Reviews

Birdman or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance is an amazing callback to the likes of Hitchcock, Kubrick, and Scorsese. The standouts of the movie are the long takes and directing skill. The performances are multi layered and cool. Everything reeks of an art house tone and quality.

The move is about an actor played by Michael Keaton that is famous for playing a superhero; Birdman. He is tired of his reputation as a celebrity and wants to be recognized as an artist. His passion project is a play which he wrote, stars in, and directs. He pours all of his money and time into making it as good as possible. The story follows the actors in the play and the time up to opening. Keaton brings a performance like I've never seen from him. If all you've seen of his work is Batman you will no doubt be impressed. I personally was very surprised. From scenes were he's an actor playing an actor that acts in a play, to a hilariously funny fight with Edward Norton's character he constantly impressed me. Every scene that follows him with a tracking shot was implanted in my memory. One aspect of his character that I like was that he might possibly have super powers and it's left up to the viewer to decide. I love a character with multiple layers, and Keaton showed me that he either always had tremendous chops or he developed them in a hurry. He himself said it was his most difficult role, and I don't doubt it. Another actor that blew me away was Edward Norton. I'm not exaggerating; I think it was one of the best Norton performances. He plays an actor that has to fill in for an injured actor in for Keaton's play. As soon as he comes in for his first rehearsal he adds a new depth to the play. He plays an extreme method actor. Real emotion and real alcohol are essential for him to be at peak performance. His back and forth dialog with Keaton as they refine the script and their on stage chemistry is incredible. It felt like I, the viewer, was getting an inside look at the acting process. No matter how realistic or exaggerated that scene was I loved it. Norton is a lock as my pick for best supporting actor this year. Another stand out cast member was Emma stone. She plays Keaton's troubled daughter who seems to hang around the theater when she's not getting into trouble. Her big, bright eyes light up the screen. She has a really good scene that is close up on her face as she delivers a one take deconstruction of Keaton's character, yelling with ferocity I didn't know she had, she convinced me she could act then and there. I was never thinking of Gwen Stacy when I saw her and that's a good thing because her character is nothing like Gwen. She deserves any praise she gets. The rest of the cast like Naomi watts, Zack Galifianakis and Andrea Riseborough were all good. The cast as a whole can't be rivaled this year in the quality of acting displayed on screen.

I opened with a comment referencing Hitchcock and I did so because the movie calls back to one of my favorite Hitchcock movies, Rope (1948). In Rope, Hitchcock filmed the entire movie in four to ten minute takes (because the film roles only went up to just over ten minutes) with editing tricks to make it look seamless. In the same way the director of Birdman (Alejandro González Iñárritu) wanted to make the entire film seem as though it was filmed all at once with no breaks. Iñárritu cleverly used special effects to pull it off. This style makes the movie like nothing you've seen before. Even when the scene advances to the next day the camera tilts up to the sky and then comes back down appearing to have never missed a beat. Visually, the way the movie moves could be tiring to some people because it forces the viewer to pay attention at all times. For me, after about ten minutes I got used to it. The movie spoils you with tracking shot after tracking shot. The directing is very good and I think, deserving of an Oscar.

Over all you can't go wrong with this film. It has everything a movie fan could want and more. You have to think about what you're watching, and you may get something new each time. I would highly recommend you see it for its acting and directing accomplishments.

The calm before the storm is how I describe the first hour of Dogville. It's a steady build of unease and worry. At first it had me wondering why it was rated R, but not for long. A creeping dread overtakes you and won't let up until the intense final act.

The first thing that needs to be mentioned when talking about this film is the play style format. At first I was very confused. The set is just a big stage with chalk lines on it. There are no locations. It's a small city condensed to an even smaller size. For the first hour it can be very distracting. The characters open invisible doors and talk about nonexistent objects. There are only props and partial pieces of things to give the audience something to imagine. The directorial style instantly made me think I was sitting an auditorium watching from the crowd. I had honestly never seen a movie like it. I over all had mixed feeling towards everything. On one hand I'm amazed by the overhead shots of the whole town. I can see everything everyone is doing all at the time, and it looks so good. On the other hand I'm kind of scoffing at how ridiculous some of the other things look. Someone got mad at someone else for not walking around a chalk drawing of a bush, and sound effects coming from nothing are just some of the weird things that happen. I think that once you get used to the style it can add something to the movie. For example, I like how you can see almost everything that is going on in the town at once. You can see people talking amongst themselves in their own homes as other characters talk outside. I think the viewer gets more information about the emotions and mood of the town this way. Without it, it would be a different movie. Would it have been better shot in a more traditional style? Possibly, but I think this style is something unique that no other movie has. I wouldn't want to watch this style all the time, but I think in this film it was a success.

Part of the reason the stage play aspect works is because the acting is so good. I may not have believed they were in a town the whole time, but the characters did. Nicole Kidman gave the best performance from her I've seen. It was subtle and quiet. I was cheering for her character even in her most morally ambiguous moments. The supporting actors all did stellar work as well. They all were completely believable in their creepy small town ways. Even the child actors sent a chill down my spine!

Over all I liked the movie. It was often hard for me to enjoy what was happening. I would say if you watch movies for the technical aspects, you care about acting, and you watch for filmmaking techniques you will love it. If you only watch to have some fun or to have a good time you will be somewhat confused and probably not like it. All in all I thought it was a good original movie and I'm glad I watched it.

The first thing I want to say about this film is "Arnold's back!" and in classic Arnold style you can expect bad acting, bad scripting, and a lot of action.

I have to admit I wasn't a big fan of the first Expendables movie. If all you want to know is if the sequel is better you don't have to look far, it defiantly is. From the start of the movie the message is clear. Huge guns, lots of explosions, and one-liners spit out at a mile a minute.

The cast of characters is even bigger this time around. If I say Rambo, The Terminator, and John MCclane all together on one screen and you say "Who?" stop reading right now, this movie is not for you. On the other hand if that sounds like a dream come true, there will be some memorable moments to look forward to. Of all the actors I'd say Jason Statham had the best performance. If you asked me to rate him I'd say it was okay. That doesn't say much for the state of the acting as a whole. It's a very mixed bag. The main problem is the script. It feels almost B movie quality with some brilliant lines mixed in. Stallone, Statham, Liam Hemsworth were in the upper tier of acting while everyone else was on a small level below. Chuck Norris even makes an appearance. I'm sorry to say that he had the worst delivery of his lines. You could tell he had not acted in ages. Of course he did have time to drop a Chuck Norris joke that I've already heard a million times. He kind of redeemed himself at the end though. His appearance was more of a cameo anyway. Arnold Schwarzenegger had to be my favorite. He wasn't on screen for very long but I had a huge grin on my face whenever he was. He has the best one-liners, I was laughing so hard I had to rewind it to hear what I missed. In fact, this one is somewhat of an attempted comedy. It borders on parody sometimes. This movie won't be mentioned at the Oscars any time soon.

This move is not really about acting, script, or even storyline. It's about all the best action stars getting on one screen and blowing you away by the action. The action consists of shoot outs, fist fights, explosive detonations, and knife fights all while the heroes never die and the bad guys always do. It's humorously over the top. I love near the end when Arnold has a shotgun and he's just blowing away everybody, just awesome. The scene at the end is really the redeeming part of the whole movie. Everyone's in a huge airport show down with Van Damme and his thugs. Statham has the coolest fights with his knives. He slices and dices his way through a bunch of thugs with style. There is a cool fight between Stallone and Van Damme at the end. It was very brutal. Van Damme delivered his signature kick with surprising athletic ability. He still has it after all these years.

The technical aspects were only okay. You could obviously tell when they used CG. Sometimes the plane would be flying and it looked like it was just added into the picture. The music was nothing to write home about, typical pump up action movie stuff. I guess it does the job though. All in all the most important thing was the shooting and hand to hand combat and they both looked good.

In summary, I did enjoy the movie despite its many flaws. I'd say rent this one or wait for it to come to Netflix. I would give it a 6.5/10 tkubas1.wordpress.com

I've recently got in the habit of watching very old movies. I was scanning through the IMDb top 250 as I often do when I spotted a movie from 1942, Casablanca. I didn't know anything about it except the description. The reason I stopped was because of the extremely high score it had. How could a movie this old be as good as my many favorites? Weeks later I spotted it at the thrift store for fifty cents. I thought I might as well give it a shot for that. I'm glad that I did. Yet another old movie that sheds its age simply because of the compelling story telling.

The story takes place in a city named Casablanca. The Germans are trying to arrest two men; Ugarte and Victor Laszlo. They suspect Ugarte has two letters of transit which allow the holder to move freely through German controlled countries so they can get to America. He plans on selling them to Victor Laszlo. Ugarte and Laszlo plan on meeting at Rick's Café Américain a night club of sorts. When they arrive to make the exchange is when the story really takes off. The owner of Rick's Café, Rick Blane, is a very interesting character. You can't quite tell what he's going to do next. He's played by Humphrey Bogart, who does an amazing job playing the cool customer from New York. You don't know whose side he's on, as he says "I stick my neck out for no one" The other characters all have great performances as well. Laszlo, Isls Lund and the French captain all add a lot of character to the movie. One person that I loved was the piano player at the club. He didn't have many lines, but with what he did say I found him to have excellent character. You could tell that he's a great friend of Rick's. The French Captain Louis Renault was great. You'll hate him, love him, and back again. He had a great acting dynamic with Rick; they played off each other so well you would think they actually knew each other for a long time. Conrad Veidt, the German leader was more of a political threat than a physical one. He was always bothering the heroes of the story, always trying his best to make their lives miserable. One of the best scenes was when Veidt was leading a sort of pub song with his men at the nightclub and Laszlo leads a chorus of his own overpowering the German's voice. I thought that scene was particularly funny.

The storyline is what really shines in this one. Movies made this long ago couldn't rely on special effects. The dialog and script really are delivered perfectly. If you like a story where you can try to figure out how everything all fits together than you'll like this. One aspect of the story involves a love triangle. As you might know I'm not too big on love stories, but this one actually makes sense. A lot of movies have a love story shoe horned in just because; in this one the story truly is interesting. I was honestly wondering what was going to happen with this love triangle believe it or not. My only gripe with it was in the execution. Sometimes it had a small cheese factor. The eye rolls weren't as prevalent as most films for sure. I also want to mention the ending of the film. It tied everything together perfectly. We got closure on all the major plot points. The major characters get their subplots closed. In the end, I felt like everything ended the way I wanted it to end and I felt satisfied.

There isn't much to say about the technical aspects of the film. Basically since it's so old all I was hoping for was that graphics wouldn't subtract from the movie. For the most part it's not too distracting. A few of the gunshots looked really unrealistic. Hey, in the end it was more about the story anyway.

If you're looking for an old movie that will surprise you with its complex story and great acting you won't be disappointed with this one. You should definitely see it.

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Shutter Island is my favorite type of movie. It has a complex plot, amazing acting, and stunning atmosphere. If you liked The Prestige or The Sixth Sense, this could possibly become one of your favorites.

Contrary to what the trailer leads you to believe this movie is not horror, its suspense. It literally IS suspense. From the opening minute I was enthralled in the dialogue and atmosphere. I couldn't help but analyze every word for clues about the characters true motives. I wasn't sure who to trust except for Teddy (Played by Leonardo DiCaprio) and his partner Chuck (Mark Ruffalo). The movie is set in 1954 Boston on an Island occupied by the mentally insane. Chuck and Teddy are U.S. Marshals investigating a missing persons case. Right away you can tell something's up. I'll let you decide on a theory for yourself, because if I went into the plot in detail it would only ruin some of the twists and turns. Don't miss a single scene, because there are subtle hints throughout the movie that you will pick up on if you pay attention to the details. In fact, I actually was able to predict some of the happenings near the end; which was somewhat disappointing. It didn't detract too much, and I certainly didn't understand all of what was going on. On a second viewing you actually gain a real respect for how much everything makes sense. There wasn't any plot holes that I caught. This movie is actually based on a book of the same name. If not sure how close it is to the original considering that I haven't read it, but I'd be shocked if you weren't satisfied with the adaption simply because it's such a well-directed film.

The cinematography in this movie is amazing. Each scene has a well thought out color pattern; blue hues and foggy grays abound. The lighting in each scene was perfect. Just right in the intense moments so you can't see all the details. At one point Teddy is holding a match that is lighting the room around him. When the match goes out the screen goes black and you can't see anything until he lights another match. It was very intense. The atmosphere is always eerie because of the island itself. It's always foggy or storming. It almost has a supernatural feeling. Some moments are especially frightening. In one of the final scenes when you see what has really happened; it's actually quite disturbing. The movie doesn't scare you with piles of gore, just its unstable characters. The "Patients" are grotesque. The makeup people did a superb job of making the most realistically scary faces. The soundtrack is haunting. It builds the tension to a boiling point. It's one of those scores where if it came on you would instantly say "Oh that's from Shutter Island!" Over all I have no complaints with any of the technical aspects of the movie.

I can't do a review of this movie without mentioning the outstanding acting. As usual Leonardo DiCaprio puts on amazing show. This movie is really all about him. He has the uncanny ability to reel the audience in with his emotion. The reason you are uneasy as you watch is because DiCaprio sells that you should be. Trust me, once you get to know all about the character Teddy you'll realize just how amazing his performance is. Mark Ruffalo was very good as well. He played a good Watson to Leonardo's Sherlock. When you know what to look for in a second viewing you can see a lot of subtle facial expressions that are hints of things to come. Ben Kingsley's Dr. Cawley was suitably bold. I was honestly cheering against him. After the credits rolled though, I realized that he was acting perfectly for his character's situation. Max Von Sydow was chilling as Dr. Naehring. He had a lighthearted evil about him. The rest of the cast was good as well. No bad acting to report.

This movie is among my favorites. It's not quite a perfect ten, but it's close. You get pulled in from the start by the acting and story. I can't recommend it enough if you like suspense/mystery movies.

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Skyfall. An interesting title, yet very fitting once you reach the end. The film opens with a stunning action scene. In fact, it's so stunning that I believe it isn't surpassed throughout the rest of the film. The climax is cool, but it really isn't anything we haven't seen in other action movies. The story is pretty well done. It's really a tale about a strained relationship between Bond and His boss M. There's also a new villain. Javier Bardem's Silva was good, not great. He was certainly better than the last Bond villain. I felt he was a little too much like the Joker from The Dark Knight. I tried to shake the feeling but it kept coming up, especially when he actually does a couple of things exactly like him. Don't get me wrong though, he is a good villain despite some flaws. Daniel Craig was also good. He played the part of an older, more vulnerable bond. It was a good comeback story of sorts. He did some awesome stuff. A scene on train and a chase on an elevator had me in disbelief, in a good way. You won't be disappointed if you're coming for action. One disappointing aspect was the "Bond Girls". I thought they were kind of shoe-horned in just because. They didn't add much. Bond's chemistry with Eve was non-existent. Casino Royale was much better at being believable in that department. I also noticed a lot of one-liners from all the characters. Many of them fell flat, one in particular "Welcome to Scotland" didn't draw a single laugh from the crowd. It was a minor problem, but it did distract some from the serous tone. In the end though this is still a great film. Thank heavens it was miles better than Quantum of Solace. In my opinion it wasn't the best bond ever, but still one of the best. See it.

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Hidden gems are a beautiful thing. I'm writing this in hopes of exposing this amazing movie. I saw this on a list of the best horror movies of all time and it piqued my interest. I'm normally not a big horror fan because the acting and storyline are usually "Horrible" (ha ha). With this movie though, it's a much different story. This is the best role I've seen Kurt Russell do. He plays a leader of a group of people doing scientific expedition in the Antarctic. I think it's safe to say that there is some "Thing" on the loose. A monster that can imitate the form of any person or animal. This ability is reason why the film is so amazing. At any moment you don't know who is a thing or who is human. If you've ever played the party game Mafia you'll get a kick out of the situation.

Throughout the movie the director builds suspense at a steady rate. By the end I was holding my breath to see what would happen to the main character. The gruesome deaths and the monster might be too much for some people. The Thing is essentially a giant pile of gore with tentacles. The special effects still hold up today. I was cringing in a couple of the scenes. This is one of the goriest films I've ever watched. You've been warned. The environment in the movie is a large research building in a remote snow filled area. It adds a lot of memorable atmosphere and ambiance. Near the end it gets dark outside the characters have to use flares to see and they can't go outside for a long time without risking freezing to death. The thing one the other hand only can survive in freezing temperatures, so the crew is at a big disadvantage. They try to burn him to death with flamethrowers, the keyword there is try. He is like a virus that you just can't get rid of. He is horrifying. I'd suggest watching this one after you've had plenty of life experience. Watch it too early and you're liable to be scared for life. Luckily I'm thoroughly desensitized by now.

I'm telling you, if you have Netflix and don't mind some extreme gore watch this as soon as you can. You're in for an amazing experience. This is now my favorite horror movie of all time. I'd give this movie a 9/10.

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I'm going to start off by saying that this was probably one of my most anticipated movies of all time. I went in the theater hoping for a masterpiece. I actually expected this movie to jump into my top five of all time. It didn't disappoint, I loved it.

The opening scene had me questioning what exactly was going on. Movies that make you think about the smallest details of the plot are my favorite. In the scene the audience is introduced to the new villain, Bane. As a kid watching cartoons I always thought that bane was a mindless hulk-like bad guy. In this movie he has a true to the comic's portrayal. He's smart, he has a plan, and he'll stop at nothing to put it into action. Much like Dark Knight, the Villain is a major standout. He has such an intimidating presence on screen. Tom Hardy put so much work into the physicality of the character. The first fight between Bane and Batman is one of the moments that they had to get right. Luckily it's one of my favorite moments in the entire film! In the scene they don't use too much sound, just Bane's taunts as he fights, truly frightening. His voice is so interesting. It's something you'll really remember about the film. After the film my friends and I couldn't help but do Bane impressions. He has so many quotable lines that he will probably be one of my favorite villains of all time. You might be wondering if he outperformed the Joker from Dark Knight. The answer is no, not quite. He's so different of a character it's hard to compare, but Joker was just too hard to beat. Christian Bale's performance as Batman and Bruce Wayne was amazing. This was easily his best performance as Batman. The story takes place eight years after the end of Dark Knight so Bruce is feeling the ill effects of being batman. He uses a cane now, and he has a little grey hair. This is a story about Bruce Wayne coming back, and doing anything he can for his city. Bruce and Alfred have some amazing scenes where you forget your watching acting. The emotion they both convey when they're together is stunning. Michel Cane doesn't have as much screen time as he does in the other movies, but he's so good in the ones he's in you won't forget his performance. Morgan Freeman is back. He has some particularly funny scenes with Bruce. They feel like old friends yet again. You really can't go wrong with any of the actors in this movie. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays young police officer Blake. He has some great character development during the course of the movie. I was cheering for him the whole time. If you come out of this movie saying "I just wish it had better acting" I'd question your sanity. Anne Hathaway as Catwoman was one big worry I had about the movie going in. Luckily, I was pleasantly surprised. She did a great job of portraying the playful vigilante. She actually had okay chemistry with Christian Bale. Catwoman wasn't forced into the story, her character made sense within the plot. She didn't ruin the movie, which was all I was asking for. Plus, she actually looked like she could fight. She wasn't doing the "I'm a woman who can beat up ten men with one hand tied behind my back" routine. It was such a relief that they didn't try to do something annoying like Black Widow from Avengers.

The story was fantastic. It's amazing that Christopher Nolan wasn't planning on doing this movie before he made Batman Begins. There are so many callbacks and references to that movie I would strongly recommend watching that one again before you see this one. I kept saying "Oh I remember when he said that!" or thinking "That ties in perfectly". This one had plenty of twists and turns. Multiple times I was questioning what was true and what was a clever ruse. If there are any negatives, you might say there are some plot leaps. Not holes mind you, but something upon thinking about it you might consider a little unbelievable. With such huge story and scope I'm surprised there aren't more mistakes. The scale of this movie is far bigger than in either of the first two Batman movies. Bane has a plan for all of Gotham and batman has to stop an entire city of villains. The entire trilogy comes to a very fitting finish. I absolutely loved the ending. I was very satisfied how everything tied together. I especially loved the conclusion of Bruce's story, perfect. When I came out of the theater I couldn't wait to discuss the amazing things that happened in the end. This is a movie where the more you watch it the more you'll understand and enjoy it.

Of course, in the conclusion to a trilogy like this one you would expect to be dazzled by the special effects. They were quite impressive. The new batwing has some pretty amazing aerial maneuvers. You definitely get your money's worth with the cinematography. The opening and ending scenes especially stand out. There was an extremely cool Bat Pod driving scene that, as soon as it was over, I wanted to watch it again.

It can't tell you enough that this was an amazing movie. It was certainly the best of the year. If you're wondering if it's better than The Dark Knight I honestly can't say. Time will tell. It could be better, and that's some of the highest praise I can give it.

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