Okay, so the summer was a busy time for me. Most of my close friends, including my flatmate, are teachers so I my social life was finally active! But my writing schedule suffered and I ended up neglecting the blog, but I still spent a lot of time watching movies. In order to celebrate watching my 3,000th movie I thought I’d try and catch up by giving quick reviews of the ones I watched, and hopefully I’ll be back to posting daily again! There are some gems here, and also some awful films. So let’s begin!
Earth to Echo – Pretty fun little film that I think kids will enjoy. I could tell it had a strong influence from E.T. and it has a good moral at the end of it. Some parts are still hoeky, and the acting isn’t always the best quality but I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. It’s worth checking out.
Foxfire – A group of high school girls get inspired by a drifte to take revenge on their creepy science teacher. Good performance by Angelina Jolie here, and a good look at the consequences of fulfilling dark fantasies. I liked it.
What We Did on Our Holiday – Initially dismissed this when it came out last year as the trailer annoyed me but I actually enjoyed it immensely. The kids were charming, and for once Billy Connelly wasn’t annoying! Good fun with a lot of heart. Definitely check this out.
Common – Tough drama about a robbery that turns into a murder and shows how the lines between innocence and guilt can be blurred. Quite slow-moving but worth it in the end. Very tense, and makes you think.
The Boys are Back – A single father has to try and learn how to balance his family life with his professional life. Clive Owen does a good job here at showing a man trying to make the best of a horrible situation, while also failing completely in some areas of parenting.
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room – I’m too young to be aware of this properly but its fascinating to watch how a massive company can just lose its stock and plummet into bankruptcy.
Southpaw – Awesome boxing movie. Any boxing movie is always going to be living in Rocky’s shadow, but this is a damn good one. Gyllenhaal is amazing, its tense, and it takes the drama out of the ring and into his personal life, but the in-ring action is great too. The climax is brilliant and doesn’t come off as a Rocky ripoff at all like some other movies.
Manhattan – Classic Woody Allen film. Lots of romantic angst and relationship turmoil. Pretty entertaining.
Assassination – Charles Bronson in an action role. Fairly typical film for him, so it’s one of those where if you like Death Wish and things of that ilk then you’ll probably like this.
Salsa – Fun, sometimes steamy movie about people trying to make it as Salsa dancers. Nowhere near the same league as Saturday Night Fever but it has infectious rhythm.
Age of the Dead – Awful zombie film that has nothing going for it. Bland characters, story with no direction, and an ending that doesn’t make sense. There’s no narrative arc. There’s just…nothing. Ignore it completely.
Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation – Very very good. Really liked how the first half was quite light-hearted but the second became much more serious. There’s still life in this franchise.
Imposter – Based on a Philip K. Dick novel so it’s right up my alley, and deals with his usual metaphysical, existential themes. It’s about a man who is accused of being an alien spy. Very tense, I enjoyed it a lot.
The Rewrite – Romcom with Hugh Grant and Marisa Tomei. Not your standard though, very self aware and although he comes across as really bitter and unlikeable, the film is meta enough that it makes up for it. Glad I stuck with it all the way to the end as it is a rewarding watch.
Mighty Aphrodite – Another Woody Allen film here and I really liked this one. The story is interspersed with shots of a Greek chorus, which interacted with the film’s main characters. Really quirky but hilarious, and I loved it.
Martial Arts of Shaolin – An early Jet Li role here and it’s got some cool action and good humor. The story isn’t bad either.
Ghost in the Shell – This one came highly rated but I don’t know, it was interesting but I wasn’t completely blown away.
Fantastic Four – Broken movie. Awful. No narrative structure. Bland characters. Unresolved conflicts. So many problems with this I don’t have room here but I’ve ranted about it a lot to my friends.
Safe – Fairly decent Statham flick.
Trust – Pretty interesting look at the dangers lurking with online dating. Takes a different angle to Hard Candy. May be difficult to watch for some people and it does come across as a Lifetime movie, but it takes a look at how it affects the whole family, and I felt the actors did a good job, although there were a couple of narrative missteps.
The Legend of Drunken Master – Fun with Jackie Chan. It was dubbed, which annoyed me, but the martial arts were great to watch.
Shaolin Martial Arts – Similar title to the one I mentioned above. It’s okay, kinda forgettable though. No Jet Li in this one.
Snatch – Can’t believe it took me this long to get around to it. Awesome film.
The Grandmaster – Another film about the story of Ip Man, Bruce Lee’s master. Had a good visual style but it wasn’t as good as Ip Man 1 & 2
The Avenging Eagle – Another martial arts film. Entertaining.
The Children’s Hour – Man, kids are just the worst. Another film like The Hunt that shows people shouldn’t blindly believe what children say. Audrey Hepburn is in it too.
Much Ado About Nothing – Joss Whedon’s project to recover from the stress of shooting Avengers Assemble. Features many Whedon regulars, and is hilarious. Highly recommended!
The Young Victoria – Before this film I never even thought of Victoria as a young woman, as every time I’ve seen her depicted she’s been old. This one focuses on the romance between her and Albert, and also the people trying to shove their influence upon her. Emily Blunt is fantastic in the lead role and the romance makes this one worth watching.
Holidaze – Sappy romcom about a workaholic who wakes up in an alternate universe. Very predictable, but one of those that can be a comfort-watch if you need it.
Cousins – Initially when I read the description of the movie I thought it was going to be about the stigma of cousins starting a romance, but actually they’re only related by marriage. The thing that makes this film shine is the chemistry between Ted Danson and Isabella Rosselini. It’s electric and the two of them sizzle on the screen.
Save the Date – Sisters come to terms with their relationships and each other. It has Alison Brie, who is awesome, and at the start of the film they’re playing Catan. It’s a fairly entertaining film although I wasn’t totally enamored with it.
A Case of You – A man stalks a girl’s Facebook page in order to make himself the perfect man for her. Actually liked it as it played with modern dating conventions, although it does show that sometimes just talking with someone is a good start.
The November Man – Pierce Brosnan is pretty cool, and I still think he was unlucky to be shuffled off as Bond. He had a few more films in him.
Love, Rosie – Two friends have a complicated relationship that lasts years. A romance about the ‘almost was’. I liked it because its in my wheelhouse, although it has some predictable plot beats.
The Perfect Weapon – Very cheesy film that is endearing in its own way.
Indie Game: The Movie – Documentary that follows a few indie game developers as they prepare for the release of their game. I’m not that much into video gaming as I used to be so I’d never heard of the games before, but the documentary is a good look into the stress that goes into making an indie game.
Video Games: The Movie – Basically an overview of the rise of video gaming. It was okay, although it starts off with a bunch of statistics that just bored me. Since it’s got such a broad topic it feels shallow, and even I as a layman when it comes to games knew that it was missing a lot.
Paid in Full – Good film about drug dealers, drags a little in the middle.
Blue Ruin – A man tries to get revenge, but instead only continues the cycle of violence. It’s slow moving and interesting. Some good shots but it could have done with being more fast-paced. I found my attention waning.
20 Feet From Stardom – GREAT documentary about famous backing singers. Really good insight into what it’s like to be close to the stars but not getting the same recognition. Can’t recommend this highly enough. This is a must-watch!
Straight Outta Compton – Awesome biopic about the N.W.A. All the actors were cast perfectly. It’s raw, it’s tense, it’s enthralling.
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. – Surprisingly entertaining. Cavill and Hammer make a good pair. Feels like a 60s movie. Very slick.
Biggie and Tupac – Documentary released in the 90s trying to uncover the truth behind the murders. Comes up with an intriguing and plausible theory.
Malena – Monica Bellucci is stunning. A view of beauty through the eyes of a 12 year old boy. Some scenes come off as creepy, but the film does a good job of developing characters even though they’re only seen from afar.
Conversations with Other Women – Mmmm yeah this was…watchable I suppose.
Invaders from Mars – Remake of a 50s sci-fi movie. Fun models, bad acting, very cheesy, I liked it.
The Guest – Slick action, good intrigue. Awesome film.
How Stella Got Her Groove Back – Decent film but outstayed its welcome. Would like to see the sequel where its revealed that he’s gay and only went out with her to get into America.
We Are Your Friends – Really surprised by this. Some awesome stylish touches by the director, a good soundtrack, and it made me want to go to a rave. Probably more for people who are into the clubbing scene but I enjoyed this way more than I thought I would.
Justice League: Throne of Atlantis – Good introduction to Aquaman although has a very Thor/Loki relationship in it.
The Wonderful Country – So this was actually my 3,000th film but it wasn’t really worthy of the landmark. Mitchum’s Mexican accent came and went, and there wasn’t a strong story propelling this.
Atari: Game Over – Short documentary about the fall of the video game company but should be given props for showing the demise. The designed of the much-maligned E.T.: The Game has been unfairly stigmatised because of that game, and hopefully people will watch this film and see that he’s a victim too.
Switchback – Enjoyable thriller with Dennis Quaid, Danny Glover, and Jared Leto.
Blue Chips – Good sports movie with Nick Nolte.
Hustlers – Fun movie with a few plot threads. Features a character who loves Elvis, which is fine by me.
Harrigan – Dark movie about the days in the north of England during the 70s when the police had to abandon certain areas, but one detective is still dedicated to the cause.
Falling in Love – Streep and De Niro are professional enough to make this watchable but I wasn’t particularly enchanted by the couple and it felt more like they were just two people who were bored rather than in love.
Harlock: Space Pirate – It’s got a decent story but the visuals are breathtaking. It’s a must-watch for those alone.
