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Post by Lex Salander on Aug 18, 2017 8:26:19 GMT
My review for Valerian
Valerian was a movie I was curious about. I like some of Luc Besson’s films with Leon: The Professional and The Fifth Element. Also with the cast involved and it being based on a graphic novel that supposedly inspired countless sci-fi stories, I was intrigued as to what the movie would turn out like. Having finally seen Valerian, I feel a little conflicted. Valerian is a bit of a polarising movie, it does some things well but also has a lot of issues. Most of the main actors do quite well in their roles, I was interested in the world and the visuals were beautiful. However the writing is very flawed, from dialogue, to character, to story, there’s a lot of issues. It’s a bit of a mixed bag but I enjoyed it at the same time.
I’ll get this out of the way, the script has a lot of issues. Let’s start with the length, this movie is way too long, it is 2 hours 17 minutes. I don’t have an issue with Valerian being that long but if its going to be that way, the movie should be pretty engaging all the way through, and it really isn’t. This movie at many points could’ve been trimmed down quite a bit. For example, the first sequence with Valerian and Laureline on a mission is mostly decent but its way too long, especially a segment when Valerian’s arm stuck in a box-like device which I swear goes on for over 5 minutes (or at least feels like it). Because of the occasional dragging of the story, I wasn’t paying attention to the movie all the time, near the end it had my attention but for most of the movie it dipped in and out from having my interest to finding the movie to be a drag. Another issue is that this movie relies on way too much on exposition, there are so many moments when people just explain and information dump some things that the audience needed to know. It is hard to accuse this movie of being ‘too sci-fish’ as the graphic novel inspired so many sci-fi stories and movies. Although I gotta give Besson some credit for going all the way with the sci fi aspects, I think he went a little too far with it, and by that I mean the movie is a little weird, not necessarily a bad thing but there were some random moments at times, I didn’t know what was going on (maybe that was the intention). The humour was very hit or miss, and when the humour is a dud, you really feel it. Even though I was reasonably entertained by the movie, I found it hard to care about what was going on, it was predictable and I never felt worried about what could happen. The best part of the script is the world, the world is very interesting, I almost want the planned (and apparently already written) Valerian sequels, just to see more of this world. Overall, the script is a mess, a lot of the plot is fine and the world is nice but there are so many issues in the story, dialogue and pacing that really hold this movie back from being effective.
Dane Dehaan and Cara Delevingne were the leads of Valerian and they had good chemistry, however the writing between them is silly and cliché, it feels kind of forced and you don’t really buy the relationship between the two. Dehaan and Delevingne made the relationship between them somewhat work. Dane Dehaan, while good in his role, did feel a little out of place. I couldn’t tell whether it was the writing or if Dehaan was miscast. Delevingne on the other hand fits right into her role well, she was one of the stand outs of the movie. She has charisma, humour and you can buy her in the action scenes, she was one of the surprises of Valerian. Rihanna and Ethan Hawke are good in their short amount of screentime, very entertaining and fun to watch. There are a lot of brief weird characters and out of all of them, those two were the only ones I liked. The rest were just to random and pointless that I didn’t care for them. Clive Owen is a great actor but here he is wasted. He does try to act well but he’s not in the movie a lot and his role is very cliché and typical.
The visuals of Valerian are the best aspect of the film, its such a beautiful looking movie. The world of this movie feels huge and kinda intriguing. At times some aspects of the CGI did feel slightly off, but maybe its because so much CGI is on screen at the same time. The action itself is fast paced and very entertaining. As previously mentioned, this movie is very sci-fish (perhaps too much for its own good) but the designs for everything from the world to the aliens was great. The overall direction really immerses you in this very different world. The style is a little odd at times, but again, that might have been Besson’s intention.
Valerian is a very mixed bag. On one hand it has plenty of writing issues. On the other hand, I liked most of the main performances, the world was great and the visuals were nice to watch. Even though I like Valerian, I can completely understand people who hate it. Along with its many flaws, it is a very weird movie (however I almost kind of respect Luc Besson for going all the way with this movie). Honestly the only thing I can guarantee that everyone will think of the movie is that the visuals look good. Valerian isn’t one of Luc Besson’s best movies, its not even on the level of The Fifth Element but I’d say its better than Lucy. If you are curious enough, check Valerian out, just know that you are going to be watching a flawed, weird and beautiful looking sci-fi flick. And also know that there’s no guarantee that you’ll like it.
My review of Valerian on my blog youngcinemabuffs.wordpress.com/2017/08/18/valerian-and-the-city-of-a-thousand-planets-2017-review/
Ranking of 2017 movies:
1. A Cure for Wellness
2. Logan
3. Dunkirk
4. War for the Planet of the Apes
5. Baby Driver
6. Get Out
7. Alien Covenant
8. Wonder Woman
9. John Wick: Chapter 2
10. The Big Sick
11. Split
12. Atomic Blonde
13. The Discovery
14. Spider-Man Homecoming
15. Una
16. King Arthur: Legend of the Sword
17. Kong: Skull Island
18. Okja
19. Fate of the Furious
20. Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2
21. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
22. The Mummy
23. Life
24. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
25. Beauty and the Beast
26. The Lego Batman Movie
Next review: I have no idea... Iron Fist Season 1 maybe?
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Post by Lex Salander on Aug 20, 2017 20:26:02 GMT
My full review of Iron Fist Season 1
Most of the Netflix Marvel shows had received great reception, with the two seasons of Daredevil, as well as the first seasons of Jessica Jones and Luke Cage. The exception is Season 1 of Iron Fist, which has been almost universally panned. Having finally seeing it, I have to say that this first season has a lot of issues but it is a decent show overall. The acting from most of the talented cast is good, the show is reasonably entertaining and interesting enough, and I wanted to see where the plot would go. But writing-wise it does have a lot of issues, doesn’t quite live up to its potential and the action scenes are most of the time just mediocre. However they aren’t enough to make this season bad or even mediocre, just very flawed.
I’ll just get this out of the way, if you like the other shows in the Defenders’ series, or you are interested in watching the recently released The Defenders show, watch Iron Fist season 1, even if you end up disliking it, you will need to plow through it. Some of what Iron Fist has will come to play in The Defenders, so it is a good idea to watch it. The show does have a lot of writing issues, probably too many to list in one review, so I’ll just mention a few. The show is slow, particularly at the beginning. If you’ve seen Luke Cage season 1, you know that they sometimes had some filler episodes. Iron Fist kind of does that as well, it extends plotlines longer than it needed to be. The first 3 to 4 episodes are Danny Rand trying to prove that he really is Danny Rand and not an imposter, this takes way too long. After the first few episodes, the show really picked up.
The plotlines at times were hit or miss. Whenever the show focusses on The Hand (who are prominent villains in Iron Fist who return from The Defenders), I was interested in what was going on. There is a plotline about a family called the Meachums, who basically have control of Danny Rand’s company when he arrives back to New York. Most of this plotline is fine but it feels that too much time is spent with them. I really didn’t like at all the Rand corporation plotline, it was full of pointless board meetings that I really didn’t care about. Flaws aside with these plotlines, I was interested in seeing where the plot was going, and there were some moments that I really wasn’t expecting. A lot of the ideas that Iron Fist were solid enough but the show didn’t execute them particularly well. Some of the dialogue is off and occasionally silly, and some things happen in the show which are just plain random and silly. There is a particular example which involves ice cream, I’m not going to spoil what happens but you’ll know what I’m talking about when you see it. Overall the writing is one of the most disappointing parts of the show. There are some intriguing parts to it but overall it is far from being at the level of Daredevil, Jessica Jones or Luke Cage.
Finn Jones is Danny Rand, who is unfortunately one of the weakest characters of the show. I can’t tell whether it’s the acting or the writing that’s the main issue, but I do know that the writing for him is severely flawed. Overall the biggest problem with Danny is that he is so inconsistent. One moment he is so determined not to kill people and the next moment he is out for revenge and planning to kill people. The other 3 Defenders, Matt Murdock, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage, all have flaws but that made their characters feels more real and worked in their favour. The problem with Danny is that it feels like he was written by many writers and they couldn’t pin down exactly what character he is. He is completely messily and by the end of the season I didn’t feel like I had a clear idea of who he was. The writing definitely doesn’t do Jones favours. I think he’s better when he’s playing just Danny Rand and he’s at his worst when Danny is trying to act like the Iron Fist. When Danny is being super serious and trying to act zen like, it comes across as being so forced and its just sort of laughable. At times he comes across as a whiny kid trying to act serious and its just sort of embarrassing. Also looking back at this season, I couldn’t really pick up on a clear character arc for Danny. To his credit, Finn Jones is doing everything he can to act in this role and does project a semblance of likability to Danny, however he can only do so much as the writing really lets him down. It’s just sad that one of the worst characters of Iron Fist is its titular character.
The supporting cast/characters fare much better than Danny Rand. One of the best characters of the show is Colleen Wing, played by Jessica Henwick. She was very likable, believable (especially in the action scenes) and she has an interesting background (no spoilers). Colleen honestly was one of the best parts of the show. While Finn Jones’s Danny Rand has a lot of issue, he and Henwick share some great chemistry. Rosario Dawson is effortlessly likable as Claire Temple, who once again pops over to this show from Daredevil like she did with Jessica Jones and Luke Cage. Some of the other supporting characters are the Meachums, Ward and Joy (siblings) played by Tom Pelphrey and Jessica Stroup respectively, they share very believable chemistry. Ward in particular is great, he started out as an absolutely insufferable character but he has a great arc and by the end he’s one of the best characters of the show.
This season has a few villains, and the handling of the villains was quite hit or miss. If there is a main villain, it’s Harold Meachum, played by David Wenham. While the character himself is fine, he doesn’t work as a villain for the Iron Fist. Most of the time he’s not a direct threat, more of an anti hero than an actual villain. So he is rather average when you consider him as a villain. He’s also not given enough depth. Unlike Fisk, Kilgrave or Cottonmouth in Daredevil, Jessica Jones or Luke Cage respectively, Harold isn’t given some sort of reason for the things he does. Its ironic that so much attention is focussed on the Meachums, yet I don’t really feel like I know much about Harold. With that said, the character himself is fine, if severely underwritten and underdeveloped, and David Wenham fully embraced this role and gave a good and entertaining performance, better than the role deserved.
One of the biggest criticisms of the show is the fight scenes and while it isn’t really good, I have seen worse action scenes in mediocre-bad action movies. The stuntwork is not very remarkable, it is slow at times and even sort of boring. Also, it does one of those editing things where they constantly cut during fight scenes to hide bad stuntwork. The show does have its decent action moments but for the most part the action scenes weren’t that good and were one of the weaker parts of the show. Its disappointing because out of all The Defenders, you’d expect and Iron Fist show to be so great with its fighting, especially with Danny Rand. Danny should feel like a strong fighter character but the series don’t really do that good of a job in conveying that through his action sequences. Also at times the visual effects are a little weird at times, such as the flashbacks. Otherwise the direction of the episodes was overall fine I guess.
Iron Fist Season 1 was better than I thought it would be. I can kind of see why some people took issues with this season, there is definitely a lot of problems, the 3 main issues being the writing, Danny Rand and the action scenes. However I think it has received way too much criticism than it deserves. The show was interesting enough and had enough good performances and plot points to keep me intrigued enough to finish the show. With the showrunner of season 1 being replaced for season 2, perhaps Iron Fist’s next solo season will be much better. But as for season 1, it is so far the worst season of the Marvel Netflix shows.
(I may review Defenders Season 1 when I finish it)
Review at my blog at youngcinemabuffs.wordpress.com/2017/08/21/iron-fist-season-1-2017-tv-review/
Next review: The Dark Tower.... ugh...
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Post by Lex Salander on Aug 24, 2017 21:46:47 GMT
My review of The Dark Tower
I was curious about The Dark Tower. It’s based on the book series by Stephen King and with the additions of Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey, it had a lot of potential. I finally saw the movie and… it doesn’t quite live up to all its potential. The Dark Tower is overall just fine, the plot is somewhat okay, the action is mostly just okay, however its just not that interesting as a movie. With the exception of Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey, there’s not much reason to watch The Dark Tower.
I haven’t read the books so I can’t comment on how the movie translated the books, all I can comment on is how it is as a movie on its own. On its own it was very generic and weak overall. I could follow the story but I feel like this script wasn’t detailed enough, and I’m not just referring to the world. The characters aren’t given depth, the pacing was very off, the plotlines weren’t that interesting, everything is just a mess. I really didn’t care about what was going on, I was just following along, being mildly entertained at least. The third act does pick up and it is entertaining but maybe that’s just because it was the climax. This movie is 95 minutes long, which is incredibly short, however I still managed to feel quite bored. I have no idea what happened with The Dark Tower, it should have been something great but most of it is just rather mediocre and uninspired. It almost feels like the first draft of the script was used, instead of a proper and fully fleshed out script.
Idris Elba was great as Roland, the Gunslinger. He has a lot of charisma and was convincing at being such a badass with his guns. He elevated his role with his performance and he was enjoyable to watch. Matthew McConaughey plays the villainous Man in Black, and he is having an absolute ball. The character himself really wasn’t interesting, kind of a standard generic, evil villain. However McConaughey seemed to be putting everything into his performance, so he was at least entertaining and because of his performance, the role sort of works. Both Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey are the best parts of the whole movie. The main character of the film is a kid played by Tom Taylor. The character is very uninteresting and doesn’t have much in terms of personality, but Taylor does try his best and does okay with the role. There’s not much to say in terms of supporting characters. Katheryn Winnick doesn’t get much to do and Jackie Earle Haley is laughably wasted, he gets a few short scenes and that is it.
There’s not much to say about the direction by Nikolaj Arcel, its passable but nothing special. Some of the CGI is fine, other parts looked quite fake. Most of the action is fine, surfacable, something you’d see in a passable blockbuster (such as The Dark Tower). With that said, there are a couple night-time action scenes and the lighting is so dark that quite often its hard to tell what’s going on. As previously mentioned, the final act is quite entertaining, and the action sequences plays a big part of it. The editing of the movie, specifically the scene translations were really jarring, though it may be just the script that caused the scene changes to feel jarring. The score by Junkie XL is pretty good and worked for the movie.
The Dark Tower had a lot of potential but it really didn’t deliver on that. Aside from Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey, there’s not much reason to watch it. Sure the plot is passable, but its so weakly done and it is so hard to care about what’s going on. The movie isn’t even enjoyable in a ‘turn off your brains’ kind of way. The best way I can describe The Dark Tower is that its the kind of movie that you look down at your phone while it’s playing. You may occasionally look up at some entertaining bits, but most of the time, nothing on screen is interesting enough to keep you constantly engaged. Apparently some sequels are planned and I’m not particularly excited for them, if they are actually going ahead with them they will need to be a lot better than whatever this movie was supposed to be.
Review at my blog at
youngcinemabuffs.wordpress.com/2017/08/25/the-dark-tower-2017-review/
Ranking of 2017 movies:
1. A Cure for Wellness
2. Logan
3. Dunkirk
4. War for the Planet of the Apes
5. Baby Driver
6. Get Out
7. Alien Covenant
8. Wonder Woman
9. John Wick: Chapter 2
10. The Big Sick
11. Split
12. Atomic Blonde
13. The Discovery
14. Spider-Man Homecoming
15. Una
16. King Arthur: Legend of the Sword
17. Kong: Skull Island
18. Okja
19. Fate of the Furious
20. Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2
21. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
22. The Mummy
23. Life
24. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
25. Beauty and the Beast
26. The Lego Batman Movie 27. The Dark Tower
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Post by Lex Salander on Aug 27, 2017 20:27:06 GMT
My review of 1990's IT
With the latest film coming out in a couple weeks, I wanted to check out the ‘iconic’ original movie (which is actually a tv mini series). Having seen some clips and watching some reviews, I had a feeling that I would find this to be an average horror movie which really wouldn’t leave that much of an impact on me. And having finally seen it I can say that it was pretty much what I expected it to be. That’s not to say that there aren’t some good things here, the first half of the mini series is okay, Tim Curry is effortlessly entertaining as Pennywise, the actors who played the kids are good, and the film has some interesting ideas. But it feels really dated, drags at many points, isn’t really effective with many of its scares and the second half is mediocre and is completely anticlimactic. Maybe this movie was impressive for its time, but it doesn’t hold up today.
There are two things I want to mention before going in depth with IT. First of all, I haven’t read the 1000 page Stephen King book of the same name, so I’m not sure how accurate the book is to the movie. Second of all, this tv mini series is made up of two episodes, each of them being 1 hour 30 minutes, making IT a 3 hour long movie. I’ll talk about these two parts separately. The first part isn’t great, it is a little repetitive with its structure, one of the adult main characters in present day gets called about Pennywise returning and then there’s a flashback to when they were a kid, rinse and repeat. Some of the ideas and concepts are interesting and fascinating, but it feels somewhat limited. Maybe because it was a tv mins series in the 90s, it was limited from going all into some really dark and disturbing areas, or maybe it was too early and for whatever reason they weren’t able to do it. There are some aspects that don’t make sense, like Pennywise having no problem killing some kids, yet won’t immediately kill the protagonists whenever he gets the chance. All he does is just gloat and talk about how things float (which at a point is just laughable). I have no idea if these unexplained aspects are explained in the book (I’m guessing it probably is, it being over 1000 pages long), but for whatever reason the mini series didn’t exactly flesh everything out well. Because of some of the interesting ideas, as well as the performances by the actors, the first half is okay.
While the first half was okay, the second half just wasn’t good at all. It’s one melodramatic, boring and disappointing climax to the story. Most of it is just the adult characters catching up on their lives, talking to each other and its hard to care about what’s going on. There are even 2 moments, each lasting at least a minute of these characters just doing something completely random. One involves two people on a bike, the other is just a montage of our protagonists just eating. There was also no tension throughout most of this second half, there was even less tension than in the first part. You never really feel that the protagonists are in danger until near the end of the movie. Pennywise is in the movie a lot less, one of his scenes, the library scenes, is still one of the most entertaining scenes in the entire 3 hour ‘film’. Otherwise I can’t really pinpoint anything I liked about the second part. The reveal at the end was really disappointing. I don’t know if it was exactly like this in the book, but whatever case it didn’t work in the movie. This second half is a step down from the first half of the mini series.
The young actors who play the protagonists in the first half are actually surprisingly good, they have great chemistry with each other and you can really buy them as being friends. They are actually part of the reason that the first half actually works, these actors were so good that I was willing to look pass some of the issues and actually pay attention to what was going on. The adult actors however are very hit or miss, some of them are fine, others really don’t work at all. Also, they didn’t have the chemistry with each other that the kids had in the first half of the mini series. The showstealer of IT is of course Tim Curry as Pennywise, who is one of the best parts of the movie. However, I must point out that it’s not because I find him scary, because really at no point do I ever find him terrifying at all. Yes, Pennywise kills kids and scares some people, but he didn’t leave any impact on me. He’s one of the best parts because of how entertaining he is and how Curry fully embraced the role. There are some moments where he is so over the top goofy that I can’t take him seriously. A good example is a certain scene with him in a library in the second half of the series, just watch that scene and you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. Pennywise in 1990’s IT works because of how entertaining and over the top he is, sometimes to the point of hilarity. However he just isn’t scary at all.
This film immediately feels dated, from the camera work, to the special effects, to the scares, to the music, to the sound effects, everything feels dated. Some of the sets, particularly in the sewers are nice and work fine but otherwise there’s nothing special. None of the scares work, not even the film’s direction left an impactful scare. I mentioned how there is a reveal that is underwhelming, it was made all the more worse because of how incredibly fake looking the effects were, I won’t give away what it is, but it is so embarrassingly fake looking.
1990’s IT may have been scary back when it was released but it really doesn’t hold up well today. The direction of the film is dated, the story is not always interesting, the second half is a bore and the payoff is disappointing. It’s only effective if you have a phobia of clowns. If you haven’t seen IT, I don’t think it’ll have any sort of impact on you honestly. Yes, Tim Curry is effortlessly entertaining, and there are some cheesy moments, but that’s all. It’s not even a ‘so bad it’s good’ kind of watch, its just mostly a chore. As for the newer film adaptation of IT, I have a lot of faith in it, with the modern effects, darker take, a longer runtime, it has to be at least better than whatever this film was trying to be.
My review of IT at my blog at youngcinemabuffs.wordpress.com/2017/08/28/it-1990-review/
On a side note, who here is interested in the latest IT movie with Bill Skarsgard?
Next review: Possibly Captive starring Kate Mara?
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Post by Lex Salander on Aug 31, 2017 11:11:30 GMT
My review of Death Note (2017)
Adam Wingard’s Death Note was something I was curious about. I hadn’t watched the original anime but I knew of its concept and I loved Wingard’s direction of The Guest, so it had a lot of potential. Upon its release, his adaptation had received a lot of hate, mostly from people who saw the original anime. I decided to check it out for myself and honestly, Death Note wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be but it is a waste of potential. Some of the performances were good and the direction was mostly great, but this script has so many problems that it really lets the overall movie down.
I’ll just get this out of the way, the writing has a lot of issues. Again, I haven’t seen the original anime so I can’t comment on the changes they’ve made, but from what I can tell they’ve made a lot. The movie feels a little rushed, Light (the protagonist) gets the Death Note and makes his first kill within 10 minutes, there is barely enough time for his character or really anything to be established. This idea about the Death Note had a lot of potential and at first its okay, with Light killing off people under a different identity but after a while this plotline just stops. Honestly looking back at this movie, not a whole lot of things happen, Light gets the Death Note, he starts killing people off, a detective named L comes along posing a problem, there’s some conflict there and then it’s the third act. This movie is an hour 40 minutes, and while this movie isn’t always interesting, I’d be fine with it being longer if they actually had more going on. The dialogue was terrible at points, I found it difficult to care about what was going on and I really wasn’t consistently invested throughout Death Note. There were also some unintentionally hilarious moments, an example being Light’s reaction to seeing Ryuk (Willem Dafoe) for the first time. I will say that I enjoyed watching parts of Death Note, there were writing issues aside and some cringe worthy moments but for the most part I was somewhat intrigued or entertained. The third act however does feel like they just wanted to shove so many twists into it, like its ridiculous how many times they just kept putting twists, which makes the movie feel jarring instead of actually making it better. The writing is really a mixed bag.
Nat Wolff is the lead actor of Death Note, I don’t know if he is a good actor or not but he didn’t really give a good performance. Granted the character wasn’t written that well, his character motives and changes aren’t really established well enough. I guess from what I can tell, the character is different from the anime and while I can understand why it was done in this way, it’s less interesting. However Wolff does have some moments where he’s somewhat okay for what the character is written here. That’s more than I can say for the love interest played by Margaret Qualley, who is really annoying and unlikable. I get that she might be intended to be that way but there’s nothing likable about her. The romance between the two is unfortunately a prominent part of the film. The chemistry isn’t strong, and it just starts randomly after a few scenes of them together. Those two aside, there are some pretty good performances at the same time. Willem Dafoe does the voice or Ryuk, a demon of the Death Note book and he definitely stole the show whenever his character was around. Ryuk isn’t around a lot unfortunately. There was also the character of L, played by Keith Stanfield. He was a standout of the film, I can’t tell whether there was any major changes to him from the original anime but on his own I thought he was pretty good. The one issues I’ll say is that the film did seem to build up to his character’s backstory being explored but it never gets resolved. So acting/characters overall was rather mixed.
One of the things I was looking forward to with Death Note was Adam Wingard’s direction, the look of You’re Next and especially The Guest was incredible. Wingard once again directed this movie so well, the colour aesthetics looking beautiful, the cinematography was great, the direction was mostly great… I say mostly because for whatever reason there were constant turning dutch angles that just randomly appear, they were very out of place and obnoxious. One thing to note is that the death scenes that occur often feel like Final Destination deaths, as in they are very over the top, graphic and at times goofy. This may be a good thing or a bad thing for you, depending on whether it entertains you. For me I just found it laughably over the top at time, I couldn’t take it seriously. The score by Atticus and Leopold Ross was solid and worked very well.
Adam Wingard’s Death Note is a mixed bag. I loved most of his direction, some of the performances were good, and there were some aspects about the plot that I liked. But some of the performances were weak and the writing has a ton of issues, which really let down the movie. I guess if you’re curious enough check it out, its on Netflix right now, so at worse you’d only be wasting around 100 minutes of your time. I heard that Wingard may be doing a sequel to this movie, if this happens I hope he does a much better job than what he did here.
My review at my blog at youngcinemabuffs.wordpress.com/2017/09/01/death-note-2017-review/
Ranking of 2017 movies:
1. A Cure for Wellness
2. Logan
3. Dunkirk
4. War for the Planet of the Apes
5. Baby Driver
6. Get Out
7. Alien Covenant
8. Wonder Woman
9. John Wick: Chapter 2
10. The Big Sick
11. Split
12. Atomic Blonde
13. The Discovery
14. Spider-Man Homecoming
15. Una
16. King Arthur: Legend of the Sword
17. American Made 18. Kong: Skull Island
19. Okja
20. Fate of the Furious
21. Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2
22. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
23. The Mummy
24. Life
25. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
26. Beauty and the Beast
27. The Lego Batman Movie 28. Death Note
29. The Dark Tower
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Post by Lex Salander on Sept 3, 2017 22:33:30 GMT
My review of American Made
American Made had me immediately interested with Tom Cruise and Doug Liman involved. Cruise brings his A game to whatever movie he’s involved in (even if the movie isn’t always great) and Doug Liman have directed a lot of great movies with The Bourne Identity and Edge of Tomorrow. Ultimately the movie is quite good, with solid performances, stylistic storytelling and was quite fun overall. I wouldn’t call it a great film and its not one of Doug Liman’s all time best, but it is very entertaining.
The film is very fast paced and kept my interest throughout. There is a lot of unbelievable things that happen in American Made, to the point where they all had to be real (granted I don’t know how accurate the movie is to real life). American Made is quite entertaining, though I think Liman’s direction had a big part of that, and the way he decided to tell the story. Despite it being quite a fun movie, the film doesn’t glorify Barry’s actions, you do get the feeling throughout that what he’s doing a lot of the time is unethical. The film is 1 hour 55 minutes long, which was a good runningtime for this movie overall, it was long enough but it also didn’t overstay its welcome. Honestly I don’t have a whole lot to say about the story, what you see from the trailer of American Made is what you’ll get from the movie, except its more insane and it does handle the dramatic aspects quite well.
Tom Cruise is so great in this movie, I don’t know what the real life Barry Seal was like but for whatever Doug Liman was going for, Cruise seemed to have been perfectly cast. He is so effortlessly likable, despite all the questionable things he does. Cruise was also great at the dramatic aspects of Barry, he wasn’t just Tom Cruise being Tom Cruise again. The supporting cast was also good, such as Domhnall Gleeson who plays a CIA agent who gets Barry Seal to work with him.
Overall I liked Doug Liman’s style, it played a huge part in this movie being entertaining and fun to watch. There are so many insane things that happens in this story, and so this style really was appropriate to show it. At times it did however feel that it was almost trying to have a style similar to Wolf of Wall Street, not that it was necessarily a bad thing, it was just a little distracting at points. One problem I do have with this direction is that this movie is shot handheld, and I never felt like it needed to be. I know Doug Liman often uses handheld/shaky cam quite often but it felt like there was no real purpose to make it that way, it wasn’t an action movie, nor was it a mockumentary style movie, it was very unnecessary.
American Made is fast paced and entertaining, and definitely keeps your interest from beginning to end. With Tom Cruise, the supporting cast, and Liman’s direction, it really works. It’s not going for any awards, and the camerawork is rather questionable and annoying, but it’s a solid movie overall. It’s not necessarily a movie you need to rush out and see in cinemas, but whenever you get a chance, it’s definitely worth checking out.
My review at my blog at youngcinemabuffs.wordpress.com/2017/09/04/american-made-2017-review/
Ranking of 2017 movies:
1. A Cure for Wellness
2. Logan
3. Dunkirk
4. War for the Planet of the Apes
5. Baby Driver
6. Alien Covenant 7. Get Out 8. Wind River
9. Wonder Woman
10. John Wick: Chapter 2
11. The Big Sick
12. Split
13. Atomic Blonde
14. The Discovery
15. Spider-Man Homecoming
16. Una
17. Ghost in the Shell 18. King Arthur: Legend of the Sword
19. American Made
20. Kong: Skull Island 21. Fate of the Furious
22. Okja
23. Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 24. Life 25. The Mummy 26. Beauty and the Beast
27. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
28. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
29. The Lego Batman Movie
30. Death Note
31. The Dark Tower
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Post by Lex Salander on Sept 7, 2017 11:06:30 GMT
My review for Annabelle: Creation
I wasn’t really excited for Annabelle Creation. This was a horror prequel to a horror prequel, and the first prequel was Annabelle. Although I hadn’t seen it, I’ve heard nothing but terrible things about it. I had no hype for Annabelle Creation and yet, it was actually pretty good. The story was pretty good, I could care about what was going on, the direction was very good and there were some effective scares.
Annabelle Creation is a solid horror movie, the story is nothing spectacular and there’s honestly not a lot to sat about it but it is good for what it was going for. The runningtime is around an hour and 50 minutes and that was an appropriate time, the pacing was done well and never dragged at any point. Normally, an origin of a horror monster/villain really feels unnecessary and detracts from the character. However, Annabelle’s creation was actually done well, even if it wasn’t necessary. Without spoiling anything it does tie into the original Annabelle at one aspect, so if you haven’t seen the original you will be a little confused (I only know about this from looking it up). There was also another reference that tied into the Conjuring-verse that I loved. With that said, you can still like Annabelle Creation on its own without seeing the original Annabelle, or even The Conjuring movies.
The two lead girls, played by Talitha Bateman and Lulu Wilson were great. They play friends who are at an orphanage. That aspect with their relationship and chemistry really helped make me care about them and therefore the story, I wasn’t just watching people go through the motions and getting scared. The supporting cast with Stephanie Sigman, Anthony LaPaglia and Miranda Otto were good in the movie. The actresses who play the other girls are fine I guess, but they didn’t receive a whole lot of development or have some character, so they didn’t really leave that much of an impression on me.
David F. Sandberg directed this movie, I liked his work on Lights Out quite a bit and he once again proved himself to be a great director. This film looks great, the cinematography was really solid. Everything from the lighting, to the visual effects and the sound effects are done very well. The scares were quite effective, yes, there are some jump scares but they are done very well when they do happen.
Annabelle Creation is not as good as The Conjuring movies and its not one of the greatest horror movies ever made, but it is a solid horror movie. You don’t necessarily have to have watched the original Annabelle to enjoy this movie, there’s an aspect you may be confused about but that’s it really. With the effective story and direction, Annabelle Creation is one of the most surprising movies of 2017. I find it weird that a Conjuring Cinematic Universe is happening, along with Conjuring 3 there will be a Nun movie and a Crooked Man movie based from characters from Conjuring 2. However with 3 out of their 4 movies being quite good, I’m very curious to see how this will go and I’m on board with whatever direction they take.
My review of Annabelle: Creation at my blog at thecinemacritic.wordpress.com/2017/09/08/annabelle-creation-2017-review/
Ranking of 2017 movies:
1. A Cure for Wellness
2. Logan
3. Dunkirk
4. War for the Planet of the Apes
5. Baby Driver
6. Alien Covenant
7. Get Out
8. Wind River
9. Wonder Woman
10. John Wick: Chapter 2
11. The Big Sick
12. Split
13. Atomic Blonde 14. Annabelle Creation
15. The Discovery
16. Spider-Man Homecoming
17. Una
18. Ghost in the Shell
19. King Arthur: Legend of the Sword
20. American Made
21. Kong: Skull Island
22. Fate of the Furious
23. Okja
24. Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2
25. Life
26. The Mummy
27. Beauty and the Beast
28. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
29. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
30. The Lego Batman Movie
31. Death Note
32. The Dark Tower
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Post by RedSparrow on Sept 7, 2017 18:33:19 GMT
My review for Annabelle: Creation
I wasn’t really excited for Annabelle Creation. This was a horror prequel to a horror prequel, and the first prequel was Annabelle. Although I hadn’t seen it, I’ve heard nothing but terrible things about it. I had no hype for Annabelle Creation and yet, it was actually pretty good. The story was pretty good, I could care about what was going on, the direction was very good and there were some effective scares.
Annabelle Creation is a solid horror movie, the story is nothing spectacular and there’s honestly not a lot to sat about it but it is good for what it was going for. The runningtime is around an hour and 50 minutes and that was an appropriate time, the pacing was done well and never dragged at any point. Normally, an origin of a horror monster/villain really feels unnecessary and detracts from the character. However, Annabelle’s creation was actually done well, even if it wasn’t necessary. Without spoiling anything it does tie into the original Annabelle at one aspect, so if you haven’t seen the original you will be a little confused (I only know about this from looking it up). There was also another reference that tied into the Conjuring-verse that I loved. With that said, you can still like Annabelle Creation on its own without seeing the original Annabelle, or even The Conjuring movies.
The two lead girls, played by Talitha Bateman and Lulu Wilson were great. They play friends who are at an orphanage. That aspect with their relationship and chemistry really helped make me care about them and therefore the story, I wasn’t just watching people go through the motions and getting scared. The supporting cast with Stephanie Sigman, Anthony LaPaglia and Miranda Otto were good in the movie. The actresses who play the other girls are fine I guess, but they didn’t receive a whole lot of development or have some character, so they didn’t really leave that much of an impression on me.
David F. Sandberg directed this movie, I liked his work on Lights Out quite a bit and he once again proved himself to be a great director. This film looks great, the cinematography was really solid. Everything from the lighting, to the visual effects and the sound effects are done very well. The scares were quite effective, yes, there are some jump scares but they are done very well when they do happen.
Annabelle Creation is not as good as The Conjuring movies and its not one of the greatest horror movies ever made, but it is a solid horror movie. You don’t necessarily have to have watched the original Annabelle to enjoy this movie, there’s an aspect you may be confused about but that’s it really. With the effective story and direction, Annabelle Creation is one of the most surprising movies of 2017. I find it weird that a Conjuring Cinematic Universe is happening, along with Conjuring 3 there will be a Nun movie and a Crooked Man movie based from characters from Conjuring 2. However with 3 out of their 4 movies being quite good, I’m very curious to see how this will go and I’m on board with whatever direction they take.
My review of Annabelle: Creation at my blog at thecinemacritic.wordpress.com/2017/09/08/annabelle-creation-2017-review/
Ranking of 2017 movies:
1. A Cure for Wellness
2. Logan
3. Dunkirk
4. War for the Planet of the Apes
5. Baby Driver
6. Alien Covenant
7. Get Out
8. Wind River
9. Wonder Woman
10. John Wick: Chapter 2
11. The Big Sick
12. Split
13. Atomic Blonde 14. Annabelle Creation
15. The Discovery
16. Spider-Man Homecoming
17. Una
18. Ghost in the Shell
19. King Arthur: Legend of the Sword
20. American Made
21. Kong: Skull Island
22. Fate of the Furious
23. Okja
24. Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2
25. Life
26. The Mummy
27. Beauty and the Beast
28. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
29. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
30. The Lego Batman Movie
31. Death Note
32. The Dark Tower
Same. It feels odd, but I adore the first two Conjuring movies. Between the two I prefer the first one, though the 2nd is put together much better. |
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Post by Lex Salander on Sept 7, 2017 19:53:45 GMT
My review for Annabelle: Creation
I wasn’t really excited for Annabelle Creation. This was a horror prequel to a horror prequel, and the first prequel was Annabelle. Although I hadn’t seen it, I’ve heard nothing but terrible things about it. I had no hype for Annabelle Creation and yet, it was actually pretty good. The story was pretty good, I could care about what was going on, the direction was very good and there were some effective scares.
Annabelle Creation is a solid horror movie, the story is nothing spectacular and there’s honestly not a lot to sat about it but it is good for what it was going for. The runningtime is around an hour and 50 minutes and that was an appropriate time, the pacing was done well and never dragged at any point. Normally, an origin of a horror monster/villain really feels unnecessary and detracts from the character. However, Annabelle’s creation was actually done well, even if it wasn’t necessary. Without spoiling anything it does tie into the original Annabelle at one aspect, so if you haven’t seen the original you will be a little confused (I only know about this from looking it up). There was also another reference that tied into the Conjuring-verse that I loved. With that said, you can still like Annabelle Creation on its own without seeing the original Annabelle, or even The Conjuring movies.
The two lead girls, played by Talitha Bateman and Lulu Wilson were great. They play friends who are at an orphanage. That aspect with their relationship and chemistry really helped make me care about them and therefore the story, I wasn’t just watching people go through the motions and getting scared. The supporting cast with Stephanie Sigman, Anthony LaPaglia and Miranda Otto were good in the movie. The actresses who play the other girls are fine I guess, but they didn’t receive a whole lot of development or have some character, so they didn’t really leave that much of an impression on me.
David F. Sandberg directed this movie, I liked his work on Lights Out quite a bit and he once again proved himself to be a great director. This film looks great, the cinematography was really solid. Everything from the lighting, to the visual effects and the sound effects are done very well. The scares were quite effective, yes, there are some jump scares but they are done very well when they do happen.
Annabelle Creation is not as good as The Conjuring movies and its not one of the greatest horror movies ever made, but it is a solid horror movie. You don’t necessarily have to have watched the original Annabelle to enjoy this movie, there’s an aspect you may be confused about but that’s it really. With the effective story and direction, Annabelle Creation is one of the most surprising movies of 2017. I find it weird that a Conjuring Cinematic Universe is happening, along with Conjuring 3 there will be a Nun movie and a Crooked Man movie based from characters from Conjuring 2. However with 3 out of their 4 movies being quite good, I’m very curious to see how this will go and I’m on board with whatever direction they take.
My review of Annabelle: Creation at my blog at thecinemacritic.wordpress.com/2017/09/08/annabelle-creation-2017-review/
Ranking of 2017 movies:
1. A Cure for Wellness
2. Logan
3. Dunkirk
4. War for the Planet of the Apes
5. Baby Driver
6. Alien Covenant
7. Get Out
8. Wind River
9. Wonder Woman
10. John Wick: Chapter 2
11. The Big Sick
12. Split
13. Atomic Blonde 14. Annabelle Creation
15. The Discovery
16. Spider-Man Homecoming
17. Una
18. Ghost in the Shell
19. King Arthur: Legend of the Sword
20. American Made
21. Kong: Skull Island
22. Fate of the Furious
23. Okja
24. Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2
25. Life
26. The Mummy
27. Beauty and the Beast
28. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
29. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
30. The Lego Batman Movie
31. Death Note
32. The Dark Tower
Same. It feels odd, but I adore the first two Conjuring movies. Between the two I prefer the first one, though the 2nd is put together much better. I personally think the second is best, though in terms of which I prefer, i don't know, I've only seen each of them once. But both are by far some of the best horror movies of the 2010s either way. |
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Post by RedSparrow on Sept 8, 2017 14:08:03 GMT
Same. It feels odd, but I adore the first two Conjuring movies. Between the two I prefer the first one, though the 2nd is put together much better. I personally think the second is best, though in terms of which I prefer, i don't know, I've only seen each of them once. But both are by far some of the best horror movies of the 2010s either way. What's your favourite horror film from recent years? It's The Babadook for me, the film floored me. |
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Post by LaraQ on Sept 8, 2017 15:51:28 GMT
I personally think the second is best, though in terms of which I prefer, i don't know, I've only seen each of them once. But both are by far some of the best horror movies of the 2010s either way. What's your favourite horror film from recent years? It's The Babadook for me, the film floored me. The Babadook was amazing.The most chilling horror film I`ve seen in the last few years was Kill list by Ben Wheatley.Truly unnerving.It Follows and The Witch were fantastic too. :horror: |
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Post by Lex Salander on Sept 8, 2017 18:54:19 GMT
I personally think the second is best, though in terms of which I prefer, i don't know, I've only seen each of them once. But both are by far some of the best horror movies of the 2010s either way. What's your favourite horror film from recent years? It's The Babadook for me, the film floored me. Babadook, same for me. I heard so many great things about it and it didn't disappoint me. Truly deserving of more attention and praise. |
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Post by Lex Salander on Sept 10, 2017 8:18:41 GMT
My review of 2017's IT
As time was going on, 2017’s IT has started becoming one of my most anticipated films of the year. Prior to seeing that movie, I decided to review the 1990 tv mini series. The mini series had its moments but was ultimately a mixed bag, with only Tim Curry’s Pennywise and the kid actors really being particularly good. This new version of IT had me interested however, with its much darker tone. Ultimately it delivered in such a great way, it was everything I wanted this movie to be and more.
First of all I want to clarify that this is not a remake of the 90’s mini series, it’s the second adaptation of the Stephen King novel of the same name, and while I haven’t read it myself from what I can tell, this new film is more accurate to the source material. Something that this movie does quite well is that it only focusses on the kids, it feels a lot more focussed and consistent compared to the mini series, which felt rather jarring when it cut between past and present day (and from the kids to their adult counterparts). This movie is also thankfully rated R, one of the things holding the mini series back (among many things) was that it couldn’t go all out with Stephen King’s darkness. This newer version of IT has the freedom to portray almost anything, at times its actually quite surprising, we see things happen to kids that we don’t usually see. While this is a horror movie, I don’t find it to be the scariest movie ever. It has some creepy and unsettling moments but its not that scary to me (granted I’m not easily scared by horror movies). It’s also not just a horror movie, it is also a coming of age film, so don’t go in just expecting a simple scare-fest. This movie surprisingly has a lot of heart, you really care about these characters and the movie is really about them confronting their fears. IT also has some surprisingly good humour (especially from Finn Wolfhard’s Richie), and it doesn’t feel out of place at all, when present its appropriate and really adds a lot. So this movie has a bit of everything, a little bit of heart, a little bit of comedy, and yes, a whole lot of horror. This movie is 2 hours and 15 minutes long and it feels maybe a little long but I can’t really think of anything I would cut.
Let’s start with the leads, the Loser’s Club, with actors Jaeden Lieberher, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophie Lillis, Finn Wolfhard, Wyatt Oleff, Chosen Jacobs and Jack Dylan Grazer. All of them were great in their roles, and the chemistry between them is great. They really did feel like real kids, especially with the dialogue between them. It never felt like an older person trying to write for children and being out of touch, it feels real and authentic. Also, you can buy these kids being friends, they are all outcasts and underdogs, and its so easy to root for them. Here’s the thing, it wouldn’t matter how scary this movie is, if the kids failed, this movie would fail, and thankfully they were incredibly great. Honestly the only issue I have is that some of them don’t get enough development, but even then, those characters aren’t weak, ther just needed some more screentime and development.
Bill Skarsgård plays Pennywise the Clown, and he had a lot to live up to. I’ll do my best to try to avoid comparing his version to Tim Curry’s, but I can at least say that it’s a very different version. Bill is absolutely transformative, the way that Pennywise acts is so bizarre and unlike anything I’ve seen in a movie. While I wasn’t particularly scared by the movie, whenever there were creepy and unsettling moments, he was always a part of it. He wasn’t goofy at all, he was never intentionally funny, he was this incredibly bizarre creature that was unnerving to watch. I think one thing that makes him effective (much more than Curry’s version) is that he’s not just a scary clown, he was something more, he’s not just attacking people using only his clown form. Everything from Bill’s acting and 100% dedication, the direction and the visuals was absolutely amazingly done. I honestly can’t compare this performance to any other performance I’ve seen before, that’s how great it was. Pennywise was absolutely one of the best parts of the movie. The only problem I had was that I wanted to see a lot more of him. I have a feeling that director Andy Muschietti wanted to make sure that Pennywise didn’t overshadow the kids, who really are the heart and centre of the film, which I guess is understandable. Let’s just hope that we’ll be getting a lot more of him in the second chapter.
The direction by Andy Muschietti is so great, the cinematography is so beautiful and the visuals look amazing. It really does feel like its set in the 80s, from the music used, to the costume and set design, everything. The set design especially is great, highlights were the sewer scenes, there was such attention to detail. There are a couple moments where some segments feel a little ‘too 80s’, but its not too distracting. The only potential issues I have with the direction is that there was some occasional shaky camerawork in the climax. This movie doesn’t have a whole lot of blood, but when its bloody, it is really bloody, and it feels appropriate. As I mentioned, this movie isn’t really that scary, but it is great at having some unsettling and disturbing moments and imagery. The score by Benjamin Wallfisch is rather suiting, ranging from whimsical and almost Danny Elfman-esque to straight up intense.
IT was great and met all my expectations. Along with the very strong story and direction, the kids were written and acted fantastically and Bill Skarsgard’s Pennywise is nothing I’ve ever seen before. Again, don’t go in expecting an extremely scary horror movie, expect a coming of age tale with likable protagonists and a freaky clown who will surely leave an impression on you. It’s one of the best Stephen King movies yet (granted that’s not saying a lot). Even though the second half of the 1990 mini series was rather weak, I can’t wait to see the next chapter. Muschietti did such a great job with this first half that I can just tell that the follow up will be just as great.
Ranking of 2017 movies:
1. Logan 2. A Cure for Wellness
3. Dunkirk
4. War for the Planet of the Apes
5. Baby Driver
6. Alien Covenant
7. Get Out 8. IT
9. Wind River
10. Wonder Woman
11. John Wick: Chapter 2
12. The Big Sick
13. Split
14. Atomic Blonde
15. Annabelle Creation
16. The Discovery
17. Spider-Man Homecoming
18. Una
19. Ghost in the Shell
20. King Arthur: Legend of the Sword
21. American Made
22. Kong: Skull Island
23. Fate of the Furious
24. Okja
25. Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2
26. Life
27. The Mummy
28. Beauty and the Beast
29. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
30. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
31. The Lego Batman Movie
32. Death Note
33. The Dark Tower
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Post by LaraQ on Sept 12, 2017 12:23:46 GMT
My review of 2017's IT
As time was going on, 2017’s IT has started becoming one of my most anticipated films of the year. Prior to seeing that movie, I decided to review the 1990 tv mini series. The mini series had its moments but was ultimately a mixed bag, with only Tim Curry’s Pennywise and the kid actors really being particularly good. This new version of IT had me interested however, with its much darker tone. Ultimately it delivered in such a great way, it was everything I wanted this movie to be and more.
First of all I want to clarify that this is not a remake of the 90’s mini series, it’s the second adaptation of the Stephen King novel of the same name, and while I haven’t read it myself from what I can tell, this new film is more accurate to the source material. Something that this movie does quite well is that it only focusses on the kids, it feels a lot more focussed and consistent compared to the mini series, which felt rather jarring when it cut between past and present day (and from the kids to their adult counterparts). This movie is also thankfully rated R, one of the things holding the mini series back (among many things) was that it couldn’t go all out with Stephen King’s darkness. This newer version of IT has the freedom to portray almost anything, at times its actually quite surprising, we see things happen to kids that we don’t usually see. While this is a horror movie, I don’t find it to be the scariest movie ever. It has some creepy and unsettling moments but its not that scary to me (granted I’m not easily scared by horror movies). It’s also not just a horror movie, it is also a coming of age film, so don’t go in just expecting a simple scare-fest. This movie surprisingly has a lot of heart, you really care about these characters and the movie is really about them confronting their fears. IT also has some surprisingly good humour (especially from Finn Wolfhard’s Richie), and it doesn’t feel out of place at all, when present its appropriate and really adds a lot. So this movie has a bit of everything, a little bit of heart, a little bit of comedy, and yes, a whole lot of horror. This movie is 2 hours and 15 minutes long and it feels maybe a little long but I can’t really think of anything I would cut.
Let’s start with the leads, the Loser’s Club, with actors Jaeden Lieberher, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophie Lillis, Finn Wolfhard, Wyatt Oleff, Chosen Jacobs and Jack Dylan Grazer. All of them were great in their roles, and the chemistry between them is great. They really did feel like real kids, especially with the dialogue between them. It never felt like an older person trying to write for children and being out of touch, it feels real and authentic. Also, you can buy these kids being friends, they are all outcasts and underdogs, and its so easy to root for them. Here’s the thing, it wouldn’t matter how scary this movie is, if the kids failed, this movie would fail, and thankfully they were incredibly great. Honestly the only issue I have is that some of them don’t get enough development, but even then, those characters aren’t weak, ther just needed some more screentime and development.
Bill Skarsgård plays Pennywise the Clown, and he had a lot to live up to. I’ll do my best to try to avoid comparing his version to Tim Curry’s, but I can at least say that it’s a very different version. Bill is absolutely transformative, the way that Pennywise acts is so bizarre and unlike anything I’ve seen in a movie. While I wasn’t particularly scared by the movie, whenever there were creepy and unsettling moments, he was always a part of it. He wasn’t goofy at all, he was never intentionally funny, he was this incredibly bizarre creature that was unnerving to watch. I think one thing that makes him effective (much more than Curry’s version) is that he’s not just a scary clown, he was something more, he’s not just attacking people using only his clown form. Everything from Bill’s acting and 100% dedication, the direction and the visuals was absolutely amazingly done. I honestly can’t compare this performance to any other performance I’ve seen before, that’s how great it was. Pennywise was absolutely one of the best parts of the movie. The only problem I had was that I wanted to see a lot more of him. I have a feeling that director Andy Muschietti wanted to make sure that Pennywise didn’t overshadow the kids, who really are the heart and centre of the film, which I guess is understandable. Let’s just hope that we’ll be getting a lot more of him in the second chapter.
The direction by Andy Muschietti is so great, the cinematography is so beautiful and the visuals look amazing. It really does feel like its set in the 80s, from the music used, to the costume and set design, everything. The set design especially is great, highlights were the sewer scenes, there was such attention to detail. There are a couple moments where some segments feel a little ‘too 80s’, but its not too distracting. The only potential issues I have with the direction is that there was some occasional shaky camerawork in the climax. This movie doesn’t have a whole lot of blood, but when its bloody, it is really bloody, and it feels appropriate. As I mentioned, this movie isn’t really that scary, but it is great at having some unsettling and disturbing moments and imagery. The score by Benjamin Wallfisch is rather suiting, ranging from whimsical and almost Danny Elfman-esque to straight up intense.
IT was great and met all my expectations. Along with the very strong story and direction, the kids were written and acted fantastically and Bill Skarsgard’s Pennywise is nothing I’ve ever seen before. Again, don’t go in expecting an extremely scary horror movie, expect a coming of age tale with likable protagonists and a freaky clown who will surely leave an impression on you. It’s one of the best Stephen King movies yet (granted that’s not saying a lot). Even though the second half of the 1990 mini series was rather weak, I can’t wait to see the next chapter. Muschietti did such a great job with this first half that I can just tell that the follow up will be just as great.
Ranking of 2017 movies:
1. Logan 2. A Cure for Wellness
3. Dunkirk
4. War for the Planet of the Apes
5. Baby Driver
6. Alien Covenant
7. Get Out 8. IT
9. Wind River
10. Wonder Woman
11. John Wick: Chapter 2
12. The Big Sick
13. Split
14. Atomic Blonde
15. Annabelle Creation
16. The Discovery
17. Spider-Man Homecoming
18. Una
19. Ghost in the Shell
20. King Arthur: Legend of the Sword
21. American Made
22. Kong: Skull Island
23. Fate of the Furious
24. Okja
25. Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2
26. Life
27. The Mummy
28. Beauty and the Beast
29. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
30. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
31. The Lego Batman Movie
32. Death Note
33. The Dark Tower
Went to see IT on Saturday and LOVED it but you`re right, it`s much more a coming of age than a horror film (reminded me a bit of Stand By Me)and it wasn`t as scary as I expected. :shock: |
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Post by Lex Salander on Sept 14, 2017 10:12:21 GMT
My review for Wind River
I only heard about Wind River recently, and seeing the cast involved with Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen, along with this being writer Taylor Sheridan’s directional debut, immediately had me interested. All that potential payed off in the end, with a great script, filled with fantastic performances and a solid direction, Wind River is a fantastic thriller and one of the best films of the year.
Wind River’s writer/director Taylor Sheridan has written some movies such as Sicario and Hell or High Water, both are really great films and some of the best films of their respective years. Once again he has written a fantastic script that captivates you from beginning to end. The movie is shorter than most thrillers, at around 1 hour 50 minutes long but it worked well for the movie overall. The first act is a little slow but aside from that the pacing was great, it never felt rushed but it never dragged either, by the second act I was fully into the plot. The characters and the dialogue like in Sicario and Hell or High Water are so brilliantly written with detail. I can’t say that Wind River is particularly unique from all the other great thrillers that out there but I can’t really pinpoint any flaws either, from start to finish I was riveted by the story which was crafted so well by Sheridan. He delivers once again in writing a compelling story.
The acting was also a highlight of Wind River. This is probably the best performance I’ve seen from Jeremy Renner. He plays a character who is dealing with a tragedy. His performance is very subtle and was perfect for his character. Elizabeth Olsen also gives one of the best performances I’ve seen from her, as an FBI agent who really isn’t fully prepared for the job that she decides to take on. One stand out supporting actor was Gil Birmingham as the father of the victim, he’s not in the movie a lot but he did a great job in his scenes. The supporting actors in general are quite good but its Renner and Olsen who give the best performances.
This movie as I mentioned is Taylor Sheridan’s directional debut and he really does a great job. His direction really does a great job immersing you in this cold and isolated environment, it does well and making you feel uncomfortable in many of the scenes. Wind River is a more of a slow building mystery than a non stop thriller, but when the scenes are meant to feel tense, it really does feel very tense. The direction isn’t flashy and it does well to serve the story and allow the actors to do well with the script.
Wind River is yet another solid film from Taylor Sheridan and is also one of the best films of the year. Great performances, fantastic writing and directing, this movie has it all. I’m not sure how this movie would compare to Sicario and Hell or High Water, I might consider those films as being better but on its own, it’s a pretty great thriller. Taylor Sheridan is a massive talent that should be watched closely, whether that be for writing or for directing. Definitely see Wind River whenever you can, it’s one of the best of the year.
Review at my blog at thecinemacritic.wordpress.com/2017/09/14/wind-river-2017-review/
Ranking of 2017 movies:
1. Logan
2. A Cure for Wellness
3. Dunkirk
4. War for the Planet of the Apes
5. Alien Covenant
6. Get Out
7. IT 8. Baby Driver
9. Wind River
10. Wonder Woman
11. John Wick: Chapter 2
12. The Big Sick
13. Split
14. Atomic Blonde
15. Annabelle Creation
16. The Discovery
17. Spider-Man Homecoming
18. Una
19. Ghost in the Shell
20. King Arthur: Legend of the Sword
21. American Made
22. Kong: Skull Island
23. Fate of the Furious
24. Okja
25. Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2
26. Life
27. The Mummy
28. Beauty and the Beast
29. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
30. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
31. The Lego Batman Movie
32. Death Note
33. The Dark Tower
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