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Kangaroo Jack (2003)
Stupid, but I still enjoyed it
Kangaroo Jack is a very dumb comedy, there's no doubt about that. This was a film that was originally supposed to be an adult-targeted R-rated comedy but was later toned down to receive a PG and it is very obvious, for there are a lot of raunchy jokes and sexual innuendos that are definitely not suitable for young viewers, this is not a family-friendly movie even though it was marketed as such. There are a lot of dumb, immature, lowbrow jokes and cheap laughs in this film however, I still got a good laugh and I had a good time watching. I liked the friendship between Jerry O'Connell and Anthony Anderson, and Michael Shannon does a fantastic job as the villain. Christopher Walken isn't in the film very long but when he is on screen, he does a good job being his typical Christopher Walken self. If you go into this movie with the right mindset, and are in the mood to see something stupid then Kangaroo Jack is a good time, I could see this film being a lot of fun in a party-like setting with a bunch of friends.
Goth (2003)
Not Terrible
Goth is a 2003 film made by Brain Damage Films, who are known for making extremely low-budget horror movies, most of which are not good, however this one isn't too bad. In Goth, a young woman named Chrissy and her boyfriend Boone are at a goth club one night and meet a strange young woman named Goth who drugs them, takes them hostage in a van and gives them a ride they'll never forget. The character Goth is played by Phoebe Dollar who does a fantastic acting job here, she definitely knows how to play a villain, and totally owns her role! The other actors while not great, definitely did a decent job, everyone here clearly knows how to act even if some of them aren't great at it. Goth is not an amazing movie, I don't know if I'd even call it a good movie per-say, however I definitely enjoyed it. This film is extremely low-budget, it looks like it was filmed with a camcorder (it definitely was), but if you can get past that and go into this film with an open mind, you just might enjoy it!
Deadgirl (2008)
Bad acting, forced dialogue, juvenile story. Terrible overall.
Deadgirl is a film that seems like it was written by a 15-year-old juvenile delinquent, it's about teenagers who discover a zombie woman tied to a table in the basement of an abandoned mental hospital and they use her as their sex slave. With a story like that, you can't expect anything good, and this film is definitely not anything good. Aside from the terrible story, the acting is atrocious, all the actors here are overacting, the dialogue feels forced, and overall it feels like the writers didn't think the story out and were just going with whatever popped in their head at the time. Also, there is this stupid side-story which involves the main character constantly obsessing over a girl at his school who clearly doesn't like him (and I don't blame her), and he even stalks her, seriously stupid, creepy (in a bad way), and juvenile stuff. Deadgirl is one of the worst horror films I've ever seen, and I do not recommend it one bit!
Blue Valentine (2010)
An intimate and realistic depiction of a tragic break-up
The trailer for Blue Valentine makes it look like an indie rom-com, however it is not, far from it actually. Blue Valentine is about the end of a failed marriage involving two people named Dean (Ryan gosling) and Cindy (Michelle Williams). The film cuts back and forth between two time periods separated five years apart, the beginning of their relationship, and the final 24 hours of their relationship. Dean is a good man, a little childish, but only wants to be a good father and a good husband, Cindy on the other hand is selfish and only seems to care about herself and not so much about her family. Blue Valentine is a hard film to explain without spoiling anything, so with that I won't go any further into the plot. There's not really a straightforward plot with this film, Blue Valentine is a film that relies mostly on acting. The performances in this film are very strong and the movie is very emotionally intense, it feels as if you're actually watching an unhappy couple drift away from each other, and this is not a movie to see with your boyfriend or girlfriend unless you want them to dump you. This film originally received an NC-17 rating due to a scene involving cunnilingus, Ryan Gosling later complained about this and accused the MPAA of sexism and misogyny, therefore, the rating was changed to R. Blue Valentine could be seen as a cautionary tale that teaches this lesson, be careful who you fall in love with and make sure that person is worth it, because most marriages these days are just like this movie, they start off happy, but eventually go down a black hole and into the divorce courts. I strongly recommend all young people to go see Blue Valentine because it shows what very well could become of a marriage, and if you do decide to get married, make sure that person is worth it. Blue Valentine is a great film with great acting and two very good, well respected actors, however, this is a film I will never be able to watch again. 9/10.
Red Dragon (2002)
Great cast, great acting, but somewhat boring story.
Red Dragon is the prequel to the 1991 classic, The Silence Of The Lambs. Red Dragon is about an FBI agent named Will Graham (Edward Norton) who is investigating a murder pulled off by a notorious killer known as The Tooth Fairy (Ralph Fiennes), and seeks advice from his old friend and imprisoned cannibal, Doctor Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins). Ralph Fiennes totally steals the show with his performance of The Tooth Fairy, a killer who suffered psychological damage as a child from years of abuse from his mother, who is voiced by Ellen Burstyn. He is pure evil, but was transformed into a monster from the abuse he suffered, not born one. Without question, Ralph Fiennes delivers the strongest performance in the whole film. While the film has an an amazing all star cast and great acting, Red Dragon just doesn't deliver the dark, eerie, ominous vibe that The Silence Of The Lambs did, and the story just didn't really pull me in at all. Also, I didn't like the ending at all, to me it felt forced, and was extremely cheesy. The Silence Of The Lambs is one of my favorite crime thrillers of all time, so I had high expectations for this film, yet was left feeling a bit disappointed. Red Dragon is a very well acted film, yet doesn't even come close to The Silence Of The Lambs in terms of creepiness, and the story just isn't all that interesting. I am recommending it for the amazing performances, but I feel the story could have been much better. 6.5/10.
Shame (2011)
Interesting, well acted, beautifully shot, but overall feels empty.
Shame is one of two Steve McQueen films I've seen, the other being Hunger. I thoroughly enjoyed Hunger, so I decided to check out Shame. Shame is about a 30- something year old man named Brandon (Michael Fassbender) who is a sex addict, he calls up prostitutes, and watches porn all the time, even on his work computer. His sister Sissy (Carey Mulligan) comes to live with him for a while for she has no other place to live. Brandon and Sissy have a very contentious relationship, they don't get along too well and end up arguing all the time. There's not much in terms of a story, but that is the point of the film, this film is supposed to show the life of a sex addict and it does a pretty good job at it. The acting is very good, everyone delivers a strong performance, and the cinematography is excellent, the film itself looks absolutely gorgeous. Although the acting, dialogue, and cinematography are excellent, the movie just feels empty, when it ended, I was left wanting more, it felt like there was just something missing. I'm recommending Shame because it has great acting, great dialogue, and great cinematography, but the film overall feels empty and left me wanting more. 7/10.
Cyberbully (2011)
One of the worst made for TV movies and one of the worst depictions of bullying I've ever seen.
I don't even know where to start with this film. I don't feel the need to describe the plot in detail because from the title, it's pretty self explanatory, it's about a teen girl who ends up getting made fun of online. The main character Taylor (Emily Osment), is one of the most unlikable protagonists I've ever seen in any movie, she's extremely annoying as well. We're supposed to feel sorry for her, but she's so unlikable to the point where we don't really care. The acting is horrendous and this film is a horrible, and very unrealistic depiction of bullying. If you want to save 2 hours, don't watch this movie, it's terrible. That's all I have to say about Cyberbully. Emily Osment should really consider taking acting lessons from her brother. 1/10.
(500) Days of Summer (2009)
Our expectations hardly ever meet reality
At the very beginning of the film, the narrator states, "this is not a love story", and he is right. 500 Days of Summer, while it may have been marketed as a romantic comedy when it was first released back in '09, it is not, it is a coming of age story about naivety and expectations. In the film, we follow Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a very naive young man who has a crush on his co-worker Summer (Zooey Deschanel), a young woman who likes him, but doesn't really have the same feelings for him as he does for her, and when he figures that out, he goes into a serious depression. What I like most about this film is how realistic it is, and having been in a similar situation as Tom, I was easily able to relate. The film shows what can happen to our emotional health if we let our expectations get too high without thinking of what the reality of the situation could possibly turn out as when dealing with a crush. The film is very funny yet very depressing at the same time. The acting is fantastic, Joseph Gordon-Levitt delivers one of the, if not the most convincing performance of his acting career. 500 Days of Summer is a film I encourage all young people who have yet to start dating to watch because it teaches these lessons: don't get overly attached to someone you don't know very well, and when dealing with a crush, try to keep your expectations relatively low, or else you will end up feeling depressed, hurt, unworthy, hopeless, etc. because most of the time when we have a crush on someone, our crush most likely won't fall for us in the end. Depressing? Yes, but very true. It's very rare for me to give a movie a 10/10, but I feel that this film really deserves it, I think it's a masterpiece!
House of 1000 Corpses (2003)
A cult classic!
This movie seems to get a lot of hate, it's not the best horror movie ever made, but it is one of the most interesting modern horror films that has come out within the past decade. House Of 1000 Corpses is very similar to movies like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, it revolves around a group of friends taking a road trip through the country, meanwhile their car breaks down in front of a house filled with psychopaths who are out to kill them. I won't say anymore because I don't want to spoil how crazy this movie gets towards the end. There are many horror movies that try to be like TCM, but fail miserably and end up being cheap, blatant knock-offs, this film however is very original in that it uses a similar premise as TCM, but adds more supernatural elements and is very original in doing so. It's fun to watch, with memorable characters and a fantastic climax that will definitely pull you in. However, I would only recommend this film to die hard cult horror fans, the general public will not appreciate this film as much, plus there are several references to cult horror classics that some viewers may not understand. Anyway, Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses is a very original film that uses similar elements from other horror classics but does so in a way that is not repetitive and not painfully obvious. 8/10.
Psycho (1960)
An American Classic!
First of all, I'd like to point this out, Psycho is a psychological thriller, not a horror movie, so don't expect a bunch of jump scares or gory scenes, so if you want that, watch the Friday The 13th Series or something. Psycho is undoubtedly one of the greatest films of all time! Director Alfred Hitchcock really hit it home with this one. Psycho is about a woman named Marion who steals $40,000 and drives out to Fairville California with the intention of giving the money to her boyfriend Sam. On the way to Fairville, she stops at a motel called the Bates Motel, where she intended to spend the night before finishing her drive. The Bates Motel is run by a young man named Norman Bates who seems harmless, but stutters a lot in his speech. Marion is murdered that night in the motel. A few days later, she (obviously) has not been seen since she left for Fairville, a detective named Arbogast, Marion's sister Lila, and Sam go to look for her, and well, I won't spoil the rest. This film is not scary in terms of jump scares and violence, seeing as there is a very low body count, but it is scary because of the fact that things like these actually happen and you could be a victim of murder. The first half of the film is where the film shines, with fantastic acting and it builds up to the final standoff. The final 20 minutes are typical, cliché moments that we've all seen in thrillers, but Psycho is able to do it without being boring or repetitive. The film has a great ending that you'll probably never forget. Psycho is a classic and a landmark in American filmmaking, one of Hitchcock's greatest pieces of film! 9/10!