), but still excellent. It should be noted that I saw the 2D version, as I am not a fan of 3D.

My only two complaints are that one major plot point is left unsolved (writing for trilogies, remember) and that the film could and should have gone in a different direction, without giving too much away.

Just Go With It
Tagline:   Sometimes a guy’s best wingman… is a wingwoman
Director: Dennis Dugan
Starring: Adam Sandler, Jennifer Anniston
Runtime: 117
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ 6/10

In Just go with It, we watch Danny, who is a plastic surgeon with an assistant named Katherine, fall for a girl named Palmer. But unfortunately for him, Palmer thinks he has a family, I can’t really say to much without spoiling. He basically gets Katherine to pretend she’s his wife so Palmer will fall for him, I’m sure you can guess the rest, I think a 3 year old could.

This is yet another film that can’t seem to decide if it’s a comedy or a rom-com. And is another film pretty much destroyed because of it.

Don’t get me wrong, Sandler and Anniston are very funny in this, as they are in most, but the writing just wasn’t there for them.

If you’ve seen funny people you know what I’m talking about, this film was utterly hilarious for about 45 minutes, and then it just lost everything when it tried to have a plot.

Speaking of the plot it was utterly predictable. You could tell what was going to happen after about twenty minutes, in fact if you read the plot on imdb you could tell what was going to happen.

Basically, watch half of it, then get ready for it to be boring, and lose all sense of comedy.

A 6/10 for the sake of a good cast and the fact that it is funny for a while.

X-Men: First Class
Tagline: Before he was Professor X, he was Charles. Before he was Magneto, he was Erik.
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, January Jones, Kevin Bacon
Runtime: 132 minutes
Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 8/10

This. Is. Great. Remember in my Pirates review I said the film was unnecessary? First class was totally needed. It cleared up why Professor X and Magneto are at odds. For anyone who read the comic, you probably knew this already. But for people who haven’t, this is so good. For a start, McAvoy (Charles) and Fassbender (Erik) have great chemistry. You can really tell they got along well. They’re totally believable as best friends, which Charles and Erik once were. The plot is simple enough. The film starts out with a young Magneto being processed in a concentration camp, and he discovers his powers here. We also meet the excellent Kevin Bacon playing a Josef Mengele (Google him) type character. He’s really fucked up.

First Class also introduces some of the more obscure mutants in X-Men canon. For example, Darwin, whose mutation is the ability to adapt to survive in any situation (he grows gills when underwater) and Emma Frost (January Jones). She’s a telepath and can also turn to diamond, which locks off her mind from other telepaths such as Charles.

I don’t wanna give anything too major away plot wise, but the way the plot is structured is great. The way the writers have used actual historical events works really well, and the character development (especially Mystique and Magneto) is excellent, with some good, soiid performances.

Please excuse the awful writing, it’s 4AM.

The Hangover Part II
Tagline:  Bangkok Has Them Now
Director: Todd Phillips
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis
Runtime: 102 minutes
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ 9/10

( I will be reviewing this on the basis that you have seen The Hangover, As I have, and there isn’t really alot I can say about this film without prior knowledge of the original)

The Hangover Part 2 (THP2) tells the same story as its predecessor but this time it centers around Stu’s Bachelor Party instead of Doug’s. Doug is once more just a character in the background. Now although THP2 is pretty much the same plot line as the original, you shouldn’t write it off, and admittedly I had since its release until i was randomly texted to go and see it last night. It may follow the same concept but it is still fantastic.

Do I need to talk about the acting? Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zach Galafianakis are once again excellent with the main humour once again coming from Galifiankis and Helms.

But there is alot more Ken Jeong in the sequel, and he is hilarious as Mr Chow, not to say he wasn’t great in the original, but he has alot more screen time in this one. There is also the introduction of a new character Teddy (Mason Lee) and though he isn’t in it alot, he is well acted. Not to forget the monkey (Crystal the Monkey, ahahahah) who is very well trained and coupled with Alan, hilarious.

The comedy is still here and I laughed all the way through, contrary to other critics beliefs (Jeremy Jahns, I mean you!) it is very very funny. My friend had said to me ‘I think it’s funnier than the first’ and to be honest i couldn’t believe he was saying that, and how wrong I was. The jokes aren’t repettitve and it isn’t a scene for scene remake of the first one. We’re in a different location, a different set up, and it has a different feel about it when it’s foreign.

I realise this was a comedy, but I’m a stickler for Cinematography, and it was very good in this film. Alot of over head shots of Bangkok, both in the opening credits and throughout, and a lot of really nice helicopter shots. The soundtrack was fitting, but nothing special. Though I did really enjoy the scene where they get to the airport and they’re walking through, and it keeps cutting to the arrivals board, not important, But i found that to be a well shot scene.

So i would definately say go and see it, don’t push it aside like I did, ignore the critics saying it’s terrible, hell, ignore me and make up your own mind, I think you have to be in the right mindset for it, but it’s thoroughly enjoyable.

I gave it a 9 on here, and i would say THP2 is a 9.1 and the original is an 8.9

-Sam

Pirates of the Caribbean - On Stranger Tides
Tagline:  Live forever… or die trying.
Director: Rob Marshall
Starring: Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Penelope Cruz, Ian McShane
Runtime: 137 minutes
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆6/10

On Stranger Tides is alright. It’s just unnecessary. It follows your usual Pirates formula of Jack (Johnny Depp, not that I needed to tell you) being in a spot of financial bother. Except this time, Jack’s in need of a ship (Barbossa claimed The Black Pearl), money, and getting on a bit. Then again, Captain Barbossa is hundreds of years old, if I remember rightly. Which brings me onto my next point. Geoffrey Rush as Cap’n Barbossa is excellent. The King’s Speech made me appreciate how good an actor he is, and he’s great in this. He pulls Barbossa off so well. The accent, the attitude, the… “swagger” (I hate that word now, Tumblr has bastardised it). Just all around greatness. 

A few new additions to the series are Angelica (Penelope Cruz) and Blackbeard (Ian McShane). I liked Blackbeard, purely because of his story. He’s just badass, plain and simple, as is his ship, The Queen Anne’s Revenge. Angelica was very annoying, her accent (which I guess she can’t help, but hey), her character traits (they tried to make her too much like Jack) etc etc. Together though, Angelica and Blackbeard are in no way viable replacements for Will Turner and Elizabeth Swan. My girlfriend, a self-proclaimed Keira Knightley hater, admitted to missing the two, saying that they should have at least mentioned them (though putting them into the movie would have been quite tricky, seeing as Will is now the captain of The Flying Dutchman (who names these ships?)

This has been a really hard review to write, because the film is so average. It’s your typical Pirates film. Lots of double-crossing, lots of sexual innuendo, lots of not-so-sharp one liners from Jack. The only thing that kept me entertained was Barbossa and just seeing who actually got to use the Fountain. All in all, an alright bit of cinema fodder, but I wouldn’t pay full price to see it (thank god for Orange Wednesdays).

EDIT: The soundtrack is smashing.

6/10.

Super (2010)
Tagline: Shut up crime!
Director: James Gunn
Starring: Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Liv Tyler, Kevin Bacon, Michael Rooker
Run time: 91 minutes
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ 8/10

Super tells the story of Frank (Rainn Wilson), a man who you would immediately write off as boring. Frank feels he is losing his grip on the love of his life, Sarah (Liv Tyler). A guy going by the name of Jacques (a hilarious Kevin Bacon)arrives at the house one morning to see Sarah, and ends up talking (more intimidating) his way into the house and eats breakfast with Frank. Five days later Sarah’s closet is empty and she is nowhere to be found. These events basically influence Frank’s choice to become a superhero (There are steps in between, but they are so hilariously illogical and stupid, I don’t want to ruin them).

The film has your basic superhero-starting-out formula; they choose a name, an outfit, a weapon if necessary (which is absolutely piss-your-pants funny in Frank’s case). While it follows a basic story formula, the script is excellent; the humour is amazingly dark, and while some may criticise it, I love this film’s use of profanity (i.e. Ellen Page’s character saying “I gotta warn you this is pretty fucking stupid, unless you’re laughing at how gay it is, then it’s awesome. I mean just look at this artwork, they look like a bunch of mongoloids, speaking of mongoloids, how fucking crazy would it be to be a midget, how fucking crazy! I don’t understand how you would operate” [paraphrased])

Sam and I discussed this film and agreed that it was very graphic, especially for a made-for-TV movie, but also agreed that the film has an indie feel to it, making it seem it’s more of a no holds barred approach to the DIY superhero genre. My one and only complaint is that it doesn’t show as much of Frank crime-fighting before the climax itself, because it really is genuinely funny because of how brutal it is.

I think it deserves slightly better than the 7.2 IMDb gave it, so I give it an eight.

P.S. Sam you are going to regret having me write these reviews because sometimes I write really well, sometimes I’m shit.

Blue Valentine (2010)
Tagline: Nobody baby but you and me
Director: Derek Cianfrance
Starring: Ryan Gosling,Michelle Wiliiams
Run Time: 112 Minutes
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ 7/10 

Blue valentine centers on an ‘edgy’ couple and integrates a back and forth story of their relationship.

First off, I haven’t seen the notebook. I don’t say this because of Ryan Gosling who I’m sure was good in The Notebook, I say this because from what I can tell and have been told, this really is a more ‘edgy’ version of that.

It may be a love story but it isn’t typical, and I don’t mean that in the way that 500 days of summer claimed to be not typical. This is a slightly darker look at love, or maybe I mean realistic.

The two main characters Dean and Cindy who meet in strange circumstances, but they meet just when they need to. Cindy is going through a crisis and Dean is there to pick up the pieces and see her through. I thought both Gosling and Williams played there parts very well indeed. The chemistry was certainly there between them and they seemed to act very well together. All the acting in the film was good really but the extras really only counted for 5% overall.

The story is well written and as I’ve said very realistic, no fairytale glass slipper or big wedding or large dress. Just two young people falling in love through complete chance in modern America. It wasn’t as predictable as I first thought it would be, I really can’t say to much without giving alot away, but I didn’t see certain parts coming, or at least not quite when they did. I also found that it managed to jump back and forth without any confusion whatsoever, mr nobody,inception and shutter island, here’s looking at you.

What i liked most about this was how atmospheric it was. I don’t know if I felt that way because of the cinematography or because I’ve been in a somewhat similar but less drastic situation. There was a lot of bluey/green overtone and filters throughout alot of scenes of the film and this really gave the effect it needed to. It helped to exhute the emotions Dean and Cindy were feeling and I really found it easy to sympathise, empathise and even despise one or the other at some points.

I would definitely recommend a watch if you’re sick of all the stereotypical generic love stories we seem to be getting recently. A solid 7/10 and I think I even agree with IMDb with the 7.7.

Attack The Block (2011)
Tagline: Inner City Vs Outer Space Director: Joe Cornish
Starring: Nick Frost,Jodie Whittaker,Luke Treadaway,John Boydega
Run Time: 88 Minutes
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ 8/10 

Attack the block tells the story of an alien attack in modern day south London. When Aliens start falling out of the sky a group of juvenile teens take it upon them selves to stop the invasion. 

First off I think it should be said that the trailers for this film are underwhelming an really do not do the film justice.

This film was written by Joe Cornish and created from the producers of ‘Shaun Of the Dead’ and ‘Hot Fuzz’. From the get go this film certainly plays from it’s roots. A group of aliens appear, they seem harmless at first, then they take over the world. Pretty much Shaun of the Dead minus the zombies.

The acting in this film is pretty much spot on. It was a guarantee Nick Frost would be funny and lovable, but even the younger actors are great most of the time, with the occasional loss of a strong south London Accent.

The storyline is Linear and easy to follow. A nice mix of comedy and action with the occasional moment to make you jump out of your seat. The CGI is well implemented. It’s certainly an atmospheric film, the opening consists of a mugging with a flick knife, which from other reviews I’ve read isn’t over the top and is quite realistic.

The soundtrack is fitting, and works well within the action scenes, nothing to write home about however.

Overall it certainly has a sense of plausability to it, or at least as much as an alien invasion could.

I would happily give this film 8/10 stars and would recommend you to go and see it in the cinema, I don’t think it would be quite as good on the small screen.