Article ITT I attempt to review every movie I've seen.

[Martyr]

I felt somewhat the same way about TFA. It felt like a really really really good fan film. I liked it a lot, however it still feels somewhat disconnected.

Anyway, have you seen Requiem for a Dream? I didn't see it on your list at the beginning (maybe I missed it). I just finished watching it for the first time. It is a great movie, however I will never watch it again. I don't think I will ever be able to again.

 

[Sexy Beast]

I felt somewhat the same way about TFA. It felt like a really really really good fan film. I liked it a lot, however it still feels somewhat disconnected.

Anyway, have you seen Requiem for a Dream? I didn't see it on your list at the beginning (maybe I missed it). I just finished watching it for the first time. It is a great movie, however I will never watch it again. I don't think I will ever be able to again.

I have and I should do a review, but I burnt the crap out of my hand while cooking the other day...so no reviews till this heals up

 

[pillar]

Hey Sexy, just finished my review of San Andreas. I just recently watched the movie Imitation Game, which is based on a true story about Alan Turing, who helped changed the tide of WWII & helped changed the course of our life as we currently know it. Great movie Imitation Game is actually & would like permission to review it as soon as your able to type properly again.

 

[Sexy Beast]

Hey Sexy, just finished my review of San Andreas. I just recently watched the movie Imitation Game, which is based on a true story about Alan Turing, who helped changed the tide of WWII & helped changed the course of our life as we currently know it. Great movie Imitation Game is actually & would like permission to review it as soon as your able to type properly again.

Go for it man, it's all yours

 

[Sexy Beast]

A Pillar Review​

Title: San Andreas
Year: 2015
Country of Origin: US
Director: Brad Peyton

Plot: Supposedly the San Andreas fault creates another massive earthquake.

Review: So before I go into the actual review, im gonna give a lil factual info about the actual San Andreas fault. The earliest recorded activity on this specific fault line was back in 1857, back before the Civil War began. Of course they had primitive equipment & could only gather so much information. However, based on data received over the last 6 recorded earthquakes, it was predicted that there was supposed to be an earthquake back in 1993, but it didnt happen until 2004. The earthquakes happen on avg every 22 years, even tho the shortest time between quakes was 12 years (1922 & 1934) tells us that there is a good possibility for another earthquake to happen in the near future. Also for those of you old enough to remember the earthquake of 1994, that one actually happened in Northridge (which I find funny because its on the south side of Cali & nowhere near the north side of Cali at all, but that one became popular in my early days as its said to be 1 of the most deadliest natural disasters in US History).

Thats technically the idea of where they decided to create this movie.

So you have a helicopter pilot, who is played by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. His wife, who is played by Carla Gugino, does a decent job with her role. In my honest opinion tho, the real stars are the kids actually. Theres actually a good chunk of time spent on the character building of the 2 teens in the movie; the young lady (who happens to play the teen daughter of Dwayne & Carla's characters) should receive an award for best supporting actress in a movie as her role was very believable & really genuine. Her character is played by Alexandra Daddario (shes been in both tv & movies, so not sure if you would recognize her or not, but she definitely stood out better than Carla did). She actually ended up catching the interest of another young teen (played by Hugo Burt). I found it both interesting & funny how they created the script for Hugo's lil brother (played by Art Parkinson) to help his older brother in various ways. Art really should get an award for his part as he really pulled an amazing job outta his hat

Overall, this movie wouldve been great had it not been hampered due to the overuse of CGI. I mean it did a great job of setting up some scenarios where certain things were possible, but then other quick scenes that were made to look amazing just looked "typical" since they were used in previous movies (Volcano comes to mind, even tho theres no actual volcanoes in the movie thankfully). I am thankful that they actually kept the movie as factual and believable as possible. If memories serves me correct, theres only 1 movie that is the best "disaster movie", which is the specific genre of these kinds of movies & that goes to Dantes Peak. I remember watching that for the 1st time when the school got permission to go see that with my science class back in middle school I wanna say. Its still the only "disaster movie" still worth watching as its the most believable. This is just another "1 watch wonder" if your willing to invest the time in it. There is 1 part about 2/3 way into the movie where husband & wife talk where it just drags for a small, but silly part & that does hamper the movie a lil, but thats the only real script based issue.

To conclude, this movie actually ended up turning out better than I expected. Hollywood didnt mess up the movie as bad as I expected them to. Dwaynes character wasnt a macho "im-all-that-&-a-bag-of-chips" guy. However, its far better than Volcano for sure. I dont think any disaster movie could be worse than Volcano but I can be proved wrong.

[7/10]

 

[ChocolateVillain]

Are you going to do a write up of all the nominations this year? Even if you have not seen them all. A quick write up would be nice to read because I love your work

 

[Sexy Beast]

Are you going to do a write up of all the nominations this year? Even if you have not seen them all. A quick write up would be nice to read because I love your work

I'm out of town visiting friends till Sunday...so probably sometime after that. Also, there are a couple more films I wanted to see before I did a write up...like I really need to see The Hateful Eight

 

[Sexy Beast]

Hey guys, it?s that time of year again! The time where I compile a list of films that I saw last year into a subjective order of quality. Now because I am not an actual critic who gets paid to review things there are a lot of films that I haven?t seen in 2015 that have been popping up on other critics top 10 lists. So don?t expect to see films like The Hateful Eight or The Reverent or Anomalisa here?in fact just to hit the number 10, I?m dipping in pretty deep into the films that I saw this year to fill out this list. Anyway?let?s get this done with:

10. The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is a surprisingly fun film and Guy Richie directs the ever living hell out of it. Not content with shooting bland action scenes, Richie attempts to film new and fresh ways to present the film's action...even if it means obscuring it all together. The result is surprisingly fresh...but also incredibly stale due to the film's unimaginative plot and its attachment to a pre-existing franchise. Still, for a soon to be forgotten film, it offers plenty and should be checked out.

9. Star Wars: The Force Awakens

At this point, I don't really know what else to say about Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Like seriously, there is a whole cottage industry that has popped up dedicated to making clickbait articles about this film. It's on track to becoming that highest grossing film of all time...heck it probably beat Avatar's domestic gross yesterday. Still, it's a film that did the one thing that it needed to do: not be bad. It's a solid launching point for a new franchise and while we might all look back on this film as the film that launched 45 new Star Wars films and ruined everything...we can at least for now say that Star Wars: The Force Awakens was a pretty decent movie.

8. Mission: Impossible ? Rogue Nation

Mission: Impossible ? Rogue Nation marked another solid entry into the Mission: Impossible franchise. It's also the moment where I started to realize that Mission: Impossible is essentially the American equivalent of the James Bond series...and that Rogue Nation is pretty much everything that Spectre was lacking. It was fun, affable, made sense, and most importantly...it didn't feel bloated.

7. Kingsman: The Secret Service

I think that Kingsman, for me at least, was the biggest surprise of the year. I really did not expect much from it based on the previews, but it was the ultraviolent action comedy that I never knew I wanted.

6. The Duke of Burgundy

This is without a doubt one of the more bizarre films that I saw this year. It tells that story of an odd relationship between two lesbian lovers. It's not for all tastes, but Peter Strickland elevates what could have been a bland film into an odd visual odyssey filled with striking imagery.

5. Spotlight

The most redeeming feature of Spotlight is that it doesn't try to sensationalize its subject. The film follows the Spotlight reporting team at the Boston Globe as they investigate the Catholic Church's complacency in the sex abuse scandal. It's a true story and it's told refreshingly straight with little to no frills...and guess what? The film is compelling enough without having to Hollywood up the story. Oh, and the cast does a fantastic job as well. It's just an all around solid film and should really become a template on how future films should tackle this type of material.

4. It Follows

It Follows is a wonderful reminder that the style of horror that Halloween introduced is still effect. The film trades jump scares for ones that are constructed and executed...which is kind of a lost art these days. It's the type of horror film that creates rules and expectations and then manages to construct and effect movie in that scaffolding. Sure, the ending is a bit of a let down, but the rest of the film gives me hope for the future of horror cinema.

3. The Martian

So I was super surprised that The Martian was good. Like at this point I had written Ridley Scott off as a man who had lost his ability to direct engaging films. Fortunately I was wrong, The Martian is a solid and wholly enjoyable film that mixes the basic 'man v nature' archetype with levity and science. Matt Damon is fantastic here and reminds all of us why we liked him in the first place. Normally I don't much buy into inspirational films, they all tend to follow the same plot structure and are manipulative as all hell...and sure this film isn't all that much different, but it's wrapped up in a more enjoyable package.

2. Mad Max: Fury Road

I had been waiting for Fury Road for what seemed to be a decade. Like I think I first heard about the project back in High School and it's one of the few instances where a project that has been in development hell as long as this one turned out not just good...but amazing. From start to finish Fury Road plays out like a post-apocalyptic fever dream featuring probably one of the most fully realized worlds in film history. Like, I understood to world of Mad Max more than that presented in The Force Awakens. One top of that, the action sequences are amazing.

1. Sicario

Honestly, I would just recommend reading my review of the film if you want to see my rational for placing it at the top of this list. It's a fantastic piece of filmmaking and really needs to be seen by a wider audience.

So that's 2015. Expect reviews for Spotlight and the other film's that are bound to sweep up award season to start trickling out in the coming days and weeks. Also I finally saw a Miyazaki film, so I'll have a review of that up tomorrow.

 

[_Ace]

Totally agree with the top 3 and the fight for the number one movie for his list was really close. Mad max was absolutely fantastic, Sicario was a thriller, and the Martian was pretty motivational and just made you feel all warm and fuzzy inside after watching it.

 

[Slam Fanderbergler]

Ink is a pretty cool movie. I'd love to hear what you have to say about it.

 

[Sexy Beast]

Ink is a pretty cool movie. I'd love to hear what you have to say about it.

I haven't seen it, I'll have to check it out.

 

[Sexy Beast]

Title: The Revenant
Year: 2015
Country of Origin: US
Director: Alejandro G. I??rritu

Plot: After getting mauled by a bear, Hugh Glass is left for dead in the harsh American wilderness. With only his guile and experience as a frontiers man, he must survive the a grueling trek back to civilization to take vengeance on those who wronged him.

Review: The Revenant is an odd film to review, mostly because while it is an amazing feat of film making it is also not all that great of a movie. The film unfolds in very poetic manner where each major scene seems to be bookended by illusory images and scenes that either call back to Hugh's past or something about death or the genocide of the Native Americans or whatever. While these scenes might help the film's underlying narrative they also break up the flow of the film and undermine its pacing. What should have been a breezy epic of a man who pulls off an almost inhuman task is, instead, turned into a film that has no sense of urgency and whose pacing can be best described as glacial. Ultimately it undermines everything that's great about the film from Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy's excellent performances to the film's amazing cinematography...the only thing that I really wanted was for the film to just get on with it. Anyway, The Revenant is ultimately a deeply flawed film ruined by what I could only imagine is the masterbatorial indulgence of I??rritu...which worked in Birdman, but falls flat here.

[7/10]

 

[ChocolateVillain]

A beautiful drab film. Wish I could of seen it on IMAX... Coworkers raved about the film and I don't think it's in my top 5 of this year. Also don't think DiCaprio wins his Oscar this year either, Hardy was more of a standout in this film I think.

 

[Sexy Beast]

A beautiful drab film. Wish I could of seen it on IMAX... Coworkers raved about the film and I don't think it's in my top 5 of this year. Also don't think DiCaprio wins his Oscar this year either, Hardy was more of a standout in this film I think.

I completely agree, Hardy was maybe my favoite thing about this movie.

 

[Sexy Beast]

Title: The Big Short
Year: 2015
Country of Origin: US
Director: Adam McKay

Plot: So there is this guy named Michael Burry, he was the head of a Cali based hedge fund back in 2005. He noticed that there was something terribly awry in the Mortgage bond market...and decides to short the market.

Review: I think this might be the third or fourth time I tried to start a review for this film. Most of them usually start by saying:

The Big Short is the most concise and entertaining explanation of the mechanisms that caused the Great Recession that I have come across."

Of course, after that I start to draw a blank. Like I don't know where to take the review next and I think I am beginning to understand why. It is because I don't see the film as a film, but instead I see it as a piece of edutainment. So far, when I have recommend this film to people, it hasn't been because of the actual quality of the film, but because it actually has the capacity to teach people things that they should probably know about. So let's try to break through this impasse:

The Big Short is probably one of my favorite films of last year, outside of it's capacity to educate, the film is wonderfully constructed. McKay manages juggle multiple story threads at once and makes it look easy. By the time the film really gets going we're dealing with three different groups of individuals and each group has their own thing going on and they do not interact with each other. Somehow McKay manages to make each plot strand distinctive with their own self contained plot arc and a satisfying conclusion. On top of this, each strand manages weave an overarching plot which doubles as both a countdown to economic armageddon and an all encompassing explanation of the systemic failure that lead up to the great recession. This is doubly impressive because at no point does the film feel disconnected or confusing everything makes sense and feels somehow cohesive despite the fact that it appears to be constructed with duct tape and crazy glue. McKay pulled off a herculean task here and I will stab someone if he doesn't at least pick up best adapted screenplay at the Oscars.

On top of this the ensemble cast is pretty much perfect. From Carell's spin as perpetually angry hedge fund manager who doubles as the moral core of the film to Ryan Gosling's narration/devil on the shoulder-esque character who perpetually breaks the fourth wall; the film nails it's casting. For me, The Big Short came out of no where and is easily the biggest surprise of 2015. If it's still in theaters near you, check it out.

[9.5/10]

 

[Sexy Beast]

Title: The Hateful Eight
Year: 2015
Country of Origin: US
Director: Quentin Tarantino

Plot: Bounty hunter John Ruth is transporting a dangerous outlaw, Daisy Domergue, to Red Rock via stagecoach to hang. Along the way he meets and picks fellow bounty hunter Major Marquis Warren and the new sheriff of Red Rock, Chris Mannix, both of whom were caught out in the harsh winter weather. As conditions worsen they decide to camp out at Minnie's Haberdashery and wait out the oncoming blizzard. Upon arriving though, they notice that Minnie is missing and that four strangers are already there.

Review: I honestly have no idea what to make of this film. I mean, I enjoyed it for the most part, but the places where this film goes is perhaps the darkest and most nihilistic* that I've seen come from Tarantino. In fact, I am not too surprised by the cries of misogyny that have been levied by critics against this film...now I don't think the film is misogynistic, but the level of violence that Jennifer Jason Leigh's character experiences is well above what most people are used to in any media.

The closest film in Tarantino filmography to this one is Reservoir Dogs in that both films take place largely in one location, both pit personalities against each other slowly creating a powder keg that is just waiting to explode, and both feel as if they were originally conceived as stage plays. Unlike Reservoir Dogs though, this film is nearly three hours long, a western, and scored by the great Ennio Morricone. Of course the differences do not stop there, but the comparison thing was just a way to easily setup this review and is somewhat unnecessary going forward...so just stop think about it.

Anyway, the film features a fantastic and surprisingly large ensemble cast which, for the most part, is built out Tarantino's standard roster. Standouts are Jennifer Jason Leigh who really pulls off her she-devil like character with surprising ease and Walton Goggins who has perfected the likable racist southern archetype that he originally forged on FX's Justified**. The film's pacing is slower and more deliberate than most of Tarantino's other films, but here it works quite well. It's the film's plot where we run into a possible problem. As the film continues, it becomes darker and more mean spirited more so than what we normally get in other Tarantino films. This is beyond Tarantino's standard 'fun' violence and moves towards stomach churning. On top of this, most every character in the film is somewhat repugnant...which shouldn't come as a surprise considering the films title is The Hateful Eight. Still despite all of this, I enjoyed the film. Sure it's not for all tastes and is easily Tarantino's most self indulgent film since Death Proof, but for me at least I thought it was great. Heck I even saw it with my mom, which along with a really nice lunch was her Christmas present, and she enjoyed the hell out of it as well. So, it really depends on how much leniency you're willing to grant Tarantino, if you hate his films then you will hate this one as well...but if you like his films to date, then give this one a shot.

[8/10]

* I don't remember where I saw this, but I definitely stole the nihilism line from some other reviewer. It fits my feeling of the film so I am using it, but take note that I am a horrible plagiarist.

** First, check out Justified, it a great show. Second, the character of Boyd Crowder isn't really a racist...so if you want to challenge me on that please note I already know that I am wrong.

 

[Sexy Beast]

Title: Six-String Samurai
Year: 1998
Country of Origin: US
Director: Lance Mungia

Plot: So get this, in 1957 the USSR nuked the United States in a way that made most of it like a Fallout game...and much like a Fallout game Las Vegas remained untouched. Elvis became the king of Las Vegas and reigned for 40 years until his death. Now Las Vegas is looking for another righteous musician to take his place.

Review: Six-String Samurai has all the right ingredients to be a perfect cult movie: it's post-apocalyptic, has both a rock-n-roll story and aesthetic, and our main character fights with a samurai sword in surprisingly well choreographed fight scenes. This film has one fatal flaw though, instead of going for a more gritty and violent tone, it instead went for goofy and cartoony. Like this is the cult film for your 12 year old niece or nephew and even at that age they would still roll their eyes at most of the crap on screen. In the end Six-String Samurai appears to be a valiant effort, undercut by an almost cringe inducing goofy tone.

[4/10]

 

[Sexy Beast]

Title: Moonwalkers
Year: 2015
Country of Origin: US (UK?)
Director: Antoine Bardou-Jacquet

Plot: So the Apollo 11 mission is about to take off and the US government is a little worried about the prospects of its success. So in order not to look like a bunch of idiots, they send CIA agent Ron Perlman to England to recruit Stanley Kubrick to film a fake moon landing...you know just in case the real mission doesn't pull it off. One issue, instead of meeting with Kubrick's agent Perlman instead meets a down on his luck band manager who cons him out of a ton of money.

Review: So this film is billed as a comedy, or at least what I've read online and gleamed from the film's trailer. Unfortunately, this film isn't really all that funny. Like I can see where there could be a set up for a joke every once in a while, but it never capitalizes on the set up for a laugh. Instead what we have is an incredibly violence and drug laden romp about a couple of guys trying to shoot a fake moon landing with drugged out hippies. The film isn't bad, but it isn't all that interesting either. Even the bursts of extreme violence doesn't quite set the mood off as I am certain the film makers would have hopped. Nor does the film really capitalize on the conspiracy central to it's own plot, which is quite a feat. Like they are try to create a fake moon landing, but that's about as far as they go with the whole malarkey. There is but one smoked filled room and the stakes, as they are, do not seem incredibly high. It's a film that you can watch and kill an hour and a half, but it doesn't really amount to all that much. It almost feels like a cheap knock off of a Matthew Vaughn film. So, not bad, just very middle of the road.

[6/10]

 

[Sexy Beast]

Title: Spotlight
Year: 2015
Country of Origin: US
Director: Tom McCarthy

Plot: The Spotlight team at The Boston Globe is known for their in depth investigative journalism. In 2001, the Globe's new editor tasks the team with a new project: the possibility of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

Review: If you remember about two weeks when I did my top 10 list of 2015, I stated that Spotlight was:

...just an all around solid film and should really become a template on how future films should tackle this type of material.

I still somewhat believe that sentiment, it is refreshing to see a filmmaker take a true story and tell it as closely to how it happened as possible. Then I saw The Big Short and changed my mind about the whole affair. See, Spotlight is a good movie, shot in a very matter-of-fact fashion, with a great ensemble cast. But, because of the way it was done, it is very forgettable movie. See, The Big Short has pizzazz and style; taking a relatively dry subject and making it both fascinating and compelling. Spotlight on the other hand, takes a compelling subject and dries it out a bit. McCarthy's approach is admirable, but it lacks a certain 'je ne sais quoi' that elevates films from being simply 'good movies' to classics. I wouldn't call Spotlight Oscar-bait, mostly because I loath the term; but it's the type of film that gets a lot of buzz during award season and then completely falls out of the public consciousness after the Oscars. So check it out...you know...while we all still are think about it.

[8/10]

Also, I have somehow written an incredibly mean positive review...huh.

 

[erickablyat]

Would love to see a review on Trainspotting: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117951/

Saw it recently and quickly became one of my favorite movies.