[ { "movie": "yu_gi_oh_the_movie", "reviews": [ "yu-gi ouch ! rare is the movie experience as painful as it is here", "if your pulse quickens when you hear lines like , ` not so fast ! i still have two cards face down , and they 'll bring down your life points to a measly 1000 ! ' , then yu-gi-oh is the movie you 've been waiting for all summer .", "a feature-length sales pitch aimed at kids .", "kids will eat yu-gi-oh ! the movie up . the rest of us will have to wait for the translation .", "the latest kiddie con job to float over from tokyo .", "a shabby , joyless , 90-minute slab of ` advertainment ' designed to sell booster packs for a popular trading-card game .", "watching it is vaguely like watching someone explain how to play poker when you have never played it and in fact have no intention of ever playing it .", "it was mostly over my head but the kids in the audience knew what was going on and loved it . if you see this movie , take a kid and let him guide you through it .", "although the movie is n't bad , would n't kids probably have a better time playing yu-gi-oh themselves than watching others play it , cartoonically ?", "a treat for the fervent young fans who remain , and a true test of devotion for their accompanying parents , who may need all the help they can get figuring out the storyline .", "feels like a 91-minute infomercial selling the popular collectible-card game .", "there 's nothing inspiring about yu-gi-oh ! the movie , unless you count the way it compels kids to continue to support the yu-gi-oh franchise .", "nothing in yu-gi-oh ! will make the inscrutable more scrutable , as it were . and anime being anime , this one could be nap-time for accompanying adults .", "a fantasy kitsch tale .", "like harry potter , shrek and spider-man , it will become part of the currency of grade and middle school conversation .", "yu-gi-oh translates from the japanese into ` intense migraine in elders . '", "yu-gi-oh ! the movie , a hyperventilating feature-length advertisement for japanese trading cards , would be hilarious if it were n't so dreadfully cynical .", "i suspect even children will be sophisticated enough to understand that a film should feel more alive than a trading card .", "looks like ` transformers on speed : the autobots take japan . '", "tecnicamente limitado , o filme n\u0433o \u0439 esteticamente melhor do que uma anima\u0437\u0433o produzida para a televis\u0433o .", "a feature-length anime commercial .", "it 's a lot like hearing the play-by-play account of a heated game of bridge . only not half as gripping .", "it 's essentially an advertisement for a similarly titled trading card game .", "the popular kiddie cartoon show comes to the big screen , looking exactly like a tv cartoon blown up to colossal proportions .", "more infomercial than movie . for series fans only .", "feature-length animated movie based on the television series , and manga comic book of the same name , is like watching a japanese video game being played on a movie screen .", "a 90-minute advert in search of a storyline .", "the artwork has the familiar saucer-eyed look of japanese anime but with a scuffed angularity that 's a long way from hayao miyazaki 's sublime magic .", "effectively a strategy guide and commercial in vaguely filmic form .", "only fans of the series will be able to follow the largely incomprehensible plot -- and the bog-standard animation wo n't win it any new ones .", "-lsb- b -rsb- eyond the clear aim of getting kids to separate their parents from cold hard cash in exchange for ... yu-gi-oh game cards ... the film is thoroughly incomprehensible ...", "while this probably constitutes a good tutorial in the trading-card game 's lingo and lore , it 's tremendously boring to watch an animated series in which most of the fighting does n't even involve combat , just characters looking at cards .", "like the gods , the trading cards are capricious , with ever-changing rules and strategies so intricate that only yu-gi-ohlogists will fully enjoy this adventure .", "unless you are one of the japanese phenomenon 's army of devoted young followers , much of the film 's story line and machinations will be greek , or at the very least egyptian , to you .", "with yu-gi-oh ! , a japanese animated film , the line between entertainment and advertising has been emphatically erased .", "no one without a working knowledge of the fabulously profitable manga-turned-gamer phenomenon will find it easy to enter here .", "yu-gi-oh ! will make you go ugh !", "the only thing missing is a 1-800 number flashing on the bottom .", "adults : if your child forces you to go to yu-gi-oh ! , remember that there 's no law against ipods in movie theaters .", "with the possible exception of espn-televised poker , watching somebody else play a card game is incredibly boring .", "toward the movie 's climax , the characters start spewing clich\u00e9d drivel about the power of friendship , lines that will make all but the youngest viewers shudder .", "much of the movie is devoted to the boys dueling card-to-card . and so most the dialogue , forgive me fans , sounds something like this : `` i 'm going to thwart your egyptian god cards with my rare metal dragon card ! ''", "a pay-for-admission commercial for its own empire , it stretches the definition of a movie into something so ugly as to be unidentifiable", "yu-gi-oh ! is so flat as to make the card game on which it is based seem positively three-dimensional .", "i sacrificed 90 minutes of my life points to sit through this and nothing i can summon is going to make up for that .", "it 's a painful , ponderous experience that 's not helped by being weighed down by lengthy explanations of the esoteric duelling rules .", "this is n't even a movie . it 's a commercial .", "this may be the first mainstream movie to have more in common with an infomercial than a screenplay .", "the artwork by director hatsuki tsuji and his team of animators is sharp , but it pales before state-of-the-art cgi .", "the characters are thinly sketched ; and the sense of adventure is mediocre at best", "this lousy animated feature not only looks like bargain-basement tv animation blown up to big-screen proportions , it also feels like a round or two of the trading-card game .", "it 's a pretty deep dive off the high board in the world of anime , but there 's no depth there .", "the film is simply part of a synergized income stream , more deft revenge upon us for having won world war ii .", "this cartoon based on the popular and complicated card game might as well be written in another language .", "yu-gi-oh ! the movie keeps the kid-friendly spirit of the show while raising the stakes enough to justify a serviceable big-screen treatment .", "a feature-length promotion for the trading cards your kids will beg you to buy all the way home .", "some of the dialogue is unintentionally funny . early on , for instance , the narrator bellows : ` even eternity does n't last forever . '", "games should n't be movies . yu-gi-oh ! is the -lrb- barely -rrb- living proof .", "from the endless product placement to its attempt to reel viewers in with free trading cards at the door , it all adds up to a 90-minute commercial .", "the imagination and audacity behind the game are wildly fascinating , and the same is true of the movie .", "i took one for the team this week ... if your kid is a yu-gi-oh fan , then god help you .", "the quality of the animation certainly has n't improved and the dialogue is typically basic and repetitive .", "no doubt its small fans are thrilled , but even young kids will have to be pretty undemanding to enjoy this mess .", "various other minuses for the uninitiated -- the changing powers of the cards , the intricate strategies of the participants , the almost-lethal nature of gameplay -- are great pluses for aficionados ." ], "summary": "do n't watch the tv show or play the card game ? then this movie is not for you .", "id": "10953" }, { "movie": "volver", "reviews": [ "the late fran\u00e7ois truffaut was frequently described as a filmmaker who loved women , but not even monsieur truffuat could come close to se\u0144or almod\u00f3var in his intelligent , perceptive and creative appreciation of women in MOV .", "almod\u00f3var retorna ao mundo das mulheres com seu talento e sensibilidade particulares e , no processo , retoma tamb\u00e9m sua habitual paleta de cores , cuja intensidade \u00e9 proporcional \u0155 dos sentimentos que representa . ''", "-lsb- almod\u00f3var 's -rsb- once-kitschy obsession with color and surface continues to deepen into a big , bold , almost painterly style .", "it 's very moving , it 's beautifully done .", "cruz is glorious to watch here , all voluptuous emotion and energy , a sure fire best actress nominee .", "almodovar delves deep into the darkness of a woman 's maternal instincts , finding alternate humor and harrowing emotion in one of the year 's most fascinating films .", "almod\u00f3var is still one of the few directors worth watching just for how he uses color on the screen . but the pleasures have always run much deeper , and now they run deeper still .", "though its humble pleasures give cause to pause and reflect on the spanish filmmaker 's occasionally overpraised output , MOV is a diverting melodrama ...", "you do not want to miss this one .", "crammed with outrageous turns of fortune and quicksilver shifts in tone , almodovar 's film is held together by performances so subtle and complex it 's hard to single out only one as exceptional .", "MOV -lrb- literally , ` to return ' -rrb- finds spain 's favorite cinematic son pedro almodovar at the peak of his powers .", "one of the few artistic highlights in cannes fest , MOV finds almodovar in top form with a personal movie that celebrates powerful mothers , while paying tribute to italian neo-relaism and the strong heroines played by anna magnani and sophia loren .", "richly entertaining fantasy from a cinematic master .", "cruz has never been better or looked lovelier . the same could be said of almodovar -lrb- well , at least the talent part -rrb- .", "almodovar treats even the most eccentric of the film 's females with compassion , empathy , affection and appreciation . he seems almost to envy them , like a kid who longs to be one of robin hood 's merry men .", "MOV is far from a paint-by-numbers , mad lib of a movie , but rather a fresh and touching exploration of family , tragedy and second chances .", "in this hand-stitched , gentle giant of a film , return is recovery -- by its very nature -- and all ghosts are friendly if you 'd only let them in .", "the spanish master brings his own story to the screen with intense emotion , vivid characterization -lrb- so rare in too many of his colleagues -rrb- and a marvellous sense of magic ...", "even if MOV sounds too high-concept for you , know that almod\u00f3var is smart enough not to rest on laughs alone , extending his premise to dark , though occasionally tidy psychological territory .", "almodovar 's latest is an emotionally rich film about forgiveness , atonement , and second chances that either sex can relate to .", "it feels like a chabrol film .", "pedro almod\u00f3var gives penelope cruz a great woman 's role that recalls the classic performances of italian actress anna magnani .", "comedic soap opera meets ghost story in `` MOV , '' a haunting and often surprising story about a woman who faces challenges at every turn .", "the way that almodovar 's resilient women rise above their traumatic pasts to serve one another and their community is a microcosm of idealized reality that welcomes scrutiny .", "this is a movie about mothers and children that dispatches with the usual goopy sentiment . MOV reassures us that you can go home again -- if only in the movies .", "the characters in MOV are complexly drawn , with intricate relationships and motivations . even the theme of death is more than it seems on the surface .", "richly evocative .", "red , in every conceivable shade , is , not surprisingly , a key color in MOV , a movie about the towering virtues of high heels and the indomitable power of good old 35 mm celluloid .", "will leave you with a smile on your face and a tear in your eye that cinema can be this gorgeous and glorious .", "what a run this millennium for pedro almod\u00f3var : one strange and fabulous feature after the next , each in a different style , each so deftly controlled that you hardly register its subversiveness until after you 've been hooked by its story .", "... the film , against my wishes , left me unmoved .", "one of almod\u00f3var 's more subdued works , ` MOV ' mixes genres but in the end achieves neither serious drama nor serious comedy .", "the mad spark which is almod\u00f3var 's alone is only improving with each passing film", "MOV admittedly remains a rather slight work , neither as flashy nor as wildly unpredictable as his past few films , preferring instead a quieter elegance and more intimate tone than almod\u00f3var 's more elastic marvels of screenwriting architecture .", "touches the heart with its wonderful portraits of spanish women whose nurturing and loving powers are a stay against the powers of violence and death .", "mildred pierce won joan crawford an oscar , and almod\u00f3var 's quaint riff on the michael curtiz classic may do the same for pen\u00e9lope cruz .", "what we have here is an at-times plaintive love letter to women : a paean to their humor , their loyalty , and especially their ability to survive their encounters with cheating , lying fornicators who employ their penises as weapons of submission .", "the humour and the heartstring-pulling hit the mark , as do most of the cast , not least cruz .", "pedro almod\u00f3var regresa a terrenos familiares : la mancha , la comedia , la fortaleza femenina y , por supuesto , carmen maura . un regreso esperado y satisfactorio .", "... it 's some achievement that the film is both funnier and more moving on repeated viewing , when its pervasive dramatic ironies emerge .", "a mature and beautifully told tale of family and the ghosts that haunt us .", "proves to be one of almod\u00f3var 's most temperamentally restrained efforts , though such a muted tone does n't detract from its emotional power .", "penelope cruz has never looked more beautiful and she gives a sensational , career best performance as raimunda .", "a touching , beautifully plotted film , full of memorable images and jokes , it zips along without a wasted second in its 121 minutes .", "almodovar infuses proceedings with a horrible sense of self-satisfaction and also has a disconcerting habit of lots of lingering , leery shots of his lead actresses ' bodies , including a pervy close-up of a teenage girl 's groin .", "pedro almodovar 's `` MOV '' stars penelope cruz in a comeback performance that 's so good , it recalls the film 's title itself . in spanish , `` MOV '' means `` to return , '' and that 's exactly what cruz has done here . she 's fantastic .", "if ever there was such a thing as grand melodrama , many of pedro almod\u00f3var 's works would certainly fit the description , and MOV -lrb- accent on the second v and long last syllable -rrb- is the grandest of them all .", "a mixed bag , albeit one with significant signature style .", "almod\u00f3var has described MOV as a blend of mildred pierce and arsenic and old lace , which is to say essentially urgent but wry .", "MOV is one of his most self-assured works , nestled into a style and filmmaking breadth that has officially become synonymous with the almodovar brand .", "MOV has it all : comedy , drama , penelope cruz , death and unexpected life , perfectly strung together with a little old fashioned intrigue .", "a movie with more in its heart than on its mind , pedro almod\u00f3var 's MOV does n't approach the brilliance of his recent films talk to her and bad education .", "the primary source of `` woman troubles , '' men are , in the end , also irrelevant to women 's patient , purposeful , and proud survival .", "does n't have the emotional impact of almodovar 's best films , nor the whacked-out lunacy of his most outrageous ... but it 's a satisfying and enjoyable film nonetheless .", "it 's a lovely little movie , but also sort of a wispy one .", "one of the amazing things about MOV is that almod\u00f3var once again manages to make a preposterous , overloaded plot seem sublime and organic .", "what a distinctive filmmaker almodovar has become .", "the women are left to do the best they can . that turns out to be enough to keep you watching through to the final twist -- as unlikely as everything else in this nonetheless extremely likable movie .", "the result is intoxicating ; a free-spinning story that 's by its end enormously satisfying , creating its own kind of magic .", "a celebration of what women can and will do to survive this mortal coil . penelope cruz is transformed into a classic woman for all the ages .", "a feast of colours , swooning camera movements , lushly orchestrated musical cues and meticulously fetishized symbolism .", "cruz delivers an award worthy performance in this delightful comedy .", "the movie is almost unbearably slow at times , and it was way too long at a little over two hours .", "i am a huge pedro almodovar fan , and his latest offering , `` MOV '' , is another gem in his repertoire of films about women .", "pedro almod\u00f3var has returned to his abiding , psychologically prescient adoration of women with what is his strongest film in years .", "if almodovar is in great form , cruz is even shapelier , with no small number of gags involving her cleavage .", "typically unpredictable almodovar surprise , but this time it 's enjoyable .", "once almodovar gets all the nasty men out of the picture , he 's free to create his utopia of women , whose chronic widowhood must have been achieved by boring their husbands to death .", "a rare success in the overcrowded -lrb- with formulaic disappointments -rrb- field of movies about estranged mothers and daughters who , at last , find a way to understand each other .", "far and away the best and most convincing work that she has ever done .", "pedro almod\u00f3var whipstitches a movie from patches of those mother-daughter melodramas mildred pierce , bellissima and two women and makes it seamless and original , funny as it is fierce , breathtaking as it is life-affirming .", "penelope cruz lights up the screen in a role that she seems born to play ; she 's vibrant , funny , strong , and vulnerable .", "MOV is rich , crazy , ambitious and filled with heaven and earth in a way that no other filmmaker can touch . it is a flawed beauty , but the beauty is so much more important than the flaws .", "whatever the director asks of cruz she delivers with poise and sincerity . it 's easily her finest work , and one of the year 's best performances .", "the return rattles its chains for a spell , but it does n't linger -- it quickly leaves .", "i have always felt that almod\u00f3var was at his best as an artist when he was at his most playful . MOV is about deadly serious matters of the heart , but it often has a screwball spirit . the darker things are , the funnier .", "pedro almod\u00f3var has made yet another picture that moves beyond camp into a realm of wise , luxuriant humanism .", "cruz has never been more radiant and funny : comparisons to sophia loren in her vittorio desica heyday are flying about , and richly warranted .", "-lsb- a -rsb- vibrant film that 's pure class , pure imagination and pure almodovar .", "the characters ' situations may be dire , but almod\u00f3var knows how to present them in a way that is humorous without ever seeming condescending .", "the movie is enjoyable , but not passionately engaging in the way we 've come to expect from almod\u00f3var , and it leaves you somewhat cold in spite of the warmth of cruz 's galvanic performance .", "watching MOV , pedro almod\u00f3var 's latest poker-faced extravagance , you realize just how far his women have come from the days when they were living on the verge of a nervous breakdown .", "once again , the director confronts women on the verge of a nervous breakdown in a film full of humor and affection .", "although MOV has a tendency to stray too far down tangential paths , it is ultimately satisfying .", "almod\u00f3var 's generous vision is n't just unique , it 's color-coordinated .", "spanish director pedro almod\u00f3var always has fun toying with our perceptions and expectations and does it yet again with MOV , a darkly comic look at mortality and family secrets .", "-lsb- a -rsb- gritty melodrama tempered by surreal black humor .", "its buoyant script and zesty cast make a convincing argument that you ca n't fully appreciate life without having a healthy respect for death .", "a deeply entertaining experience that engages our hearts as well as our funny bones .", "ripe with female characters and embroidered with flourishes that hint at hollywood 's golden age , MOV is one of almod\u00f3var 's finest films . it is also one of his most emotionally delightful .", "MOV qualifies as a must-see movie for the director 's fans or for those who wish to admire one of the greatest living cinema artists .", "a wonderfully talented cast led by the best performance cruz has given in years , but i am not convinced it is the oscar-worthy turn some have been promoting it to be .", "the new film by pedro almod\u00f3var is less ambitious than its predecessors , but all the more delightful in its smallness .", "the cannes film festival jury threw up its hands and gave this year 's best actress award to all six of the film 's stars . they 're so fine that refusing to choose between them was the only sensible choice .", "MOV is a rapturous , freewheeling valentine to the -lsb- female -rsb- gender as a whole , and as luxuriously voluptuous as the women who populate it .", "almod\u00f3var milks this premise for all it 's worth with witty dialogue , terrific performances -- and less-flamboyant-than-usual visuals that are still a red-accented treat for the eye .", "for a black comedy whose tangled sequence of events is completely improbable , pedro almod\u00f3var 's MOV feels absolutely authentic . so , think of everything as metaphor and enjoy one of the year 's most delectably twisted treats .", "in another director 's hands , MOV could have been as heavy-handed as those films , yet almodovar maintains a buoyant , lighthearted , and often comic mood .", "almod\u00f3var is a great filmmaker , and his skills remain intact -- MOV is polished , well-acted , completely personal cinema . yet it still feels slight -- more a tapas than a meal .", "... for a couple of hours , i was transported to pedro 's spain .", "from the very first shot of MOV ... you know you 're in masterful hands .", "MOV is really cruz 's coronation as the spanish sophia loren .", "a women 's film -- about women , fueled by the instincts of women -- that does n't resort to obvious melodrama or push-button emotions .", "MOV is suspenseful , clever , gently funny and always emotionally resonant .", "like most homecomings -lrb- or at least most good ones -rrb- , pedro almod\u00f3var 's MOV is warm , emotional and forever on the brink of tears -- peppered with bouts of pique , old resentments that flare up and moments of intense and lyrical longing .", "... if MOV turns out to be more conventional than we might first suppose , almodovar lets us down easy , with a deep and generous wit that forgives even the worst crimes humanity can commit .", "... almodovar 's most accessible and empathetic work yet .", "... a dark comic thriller with at least as many twists and turns as your typical spanish ` telenovela . '", "when the film does work itself up to a boil , it 's worth the wait .", "almodovar at his warmest and most accessible .", "supplying dialogue for multifaceted female characters is n't almodovar 's lone specialty , but it 's safe to say he does it better than most people in the film business today .", "nothing short of moviegoing nirvana .", "it 's clever and entertaining . it 's marvelously deft , but never daffy . it works well enough , despite feeling like the most conventional film this great , envelope-pushing spanish director has ever made .", "although no director has ever been as fascinated with and supportive of women as almod\u00f3var , in MOV he outdoes himself . though the plot is fictitious , the characters are designed as a memory and tribute to the women in almod\u00f3var 's childhood .", "a light , charming comedy with three murders and a death .", "so how good is spanish writer-director pedro almod\u00f3var 's latest effort ? `` MOV '' -lrb- to return -rrb- is so mesmerizingly quirky that i sat through a screening with an injured right arm writhing with pain as i became immersed in the film .", "... a knowing treatise on the currents that run between mothers and daughters .", "pedro almodovar 's MOV is amazingly bright , fresh and clean for a film dealing with murder , adultery , incest , malignant disease and the occasional supernatural apparition .", "with all its unexpected twists and turns , the story still unfolds naturally , like some gaudy mediterranean flower .", "until now , you may not have considered penelope cruz the modern-day successor to barbara stanwyck and joan crawford . but director pedro almodovar 's delightful ` MOV ' could change your mind .", "hollywood , take notice : if you hand penelope cruz a role with more depth than the paper it 's printed on , this is what you 'll get .", "almod\u00f3var 's maturity navigates not only the thin lines between comedy and drama and between body and spirit , but also between rebellion and acceptance", "almod\u00f3var 's phantasms are emotionally anchored so the story never gets away from its characters -- just when you suspect he might have overplayed his hand he stages a clever , surprising inversion to tie the film together .", "at the center of this hectic universe , -lsb- cruz -rsb- never misses a step and may even elevate what almodovar originally conceived .", "it 's up to charm to twinkle our attention away from the loose threads and daytime tv plotting .", "MOV shifts effortlessly from suspense to pathos to giddy humor ; the cast members negotiate all these changes while delivering low-keyed , reality-rooted performances .", "almodovar finds unusual camera angles to break up the straightforward storytelling . but for the first time i recall , not a single male character is crucial to his story , and no actor has a leading role . you wo n't miss them .", "i 'm not supposed to say this , as a woman , as a film critic , and particularly as a woman film critic , but i 'm not a fan of pedro almod\u00f3var .", "the unpredictable way all these stories begin to weave together makes it impossible to know where MOV is going until the final act . but it 's the exploration of the ties that bind mothers to daughters that offers the real substance .", "by the time it gets back to raimunda and paula and their never-too-heavy plight you 've all but forgotten about them , and really could n't care much either .", "almodovar 's in a playful mood here , yet there 's no mistaking the seriousness with which he takes the movie 's theme of empowerment through sisterhood .", "-lsb- almod\u00f3var -rsb- raises some intriguing and moving ideas in MOV , but the plot strands are not woven tightly together , remaining loose and frayed . it 's a shame , because the potential was there for a great film . instead , we merely get a good one .", "the film is realistic , yet almod\u00f3var 's touch of the absurd and the madcap infiltrate everything that occurs while his candy-colored visual palette lends a brightness to what in other hands might have taken the form of a sordid tale .", "it is an impossible hybrid , -lrb- in the words of at least one observer -rrb- an epic comedy .", "moderately enjoyable , but a step back rather than forward .", "one excellent performance does not a captivating drama make ; this is just a colorful , great-looking but weepy telenovela that will require three cups of coffee to endure .", "from start to finish , there is just nothing to MOV .", "is there another male filmmaker who so celebrates the mystery of women as much as pedro almodovar ? only maverick director george cukor similarly delighted in the intricacies and moods of the female sex .", "the pleasures of the new pedro almodovar film MOV , and they are many , have less to do with deep wells of feeling than they do with mastery of craft and a magnificent sort of artifice .", "the general rule in hollywood is that an actress can give either a glamorous performance or an ` important ' one . but pedro almodovar allows his actresses to do both .", "for all of the film 's pleasures , it 's missing the daring creativity that distinguishes the director 's best work .", "compared to something as extraordinary as his talk to her , MOV may seem like a light little soap opera , but its strength , grace and resiliency should not be underestimated .", "pity pedro almod\u00f3var . he 's so good so often that the world has come to expect a masterpiece with every new picture .", "almodovar is back ! not that he ever actually left ...", "as perfect moments go , this one was odd and incomplete ; and yet , when a plump droplet spilled across cruz 's eyelashes , tears came to me , too .", "a deeply resonant , thought-provoking story about how making sense of the past can help clarify our present and future .", "MOV is pedro almodovar 's latest joy to behold .", "... there 's a lot here that works , but there 's far more that 's simply interminable .", "there 's enough intrigue and good humor that you barely mind the clich\u00e9s , the misdirection , and the easy capitulation to formula .", "almodovar-land may not be as familiar as hollywoodland but give it a chance and you 'll apply for a passport .", "the story is too conventional , ghostly presence notwithstanding , but watch penelope cruz 's best performance to date .", "a tale of sisterhood , told with playful affection and abiding gratitude .", "what seem like needlessly digressive plot strands in the first hour are eventually knitted into a moving melodrama .", "though it may seem churlish to knock a film-maker whose only crime has been a naked desire to please audiences , MOV really is one of pedro almod\u00f3var 's weaker efforts .", "MOV -lrb- roughly translated : `` to return '' -rrb- is a magical film , but that magic is in the filmmaking -lsb- ... -rsb- itself ." ], "summary": "MOV catches director pedro almodovar and star penelope cruz at the peak of their respective powers , in service of a layered , thought-provoking film . this magical tragicomic melodrama may be almodovar 's most restrained work to date , but it still features his trademarks : a strong attention to color and detail , a celebration of the trials and tribulations of women , and , of course , the inestimable carmen maura . the lovely penelope cruz has n't shone more brightly as she does here .", "id": "151436540" }, { "movie": "sleepwalk_with_me_2012", "reviews": [ "as an off-beat movie that depends on his conversational delivery , MOV manages to avoid many of the standard romantic comedy pratfalls .", "i liked sleepwalk with me-just not nearly as much as i would 've liked to have liked it .", "birbiglia has an affable screen presence , and there 's an appealing authenticity to the characters and their relationships .", "a pretty flimsy piece , but a likable cast and a laid-back attitude make it moderately agreeable .", "birbiglia 's easygoing style makes even his oft-told tales affecting on the big screen .", "the jokes are never quite funny enough , and the situation -- aside from the sleepwalking gimmick -- does n't feel quite fresh enough .", "dizzying navel-gazer about a desperately unfunny comedian .", "like any good stand-up comic , birbiglia works best when playing off an audience - or , in this case , the camera .", "mike birbiglia adeptly navigates the comic , self-mocking confessional terrain .", "a movie that will likely have greater resonance for his fans -- and for fans of npr 's this american life -- than more casual moviegoers .", "birbiglia is boyish , a calm talker , and just meek enough to keep his punch lines surprising but not so meek that he 's unlikable . -lrb- if anything , birbiglia is extremely likable . -rrb-", "modestly amusing autobiographically inspired work of fiction .", "full of shaggy self-deprecation and wistful romantic realization , MOV is an amiable tale of beta-male discovery .", "it 's slight .", "even if comedian mike birbiglia does n't have more stories worth telling on film , he 's done one movie that sneaks up on an audience and earns its attention .", "it is n't the typical romcom with a happy ending and rosy outlook all around , but it spins its wheels in familiar territory too often and takes a lazy approach to its central relationship , even as its sleepwalking scenes hit all the right notes .", "so do hang on and tough it out through the early awkwardness : once the truth starts hitting the fan/fans ... it 's a production that no one will sleep through .", "from start to finish , his character , called matt pandamiglio , is all by his lonesome -- reaching out of the fog . he 's a funny fog person .", "the film acts as both a diary of a sidewinding comic stylist finding his style , almost by accident , and a reminder to all post-collegiate boyfriends and girlfriends that `` ok '' probably is n't good enough for either party .", "even though the story does have its serious elements , it is very funny .", "this is a movie for anyone who 's ever been unsure , and surely that 's everyone .", "it 's not the most novel character arc in the world , but sometimes a story does n't need to break new ground . sometimes it 's enough for it to feel comfortable , maybe even familiar , and make you smile .", "yet another film about an underachieving -lrb- but bright and talented -rrb- character trying to make it in world of straights who do n't immediately recognize how wonderful he is .", "this is unquestionably the funniest movie you 'll ever see about a doomed relationship coupled with a life-threatening sleep-disorder .", "the movie is hilariously funny and witty . although messy at times , matt 's relationship with abby is sweet and endearing . the sleepwalking incidents are the weakest links in the narrative , because it is difficult to show on screen the vividness of ...", "an amusing but innocuous movie that wants to be liked , loved , perhaps even hugged -lrb- birbiglia is n't shy about exposing his love handles -rrb- .", "ultimately , the film becomes an admirable , but flawed piece of work . the comedy bits work well , but the overall story leaves something to be desired .", "there is something worthwhile about a comic who has the guts to admit not everything that arises from his lips is worthy of mark twain .", "... pleasant entertainment with overtones of personal confession ...", "it 's not until the movie 's second half that it really picks up momentum and builds drama . but by the time MOV crosses the finish line , it 's difficult not to genuinely like everyone involved .", "as entertaining as the movie can be , it 's the smaller , more poignant material in between the big laughs that makes the final product so charming .", "though the sleep-walking episodes are funny , it 's the way mike birbiglia captures the pains of performing comedy to tiny rooms that really fly .", "rarely these days do you come across a comedy so wholly warm-hearted .", "this is a great radio bit . problem is that somebody decided this was a movie , and it is certainly not .", "birbiglia humbly finds gold in his unassuming story .", "this self-deprecating comedy would make both larry david and louis c.k. proud ,", "the mix of broad laughs and excruciating truths makes for a highly watchable and intuitive experience .", "however , there 's something ultimately unsatisfying about the experience of listening to stand-up comedian mike birbiglia tell the true story of his inability to marry his longtime girlfriend -lrb- played by the far-too-hot-to-be-with-him lauren ambrose -rrb- .", "walking a fine line between darkly compassionate comedy , biting reality , striking low-budget fantasy and harsh psychological honesty , this modest but most disarming offering from funnyman birbiglia is one of those pics that unexpectedly grows on you .", "a riotous breakthrough for mike birbiglia , whose humanist comedy says a lot about modern relationships that many of us wo n't be prepared to admit .", "when it comes to mining a medical malady for laughs across multiple platforms , standup comic mike birbiglia is a master .", "matt 's learning curve is probably supposed to be entertaining , or endearing , or something , but mostly it just sends the movie lurching into inertia .", "a thoughtful adaptation of birbiglia 's hit one-man , off-broadway show .", "more than just a glorified stand-up act .", "birbiglia 's gift , really , is one of reassurance . it 's nice to know that we can fail spectacularly and still be okay .", "feats of raconteur storytelling are always tricky to translate into something effective and fluid enough to be movieworthy . but MOV sticks the landing .", "MOV sets itself apart from other movies about standups . the moral he learns is to face up to the truth , or else he 'll be miserable . that 's a life lesson that will hit home with anyone , not just comedians .", "mike birbiglia 's wonderfully deft `` opening up '' of his stand-up routine is a rare achievement in this genre and a supremely self-deprecating delight .", "sleepwalk holds together as a story that , like a particularly good episode of this american life , is both laugh-out-loud funny and somewhat melancholic .", "an amiable , sometimes surprising movie about chasing your dream while you 're wide awake .", "charming and occasionally insightful .", "birbiglia 's take on relationships is irreverent , which makes it better than the usual guy complaining about his pretty fianc\u00e9 movie .", "-lsb- video essay -rsb- `` MOV '' is lightweight to a fault . yeah it 's strange that this marginal comedian has a kooky sleep disorder , but that does n't mean it makes for a very entertaining comedy .", "the crux of the story offers sharp practical wisdom in the modernist vein , regarding the comedian 's confrontation with the danger and the challenge of self-revelation , but it 's served up too smoothly and sweetly .", "this is an adorable film based on the story of a comedian struggling to break through in the business while bartending in a comedy club .", "the movie is so good that if you were n't a fan of mike birbiglia beforehand , you will be afterwards .", "-lsb- rides -rsb- a weird tonal line , maybe aiming to split the difference between comedy and terror but coming off as afraid to really go for it on either .", "MOV embraces its toughness and emerges with a sharp comment about evasion .", "the funny thing about the movie is n't its failure-to-launch humor , but the weird mess of life that rushes in despite it .", "birbiglia is a fresh new comic voice in the world of indie film and it will be interesting to see where he goes from this clever movie .", "the idea of the man-boy who ca n't commit is rather '90s , and neither the film 's narrative nor style brings it forward two decades , to where it should be .", "MOV is implausibly appealing . the idea of someone not liking this picture is implausible . it would be without plause .", "based on an off-broadway play and novel , the humour is cumulative , emanating from the characters and situations and resulting in a bubbling feel-good snapshot of life from the view point of an aspiring comic with an oddball slant on things", "moments of comedy and drama are preserved , but even at 81 minutes the film seems a tad long", "... just like the most memorable stand-up routines , there 's a twinge of tragedy and pathos in the mix that make the laughs linger and the story stick .", "it takes a while to find its feet but MOV develops into an interesting film about an interesting person .", "i guess there are only so many times you can tell a story - even a great story - before even you are tired of hearing it .", "really , this film lives or dies on the charm of its protagonist . luckily , birbiglia is very charming indeed .", "a film that expertly paddles through the complicated subconscious and repressed feelings of a faltering comedian", "MOV is a disposably sweet ` annie hall ' rehash that achieves its minor ambitions with unremarkable efficiency .", "MOV is a remarkably assured directorial debut for comedian and storyteller mike birbiglia , based on a stage monologue about his journey of self-discovery as a performer and the challenge of dealing with a rare sleep disorder .", "this sharp romantic comedy began as a one-man show , and you can tell : the hero 's voice-over narration wraps around the entire movie , and the scenes are mainly verbal .", "MOV is never anything less than awfully likable . but i so wanted it to be more .", "funny and fresh - leading man/director/writer mike birbiglia is one to watch .", "`` MOV 's '' transition from stage to screen primarily works because birbiglia continues to carry the weight .", "it all adds up to a fine , funny exercise in disheveled self-deprecation : a self-portrait of a guy who ca n't control a major portion of his life .", "birbiglia proves to be as engaging a presence on the screen as he has been all these years onstage and over the radio waves .", "the real find , above all else , is mike birbiglia himself . he 's as sure of a natural in front of the camera as he is behind it .", "the semi-autobiographical tale is appealingly low-key and alternately funny and melancholy , informed by birbiglia 's casual delivery .", "is there reason to be concerned that so much popular culture is about young men not wanting to become adults ? probably . and yet `` MOV '' makes the subject palatable , funny and maybe even touching .", "i like this movie . more important , i like mike birbiglia in it . whether he has a future in stand-up i can not say , but he has a future as a monologist and actor .", "it is a likable , warm film that brings a welcome reassurance : even if you fail spectacularly as a comedian or as a human being , it really can turn out ok in the end .", "`` MOV '' is the perfect movie for fans of `` the daily show '' who actually stick around for the second-half interview .", "`` MOV '' traps birbiglia inside his own head . he desperately needs a movie or cable series that wakes him up and sets his material loose on the outside world .", "the film may not be as laugh out loud funny as one would expect from a guy who makes his living telling jokes , but mike birbiglia has made an insightful film on how he got there .", "... a very personal story from actor-turned-filmmaker birbiglia and gives an honest account of matt 's two very different lives ...", "for all the first-film jitters ... MOV is a canny and heartwarming comedy that rarely sells the audience short .", "familiar problems with a funny , likable spin , much like birbiglia 's easygoing , anecdote-filled comedy style .", "sleepwalk is oddly soothing , like a cup of camomile tea before bedtime .", "it 's far too similar to every other star-is-born sob story the entertainment industry churns out with ease .", "with a sure visual sense despite a clearly limited budget , and most importantly a rock-solid understanding of storytelling , birbiglia crafts a romantic comedy that 's utterly unique , but also satisfying in a primal , familiar way .", "an endearing indie feature about the day-to-day indecisions and nocturnal perambulations of a commitment-phobic new yorker .", "this storytelling is n't particularly intriguing , but birbiglia 's charisma carries them with a personable brand of self-deprecation .", "MOV very much reminded me of a take on high fidelity with comedians instead of music snobs .", "a thoroughly enjoyable and engaging film .", "crowd-pleasing comedy from stand-up mike birbiglia .", "the extent to which his stand-up improves and his insecurities worsen ... seems to stem from a very real place of ambivalence and ambition .", "birbiglia has a very matter-of-fact charm about him and gives the simplest of observations wonderfully sardonic weight .", "MOV is as charming as it is winningly modest , but it 's so incredibly slight a stiff wind would knock it into a different hemisphere .", "birbiglia has been a unique voice on the standup comedy circuit for several years now . `` MOV '' indicates he could make an even bigger impact at the movies .", "mike birbiglia showcases the mindset of a comedian trying to find his voice , and the film has a surprising amount of heart .", "it 's a film of great humor and insight , but most importantly , it retains birbiglia 's personality , keeping the master of ceremonies and his whirlwind life of heartache and nocturnal activity beautifully intact .", "it 's like nothing i 've ever seen , sort of funny people crossed with annie hall by way of lost highway .", "there is n't a single thing this movie attempts that every episode of louie does n't do better .", "`` MOV '' is a good movie , but it could have been a great one if it cared as much about the woman as it does the man .", "`` MOV '' puts a laudably offbeat new spin on the familiar story of the slacker guy with the commitment problem .", "birbiglia 's pleasingly nasal delivery and agreeable presence holds it together .", "notwithstanding its storytelling stumbles , `` MOV '' points in a positive direction for this likable comedian 's career .", "a smart , neurotic slice-of-life comedy about a stand-up comic with confidence issues , commitment issues , and career issues ." ], "summary": "laugh-out-loud funny and endearingly messy , MOV overcomes its tonal inconsistencies to deliver a sweetly melancholic , amiably reassuring indie crowd-pleaser .", "id": "771267283" }, { "movie": "dogtown_and_zboys", "reviews": [ "when these guys were headed down the street at 50 m.p.h. , you got out of the way .", "the overall effect is awe and affection -- and a strange urge to get on a board and , uh , shred , dude .", "delivers a thrilling view of an era when a group of kids , almost by accident , defined ` cool ' for a generation .", "the subjects are all charismatic and interesting - any of them could have been the focus of their own documentary", "fast-paced and wonderfully edited , the film is extremely thorough .", "you may see more important , more moving , more meaningful documentaries in your time . but you will never see one cooler .", "a very entertaining documentary , further proof that a good doc can be as much fun as a fictional film .", "an exhilarating , breathless , must-see chronicle of the skateboarder revolution and evolution .", "peralta 's product may have the whiff of sell-out , but you may find that you 're too busy buying it to care .", "this engrossing , definitive documentary on the birth of southern california 's outlaw skateboarding culture is a jaw-dropping piece of work .", "about nowhere kids who appropriated turfs as they found them and become self-made celebrity athletes -- a low-down version of the american dream .", "this documentary by stacy peralta makes a convincing case on behalf of skateboarding , of all things , as a catalyst for this change , and for some delinquent youths in a derelict los angeles neighborhood as its agents .", "poetry in motion captured on film . while it can be a bit repetitive , overall it 's an entertaining and informative documentary .", "enormously enjoyable , high-adrenaline documentary .", "an informative , nostalgic trip back to a fascinating era , told by those who knew it best .", "at times , however , dogtown and z-boys lapses into an insider 's lingo and mindset that the uninitiated may find hard to follow , or care about .", "a uniquely visceral -lrb- if inevitably self-aggrandizing -rrb- piece of documentary filmmaking .", "the story of how santa monica 's zephyr skate club created a bridge from the ho-dad '60s to the rad '80s is fascinating stuff .", "this is pop history that blows your hair back .", "blatant promotion aside , the chronicles of dogtown make for fascinating insider cultural history .", "infectiously exuberant .", "using the zephyr team 's creation , its sudden fame , and death by defection , dogtown documents genuine 20th century tribalism .", "raw , baby , raw . that 's what this documentary is , and that 's why it 's not meant for blu-ray .", "before tony hawk , skateboarding had the z-boys .", "skateboard-legend-turned-filmmaker stacy peralta rips open the paradigm of the documentary form in much the same way that he and his young santa monica zephyr competition skate team revolutionized skateboarding in the mid - '70s .", "marred by a self-importance and heavy-handed assertion of mythic status that some may well find misplaced or just downright ridiculous .", "you want to know more about their private lives than you get . but most viewers may be too stoked by the sheer adrenaline rush of the subject to care .", "package is lively , if loosely structured .", "this propulsive , highly satisfying 2002 documentary concerns a group of daredevil skateboarders from an economically depressed and dangerous area of santa monica known as dogtown who reinvented the sport in the 70s .", "i know exactly nothing about skateboarding , but this wild , exuberant documentary puts it all in perspective , outlining a crew of 12 surfers-turned-skaters who pioneered the sport -- and , some say , the art form .", "peralta 's filmmaking is nearly as audacious as his skating . the movie often looks like an underground document .", "seeing how 99 % of movies are designed to keep you on your keester , you have to respect one that inspires you to get off your ever-widening behind and do something real .", "although devoid of objectivity and full of nostalgic comments from the now middle-aged participants , dogtown and z-boys has a compelling story to tell .", "... this is a great document , and gives due credit to those who truly invented vertical skateboarding which is the predecessor of all the ` vertical ' sports . god bless the z-boys , every one .", "suitably energetic but thoroughly egotistical .", "it 's impossible not to admire his joie de vivre -- and this movie 's joie de vivre , as well .", "few sports films catch their time , place and sport so well .", "has all the depth of a wading pool .", "a truly fascinating case study of just how an underground sport ascended on the world .", "what there 's too much is interviews with middle-aged , self-proclaimed radicals indulged in endless back-patting sessions for having spawned ` a revolution . '", "quite possibly the best documentary about youth and sport since hoop dreams .", "the film fearlessly gets under the skin of the people involved ... this makes it not only a detailed historical document , but an engaging and moving portrait of a subculture .", "the straight cuts illustrate how the zephyr team 's revolutionary , riffing style was both an extension of surfing and aesthetically beautiful .", "there is something i find deeply disturbing about a documentary made about one 's own life that never acknowledges its first person status .", "an affectionate look back at those heady days .", "despite its lack of perspective on history or the evolution of the sport , dogtown and z-boys does what documentaries do best : it makes even viewers who have never touched a skateboard feel a part of the action .", "it 's an entertaining study for anyone , as it makes you believe that skateboarding is the ultimate guerilla sport -- taking something that exists and is shrugged off and turning it into something amazing .", "an enthusiastic ode to a few of the pioneers of extreme sports .", "it also paints a vivid portrait of a place , time and tribal gathering where environment , attitude , innovation , athleticism and emphasis on style spawned an accidental revolution of sorts .", "dogtown and z-boys does precisely what a documentary movie should do : it makes its subject fascinating whether you actually give a damn or not .", "the rebellion , the rock music , and the frenetic introduction to skating culture all combine to make -lsb- this -rsb- one of the most entertaining and fun movies of the year .", "a wild ride with eight boarders from venice beach that was a deserved co-winner of the audience award for documentaries at the sundance film festival .", "a fine , interesting documentary .", "dogtown & z-boys evokes the blithe rebel fantasy with the kind of insouciance embedded in the sexy demise of james dean .", "its sheer dynamism is infectious .", "a thrilling experience , and one that can be thoroughly enjoyed even if you 're unable to discern a ` kickflip ' from a ` frontside air . '", "if you think a documentary about the birth of modern skateboarding sounds like something worth missing , think again .", "at its core is a truly human tale of how a bunch of kids who had everything going against them unintentionally created a cultural phenomenon .", "dogtown and z-boys more than exposes the roots of the skateboarding boom that would become `` the punk kids ' revolution . ''", "a fast-paced but narrowly-aimed look at the outlaw skateboarding movement of the '70s ... disappointingly bland and adulatory .", "peralta 's mythmaking could have used some informed , adult hindsight .", "this is one fantastic , enthralling film .", "its spirit of iconoclastic abandon -- however canned -- makes for unexpectedly giddy viewing .", "the movie has an infectious exuberance that will engage anyone with a passing interest in the skate/surf culture , the l.a. beach scene and the imaginative -lrb- and sometimes illegal -rrb- ways kids can make a playground out of the refuse of adults .", "a thrilling look at the mostly unknown history of the original extreme sport .", "even people clueless about skateboarding can enjoy dogtown and z-boys .", "a dazzlingly crafted documentary .", "it is impossible not to be seduced by its hard-edged vision of an endless teenage summer .", "you do n't need to know or care about the skateboarding culture to enjoy this free-wheeling ride through a dog-eared section of '70s - era los angeles .", "whether you 're a grind god or an ollie newbie , you 'll want to watch this doc like a tony hawk .", "if the sign of good documentary is its ability to enthrall you regardless of your prior interest in the subject , then stacy peralta 's hugely entertaining film earns high marks .", "energetic and fun film ... the most memorable parts of the movie are all of the editing tricks .", "gives a detailed and fascinating picture of the z-boys phenomenon .", "does a terrific job of evoking the electric magic of an extraordinary era .", "a high-flying kick for anyone who enjoys a good road rash and wind rushing through the hair .", "watching dogtown is like discovering a secret history of america .", "despite its faults , this is a fascinating look at a subculture .", "this flick is about as cool and crowd-pleasing as a documentary can get .", "peralta captures , in luminous interviews and amazingly evocative film from three decades ago , the essence of the dogtown experience .", "the people in dogtown and z-boys are so funny , aggressive and alive , you have to watch them because you ca n't wait to see what they do next .", "more than simply a portrait of early extreme sports , this peek into the 1970s skateboard revolution is a skateboard film as social anthropology ...", "unless you come in to the film with a skateboard under your arm , you 're going to feel like you were n't invited to the party .", "filmmaker stacy peralta has a flashy editing style that does n't always jell with sean penn 's monotone narration , but he respects the material without sentimentalizing it .", "the rare and wondrous nonfiction film that transcends its subject to become a thing of beauty in itself , a slice of pop-cultural history that shimmers with life .", "a wonderful demonstration of how employing the aesthetic values of a subject can produce a raw , jagged exciting style in cinematic nonfiction .", "fascinating .", "watch this , and the next time you see the x games or a skateboarding video game commercial , you 'll think of the z-boys and how it all began .", "the problem is that peralta wants it all , and that it does n't all add up .", "voracious visually , unswerving narratively , and stylistically brave .", "the film has an infectious enthusiasm and we 're touched by the film 's conviction that all life centered on that place , that time and that sport .", "even if you could n't care less about skateboarding , dogtown and z-boys serves up an intriguing slice of american culture .", "exhilarating but blatantly biased .", "an account that 's as raw and colorful as the misfits it mythologizes ." ], "summary": "dogtown and z-boys is a colorful , exhilarating look at the skateboarding subculture .", "id": "11563" }, { "movie": "that_thing_you_do", "reviews": [ "hanks evokes astonishingly precise memories of the time .", "light and peppy , this filmmaking debut by tom hanks is as harmless as a puppy dog waiting to be petted .", "a romantic romp as sweet and bubbly as a coke float .", "tom hanks ' writing-directing debut is a sweet valentine to rock 'n' roll .", "it 's concerned with a very general notion of the corrupting nature of stardom , and it does n't push any of its ideas far enough to invite its audience to invest in the issues it raises .", "MOV ! is a credible first effort .", "... a movie that , like many a pop tune , has a cute idea but a simpleminded lyric .", "... is a pleasant film perfect for a brain-dead matinee .", "uma hist\u0437ria simples , contada de maneira tamb\u0436m simples , que acaba agradando por suas boas inten\u0443\u0448es .", "with its exuberant tempo and danceable beatlesque theme song , MOV will win the hearts of a broad audience .", "a simple , rather sweet and uncomplicated , rock and roll fable .", "sweet nothing , then , but what would you expect of a rock movie devoted to the drummer ?", "mr. hanks 's debut feature , written and directed with delightful good cheer , is rock-and-roll nostalgia presented as pure fizz .", "short on substance but long on charm , MOV ! is a lively , entertaining fable about a makeshift rock 'n' roll band that enjoys a brief moment of fame in the summer of 1964 .", "an amusing directorial debut by hanks", "hanks sacrificed character complexity , but at least some period details are right .", "rock on , hanks .", "it 's a pleasant little film with a big profile , thanks to tom hanks , who wrote and directed and gave himself a plum role as the band 's hard-nosed manager .", "the strange thing is that even though hanks bungles the big moments , he does so many things right with the small moments that it is easy to walk away with a smile .", "you will likely leave the theater feeling happy for no particular reason .", "... the film has a contagiously exuberant atmosphere , and you 'll most likely leave the theater happily humming the title tune .", "has all the qualities you would associate with the most beloved screen actor of the moment : fun , lively , and oh-so-nice .", "hanks has good `` thing '' going .", "the film definitely does its own thing and often does it well .", "hanks ' film is about how all good things come to an end . the important thing is to enjoy it all while it lasts .", "it may be too happy and sweet for the cynical crowd , sort of a `` have a nice day '' movie , but if feel good films are your fancy it would be hard to go wrong with this one .", "the good old days look good indeed in this movie .", "in short , this is a lightweight but utterly loveable affair which proves hanks is as assured behind the camera as in front of it .", "in the end , the movie simply clicks . it is a class act all the way .", "leaving audiences feeling good is very much , and very successfully , on its mind .", "hanks or no hanks this gem of a movie is definitely worth the time .", "... nearly everything has incredible , subtle depth and this just make the movie that much more enjoyable .", "passable entertainment , but still trite and superficial", "in his first effort at directing a feature film , hanks chooses his material wisely and writes it with witty , beguiling charm .", "... a larky but observant comedy .", "hanks has crafted a highly entertaining film . it 's young cast are all superb", "... a brightly entertaining blend of humor and heartbreak about four fresh-faced guys in a band from erie , pa. .", "first-time writer/director tom hanks stays about a half-beat ahead of the cliches with rim shots of boyish enthusiasm and deft comedy . the movie 's also buoyed by the title song , whose beatles sound is infectious enough to merit a real hit .", "a barely there-tale of rock 'n' roll dreams , driven by the infectious title tune .", "though hanks keeps the satirical and critical aspects of this look at show biz fairly light , there 's a lot of conviction and savvy behind the steadiness of his gaze .", "whereas dances with wolves was an epic cultural tract , MOV ! is a piece of entertaining bubblegum which , like its director , making his feature directorial debut , is high on charm and style .", "a movie as catchy and likable as the title song .", "sweet , sleepy take on flash-in-the-pan '60s band .", "tom hanks directorial effort is a decent film overall , but nothing that would ever inspire to re-visit again and again with fondness .", "` MOV ! ' has an air of nostalgia and likeable characters that make us believe their story and their time , and a strong narrative backbeat to power this light musical comedy .", "the rise of the wonders is fun to watch , does n't require a lot of probing analysis , and should make a great date movie , especially for boomers .", "a sweet , likeable tale of the quick rise to fame and then demise of a small town band . set in 1964 , hanks ' film offers a sanitized , gump-ish look at a mythical period when boys were boys and girls were girls , with no references to the sex-drug subculture", "an undeniably delightful film . it makes you smile and want to dance , and -lrb- for better or worse -rrb- it 's titular theme song wo n't leave your head for days .", "though hanks does n't serve up much context , he 's solid with details , and the wonders ' performances ring truer than most .", "without hauling in a lot of deep meanings , it remembers with great warmth a time and a place .", "in this story about the rise and fall of a pre-beatles rock band -- written by , directed by and starring hanks -- his true colors shine ." ], "summary": "a light , sweet , and thoroughly entertaining debut for director tom hanks , MOV ! makes up in charm what it lacks in complexity .", "id": "10233" }, { "movie": "bicentennial_man", "reviews": [ "MOV misses the big picture .", "a good time .", "the film is cute , saccarhine , overlong , at times overbearing ... but not completely unpleasant .", "tries to win our hearts without doing much for our brains or our funny bones , and it just does n't work .", "relies too heavily on the inconsequential silliness that ensues from the robot 's simplistic and transparent manner of communicating with the more complex and fallible humans .", "MOV is crusty , dusty , and musty . metal or flesh-and-bone , robin 's rusty .", "it 's a step in the right direction for both its star and maker .", "MOV too mushy , heavy-handed .", "those who get a catch in the throat just thinking about valentines day might not mind slogging through this epic ... everyone else will emerge from `` bicentennial '' feeling about 200 years older than they were when they went in .", "this tin man has a heart , but his movie needs a pulse .", "the lack of any real conflict makes MOV seem even longer than it is .", "an impuissant and confused movie .", "sci-fi fans expecting awesome effects and an interesting vision of the future are bound to be disappointed .", "a nice try , but overall , no dice .", "like crossing the sahara to get to the water , this film has a lot of dry spells and the prize may not be worth the trip .", "this is one tin man with neither heart nor brains .", "even though it takes too long to make some of its points , MOV boasts thought-provoking ideas about the nature of humanity , the blessings and curses of emotions and the meaning of mortality .", "so coldly calculated it could give you frostbite .", "click your red slippers dorothy ; here comes holiday ho-ho-hokum sprinkling with cheer , but devoid of pressing issues , y2k fears , and anything closely resembling controversy .", "in a perfect world , i would have gotten sick with a stomach virus 45 minutes into this film , ran out of the theater , puked all over the place , and then proceeded to leave with a smile on my face .", "the film should please those looking for a somewhat sentimental and clearly different sort of story .", "gradually becomes more and more penetrating", "canned emotions .", "if anyone 's going to animate a machine , it might as well be robin williams .", "it 's a bit strange , and strained .", "an ambitious tale handled in a dawdling , sentimental way .", "an underfunded inventor makes enough snide asides about ` relentlessly unfashionable android technology ' that you half expect williams to start speechifying about the merits of cloning .", "there are some impressive special effects , but the picture is more a charming character study than a futuristic adventure .", "by relegating the story to a disappointing level of superficiality and never attempting to venture more than skin-deep into some intriguing themes , MOV comes across like recycled , diluted star trek .", "a cornball drone of greeting-card sentiment .", "almost always convinces and involves the viewer .", "MOV 's few simple pleasures ca n't make up for its shallow philosophizing .", "but i 'll be darned if , by the end , my heart did n't reach out a bit to andrew as he tried to understand the workings of his own .", "MOV 's heart may be synthetic , but it beats strongly , nonetheless .", "is it incest or insurrection ?", "whatever truly thought-provoking sci-fi or philosophical concepts the original material contained have been watered down to sentimental blandness .", "robin williams continues to demand attention .", "without a doubt , a manipulative picture . but director chris columbus , schmaltzmeister that he is , makes no bones about it .", "one of the greatest features of the film is the realistic aging of its characters .", "this film is everything a good film should be .", "more a meditation on the nature of life itself than anything else , and a welcome respite from robin williams , the emotion sponge .", "part of the deep appeal of this film is its undercurrent of yearning beneath surface ironies .", "this movie gives families a good opportunity to talk about what makes us human .", "this is n't a perfect movie , but it entertains and touches the heart , and it 's certainly a big step up from patch adams .", "a shiny houehold robot becomes an exemplar of the spiritual practice of kindness in this film that must be taken to heart .", "the worst kind of movie -- one with no direction , no identity , and above all no heart .", "gives up too early in its search to say something authentic .", "... nothing but a sappy , shameless , and morbid production that wastes talent and time in a script designed to line the bottom of a bird cage .", "lacks urgency .", "feels like 200 years of dullness .", "you wish that the film unfolded on a more modest scale and in the real world .", "mr. williams latches onto every cheap laugh he can find .", "columbus ... has a suffocating sense of family values in which all problems are plot-deep and there is no familial crisis ... that ca n't be fixed with a motown sing-along .", "MOV has heart , but lacks bite .", "the music in MOV is excellent and williams ' performance is heartwarming .", "essentially the adventures of pinocchio with a lot of bells and whistles , except that kazan and columbus neglect to give pinocchio any adventures -- or , worse yet , any flaws to grow out of .", "williams has lost almost every last ounce of charm on screen .", "in addition to its provocative dialogue , MOV features some cute scenes of the future city .", "it 's frequently witless and entirely lacks conviction .", "a likable movie .", "we have a decent little film trying desperately to escape from the vicious grasp of a hokey hollywood formula . as a result , we get a pretty average film .", "patiently directed -lrb- occasionally too patiently -rrb- , warm and cuddly , but not the over-the-top kind of comedy we 've come to expect from robin williams .", "-lsb- robin william 's -rsb- most grandiose holiday greeting yet .", "robin williams cae en el tipo de personaje que ha venido interpretando hasta el cansancio : el del hombre bueno que es todo emociones y que es capaz de llorar amargamente", "a male fantasy with artificial intelligence .", "the most bland , laughless film to come from the artist formerly known as manic in , well , months .", "it 's the tin man without much brain .", "it 's one thing to ask an audience to love a mechanical man , but quite another to love a mechanical performance .", "best left on the shelf to collect dust .", "you long for -lsb- williams -rsb- to break the metal mold , if only for a minute , to remind you that you are watching the best improvisational comedian of this millennium .", "becomes a somber , sentimental and rather profound romantic fantasy that is more true to the spirit of the golden age of science-fiction writing than possibly any other movie of the '90s .", "columbus lays on the sentimentality thickly , sometimes letting it get in the way of the storytelling . the longer the movie continues , the more overt he becomes in his emotional pandering .", "virtually every emotion , motivation , idea , character and plot point in the movie is flat and perfunctory -- except for those that carry the invisible subtitle , ` cry , dammit ! '", "MOV is sometimes sweet , but it 's also a phenomenal waste of talent , and a continuation of a williams ' trip down the wrong road .", "the film swiftly settles into an unevenly paced , episodic structure , unsure whether it 's a family saga , a sci-fi drama or a children 's comedy .", "film about robot who wants to be human is so-so .", "... aspires to an almost adult level of seriousness ." ], "summary": "MOV is ruined by a bad script and ends up being dull and mawkish .", "id": "10593" }, { "movie": "bronson", "reviews": [ "the `` doing crime for fame '' theme is more than a little played-out , but hardy 's so boisterous -- and refn 's filmmaking so dynamic -- that it 's fairly easy to buy in to the inherent entertainment value of bloody fisticuffs .", "refn tells his story in a gripping , genre-breaking way , introducing broad theatricality and surreal animation . in some scenes , peterson delivers monologues in a clown 's whiteface ; in others , we 're in an asylum as mad as its patients .", "tom hardy is pure dynamite in the role , beefing up 35 pounds to play britain 's most notorious prisoner .", "MOV is an explosive , theatrical , fourth-wall-busting project that will strike some viewers -lrb- like me -rrb- as prodigious and others as unbearably pretentious .", "refn films much of the violence in slow motion , accompanied by classical music , which adds impact to the brutality .", "a bit like stanley kubrick 's clockwork orange reimagined as a one-man stage show and stripped of any political implications .", "an invigorating , refreshingly stylish biopic brimming with dark humor , surrealism and an unforgettable , brave performance by tom hardy .", "tom hardy proves more than ready for his close-up , cackling , snarling and head-butting his way through pusher director nicolas winding refn 's mercifully unconventional biopic .", "hardy delivers a committed if showy performance , but there are some awful smaller turns which smell dangerously of homophobia . the whole thing made me want to scrub my brain with vim .", "hardy 's portrayal is more than a real-life impersonation of MOV ; it realizes the stunt movie opportunity to present an actor 's thoroughly romantic admiration of force .", "an unnerving , barking-mad black comedy surveying the fractured mind of `` the most violent prisoner in britain , '' the picture is a divisive beast , shimmying between cracking wise and cracking skulls , often erratically so .", "in a film closer to a clockwork orange or blue velvet than to chopper , brutal ultraviolence and arthouse oddity make for an arresting mix , while it is impossible to take your eyes off hardy 's intense serio-comic turn .", "-lsb- tom hardy gives -rsb- one of the best performances of the year , maybe . it is certainly one of the most committed .", "tom hardy gives a disgustingly excellent performance .", "a weird and wonderful anti-biopic", "britain 's got talent never looked so good .", "MOV does n't have much to say , but it 's a very fun exercise in bad behavior that 's neither glamorized nor bemoaned .", "... an anthropological study in human viciousness , like a nature film done by stanley kubrick .", "full review at movies for the masses", "the movie 's giddy brio can leave you punch-drunk , and oddly unsatisfied .", "an overstylized mess , with a brave but pointless performance from tom hardy as a lifelong prisoner who just wants to destroy everything around him , most of all himself .", "hardy does an admirable job of making this monster human , which he achieves with surprising wit and a visceral , attention-grabbing passion .", "... the film can barely contain tom hardy 's performance . it 's a method turn so bloodily immersive it 's hard to imagine the actor getting his head straight afterwards .", "has `` cult hit '' written all over it .", "it 's content to be a kind of freak-show character study of a man who embraces anarchy , not for its own sake but for the fame and adrenaline that it brings him .", "this is psychotic behavior as performance art , and hardy makes it irresistible .", "a stylized portrait of a criminal famous in his native britain as perhaps the most violent man in her majesty 's prison system , MOV serves primarily as a showcase for tom hardy 's undeniably brilliant performance .", "strap yourself in for a jaw-dropping performance from tom hardy as he completely inhabits the role of britain 's most notorious prisoner in this highly stylised piece of mischievous cinematic vaudeville .", "stylish kick ass sympathetic but revealing biopic of the notorious and pitiful british felon michael gordon peterson .", "writer-director nicolas winding refn uses some inventive theatrical interludes and soliloquies to diversify what might have otherwise been a rather one-note depiction of prison life .", "the film does a good job of presenting in bloody detail the misdeeds of a misanthrope while italicizing his underdeveloped artistic abilities , but it is obtuse when it comes to character development .", "MOV just keeps coming , straight ahead , like a bull charging through the slaughterhouse door .", "he 's spent 34 years behind bars , mostly in solitary . when the movie ends , you 'll feel you 've done hard time yourself .", "the movie takes on a fearsome purity , refusing to find reasons , indifferent to motives , not even finding causes and effects . it is 92 minutes of rage , acted by tom hardy .", "part literate black comedy , part surrealistic character study , part horror movie , MOV is a sophisticated confection , rich and dark , sprinkled with bitter little jokes .", "for such a potentially exciting subject matter , MOV hits way too many lulls .", "in the end , `` MOV '' is a beautiful , intense film about a man that may or may not be insane , based on events that might actually have occurred in his life .", "director and co-writer nicolas winding refn strives mightily to match his star crescendo for crescendo , which can be exhausting . but the film is nimble and spare enough to absorb most of the director 's outr\u00e9 inspirations .", "it\u00e2 -lrb- tm -rrb- s a meditation on the art of rage -- an action painting passing itself off as an action movie .", "done differently , the cat-and-mouse brawling could get tiresome , but tom hardy as MOV -- with his shaved head , handlebar moustache , and glittering eyes -- is mesmerizing .", "if you want to spend two hours with a psychopath who loves nothing more than getting naked and brawling with prison guards , this is for you . i prefer vintage kurosawa .", "hardy chomps down on his once-in-a-career role with stunning ferocity and never lets go . he 's extraordinary .", "animalistic", "if it 's to be remembered for anything , it will be as the romper stomper to a next generation 's russell crowe .", "not among the best movies this year , but arguably the most creative and novel so far .", "i. . . found this repulsive ; and the endless brutality of MOV 's so-called art became numbing and tedious .", "the kernel of an idea -- brutish antihero as irrepressible life force -- is trampled into dust by the showy sturm und drang of refn 's filmmaking .", "kubrick 's a clockwork orange is an easy in for those looking for comparisons in terms of tone and mood and style .", "MOV is a fast , ferocious , wickedly funny portrait of one man 's acceptance of his bone-deep animalism .", "a kind of second cousin to paolo sorrentino 's `` il divo '' -lrb- 2008 -rrb- , `` MOV '' shares that film 's mechanical sense of ambivalent regard for its subject '", "like a cross between a clockwork orange and an extended music video ...", "tom hardy is just outstanding , actually all the performances are pitch perfect for the material . it 's a class act this film , it just will not appeal to audiences who do n't want to be confronted with violence when they go to the movies .", "an example of a film that is , in all likelihood , considerably more intelligent and interesting than its subject .", "do n't let tom hardy turn MOV into a caricature of what we expect mad people to be like .", "dark , intelligent and disturbing , supported by a force-of-nature lead performance and a clever screenplay .", "refn directs as a series of episodes , each set up for maximum weirdness and black humor , always emphasizing large , blocky spaces and fluid motion .", "in addition to celebrating violence , this most brutal of biopics is virulently homophobic . and its other disagreeable overtones of pretentiousness and precious fringe-theatricality make it a uniquely gruesome experience .", "while i ca n't say MOV is - to lean on a running gag of the movie 's - `` my cuppa tea , '' i ca n't say it is n't art either .", "MOV resembles a clockwork orange or jubilee : brutal , arty . tom hardy is exceptional , snarling and uncompromising , alert and always impenetrable . we are not asked to pity MOV , only to spectate at an exhibition of criminal creativity .", "a figure this luridly fascinating , a personality this ludicrously outsized , warrants something more than your typical biopic .", "nicolas winding refn -lrb- `` the pusher '' trilogy -rrb- takes an experimental approach to the biopic , letting his subject guide the way through his life so far as if it were a piece of performance art .", "... not a great film but garners a strong performance from its star -lsb- tom hardy -rsb- .", "`` nuffin ' wonky about my upbringing , '' MOV says , early on . nothing wonky about hardy 's performance , either .", "hardy 's range is impressive , and he makes refn 's latest an arresting spectacle , if not a particularly enlightening one .", "charles MOV seems like a bit of a sweetheart , when he 's not trying to gouge someone 's eyes out .", "the tone is surreal , at once visceral and clinical , making MOV an unsettling experience : savage , disturbing , and yet somehow fascinating .", "MOV is one of those `` based on a true story '' dramatizations where the theatrically staged drama only gets in the way of the more interesting truth .", "a pointless exercise in morbidity .", "it 's impossible to deny hardy 's astounding performance , which partially redeems the picture . looking like a mad circus strongman , his moustache seeming to twirl all by itself , he 's so fully immersed in his character , you fear for his sanity .", "refn presents this jolly madman in a variety of showbiz fantasies -lrb- wearing clown makeup , addressing a packed theater -rrb- to tease out the weird disjuncture between his penal isolation and his tabloid fame in the uk .", "the problem with MOV - and the movie is certainly a problem - is how hard it wants to be a visceral tour de force , and how stunted this objective ends up feeling .", "the career of a real-life recidivist hardman gets a highly stylised theatrical treatment , matched by virtuoso direction and a career-making lead performance .", "winding refn has created a gripping tale of the institutionalised madness of this violent criminal who relishes in his new found alter ego .", "it is a mesmerising performance from tom hardy . but as a study of this man , it did n't interest me at all . i thought it was rather facile .", "a determinedly ugly movie , as brutish in its delivery as its subject is brutish in character , MOV fails to offer meaningful insight into the life of a singularly idiotic individual .", "gripping and visceral , ugly and beautiful , terrible and haunting , MOV is quite brilliant ." ], "summary": "undeniably gripping , MOV forces the viewer to make some hard decisions about where the line between art and exploitation lies .", "id": "770783965" }, { "movie": "around_the_world_in_80_days", "reviews": [ "trippy , goofy , and nearly senseless concoction -lsb- is -rsb- one of the more entertaining cases of ` what-in-the-heck ? ' out there .", "amiably dorky redo .", "jackie chan ... is undermined by the film 's lack of direction .", "the heart and soul of it , the story and the casting , are a complete mess .", "it 's ironic that this film is less about traveling and more about beating the crap out of people all over the world .", "i was amazed at how little actually happens for a movie with so much action .", "mildly amusing jackie chan adventure .", "this purely satirical version sometimes works , and sometimes does n't .", "... just another adventure comedy built around jackie chan , this time with verne 's travelogue tenuously holding the action scenes together .", "... fogg essentially winds up playing second-banana to passepartout - a disastrous choice that simply does not work .", "se eu fosse descendente de verne processaria os produtores desta adapta\u0437\u0433o pavorosa por mancharem o nome da fam\u043dlia ao inclu\u043d-lo nos cr\u0439ditos iniciais .", "... a pleasing mix of martial arts and madcap comedy , with a string of big-name cameos thrown in for good measure .", "jackie chan stars in this fast paced remake of the famous jules verne story .", "the gargantuanly funny performance of jim broadbent as a deliciously greedy , quill-whipping maniac is worth the admission ticket alone .", "it was exactly what i expected and that 's something i did n't really want to see .", "it 's not as classic as the novel .", "this live action cartoon creates a world that has nothing to do with the real one , so it can be as exaggerated as it wants to be without getting lost in earthbound details .", "-lsb- a -rsb- feeble and flighty excuse for family fare . it 's too bad that this inflated romp does n't have the intended impact of a jackie chan animated chop to the head .", "only a devotee of the original film or a hardcore sourpuss could find serious fault with this world romp .", "MOV is never as delightful and silly as it needs to be .", "this is something slightly different , but only because it 's offensive at so many levels .", "consists almost entirely of people falling down and/or being hit on the head .", "... conviendra peut-\u0119tre aux tr\u010ds jeunes enfants alors que les parents voudront certainement passer leur tour .", "-lrb- owes -rrb- more to verne ` mini me ' troyer than author jules verne .", "despite the rush to get everyone from place to place , director frank coraci luxuriates in colorful visual detail and gives the locals their due .", "coraci makes every location -- london , paris , istanbul , wherever -- feel like the same cheap backlot , and has trouble getting laughs out of the most surefire jokes .", "it 's fairly fast , zips some good zingers at the audience through steve coogan , and is just the sort of instantly forgettable fun parents can have with their kids .", "there 's a disturbing savagery amidst the cotton-candy fluff and crayola colors ... the cruel mirth with which the film distributes its comic violence ...", "the feat of making it MOV seems all too simple . it 's getting through the movie that 's difficult .", "even the 1989 made-for-tv version starring pierce brosnan possessed more spark and steam than this lazy , lackluster take .", "MOV is like eating a candy bar -- loaded with empty calories but also light and fluffy with a sweet jackie chan in the center .", "if director frank coraci wanted to rehash rush hour 2 and shanghai knights , was there any need to drag jules verne into it ?", "days represents everything that over-budgeted hollywood can possibly get wrong in a period piece .", "... chan 's random kung-fu sequences feel like just another plate spinning in the air .", "a colorful , fast-paced , and enjoyably old-fashioned adventure comedy .", "the gags are physical but rarely funny .", "devoid of genuine wit , urgency or suspense .", "a colorful disappointment .", "works more often than it does n't .", "jackie chan 's colorful fight during a visit to an art gallery in paris is one of his best .", "modest kid fare guaranteed not to make you think .", "spends about an hour getting past its casting and screenwriting hurdles before finally settling into an even , enjoyable pace . that first hour , though : man . it 's pure death .", "jackie is great , his choreography flawless , his comic timing spot on , but he 's doing it in the wrong film .", "compared to the torture of sitting through garfield , this ... is a family movie that is the perfect summer distraction .", "hackneyed is one thing ; embarrassing is another ... but if you 're enough of a fan to see it for the action and only for the action , it 's worth your while .", "a leaden excuse for family entertainment .", "plays like a listless '60s overseas co-production .", "this second bigscreen version of jules verne 's 1873 novel takes plenty of liberties with the material and never generates much genuine excitement , but provides an agreeable ride without overloading it with contemporary filmmaking mannerisms .", "has that cheesy , chintzy mid-florida feel that we all know and love , despite its $ 110 million budget .", "i do n't know why they call it MOV . watching it feels like it takes only five , maybe six days .", "jules verne is rotating in his grave worrying about his other works ripe for plucking from the public domain .", "feel -lsb- s -rsb- like a future ride at the magic kingdom .", "a journey worth taking .", "offers only snooze-worthy action scenes .", "a two-hour version of the jules verne story that is only intermittently fun , despite lavish expenditures on cgi and stunt work .", "wonderful family escapist entertainment .", "if you 've remained a chan fan despite the action hero 's obvious concessions to age and you 've enjoyed his recent family-style films , ` MOV ' will entertain you ... most other people , however , may want to make different travel plans .", "properly silly and slapsticky .", "an energetic and enormously good-natured family movie .", "the world already knows about jackie chan . but thanks to this irreverent remake , british actor steve googan appears set to become an international movie star .", "this $ 110-million fiasco is the sort of movie that gives family entertainment a bad name .", "plays like a suicide note : full of references to past glories , past fight scenes played at half-speed , and an implacable patina of obliterating self-pity .", "as he hit the long home stretch , i could n't help but wish that fogg had managed to shave a week or two off his itinerary .", "it 's as though the crew is traveling through an oversize , even more irritating version of disney 's it 's a small world .", "see it if you 're looking for an excuse to sit in an air-conditioned theater for two hours", "a flawed reworking of the jules verne classic that runs out of creative energy early in the story and relies too heavily on tiresome martial arts sequences", "is it any wonder -lsb- chan -rsb- is aching for something different ?", "this comedy is billed as being ` based on the novel by jules verne , ' but ` suggested by ' or ` borrowing the title and character names of ' would be more accurate .", "it 's light as a fly , but springs some genuinely funny moments .", "a peppy , fast-moving , wafer-thin amusement that 's fine for kids if you do n't mind a lot of three stooges-style martial arts . for grown-ups , it 's the equivalent of a 59-cent tin globe .", "the colors , costumes , and sets showed that disney has n't lost all of its magic yet .", "to say that all this is painfully contrived is to suggest that verne 's tale was n't , but at least the novel had some tension .", "as the tourist on a time budget , the usually brilliant coogan merely mugs and flails ... while he and able straight man chan enjoy scant opportunity to develop any comic rapport .", "wholesome for the most part , this rich robust family film -lrb- with the flair of yesteryear -rrb- clips along fast . it plants a smile on your face that lasts for the duration .", "coraci belongs to a hollywood faction that believes children wo n't be entertained unless a movie pushes them to the edge of hyperventilation .", "seeing this movie is like being seasick on your cruise to the bahamas - you 're going to see some cool things , but it 's an adventure without a lot of laughs .", "verne might have a hard time recognizing his source material , but it 's easy to forgive the many liberties taken in this funny , fleet-footed summer-matinee romp .", "sure , it 's silly , but at least it knows that it 's silly and runs with it .", "this comic riff on the verne classic loses altitude as it proceeds , closing with a crash landing in more ways than one .", "MOV is modestly diverting summer fare , but at about the halfway mark you 're going to start wondering , ` are we there yet ? '", "the modern-day equivalent of the cannonball run .", "completely mediocre .", "one of the lamest remakes of a classic film i 've ever seen .", "solid family entertainment that alternates plenty of laughs with plenty of adventure .", "this new , family-friendly adaptation of jules verne 's novel can hardly be called a travesty . but it ca n't be called a very good movie , either .", "the major problem with around the world is that there 's just not quite enough chan , or at least the chan we want to see , which is the acrobatic clown .", "passes the parental test in that it has wit , is cinemagraphically loaded with scenic eye candy and moves along at an energetic enough pace to keep seat-squirming to a minumum .", "despite all the audience-pleasing laughs and derring-do , it fails to take us anywhere we have n't been before .", "a total hack job .", "chan seems tired , even distracted , impatient to get it all over with . i was , too .", "it 's yucky .", "this flick attempts to take its audience across the entire spectrum of hollywood genres in 80 minutes -lrb- give or take a few -rrb- ... bad idea .", "the end result is about as thrilling as spending those 80 days stuck in cary , illinois with a broken axle .", "a waste of time .", "silly and energetic ... it 's pure fluff , but it 's cute .", "the first american jackie chan movie that does n't make fun of him , that lets him be the cool guy .", "mayhem substitutes for wit .", "an unexpectedly buoyant spectacular .", "any resemblance between jules verne 's marvelous science fiction novel or mike todd 's enjoyable 1956 movie is pure happenstance .", "plays like a three stooges travelogue .", "a dead-on-arrival movie idea .", "anyone who has not seen the original movie will wonder why chan is gadding about in the bowler derby of an english valet , and anyone who has seen the cantinflas version most likely will long for the real thing .", "not even chan 's imaginative fight choreography redeems this folly .", "the movie equivalent of a mustache scrawled on the mona lisa .", "-lsb- a -rsb- sweeping adventure tale just left of center , a family entertainment with sprinklings of offbeat humor", "a satisfying slice of old-fashioned storybook entertainment .", "if -lsb- verne -rsb- saw the movie with youngsters , he 'd appreciate how much they enjoyed it .", "except for little kids and relatives of the cast , there 's not much appeal to this numbing remake .", "basically an excuse to give jackie chan a hundred different places to beat people up .", "we should consider ourselves lucky his film does n't run the three hours that its predecessor did", "you may be pleasantly surprised by just how good this remake of the jules verne classic really is .", "director frank coraci plays fast and loose with jules verne 's classic tome MOV , but his adaptation never runs out of gas .", "the style of humor - with its forced high jinks and pathetic attempts at farce - is so aggressively outrageous that it ultimately becomes abusive to the audience .", "all my critical faculties tell me i should n't recommend it . but when i think of how often it i grinned -lrb- once a minute -rrb- and how often i checked my watch -lrb- never -rrb- , i give up .", "the absolutely scariest scene in MOV features arnold schwarzenegger .", "once it settles down , 80 days becomes a pretty enjoyable comic-action romp that 's ultimately twice as much fun as a lot of technically better movies i could name .", "jackie chan is in a tiny tub with a man . again .", "true to walt 's original vision for walt disney pictures ... you can taste the corniness .", "everything about this production seems tired .", "phony , unfunny family entertainment ... packs in almost every racial and cultural stereotype in the world ." ], "summary": "hit-and-miss family fare that bares only the slightest resemblance to verne 's novel .", "id": "11425" }, { "movie": "three_burials_of_melquiades_estrada", "reviews": [ "the film works on three levels : as a visually appealing modern southwestern saga , as an old-fashioned cowboy story , and as a compelling , slightly troubling look at modern ideas superimposed against an old-fashioned lifestyle .", "like richard farnsworth , l. q. jones or even steve mcqueen in his later performances , jones ' world-weary western masculinity transcends `` movie acting . ''", "if you 've seen and loved lone star , you will not want to miss this similar character study and mystery .", "a beguiling and fast-paced tex-mex western saga of transcendent meaning and beauty", "tommy lee jones makes a sure-handed feature directing debut and gives one of the best performances of his career .", "crash by way of cormac mccarthy .", "what , exactly , is the devil in mr. jones ?", "tommy lee jones ' feature directorial debut is probably much as you 'd expect : a blast of nostalgia that nonetheless accepts the realities of modernity", "begins deep in peckinpah territory , but soon forges its own unique , queerly beautiful path ... a masterpiece , flat out .", "at times , burials seems to be arguing that ` civilization ' is a joke and that we 're kidding ourselves if we think we believe the world makes sense .", "a parable , buddy movie , western myth and road movie all rolled into one % u2013 one excellent one", "the MOV features some solid , if not spectacular , performances , as well as a bizarre and dark sense of humor -- which come in handy when the film starts meandering and runs out of steam .", "burials barely has one plot : grizzled texas cowhand pete perkins -lrb- tommy lee jones -rrb- wants to give his pal proper internment in mexico and make his killer pay .", "with all due respect to that important , quasi-controversial , most-honored film of last year , this is the best western of 2005 .", "-lsb- a -rsb- long , kooky , immensely absorbing picture , which forges the elegiac cruelty of a cormac mccarthy novel with the two-fisted machismo of a sam peckinpah movie , and comes up with an altogether new brand of western mythology .", "that burials works on multiple levels makes it great , and the fact that it 's great says a lot about -lsb- director-star tommy lee -rsb- jones .", "in true peckinpah fashion , the harsh , involving three burials showcases lawlessness , heartlessness and gallows humor on the frontier . but this modern western 's prevailing themes are propriety and friendship .", "funny , tough , filled with cut-to-the-bone moments and bleached in the heat of the texas sun , the MOV is a movie that sears itself into the viewer with uncompromising vision and stark approach .", "it boasts genuinely and uniformly fine performances -- a credit to jones the director and the actor , as well as his costars -- some stunning cinematography by the great chris menges and a uncompromising script by -lsb- guillermo -rsb- arriaga .", "sam peckinpah is no longer with us to stir up south-of-the-border madness , but tommy lee jones has taken over the franchise .", "tommy lee jones ' directorial debut is an extraordinarily complex , robust tale . deceptively , it looks like a violent modern western but the undercurrents and intelligence behind the story elevate this to art .", "this is n't a film that demands to be enjoyed in order to be remembered -- one way or the other , it will stick with you .", "`` the MOV '' is rugged and quiet , absurd and humourous .", "the film is finally more successful in bits and pieces than as a whole .", "the sweep and classic themes of the MOV make it a rare modern western , and a good one , too .", "strong characters that nurse us over rugged horse paths and through craggy nooks", "this is a modest , low-budget , and low-key film but jones shows a sure hand and real directing power with handling his actors .", "it 's a scorching journey alongside stubborn fools like us as they stumble awkwardly toward grace , or run headlong in the other direction until the wages of sin catch up with them .", "jones ' theatrical directorial debut is imbued with all the intensity , compassion , fierceness and sly humor that mark the actor 's best performances", "do n't let the near-impossible-to-remember title keep you away from this singular and slightly surreal tommy lee jones scorcher .", "i wanted to scream at the screen , ` just bury him and be done with it ! '", "without the wise and well-crafted words of screenwriter guillermo arriaga , it 's just so much posturing .", "wily , sad , funny , and full of life .", "a satisfying little morality play about prejudice and responsibility .", "the MOV can at least rest on its laurels from cannes .", "among the movie 's many grim figures , mel 's decaying corpse -lrb- badly preserved with anti-freeze -rrb- serves as metaphor and reality , an occasion for respect and the limit of legend . % u2014 9 february 2006", "-lsb- the film -rsb- echoes in its weary bones end-of-the-west films by the likes of sam peckinpah , john ford and clint eastwood .", "may not be a perfectly polished diamond , but it is one treasure worth digging up .", "jones holds it all together like old chaps glued by sweat , and if you want a modern offshoot of the western even beyond the risks of brokeback mountain , here it is .", "gives us little information about pete and mequiades , but plenty about the loathsome border patrol guy .", "while compelling in its own right , three burials is more an homage to a past master than an original work .", "exerts considerable , groggy power", "tommy lee himself must be mentioned , as he pulls a nuanced role with a craggy , sunburnt face that 's impressive to behold . he 's at the top of his game in this flick , all the more remarkable as he 's literally wearing many hats on the production .", "in the MOV , there is heartbreak , loss , and adultery , all of it general and all of it far more affecting than any self-righteous ethics or anachronistic western codes .", "an offbeat , tonal take on the western , tommy lee jones ' the MOV is best described as soulful and creative , if scattered and overambitious .", "a stunningly offbeat and finely controlled directorial debut .", "the MOV is a spiritual exploration so profound and complex that it 's impossible to take it all in with one viewing .", "part character study , part peckinpah-esque border western , part mystic epic , three burials traverses its uncharted territories with a humour and humanity that lighten the burden of its sadness .", "breathtaking tableaus , colorful characters , and a moving message about redemption end up overshadowed by wanton insanity one might normally associate with a sadistic snuff film .", "i 'm afraid that this small but potent film may be lost in the shuffle and be pushed to the wayside by the big guys on the block .", "three burials is just a cluster of symbols , and what they symbolize is this : a director who has seen too many european art films .", "one of those offbeat dramas that would never have gotten produced without the clout of a major star behind it . ... a challenging , unpredictable film that never allows the audience to get too comfortable .", "like most westerns , the action is slow and the dialogue slower , but that only helps to ratchet up the drama .", "it 's worth a wary look before it attains midnight cult-movie status .", "has a type of quiet grace that 's out of step and perhaps out of style with modern hollywood convention .", "tommy lee jones has crafted a modern western worthy of peckinpah with a message of racial understanding that 's as relevant -lrb- and subversive -rrb- as anything you 'll find in movies today .", "ignore the rotten title ; make jones -lrb- and yourself -rrb- happy -- see this movie .", "a seriously promising directorial debut from an already great actor .", "few films have ever captured the feel of the desert southwest better than tommy lee jones ' the MOV .", "as ` brokeback mountain ' and now ` burials ' demonstrate , filmmakers continue to find usefulness and meaning in the mythology and iconography of that most american -lrb- and masculine -rrb- of self-critiques , the western .", "jones gives himself the plum role , not out of vanity but to do justice to arriaga 's story . ... the only actor capable of playing a man like perkins is tommy lee jones .", "the strange odyssey that ... forms the heart of the movie covers emotional terrain as stark yet as varied as the borderlands themselves .", "by turns brutal and sadistic , humorous and moralistic , jones weaves a tale that has the moral heft of a fable and the gritty realism of 1970s cinema .", "tommy lee jones ' big-screen directorial debut might not be the easiest film to watch , but its payoff makes it one of the better trips to the movies of the past year .", "a brooding , narratively brusque tale of the modern west , as unvarnished and stripped of pretense as bones bleached by sun , wind and drifting sand .", "three burials is a film with a lot on its mind , but it succeeds best when it leaves ideas behind and focuses on simple beauty .", "... a smart and beautiful movie that touches on the nature of borders , actual and mythic .", "as a vision of the american west and the wide country around it , tommy lee jones 's western strikes both fresh and familiar chords , most of them pleasingly dissonant .", "takes the finale of lonesome dove to new levels with his directorial debut ; a poetic tribute to a dying breed and a peckinpahesque examination of friendship and kept promises .", "tommy lee jones makes the year 's most assured directorial debut .", "jones carries pete 's weight of grief but without betraying the character 's emotional impenetrability or slack conscience .", "a small movie that plays like a western epic .", "a well-structured and literate yarn that employs the classic qualities of older films with a simplicity and sincerity that makes them fresh again .", "the MOV may not be a love story per se , but it is , for my money , the most deeply affecting portrait of cowboy camaraderie to be found on movie screens this season .", "jones handles his fellow actors well , drawing a hard , anguished performance from pepper and allowing january jones -lrb- no relation -rrb- to bring a touching vulnerability to mike 's bored , vapid , baby-doll wife .", "incisive yet supple , wrenching yet deeply pleasurable , the MOV easily ranks among the year 's best pictures .", "a smug lesson posing as a peckinpah deathfest .", "it is a brave look at the distortions created when an international border bisects what natural law intended to be a cultural melting pot .", "the MOV tells the kind of story that john huston or sam peckinpah might have wanted to film .", "it 's a disorganized journey of redemption and a wandering study of prejudice and promises .", "the acting is so good throughout , and texas native jones does such a sharp , unforced job of directing a story dear to his geographical and spiritual heart , the three burials is the rare film that gets better and better as it goes .", "-lsb- jones has made -rsb- a rugged modern-day western that evokes the spirit of sam peckinpah -- and reinvents it through his own perspective .", "... the most impressive directorial debut the american cinema has seen in some time , a contemporary western both rough and poetic , laconic and passionate .", "melquiades ... is meant to function as some sort of potent symbol , but ` three burials ' is too oblique to give his presence -- buried or otherwise -- much significance .", "when it stays on track , the MOV turns into a thing of musty beauty .", "jones , screenwriter guillermo arriaga and a crew blessed with pristine vision have delivered a tale of friendship and ethics worthy of greek tragedy .", "tommy lee jones makes his feature directing debut here , and the film is as weathered , subtle , and sympathetic as the actor 's own face .", "this is the real deal , kids .", "fascinating road-and-buddy adventure story on the tex-mex border .", "three burials is finally a little smug -- jones , despite a best actor nod at cannes , undergoes no ethan edwards corruption-of-the-soul , no ambivalence , no ordeal by rectitude .", "ultimately affirms the value of all humans , privileged and poor , good and evil , all of us -- and that 's quite an achievement", "... hurt by an overlong running time ...", "my enthusiasm for the MOV knows no bounds .", "sam peckinpah lives !", "an excruciatingly boring morality tale with poorly developed characters and a big spiritual finale that sputters .", "tommy lee jones ' bracing bigscreen directorial debut , which copped acting and writing awards from the cannes film festival jury , connects with both the head and the heart .", "the helmer 's subtle work with his excellent cast and chris menges ' widescreen vistas of merciless west texas landscapes help to temper the story 's excesses .", "a loose , generous , funky little oater with a deliciously ghoulish sense of humor , it 's probably the sweetest movie i 've ever seen about taking a road trip with a rotting corpse .", "for a movie about the policing of borders , could n't this one have maintained a firmer one , between credulity and incredulity ? between seriousness and self-seriousness ?", "part homer , part dante , set on the texas/mexican border .", "new filmmakers are often told `` do n't mistake motion for action . '' this is why .", "three burials still reaches the kind of pungency it seems to be seeking , and it touches on issues of alienation and distance very relevant to the reality of countless migrants .", "all this edginess , combined with the grandeur and sweep of a classic western , demonstrates that jones clearly knows how to tell a story -- and how to confound us at the same time .", "as satire , the MOV is n't funny or illuminating , and as a drama it has only a few scattered moments .", "jones , directing his first feature , finds the right note in every scene , bringing arriaga 's elegant cipher to life .", "a wry and sometimes alarming contemporary western .", "behind the hype lies a banal morality tale told in needlessly jumbled flashbacks and gorged with gruesome atrocities out of a sam peckinpah flick .", "jones displays a firm hand at the helm -- you sense that he is well within his comfort zone in this environment -- and performances including his own are lively and convincing .", "a revenge western that will do peckinpah and eastwood proud , this is a morality tale with political overtones about the culture clash between white americans and mexicans", "... a beautifully crafted and original piece of work . hats off to mr. jones .", "worth seeing as a hickory-smoke tale of contrition and redemption .", "a beautifully written and acted mini-epic about life and death , although it might be somewhat enigmatic for many viewers .", "this , despite the brutality and diversions -lsb- two of the most boring sex scenes this year -rsb- , this is well worth a look .", "believable performances , excellent cinematography , and it is mixed with little oddities and humor that keep it from being overly oppressive .", "a literally slow-moving western that plays out as laboriously as its title .", "a simple , rugged tale about friendship , loyalty , keeping your word , and the importance of human life . it 's also a must see .", "what does a masterpiece look like ? like the MOV , one of the best movies of the decade so far .", "a simple , stoic , well-structured contemporary western that brings a humanist point of view to bigger issues .", "tommy lee jones ' stirring and deeply felt three burials proves one thing : sometimes the most compelling films are the ones closest to the heart .", "beautiful , authentic and brutally observant of human nature .", "a satire that touches deeply even as it amuses so richly .", "the essentially sanctified melquiades ... is the least developed character ... jones and arriaga instead focus on the redemption of estrada 's white neighbors .", "a fotografia ressalta a secura e o aspecto rochoso das loca\u0443\u0448es como forma de estabelecer uma met\u0440fora visual da pr\u0437pria exist\u0436ncia daquelas pessoas retratadas pelo roteiro .", "intriguingly structured , beautifully shot and superbly acted western - this is one of the highlights of the year .", "this gripping film about real people is well-worth excavating .", "they say good things come in threes : burials , for one , and tommy lee jones -lrb- for another -rrb- .", "you owe it to yourself to saddle up with them .", "a stiff shows up with gruesome repetition in the MOV , and some will be surprised to learn that it is n't tommy lee jones ' former college roommate , al gore .", "it attempts to cover a lot of territory just like the american border patrol in texas , but its results are mixed , perhaps , not unlike the border patrol .", "the film skitters along the lives of sad people in low places .", "a messy drama that digs up a made-to-order villain -lrb- the racist u.s. authorities -rrb- and a dead hero -lrb- an illegal mexican immigrant -rrb- ... jones doubles-back on the story repeatedly , running roughshod over his characters to shovel in his political points .", "a safe , satisfying drama steeped in classic notions of loyalty and friendship ." ], "summary": "tommy lee jones ' directorial debut is both a potent western and a powerful morality tale .", "id": "24222" }, { "movie": "paranorman", "reviews": [ "it is a herculean task to create a stop-motion film like MOV , so it 's too bad the story and the characters in this adventure tale are so weak .", "the movie has its moments of dark whimsy and cheeky wit , but most of what it has is body parts .", "one of the most original films of the year .", "the main plot - about combating a witch 's curse - is less fun than the gothic gags on the margins .", "it 's an engaging entertainment , with a solidly constructed storyline .", "MOV confirms that laika is an animation studio worth watching out for . as with coraline , they 've crafted a film that truly respects its young audience", "anyone who 's robust enough to enjoy roald dahl will surely appreciate MOV 's playfully pg undead action .", "an exceptional amblin film made for that slightly weird kid with the nightmare before christmas lunch-box and the disconnected snark .", "there 's no meat on the bone of this skeleton . witty and fast-paced , sure , but the film lacks substance .", "a few decent gags are not enough to keep this 3d stop-motion film alive .", "tweens , rather than children , will savour its snarky bite , although like the shambling on-screen cadavers , the story needed a bit more meat on its bones .", "it 's fun but a light on plot and not quite funny enough .", "unlike the polished universe of pixar 's `` brave '' or countless other recent cgi efforts , `` MOV '' maintains a delicate , handcrafted look that underscores its ideas .", "solid storytelling , clever humor and incredible craftsmanship and animation skills puts MOV a few steps above the normal kid-friendly fare .", "a striking marriage of form and content .", "-lsb- while MOV -rsb- takes stop-motion animation to an entirely new level ... on -lsb- the -rsb- surface -lsb- it 's -rsb- a beautiful piece of work that 's -lsb- actually -rsb- rotten at its core .", "it 's creepy , it 's funny and in spite of its weirdness it resonates with those of us doomed to live our own lives in the real world .", "not only the best animated film of 2012 by a large margin but it 's better than anything that came out last year as well .", "i certainly would n't go so far as to call it a bad movie , it 's just a movie that could have used a little improvement in the story department .", "gorgeously animated and beautifully designed , this is an entertaining adventure with strong characters , a handful of very funny gags and an important central message ...", "like monster house , this animated feature taps into horror movie history to tell a story that 's both genuinely creepy and a lot of fun", "co-directors sam fell and chris butler will please a broad crowd , striking a consistent balance between morbid slapstick and fabulously droll wit .", "it 's rather gross in parts and a bit scary , but kids aged about eight and up will love its dark , ingenious humour and impressive stop-motion animation .", "ghoulish ? yes . funny ? you bet .", "the result is never dull , does n't overplay the peril , and respects the art of stop-motion so there is always something interesting going on visually .", "ingenious and wonderfully detailed , though better in its imaginative horror than its slightly too-broad comic knockabout .", "unequivocally original with breathtaking stop-motion animation -lrb- stay to the end of the credits for a very brief demo of norman 's creation -rrb- , `` MOV '' is easily the best animated film of the year .", "gorgeous animation and inspired set design help patch over a lacklustre script .", "comically macabre and beautifully intricate ... destined to become a halloween perennial .", "it 's as slow as a corpse , and half as interesting .", "it has its entertaining moments , but this paranormal stop-motion animated comedy-chiller cries out for more activity .", "few movies so taken with death have felt so rudely alive as MOV , the latest handcrafted marvel from the stop-motion artists at laika .", "i love that in a summer where some of the biggest and most hyped films have disappointed , a small under-the-radar charmer like ` MOV ' has the ability to surprise completely .", "MOV is one of the best films of the year , animated or not .", "the story may be thin , but the project , a feat of stop-motion animation , is made with generous care by the same impressive laika studio artists who conjured up the gorgeous coraline .", "as a summer movie for the kids : protect your progeny . nightmares and bedwetting are bad . but teaching your kids to take death casually is just bad parenting .", "MOV , despite some uninspired trailers , is exactly what it wants to be - a family movie that does n't pander , pushing boundaries without being inappropriate .", "-lsb- video essay -rsb- fans of aardman 's handcrafted style of animation will find much to enjoy in this wonderfully stylized stop-motion comedy-horror-thriller ...", "the tagline for the film reads `` you do n't become a hero by being normal , '' and the film mostly lives up to that assertion , but only up to a point .", "films like this are few and far between - emotional , exciting , and endearing .", "the impoverished story line and murky amber tone make for a slightly depressing experience .", "stories about real heroes of this kind are very rare in movies today , but this is one of those rare stories , and it is to be cherished .", "MOV has a unique look that 's equal parts old school and cutting edge .", "incredible animation unfortunately paired with a preachy , recycled story and unpleasant character design .", "good stop action animation but the storyline and characters all have a been there done that feel .", "... contains an appealing hero for kids and provides a nostalgic kick for adults .", "a sumptuously rendered and freakishly fun monster story for kids that should have been saved for halloween .", "the film avoids the pandering of many animated features , bringing an acerbic edge and a thrilling intelligence to its story .", "quite probably the most sophisticated stop-motion feature ever made .", "rankin/bass never made me feel so detached .", "... if you 're any kind of animation or graphic art fiend or even mild enthusiast , the visuals are sure to stagger you . MOV is an extrasensory delight for sure .", "with infinite warmth toward its characters , whip-smart humor and a plea for human compassion that feels especially necessary these days , MOV is a movie worth wrapping yourself up in", "as beautifully crafted as any pixar or aardman picture and as funny and emotionally satisfying as the best of them ... another laika triumph .", "new supernatural tale from the stop-motion studio behind coraline is a rollicking good time until its jarringly somber and earnest final act .", "truly , this is one animated film that would work just as well as a live-action movie .", "animation is stunning ... voice cast would n't need to be stellar if the writing were better . instead , film climaxes with a lengthy sermon on the psychology of bullying . whee !", "in any given year , it would stand as a lovingly crafted animated endeavor made up of equal parts creepiness and caring , mercifully spare in its use of potty humor and pop-culture references . in 2012 , it ranks as one of the year 's best .", "an animated marvel ... oscar worthy .", "this is the kind of grim fairy tale , equal parts midnight-movie macabre and family-round-the-hearth compassionate , that scars in all the right ways .", "butler called it `` john carpenter meets john hughes , '' and that does just about sum MOV up , though the actual math still feels a little fuzzy .", "a genuine emotional core at the heart of this glum young outsider 's world . especially as to just how otherworldly adults can seem in a solidly cartoonish universe from the ground up , and all those magnified bulging bellies and backsides surrounding him .", "an inventive and visually engaging melange of coraline , monster house and a nightmare before christmas that , its own small way , is also a salvo against modern-day sociocultural nastiness .", "might be described as the little brother of its predecessor from 2009 , ` coraline . ' it 's ruder , rowdier , somewhat dumber and a good deal more gross and obvious than its sister ; but smarter and more likable than the average movie .", "balances visual wit and genre reification with genuine pathos and generous humor", "i appreciate any flick that so capably merges survival horror with throwbacks to '50s b-movies .", "comes so damned close to perfection that many will be willing to overlook its obvious flaws . and that 's great .", "the look of the film is great , and the anti-bullying message works . this would be a fantastic introduction to scary movies for the kids .", "`` MOV '' took a huge risk on a scarier concept , and it paid off enormously .", "-lsb- a -rsb- clear-headed and touching film about finding your own purpose , accepting others as they are and , most importantly , forgiveness .", "MOV is created with stop-motion animation rather than computer animation , and so it has a much warmer more organic feel ... it 's almost as if the textures and tone make the story spookier .", "it 's filled with clever detail , both old-school and state-of-the-art .", "butler and fell are diehard fans of the horror genre and they have peppered the film with an endless array of subtle homages and gags .", "what works about `` MOV '' is its subtle interweave of the stoical and the heroic .", "`` MOV '' is brilliantly animated with an amazing cast and clever writing . it 's the animated film horror fans have been waiting for and the one `` frankenweenie '' is probably aiming to be .", "it delivers a potent , multipronged fable that touches on meaty themes , from bullying to dealing with death . it also delivers an especially resonant message about not succumbing to a cult of fear .", "though the narrative is slender , the stop-motion animation is impressive and the concept of a small-town hero original .", "clever and sweet , funny and spooky ... the best animated movie since toy story 3 .", "the quick-witted script and visual puns -lrb- check out norman 's bedroom -rrb- make this a zombie movie for kids , but one parents can enjoy .", "gleefully twisted fairytale about a small medium with large problems . if only the script were as deeply textured as the beautiful stop-motion animation .", "-lsb- a -rsb- darkly charming , at times forlorn , snarky little movie that both kids and their wised-up parents will love .", "it 's a major studio release with the charm and personality of a hand-crafted art project .", "beautifully rendered in 3-d stop-motion animation , the film combines ghoulishness and hilarity in a way that suggests evil dead 2 for the nickelodeon set .", "visually vibrant animation and terrific use of 3-d .", "if it stumbles a bit , it 's during an ending where the movie over-explains its themes , but that ending is also surprisingly emotional - and the multimedia animation technique and subtle use of 3d are pretty remarkable .", "in the wake of toon hits like brave and the ice age & madagascar sequels , this charming and often very funny piece is bound to get lost in the crowd . but in the chance it makes it to blu-ray/dvd by halloween , it 's a sound choice to pop into the player .", "the results are breathtakingly chilling , but it 's easy to wonder what heights MOV could have reached by doing one thing that well throughout , instead of 10 things at once , haphazardly .", "spooky story about an adolescent medium 's morbid `` sixth-sense '' encounters ... perhaps it should be pg-10 , not pg .", "a smart , contemporary monster movie that does n't talk down to its young or adult audience .", "-lsb- t -rsb- he animation is divine . highly detailed , purposefully designed , imaginatively executed , it is more vivid that reality itself , delighting in imperfections and sight-gags while also attaining heights of pure terror and from the most unexpected sources", "the script is smartly written , offering plenty of loving jabs to the horror genre ... it 's heart 's in the right place , even if that place happens to be outside of its ribcage", "what 's truly marvelous about the stop-motion fantasia MOV is the way it acknowledges adolescence as a daily horror show .", "i admire its character and production design , which achieve the kind of look that sets stop-motion animation apart from cgi .", "stop-motion ` MOV ' as ghoul as it gets .", "the folks at laika seem to be making an art form out of good-naturedly scaring the underoos off of pint-sized viewers while simultaneously delighting their parents .", "a thoroughly delightful movie that will entertain kids and adult horror buffs alike .", "for a movie grounded in fear , MOV stands out as a movie for audiences young and old that 's truly fearless .", "the originality of the script saves the experience , along with widescreen splendor , but there 's a lot about MOV that 's unsettling , and it 's not all tied to the boy 's interest in gore and ghostly pals .", "cool-but-creepy monster flick is too scary for little kids .", "not as daringly , disturbingly original as coraline , but the dialogue and visuals are peppered with wit ... most of the characters are one-dimensional stereotypes drawn without much affection .", "if `` MOV '' were a recipe , it would be roughly three parts funny , two parts tender , one part scary and one part sad .", "any misgivings about the plot are eased by the handcrafted visuals . catch it in 3d if you can .", "a really enjoyable amblin-like adventure comedy that will make for a fantastic halloween family double feature with the nightmare before christmas .", "from a visual standpoint , MOV has set the bar for stop-action animation .", "good movie but a horror movie for children ought to be more fun . kids also like creepy and missing is that nice dash of the willies they love so much .", "what was the last animated movie you could relate to german expressionist cinema , alfred hitchcock , night of the living dead and b-movie horror of the 1950s ? that 's right -- none .", "this swell stop-motion animation operates on a wavelength similar to that of laika 's debut feature , coraline , with assured character comedy counterbalanced by a solemn sense of macabre wonder .", "employs stop-motion animation to provide hand-crafted appeal to the clever and surprisingly scary story of a massachusetts town whose witch-hunting past catches up with it on its 300th anniversary .", "chances are most kids , and most adults , will find `` MOV '' perfectly horrible in the best possible way .", "if the story lacks the consistent psychological depth of coraline , another tale of an outcast finding solace in a parallel world , amends are made during the lovely climax .", "`` MOV '' is never less than entertaining , but you 'll have to follow it into a strange purgatory between two opposing genres .", "for the most part , it 's a brisk , funny and engaging movie that does genuinely exciting things with little bits of string and wire and such .", "a clear and solidly entertaining effort from start to finish . -lrb- full content review for parents also available -rrb-", "norman 's world is a visual and technical marvel , but the plot drags down in elongated chase sequences and a third act fizzle .", "the emotions -lsb- the film -rsb- raises are quite complex and mature and MOV handles them in a refreshingly unironic fashion .", "`` MOV '' finds a way to make this night of the living dead play essentially as a comedy ...", "`` MOV '' has plenty of rambunctious thrills to give the kiddies goosebumps , while older connoisseurs of stop-motion animation will appreciate the laika studio 's inventive visuals .", "the spirit of great stop-motion animators like george pal and ray harryhausen lives on in MOV , and not just as a ghost : it 's so real you could almost reach out and touch it .", "the story , an amusing if not especially fresh tale involving a witch and some puritans , is principally a vehicle for the movie 's meticulously detailed pictorial beauty , which turns each scene into an occasion for discovery and sometimes delight .", "it 's rare to find a movie brimming with this much talent that finds a way to so consistently kill its own narrative momentum .", "it 's not just pixar that kicks ass in animation . there 's magic in MOV , a small miracle in stop-motion 3d from the wizards at laika .", "it celebrates the gothic outsider in familiar fashion , though it does so with a wisdom and gentleness that burton seems to have lost .", "a colorfully macabre stop-motion animation comedy that embraces the sociopolitical allegories of george a. romero 's zombie pictures and reworks them into a feature-length episode of `` scooby-doo . ''", "like its hero , this smart , funny and beautifully animated film achieves great things by daring to be different .", "the inner horror fan is accessed via the child inside in this quirky stop-motion animation treat", "norman -lrb- kodi smit-mcphee -rrb- loves zombie movies , monster movies , and all other kinds of movies about dead people , the grosser and gooier the better .", "funny , frightening , exciting and extremely thoughtful about the nature of the conflict at the core of the film , MOV is a standout feature animation .", "bristling with energy , here 's a delectable 3d film that 's inventive , funny , devilishly ghoulish , loaded with splendid effects and a heartfelt story at its core", "i still liked MOV and it deserves to be seen for its wit and the work of its passionate animators .", "MOV demonstrates - as did films such as coraline , the corpse bride , wallace & gromit and the nightmare before christmas - that stop-motion animation has a texture and warmth that ca n't -lrb- yet ! -rrb- be replicated by computer .", "MOV is style , substance , -lsb- delicious -rsb- brains and a huge -lsb- cold dead -rsb- heart .", "kids who can handle the bumps should find much to love in this beautifully animated ramshackle parcel , one that 's packed full of detail , humour and positive messages .", "an extremely strange blend of genres and styles , MOV somehow manages to pull it off ... sort of .", "movies that set themselves firmly against bullying are great , but ones that play to horror fans are even better .", "MOV is ambitious and inventive , marvelously conceived , but the bulk of its value lies within the movie 's open-minded philosophy .", "the thrilling finale is a terrific blend of heartfelt emotion , surreal visuals and inventive ghostly spectacle , and the film 's timeless message is put across in wonderfully ghoulish and surprising ways .", "MOV treats its viewers with respect , and is all the more wonderful for it .", "it 's sort of like what the goonies might 've been , had the goonies been beautifully animated and not terrible .", "sweet , morbid , funny , clever , and occasionally brilliant .", "the only thing animated about it is the animation , which is so spectacular that you begrudge the script for not being equally inspired .", "i ca n't imagine any kid who enjoys halloween -lrb- i mean the holiday , not the movie -rrb- not being delighted by MOV .", "-lsb- c -rsb- inema is nothing if not a fluid creature that has the power to affect us based on any number of variables . the climactic action sequence of MOV is too busy from a visual standpoint , but its message shines loud and clear .", "is there such a thing as a gateway drug for horror films ? if so , MOV might be just the ticket .", "MOV , blessed with otherworldly animation , ca n't escape the demons of story .", "the world of blithe hollow exists in real space . the residents have real bags under their eyes , real bellies at their belt buckles . ugliness alternates with rapturous beauty ...", "blithe and hollow", "a morbid film but gleefully so .", "it may be the most fun you 'll have with ghosts and zombies all year .", "easily the most ambitious and creative animated film this year .", "simply put , it is no less than the most confident , fully realized , and just plain imaginative stop-motion animated feature since 1993 's holiday classic `` the nightmare before christmas . ''", "`` MOV '' expertly balances scary and funny elements of the story , with a surprisingly heartwarming conclusion .", "humor depends on character , context and continuity , none of which is in abundant supply in `` MOV . ''", "beginning with a zombie-movie-within-a-zombie-movie , this sweet retro paean to kids who love their monsters also has a message for kids about tolerance and bullying .", "an entertaining and visually attractive family-friendly story .", "laika , the animation outfit behind 2009 's marvelous stop-motion adaptation of neil gaiman 's coraline , scores another one for the dark side with this endearingly sweet and spooky-ookie ode to the living , the dead , and the in-between .", "a kids ' film horror fans can sink their teeth into ...", "kids will be very frightened and then end up sympathetic to zombies .", "... this is truly edgy for children 's fare .", "it 's probably a tad too scary for really small humans , but anyone from seven upwards will find MOV 's adventures firmly stick in their braaaiiinnns .", "charming stop-motion lumps chase a witch", "for moviegoers who tend to look down their nose at horror films , MOV offers proof positive that the genre that gets us screaming can also have real substance .", "a savvy , intelligent , well-crafted animated horror comedy for kids should also appeal to adult horror fans as well .", "... not so much creepy as simply unpleasant ...", "MOV proves that laika entertainment has some great talent , great ideas , and a bright future telling dark tales about uplifting and insightful life lessons .", "dismal , yet profound and pungent ... -lsb- m -rsb- ake -lsb- s -rsb- its points in ways more sharp and brutal than other ` children 's ' films ..." ], "summary": "beautifully animated and solidly scripted , MOV will entertain -lrb- and frighten -rrb- older children while providing surprisingly thoughtful fare for their parents .", "id": "771242305" }, { "movie": "once_upon_a_time_in_america", "reviews": [ "a lazily haullucinatory epic that means to encapsulate approximately 50 years of american social history into a single film .", "the perfect swan song for leone .", "pure cinematic bliss .", "hugely complex , achingly sad and splendidly gorgeous .", "at its restored 229-minute cut , leone in his directorial swan song proves in its first half-hour how he 's the master of cinematic hypnosis .", "masterfully edited .", "seeing what leone always intended is like getting your dirty glasses washed .", "the film seems to be too ambiguous for its own good . but somehow it holds together , and becomes a masterpiece , and a wonderful little exit piece for the genius mr. leone .", "while the godfather delivers certainty and a comforting dramatic resolution , MOV delivers a profound kind of mystery .", "every gesture is immediate , and every gesture seems eternal .", "leone is less interested in arousing an audience 's easier emotions than in presenting , at a dispassionate distance , the horror of two men warily walking toward each other on a tightrope suspended above the snake pit of their , deepest compulsions .", "handsomely mounted beyond a shadow of a doubt , but as the final statement in leone 's career , it mostly makes me think of how fantastic his westerns were .", "sergio leone 's cut is wonderful ! avoid the butchered theatrical version unleashed in the u.s. -- i actually walked out on that indecipherable mess .", "spaghetti western master sergio leone turns his eye toward an american gangster epic spanning 50 years with surprisingly positive results .", "a disappointment of considerable proportions .", "in a post the godfather world , for leone to even consider taking on an epically scoped new york gangster film took tremendous courage if not foolishness , coppola had set the bar at an impossible height .", "the film slips easily back and forth in time , dancing between the decades , often making the connection from one era to another solely by means of brilliant cuts that work like magic .", "sergio leone shot the film with such style , grace , and patience that it is impossible not to get caught up in the story .", "great scene follows great scene with inventive direction for almost four hours .", "as one would expect from leone , the film is a brilliant stylistic accomplishment .", "visually stunning , rich in detail , and filled with outstanding performances .", "a cinematic masterpiece .", "a obviedade da meia hora final compromete o impacto do filme - que , ainda assim , impressiona por sua escala \u0436pica , por suas elegantes transi\u0443\u0448es de tempo e \u0437timas atua\u0443\u0448es .", "i 'm as big a fan of misogyny as the next guy , but how did this hateful and often tasteless godfather ripoff become a classic ?", "haunting , thematically complex .", "there are times when we do n't understand exactly what is happening , but never a time when we do n't feel confidence in the film 's narrative .", "while leone 's vision still has a magnificent sweep , the film finally subsides to an emotional core that is sombre , even elegiac , and which centres on a man who is bent and broken by time , and finally left with nothing but an impotent sadness .", "sergio leone 's swan song is an undisputed masterpeice , a self-reflexive crime-gangster epic with towering performances from de niro and tuesday weld .", "here was a filmmaker who specialized in pure , blistering images , and this operatic earthiness just does n't play as well as the horrifying , salacious stuff .", "a work of tremendous intellectual depth and emotional range", "sergio leone explores the seamiest byways of urban americana through the story of two gangsters who start their partnership as brooklyn kids in 1921 and tragically end it in the late '60s .", "a striking tale of loyalty , love , friendship and ambition , once upon a time is a work of technical beauty and sombre emotion .", "just gasp at the scale , at the immaculate period reconstruction and at that incredible opening with its endlessly ringing phone .", "the film , photographed by tonino delli colli , is striking to look at , especially its new york street scenes , which were shot in manhattan , montreal and a back lot near rome . the acting is stunning .", "while sergio leone 's `` MOV '' is not quite the masterpiece that some make it out to be due to its excess , there are still plenty of things to recommend about it .", "adding 22 minutes only enhances leone 's brilliant saga of guilt and betrayal", "sad and vast yet compelling throughout , this remain leone 's most towering achievement .", "sergio leone 's languid , lovely and lengthy ode to lower east side mobsters -lrb- more specifically , mobster films -rrb- ..." ], "summary": "sergio leone 's epic crime drama is visually stunning , stylistically bold , and emotionally haunting , and filled with great performances from the likes of robert de niro and james woods .", "id": "13113" }, { "movie": "final_destination_2", "reviews": [ "fd2 , despite some imaginative fatalities , is less a movie than a slick video game .", "a gory good show for fans of r-rated horror mayhem .", "they 've run the idea to staleness with only two films .", "the movie mandates complete gullibility and vacuous attention in order to work on any level .", "it 's a soulless affair that has little of the panache and intelligence of 2000 's final destination .", "bloody , graceless and surprisingly effective .", "it 's a race to find out who 'll get into number three and this is good enough to rate one .", "the carnage should leave horror fans laughing , groaning and squirming in their seats .", "opens with a horrific traffic accident , which seems apt since what follows is the cinematic equivalent of rubbernecking .", "suffers from the same rancid dialogue and acting problems as the original but with a much funnier pulse .", "entertaining enough to make you forget that you 're watching little more than death warmed over .", "it has a sense of humor ... but in the end is overwhelmed by its silliness .", "it 's gory . it 's fun . it knows how silly it is .", "it 's some sort of classic .", "once you get past its supremely nonsensical title , MOV , a smooth and sharp slice of teen-gothic cheese , is kind of fun .", "the formula is so rigid that no matter how clever the variations , they 're still fundamentally predictable : any character around long enough to acquire a name is bound to wind up resting in pieces .", "innovative offings are about the only thing MOV has going for it .", "just a series of grand guignol skits played for mean-spirited laughs .", "where else have you seen a death scene that involved a leaking aquarium , a crane , pigeons , a mobile , a sheet of glass and nitrous oxide ?", "the movie is a real jolter for horror fans who like the charge of gory images but also demand a certain level of intelligence in the proceedings .", "the measure of it comes down to whether you can buy the idea of 100 minutes devoted to just how creatively people can be sliced , diced , broiled , crushed or dismembered .", "it 's like death and ingmar bergman sitting around playing six degrees of kevin bacon .", "it 's hard to root for a heroine ... who wails , ` it 's a sign ! nora and tim are going to be attacked by pigeons ! '", "surprisingly good of its kind ... if you like gross-out gore , that is .", "we do n't want logic or complex characterizations in a horror flick - we want to see violent death and dismemberment on the most in-ventive and disgusting scale imaginable , right ? on its own terms - elusive as they might be - ` MOV ' delivers", "the film does mostly follow its predecessor?s routine , a wise choice ; although it has become a less enticing , second lap around the same track .", "history has shown us - quite brutally at times - that sequels are often little more than shameless cash-ins . ` MOV ' conforms ruthlessly to this trend .", "ali larter is a fine performer and all , but when she 's the big celebrity guest star of a movie , you know there 's desperation in the air .", "same concept , more fun ... if you 're the kind of moviegoer that thinks creative carnage and watching frantic , screaming people die horribly is fun .", "the most well-rounded character in this movie is death himself .", "fully aware that this is a rehash of what was supposed to be a one-trick pony , the filmmakers have upped the ante by delivering some gratifyingly gruesome death scenes .", "premoni\u0437\u0433o 2 certamente n\u0433o \u0439 t\u0433o tenso quanto seu predecessor , embora seja igualmente divertido .", "it 's filled with scenes laden with irony and coincidence that the audience can anticipate and snicker at with just a bit of nervousness .", "gets more convoluted and thus less involving as it goes along .", "` make no mistake , without the slicing , dicing , filleting , and pureeing , this flick is a recipe for boredom . but like its predecessor , i was expecting a bloodless teen snorefest and got something several sanguineous degrees better ! '", "decent at best this is a lighter , campier , but gorier sequel to the original .", "now that the ground rules have been established for the final destination movies , the fun lies in seeing the inventive ways in which the writers dispatch the various characters in the sequel .", "gruesome , ridiculous , really bad waste of time .", "just the fact that it manages to keep the viewer involved despite the plot 's general ridiculousness makes it the most effective vancouver-shot horror flick in years .", "perhaps you ca n't cheat death in MOV , but apparently you can kill originality .", "albert einstein ... noted , ` god does not play dice with the universe . ' -lsb- t -rsb- he makers of ... final destination ... have ... decided that death likes to play mouse trap .", "one by one these people get bumped off , one by one the people in the audience laugh their asses off .", "even more than part 1 , the real stars of this movie are the elegantly choreographed freak accidents .", "... a wet wick of a film never able to ignite .", "one of the rare horror sequels that actually helps the movie that inspired it .", "if that 's what you came for , you wo n't go away disappointed .", "as grisly as the movie is , you have to admire its twisted invention and the way it plays the audience like a piano .", "once you get past the immediate question of how many ` final ' destinations there can be -lrb- what 's next , the really final % u2013 no fooling % u2013 destination ? -rrb- , this is an efficiently trashy horror flick of the creative death school .", "`` MOV '' is , in a word , a hoot .", "as a half-hour `` twilight zone '' episode , it might have been able to hold your attention , but at almost one-and-three-quarter hours , it just tests your patience .", "death pretty much takes a holiday .", "the killings are n't exactly slapstick , but they 're surprisingly close , and some of them turn out to be fiendishly funny .", "how the movie-going public has n't become bored senseless with such tediously low-standard , so-called scary movies is beyond me .", "if my mini-anxiety attack driving home following the film is any indication , MOV if nothing else , may just give you nightmares for days afterward at the mere thought of getting onto the highway .", "and when a group of folks narrowly escapes dying in a particular order , expect them to be knocked off , one by one , in the exact sequence they would have died originally . in other words , not only is death relentless , it 's also anal retentive .", "this sequel to the surprise 2000 horror hit final destination takes scream and squirm levels to new highs .", "MOV repeats just about everything from the first installment , only with tighter plotting and more enjoyable chills .", "what a novel conceit : take exactly what 's wrong with modern horror movies -lrb- i.e. boredom and predictability -rrb- and flip the proverbial script on 'em . the beauty of the final destination flicks is that anyone can die at any time - and often do .", "part of the fun here is anticipating the rube goldberg-style machinations by which death catches up with its targets .", "that there is an audience for a movie in which innocent people suffer hideous accidental deaths is troubling enough , but that a group of creative people chose to direct their energies on this repulsive spectacle simply provokes disgust .", "the filmmakers clearly set out to make a film that featured lots of footage of really disgusting annihilations , then threw together a haphazard script and hired a few hot actors to play the corpses .", "it 's sick , stupid stuff , and intentionally so .", "with most every ounce of effort and imagination going into figuring out ` creative ' ways to kill the various characters , the film is otherwise an empty exercise in brutal and sadistic horror humor .", "a sloppy and graceless but fun sequel that serves to illustrate the difference between having a great story and a good screenplay . still : a matinee idol in a world of false pin-ups .", "when a horror flick gets tedious , it 's doa .", "` MOV ' exploits the universal fear of death -- but it does so with a creepy , creative flair .", "... one of the most purely enjoyable films out there right now .", "with every killing played for comic effect , MOV negates terror because it 's not concerned with survival .", "it 's simple , but effective .", "it skillfully accomplishes the horror genre 's most basic goal : scaring the hell out of you .", "the sequel repeats exactly the far-fetched plot of the original , complete with elaborate chain-reaction deaths visited on the hapless characters and equally elaborate mumbo-jumbo about the fabric of death 's continuum to try to keep the suspense up .", "in director david r. ellis 's feeble and rancid offering MOV , we 're treated to more of the same nonsensical gory goings-on . this disjointed display of recklessness is bluntly overwrought , blatantly numbing and downright laughable .", "the moviegoers most likely to enjoy this aggressively stupid sequel will be those lovers of over-the-top gore effects who cheer out loud when a character is sliced into three pieces that slowly slide apart .", "let 's not even get into the awful script or the numbingly awful performances .", "though the complicated carnage is competently filmed and staged , the acting and the dialogue are often risible enough to make you wonder if the film is n't a spoof brought you by the folks from scary movie .", "if you think of all this as an elongated three stooges short with bones breaking and membranes splashing , maybe it will go down easier .", "you 'll gasp , you 'll flinch , you 'll cringe , but mostly you 'll scream .", "-lsb- an -rsb- uncomfortable combination of giggle-inducing absurdity and disgustingly graphic visions of death .", "it turns the squirm factor up to 11", "the inventiveness of the death scenes is n't quite enough to compensate for the dullness of the rest , but it comes close .", "it contains some of the most brain-dead people a screenplay has ever produced .", "definitely not for the squeamish !", "gory , disgusting and stupid . ... but , heaven help me , it 's entertaining .", "it does n't matter that the logic is nonexistent and the characters lack little more substance than paper dolls . this is a funny lark for lovers of cheesy horror .", "MOV '' is a real scream . this sequel to the surprise 2000 hit will jolt you yet tickle your funny bone with its audacity and grand flair .", "the premise is thin , the deaths are very graphic - this would be unbearable if it did n't add up to comic value .", "joyeusement morbide .", "while some of the slaughters one-up amanda detmer 's bus-to-body experience from the first movie , you 're basically just waiting for the next nonbeliever to die .", "MOV does n't pretend to be anything other than a robotic repeat of the first film .", "what is most shocking about director david r. ellis ' clever and extremely gory film is that it 's one of few horror sequels to outdo the original .", "takes a good idea from the first film and pounds it into the ground , not to mention decapitating , electrocuting , skewering , blowing up , incinerating , drowning and gassing it .", "the audience in a very direct way becomes that invisible cold wind that announces the arrival of doom -- MOV is almost interactive .", "`` MOV '' may not be on the level that its creepy , unnerving and effective predecessor is , but what it lacks in thrills it nearly makes up for in delicious-if gratuitous-absurdity ." ], "summary": "this sequel is little more than an excuse to stage elaborate , gory scenes of characters getting killed off .", "id": "13166" }, { "movie": "back_to_the_future_2", "reviews": [ "a rush job from filmmakers who should have left well enough alone .", "satirically acute , intricately structured and deftly paced , it is at heart stout , good and untainted by easy sentiment .", "an entertaining but hollow picture .", "another fantastic voyage in a thoroughly entertaining contraption .", "this is a sequel for sequel 's sake - all title , no content .", "the effects are even better than in the first film , and the actors certainly enjoy themselves in a baffling array of roles .", "fans of the original should relish going back to back to the future .", "glum , claustrophobic and often oppressive .", "a surprisingly oppressive , rapid-fire , noisy , gadget-filled action picture lacking the emotion of the original film .", "the most important point is that the new film is fun .", "after a few good scenes , the plot gets too tricky , and the filmmakers keep walloping us with one chase scene after another .", "a dismal and mean-spirited sequel to one of the best movies of the 1980s .", "one-half a very bad movie and one-half a very good movie", "the movie is fun , mostly because it 's so screwy .", "lackluster yet benign time-travel sequel .", "taken as a pair , the first two films ask a number of unresolved and unresolvable questions about causality , order , and intention ; and taken as a pair , they 're also a hell of a lot of fun .", "the one thing the film got right was the crushed effect the media 's growing omnipresence has had on human existence .", "see website for more details .", "solidly entertaining .", "an ambitious film that fails to recreate the warmth or excitment of the first back to the future .", "has the spirit , but it lacks the heart of the original film , and more importantly , much of the humor .", "the idea and the execution is so good that you could applaud .", "does n't surpass the original , but tosses a whole lot of gee-whiz gizmos and concepts at the screen . it 's a whole lot of fun .", "the latest must-see , peer pressure , carve the logo on your head , designer blue jean experience .", "cleverly plotted , but commercially overloaded .", "the film ultimately relies on too many cheesy make-up routines in which characters play their older -lrb- and female ! -rrb- selves which makes it not exactly the best movie in this series .", "part ii incorporates both the staple features of the first film and , at its base , a more mature theme . the film is ridden with questionable violence , and contains an awkward moment of oedipal frustration .", "unfortunately , the story is not as novel or as funny the second time around .", "it manages to be giddily and merrily mind-boggling rather than confusing .", "sure , -lsb- back to the future ii -rsb- has a clunky first act - which takes place in a hilariously overblown futuristic society - but the film knows just how , and when , to entertain us , and it does so in spades .", "there are definitely aspects of laziness to the script -- jokes which have n't been fully considered , simpleminded characterizations , subplots which have no life outside of the narrative -- but at the same time the movie has a spirit of exploration and daring ,", "zemeckis ' fascination with having characters interact at different ages of their lives hurts the film visually , and strains credibility past the breaking point , by forcing him to rely on some very cheesy makeup designs .", "by the end , you may feel that you 've just sat through a feature-length commercial for both part one -lrb- which has to be seen to make this sequel comprehensible -rrb- and part three -lrb- a trailer for it literally ends part two -rrb- .", "the film works best through its magnificent technical achievements -lrb- the visual effects received an oscar nomination -rrb- and the inherent charm of fox , lloyd and , especially , the delightfully menacing thomas f. wilson .", "the relatively quaint and simple time travel arc from bttf gets far more confusing and , in some ways , more fulfilling .", "it turned off most viewers , but fascinated me .", "a weak , convoluted attempt to cash in on the original 's charms .", "it 's impressive entertainment , and best of all , it never degenerates into spielbergian sentimentality : you can laugh , be thrilled and think without feeling embarrassed .", "uneven but still enjoyable , delivers a darker scenario than the ending of the first film would imply .", "` de volta para o futuro 2 ' \u0439 uma continua\u0437\u0433o \u0430 altura do original e merece ser visto - antes que o velho biff altere tudo novamente .", "more frantic , noisy , and overproduced than funny" ], "summary": "back to the future ii is far more uneven than its predecessor , but its madcap highs outweigh the occasionally cluttered machinations of an overstuffed plot .", "id": "23533" }, { "movie": "im_not_scared", "reviews": [ "-lsb- i 'm not scared -rsb- is a nicely crafted coming of age film by salvatores and he deftly shapes the story into an appealing package .", "connects everything in a lovely and terrifying way .", "salvatores ' classically illustrative treatment should open arthouse doors for the visually sumptuous production .", "it offers a fresh , stylish , and considerably more intelligent treatment of familiar genre material .", "i 'm not scared is n't a perfect film , but petriccione 's cinematography and cristiani 's performance make it well worth seeing .", "odd coming-of-age movie is gorgeously shot and emotionally involving , and features some truly exceptional performances from its young cast .", "a well-crafted cross-breed that utilizes cruel power-plays of both youngsters and adults to support the ominous mood of a first-rate thriller .", "a beautiful , exciting and challenging film about survival and a child 's cold realization that adults do n't always have the right answers .", "haunting and suspenseful .", "rana 's anxiety , stacked on top of that of the politically tense region , creates a pitched emotional drama made more gripping by its real-world setting .", "excels at interpreting the peculiar currency of childhood .", "nature and animal imagery dominate salvatores ' stark , moody film , which suffers from an overreliance on mutely beautiful imagery to express its themes .", "this spare and haunting italian thriller is about innocence lost , and how a small world can be made smaller when you 're alone in it .", "salvatores and director of photography italo petriccione 's gentle , meditative approach ... masks the menace laying within the seemingly peaceful village .", "proves once again how accomplished italian cinema is at seeing the world through a child 's eyes .", "the performances are all terrific . each one suggests an entire story that we can only glimpse .", "the director reminds us that not all films require a breakneck pace or ridiculous twists to be effective .", "this pleasant italian offering is a suspenseful and heart warming story of a heroic 10 year old boy who risks his own life to save another .", "by far the most gorgeous slice of sunlit sadism so far this summer , i 'm not scared also manages to be oddly sweet : a boy 's life , with treachery .", "hauntingly beautiful -- when it 's not harrowingly disturbing .", "cristiano is completely believable as michele , and , as the confused kidnapped boy who believes he has died and that michele is an angel , mattia di pierro is unforgettable .", "yet another sad tumble from promise into violation , from the white-heat of bliss to the ashes of banality .", "a well-mounted movie , i 'm not scared is good but it seems even better because of its evocative setting .", "it 's the kind of stomach-churning bedtime story that encourages us to be afraid , without ever being able to reassure us , like a parent , that it 'll all be okay in the end .", "both atmospheric thriller and heartbreaking coming-of-age tale .", "makes bland international entertainment out of specific historical trauma .", "a visually magnificent film in which the camera will help you remember just how the world looks to children .", "a beautifully shot and compelling blend of thriller and coming-of-age drama .", "watching it is like being lost in somebody 's richly moody campfire story .", "a reminder of true childhood , of its fears and speculations , of the way a conversation can be overheard but not understood , of the way that the shape of the adult world forms slowly through the mist .", "the primal intensity of emotions and settings takes the story well beyond generic elements .", "a collection of juxtapositions : bucolic countryside opposite jangling nerves . innocent childhood opposite a boy subjected to unspeakable horror . love opposite fear .", "a small movie but , like the thematically similar to kill a mockingbird , it leaves with you a sense of children 's vulnerability and their incredible resilience .", "salvatores remains admirably literal throughout the story , but his camera evokes all kinds of mystical possibilities .", "a good story told with energy and efficiency .", "an italian drama that restores the overused phrase ` loss of innocence ' to something meaningful and memorable .", "an accomplished and evocative thriller from italy .", "this is a different sort of horror film , where the known is infinitely more frightening than the unknown .", "unlike most boys in films these days , michele is n't your typically cloying blabbermouth . he is a quiet kid with a strong sense of imagination .", "... one of the purest movies you will see , unhindered by the conventions of cinema and built completely on the essence of feelings .", "what is excellently captured in salvatores 's film ... is the look and feel of those long-forgotten freeform summer days of childhood .", "the muddled motivations of the film 's adults to one side , scared scores -- and even soars -- when looking at the world through the eyes of its 10-year-old protagonist .", "delicado em seu retrato da inf\u00e2ncia , peca apenas pela conclus\u0103o frouxa , quando o pr\u00f3prio filme torna-se infantil .", "`` i 'm not scared '' suffers from ill-conceived staging and sluggish pacing . the film 's theme that altruism and ignorance are punished is a careless postulate drawn from a kidnapping spree in italy during the late '70s .", "this is a visually stunning film , an intelligently consummated marriage of genres resulting in a movie that is , if not unique , at least very special .", "harmoniously blends elements of a coming-of-age story , a crime drama and a mystery together in something of astonishing power and scope .", "... a fascinating , if frustrating , look at the relative lack of power and security and place a child has in our modern world .", "few movies evoke the wonder and terror of childhood as this film does .", "a lyrical throwback to such movies as ren\u00e9 cl\u00e9ment 's forbidden games -lrb- 1952 -rrb- and other works of the humanist european cinema of a half century ago .", "visually striking and exceptionally performed by old and young alike , i 'm not scared plucks the nerves .", "a remarkable italian drama that elevates a thriller to the artful level of deeply affecting drama .", "a middle-brow work posing as an art film .", "those who stick with it will be richly rewarded .", "this sounds like prime fodder for a fast-paced thriller , but the movie is actually something more special : a tender-hearted rumination on the loss of innocence among children .", "-lsb- it -rsb- first catches your attention -lsb- with -rsb- the crime ... but what you 'll remember long after is the terrible dilemma of a young boy being forced to face the real world .", "to watch gabriele salva-tores ' i 'm not scared is to be whisked into childhood .", "a terrific attempt to express a young boy 's moral awakening using intense colour schemes , wide-angle lenses and unforgiving close-ups", "the beautiful photography will have you booking flights to sicily , while the unsentimental rites-of-passage drama ca n't fail to touch your heart .", "brilliantly shows the frivolity of childhood and the joy of summertime -- an effectively contrasting background against which to set a kidnapping drama , you must admit .", "it 's the exchanges between cristiano and di pierro , children caught up in nasty business they ca n't understand , that hit you in the gut .", "a fierce , frightening and deeply moving study of childhood .", "an engaging italian film about a pint-sized hero in a poor small village where the adults are acting very strange and hiding something .", "with a graceful confidence salvatores has made a movie in which good and evil flow into each other as easily as day and night .", "cleverly structured and smartly acted .", "with its unique perspective on both the coming-of-age and thriller genres , the movie deserves to be seen by a wider audience than the one that normally frequents subtitled movies .", "well-scripted story about the end of innocence .", "with a taste for dark lyricism , the director delicately emphasizes the contrast between surface innocence and subterranean danger , and between grown-up secrets and boyhood bravery .", "acted in one flavor of broadly sliced prosciutto , and marred with familiar digital punctuation , i 'm not scared need n't be prepped for hollywood recycling -- it is its own homogenized remake .", "an eloquent coming-of-age tale about a young boy with uncommon courage", "offers a startling mix of genres : a memory piece drenched in nostalgia for a lost childhood , clothed in the form of a thriller that grabs you by the throat .", "... perfectly captures kids at play , as well as something related , but darker .", "a coming of age story with some very interesting twists . the film moves a little slowly but it does engage you .", "in the end , its elements come together with the kind of genuinely thrilling , deeply satisfying climax that even the better hollywood movies just ca n't seem to pull off anymore .", "a thriller of conviction , class and deceptive simplicity .", "both a spooky reverie about childhood and a slow-burning suspenser in which conspiracy and betrayal shake the foundations of a boy 's life .", "reminiscent of the live-action disney films of the 1970s - if wes craven directed one .", "a virtuoso piece of dark storytelling .", "loss of innocence ? yeah , maybe . but there 's so much more at play here that it seems absurdly reductionist to stick i 'm not scared with such a clich\u00e9d label .", "rivet -lsb- s -rsb- attention to its expertly woven storyline with appealing and believable characters about whose fate it is impossible not to care .", "a thriller , but a gorgeously lyrical one , an entrancing exercise in hyper-realism ... like a cinematic dream , hazy and suggestive , atmospheric and moody , almost operatic .", "certainly a heartfelt film but it 's also melodramatic and weighed down by heavy-handed direction and a sappy musical score .", "taps into the terrifying rush and excitement that accompanies a child 's loss of innocence : the dislocating realization that the world is not the safe , neatly ordered place it once seemed to be .", "lovely to behold and almost as lovely to reflect upon .", "salvatores draws strikingly unsentimental performances from his young actors , all making their film debuts , and juxtaposes the petty meanness of children with the calculated cruelty of desperate adults to haunting effect .", "at the bottom of it all lies nothing more than a by-the-numbers hollywood thriller .", "few movies purporting to chronicle loss of innocence convey its jolt and sadness as effectively .", "-lsb- it 's -rsb- so perfectly written and paced .", "... salvatores has made a film reminiscent of spanish masterpiece , the spirit of the beehive .", "agreeably gripping coming-of-age thriller .", "io non ho paura reveals the reasons children ca n't help but be afraid , despite the efforts of most adults to protect them .", "this satisfying adaptation of a popular novel is mostly an artistic reflection on youthful loss of innocence .", "although this visually dazzling movie from italy takes on many of the characteristics of a conventional thriller , it refuses to go for cheap , vicious shocks .", "powerfully and palpably capturing the isolation , confusion and unnameable fears of childhood ." ], "summary": "a well-acted and thrilling coming-of-age tale that captures a child awakening to the frightening world of adults .", "id": "770678574" }, { "movie": "mr_deeds", "reviews": [ "slackly directed , but there is n't a mean bone in its body -lrb- even the bad people are n't all that bad -rrb- , and its good nature rubs off on you .", "in `` mr. deeds , '' there is no ambition , no pretense whatsoever ; it is inexplicably proud of its forgettable nature . ''", "surprisingly sweet and , dare we say it , old-fashioned .", "it ranks among -lsb- sandler 's -rsb- better work . frank capra would not approve , but he 's not rolling in his grave , either .", "it 's not that the gags are n't funny here and there ... it 's that they do n't add up to a movie , or really pretend to .", "makes the capra film , labeled cornball by some even in 1936 , seem like shakespeare .", "while brill 's direction is crisp , herlihy 's jokes are n't much .", "a half-good update of mr. deeds goes to town .", "what 's next ? rob schneider , dana carvey and sarah michelle gellar in the philadelphia story ? david spade as citizen kane ?", "comically flat and flawed on many levels .", "adam sandler is to gary cooper what a gnat is to a racehorse .", "mr. deeds is , as comedy goes , very silly -- and in the best way .", "fortunately for sandler and audiences , it hits more often than it misses .", "mr. deeds is n't bad for an adam sandler film , which is as backhanded as a compliment can get .", "sandler has none of coop 's magic .", "with the sandler company in full force once again , one certainly ca n't accuse deeds of straying from formula . it 's the formula itself that is highly suspect .", "though it 's enjoyable , you ca n't help but feel the squandered situations and talent , flattened by mediocre writing and direction .", "the otherwise good-naturedness of mr. deeds , with its embrace of sheer goofiness and cameos of less - than-likely new york celebrities ... certainly raises the film above anything sandler 's been attached to before .", "anyone who has responded to the sweet side of adam sandler 's growing comic screen persona is sure to be delighted by mr. deeds .", "it 's crippled by a complete lack of chemistry between the two leads .", "sandler 's poorest film to date .", "there 's a price to pay for the guilty pleasure steven brill 's film affords -- a relentless process of dumbing down that tells the audience it 's cool to be a doofus .", "the plot is moth-eaten , the jokes lame , the action sequences idiotic to disgusting , and the whole adds up -lrb- or subtracts down -rrb- to a complete waste of time .", "no amount of spastic-colon jokes , cartoon violence or good-buddy cameos -lrb- al sharpton , john mcenroe -rrb- can distract from the fact that gary cooper -lsb- sandler -rsb- ai n't .", "a very stupid film that 's almost watchable but does n't really have any reason to exist .", "when you 've already made something as execrable and universally loathed as little nicky , why stop there ?", "a remake so bad it will make your gums bleed . orphanage fires are funnier .", "the film delivers as promised on most levels ; however , it does help to be an adam sandler fan to begin with .", "the only saving grace about mr. deeds is its functioning as a wise and timely cliche ' : money ca n't buy everything -- especially for a clunky comedy with no spirit or no spark .", "... perpetuates -lsb- sandler 's -rsb- penchant for idiotic , schoolboy humor , misunderstood-nice-guy characters , and plots which insult the intelligence of anyone over 12 .", "he 's still the same persona in every movie .", "adam sandler comedy is more of -- and less than -- his previous `` little guy makes good '' films .", "sandler strives for an awkward blend of sight gags , comic violence and smarmy sentiment that might even have sent capra himself retching to the nearest lavatory .", "it 's not his best , but it is far from his worst .", "sandler -lrb- reminiscent of his wedding singer character -rrb- is sweet , touching and very funny .", "sandler is ready to be himself again , which means veering between his usual devilish savant and a newer post-adolescent gentleman .", "the story is predictable , the jokes are typical sandler fare , and the romance with ryder is puzzling .", "sandler has never seemed less inspired and merely goes though the motions in a bland movie that limply recycles bits from his other films .", "a surprisingly funny movie .", "sandler 's gonzo charisma keeps this weightless souffl\u00e9 from levitating too often out of the laugh zone .", "an unfunny , careless piece of trash riddled with directorial , editing and acting mistakes .", "perfunctory is the word .", "capra 's deeds was n't all that good to begin with , and modernized casting here does n't improve on it .", "boba . sosa e innocua hasta morir ...", "no good deed goes unpunished - and punishment you shall feel after watching mr. deeds .", "adam sandler is not funny . nothing he does is funny . his movies , with a couple exceptions , are n't funny .", "nothing in it adds up logistically or comedically . it appears to have been photographed by volunteer carwash attendants .", "mr. deeds has more impromptu punchouts than a source awards get-together .", "although the premise opens doors to many comic opportunities , the film resorts to cheap , random jokes that do not grant sander the right material to explore .", "if this disposable tissue has one wild card , it 's john turturro , who 's simply fab as a spanish butler with a foot fetish .", "if your expectations are very low , there are some decent laughs and the film makes for a guilty pleasure .", "if you 're over 25 , have an iq over 90 , and have a driver 's license , you should be able to find better entertainment .", "i may be too old for adam sandler movies , but it seems to me that he 's getting too old for them , too .", "mostly terrible , a shambles of a comedy that looks as if it was shot by a tabloid news crew .", "this is a terrible movie in its own right , tasteless and condescending -- if sandler 's character is an everyman , than the everyman of today is a boorish jackass .", "fans can rejoice that mr. deeds is a close third behind happy gilmore and the wedding singer on sandler 's list of quality credits .", "a witless and wafer-thin remake .", "sandler 's worst effort to date .", "sandler does n't do much we have n't seen before , although he 's wisely scrapped the annoying showboating he did throughout `` little nicky , '' in which he insisted on trying to upstage everyone else onscreen .", "it 's a film that is n't there , 91 minutes of celluloid without a movie .", "neither charming nor funny and risks disappointing even the most ardent sandler fans .", "comparing frank capra 's mr. deeds goes to town and adam sandler 's new remake is like viewing a rolex against a cheap knockoff .", "... nicely fills the void between special-effects blockbusters and predicatable thrillers while still being something you can send your kids to .", "it 's neither as sappy as big daddy nor as anarchic as happy gilmore or the waterboy , but it has its moments .", "what 's surprising about mr. deeds , a remake of capra 's mr. deeds goes to town -lrb- 1936 -rrb- , is that it tries to be as earnest as its predecessor .", "capra 's ... common crowds too often degenerate into mobs ... . we like the mild mindlessness of the re-make a bit better .", "while it is n't nearly the equal of the original , sandler 's deeds is an entertaining time-waster with a couple of great laughs and many more chuckles .", "no longer can a classic movie go silently into the volumes of film history without someone thinking up a sequel or remake .", "films like big daddy and the waterboy aggravated me by being actively obnoxious ; mr. deeds is merely bland .", "typical adam sandler fare , but pretty entertaining nonetheless .", "this heavy-handed , dimwitted , dumbed-down version ca n't decide whether it 's a parody , a slapstick comedy or sappy romance . rent `` mr. deeds goes to town . ''", "directed with the panache that only the creator of the mighty ducks can bring to your project , mr. deeds is a poorly made and charmless affair .", "frank capra played this story straight . but the 2002 film does n't really believe in it , and breaks the mood with absurdly inappropriate ` comedy ' scenes .", "mr. deeds '' oddly enough is enjoyable while it follows capra 's outline . only when it goes its own way in the third act does the comedy fall apart .", "the story is only a loose thread formed to link a string of comedic pearls .", "this movie would n't be worth paying to see even if you had 40 billion dollars .", "never decides whether it wants to be a surreal farce , a satire , a romance , an homage or all of the above .", "it virtually defines a comedy that 's strongly mediocre , with funny bits surfacing every once in a while .", "it 's all a saggy , inept mess .", "utterly predictable , thoroughly sentimental and -- worse -- not all that funny .", "how could adam sandler , of all people , remake capra ? well , shoddily , as it happens .", "this is a remake which will vaguely satisfy the sandler faithful and have capra fans gritting their teeth .", "sandler barely expends any energy trotting out the `` average dude who shakes up stodgy high society '' schtick , and director steven brill and scripter tim herlihy follow lazy suit .", "the star and his numbskull cronies piss on capra 's grave with acrid insincerity .", "the end result is n't dreadful , but it is patchy .", "pretty awful , but teen sandler fans may like it .", "just another sandler movie , nothing more , nothing less .", "click to read review", "peter gallagher must 've been hard up for cash .", "anyone with an iq over 85 should stay away .", "there are about four laughs in the thing , and that 's not good when you 're adam sandler ...", "just another dumbed-down comedy , although it aspires to social satire", "the problem is that sandler just is n't as fresh or as funny as he used to be .", "so incompetently filmed that they ca n't even manage the production values of dude , where 's my car ?", "nothing about this movie works .", "` god help us , but capra and cooper are rolling over in their graves . '", "sandler 's still owns the deeds to sweetness , sentimentality , and sitcom skill .", "sandler ai n't no gary cooper . with his rumpled clothing , boorish behavior , and his circa 1952 jerry lewis haircut , he comes across more as a pathetic 30-something who never got past hanging out in shopping center parking lots with his `` buds . ''", "there 's a sense of genuine , naive good will accompanying the material that almost , but not quite , makes up for the far more than occasional lapses of successful comedy .", "it is a movie that is so dumb it 's funny . unfortunately , it is also a movie that will make you wish you went to see something else .", "the second tier performances in mr. deeds are worth the price of admission .", "overall , ` deeds ' proves that sandler 's comedy is showing it 's age . while not as horrid as ` little nicky , ' ` deeds ' remains outside of sandler 's circle of great comedies .", "returning aggressively to his formula of dimwitted comedy and even dimmer characters , sandler , who also executive produces , has made a film that makes previous vehicles look smart and sassy .", "mr. deeds is not really a film as much as it is a loose collection of not-so-funny gags , scattered moments of lazy humor .", "too whitewashed and generic ... it 's like watching chris rock in bad company .", "` if you 've seen the original ... steer clear of the new knockoff , lest your heart be broken . '", "let 's cut to the consumer-advice bottom line : stay home .", "there 's nothing funny about this .", "so painfully and relentlessly unamusing , so chockablock full of desperate mugging and witless silliness where truly funny stuff should be , that it appears to be work of people who never made another movie comedy .", "adam sandler is an extremely likable man who knows his limitations and works within them .", "it 's not just that the movie itself is wicked awful , it 's that mr. deeds brings out the worst in adam sandler .", ". . there were a lot of elements in the film which just did n't work at all . .", "look who 's out of the courtroom and on the big screen in what may be the worst performance of her career , it 's alleged kleptomaniac winona ryder !", "a surprisingly sweet picture , it is n't quite funny enough to be able to recommend it , but it is n't a bad film .", "it 's filled with charm .", "this is very much of a mixed bag , with enough negatives to outweigh the positives .", "i 've never seen -lrb- a remake -rrb- do anything as stomach-turning as the way adam sandler 's new movie rapes , pillages and incinerates frank capra 's classic ...", "mr. deeds goes to town updated for the big daddy crowd .", "foul , putrid cesspool of a movie .", "the people who made this movie ... -lsb- crammed -rsb- so many product placements into the action that you feel like there should be an 800 number at the bottom of the screen .", "yes , the acting is atrocious -lrb- possibly the worst i 've seen this year -rrb- , the romantic chemistry non-existent and the morality struggle endured by ryder 's reporter laughably manufactured .", "this is sandler running on empty , repeating what he 's already done way too often .", "people who just call 'em as they see 'em need only note that this remake of one of frank capra 's most famous pictures is a perfectly dreadful film and leave it at that .", "see it with someone you love ... or at least someone who enjoys sandler .", "a lost puppy of a movie aimlessly in search of approval .", "it 's all over . we 're doomed . hightail it to a bomb shelter , if you can find one . otherwise , just insert your head between your legs and kiss your ass goodbye .", "sandler is back to form in a movie that has its share of over-the-top moments , but is likable for its underlyingly sweet love story .", "you 'll laugh , hard too , and in this world , why would you want to turn down an opportunity like that ?", "anyone who can count to five -lrb- the film 's target market ? -rrb- can see where this dumbed-down concoction is going .", "frank capra 's 1936 classic mr. deeds goes to town is bashed senseless by adam sandler 's particular brand of classless bombast .", "the picture is a primer on what happens when lack of know-how mixes with lack of give-a-damn .", "what would i do if i inherited forty billion dollars ? first of all , buy out adam sandler 's contract and put him in more movies like ` the wedding singer . '", "mr. deeds could have used another round of editing and some beefed up comedy", "`` mr. deeds '' is suitable summer entertainment that offers escapism without requiring a great deal of thought .", "formuliac , but fun .", "i loved the laughter , but i hated the boredom in between the laughs .", "turturro is fabulously funny and over the top as a ` very sneaky ' butler who excels in the art of impossible disappearing/reappearing acts", "it 's sweet , harmless , dumb , occasionally funny and about as compelling as a fishing show .", "lacks almost everything that made the 1936 movie an enduring classic : idealism , heart , social and political savvy , convincing romanticism , robust ensemble acting and humor .", "` mr. deeds ' turns out to be the perfect vehicle for sandler , a common man 's comedian who fits quite nicely in a farce celebrating common wisdom .", "a leftover casserole of sandler 's previous films in which his performance seems detatched and bored .", "a surrealistically bad movie , one of those astonishing clunkers you watch agape at its awfulness .", "i 'm just too bored to care .", "the latest adam sandler assault and possibly the worst film of the year .", "i ca n't recommend it except to die-hard sandler fans , and even they will have to admit that this is one of his lesser efforts .", "all in all , this baby makes you ever more eternally grateful for amc and tcm on the cable . that 's where the real movies have gone to hide .", "the projectors in the theater practically shut down with boredom .", "it 's still adam sandler , and it 's not little nicky . and for many of us , that 's good enough .", "you do n't have to be a tree-hugging pacificist to be sickened by the constant sight of sandler putting his fists and boots to someone , or of others imitating his psychotic behaviour .", "in addition to the lame retreading of the original film 's underlying fish out of water plot , the performances help sink this effort .", "it 's nothing more than a money maker for the filmmakers and a pointless star vehicle for sandler .", "it has finally happened , a small miracle of miracles : i actually like an adam sandler comedy .", "a stink bomb of a movie ." ], "summary": "this update of capra does n't hold a candle to the original , and even on its own merits , mr. deeds is still indifferently acted and stale .", "id": "11234" }, { "movie": "iraq_in_fragments", "reviews": [ "because -lsb- director -rsb- longley uses a technique that forgoes interviews and voiceover commentary in favour of observation and revealing juxtapositions , his movie puts you both in the chaos and just above it .", "what MOV lacks in fresh reportage or sending a political message , it makes up for with unique insight .", "the first third is so intense -- a masterpiece in miniature , really -- that audiences may not have much emotion left for the rest .", "MOV ... appears to be asking a simple , but often unmentioned , question : oh yeah , what about the people of iraq ?", "bafflingly , the threats in an occupied country consistently come from within , not without or overhead : what has the effect of the us occupation and hussein 's vicious rule been on these people ? offers a fragmented , obscuring picture of iraq .", "too bad james longley could n't have broadcast this insightful documentary immediately after he shot it in 2003 and 2004 .", "visually , the director 's flair is impressive . but longley 's clear intention of using children 's faces to better tug at our heartstrings would be more admirable if it did n't feel as shamelessly staged .", "the film is both gritty and lyrical , showing how tanks share the baghdad streets with donkeys as well as the quiet beauty of the kurdish countryside .", "the film is terrific at providing a kaleidoscopic sense of life unfolding , with imaginative editing and colors that seem to leap off the screen .", "the technique is more expressionistic than naturalistic , but it makes the film far more vivid and emotionally satisfying .", "a timely , lyrical and candid look at daily life in a post-invasion iraq .", "in the end , the movie is more than the sum of its fragments . the montages are intense , the images ravishing . the movie is tactile . when you finally feel this place , you understand just how little you understand .", "a heartbreaking assessment of iraq 's reconstruction from the point-of-view of its intended beneficiaries .", "james longley 's haunting , oblique film , MOV , presents a collage of images , sounds and characters in an intimate , partial portrait of an unraveling nation .", "working with v\u00e9rit\u00e9 patience and no scripted narration , longley looks and listens , with nonjudgmental sensitivity , as sunni , shiite , and kurdish iraqis explain their colliding , intractable , invaded worlds , and their rising frustrations .", "it 's head and shoulders above the rest in its clarity , intimacy and poetry , and it illustrates the dreadful predicament america has created in iraq , which drove so many angry people to the polls on tuesday .", "people talk about the country being split into pieces , but there 's not much shown to articulate how , when or why that is the case .", "brings back nothing journalistically substantial from the war front .", "raw and powerful .", "a visually startling , patiently observed and deeply humanist film .", "style comes occasionally close to taking precedence over its heartfelt humanistic intentions , yet the film 's deep respect for human resilience and hope ultimately renders cynical accusations of touristy condescension moot .", "an engrossing award-winning documentary about the chaotic and bloody situation in iraq as seen through the eyes of sunnis , shiites , and kurds .", "-lsb- director -rsb- longely 's real strength lies in his ability to draw from the observances of children .", "-lsb- director -rsb- longley shows a poetic , almost elegiacal artistry . after two years , he might not understand the iraqi people fully , but they have won his heart and mind .", "visually arresting and deeply disheartening , james longley 's impressionistic documentary explores the pain of a shattered country by homing in on a few tiny shards .", "longley 's access to public and private developments in the wake of the u.s. invasion of iraq is often stunning .", "the imagery is poetic and beautiful at times . meanwhile , the haunting legacy of the documentary is that people still are being pulled apart by religious differences and ethnicity .", "james longley 's MOV is a visually stunning documentary that looks at that country through the eyes of its own people -- a novel enough approach at a time when everyone else has had their say .", "told in tones both wondrous and horrible .", "... a beauty and a richly textured palette rarely seen in such video documentaries .", "watch the evening news and you get a view of iraq from high above the wreckage . in this fascinating doc , director james longley shows us how things look on the ground .", "james longley 's sundance-winning documentary puts the camera uncomfortably close to scenes of abuse , violence , terror , cynicism and racial hatred amid the rubble of u.s.-occupied iraq . but at the same time , its texture is frequently beautiful .", "there are embedded journalists in iraq , and then there is `` MOV '' director james longley .", "there are some striking images , but the film is less useful for not having any commentary on the confused events depicted .", "what makes MOV so distinctive is its impressionistic and at times lyrical imagery .", "a work of beauty as well as horror , MOV is one of the best of the many documentaries to come out of that ruined country . it 's powerful , enlightening and necessarily depressing .", "in a series of stunningly filmed sequences , longley and his camera seek out the real lives outside the frame of conventional tv news , and he succeeds in creating both compelling journalism and superb images .", "there 's something of a period quality to this beautifully photographed documentary snapshot of iraq in transition .", "the film provides specifics , details of hectic life among ruins , faces filled with dread , desire , and defiance .", "... this one demands to be seen .", "in addition to the interesting camera work , the documentary 's undeniable appeal comes in how close longley gets to the characters , who are all male . they speak openly of the past , the u.s. forces , the uncertain future .", "a vivid , poetic evocation of life in post-invasion iraq that works both as impressionistic collage and candid portraiture .", "of all the documentaries to come out of the current war , MOV is the least violent and perhaps the most disquieting .", "documentary filmmaker james longley -lrb- gaza strip -rrb- has a flair for cinematography and editing and a poetic sensibility that informs both these talents .", "much of what is captured will be familiar for viewers of frontline or other recent documentaries .", "when the war is long gone , this deft construction will persist in relevance , if not for what it says about the mess we once made , then as a model of canny cinematic construction .", "what justifies the film , and makes it compelling , is the corresponding subjectivity of its iraqi narrators , who lend this movie not only their voices but their eyes and ears .", "shot over three years , this is one of the more considered and insightful iraqi documentaries - although some may find its stylistic contrasts a little self-conscious and distracting .", "a remarkable example of the conjunction of a burningly topical and newsworthy subject with a brilliant filmmaker .", "MOV opens a window on the world of the war 's casualties in a narrative triptych that 's profoundly haunting and often ravishing .", "the frequently gorgeous footage , culled from some 300 hours shot over a two-year period , provides ample compensation for any narrative .", "this visually sumptuous movie richly deserves the cinematography , editing and directing prizes it carried off at sundance last january .", "a documentary of stunning immediacy and marvelous images ...", "although the film does n't make any earth-shattering discoveries , it at least attempts to put a face on an ` enemy ' that few americans have considered .", "longley 's journalistic discipline is as impressive as his artistic eye : he 's content to show , not tell .", "longley is a strikingly effective director", "the film is unusual among iraq documentaries for its impressionistic , frequently gorgeous cinematography and for its structure : it 's split into thirds , one about a sunni -lrb- the boy -rrb- , one about a shiite mob , and one about the quiet kurds up north .", "the struggles -lsb- documentary filmmaker james longley -rsb- recorded in his dazzling MOV are n't battlefield conflicts , but the personal , religious and political efforts of iraqi citizens to reassemble their shattered lives .", "director james longley does n't say anything new about the politics of iraq , but he leaves us with a vivid impression of its people , its places and its seemingly irreconcilable contradictions .", "by turns tender and shocking , MOV strikes a rare balance between impromptu fluidity and feature-film narrative control , in the process resisting both partisanship and predigested points of view .", "james longley 's devastating documentary MOV has neither narration nor obvious political ax to grind , but it manages to tell us something about iraq that we are n't getting or ca n't get from standard news coverage .", "we 're used to seeing iraq through the lens of washed-out digital video , so it 's striking how sumptuous and elegantly-composed the shots are in `` MOV . ''", "MOV sometimes feels random , but it is a well-crafted , thoughtful study of the dueling divisiveness and hope that will define the region long after foreign troops leave .", "stands up as a classic war documentary , in its unusual poetic form and by its extraordinary access to the lives of ordinary iraqis .", "-lsb- an -rsb- evocative , heartbreaking documentary told from three disparate but equally compelling perspectives : the sunnis , shiites and kurds ." ], "summary": "a stylistically bold , humanist take on the difficulties of post-invasion iraq .", "id": "157954279" }, { "movie": "paprika", "reviews": [ "satoshi kon 's glorious visuals are the driving force of a rather strange and surreal sci-fi experience that 's often hard to follow .", "in MOV , a gorgeous riot of future-shock ideas and brightly animated imagery , the doors of perception never close .", "sit back and enjoy the detail-rich visuals while appreciating the unfettered imagination at work in constructing them .", "an animated fever dream sure to haunt long after the lights have come up .", "all i can say about MOV ... is : whoa ! and , i mean that in a good way , a very good way .", "could -lsb- director satoshi -rsb- kon 's fanciful cure for the blockbuster blues have come along at a better time ?", "MOV tries to do too much and does n't do any of it especially well .", "despite the jumble , kon 's eye-popping , surreal mastery of the japanese dream is awakening .", "the anything-goes dream logic is confusing , and the question of why , late in the game , the nighttime fantasies start becoming real , is left mostly unexplained .", "a spectacular experience , full of bizarre , frightening and beautiful dream logic .", "... the experience is as beautifully baffling as any that you 'll have wide awake .", "-lsb- a -rsb- dizzying , ambitious excursion into the subconscious .", "kon rarely cares about the stagnant old real world that his films so frequently transcend . his characters fuss endlessly about fantasy 's gripping , consuming power , but he himself seems blissfully unconcerned with where his gorgeous illusions take them .", "the movie keeps flooding us with strange , scary imagery .", "soulless characters in remarkably flat animation talking epistemological gobbledegook among watered-down psychedelia .", "with a conventional invade-dreams/bend-reality plot , it 's a bit of a bore .", "watching anime is like hearing a foreign language in which you are fluent but not native : however much you believe you understand , you can never be sure you totally get it .", "offers both eye candy and mind candy -- it 's a thoughtful visual treat .", "solely as a magical mystery tour of sights , sounds and surrealism , however , it 's a unique animated blast to the senses .", "MOV fills me with such overwhelming enthusiasm as to leave me gibbering .", "its visual collision of mindscapes , films within films and dreams within dreams cascade into a dizzying rush that easily washes away the humdrum dialogue and somewhat sketchy plot .", "the animation shows brilliant imagination by the filmmakers .", "plays like the end and the beginning of japanese cinema : it contradicts itself and contains multitudes .", "though it 's not quite up there with the cream of anime feature films , MOV is a distinctive , quality addition to the genre .", "reality and fantasy leak into each other in short-circuiting jolts in kon 's cosmos", "i ca n't claim to have followed the story line of MOV any better than i did pirates of the caribbean , but this mind-blowing , adult animated adventure from japan is half the length and maybe five times as much fun .", "MOV expands your notion of what animation can achieve . you wake from it as if from a dream : spooked , provoked and exhilarated .", "smart , electrifying , and proudly unhinged , this japanimated gem definitely belongs in the fold , and might even win over a few older art-house patrons with its very adult , transhumanist premise of interactive dream therapy run amok .", "my advice ? enter your own dream state , and surrender your brain .", "this is without question a unique and superior achievement .", "whatever it is you 're looking for -- comedy , horror , parades of singing frogs and dancing kitchen appliances -- you 'll find it in satoshi kon 's anime adventure , a jaw-dropping feat of imagination .", "the latest eye-popping and surreal anime from satoshi kon -lrb- tokyo godfathers -rrb- .", "MOV offers a breathtakingly surreal journey . it 's a film that may serve up mass destruction and ponder some nightmarish scenarios , but underneath it has a warm humanity and humor that 's utterly endearing .", "does n't do much to free itself from the trappings of the anime genre , which one supposes is n't necessarily a bad thing for actual anime fans . but for the rest of us ? that 's more nightmare than dream come true .", "a relentlessly hallucinatory experience that only just manages to leave a dozen or so left-brain cells intact , enough to more-or-less support a plot .", "as a showcase of the limitless power of the imagination , MOV never fails to delight the eye and engage the mind . we are never sure exactly whom we should be cheering for , or even if we 're rooting for real characters or their avatars .", "this one jacks you into cyberspace , involving you psychically and physically .", "style 10 , substance , maybe 2 .", "what keeps the picture percolating is the stream of hallucinatory images , both nightmarish and oddly alluring , that kon conjures .", "the movie bombards us with so many overlapping fantasies , it 's hard -- and in many ways , beside the point -- to keep up with the plot . it 's best appreciated by assuming something of a dream state ourselves and enjoying the giddy flow .", "MOV stays in your mind as pure freedom and pure exhilaration .", "MOV , while certainly not suitable for kids , manages to capture the childlike , helter-skelter chaos and curiosity of the human mind better than any other animated film .", "a masterly example of japanese anime , intended for adults .", "manages to create a comfort zone for both tarzan and freud .", "the mostly 2-d animation is top-notch quality , and it is a fascinating idea .", "visually fantastic , logically flawed and incredibly dull . just like your friend 's dreams .", "MOV adds quite a dash of spice to the anime genre and offers a fun ride .", "MOV is yet another incoherent anime that 's more interested in its warmed over visuals than in indulging in any kind of storytelling or character work .", "MOV is for dyed-in-the-wool anime fans only . others will likely see it for what it is -- a pretentious piece of animated nonsense .", "-lsb- satoshi -rsb- kon mixes visual beauty with disorienting perspectives for a cautionary tale about machine-influenced soullessness and the persistent japanese popular love of the cute .", "some have suggested that taking drugs first would enhance the experience , but really , i do n't see how hallucinogens could make the movie any weirder than it is .", "you could sit through the film two or three times to nail down the details of the story , but the film is n't interesting enough to warrant a second look .", "for an alternate set of exciting alter egos , see satoshi kon 's MOV , a brilliant anime feature .", "that the supposed bad guys are actually intent in preserving the sanctity of dreams adds to the disorienting exhilaration of kon 's best work yet .", "you stagger out of this one both grateful and ready for a deep and dreamless nap .", "MOV is a fertile delta of forms and colors , wildly inventive , shape-shifting , jiggly with fat jokes .", "while the story may make this kon 's least inspired film , the animation is his most inspired .", "is it sci-fi ? fantasy ? idiocy ? mostly it 's a droning mess -- pretty to look at but confounding to the point where you just do n't care any more .", "the \u00fcber-dream is both gorgeously animated , in kon 's shimmering , hyperreal style , and sickeningly scary .", "the animated blast of the summer - a rowdy , racy , brilliantly executed sci-fi psychedelic head trip that may just blow you away .", "a slick , accessible and thoroughly entertaining piece of japanese anime .", "fiercely provocative , MOV shames hollywood 's use of animation as a kiddie pacifier .", "kon is a spectacular filmmaker , although not quite of the same warm , humanistic nature as hayao miyazaki .", "as valentines to the power of cinema , big dreams and the inner child go , it does n't get much more exhilarating than this .", "just go with it , drink in the rich and innovative images , and wish that you could remember your own dreams as well as you 'll remember `` MOV . ''", "simply the most refreshing piece of cinema i 've seen this year .", "an intelligently written piece that only falters during the finale , where kon sacrifices the film 's logic for an explosive ending .", "the idea of cinema as irrepressible bogeyman might be kon 's own confession .", "becomes far more enthralling ... the more one simply surrenders to the awe-inspiring beauty of kon 's images of flesh , metal and unhinged mental delusions .", "overflowing with dazzling images , many of which walk that thin line between beautiful and terrifying .", "we 're so used to current cautious commercial formulas , it comes as an enjoyable shock to see something like satoshi kon 's japanese film , MOV , which reminds us that with animation , almost anything you can imagine can be represented .", "kon marries visual dazzle to unblinking pop existentialism in ways that make viewers ' heads hurt so good .", "-lsb- an -rsb- above-average japanese anime sci-fi pic .", "... a distinctive experience .", "the standard stuff of b-movies comes to life under kon 's playful imagination .", "as a purely sensory experience MOV is a spicy dish , but one that does n't deliver much nourishment for the mind .", "if less thematically dazzling than millennium actress , it 's suffused with a giddy sense of the seething , mutable landscape of the mind .", "especially for fans who understand how movies are put together , MOV grabs you from the get-go in a series of flowing images and transitions that follow the skewed logic of a dream , jumping from a three-ring circus to a swinging jungle vine .", "if an animated scattershot clusterfuck tweaking under the influence of a determinedly japanese mindset sounds like a good way to substitute a cinematic drug experience for the real thing , then go right ahead to satoshi kon 's overflowing excess .", "a film that should appeal to more than just devoted fanboys .", "kon signe son effort le plus ambitieux \u0155 ce jour et rejoint les katsuhiro ` tomo et hayao miyazaki dans les rangs des cin\u00e9astes d'animation les plus importants de son \u00e9poque", "MOV probably wo n't win many converts to anime , but the faithful should be satisfied .", "as anime goes , it 's not the most freakish of entries , but it 's one of the more surprising and scintillating .", "this is how post-modernism should always behave : like an acid trip narrated by derrida ." ], "summary": "following its own brand of logic , MOV is an eye-opening mind trip that is difficult to follow but never fails to dazzle .", "id": "351527066" }, { "movie": "1213718-did_you_hear_about_the_morgans", "reviews": [ "adorable if adulterous and agnostic salad-fancying nitwit city slickers save their marriage with the help of a god-fearing , meat-eating ` sarah palin ' and her sheriff husband in what could be described as ` green acres ' in red state drag , plus guns .", "MOV ? if so , you might wish you had n't .", "a comedy with mostly likable , broadly drawn characters ; tart , nonthreatening social satire with sharp enough teeth to leave an impression while not breaking the skin ; and well-timed , modestly sophisticated repartee .", "mostly it 's an invitation to spend an easy 108 minutes with some very likable folks -lrb- grant , sam elliott , and mary steenburgen -rrb- as they amble through a laid-back fish-out-of-water comedy .", "so now you can say , indeed , you have heard about the morgans , smile politely , and move on to the next movie playing at the multiplex .", "predictable , leaden , unfunny and unnecessary .", "clich\u00e9-ridden , stereotype-stuffed and clunky at every inevitably false turn , it 's so bad that star hugh grant , usually the most relaxed of actors , actually seems to be in pain throughout the film .", "as much as these two characters talk , there 's little worth sharing with the wider world beyond hey-you-slept-with-somebody .", "fish-out-of-water romcom is teen-friendly but a real snooze .", "yes , comedies thrive on broad strokes . but selling americans lame images of one another as if we have n't traversed the country -lrb- if not in actuality , via television and film -rrb- is dispiriting .", "not even the estimable comic chops of hugh grant and sarah jessica parker can lift it above the level of ordinary .", "a fish-out-of-water story with a bit of a freshness issue .", "grant 's familiar , pained and rueful expressions start to look like an actor 's commentary on the film , not a character 's response to events within it .", "like sitting under the dentist 's drill for 100 minutes , there 's not a single , solitary laugh in the whole damn thing . in fact , it 's a film so bad you actually start to feel sorry for the stars .", "the trouble with his new film , though , is not its lack of grit , but its lack of ambition and originality . it 's one of those films that you 've seen before - even before you 've seen it .", "perhaps this new decade could be the one in which female audiences are treated as something other than a dumping ground for the lazy , complacent idiocy that has passed for chick flicks of late .", "the jokes come thin and slow , the thrills are non-existent .", "the cinematic equivalent of throwing buckets of money at a house with no foundations . the worst thing is , and sadly for cinema , this house shows no sign of falling down any time soon .", "a hellish rom-com bereft of chuckles and charm . a good screwball comedy should have laughs , heart , sexiness , rapid-fire banter and , most importantly , chemistry between its two leads - MOV ? has not one of these things .", "considering how rarely grant works , you 'd expect genuine excellence in the scripts he picks . we 'd expected more than this merely serviceable , not very believable hollywood romcom .", "we 've seen this a hundred times before ... only better .", "parker and grant sleepwalk their way through a flatline comedy in which old jokes can be seen coming a mile away .", "you know the line about what a bear does in the woods ? not only is that wittier than all of MOV ? , it describes the movie as well .", "it 's not great art , but it has a certain goofy effervescence , mostly thanks to hugh grant .", "did you hear about MOV ? really , you do n't want to .", "this alleged screwball comedy is almost laughless . it 's one of the most surprising comedy duds of the year .", "there are countless moments throughout the film when writer-director marc lawrence pauses for a laugh line , but the jokes hang there for an eternity while grant winces apologetically , like he 's just shattered a dish .", "it would be acceptable if all this fakeness lead to something legitimately funny . instead , we 're left bemused and bored .", "always fully aware it need not involve big words or ideas to offer light entertaining fare even if there 's only so far you can take such a predictable premise .", "might have been called witless protection , if that title had n't already been taken -lrb- damn you , larry the cable guy ! -rrb- .", "MOV ? has no room for surprises .", "toss this one on the ever-growing pile of failed hollywood romantic comedies , and wish grant and parker better luck next time .", "this ultra-mild frolic follows the ` fish-out-of-water ' comedy formula so closely its lack of surprise is almost , well , surprising .", "hugh , what a stinker ! mediocre sit-com humour does n't help an unoriginal premise and a star pairing with less believable chemistry than a pebble and another slightly smaller pebble . where 's a straight-to-video distributor when you need one ?", "potro % u0161eni hugh grant i antipati % u010dna izvedba s.j. parker u komediji koja je trebala biti slasher horror", "you 've seen it before , and you 'll see it again . in one way or another ` MOV ? ' is the same old fish-out-of-water story that 's been put to film dozens of times .", "to end my assessment on the level of the film 's writing , you 'll wish you never heard about the morgans . -lrb- ha ha ha -rrb-", "the mediocre material gets a boost from a hardworking grant , who uses his trademark bumbling formality to deliver dry commentary and wring out the most laughs possible .", "i wish i could answer ` no ' to the movie 's title question .", "despite a breezy premise , this rom-com displays lazy filmmaking at almost every level of the production", "in a silly way , it is entertaining , the mismatch is actually weirdly plausible , and try as i might , i could n't be grumpy about it .", "parker is better , injecting a note of rawness and authenticity into an otherwise misconceived subplot about adoption . even she ca n't fake any curiosity in , yet alone sexual chemistry with , grant .", "parental content review", "the movie does n't just quickly run out of its fish-out-of-water jokes but does n't have any unique or funny gags in its arsenal the moment the couple from new york city lands in wyoming .", "a fish-out-of-water comedy that flops around on the dock for a while before eventually , and mercifully , expiring .", "a painful failure , lumpish and crude .", "an exercise in foregone conclusions so dreary as to hardly qualify as comedy .", "there 's no sense of affection . no passion , even when they fight . their dialogue rings hollow . these two are n't believable and their relationship is a black hole . who cares ?", "a somewhat amusing yet trite example of the modern-day screwball comedy .", "the jokes were old when `` green acres '' was new .", "this is what happens when you throw reliable talent at an awful script .", "it does n't pretend to be an awards contender , and yet , oddly enough this year , it 's far more entertaining and astutely written than the majority of recent releases that are .", "sweet and funny , this is more suitable for a tv movie than a big screen feature", "there 's a scene where hugh grant confronts a grizzly bear and i 've never rooted so hard for a predatory mammal .", "yes , i 've heard about the morgans . i 've heard about matthew mcconaughey morgan , debra messing morgan , gerard butler morgan , renee zellweger morgan , john cusack morgan and kate hudson morgan . all the damn morgans .", "the movie is like a car wreck in which no one is injured but the onlookers .", "with less edge than soup , MOV ? is a proud , plain , rom com .", "you 've already heard every joke it has to tell .", "a friend in hollywood told me last summer to expect a lot of `` recession '' movies - movies contrived to provide all those involved with a quick paycheck - in the coming months and i 'm guessing this is what he meant .", "where are billy crystal and the rest of city slickers gang when we need them ?", "the cast is in such fine form that everything seems funny .", "while it fails on nearly every conceivable level , as a textbook case in everything contemptible in the studio system , MOV ? is as good as it gets .", "grant and parker ... are so boringly civil that there must have been a marriage guidance counsellor standing just out of shot .", "while at times the pair sparkle and most importantly have chemistry , entire scenes are laugh-free zones as far as the dialogue is concerned .", "let down by a script that 's not funny enough and a plot that 's so formula it came from a baby 's bottle .", "writer-director marc lawrence 's film delivers some halfway decent lines for grant to gobble up gratefully enough up until this point , but from here on in it gets worse and worse .", "neither good nor bad . scales dizzying new heights of okay . aims for mediocrity ... and nails it .", "punishingly lame and containing little romance to compensate for the absence of comedy .", "`` hair balls are prettier than what 's coughed up here . ''", "disappointing romcom with a lazy , predictable plot , irritating characters , lacklustre performances and painfully unfunny set-pieces .", "morgans not worth hearing from .", "... a lightweight but entertaining comedy deftly performed by some old hands .", "it 's clearly parker 's movie , and that 's a shame .", "grant has never been less charming and parker never less fashionable or more grating than they are as paul and meryl morgan .", "it 's as if the film is a no-humour zone , and any attempt at a laugh gets sucked into a cinematic vacuum of mirthlessness .", "trades on hugh grant 's charm , sarah jessica parker 's fan base , and the general good will of the audience . at least one of those three has been sorely tested by the time the end credits roll . possibly two", "here 's yet another movie that should be neither seen nor heard .", "the romantic-comedy equivalent of a genetically-tweaked slab of meat , an over-engineered counterfeit whose marketing tells us a lie every instinct we have disputes .", "in one of those perfect cinematic storms , everything is wrong about this film , from screenplay to casting to performances and especially directing .", "the romantic pairing of grant and parker has no zing , the script is dead in the water and if we were asked us whether we cared about the morgans , the answer would sadly be no", "if you are expecting a pleasant evening of escapism , you will be cruelly fooled . the editor responsible for the trailer is clearly a genius .", "hugh grant and sarah jessica parker ply their cute trademarks -lrb- his befuddled british grimace , her la-di-da new york sass -rrb- like grim , incompatible partners in a hollywood business deal .", "forget witness protection , with this one you need protection % u2014 ` witless ' protection .", "intimates crime as the ultimate aphrodisiac , when it comes to rekindling doomed conjugal bliss . move over , viagra and sex toys .", "hugh grant and carrie bradshaw -lrb- yeah , i know -rrb- go to the woods . it 's by the numbers , harmless and almost without charm .", "bland , charmless and witless - trust me , you do n't want to hear about the morgans .", "most bad comedies plod from scene to scene . this one plods from sentence to sentence . grant and parker stand around as if they 're waiting for someone to yell , `` cut . ''", "hugh grant and sarah jessica parker are assigned to a witness protection program , flown to wyoming , and installed in a one-horse town where there are no bistros , art galleries , department stores , or funny jokes .", "i grant you hugh grant and sarah jessica parker evoke charm in the right screenplay . this is the wrong screenplay .", "it 's a pity there 's no witness protection program for movies that commit crimes against audiences .", "the clich\u00e9-ridden dialogue is delivered with no feeling or conviction and a predictable ending leaves you wanting more . the supporting players are given little to do , but outshine the marquee names .", "a really dumb romantic comedy with the trendy storyline of someone falling in love with somebody who has been betrayed .", "lawrence clearly has a talent for the genre if he can write a story that includes a murder , not one but two bear attacks ... and a climax at a rodeo and make the whole thing feel unforced .", "... the uptown , house-hawking , vegetarian meryl gets to flex ms. parker 's typecast , cosmopolitan dependency act ...", "did you hear about the worst rom-com of 2009 ? it 's this one !", "where is richard curtis when you need him ?", "not even the clumsy title bears any evidence of inspiration , which actually makes it a nice fit for writer-director marc lawrence 's dud of a script .", "this is a film that does roughly the same thing for the concept of star-powered romantic comedies that tiger woods has done for the concept of marital fidelity .", "if it was n't for hugh grant , MOV ? would be competing for worst comedy of the decade . instead , it 's just in the running for worst comedy of the year .", "MOV ? is about as stereotypical as a stereotypical romantic comedy can get", "sometimes it 's unpleasant , sometimes it 's insincere , and for long stretches it 's boring . there are good parts , too , but they all come in the first 10 minutes .", "a smug , new-york-is-the-center-of-the-universe comedy that does n't have enough humor to compensate for its misplaced sense of superiority ...", "it 's hard to imagine why you 'd want to pay to be talked down to and coddled like a baby .", "it 's a thoroughly delightful throwaway -- the kind of movie for which cable tv was made .", "i 'm not sure what entertainment itch morgans is supposed to scratch , but as an obnoxious , poorly performed , and distastefully executed comedy , it 's near the bottom of the barrel for 2009 .", "it 's not just the sound of crickets you hear watching this movie . it 's the sound of dead crickets .", "why is n't there a federal program to protect people from witnessing movies like this ?", "you see , city folk are like this , and country folk are like that .", "hugh grant and sarah jessica parker are supposed to pass for a married couple , but they have all the chemistry of two actors who just met and shook hands moments before the cameras rolled .", "a serviceable but uninspired romantic comedy with a familiar fishes-out-of-water backdrop .", "this fish out of water rom-com is predictable and sappy but the contrast between new york and wyoming , filmed with fine production values , makes for some interest .", "lawrence 's recycled observations of the virtues of rural life , his struggles to find something funny about local `` types '' -lrb- an unworldly doctor and his na\u010fve-nitwit nurse -rrb- , his `` grizzly encounter '' scene , are painful to watch ." ], "summary": "it gets a certain amount of mileage out of the inherent likability of its stars , but with an unfunny script and a lack of onscreen chemistry , MOV ? falls flat .", "id": "770805258" }, { "movie": "queen_of_earth", "reviews": [ "hell is other people - especially the ones who know you best - in alex ross perry 's acidly funny and unnerving portrait of a psychological breakdown .", "this dual character study , featuring a balls out performance from moss and an eerie one from waterston feels like so many other movies , everything from `` 3 women '' ... to `` rosemary 's baby '' and `` repulsion , '' yet defies coming into its own focus .", "almost subliminally upsetting , `` MOV '' touches viewers ' primal fears by continually messing with worries embedded in our subconscious .", "... the result is an earth-shattering performance in a film that solidifies perry 's place among the most exciting filmmakers working in american cinema today .", "ms. waterston , a modigliani in motion and often in black , easily holds your attention , but it is ms. moss , with her intimate expressivity , who annihilates you from first tear to last crushing laugh .", "not all of MOV gels perfectly , but when it does , it can be breathtaking .", "it 's a midnight movie that turns out to be a rainer werner fassbinder chamber drama .", "... both a self-conscious homage and a frustrating dither .", "those new to the helmer 's grainy , consuming , self-absorbed worldview are welcomed with a chilling portrait of disintegration , cementing perry 's reputation for unflinching , raw nerve work .", "perry 's movie may not be easy to watch , but that does n't mean you should n't .", "this is a lovingly rendered , feel-bad chamber piece chock-full of elliptical psychodrama .", "writer-director alex ross perry conjures such a strong atmosphere around his characters -- and elisabeth moss and katherine waterston are so powerful in the leads -- that one gets sucked into their emotional conflict .", "`` MOV '' is one of these special , mold-breaking occasions , dipping itself into grotesquery with such sneaky abandon it frequently catches one off-guard in the best way possible .", "it may sound unpleasant to watch , and there are moments of discomfort , but perry and his performers draw you into this raw chamber piece .", "while the film might seem like an actors ' showcase -lrb- it is that , too -rrb- , to deem it exclusively as such would undermine perry 's command of tone and structure .", "watching MOV , you realize that every single aspect of its production is reflective , meant to refract or clarify the dual personalities at its center .", "alex ross perry continues to find new ways to make bitter break-ups strangely enjoyable .", "is alex ross perry america 's best contemporary filmmaker ?", "it 's rare when a psychological drama gets us into a character 's head without tricks or a voiceover . this drama from alex ross perry burrows so deep that it 's scary .", "a standout star turn from elisabeth moss enlivens and deepens alex ross perry 's extended roman polanski homage .", "-lsb- a -rsb- delicately calibrated portrait of dissolution which points to the versatility of writer/director alex ross perry .", "throughout the film moss traverses an astonishing range of emotions , from bliss to complete mental disintegration . she is fascinating to watch even when the film turns into a frustrating head-scratcher .", "interesting , arty riff on early polanski and bergman 's persona .", "it is a character study of a woman 's decent into madness that is not a pretty picture but a potent one .", "privileged , self-obsessed , and unsympathetic , every character was purposefully unlikeable to the point it was used for humour .", "every beautiful , resonant image in writer-director alex ross perry 's film is fraught with neurotic , diaphanous riddles .", "`` MOV '' is a cold picture and may be a little obscure for some audiences , but watching this thrilling new filmmaking step and an auteurial voice grow is exciting stuff to witness .", "this is vigorous , frightening , electrifying stuff . even minor perry outclasses most contemporary majors .", "a solid stab at channelling its influences into the horror of modern self obsession", "a startlingly audacious departure for the writer/director that also feels like a natural progression for an auteur in the making .", "an open wound , moss is terrific , yet MOV feels a touch brittle and precious , like the swirly pink-hued script perry employs for his end credits .", "the film is n't a thriller per se , but it has the tension and atmosphere of one , only with emotional violence substituting for the physical kind .", "tautly written and performed with intensity , MOV is n't afraid of portraying unlikable characters , exposing their flaws and insecurities to the viewing audience .", "queen is as much about the bitterness of women as it is about the cruelty of men .", "for some viewers , the acidity level of perry 's movie will be too high to stomach . for others-anyone who thinks that there are too many warm hugs in strindberg , for example - `` MOV '' awaits .", "MOV is an unnerving , intense experience , but you ca n't turn away from elisabeth moss .", "the bitterly hilarious barbs that defined -lsb- alex ross perry 's -rsb- prior work have curdled into something darker than black comedy -lrb- but not totally without humor -rrb- .", "psychological horror ensues , and how . i 'd hate to reveal a single teardrop in this sharp chamber drama . it 's all chill , no pill . the sun shines bright behind that vale of tears .", "perry may never make a movie for the masses , whoever they are . but his truest work burrows into weird , blackly comic places few other filmmakers would dare explore .", "the filmmaker creates a bitter , chilling mood , the score 's strings less musical instruments than choking devices .", "-lsb- perry 's -rsb- gracefully disturbing execution conveys a tangible sense of the emotional violence and attrition that can underlie seemingly placid social surfaces ...", "it 's that tension - will catherine really go off the rails , and how far will she go when she does ? - that makes `` MOV '' such a transfixing experience .", "its effects will stick with you , even if you do n't quite understand them .", "MOV is one of the least recommendable films of the year . this is a film that chooses to ride a tidal wave of agitation and bitterness instead of portraying any sort of amusing or enticing qualities .", "... throws acid on its off-putting characters and their hopeless situations and rubs moviegoers ' faces in it rather than offering any substantial insight or depth .", "if you 're gon na go hard to the closeup , you 're gon na want to work with a face like elisabeth moss 's .", "well made , written , acted and crafted , it 's the sort of movie that does n't go down easy , takes no prisoners and leaves you hoping your own life will never resemble theirs .", "`` MOV '' is n't a laugh riot , not by a long shot . but it is a good movie , and a fascinating study of descent .", "a good try at a difficult story but a lack of character development leaves us in a vacuum .", "the film would be nothing but a hollow exercise if its hollowness were n't so hauntingly precise .", "anchored by incredible performances from elisabeth moss and katherine waterston , this is one of the most mesmerizing pictures of the year ." ], "summary": "led by a searing performance from elisabeth moss , MOV is a demanding -- and ultimately rewarding -- addition to writer-director alex ross perry 's impressive filmography .", "id": "771413838" }, { "movie": "how_high", "reviews": [ "for better or for worse , MOV knows what its audience wants and serves it to them , straight up , without any sort of moral or ethical chaser .", "despite the comedy 's reliance on drug humor , first-time director jesse dylan is actually less interested in getting high than in seeing how low he can go .", "the jokes are n't funny , the characters are n't fully developed and poor editing only makes a humorless story confusing .", "silly , sloppy , and liberated from any sense of pacing or plot", "sinfully tasteless cinema was everywhere in 2001 - but this movie is so bad it 's freudian .", "as it stands , a movie like MOV does nothing more than perpetuate the belief that marijuana is enjoyed solely by idiots .", "not all the gags work , not all the gross-outs serve the greater good , but MOV is funny , quick , and the very definition of a pleasant surprise .", "you 've seen it before .", "this is one clumsy cannabis comedy that could n't give the late timothy leary a natural high worth experiencing ! nip this `` joint '' session in the bud !", "can they go any lower ?", "maintains a consistent level of a swaggering , semi-anarchic silliness reminiscent of '70s youth-skewing comedies .", "too lazy to be a comedy , too conventional to be a head movie .", "less outrageous than simply desperate .", "feebly crafted in virtually every way imaginable -- directing , cinematography , acting , scriptwriting .", "features a fine mix of several generations of comic talent plus a terrific soundtrack from its stars .", "a bad saturday night live skit blown up to feature length that will make some viewers long for the far funnier days of cheech and chong back in their day .", "the proceedings are n't quite as annoying as expected , but it has been sloppily made , and feels about twice as long as its 91 minutes .", "its unremitting coarseness and utterly amoral attitude will be excruciating for most viewers to sit through .", "a hip-hop cheech and chong picture crossed with animal house that 's about as cheerfully vulgar as you might expect .", "it begs the response that seems to have been the moviemakers ' mantra : ` whatever . '", "MOV does n't look like a movie somebody made . it looks like a movie somebody hallucinated and put up on the screen .", "MOV is n't just the title of this new ganja comedy , it 's a question of how chemically altered you should be before you walk into the theater .", "this marginally funny cannabis comedy only proves how funny cheech and chong movies were in their day .", "the chemically-induced farce scrapes the bowl for cheap laughs from sight gags and sporadic jokes .", "the biggest problem , ironically , is that even though the plot and the action center on smoking pot , it 's not enough of a stoner flick .", "the fact is that this movie has no real plot , paper thin characters and totally unfunny jokes .", "most of the movie is simply a series of sex-and-drug adventures as method man and redman romp through campus and play pranks on the dean .", "mark this one down as a matinee for fans of method man & redman or of weed itself .", "the idea sucks on paper , and it does n't get any better when it 's on the screen .", "bling bling !", "comes blanketed in a toked-up haze through which no one seems able to read their cue cards .", "totally witless .", "lowbrow , vulgar , and certainly formulaic , it 's also creative , absolutely hilarious , and ... knows better than to shoot over its audience 's heads .", "even when aiming low , MOV is too stupid or stoned to hit many marks .", "in small doses , the movie 's outlandish , unapologetic gross-out humor works ... taken in all at once , though , MOV can be daunting .", "either you find this stuff funny or you do n't . i do n't .", "as for redman and method man , neither should give up his day job in music .", "if -lrb- it had -rrb- hung on to the consistency of comedy ... `` MOV '' might have been funny enough that its pointlessness and incongruous storytelling would n't have mattered .", "if ever there was a movie whose message we did n't need , it 's jesse dylan 's MOV , which glorifies drug usage .", "cheech and chong they ai n't .", "there 's ... enough cheery mockery to amuse even non-tokers .", "a string of gross one-liners about ho 's , white-man university , ho 's , marijuana , ho 's , the sexual inadequacy of orientals , ho 's , amazingly clueless white people , and ho 's .", "aims low but smacks the funny bone considerably more often than it misses .", "the infectious high spirits amid its cartoonish chaos compensate for the film 's bald deficiencies and gag-inducing gags .", "a spottily amusing showcase for rappers method man and redman .", "like its lead characters , this movie is smarter than it sometimes acts .", "a slapdash collection of tired drug jokes , fish-out-of-water clich\u00e9s , projectile vomiting and gross-out humor .", "this chaotic mess of a film ... has the disjointed quality of a stoned-out fantasy .", "sample what you want . doze through the rest .", "i doubt that method man and redman , the two joint-puffing stars , would watch their own movie without chemical assistance . for that matter , i expect they had plenty while making it .", "i could feel whole chunks of my brain dissolving , my cinematic standards being lowered , and my desire to send a check to norml grow as i watched this movie and loudly laughed my ass off .", "method man ... proves to be a likable performer as he tosses off and wanders through MOV 's gags .", "a hip-hop comedy that succeeds even when MOV tests how low it can go ." ], "summary": "MOV is a sloppily constructed stoner movie filled with lame , vulgar jokes .", "id": "13565" }, { "movie": "10008991-informers", "reviews": [ "the MOV becomes that rare movie that is so tedious it dares you to keep watching .", "brazenly befouling cinemas with its sub-soap-opera acting , melodramatic dialogue , and thoroughly unlikable characters .", "this just felt like a bunch of people in 1980s l.a. with blonde streaks in their hair listening to wang chung .", "gorgeous people and some well written dialogue are n't enough to make this a movie you should see .", "... a dreary , loosely connected parade of drug - , drink - and sex-sodden lost souls .", "imagine `` crash '' with a social disease and you pretty much have `` the MOV '' in a nutshell .", "filled with narcissistic twits who never say or do anything of consequence or interest .", "life is a bitch and then you go to l.a.", "despite a terrific ensemble cast , the MOV suffers from an uneven , chaotic screenplay with forgettable , poorly developed characters while none of the actors or actresses get a chance to shine . it never really gels into a sharp , compelling or e", "if you do n't require anything more profound ... in your movies , then the MOV may well be a satisfying experience .", "characters become real enough to draw you in , yet are not deeply drawn enough to make you care .", "people sometimes had ordinary , reasonably polite conversations , even in the '80s . not absolutely all the talking was affectless mumbling , angry recriminations , drug deals or tv news about ronald reagan .", "i do n't find the MOV to be without interest -- unlike most critics -- but neither do i find it successful enough to recommend it .", "sublimely awful , director gregor jordan 's adaptation of bret easton ellis ' dystopic vision of '80s era los angeles bounces between a slew of unlikable reckless characters .", "there 's plenty of incident , but not much plot . as befits a tale of absolute self-absorption and unconscious revelation , the MOV often seems to be telling on itself .", "a rancid load of swill called the MOV , from a depraved 1994 book by bret easton ellis , is , like the soloist , a look at the underbelly of l.a. , but the resemblance ends there .", "perhaps the only use this film has is to give philosophers who sit through it some way of experiencing what eternity truly means .", "an ugly , blank slate of a film , one that feels like a rough outline for one of the better ellis adaptations .", "-lsb- features -rsb- a ludicrously concocted , thoroughly unconvincing narrative and the pervading sense of style supplanting substance .", "gregor jordan and bret easton ellis take no prisoners in this uncompromising , expertly crafted shocker about hedonism in early - '80s l.a.", "imagine absolutely fabulous without edina and patsy , or dynasty without alexis , and what have you got ? the MOV .", "much of it remains purposefully pointless , and ellis and jordan never attempt to reframe the dead-eyed hedonism and solipsism that makes these characters very hard to care about .", "the MOV proves once again that ellis 's stories are difficult to realise for the big screen and perhaps best left for the printed page and the imagination .", "watching people live such vacuous , clone-like lives of privilege and decadence , it 's impossible to feel anything for them .", "none of the characters are particularly appealing and it ultimately fails to engage on an emotional level .", "the film has a slick surface sheen and evocative soundtrack -lrb- simple minds , a flock of seagulls , etc -rrb- but those are just incidental pleasures in a languid condemnation of soulless excess .", "director gregor jordan seems to have gone into reverse since his 2001 buffalo soldiers , aiming for the la rondeau of altman 's short cuts but missing all the vital ingredients - wit , humanity , charm , nuance and meaning .", "bret easton ellis pens a mean tale , in all adjectival senses . his prose is artfully maleficent ; he is a laid-back severus snape of the sex-and-drugs generation . you need a smarter directing hand , though , than gregor jordan 's .", "a chilling , brutal film that is a lot more than the sum of its one dimensional parts would suggest .", "what an a-list cast : mickey rourke , winona ryder and kim basinger . interesting enough , all stars of the eighties , which is exactly where this movie should have stayed .", "if the MOV does n't sound to you like a pleasant time at the movies , you are right .", "an outbreak of '80s nostalgia is the best explanation for the MOV , a worse movie based on a worse bret easton ellis book .", "the MOV is a beautiful picture of misery , but the surface quality is never penetrated to satisfaction . in the end , it 's a mess of smeary mascara , mix tapes , and hair mousse in search of connective tissue .", "in spite of the title , the MOV does n't get below the surface of the era of reaganesque excess to tell us anything new . but it 's way cool to look at .", "excels in the mysterious tension found when someone who does n't care talks to someone who does .", "the MOV should be more aware of its own unsavoryness , and revel in it a little . as it is , the movie is far too weighty , as though it were honestly trying to convey some kind of cautionary message .", "perhaps the film 's biggest mistake is that after more than an hour of proving how pointless and vapid these characters are , it leaves us with a parting shot indicating we should care about what happens to them . we do n't .", "the result turns the novel 's cynical satire into a facile morality play , in which these privileged children want to be told the difference between right and wrong .", "occasionally , some fool gets the idea that his literary wretched excess would make for a good film .", "the MOV is the kind of movie that , upon leaving the theater , provokes the urge to take a shower .", "there is a weird , almost comic absence of insight and perspective here . but it is a joke without humour and without a punchline .", "this self-penned adaptation of his 1994 short story collection - a period piece set in 1983 los angeles - has supposedly been cut to ribbons , and it shows .", "a lurid , soapy , moralistic melodrama so mucky you 'll need a shower .", "directed by gregor jordan , ellis 's aimlessly dissolute collection of stories just does n't hang together as a coherent whole .", "for diehard ellis completists only .", "it 's an empty shell entertaining a nasty streak of misogyny , a single note ensemble piece that 's very much less than zero .", "jordan gives all this an entirely appropriate sheen and the cast play well through glazed eyes . the film will fascinate those who love to see the tormented lives of those who seem luckier than the rest of us .", "failing to work on so many levels , the MOV operates as a time capsule of 1983 and a time when substance was negated in favour of style . sadly , this movie is severely lacking in both of those departments .", "this film is bad - really , really bad .", "a star-studded mess .", "a nihilistic , narcissistic , knuckleheaded move about nihilistic , narcissistic knuckleheads , the MOV might have been an interesting exercise in satire , if it only had a sense of humor . which it does n't .", "the dialogue is laughable . lines are spoken so languidly that the actors seem bored . shattering revelations are delivered in the same monotone as casual patter .", "it 's a movie with altmanesque pretensions , but under gregor jordan 's flat-line direction amounts to flipping through an out-of-date fashion magazine , one that barely spurs the energy to point and laugh .", "this sprawling , wanna-be short cuts tale is so over-the-top and so insufferably unpleasant that it makes even his infamous `` american psycho '' seem tame by comparison .", "ellis , director gregor jordan and a cast that 's hollow but only occasionally empty , manage to anticipate excess ' hangover , a headache we 've become intimately familiar with -- all over again .", "tmz with phony gravitas . ellis ' stories had more oomph before drug-crazed screwups like britney spears , lindsay lohan and amy winehouse became the center of the internet news cycle .", "in the buff naughty boobs 'n buns bad parenting sex and drug addiction romp . and a weird cry for help cinema probing wasted la youth without adult supervision in sight . though with sly hints on where all those hallucinatory hollywood plots arise .", "ellis ' book , though a grim read , had a satirical edge to it that made it darkly enjoyable ; the movie is simply dark and dull . and vampireless , more 's the pity .", "the piece had better have something fresh to say . the MOV does n't , nor does it seem to want to .", "there 's no real structure to jordan 's film , so stories haphazardly begin and disappear without ending", "heaven protect us from any more bret easton ellis versions of tales of the empty lives of los angeles .", "brad renfro in his last movie role , playing a wannabe film actor who sprays out filthy perspiration like a collie emerging from a sewer . it 's possible this role killed renfro .", "rating less than zero on the sophistication scale , the MOV is thus a totally faithful adaptation of bret easton ellis ' novel -- and an accurate look at early '80s - era los angeles .", "imagine american psycho with less violence but more nudity , transplanted from new york to california and stripped of all self-awareness . that 's the MOV .", "... a ninety-eight-minute snooze-fest .", "bleak , boring and bloated .", "it has a good cast and a terrific 1980s soundtrack -lrb- devo , simple minds -rrb- , but it also has the superficiality of a tv soap . the MOV is not so bad that you ca n't sit back and enjoy it , but nor is it good enough to go and see .", "in structure and location the film resembles robert altman 's short cuts , though it 's much inferior and far less interesting .", "while it 's an occasionally unsettling piece - and comes with a big-name cast - the story never goes anywhere .", "we may not care about these cokeheads , but only rarely does jordan fall into knee-jerk retribution .", "do some blow . curse humanity . convert to nilhilism . reread american psycho . but do n't for the love of god and cinema see the MOV .", "the MOV delivers a muddled message .", "the MOV is grimy , nasty and graphic in its depictions of excess , and those are its good points .", "remember the '80s ? after sitting through the MOV you may wan na burn your rubik 's cube and `` where 's the beef '' t-shirt .", "an aimless mess . but at least the mess is sexy and exciting .", "just because your characters are vacuous , less-than-zero types , it does n't necessarily mean that the tone and structure of your movie has to adopt the same conditions .", "it 's haute trash , faux crash , a series of interlocking plotlines which are meant to convince the viewer that something more profound is taking place . it is n't .", "parental content review", "i wish they 'd kept the vampire . i wish they 'd given him a rocket launcher .", "this is nothing more than short cuts with shortcuts", "open endings work for some movies , but a story this depressing needs some resolution .", "has an air of detachment and sadness , enhanced by the movie 's being set a full quarter century ago . like new cars in an old movie , these people may glow with youth , but we watch them in full awareness of the beaters and wrecks they 'll become .", "the movie has more dead scenes than a monday night in magnitogorsk .", "ellis 's big notions are less insightful than they pretend to be .", "though name actors and the involvement of a cult author may eventually get the MOV attention , there 's nobody who loves the '80s enough to knowingly pay good money to suffer through all 98 minutes of this .", "the performances run the gamut from twitchy to catatonic , and the stoned stiffness of the actors seems to have less to do with the affectlessness of the characters than with their own confusion .", "the MOV is such a wretched piece of garbage that there 's a certain amount of guilt attached to even writing about it .", "a grim , open-ended study in smooth surfaces , skin and 25-year-old pop-culture references .", "there seems to be no point to this derivative bret easton ellis retro-wallow . it 's all sex , drugs , rock 'n roll and boredom - with the emphasis on boredom .", "an awful film about an awful time .", "is there an easier target for satire than hollywood ? or a duller one ?", "it 's by far the most slack , ho-hum movie ever made from ellis ' material .", "aesthetically pretty , subjectively ugly , and emotionally incisive , the picture celebrates the passing of a not-so-innocent era and mourns the victims left in its wake .", "the MOV is a movie so seamy it makes you want to take a bath afterward . rarely has so much sin seemed so boring .", "it 's actually pretty funny if you do n't feel the need to care for or sympathize with anybody onscreen .", "this one 's a certifiable soul-sucker , dining out on its characters ' venalities while wagging a finger at the horror , the horror .", "ellis does n't create a single authentic moment or sympathetic character in this lurid pastiche of disconnected vignettes .", "it 's almost a relief when one of the characters comes down with a deadly disease .", "gregor jordan 's pointless adaptation of a bret easton ellis book is successful only in the sense that it accurately mimics the emptiness of its subject .", "the film is as flat as the hollywood sign , with beautiful young people , all blonde , mostly naked , trying desperately to get up the energy to order something else from room service .", "repulsive 80s flashback ." ], "summary": "as miserable and insipid as its protagonists , the MOV fails to provide anything to think about after the sheen of fake blond is gone .", "id": "770785473" }, { "movie": "to_sir_with_love", "reviews": [ "it beat dead poets society to the punch by over two decades .", "sentimental reflections on an inspirational teacher are often the makings of weak dishwater films , but in james clavell 's to sir , with love , a strong cast and an unforgettable title song make this an undeniable classic .", "sydney poitier at his best ; teens and up .", "even the weak moments are saved by poitier , who invests his role with a subtle warmth .", "one factor in the picture 's popularity and its sustaining charm is the tuneful title song , which was a top hit for lulu and is heard throughout the film .", "sidney poitier stars in an excellent performance .", "incessant cockney street market vignettes and shots of london buses seem to suggest that it was all primarily intended for american consumption anyway .", "a cozy , good-humored and unbelievable little tale .", "sidney poitier is a beleaguered english teacher in this multi-cultural mr. chips", "generally effective comedy drama with standout performances .", "the film has gone in and out of fashion , but it 's old enough now to return to it with a clear eye , and see the strength beneath the kooky sentimentality .", "good performances elevate the material .", "the charisma of poitier and the energetic performances of a groovy-looking cast of high school hellcats -lrb- some of whom look like they 've repeated year 12 at least 5 times -rrb- compensate for the shortcomings .", "poitier is good , but the film is memorable mostly for the song .", "well-meaning tripe ." ], "summary": "while it 's a bit dated and overly schmaltzy , to sir , with love remains compelling because of sidney poitier 's outstanding performance -- and the catchy theme song is a classic .", "id": "17055" }, { "movie": "real_cancun", "reviews": [ "who 's to say what is appropriate since the only pov the filmmakers have is the one where dead presidents are staring back at them .", "you could argue that the MOV is n't worth shelling out seven bucks for when you can get the same thing on tv , and you would be right . but it sure beats fear factor : the movie .", "reality land is a village built on lowest common denominators -- the cheapest , the dumbest , the wildest -- that bunim and murray well know often leads to the most fun .", "this is a youth comedy without humor , a porn web site without porn and reality without a trace of the real .", "surprisingly dull , a tired rehash of those cheesy spring-break movies from the 1980s .", "the simple fact of the matter is that there is nothing new here .", "strip away the glittery facade and turn down the music , and what 's left is very little substance .", "there 's a case to be made for the MOV as a document of the mating dance as well as an unintentionally poignant film about the brevity of youth .", "i do n't want to say that the MOV , is boring , but i fell asleep on my arm during the last 45 minutes and chewed it off rather than wake myself up .", "for some of us there is a certain anthropological appeal to the mating rituals -lrb- not to mention the actual mating -rrb- on display here .", "real , all right . real stupid . real predictable . a real dud .", "politically incorrect , gleefully tasteless and extremely entertaining .", "a few of the people we meet appear to be so brain-dead , you wonder how they manage to breathe without assistance -- and this is before they hit the bar !", "even with the wet t-shirt contests and faux drama , the MOV does n't deliver a whole lot .", "it 's fascinating stuff to watch , as well as enlightening -lrb- especially if you 're a parent paying for college tuition -rrb- .", "if you let yourself be immersed in its irrelevance , it actually has some enticing moments , which to some moviegoers might be the nipple-pierced twins ' incestuous striptease .", "some nebbish 18-year-olds may be inspired by alan 's transformation into a party animal . others may find it sickening .", "difficult to believe these these kids , mostly in college , have ever cracked a book . full of life and fun .", "the MOV is , i believe , the sixth sign of the apocalypse -lrb- the seventh comes june 13th with the release of the american idol spawn from justin to kelly -rrb- .", "an exploitative piece of low-ball , high profit movie making that 's not as titillating as some might be expecting and not very good beyond all of that .", "more closely resembling a `` girls gone wild '' video than a work of traditional cinema , `` the MOV '' delivers a unique brand of glossy sex appeal , thanks to a fairly developed array of variously sordid characters .", "no matter how ` real ' things appear , scenarios and story arcs are relentlessly imposed upon the partay-cipants so as to finesse a narrative as crudely overdetermined and howlingly predictable as any studio-manufactured fiction .", "if you 're a fan of reality shows you 'll probably enjoy this movie . but do you really want to pay $ 10 to see something that you can watch on tv for free ?", "there 's an interesting story in every person -- that 's why ` reality tv ' is so popular .", "grown-up adults who are honest with themselves will find themselves yearning to relive their youth .", "an exercise in bad taste .", "cancun is our collective punishment for enjoying jackass : the movie so much .", "a lot of hard bodies with soft heads -- vain , shallow , vacuous , selfish , stupid , and well on their way to being puffy , pathetic drunks by the age of 40 .", "... i found it fascinating .", "the possibilities , endless as they may be , never explode into the realm of bacchanal .", "may be more at home on a television screen once it goes to dvd , but it is admittedly a lot of fun all the same .", "an artificial contrivance that does n't tell you much that you did n't already know , but does so loudly and garishly .", "`` girls gone wild '' meets `` the real wold '' in miniature , with snoop dogg 's seal of approval .", "with its shimmering cinematography , the MOV is better at hiding the city 's grimy exterior than at being fun to watch .", "... one tequila shot experiment gone terribly bad ... this 97-minute cheap thrill is a stilted and juvenile sociological misfire that 's every bit as tedious as it is tacky ... -lsb- a -rsb- fruitless fleshy fable", "it 's a document of the decline of western civilization , and no , it 's not because everyone in it drinks , has sex , and parties but because when asked if someone could film it , they said yes .", "perversely , disturbingly entertaining , and as much of a glimpse into the dark depths of human nature as a dostoevsky novel .", "with a strangely irritating editorial sensibility , the filmmakers work desperately at juicing up a narrative , but mostly meet with failure .", "never has the word `` real '' been used in a more liberal way , because this reality movie seems to have a tighter script than american pie - or at least one cloned from it .", "terrible , explicit movie -- beware !", "true exploitation filmmaking . watching it is getting fleeced .", "it 's not quite the end of civilization as we know it , but it 's not a good sign .", "as if we needed feature length versions of mtv 's `` the real world , '' served up this weekend is two hours of cancun hysteria . is it real ? yup - real dumb .", "a 90-minute confessathon minus the bleeped-out cuss words and pixelated breasts .", "though it does deliver naked breasts and binge drinking , `` cancun '' also spins a surprisingly funny tale . seriously .", "like the average spring breaker , i enjoyed every minute of it , but felt totally despicable the minute it was over .", "shoddy craftsmanship and uninteresting subjects ... sink this spring-break movie faster than an outbreak of leginnaires ' disease on a vacation cruise liner .", "the need for writers who can create character and excitement remains unthreatened by efforts to dredge drama from dullards by saturating their environment with cameras and microphones .", "it actually works as a sometimes funny , occasionally scandalous , but mostly involving narrative .", "delivers what it 's intended audience wants in large doses ... boobs , booze , and hooking up .", "rw vet and director rick de oliveira 's well-placed music and snappy cuts stir up plenty of action , once again proving that edited reality is often stranger -- and funnier -- that fiction .", "that no one survives with a shred of dignity should n't come as a surprise .", "a surprisingly funny , engaging , and entertaining 90 minutes of almost real entertainment , which in a way comes closer to resembling john hughes ' the breakfast club than the usual survivoresc reality crud .", "those who sit through this mindlessness get the booby prize .", "works , in its sleazy-chintzy - lively way , as a documentary version of the american pie films with a character for everyone in the target demo to claim as his or her own .", "somehow the movie -lrb- which could easily have been titled dude , where 's my underwear ? -rrb- managed to scrape up 16 college-age kids who are so callow they make this fantasy lifestyle look unattractive .", "at best -lsb- the MOV -rsb- is 90 minutes spent with a group of mind-numbingly uninteresting exhibitionists who would have served themselves , and america , better with a half-hour on the jerry springer show .", "who 's more shallow , the people who want to be in a reality movie or the people who pay to see one ?", "purports to be reality tv 's first major incursion into the movie world , but this is n't just loathsome cinema ; it would be terrible television , too .", "the quick cuts , swooping aerial shots , and images of wet t-shirt contests do n't change what this is - a bunch of self indulgent 20-year-olds massaging their egos on camera .", "... scene after scene of flirt , tease , posture , preen , rebuff . i 've seen animal shows on discovery that present their subject material with less clinical detachment .", "whether you see it as a more-raunchy the real world or a toned-down girls gone wild , the reality of this reality movie is it 's nothing we have n't seen before .", "a fascinating document about the hollowness of contemporary youth culture .", "hardly qualifies as a movie .", "although filmed in cancun , it might as well take place in the less appealing regions of the jersey shore , as the camerawork is so dingy and the entire production lacks the appealing gloss of the real world as it appears on mtv .", "unfolds with the same simplicity as any multitude of teen films that are honest about being fiction .", "if you want a movie in which teenagers have a lot of sex , then rent a larry clark film . these `` real '' documentaries contain far less truth than christopher guest 's `` mock '' documentaries .", "few truly compelling stories and disappointingly little debauchery ensue .", "what good documentaries have that the MOV sadly lacks is a good story .", "spring break is meant to be wild and self-serving , packed with embarrassing , even shocking , memories . but when six camera crews follow every step of it -- ` dude , too much information ! '", "the unscripted result is undeniably entertaining , though calling it ` reality ' is a bit of a stretch .", "while some may find the film off-putting like the other tv reality shows , the film itself is quite appealing and funny and should make a boatload of money from individuals who want to venture into someone else 's world .", "a hopelessly , shallow ` reality ' movie .", "this is the kind of fare that would be at home on late night cable , where its repetitiveness and mindlessness might offer channel surfers a cure for insomnia .", "like the end of most long vacations , it felt good to be going home .", "as forrest gump once intoned , stupid is as stupid does . stupid does it up big in the MOV .", "it 's all smarmy in a voyeuristic way that makes you want to reach for the lysol as you sit there watching it ...", "somewhere between jackass with girls and an r-rated version of mtv 's the real world ... better than the bachelor , joe millionaire or american idol .", "six , if you must know . that 's how many pairs of breasts get bared in the MOV .", "when young people get drunk and chase the opposite sex , funny things ca n't help happening ." ], "summary": "the footage is predictable and rather tame , and most of the people are uninteresting .", "id": "15787" }, { "movie": "coyote_ugly", "reviews": [ "an authentically spirited popcorn movie .", "MOV is a howler .", "you wish that nearly everything but the two main characters had been scraped and replaced with a new and much improved script .", "gina wendkos ' screenplay manages to make `` flashdance '' seem plot-heavy by comparison . ... we see the lovely faces of perabo , miko and moynahan and the swinging hips and stomping feet of three anonymous dance doubles .", "solamente es recomendable ver en uno de esos d\u00edas en los que no hay absolutamente nada que hacer . para dar pena ajena .", "as slick and mindless as one might expect ...", "there were certain aspects that i loved ... . it had to do with hot , sexy women dancing on a bar in a wet t-shirt contest .", "sexist , shallow and silly . teens + .", "the cast fleshes out the cliches exuberantly and with little irony , which is something of a relief .", "a movie about a bunch of effortlessly attractive , empty-headed people who manage to constantly have fun at even the most menial of jobs ... give me some reason to care !", "MOV is neither bad enough to be a cult film , nor good enough to be interesting .", "i would n't necessarily recommend MOV to anyone , but i would n't use the dvd inserts as toilet paper either .", "what an amazingly bad movie this is .", "all hope is lost .", "the movie should appeal to anyone who likes films as mushy and unsurprising as baby food .", "what talent ! what brilliance ! what complete , utter bulls ** t !", "it 's `` cocktail '' meets `` flashdance . '' and boy is it ugly .", "MOV 's main flaw is that it just is n't bad enough .", "the picture is only pretend-sexy .", "the result is underwelming .", "the father-daughter subplot packs all the emotional heft of madonna 's papa do n't preach video .", "a really awful story that feels ripped from the bold and the beautiful .", "formulaic to the extreme .", "ugly is kind of like an all-night drinking binge - it 's a fun blur while it 's happening , but you 'll barely be able to remember it the next day .", "the performers nearly sabotage the effort .", "jerry bruckheimer will prudishly remind us that enjoying this stuff -- the very stuff that puts cash in his wallet -- is a very bad , bad thing . give me a break .", "the film seems to have been made for no other reason than to prove that 2000 was a lousy year for movies .", "this is one of those films that you feel ashamed you saw .", "it 's a terrible movie .", "a more than decent debut .", "fabulously bad , thuddingly sexy and brilliantly stupid .", "a rather likable and very sweet-spirited story .", "piper perabo , in the updated jennifer beals role , is sweet and charming .", "i would probably recommend this movie to anyone who does n't mind being titillated for little bits and pieces .", "with all of its contrivances , clich\u00e9s , and preponderance , MOV might have well been taking place on mars .", "a shameless but very watchable piece of youthful romantic fantasy .", "makes self-debasement in pursuit of self-fulfillment not just legitimate but fun .", "turning on to a bar movie like MOV is not possible unless you enjoy being in one .", "i 'm left to wonder if this movie might end up seeming like cocktail with girls instead of tom cruise . not that that 's an inherently bad thing .", "it does have an infectious spirit .", "yes , there 's lots of eye candy to go around , but you have to endure suave , non-descript dorks hitting on them , which includes the viciously awful dialogue .", "plot gets in the way .", "a movie that 's the ` follow your dream ' equivalent of singing karaoke along with a dvd of flashdance .", "manages to create interesting situations that hook onto its attractive main characters with ease .", "we get the same old small-town-girl-in-the-big-city-seeks-fame routine .", "when movies are this bad , it 's almost hard not to recommend them .", "MOV is so filled with movie cliches and focus-group-tested ideas that it 's hard to believe it happened any other way .", "the acting is amateurish , the dialogue is painful to hear and the plot is about as spontaneous as the republican national convention .", "this story is so tired i was shocked someone took a writing credit .", "more like coyote awful .", "its inability to follow through simply underscores the filmmakers ' cynicism and gutlessness .", "everything about MOV is taken from the clich\u00e9 catalog .", "sappy story about a struggling songwriter set in and around a manhattan bar that certainly is n't in the meat-packing district by accident .", "a mangy dog of a movie .", "before the opening credits are even done rolling , MOV establishes early on how bad it .", "its view of women as objectified but unavailable sex toys is so retrograde it would be maddening if the movie were n't such an utter piece of fluff so conceptually barren it might as well be a music video .", "a scarily stupid mix of flashdance superficiality and small-town-girl-conquers-the-music-biz cliches .", "a soundtrack pretending to be a story .", "turns out to be a duel between the tawdry and the maudlin , and the latter is , unfortunately , victorious .", "MOV may be the most disappointing movie of the summer .", "the kind of excrescence that makes you wonder if the taliban , the french and all the other foreigners who whine about the awfulness of hollywood `` product '' might actually have a point .", "meretricious excuse for an inspirational tale .", "it goes down easy , like a wine-cooler shot with a chaser of yoo-hoo .", "simple-minded , trashy , and a masterpiece .", "a talented young cast in service of a project that 's every bit as shrewd as it is shrill and silly .", "does jerry bruckheimer have the same nagging feeling of deja vu as he compares each new screenplay to those that have gone before ?", "it 's no picnic .", "piper perabo , who already used the adventures of rocky and bullwinkle to prove she ca n't act , solidifies it here .", "MOV is profoundly stupid , earnestly inept at conveying a story and hellbent on wallowing in its shallow emotional manipulations .", "the thin plot , which makes soap operas seem profound in comparison , has an utterly predictable conclusion .", "a homogenized and humdrum cinematic .", "a simpering love story .", "it looks like a big-budget version of a miller 's genuine draft commercial ." ], "summary": "well , the women in this film are incredibly attractive and flaunt that fact quite a lot . unfortunatly , that 's all there is to the film . the script is almost as big a joke as the charactors , and everything else follows the same path . if you 're looking for a tease then see this flick , otherwise stay as far away as possible .", "id": "10913" }, { "movie": "walk_hard", "reviews": [ "a sharp parody worthy of mad magazine . -lsb- it -rsb- runs through every tired showbiz biopic plot point with a shiny new skewer .", "so is it a satire or a spoof ?", "it 's not pee in your pants funny , but it does have it 's moments and for the most part it works .", "if only for the music numbers , this movie deserves a standing ovation . much of the credit goes to john c. reilly , an actor with a rubbery face and the voice of an angel .", "tone is crucial here , and kasdan and apatow manage a good balance , delivering silly and often crude comedy combined with sincere performances and a sense of smart craft .", "the result is a film that has a few winning and entertaining moments , but ultimately feels like a will ferrell comedy and/or a ` saturday night live ' skit that managed to grow out of control", "at very best , someone will recognize the good work here by the star of the show , john c. reilly ... what 's taking so long ? give the man an award already !", "this gleeful skewering of american popular music works because of the talents of director jake kasdan and a cast led by john c. reilly .", "it may be utter nonsense from start to finish but at a time when your moviegoing choices are limited to deeply serious oscar bait and silly family froth , its appearance comes as a raunchy relief .", "very funny when focused on being a parody , but goes for the cheap laughs and shock jokes too often", "like the drunk guy who squeezes your arm and tells the same joke over and over until you laugh , goddamn you , laugh !", "the only gale-force laughter in later scenes comes when the hero meets the beatles .", "throughout his entire acting career , john c. reilly has always played second fiddle , and his choice in movies has never really allowed him to show off his comedic talents . that is , at least , until now .", "the entire film has three repetitive jokes : dewey cut his brother in half , dewey ca n't smell , and he 's going to take drugs . so it 's kind of amazing how well the film works .", "awfully uneven , sometimes not funny at all , but john c. reilly is so goofily sincere and jake kasdan and judd apatow include enough comedic gems to make it worthwhile .", "... starts out brilliantly playing with the tired tropes of musical biopics before utterly losing its way .", "fantastic fun", "MOV brings the funny and a keen observational sense", "como s\u0431tira \u0430s in\u044ameras e formulaicas cinebiografias de m\u044asicos c\u0439lebres , o filme funciona maravilhosamente bem . pena que recaia com tanta freq\u044c\u043ancia na par\u0443dia , que peca por um exagero que embara\u0437aria at\u0439 mesmo o trio zucker-abraham-zucker .", "john c. reilly does dewey cox as a hilarious stoner , beer gut middle-aged teen , with a touch of imus . move over , britney spears .", "with a fearless sense of silliness and a savage swipe at the conventions of the genre , it forges a brilliant parody that is relentlessly funny and musically acute", "MOV would be funny anyway . it 's just even more amazing because it 's so right about the musical biopics . if they need a cheesy quote from me , i 'll say MOV rocks hard .", "reilly is fantastic , the music is right on , and the commentary is obnoxiously accurate , so while MOV may not go to 11 , it 's definitely worth a seven or an eight .", "... an off-and-on thing ... but it 's on more than off ...", "is MOV funny ? sure ; very much so , in places . at least i think it is . it might just be the date movie talking .", "-lsb- it -rsb- restores the good reputation to the genre spoof , which has been so long sullied by juvenile garbage like scary movie .", "this is a glorious tribute to the shape-shifter , a film that captures all the clich\u00e9s of the musical biopic , then rises above them .", "MOV is the kind of movie that you want to love and not just like , but liking it is good enough .", "MOV : the dewey cox story may have its share of flat spots , but it 's also a very canny send-up of the tried-and-true genre of showbiz biopics .", "MOV does n't know when to quit .", "raunchy , often hysterical parody of overplayed musical biopics ironically sags just when its targets do but hits several right notes thanks to the sturdy presence of john c. reilly as a none-too-subtle riff on the man in black .", "the songs are as great as the story is cute and imaginative .", "apatow proves he knows how to reach audiences with a truly funny film aimed at adults who love their r-rated comedies to have some real bite .", "that savory mix of satire and sentiment that worked well in apatow 's two summer hits is largely missing here .", "MOV is a disposable film that offers its share of small pleasures and amusements .", "MOV is apatow 's undistinguished -- in fact , shamelessly derivative -- contribution to the mockumentary genre .", "that the picture walks and sometimes crosses the line into the products it parodies is a measure of its zealous thoroughness and also its central pitfall .", "never stops sprinting from its snickering start to that big finish .", "reilly has an absolute sincerity - especially in the many musical numbers - that 's essential for something this goofy .", "rolls out a procession of one-liners , toe-tappingly hilarious songs , stunning sight gags and dead-on parodies , all with tear-inducing humor , providing an easy ride to comic bliss .", "-lsb- judd -rsb- apatow has always told loose and improvisational stories , but the work he 's done here with -lsb- director jake -rsb- kasdan just feels lazy and unfinished .", "does n't produce belly laughs so much as steady smiles of recognition over how accurately it 's nailing its target .", "when they run out of clever ways to be funny , they fall back on their old standbys : crude , rude , nude , and lewd , which just shows that they did n't have enough material .", "after ` superbad ' and ` knocked up ' , judd apatow has now pulled off the movie equivalent of the triple crown .", "there are a few too many lazy jokes played off dewey 's last name , but not nearly enough to wipe that grin off your face .", "in a season filled with so many feel-bad movies , do n't underestimate the appeal of something as silly as MOV .", "its comic riffs are simple jingles that always seem to outstay their welcome .", "writer-producer judd apatow , star john c. reilly and director jake kasdan eviscerate the genre gleefully .", "MOV limps soft .", "the comic brilliance of MOV is so ingrained in its subject matter that it probably wo n't be appreciated until years after the fact .", "-lsb- a -rsb- razor-sharp dissection of the new archetype of modern mythology -- the rock star -- and how we interact with him on a societal level ...", "offers a few inspired moments in a sea of mediocre gags , fumbled opportunities and that great foul among contemporary comedies -- unnecessary grossness .", "milks the pat formulations of its brethren , such as walk the line , for all the laughs they 're worth . and then some .", "it 's the role of a lifetime for reilly , who plays cox from a teenager to an old man -lrb- older actors playing kids are a running joke -rrb- .", "for half an hour or so , MOV : the dewey cox story is hilarious . problem is , the movie lasts an hour and a half .", "judd apatow can do no wrong , apparently .", "reilly , imitating early beatles , johnny cash , bob dylan and brian wilson , shows more range than ever in the role that should catapult him into the a-list .", "there 's a laziness to the entire affair , as if the writers never went further than a first draft and never found anything unfunny enough to trim or remove .", "MOV is 100 minutes of fun , and for pure , uncomplicated enjoyment , it 's the movie to see right now .", "MOV is one of those fish-in-a-barrel comedies that mine a rich comedic vein but manage to come up with few genuine gems .", "in many ways outrageous % u2013 but not outrageous for long enough % u2013 MOV has tremendous appeal and entertainment value", "the musical biopic gets a much-needed smackdown in the fitfully hilarious MOV", "the latest from the apatow comedy factory abandons the relative realism of ` knocked up ' and ` superbad ' for mad magazine-esque , ` airplane ! ' - style spoofery ...", "goes through the motions of a satire with numerous references to pop music history , but remains flaccid throughout .", "knocked up hurriedly , you feel , in between apatow 's other projects , MOV is the feted writer-producer 's first fumble . as spinal tap 's nigel tufnel might have put it , this one only goes to two-and-a-half .", "reilly , one of our best supporting actors graduating to star status , finally bound for glory .", "the one area where ` MOV ' does manage to hold its own against classics of the genre such as ` this is spinal tap ' or ` sweet and lowdown ' is the music , all of which is expertly written and performed .", "john c reilly just about holds together a funny but patchy comedy that puts a ten-megaton bomb under the cliched rock biopic - and never detonates it .", "for all of the care and creativity put into MOV 's original songs , the rest of the film feels less inspired and maybe a little lazy .", "... this is the best batch of songs written for a comedy since paul williams penned the tunes for `` ishtar . ''", "MOV is n't merciless -lrb- except for maybe one wicked sequence with the beatles -rrb- , and that 's because it so loves what it 's sending up : the pleasure , ego , and sheer exhaustion of what happens behind the music .", "the tricky thing about parody movies is that the jokes get old fast and they 're hit-and-miss . MOV is guilty on both counts . how lucky that when the jokes do hit , they kick major ass .", "cox rocks and apatow 's streak continues in this spot-on biopic parody .", "in a spoof that contests all the visual and thematic cliches of hollywood musical biopics , from elvis to buddy holly to ray and walk the line , reilly finally gets a lead role , which he plays with gusto .", "the pugnacious john c. is gifted and knows no bounds . walking hard , for him ... effortless .", "hey , bay-buh ! there 's a whole lot of funny goin ' on in MOV . it 's got sex and drugs and elvis and giraffes and members only jackets .", "it 's kind of nice to see -lsb- john c. reilly -rsb- get a showcase role like this .", "it 's afraid to leave its comfort zone , and its primary joke wears thin in a hurry .", "raunchy biopic parody is n't for younger teens .", "call me a cynic , call me a curmudgeon , call me perverse -- i loved every moment of dewey cox 's story .", "the glory of the movie is reilly 's performance , which is executed with a perfectly straight face and no hint of self-consciousness .", "cox rocks .", "reilly is recklessly funny .", "there are certainly a lot of laugh-out-loud moments , which is more than can be said about a lot of alleged comedies .", "MOV runs down quickly , and suffers further from having the wide-eyed and weightless reilly as its star .", "this one pokes some fun at the conventions of the musical biopic genre instead of just replicating famous scenes from other films , and that 's a much more satisfying way to go because it actually has a perspective on the topic .", "paul rudd stole this performance in the beatles sequence and had to be one of his best comical pieces to date . the only reason i could recommend this film is to see this scene .", "the genius of jake kasdan 's fourth and best film lies in the fact that it starts out as a very faithful spoof of walk the line but then slowly evolves into something much cooler .", "a pitch-perfect musical comedy that at long last moves the talented john c. reilly up the billing ladder from second banana to top banana .", "borat 's influence shows . perfectly mocks the fantasy of johnny cash 's cinematic life story . the man in black 's fans will be furious .", "the film gets some mileage out of mocking fatuous biopic conventions .", "a rambunctious and funny musical spoof of musical biopics starring john c. reilly .", "do n't MOV , run to see this .", "this burlesque of biopic cliches flounders from one setup to the next without the engine that drives the genre : a strong central character .", "... not all the bits -lrb- among them a `` yellow submarine '' - like acid trip -rrb- work equally well . fortunately , there 's a general exuberance and fondness for the musical material that eases the rough spots .", "making parodies can be easy , but kasdan , apatow and their wonderful cast take their jobs seriously .", "reilly is well-cast in this hit-and-miss spoof of both rock singers and american social history from 1950 on .", "MOV : the dewey cox story has a good beat and you can dance to it , though mostly you 'll probably just tap your foot .", "nothing can prepare the senses for MOV , a parody feature that stumbles around like a maniac , ruthlessly ripping apart the conventions of the musical bio-pic but leaving plenty of breathing room to enjoy a little insanity of its own design .", "... almost entirely devoid of elements designed to hold the viewer 's interest .", "merrily deconstructs the conventions of the genre with subtlety and -lrb- where required -rrb- blatant outright mockery .", "a filthy little pic that seeks to shock and offend it 's audience throughout .", "i 'm glad the artform that zucker-abahams-zucker brought us in the 1980 's survives . it 's gotten raunchier , meaner , maybe rougher , but it lives on .", "kudos to the hilarious dance moves of john c. reilly and paul rudd 's fabulously goofy take on john lennon .", "MOV offers a quantity of laughs that few comedies could match .", "one of the awards season 's silliest -- and most satisfying -- surprises .", "good ensemble acting , a sometimes laugh out loud screenplay ... great music and staging and a solid performance by john c. reilly are all good reasons to see MOV .", "a dismal indulgence .", "some laughs , but you expect more from apatow .", "this biopic rocks - well , the first half does .", "in many ways outrageous -- but not outrageous for long enough -- MOV has tremendous appeal and entertainment value .", "the end of a golden run for judd apatow .", "another comedy winner ; if you have to ask why , it 's because it involves the knocked up guy . hilarious - even the beatles bit , this looks set to be a hit .", "who knew that judd apatow , the master of sex comedies , also spoke jive ?", "a perfect storm of incompetent idiocy that might kill off mockumentaries altogether .", "you 'll laugh hard during `` MOV . ''", "MOV is not making a mockery of the music or the musicians . it only playfully takes the teases the filmmakers and the conventions that have developed in telling these tortured artists ' stories . it 's only matinee price because it is occasionally a l", "MOV looks and sounds so much like a real musical biopic that you could make a good drinking game out of naming all the movies that get spoofed .", "a bawdy , rib-tickling , anything-goes spoof of such recent music biopics as ray and walk the line , and here 's the kicker -- it 's actually a better movie than both of those .", "-lsb- an -rsb- erratic , but enjoyable goof from the judd apatow hit-making machine .", "apatow and director jake kasdan deliver a fair number of laughs , though nearly every good idea is pressed into service as a running gag . the biggest disappointment is their survey of rock history , which has all the depth of a time-life book .", "`` MOV '' is a spoof with wit as well as heft .", "reilly is likably goofy , which goes a long way to redeeming the film .", "while `` MOV '' makes for a fine soundtrack , it 's less entertaining as a movie .", "a movie you can simply walk out of , say ` that was really funny , ' and go back to your day .", "john c. reilly is not anyone 's idea of a leading man -lrb- which is part of the spoof , people -rrb- .", "an snl sketch may have been a better vehicle for such a spoof . on the big screen , it ends up having a film life of its own becoming a music bio pic in order to sustain .", "the songs -lrb- written by a slew of artists , including reilly , apatow , and kasdan -rrb- are genuine , ridiculous , and often very funny .", "it 's a one-man show telling one-joke , but it 's a damn talented man and it 's a pretty funny joke .", "MOV is funniest in its first half , when you 're not quite sure where it 's going , and drags in the second , by which time you realize it 's going nowhere .", "at least it 's not as bad as it could have been .", "in a season loaded with serious films about war and loss , there 's bound to be an audience out there looking for some undemanding holiday laughs .", "this smart new spoof works because its makers ... obviously love the genre they have so much fun sending up .", "instead of sending everything over the top at high energy , like top secret or airplane ! , they allow reilly to more or less actually play the character , so that , against all expectations , some scenes actually approach real sentiment .", "jake kasdan and judd apatow lampoon the entire genre of the true-story biographical movies and fall nothing short of brilliant all the while .", "chances are , after seeing MOV , it 'll be years before you can sit through a serious musical biopic and maintain a straight face .", "it 's the flintstones vitamin of spoofs ." ], "summary": "a parody that pokes fun at rock stars and reductive biopics alike , this comedy sings in large part because of stellar performances and clever original music .", "id": "770675029" }, { "movie": "one_true_thing", "reviews": [ "streep shines !", "streep 's work elevates what is otherwise a middling melodrama that 's part coming-to-terms-with-your-family story and part ` few-months-to-live ' plot .", "streep 's performance mesmerizes , but it is zellweger 's engrossing portrayal as the selfish daughter that sells her as a serious hollywood actress .", "MOV has the most honest , layered and authentic family dynamic of any american movie in recent memory .", "instead of being just about coping with cancer , it tells an interesting story about a young woman coming to terms with the fact that her parents are not who she always thought they were .", "even director carl franklin ... ca n't prevent MOV from descending into chick-movie hell .", "the film is helped , by wonderful performances by two of the top talents in the business in streep and hurt , and zellweger stays right with them .", "MOV demonstrates that the power of simple things , the transcendent nature of the ordinary , can make for riveting filmmaking .", "thanks to carl franklin 's clever direction , which always stays real close to the characters , what could have been a tv movie-of-the-week becomes a thought-provoking and touching film .", "brings extraordinary honesty and keen emotional pitch to the family drama .", "a heart-affecting film that challenges us to confront some of the myths and meanings we have constructed about our parents .", "a well-oiled machine manufactured to tap our welled-up ducts .", "zellweger gives a rich performance !", "an emotional drama !", "a lot less black-and-white than it could have been .", "pumps new life into the dying-nobly-of-a-horrible-disease genre", "it 's a sad film that deals with tragic events . but the appeals to emotion are wholly honest and not the least bit crude .", "the MOV to remember about this film is how worthwhile it is .", "poignant , heartfelt and moving ...", "we 're here for the acting , and we get it .", "the actors are all phenomenally affecting , and carl franklin 's direction and declan quinn 's camerawork make the most of the little moments that pass between people .", "its strong cast and restrained direction lift it above the kleenex .", "the film rests firmly on the shoulders of streep and , to a lesser degree , zellweger . their performances , and carl franklin 's understated direction keep the tears and life-affirming revelations from congealing into chicken shmaltz for the soul .", "carl franklin 's understated direction keeps the tears and life-affirming revelations from congealing into chicken shmaltz for the soul .", "probably wo n't appeal to teens .", "the script shifts audience sympathies about quite adroitly , though it 's a pity all the men had to be such humbugs .", "there is n't one schmaltzy moment in the entire film , and any tears the viewer sobs into their hankies are well-earned .", "streep , zellweger , and hurt are outstanding .", "there 's a lot of oscar timber here ...", "one of those rare films -- a movie that is genuinely sad and moving without being melodramatic , sentimental or hokey .", "the movie ultimately belongs to streep , who illuminates the extraordinary soul inside an everyday woman .", "as finely wrought a drama as one could ask for .", "streep 's performance will probably secure her another oscar nomination .", "MOV is real enough to be a film you can believe in .", "streep manages to transcend the material and outshine her other fellow cast members to such a degree that you wish they and the material were at least as good as she is .", "honest , perceptive and moving !", "streep is luminous as the hypermaternal kate .", "it 's streep to the max !", "in a time when most movie families are hopelessly dysfunctional , it is refreshing to see one that does n't quite fit the mold .", "heartfelt acting and imaginative filmmaking transform soap-opera into an affecting screen experience .", "franklin is a rare , undeniable talent whose special abilities again shine through .", "a convincing but restrained melodrama , at times attaining true emotional power .", "typical meryl , as streep streeps her way through another wintry family crisis movie .", "streep and hurt , two of the best gestural actors working , let the showboating tics fly fast and thick .", "franklin seems ill-suited to this cast and this material .", "unfortunately , director carl franklin paces the film with a dirge-like rhythm . and its lengthiness is hardly mitigated by william hurt 's lackluster performance .", "renee zellweger , in particular , is captivating ; she is irresistible as an actress , while meryl streep is luminous , perceptive , and courageous .", "how effective can a tear-jerker be if you 're waiting for them to be jerked ?", "zellweger and especially streep both bring their roles to vivid life with a multi-dimensional blend of warmth , vulnerability , and underlying strength .", "yes , meryl streep is phenomenal again !", "streep 's performance makes the movie worth seeing .", "MOV celebrates the very things you do n't miss , or even know exist , until they are gone .", "meryl streep is an actress of such transcendent skill and sympathy that she regularly elevates her material , taking it up several notches and giving us feelings , insights , feelings and textures the original writer may have just missed expressing .", "superb cast , excellent performances , well-written script and great direction !", "sensitively written , fluidly directed and expertly acted !", "it is the craftsmanship that elevates MOV above the level of a soaper .", "although the plot rarely excels , the actors bring enough to their roles to transform this motion picture into a satisfying weeper ." ], "summary": "solid performances lift this drama to a higher level .", "id": "14183" }, { "movie": "dukes_of_hazzard", "reviews": [ "one big , uninspired failure .", "the MOV better have a big opening weekend . once the dukes remake hits thousands of movie screens , it 's got to win its own race .", "the MOV is a movie that makes you feel unclean as a result of having seen it .", ".", "certainly not the worst of the endless stream of tv remakes , but given the unassuming , easy charm of the original , still wide of the mark by a country mile .", "after about 20 minutes , you 'll start wondering just how many times we 're going to see our two moronic leads doing handbrake turns and going `` whoooo-hooo '' . i counted at least 30 .", "it 's a film made specifically and entirely for the purpose of extracting money out of unsuspecting customers ' wallets , all marketing plan and no artistic vision .", "seems to take pride in being as loud , obnoxious and moronic as humanly possible .", "satire by satirists who just do n't get it -- approaching the silly outlaw charm -lrb- which satirized itself in the tv show -rrb- with the subtlety of an f5 tornado in a trailer park .", "mental garbage , a picture that 's so foul we question its reason for existing .", "crass and obnoxious where the show was affable and even rather sweet-natured .", "super troopers , club dread , and now this . chandrasekhar can not be stopped .", "b-movie pabulum within an a-level marketing plan .", "it 's dumb as rocks and thoroughly unnecessary .", "big dumb fun . you can actually feel yourself getting stupider while watching it - but it 's such a sunny , upbeat , eager-to-please movie , the silliness becomes infectious .", "remember : friends do n't let friends go to the MOV sober .", "a black hole of a movie without anything original to do or interesting to say . that it is n't outright terrible only makes its utter pointlessness all the more glaring .", "the plot involves the boys ' attempt to thwart hogg 's secret plan to turn hazzard county into an open coal mine , but it 's really just an excuse for endless car chases .", "with no plot , character or dialogue worth experiencing , let alone remembering , the film merely occupies space on the screen and hopes for the best .", "stupid enough to make smokey and the bandit part 3 and cannonball run 2 suddenly seem like paragons of wit and high comedy .", "the film is marginal for what it is -- a takeoff on a farce . there are only so many layers of sendup until the movie simply spins in the mud , kicking up gravel but going nowhere .", "too much blah-blah , not enough ` yeeehawww ! '", "a weird , moonshine-and - marijuana-fueled yee-haw fest based on the '80s tv show .", "straight viewing could result in brain damage .", "whether you find all this inane or offensive will probably depend on whether you buy the dukes ' defence of ` never meaning no harm ' ; either way it 's pretty hard going .", "jay chandrasekhar -lrb- of the unfunny comedy troupe broken lizard -rrb- directs without wit or style .", "instead of the promised lighthearted tone of the tv series , the big screen update avails itself of its pg-13 liberties and comes stuffed with a barnful of profanity and enough marijuana references to satisfy even the most stoned out cheech and chong fan .", "the only thing the MOV has in abundance is hate .", "n\u0103o \u00e9 apenas sem gra\u00e7a ; \u00e9 , tamb\u00e9m , moralmente ofensivo , sendo povoado por personagens desprez\u00edveis , ignorantes e preconceituosos -lrb- o que inclui os ` her\u00f3is ' -rrb- .", "it 's got a few laughs and some impressive car chases , but mostly , it 's just a puzzling jumble of gags and exhaust fumes .", "-lsb- jessica simpson -rsb- literally could n't act if her life depended on it - she appears to only be there to provide eye candy and , frankly , she 's not all that attractive in the first place .", "a spirited , high energy romp that is naught but yee-haw nonsense , the MOV is a rev a second .", "comes reasonably close to -lsb- being -rsb- finger-licking good .", "it 's either hell being a hillbilly or a hell of a lot of fun being a hillbilly . here , it 's hell .", "`` the dukes '' are back ... and the film happily hits the right balance between stupid and fun : you know , everything we loved about the television show .", "a gigantic disaster", "escapist entertainment , but little else .", "it boasts a few good laughs , a few cool action sequences and a few gratuitous eye candy shots that will have nick lachey punching holes in a wall .", "it 's not intolerable or offensive so much as it is just plain stupid .", "this foolhardy hazzard upgrade may be appealing to its tv fans . or it could just remind you how ridiculous it was the show ran for six seasons in the first place .", "there 's a stink coming off the big-screen MOV that even fans of the tv series -lrb- 1979 to 1985 -rrb- wo n't be able to shake out of their nostrils .", "ca n't decide whether it 's saluting the series or spoofing it . ... the yee-haws start to give way to yawns ...", "over here , dukes . park the general lee in the weeds between the big-screen beverly hillbillies jalopy and the mchale 's navy pt-73 .", "when a movie 's misogyny is battling its racism for screen time , you know the project is in trouble .", "` when i sit down , i say , when shall i arise and the dukes be gone ? and i am full of tossings to and fro unto the ending of the movie . ' -- not job 7:4", "will the boys fall into boss hogg 's trap ? how will they get past the roadblock ?", "it 's simple , kinda crass and more fun than jumping into the creek while daisy is skinny dipping .", "a comedy that knows just how smart to be about just how dumb it is .", "there were two big boobs i wanted to see in this movie , and they were n't johnny knoxville and seann william scott .", "the remake truly represents the most evil of hollywood ideals , and tarnishes a south-of-the-border television treat that is still standing over 25 years later .", "i really did n't mind MOV . it 's just a whole movie of almost getting somewhere but staying a little bit behind .", "considering how funny it could have been -- either as a faithful big-screen adaptation or as a winking parody -- this sloppy mix of both styles is a disappointment .", "anyone who does n't love the dukes and their repetitive adventures wo n't find much of interest , and anyone who does is better off watching old episodes on cmt .", "injecting enough solid laughs and car chases to make dukes precisely what it is - an uncomplicated friday night distraction .", "two dudes and a cool car is n't a lot to base a tv show -lrb- much less a movie -rrb- on , and it 's no more substantial here .", "this is n't the hazzard county i remember .", "bo and luke duke were better off when they were replaced by two other unknown cousins for a season than they are being played by seann william scott and johnny knoxville .", "for some reason people in massachusetts are supposed to be ashamed of being educated , but the people of georgia are to be proud of their rural morons .", "the MOV aims awfully low .", "the MOV is a cheap , greasy time at the multiplex .", "broken lizard ... brings a subversive streak that sneaks some genuine humor into what would otherwise be an assembly-line collection of car chases and frat-boy ogling .", "... intentionally mindless and as reckless as an open moonshine jug left on a steaming heater ... shamelessly uneven and not very smart about its heralded idiocy", "at one point in the film , scott turns to knoxville and says , ` there 's a lot of smart people out there . ' with the MOV , warner bros. is apparently banking on the opposite to be true .", "has some of the same fratty energy as wedding crashers .", "half the jokes land on the screen like dead armadillos .", "meanders from one overblown action sequence to the next , without bringing along for the ride the goofy charm of the show on which it 's based .", "hard to imagine a movie more mind-numbingly pointless and instantly forgettable .", "not even a sexy , toned and blossomed blond can distract from the vapid ugliness that is the MOV .", "park your brain in the garage , shift gears into stupid and put the pedal to the metal . then maybe , just maybe , you might find some funny moments in the MOV .", "mindless piffle .", "for a movie that posits itself as a celebration of rebel excess , dukes is pretty tame .", "witless film .", "a lunch box in cinematic form : another half-assed excuse to slap a label on something and shill it to the crowd .", "the MOV feels like hollywood 's last idea , a wan desperate wave of red meat redneck humor marketed to red state america .", "-lsb- an -rsb- episodic , cartoony romp .", "a series of rowdy antics instead of a sustained storyline , the MOV is all about the car .", "there 's no reason for these good ol' boys to be in a movie this bad .", "why fans of the series would pay good money to see something they can see free in tv reruns escapes me .", "the MOV is the latest evidence that , for hollywood studios at least , there can never be too much of a mediocre thing .", "broken lizard 's biggest mistake is to update this story to the present .", "flatter than a two-lane blacktop , the movie is awfully unfunny , which it compensates for by being awfully loud .", "in the age of media immediacy , well-connected computer systems and helicopter pursuits -- to say nothing of the same watchful government that spawned the patriot act -- all this seems nonsensical .", "the storyline is so dumb and predictable it would n't have even made the grade for an episode of the original tv series .", "fans of the television show will find a lot to like here . so will fans of the broken lizard comedy troupe .", "purports to be a remake of a tv show but is more accurately a remake of jessica 's vapid modeling career .", "in lieu of a movie , we get a series of car chases rudely interrupted by the occasional smattering of dialogue .", "amazing . incredible . unbelievable . astonishing . painful . all these words come to mind in just the first 10 minutes of viewing this film , none of them in a good way .", "bo and luke are played by scott and knoxville with a backwoods brio that makes ma and pa kettle look like alfred lunt and lynn fontanne .", "... neither the frantic slapstick nor the we-don ` t - know-what - to-do-so - let 's - have - another-car-chase sequences alter the movie 's gear-grinding desperation .", "simpson recites her lines as though english were a language with which she is completely unfamiliar", "filming jessica simpson 's *** is easy , but the car was always the real selling point of the show and it 's no different here .", "nowhere to be found here is any of the goofy charm of the original .", "great it ai n't , but it entertains for stretches .", "even by the lax standards of tv show adaptations , though , this one is a disappointment .", "so loud , so long , so dumb .", "you ca n't blame the millions who will fantasize about gen. sherman burning the movie 's negative , but when it comes to the home market , this will be a good one for its target audience to pass out to .", "the film 's ambitions are so low that it 's hard to imagine how it fell short of them .", "delivering exactly what it promises -- car chasing , girl gazing and yee-hawing -- it takes the high road to low art by remaining faithful to the tv series that spawned it .", "the MOV is just plain awful .", "the good-ol ' - boy humor mostly is dated and redundant , the low-tech car stunts are unlikely to thrill today 's jaded audiences and the plot -- the dukes saving the county from being turned into an open-pit mine -- is a yawner .", "in stiff competition for the lamest thing ever put on celluloid .", "haws follow hees as hayseeds rip around in fast cars , churning dust and making faces very close to the camera .", "who can forget jessica simpson ? you will , if you 're lucky .", "hillbilly heaven , if you even want to go there .", "you ca n't say those involved in the film did n't have fun -- sure looks like they had a blast . shame is as an audience we ca n't say the same .", "this must rank as one of the most hollowly formulaic hot-weather blockbusters ever let out of the can .", "the movie goes extra lite on the comic fluff , while doing the usual heavy handed thing when it comes to hayseed caricatures .", "there 's really nothing to enjoy here other than a lot of stale dialogue , and a pitiful grab for a franchise .", "the MOV only works during the chase sequences , and just sits there the rest of the time . there are some moments of inspired visual lunacy , but that 's it .", "if rubber-burning car chases and short shorts are your thing , this is the summer remake for you .", "good , stupid fun .", "... you ca n't say the movie is n't lively , like a big old-fashioned warner bros. cartoon .", "do n't bother with this movie . if you 're just itching for more dukes , stick to the original series on dvd .", "even as the film tediously tends to its arbitrary plot , chandrasekhar displays almost oneiric reverence for the iconography of the tv show .", "heck , suck the exhaust fumes from a 1969 orange dodge charger . but whatever you do , no matter how big a fan you were of the show , do yourself a favor by skipping the movie .", "a lapdance , a fifth of cheap whiskey , and a lube job would offer the same elements and be a hell of a lot more fun .", "bound to make you smile , even if you do feel guilty about it afterwards .", "... offers the same nostalgia value as using the theme song as your ring tone .", "the balladeer always sang that the mountain might get the duke boys someday . with this movie , they crash the general lee into it and explode .", "it 's every bit as bad as you thought it 'd be . only worse .", "a lame-brained , outdated wheeze .", "it 's as dumb as a bag of hammers and as cheesy as , well , macaroni and cheese . but it 's a movie that knows how inconsequential it is at the outset and does n't care much whether you can party with it or not .", "as a salvo in the culture wars , MOV is a dud , and as an actual movie it does n't rate much higher .", "this is one unusual case in which aiming for a middling c grade turns out to be a-plus work .", "features low-rent humor and high-speed chases .", "a decent-enough rambunctious southern-drive-in sort of time-waster .", "bringing this hit tv show to the big screen must have seemed like a good idea at the time . too bad it did n't work out .", "car crashes !!! wowzers ! then we get to see daisy in a bikini in order to sexually harass the cops . how cute !!!", "the MOV does such a textbook job of pandering to bubba q. public that it ought to run for political office .", "should be called dukes of hazardous to your health if you 're forced to watch it .", "there 's just not much going on in these 106 minutes of ai n't - it-cool quasi-nostalgia .", "burt reynolds fired his agent after boogie nights . if he has a lick of sense in his head , he 'll kill his agent after MOV .", "assuming that someone was determined to remake this mediocre but iconic tv show , this is probably as good as it 's going to get .", "after the first chase scene , it 's obvious that scott and knoxville do n't have enough charisma to carry the film , or to even make anarchic destruction and evading the law into something if not sexy at least endearing .", "prepare to witness an amazing feat of filmmaking : shocked and delighted will you be to see real hollywood actors and real musicians outperformed by your favorite inanimate objects !", "herbie for adults .", "with a hideously fake tan and an eerie smile , simpson recites her lines with a chipper hollowness that makes it seem like she has just barely memorized them .", "like most movies based on old television shows , dukes is all concept , with a few jokes written into its crevices .", "it 's a negation of cinema . you would actually become a better , more complete person by not watching it .", "as h.l. mencken said , `` no one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the american public . ''", "i could barely make out a word of the ` dialogue ' them there duke boys kept a-hollerin ' over the roar of the general lee and their movie 's soundtrack of ineptly edited swamp rock .", "dumb , mindless filmmaking at its most mediocre . but so was the tv show .", "if this is how bo and luke translate to the big screen , i 'd hate to see the movie versions of coy and vance .", "like being stuck in the middle of a nascar race ... without a car .", "stupid , meandering , generally unfunny attempt .", "basically it 's like a rural south edition of jackass . but not as funny .", "one broken down lizard", "it all backfires worse than the general lee before a tune-up by cooter .", "forget the drill core , the dukes should have had willie nelson 's blood analyzed , because every time that guy has a blood test science adds a new element to the periodic table .", "fan -lsb- s -rsb- of the ... tv series ... -lsb- will -rsb- likely want to see this just to find out if it 's a travesty ... -lsb- others , however -rsb- will surely wonder what they 're doing watching this movie .", "the biggest hurdle for the MOV is that the humor is extremely hit-or-miss .", "... a barely-entertaining light action adventure with glimpses of the fun that could have been had .", "a coupla times this here 's kinda funny . but the rest of the time it 's dadburn dumb", "folks from this side of the mason-dixon line may be more forgiving of this sometimes fun , if often mindless , bit of entertainment .", "even as a non-fan of the series , i am fairly certain that the original was never quite as low as this obnoxious celebration of stupidity .", "i hated this movie . it represents everything that 's wrong with the studio system .", "movie-goers would be better off spending their movie ticket money on the dvd box set of the television series .", "the MOV is a movie in the sense that it is composed of recorded events , gets projected on a screen , and can be viewed as a continuum .", "this movie is hazardous to your entertainment health", "a raunchy hazzard . lame-brained but unpretentious fun .", "sure , it 's simple but for a longtime MOV fan , it 's a funny and nostalgic dose of southern comfort .", "motorheads who want nothing more than a handful of chase sequences may enjoy the MOV , but everyone else should observe the cautionary yellow flag .", "a movie about absolutely nothing -lrb- eat your heart out , seinfeld -rrb- , based on a show made when your target audience was n't even born yet . and they say hollywood is running out of ideas ." ], "summary": "a dumb , goofy , and vacuous adaptation of a tv show where plot is simply an excuse to string together the car chases .", "id": "1971" }, { "movie": "american_president", "reviews": [ "neither bad nor unwatchable , the MOV is nevertheless the second straight disappointment from director rob reiner .", "when it comes right down to it , high office does not guarantee high comedy .", "the MOV becomes a pretty darn entertaining and affecting movie after its first simpering 20 minutes .", "a well-modulated charmer .", "painless fun .", "great entertainment .", "got the same zip as when harry met sally .", "frothy .", "the MOV will make you laugh and make you smile . but it probably wo n't make you change your vote .", "you ca n't dislike this movie , but you wo n't be swept away by it either .", "rob reiner seems to have found his calling .", "the image of a chief executive as moonstruck single guy taps something buoyant and touching in our collective democratic imagination . and douglas , wearing a fast-break smile in place of his usual frown , strikes a tender rapport with bening ...", "the MOV is a bright , witty romantic comedy with really good dialogue , but at the same time it is a statement about politics , and about politicians , some who are idealists and some who are opportunists .", "douglas and bening are both wonderful .", "apart from its too-obvious political bias , the MOV has romance in its heart , smarts in abundance and class to spare .", "an extremely savvy observation on politics in the media age .", "good romantic comedy . some funny irreverence about the white house , and a well-meaning political message .", "predictable and pc , but fun .", "light , fluffy romantic comedy , well acted by michael douglas .", "a genial and glossy middle-brow rom/com blended together with corny capra-like political drama .", "as the 1995 film veers away from the romance , into definable -lrb- and dated -rrb- political issues , it loses some of its magic .", "witty , wise , and idealized political romance .", "a potentially good adult romance is undone by a preachy left-wing agenda .", "part romantic comedy , part capra-corny political drama , this movie exudes so much sympathy , it sweats .", "glorious romantic comedy .", "sorkin starts his west wing warm-up with a winning political rom-com .", "leve , divertido e gratificante .", "registers as a polished and delightful romantic comedy about soulmates .", "genial and entertaining if not notably inspired .", "genial middlebrow fare that coasts a long way on the charm of its two stars .", "with great looks , a dandy supporting cast , a zinger-filled screenplay by aaron sorkin and mr. douglas twinkling merrily in the oval office , the MOV is sunny enough to make the real presidency pale by comparison .", "the casting is inspired , with uniformly crisp performances all around .", "so-so fantasy about what a more courageous bill clinton might have been like .", "while there are a lot of funny lines in the film , well-delivered by an all-star cast , the film 's politics are funniest of all .", "a shrewd new depiction of ` office sex , ' as well as an utterly positive view of the idea that a president 's character is important .", "peppered with terrific performances from a bevy of familiar faces .", "a super cast injects it with teddy roosevelt vitality .", "as bustling and impassioned as the best sturges and capra movies .", "michael douglas is plausible as president , and he delivers yet another solid , if unmemorable performance .", "` capraesque ' has inevitably been affixed to the MOV , but that phrase , with its implications of facile hokum , does n't do the film justice .", "charming but flawed leftist romantic comedy .", "director rob reiner strikes a good balance between drama and old-fashioned love with douglas and bening suitably understated in their roles .", "essentially a by-the-numbers hollywood romance in the dopiest melodramatic tradition .", "simplistic , full of stock characters and easy solutions to difficult problems , and i absolutely loved it ." ], "summary": "a charming romantic comedy with political bite , rob reiner 's MOV features strong lead performances and some poignant observations of politics and media in the 1990s .", "id": "10129" }, { "movie": "alone_in_the_dark", "reviews": [ "thanks for the surgical enhancement , tara reid . as i always say , if saline made you a great actor then sean penn would have gills .", "actually has an entire group of adults call out to a lost comrade , ` marco ! ' what does he expect the audience to do when they hear that ? i mean , come on .", "-lrb- christian -rrb- slater and -lrb- tara -rrb- reid share quite possibly the most awkward love scene ever recorded on film .", "-lsb- a -rsb- n instant classic of cheeseball cinema , an orgy of overblown dialogue and hammy overacting , 90-some-odd minutes of cheap-looking , jaw-dropping incoherence ...", "they say that even ugly babies have faces their mothers love , but this is truly a film that not even hardcore genre fans could appreciate .", "on the short list of worst movies ever made .", "there 's a point in the movie where it 's best to stop trying to make sense out of this unintelligible story ... right after the opening credits .", "perhaps hoping to be a sort of hybrid matrix meets indiana jones meets alien , unfortunately , MOV is just a bad movie .", "worse than you can imagine ... see 1997 's the relic instead .", "... asking the viewer to accept tara reid as a scientist is pure insanity , requiring a staggering leap of faith that i ca n't even begin to contemplate .", "reid delivers her lines as though she is calling for another round of mai tais for the house .", "MOV is n't going to set the world on fire , but it largely succeeds with what it has to work with . just do n't take it seriously and you 'll have a fun time .", "obvious dry humping to inappropriate music does n't cut it in a horror flick - at least give us some skin .", "so far off the scale bad that the only possible reaction is to laugh at it -- and i do mean at it and not with it .", "there are some stupid films that rock , if you turn your brain off and enjoy them . MOV is n't one of these , though it is very stupid .", "MOV co-stars perpetual party-girl tara reid as an archeologist . that alone should give you some clue as to how bad this movie is .", "as video game adaptations go , even pong : the movie would have a lot more personality .", "none of it hangs together enough to make a coherent narrative .", "lame monster movies like this adaptation of the popular atari video game are scary for all the wrong reasons .", "the horror . the hor-ror !", "there 's nothing even remotely entertaining about this film -- audiences should stay home and play the original -lrb- or one of its numerous sequels -rrb- on playstation instead .", "the late gene siskel once devised a simple method of measuring a film 's worth : ` is this film more interesting than a documentary of the same actors having lunch ? ' ` MOV ' does n't come close to matching that standard .", "any chance for suspense is thwarted by gratuitous violence , heavy-metal-propelled action sequences and laughably flat dialogue between characters who are barely more developed than in the atari version .", "christian slater and stephen dorff , the reigning princes of hollywood schlock , join forces in this brain-dead adaptation of a popular video game .", "MOV pourrait figurer dans un dictionnaire en exemple frappant de ce que signifie insipide .", "better than expected , but , considering the reputation of its author , this is n't much of an achievement", "this is pretty close to one of the worse movies that i 've ever seen and having to recap it is making my brain bleed . .", "eu devia ter suspeitado de algo quando meu aparelho de dvd pareceu se recusar a rodar este filme . e posso jurar que ele pediu um cepacol depois que a tortura chegou ao fim .", "MOV offers ample evidence that house of the dead helmer uwe boll should put down his joystick -- quickly , before anyone else gets hurt .", "this is definitely for people who 1 -rrb- love the video game , 2 -rrb- think slater and dorff are eminently watchable , no matter what bad flick they 're in and 3 -rrb- are wearing industrial-strength ear plugs .", "this horror film , spun off from an old atari video game , is so inept on every level , you wonder why the distributor did n't release it straight to video , or better , toss it directly into the trash .", "laughably bad .", "i laughed . i was bored . i could n't believe my own eyes .", "the three stars have seen better days , but i 'd like to think they could still do something classier and more dignified than this . like gay porn .", "a hokey , recycled collection of mumbo-jumbo that unabashedly steals from a multitude of other horror films .", "as silly as it is stylish .", "if nothing else , MOV proves that it 's possible to ` dumb down ' a video game .", "if you took the 100 worst ideas ever conceived for a science-fiction film , rattled them around in a lotto tumbler and spilled them out onto the screen at random , you could not produce a more asinine hodgepodge than MOV .", "it 's just the most inept filmmaking you can catch in theatres right now , or probably all year long .", "for as busy as this movie is , you 'd think it would have more going on . instead , it 's just a big , chewy wad of badness .", "remember to get your bets in early as the razzie winner for 2005 .", "has just about everything a snarky bad movie lover could want -- that is , except a guy and two robots sitting in the bottom right hand corner .", "it 's never good when the audience starts laughing as soon as the movie begins -- and nothing has happened .", "you start hoping that ashton kutcher is going to come out and tell them they 're punk 'd , because you just ca n't believe this is for real . you feel sorry for these actors ...", "boll 's vague x-files rip-off is n't scary or exciting , but inadvertently he 's made a movie funnier than a lot of the purported comedies hollywood cranks out .", "as long as director uwe boll is given money to make films , we are guaranteed at least one unintentionally uproarious gut-buster a year .", "little of MOV makes earthly sense , but it at least knows how to be bad in original ways .", "how uwe boll manages to scrape together enough investment money to give wing to this type of overblown , amateurish gibberish is truly a mystery of the cosmos ...", "some concepts are meant to stay in the gaming console .", "as an audience-participation midnight movie , MOV has potential .", "the acting is awful and amateurish .", "a laugh-out-loud turkey .", "never trust a movie that opens with a written introduction scrolling by that 's longer than the collected works of tom clancy .", "too stupid to watch , too loud to nap through , MOV shows just how tenuous plan nine from outer space 's hold on that ` worst movie ever ' title really is .", "ultra-violent , hyper-mindless and bruisingly loud , MOV makes its video game predecessors look like masterpiece theater .", "it does n't even qualify as ` so bad it 's good , ' although by that standard it does have its moments .", "MOV is no better than whatever you might pick up while wearing a blindfold at blockbuster , even if you happen to reach into a trash can .", "MOV is amateurish at best and asinine at worst .", "there is a reason to fear being MOV : it 's this movie .", "no subtext , no moral , no cultural observation , no substance ; if it had calories , they would be empty", "the film is filled with hilariously bad performances , expository dialogue and production values that suggest it could have been a low-budget film-school project .", "it 's tempting to call MOV one of those movies so bad that it 's almost good . but that might send the wrong signal to hollywood .", "so poorly built , so horribly acted and so sloppily stitched together that it 's not even at the straight - to-dvd level .", "frighteningly bad cinema is the only thing scary about MOV , which gives video-game movies an even worse name , if that 's possible .", "tara reid responds to the camera like she 's just caught a paparazzo ; every line of dialogue begins with , ` hey guys , ' be it ordering lunch or reacting to mortal danger .", "MOV presents splatter fans with garden-variety gore , and gives action-horror fans loud , unscary special effects rather than genuine suspense or bang .", "i did n't see director uwe boll 's zombie dud house of the dead , but on the evidence of MOV , he belongs in the pantheon of hopelessly inept directors .", "quite possibly one of the worst movies of the decade .", "quite possibly the worst of the year . definiately the worst of the month .", "MOV does n't even deserve the indignity of going straight-to-video", "dear MOV , ... it 's time for me to start seeing other movies . but i will think of you always , when i sit at the movies , MOV , without you .", "chances are , you 'll probably find yourself alone in the theater too .", "one of the worst movies ever made .", "horrific and horrible", "if you find yourself alone in MOV , run away as fast as you can . not because this sci-fi horror movie is scary , but because it is so stupid .", "if someone recommends you see MOV , assume that person hates you or at least dislikes you .", "believe it or not , it is possible to inspire decent cinema from the roots of nintendo or playstation . but you ca n't do it with pong-caliber talent .", "woefully murky and meaningless ... the world 's most durable and heavy duty flashlight could n't bring an ounce of brightness to the underwhelming MOV", "saying uwe boll 's MOV is better than his 2003 american debut house of the dead is akin to praising syphilis for not being hiv .", "... films like ` battlefield earth ' and ` the adventures of pluto nash ' await a film of this magnitude because it gets awfully lonely on the island of misfit movies .", "unconvincing leads , nonsensical plot , dumb staging -- this movie has it all .", "trying to rehash this plot is like trying to describe a jackson pollock painting while drunk", "veers tantalizingly close to being one of those movies that is so bad it 's good , but in the end , it 's so bad it 's just ... bad .", "director uwe boll -lrb- house of the dead -rrb- has made a cottage industry out of this kind of junk . maybe it 's time for him to close up shop .", "the film looks like it was made for $ 1.05 with its murky cinematography , sloppy special effects , and cheap sets .", "once the poorly staged mayhem erupts , there 's no disguising the fact that it 's all been a pointless buildup to 40 minutes of running , shooting and screaming , and you 've wasted whatever time and attention you devoted to following any of its minutiae .", "dreadful .", "MOV is so awful , anyone who spends 10 bucks seeing it ought to get 11 bucks change and a written apology from the director and cast .", "if you are MOV with MOV , be sure to bring chewing gum -- it will provide entertainment .", "a film so mind-blowingly horrible that it teeters on the edge of cinematic immortality .", "... 96 minutes of pure torture ...", "utterly lost by its end , you can just sit back and let yourself be hijacked by the movie 's outrageous dialogue , hyperventilating performances and all-around commitment to overkill .", "a violent and incomprehensible piece of gibberish .", "-lsb- t -rsb- he filmmakers have no more ability to tell a story than to create three-dimensional characters . they do n't so much end the film as hit the reset button .", "the most entertainment comes from watching slater and dorff and trying to figure out who 's got the biggest forehead .", "in this chintzy video-game blow-up , christian slater battles zombies and transmogrified beasties , revealing the horror of a once-promising career turned miserable .", "there 's plenty to snicker at .", "i 've heard of the suspension of disbelief , but tara reid as an archeologist ?", "maybe the only people who can explain this flick 's nonsensical plotline are those who squandered their youth mastering the atari video game on which it 's based .", "-lsb- uwe boll -rsb- makes things on the cheap ... so people keep giving him money , even though he does n't seem to know how to point a camera at his actors , let alone operate it .", "this is jaw-dropping , awe-inspiring , ` i-can ` t - believe-someone - made-this-crap ' badness we 're dealing with .", "if anyone were pondering what ed wood would be like today if he were armed with foreign financing and computer effects , look no further than uwe boll .", "you need an actor who can make the words sound smart , and reid wo n't be winning a nobel prize anytime soon -lrb- she 's proof that alcohol kills brain cells ... with a vengeance -rrb- .", "terrible beyond belief , like the worst 1940s serial ever made . as for slater and dorff ... well , they 've been in worse movies -- wait a minute , no they have n't .", "as predictable as watching a bag of microwave popcorn pop and as terrifying as a herd of dust bunnies", "director uwe boll -lrb- is -rrb- a latter-day ed wood who fancies himself a cross between action-sytlish john woo and b-movie horror-ific john carpenter .", "grab your funniest smartass friends and have a good time ripping this piece of crap to shreds . i know i did . but if you 're looking for a good movie , stay away !", "somewhere , ed wood is resting pretty comfortably right now .", "the title is reasonably fitting , since i very nearly was MOV when i saw it .", "when the giant , intelligent bees of the future sift through the ashes of our civilization , they will find MOV , and they will understand . it 's so bad it 's postmodern .", "the garish editing and stilted , exposition-only dialogue induce the frisson of an america 's most wanted re-enactment that pays unexpected , sidesplitting returns .", "wow . what an aptly named movie .", "attains a level of awe-inspiring velveeta dunderheadedness .", "if ed wood had the opportunity to fall under mtv 's influence , plan nine from outer space would have looked like MOV .", "it 's only january , but i ca n't imagine any upcoming film replacing ` MOV ' as my leading candidate for worst movie of 2005 .", "anyone who chooses to watch this film will probably be MOV as most theaters will be empty" ], "summary": "inept on almost every level , MOV may not work as a thriller , but it 's good for some head-slapping , incredulous laughter .", "id": "14064" }, { "movie": "gunnin_for_that_1_spot", "reviews": [ "the slow-motion footage of these athletes showing off their macho skills is generously underpinned by rumbling hip-hop . great nightclub wallpaper .", "this is just a dull promotional video .", "ok , so it 's not quite as searching as hoop dreams , but it 's hugely enjoyable all the same and boasts - as you 'd expect - a terrific soundtrack .", "unlike the 1994 basketball doc hoop dreams , which investigated collateral issues of education , race and money , this merely sets a twitchy hip-hop soundtrack to an unenlightening parade of eager sporting wannabes .", "a ho-hum basketball documentary .", "beastie boy adam yauch 's basketball diary is of limited general appeal .", "spot provides the basics with foot-tapping , head-bobbing flamboyance , providing the viewer with a serious helping of heart , soul , and scorching basketball action blended up into a taut , explosive documentary .", "the extraordinary athleticism and skills of these teenagers , all prime prospects for eventual nba stardom , makes this a game you really want to see .", "to concentrate on the film you have to be a basketball fan , or just a basket case .", "although this is never less than watchable , you ca n't help feeling that it would have been a better film if they 'd waited a year or so and actually included details of the players ' futures .", "the film is well shot and edited , backed with a bouncy hip-hop soundtrack and full of pep .", "a cool look at superstars-to-be paying respect to harlem 's rucker park on their path to hoops greatness .", "director adam yauch tricks up this eclectic look at all-star high school basketball with so much cool high-def camera work and showy editing it 's sure to satisfy the film 's target youth audience 's appetite for zippy visuals and swift pacing .", "beastie boy adam yauch shoots and scores with this documentary that follows eight elite high-school basketball players showcasing their skills along with 16 other prospects in an all-star game at harlem 's -lrb- in -rrb- famous rucker park court .", "call it hoop daydreams : a whiz-bang frolic through the lives and skills of eight high-school basketball players who dribble , pass and shoot their way into the ultimate city-park game .", "would be more at home on espn than the big screen . but b-ball fans should enjoy it in either venue .", "gunnin ' for that # 1 spot is an on-the-fly record of a memorable moment in basketball history .", "a conventional exercise in documentary storytelling , not a rich and incisive assessment of youth and sports cultures .", "as sports movies go , gunnin ' never feels the slightest bit hokey , and serves up sportscenter-worthy clips in high style , along with the unmistakable feel of real life .", "the film covers the game 's highlights with great flair .", "gunnin ' for that # 1 spot is a basketball documentary where the climactic game looks like a hong kong wire-fu epic .", "i daresay the results would inspire eisenstein himself to proffer an affirming nod from the great beyond .", "a spunky , impassioned and resourceful doc on the cutthroat world of us college basketball made for a pittance by adam yauch .", "at the heart of everything there 's yauch , directing with remarkable authority for someone who 's pretty new to the director 's chair .", "in the opening section of the film , we get to know them through interviews , game footage and scenes of family life . it 's here where the film shines , giving us a glimpse into what it 's like for young athletes being groomed for the nba .", "as a tribute to the game and its accessibility to all , gunnin ' is hard to beat .", "a funkier , shallower version of 1994 's hoop dreams , beastie boy adam yauch 's doc follows eight high school basketball phenoms as they head to harlem 's asphalt mecca , rucker park , to take part in 2006 's elite 24 tournament .", "it 's a fly-on-the-wall look at eight prodigiously talented kids hooking up to play ball in the big city , and as such , it 's a great deal of fun .", "shining a light on eight of the brightest stars in american high school basketball , gunnin ' for that # 1 spot is a refreshing and thrilling reminder of why we watch and why they play .", "gunnin ' is everything the fatuous , condescending hoop dreams was not .", "an impressive feat on every level as yauch brings an unbridled passion to shining a spotlight on some of the country 's finest young basketball players in a way that can be appreciated by anyone and everyone .", "as each player 's run through the same routine-hometown meet-and-greet , biographical sketch , hasty interview-the burden of the formulaic structure starts to wear .", "adam yauch , beastie boy turned documentarian , turns in a crisp , insightful , but emotionally distant look at the best high school basketball players of 2006 with gunnin ' for that # 1 spot .", "although it is n't a particularly deep look at the world of pressures and performance anxieties faced by high-school phenoms , gunnin ' is a welcome treat to anyone who follows the game closely .", "after the gimmicky audience-shot concert film `` awesome ... , '' beastie boy adam yauch proves he can make a comprehensive , state-of-the-art docu of interest to basketball aficionados .", "hip-hop and basketball have never been so uninspiringly brought together as they are in beastie boy adam yauch 's kinetic but shallow chronicle of the buildup to the first annual boost mobile elite 24 hoops classic .", "although much of its archive footage from high school games shows up blurry , pixleated or in an otherwise raw form , it nonetheless clarifies the abilities of thoroughly committed young players executing their most impressive basketball skills .", "it 's as much a snapshot of the contemporary basketball scene as it is a love letter to the famed uptown court .", "easily the best movie of its kind since steve james ' hoop dreams ." ], "summary": "beastie boy adam yauch proves his worth as a director with gunnin ' for that # 1 spot , a fun-filled chronicle of the top high school hoopsters of 2006 .", "id": "770728301" }, { "movie": "the_girl_who_kicked_the_hornets_nest", "reviews": [ "much of it still plays like bad thomas harris ...", "a pick-up after the second film , if not as assured as the first . rapace sets a high watermark for rooney mara in david fincher 's remakes .", "one final course of europudding that may leave audiences feeling less satisfied than simply tired and bloated .", "it 's a brisk conspiracy thriller about the moral deformations wrought by sweden 's neutrality during the second world war and the cold war , and the role of leftwing journalists to bring out the truth from a labyrinth of national intrigue .", "a more apt title would be ` the girl who sat quietly in a dimly lit room ' .", "this is the most disappointing end to a trilogy since sam raimi 's spider-man 3 .", "anyone who has invested in the trilogy will savour the mixture of dread and anticipation as the cat-and-mouse game reaches a stirring conclusion .", "a bunch of evil old men get their comeuppance in ` the girl who kicked the hornet 's nest , ' but the girl who messes with their nest does hardly anything at all .", "the third and worst of stieg larsson 's trilogy is poorly directed , under-energised and unthrilling .", "a compelling mix of 70s-style conspiracy thriller , courtroom procedural and psychological drama ...", "i said hurrah for the books ; i repeat it for the movies . and most of all , i say hurrah to larsson for the extraordinary scope of his accomplishment and legacy .", "larsson is renowned for his attention to marginal details , which gives his prose a rambling , one-thing-after-another pace that many readers find soothing . onscreen , the lack of acceleration makes for one of those long scandinavian winter nights .", "where `` the girl with the dragon tattoo '' had taught criss-crossing subplots of boundless significance , the final act of the trilogy is little more than a tepid courtroom drama with some willy-nilly spectacle thrown in for good measure .", "alfredson 's empty aesthetics mimic hollywood conventions but merely exacerbate the hollowness of this entire affair .", "the widely anticipated , blazing climax of the swedish trilogy .", "mostly talk and little action ... actress noomi rapace remains a strong presence as lisbeth and is worthy of end-of-the-year awards consideration for her memorable work in the trilogy .", "the movie features a great finish , where three movies ' worth of subplots and characters dovetail into a breathtaking climax and final confrontation that is positively soul satisfying .", "full review at movies for the masses", "the girl who makes us wish we were anywhere else .", "is the millennium trilogy over ? can we go home ?", "as well as being conventional , the girl who kicked is also confusing , dull and grubby -lrb- do we really need to see examples from a child-porn site ? -rrb- .", "the powerful performances by the leads , unobtrusive direction that is exemplified in a beguiling courtroom clash , and larsson 's deftly interwoven fabric of treachery and compassion all ensure that we are left yearning for more .", "the girl who kicked the hornet 's nest falls back on the formula which has brought the series this far , that is , inflicting trauma and abuse on lisbeth .", "this remains watchable thanks to nyqvist and rapace but the lacklustre direction , lack of pace and bloated script ensure that it 's closer to the mediocre nature of the second film than the brilliance of the first .", "as ever , rapace steals every scene she 's in , maintaining lisbeth 's moody enigma whether she 's lying on her sick bed , making a memorable court entrance in full punk regalia , or taking care of family business .", "the final film based on stieg larsson 's bestselling thriller trilogy opens with a whimper but ends with a bang .", "punk-goth computer hacker lisbeth salander is such a fabulously spiky character ... that it 's a crying shame her film adventures should conclude so limply .", "... could be read as the passion of lisbeth salander , as she undergoes a kind of secular crucifixion at the hands of the swedish establishment ...", "it always is a challenge to convert a dense novel to the screen , but hornet 's nest starts so slowly that it has a lot to overcome when it finally reveals some surprises in the last third of the film .", "more than the other two , this is rapace 's movie ; michael nyqvist 's ever-rumpled blomkvist has less to do , and their main scene together is just a tantalizing glimpse at the end ; a brief , poignant reminder that we 've come to the end of the road ...", "sometimes the girl we love is there , and other times the film chases bad guys who might as well be the bogeyman for all we care .", "an extremely satisfying ending to the story of lisbeth salander , the tough swedish cyber punk that actress noomi rapace has turned into an iconic new age heroine .", "hornet 's nest proves that even foreign trilogies are not immune to the curse of the disappointing third film .", "... not saying that this is bad film , it is just not nearly as intense and intriguing as you 'd expect after watching the original .", "it 's predominantly a court procedural and a very redundant one , since all we 're doing is re-capping what happened in the first two films and waiting two and a half hours for the verdict .", "there 's simply no urgency to the proceedings .", "... seems like a teleplay , all talk and extreme closeups with exactly three action scenes in 148 minutes . noomi rapace does nothing but look remote ...", "hornet 's nest is talky but indisputably terrific , and it ends in a dazzling display of courtroom fireworks . rapace is hot stuff in any language . oscar , take heed .", "the film huffs and wheezes under the strain of its narrative baggage .", "criers and the soft of heart need not apply", "anyone who has read larsson 's novels will be sympathetic to filmmakers trying to pare down and distill these books .", "although its procedural quality requires an acquaintance with the previous works , it neither refers to nor acknowledges them . rather than refresh the mythology for new arrivals , it preaches to the converted .", "as superb as the swedish actress noomi rapace has been up to this point , there 's nothing she can do to bring craft or excitement to the act of texting .", "a rousing , grueling , almost operatically scaled finale to the series .", "there was no chance that the film adaptation of the third book in stieg larsson 's internationally bestselling millennium trilogy would be as strong as the first .", "the girl who kicked the hornet 's nest comes close to self-parody at times ... -lsb- but -rsb- the final chapter has its satisfying turns .", "unlike the girl with the dragon tattoo , which can stand on its own , the other two films need to be seen as a set . neither is complete without the other .", "since the heroine spends half her screen time recovering from brain surgery , rapace has less to do than in the first two movies , but she 's striking in full punk regalia during a tense courtroom sequence .", "while the events are fascinating and entertaining , the film itself is less emotionally involving or viscerally thrilling .", "the gap between this and dragon tattoo is pretty big -- this wo n't be on my '10 best ' list and tattoo might -- but as the rest of the story , it does nicely .", "at 142 minutes , it 's long with some confusion , but the luminous presence of its star noomi rapace makes it well worth the journey", "it 's a story with something to say and a powerful way of saying it", "the third and final entry in stieg larsson 's enormously successful series is perhaps the least thrilling , but it 's easily the most satisfying .", "lisbeth salander , played by noomi rapace , spends most of the story constrained -- first in the hospital , then in prison . what fun is that ?", "finale of dark subtitled swedish trilogy still very violent .", "director daniel alfredson goes through the motions of the exposition-heavy plot with more efficiency than excitement ...", "lisbeth salander remains the riveting centerpiece of the two films that follow on from dragon tattoo , but , alas , her continuing story has been winnowed down in a way that makes it -- and her -- feel smaller than before .", "semi-satisfying , if you can keep up .", "while the least satisfying instalment in the trilogy , this still throbs with a slow-burning tension and provides an appropriate farewell to a compelling series .", "seeing the first two films -- the girl with the dragon tattoo and the girl who played with fire -- will make the third film more satisfying .", "for me the most deadening aspect of these films is the presence of michael nykvist as blomqvist ; he seems to have a personality by-pass , and remains expressionless at all times , no matter what 's going on .", "they can not overcome completely the redundant , static nature of much of the novel , but they put up a good fight .", "its seems as if the production has taken a bullet to the brain just like its heroine .", "the best thing that can be said about the excruciatingly dull , badly made closing chapter in this punishingly bad swedish crime trilogy is that it really whets the appetite for the upcoming american version .", "this film ends up being more of a courtroom drama , and yet it 's almost as equally thrilling as the first film in the series .", "the girl who kicked the hornet 's nest does n't exactly give the millennium trilogy the explosive send-off it deserves , and stacked against the other two movies in the series , it 's perhaps the weakest story of the three .", "unlike its two predecessors , the girl who kicked the hornet 's nest boasts a briskly-paced opening half hour that proves effective at immediately drawing the viewer into the movie ...", "will make no sense to those who have n't seen the first two or read the books", "one of the knottiest , talkiest tangles of celluloid to roll into theaters this year .", "the reason to see this film is -lrb- as always -rrb- noomi rapace , who has brought lisbeth to life for fans of the larsson trilogy . she and annika hallin , who plays her lawyer , are the main attractions here , gripping to watch .", "the girl who kicked the hornet 's nest is too akin to the tidying up of a television-series finale - albeit a very classy franchise with fine characters and able performances .", "as the end credits of this last dour swedish snooze-a-thon started rolling , i clapped my notebook shut as if it were the last day of school . huzzah ! bring on david fincher . please .", "if you have n't seen the first two films , do so and then see this one . if you have seen them , chances are you 're already in the ticket line . hornet 's nest has such a sweet sting .", "much of the problem can be traced to the villains of the piece : the snakes in the establishment are a bunch of really old white guys . now this may be true to life , but it 's hell on drama .", "it lacks a certain cinematic depth and scale , and plays out more like an epic episode of law & order . there are plenty of smart plot turns to follow , but at this length , the minutiae of the case begins to get a little tedious .", "with its `` son of frankenstein '' climax , complete with shambling monster , murky pool , ropes , ladders and lofty ledges , `` the girl who kicked the hornet 's nest '' is a fitting conclusion to the nordic saga of goth heroine lisbeth salander .", "despite having less action and more talk than the first two thrillers in this trilogy , noomi rapace 's acting and jacob groth 's score enhance the tension .", "despite being packaged as a thriller , `` hornet 's nest '' lacks the urgency and suspense of the previous films .", "the final , deeply satisfying conclusion to the trilogy of swedish thrillers based on stieg larsson 's bestselling novels .", "expunging the clich\u00e9s , coincidences , flat dialogue and dull exposition will present a challenge for director david fincher as he begins to remake the films in hollywood .", "an overgenerous helping of recapitulation , a long procedural that 's more about lisbeth 's persecutors and protectors than about her .", "the main thing that storyline reveals is that steig larsson 's books simply are n't very well-plotted .", "a trilogies ' worth of seemingly disconnected characters and random plot points merge into an utterly satisfying climax .", "the story grows thick with deadly assassins , bent medicos , excitable bikers , a considerable amount of courtroom cat-and-mousery , and a heavy-duty nail gun that 's put to startlingly inventive use .", "note to self : when masterminding evil conspiracy with connections to high government offices , store incriminating documents on a laptop without a wireless modem .", "` hornet 's nest ' wraps everything up in a nice bundle , even if it takes far too long to get going ; the last two movies could have easily been condensed down into one stronger movie .", "feels like the concluding chapter it is , with neatly tied loose ends and closing remarks , though it unfolds as something of a secular passion play .", "fans will presumably get what they came for ; what anyone else gets out of it is hard to say .", "hornet 's nest is n't particularly stylish . its allure lies with salander , whose mohawk , spiked dog collar and goth makeup belie an introverted yet brilliant mind .", "the ending at least offers some satisfying comeuppance , but it 's a bit of a chore getting there .", "the girl who kicked the hornet 's nest is mostly an epic rehash of the tale larsson has already told , and that makes it , at two hours and 28 minutes , the first movie in the series that never catches fire .", "the girl who kicked the hornet 's nest is far less than the girl with the dragon tattoo , but it is superior to the girl who played with fire .", "the last installment in the millennium series of swedish films reveals the dangers of zealots in high places of power and prestige .", "lisbeth stuck in a confined space is like superman trapped in a phone booth : it 's a blueprint for a mighty boring superhero movie .", "nearly two and a half hours have been filled with the clickety-clack of laptops , extremely polite interrogations and the feverish researching of -- wait for it -- a multipage magazine article .", "the swedish trilogy trundles to a wobbly finale that 's heavy on plot and cheap theatrics , but light on the dark , mesmerizing energy that made the first film so watchable .", "like the first two millennium movies , this final installment feels thoughtlessly put together , its script unpruned and rushed through , all to capitalize on the staggering worldwide popularity of its dead author .", "is lisbeth salander the most fascinating female character of all time ? ... an outstanding underdog story , an exciting suspense tale and a thought-provoking legal thriller .", "when your series ' most compelling character remains mute and largely on the periphery of the action -lrb- albeit all decked out in punker regalia , including a big mohawk -rrb- , something is seriously amiss .", "this 148-minute movie is best appreciated if you have already watched the first two movies or read the books . it is not intended to be a standalone film . neophytes will find themselves lost and confused without sufficient background to fully appreciate ...", "the series is quite satisfying as a whole , in the manner of the type of well-made , limited-episode crime program that might appear on amc or hbo .", "moves along at a brisk pace .", "at its conclusion you 're nowhere near where you started , nor are you waiting for the twist to drag you back to the beginning to tie up all narrative threads in one neat bow .", "it 's enough to see rapace 's salander smile , however tentatively , however briefly , however unlikely . those white teeth framed by black-on-black everything ? they bite .", "the millennium trilogy follows a similar pattern as the matrix trilogy , and that 's not a compliment .", "the european equivalent of the matrix revolutions , this third chapter finds a once-vibrant saga largely coasting on the fumes of its well-regarded predecessors .", "the matrix : revolutions of the millennium trilogy .", "while rapace remains a strong and captivating actress in the title role , the film is remarkably bad . in fact , it 's easily one of the year 's worst movies . boring beyond belief .", "... something of a dull disappointment , but does ultimately bring the saga of epically abused computer genius lisbeth salander to a satisfying close .", "it 's a rather wobbly blend of courtroom drama and loose ends tied , albeit rather leisurely .", "alfredson is merely interested in repeating the highlights , recreating the best moments of the book but also the worst , resulting in a film that hits with precision as often as it seems to drag endlessly .", "dark and glacially paced way to wrap up a trilogy", "usprkos toga to je larsson i kod nas ario i palio po knjiarama , hrvatski distributeri dosad nisu imali razumijevanja za vedsku trilogiju", "lifeless , talky series wrap up that induces more of a sense of submission than finality , stumbling through a complicated terrain of exposition without a desirable wallop of blistering suspense .", "reasonably satisfying , generating some genuine suspense on its way to a. . . conclusion in which the villains finally get what they deserve .", "who wants to spend most of a movie without its best character ?", "daniel alfredson recaptures the provocative appeal of the superior first film -lrb- which he did n't direct -rrb- that was strangely missing from the second -lrb- which he did -rrb- .", "so what has happened is that this uptight , ferocious , little gamine lisbeth has won our hearts , and we care about these stories and think there had better be more .", "the last of the iconic larsson trilogy struggles to keep up the edge but is good entertainment nonetheless .", "... a dull summation of the more compelling back story from the first two films .", "at least it manages to avoid repeating the most tepid mistakes of its immediate predecessor .", "-lsb- m -rsb- ost deliciously realized is the fleshing out of the cold warriors in the swedish intelligence service , whose plotting reaches into the hospital , the police , and the court .", "noomi rapace 's performance as the unforgettable lisbeth is likely to stand as a landmark among the decade 's films .", "whatever its failings , hornet 's nest allows us to say goodbye to beloved characters . that is , unless those rumors of a fourth millennium book prove true .", "it 's only our investment in these fascinating characters and in wholly unraveling the mystery of lisbeth salander 's awful past that keep it compelling .", "noomi rapace , once again , is superb as lisbeth salander ...", "dull , disappointing , vengeance-filled conclusion to stieg larsson 's intriguing swedish crime trilogy .", "hornet 's nest has a steady , bulletlike trajectory ." ], "summary": "slow and mostly devoid of the stellar chemistry between its two leads , the girl who kicked the hornet 's nest is a disappointingly uneven conclusion to the millennium trilogy .", "id": "770854178" }, { "movie": "crank_high_voltage", "reviews": [ "both exhilarating and exhausting , it falls just short of a fever pitch .", "click for full review", "waking up in the aftermath of a meth-lab explosion might be less disorienting than watching this . and if you think there 's no room for more , neveldine/taylor are probably a weekend and a bag of crack-filled pixie stix away from proving you wrong .", "see this f % $ & * ing movie , mate .", "basically the co-writers and co-directors mark neveldine and brian taylor sneer at any kind of rules , decorum or morality . anything goes , as long as it 's within the realm of exploitation-level `` b '' moviemaking .", "yet another d.o.a. for the add era .", "plays it to all heights if idiocy where suspense of disbelief is no longer an instrument to the entertainment .", "feels like shock for shock 's sake instead of something morbidly inventive like the first one .", "copping to how unrealistic your movie is by excusing it -lrb- no , no , it 's a video game ! -rrb- , rather than running with it , is a mistake that taylor and neveldine never recover from .", "... an agreeable companion piece to its admittedly superior predecessor .", "it knows what it is , almost mindless and totally kick-arse . in fact , it 's my favorite of the crankporter flicks .", "if you 're 14 to 18 , hopped up on hormones , fresh off your daily dose of ritalin , and ready to have your short attention span verbally and visually assaulted , you 'll be in for a toxic trip .", "MOV delivers everything it promises -- if it were a politician , it 'd have my vote .", "have you ever chugged three red bulls right before a game of grand theft auto ? this add-infused action sequel ... is a bit like that . except even less family friendly .", "crank : high voltage is a real celebration of the phrase `` why not ? '' . it 's big , loud and brainless - and it 's all the more glorious for it .", "the constant escalation to -lsb- the filmmakers ' -rsb- inventive insanity is so breathtaking , it 's like a slap in the face to the tired hacks who make the glossy hidebound junk that passes for an action movie these days .", "bigger , dumber and even sicker than the rotgut original ... i had a blast , but do n't say you were n't warned .", "so gross , brutal and just plain bad that i may never want to see another jason statham movie .", "what you really get here is the same movie all over again -- only more so .", "the directing and writing team of mark neveldine and brian taylor have between them a boundless imagination , constantly topping one absurdly overstated moment with another , even more absurd .", "adrenaline-propelled and outrageously offensive , it 's a cinematic video game that 's neither coherent nor credible .", "grisly , gory , over-the-top action-parody is n't for kids .", "... just as sloppily caffeinated as before , with an extra layer of scummy race jokes .", "the only shocking thing about it is how dull and predictable the whole enterprise is .", "like its predecessor , crank : high voltage is speedball cinema , a pure narcotized rush of blistering action , odious stereotypes , and shock-for-shock 's - sake nastiness .", "it 's so amped up that high voltage suffers its own energy shortage well before the finale . it 's also every bit as stupid as it sounds .", "not everyone has a taste for gun-wielding strippers and godzilla parodies , but for those who do , MOV is like a 1,000-volt shot to the heart .", "crank : high voltage promises something outrageous and then over-delivers , permanently deflowering and deforming the mind of anyone lucky enough to be in the audience .", "there 's not enough here for me to recommend it without reservations to anyone outside of that narrow target audience .", "this movie is tarantino on speed , and without focus and style . it is in-your-face and proud of it with no apologies .", "writer-directors mark neveldine and brian taylor have written their own set of action-comedy challenges , and they slam-dunk pretty much every one .", "as usual , statham anchors the proceedings with his simmering charisma and impressive physicality .", "for all its add editing , it 's a joyless slog .", "the result , an eye-popping strobe of flesh and blood , is as visually stunning as it is absurdly offensive , sure to thrill some while leaving others in a state of outrage-induced catatonia .", "stick two fingers up at the moral majority ... then shove them in the high voltage socket and get ready to have your socks blown off .", "proof that you can make good movies based on video games , as long as you do n't bother making a video game first . juice us up for crank 3d .", "this fest of violence , breasts , sex , swearing and dodgy plot turns can only be enjoyed if you do n't take it seriously .", "crank : high voltage is all over the place and not as good as the first flick but still finds a way to deliver the entertainment , shock value and action . check it out !", "not quite as much fun as the from-nowhere original , but still , y' know , fackin ' shocking .", "william blake may have once stated `` the road to excess leads to the palace of wisdom '' but i 'm guessing that if he ever had the opportunity to see the `` crank '' films , he might have had second thoughts about that .", "the chaotic onslaught of gruesomely violent and graphically sexual exploitation is so ugly and ceaseless this time that it eventually numbs , and then bores , the viewer .", "watching this movie is like trying to survive on red bull and skittles . it might keep you up for a little bit , but before too long , you 'll just want to throw up .", "it is as much influenced by looney toons cartoons and russ meyer movies as it is by the anarchic new wave of action films . and it was edited , apparently , by someone with add .", "the whole film is a series of frenetically-edited action sequences and bizarre set-pieces roughly stitched together to form some kind of whole . it 's been made with tongue firmly in cheek and is often funny for it .", "the admirably unrestrained taylor and neveldine just about manage to sustain the charge in this fizzing battery of a movie , which only starts going flat towards the end .", "if your idea of quality entertainment is a steady diet of video games , porn and mountain dew commercials , crank wants your business !", "imagine a gonzo collaboration between jean-luc godard , michael bay and tex avery on a weekend meth binge , and you begin to get an idea of what writer-directors mark neveldine and brad taylor have up their sleeves .", "every element comes together to create a piece of gonzo genius we wo n't soon forget ... i dare you not to love every minute of it .", "they 've cranked it up another couple notches for crank : high voltage , with mixed results .", "yes , it 's supposed to be dreadful , but it turns out that `` crank : high voltage '' is genuinely insufferable ... surely something so gleefully disgusting should n't have to work this hard to make an impression .", "tasteless , trashy and totally over the top , crank : high voltage might also be one of the year 's most inventive movies . sometimes , nothing exceeds like excess .", "crank : high voltage , starring jason statham as a man with a machine instead of a heart , is boorish , bigoted and borderline pornographic .", "in crank : high voltage , statham just looks miserable , as if appearing in this lousy picture just sucked all the heart right out of him .", "a self-consciously crazy action romp which overdoses on cartoonish violence and non-pc comedy .", "you 're liable to watch the whole thing with an expression of bafflement on your face , surprised , delighted , and alarmed by what you 're seeing .", "if someone was charged with creating a graphic , bizarre cartoon for adults , that someone might conceive of ` crank 2 : high voltage , ' one of the most insanely outrageous movies ever made .", "better not operate any heavy machinery after an eyeful of crank : high voltage", "the movie feels like a form of aversion therapy designed to take the fun out of dumb .", "it 's a hyperactive , relentlessly violent and po-faced mean s.o.b. - and i guarantee you 'll 3/4 every minute .", "crank : high voltage is the superior of the two films not because it knows it 's a second helping of something that is all empty calories , but because it 's simply more than the other one .", "this crank sequel fails to live up to the original in every way and that one did n't exactly set a high bar to begin with .", "the stath is pretty much the most bankable name in action movies today , and his unhinged work in high voltage , indulging in an explosion of murder and mayhem with gusto and glee , should certainly see him retain that title .", "brash , outrageously inane and chaotically crafty , crank 2 : high voltage is unapologetic in its sheer penchant for graphic-induced ribaldry as its charismatic calling card .", "thanks to statham , it 's often tremendous fun - and sometimes just surreal -lrb- check the geri halliwell cameo -rrb- - so it 's too bad its demeaning , indefensible attitude towards women and casual racism leaves such a sour taste in the mouth .", "crank 2 : high voltage is still an entertaining sequel but it lacks the spark of the original film and never quite reaches the same delirious heights ." ], "summary": "crank : high voltage delivers on its promises : a fast-paced , exciting thrill ride that does n't take itself too seriously .", "id": "770740096" }, { "movie": "fruitvale_station", "reviews": [ "`` an emotionally grounding character study as well as a sobering manifestation of social injustices that surround us .", "the real power of MOV is in reminding us all that whenever we hear about a death -- random , accidental , foreseen or otherwise -- that lost life belonged to a real person , with complications , loved ones , enemies , flaws , hopes and dreams .", "while jordan is responsible for making oscar grant come to life , coogler deserves equal if not more praise for having so successfully created a sense of the world he lived in .", "well intentioned and reasonably well constructed , MOV seems to exist for the sole purpose of making what should be an obvious point : oscar grant did n't deserve to die , and the officer who shot him in the back had no right to do so .", "powerful and disturbing.michael b. jordan is brilliant . it shows us we ca n't change the past but with movies like this perhaps we can make a better future .", "without ever being forced or false , and with an amazingly honest eye and ear for detail , writer-director ryan coogler 's drama about a young man 's final hours is one of the most extraordinary films you 'll see this year .", "the movie is modest in its ambition and powerful in its reverberations . it takes oscar grant 's story and makes it universal - and transforms a sometimes awkward and obvious movie into a work of art .", "-lsb- ryan -rsb- coogler is n't exactly an invisible hand . he pokes and prods his audience at every turn : neither the false moments nor the powerful ones leave much mystery about how we 're supposed to feel .", "captures the fear that seems to drive too much of race relations in this country , that blend of unease and false assumption that kills communication and leads to tragedy .", "the fact that ryan coogler 's film about oscar is being released just as the nation is gripped by the zimmerman trial makes this already stunning picture all the more pungent .", "though the film 's ending is no mystery , the personal details are what make this story so absorbing and so moving - more so precisely because his fate is already known .", "coogler 's goal is clear - to put a human face on grant , to make him recognizable .", "`` MOV '' will emotionally move you and simultaneously make you appreciate the filmmaking abilities of ryan coogler and michael b. jordan .", "it 's a heartbreaking story that is so emotionally powerful that , while i may not want to see again , if it 's on i wo n't be able to help but see it 's tragic conclusion again .", "bart allowed coogler to shoot on location , and the young filmmaker , working with a score of actors and a crowd of extras , shows more competence in placing the camera coherently than many action directors with access to multimillion-dollar budgets .", "there 's great soul to the work , which gives a complete picture of a young man 's life in microcosmic form .", "` MOV , ' is one the most endearing and profound films that echoes the essence of humanity . ryan coogler 's feature debut gives michael b. jordan a career making performance .", "coogler shows the storytelling maturity and restraint to keep the focus squarely on the characters , not so much on the actual act of bloodshed itself but the wounds exacted upon the direct victims , witnesses , and families alike .", "the closeness of family and the feeling of community comes across as genuine in every scene ...", "many will respond to the film as a gut-level human interest piece , but it 's as curtailed and nuance-free a character study as it is a political polemic .", "MOV 's arrival in theaters corresponds with the outcry over the trayvon martin case . but fruitvale did not need added relevancy to be remarkable .", "MOV is a heart-rending stop ; just remember that the line does n't end there .", "was oscar grant going to turn his life around ? we 'll never know because of a pointless act of violence .", "coogler 's take quietly serves to show grant as a human being , with his flaws and redeeming qualities , and not just as a face in a newspaper obituary .", "... a palpably low-key premise that 's employed to continuously engrossing effect by first-time writer/director ryan coogler ...", "` MOV ' is a movie people are going to be talking about and it 's a conversation you do n't want to be left out of .", "you wonder if coogler would have felt freer had grant somehow lived that night , if the director were n't put in a position where he felt the need to honor the dead by bringing him to dramatic life . but he believes in his ambition .", "many recent movies so cavalierly dispense thousands upon thousands of ammunition rounds , you can sometimes forget the effect that one bullet can have on human life .", "a tragically relevant and incredibly important film that deserves all the attention it can get from american audiences .", "we feel the death on the platform so acutely not because it 's a stupid act of randomness , but hardly untypical racist violence , but because we 've come to love this man .", "MOV shows us the last day of a young man , whose life was like a lot of young men 's , who was shot in the back by public servants , his face against a cold subway platform .", "empathy and authenticity keep you on the edge of your seat at MOV .", "`` fruitvale '' was made with respect for the details of oscar 's life , good and bad , because they help us understand what was lost when he died , unarmed and afraid , on a crowded train platform .", "this is n't a movie that grabs you by the throat , it 's one that sneaks up on you and gets under your skin . MOV is an authentically raw motion picture that i wo n't soon forget .", "beautifully human at every level , and visually poetic without a hint of pretense , MOV is n't just one of the best films of the year , it may well be the most important .", "an eloquent memorial for a man who barely experienced life , and a haunting reminder of how quickly it can be lost .", "what 's presented here is good , and it 's an important film to see for its coverage of the subject matter that unfortunately is still making headlines . -lrb- full parental review also available -rrb-", "michael b. jordan -lrb- the wire and friday night lights -rrb- plays oscar with the heart and compelling charm required to make us feel close to him .", "benefits immeasurably from its piercing lead performances , stumbling only in its over-eagerness to make its points .", "it 's a story of one young man 's tragedy , a story that resonates with so many other tragedies . oscar grant was n't some mere symbol ; this film makes him flesh and , unfortunately , blood .", "the actual events already serve as a parable of race in america , but coogler 's dramatization does them justice .", "although coogler surely wants his movie to serve as a weapon against racially charged police brutality , he 's smart enough , and sensitive enough , to know that this is above all a human tragedy -- and not a political rallying point .", "MOV 's wrenching power lies in the specificity of its storytelling and the ordinary human warmth of the world it conjures .", "from the moment the arrest begins , the film is blunt and stunning , a completely absorbing , protracted nightmare .", "coogler 's film is shaky , sometimes literally slipping out of focus even as its own vision remains resolutely blinkered .", "a noble effort to contextualize the life of a man who would become famous for the way that he died .", "galvanizing , tense gritty-indie , brilliantly acted by jordan and spencer . very much worth watching even though the too-neat , manipulative screenplay undercuts it artistically .", "`` MOV '' is about what we can imagine when we cast our gaze across the longstanding divides in this persistently , cancerously segregated american society .", "`` MOV '' is a potent dramatic chronicle of contemporary american life , crackling with energy and possibility , made with the cooperation of grant 's mother and girlfriend .", "in the end , what is the meaning of the film ?", "as the film plays out , the audience is likely to be overwhelmed by anger and the inability to stop what is coming . opportunities for the story to take a different turn and avoid tragedy loom , leaving a haunting impression .", "it 's funny how the bloated , overly lengthy studio blockbusters have far less impact than 90 minutes of a relatively brief , cgi-free ` little ' movie such as ` MOV . '", "a powerful acknowledgement of existence", "this dramatic story is told in a fair and balanced way , supplemented with excellent acting .", "one of the year 's best films .", "after seeing MOV you should come away with the impulse to muse on the life behind the next tragic homicide in the news that sparks debate ...", "without emotion-tweaking music or too much fictional streamlining and highlighting , he captures a sense of the random and pointless horror of a young man shot in the back while laying on his stomach", "as grant , michael b. jordan 's stunning good looks and immaculately restrained acting affects even those who do n't want to be manipulated-who want to watch this story with unfogged eyes .", "the slow first hour is more than compensated for by the half hour climax that leaves one in tears .", "it 's hard not to watch MOV with a coiled dread ... yet , coogler 's greatest achievement may be in reminding us that grant was a work in progress with people who loved him in spite of his flaws and because of his hopes .", "the film is both personal and universal . jordan can be so touching , and his intimidating ferocity is palpable . this is an important picture with a breakout performance .", "at a time when the multiplexes are crowded with coarse comedy and inept spectacle , here 's a homegrown movie that honors its subject and the medium .", "raw , real and memorable .", "the performance by michael b. jordan is authentic and convincing , and helps us stay engaged in a film that wants to be mundane until its explosive finale .", "in the wake of the trayvon martin verdict , this compassionate film reclaims the humanity of victims transformed into political symbols and provides context for those who think the media and not zimmerman 's bullet ` injected race ' into the martin killing .", "yet , despite being aware of the outcome , the movie is , in its own profane and streetwise manner , a warmhearted and soulful story of a young man 's journey toward self-discovery and determination .", "an impressive launch for the film 's young writer-director and a signal that the movie 's leading man will be a major presence in american film .", "there are scenes that were certainly fabricated for the movie , but the emotional truth behind them feels real .", "an utterly moving and rich slice-of-life fable .", "stunning , timely look at the killing of an unarmed man", "... takes tragedies that have inflamed a nation - from fruitvale to sanford , fla. - and brings them back down to human scale .", "a good first film but not quite deserving of the hype . the best parts have nothing to do with oscar grant 's murder but the quotidian tale of survival by a young man with the best of intentions .", "does something more radical ... humanizes the protagonist", "it 's an unflinching , 360-degree character portrait .", "assured directorial debut of the 26-year-old ryan coogler .", "make no mistake : there 's a rage and wrenching sadness here , but ryan coogler has filtered it via a story packed with lingering grace notes .", "well-meaning , naturally acted , horrifically unbalanced ... whatever its objectives , the film comes across as an emotionally exploitative , crudely manipulative prayer .", "the best thing coogler did was cast michael b. jordan as oscar and octavia spencer as his mother wanda and surround them with an entirely credible version of life in oakland 's black community .", "when it reaches that harrowing , inevitable finale , it inspires fury and confusion much like spike lee 's signature work did two decades ago .", "riveting , emotionally charged drama , with powerhouse performances to match . jordan is a revelation .", "despite its credibility issues , the film is still able to deliver an emotional finale .", "it rings true . there is no manipulation or theatrical construct that deflect from the story 's core ; the film ensures oscar 's legacy remains and that we feel as though we have got to know this young man whose loss is a senseless tragedy", "thank goodness ... for the performances , all powerful and compelling , from michael b. jordan as oscar to the wonderful octavia spencer as his mum and melonie diaz as his gf sophina", "the air of impending disaster -lrb- we open with the notorious mobile phone footage -rrb- culminates in a harrowing final act that is both chilling and heartbreaking .", "brilliantly observed and very moving .", "even if every word of coogler 's account of the last day in grant 's life held up under close scrutiny , the film would still ring false in its relentlessly positive portrayal of its subject .", "if you leave the film with dry eyes , you 're a hell of a lot stronger than me , or than anyone in the eccles theater the night i saw the film .", "a viewer may have a heavy heart in wondering precisely just what was fact and what was fiction but there is little doubt at how emotionally effective coogler 's version of the story actually is .", "with a sympathetic and not too heavy hand , MOV takes its audience through the constant challenges to black family life - poverty , debt , crime , and the prospect that an encounter with the police can have deadly consequences .", "michael jordan 's grant is remarkably sympathetic , and his story develops in a way that adds an awful note to the opening scene , as the arc creeps slowly and painfully towards the final , fatal moment .", "one has the sense of a man being slowly , surely written back into being .", "it 's a gentle film , with deep reservoirs of empathy and understanding . and so terribly sad .", "as well as being a superb piece of filmmaking and writing that tells an important story of what happened , it 's also a thought-provoking tribute to what could have been .", "-lsb- MOV -rsb- has a profound emotional impact by keeping things simple .", "coogler 's realistic debut recreates grant 's final day with affection , refusing to cast him as either saint or sinner .", "there 's a sincere clarity that michael b. jordan achieves from beginning to end . raw and proficient in delivery , his performance places him near the top of the most exciting actors to watch .", "flawed though it is by overstating the obvious , MOV is also sensitively acted and well-intentioned .", "you might expect a film about the real-life shooting of a young black man by a white cop to burn with outrage and fury , but writer-director ryan coogler 's MOV is notable for its restraint and compassion .", "with his debut feature , writer-director ryan coogler recreates a real-life event with remarkable artistry .", "fruitvale is easy to see as something more than a movie - a diagnosis , perhaps , or a part of that sticky vortex we call the zeitgeist .", "where it could have been angry ... the film is instead clinical ...", "in naturalistic and unforced strokes , he allows grant to exist as a complex , even contradictory human , inviting the audience simply to sit with his life , his loss and what they both meant .", "a devastating portrait of the fallibility of man and the importance of appreciating what one has while it 's still here .", "michael b. jordan portrays oscar grant as a complex and real person , making MOV more than just the story of a death . in fact , it 's one full of life .", "sober , even-handed and quite moving .", "there 's plenty of riveting drama , including a gut-wrenching climax that elicits a powerful emotional resonance .", "by using a fly-on-the-wall approach , coogler is able to tell his story in a straightforward style that gets the message across without seeming preachy .", "one of the most powerful and socially relevant movies of the year .", "MOV sums up oscar 's life , but the act of summing up can tell us only so much , since a young life is still a maze of promise and indecision .", "michael b. jordan wins you over completely before the devastating finale . those pulse-quickening moments at MOV capture the chaos , confusion , fear and hate that provoked the perfect storm for tragedy .", "compelling and exasperating ...", "it 's not a perfect movie . but you will cry your eyes out anyway .", "a harrowing film worth seeing and honoring for boldness and insight .", "for a movie about an unjust death , `` MOV '' is bursting with the colorful , messy striving of life .", "a restrained but forceful picture that captures some of the texture and detail of one human life .", "fruitvale is outstanding , a telling portrait and testament to the life of one man and the complicated relationships to race and class that still exist within america today .", "when the full impact of grant 's death comes to the fore for the people closest to him , fruitvale generates tears to express the same rage found in the protests following the tragedy . it makes the cause personal .", "coogler , who grew up in the same neighborhoods as grant , evokes a tangible sense of place , and his staging of the climactic incident hits like a fist in the gut .", "coogler immerses us in this life , so that when it 's cut short , you wo n't just weep , you 'll cry out in protest . MOV is great political filmmaking because it 's great filmmaking , period .", "a runaway powerhouse film packed with emotionally-gripping performances , outstanding direction and a script that challenges viewers like few other films have this year .", "not just jordan , but everyone from the likes of octavia spencer and melonie diaz to the crowd of bart-passenger bit players hit it convincingly , consistently .", "if coogler were not as sure a directorial hand , or the film less gripping , that weight might be too much for it to bear . but , despite some imperfections , they 're both up to the task .", "the intimacy of debut writer-director ryan coogler 's approach to the film and the no-frills , believably real quality of the main performances combine to drive the senselessness of oscar 's killing home with visceral impact .", "critically , MOV serves as a morality tale that reminds us not to dismiss anyone without first knowing the full story behind the scenes . every life has value .", "writer-director ryan coogler 's -lsb- film is an -rsb- assured and evenhanded debut .", "MOV is centered around a tragic event with a powerful message , but just lacks the momentum to actually be impressive .", "MOV nos lembra de que somos todos oscar grant .", "as a biographical drama MOV works , though you 're not going to pick up anything about the actual shooting that you do n't already know .", "michael b. jordan is simply brilliant in his portrayal of grant , whom coogler presents as a generally happy , if complex and somewhat troubled young man .", "a viscerally wrenching experience , filled with foreboding from the first frame but stylistically naturalistic .", "strives only for an emotional response rather than an intellectual one .", "many directors have trouble accomplishing something like this even when they 're throwing character development in your face . to be able to succeed by using a standard `` day in the life '' approach makes it all the more incredible , and makes it a must-see .", "a star-making performance by michael b. jordan .", "oscar grant had friends , he had a sister and a mother and a grandmother , a girlfriend , a child . in concise measures , MOV shows us these connections , these bonds .", "even though we know where this dark road travels , the remarkable MOV still manages to be both sorrowful and suspenseful while also celebrating a life only half-lived .", "writer/director ryan coogler 's debut feature , MOV , is one of those first films that announces that a major talent has hit the scene .", "grant 's ordinary life seems eminently dramatic even without its place in history .", "a gut-wrenching , emotional powerhouse of a film , politically and socially resonant while also standing on its own as a compelling and often-heartbreaking story", "coogler could 've settled for an enraging , full-throttle melodrama , designed to boil your blood from beginning to end . but `` MOV '' is better , more heartbreaking , than that .", "an exceptional dramatic feature propelled by strong performances across the board .", "MOV , is impressive for a debut , and displays the unimpeachable intent to involve us all in the human story behind a headline . and it certainly displays great promise from its director and accomplished performances from its cast .", "MOV will rock your world -- and , if the life of oscar grant means anything , compel you to work to change it .", "if you are n't choked up at the end , you may have some kind of problem .", "the compelling true story of a 22-year-old african-american whose effort to turn his life around was cut short by the unnecessary violence of a trigger-happy policeman .", "the movie is the model of decency and respect , and does honor to a life unjustly ended ; it offers few surprises but is nonetheless shocking .", "a narrative based on a tragic true story conventionally told", "sensitively performed and laced with some forceful , quotidian grit , the film evades the larger questions behind a scandalous shooting death .", "-lsb- video essay -rsb- bookended by footage of the killing , as recorded on cell-phones by innocent bystanders , `` MOV '' is a cautionary reminder of how predictably unpredictable law enforcement officers in america are .", "whether oscar grant deserves to be remembered as a martyr or a provocateur , this poignant portrait of him as a flawed free-spirit is moving enough to be remembered come academy awards season .", "a shrewd script and career-launching performances drive a tragic modern story that carries heavy social weight .", "as a first feature for writer/director ryan coogler , it 's pretty remarkable . as a star-making vehicle for michael b. jordan , it 's a slam dunk .", "MOV does work , but it 's marred by problematic writing and direction .", "an impressive debut by ryan coogler .", "potentially blunt dramaturgy turns to something profound -lrb- and not perfumed -rrb- in implication .", "a captivating film ...", "anchored by what deservedly proved to be a breakthrough turn for jordan , MOV is a devastating and detailed celebration of life .", "a tragic , grievous subject matter handled delicately and efficiently .", "a deeply moving drama played out on the small stage of ordinary people 's lives .", "it 's ragged around the edges , but this remains a stirring tribute to grant . and coaxed by the assured coogler , jordan delivers a performance that will long be remembered .", "this chronicle of a death foretold celebrates an individual 's efforts to do better even as it laments his - and his nation 's - difficulties in moving on .", "MOV intends to investigate a troubled soul at the very moment of its awakening , but rarely does it feel authentic , and worse , it comes up frustratingly incomplete .", "it 's a film to make you weep with sorrow and anger , and one of the most necessary films of the year .", "some of this narrative feels cliched , but coogler and his actors make it work by leaning toward understatement .", "`` MOV '' is n't just a story of one family 's tragedy , but a wounding snapshot of a society struggling somewhere between melting pot and battlefield .", "... a movie as direct and devastating as a point-blank bullet to the back .", "the story draws power from the simple rhythms of a day spent with family , friends and strangers .", "ryan coogler 's powerful film about the death of oscar grant , the trayvon martin of 2009 . the seeming random nature of the incident makes it all the more horrifying .", "`` MOV '' uses objectivity without sacrificing perspective to remind us of the obvious , in case we 've forgotten : that what happened to oscar grant should n't happen to anyone .", "together , star and director get you to look at , and think about , a flawed young man you might not give a second thought if you saw him on the street .", "MOV is a gut punch of a movie . by standing in solidarity with oscar , it becomes an unstoppable cinematic force .", "whatever role prejudice have played a part in the shooting - oscar and his friends were black , and the officers were white - MOV refuses to turn the incident into a statement on race and divisiveness .", "coogler immerses the viewer in grant 's world , creating empathy for his struggles while also examining the realities that limit his options .", "... an emotionally devastating feature film debut ... yet for all its mastery of foreshadowing amidst the minutiae of daily life , coogler and jordan have sanctified their protagonist just a bit too much to make the film truly great .", "in its modest way , the film reminds us that nobody 's life is really that special -- but that we all still deserve better than what happened to oscar grant .", "ryan coogler does a remarkable thing with his first feature film . he makes it look like he has been in the business as a director for years .", "a sad , touching and subtle film .", "just ... no . this is heartstring-tugging hooey .", "it 's an emotive film about an emotive incident , but an unmolested account of grant 's demise could have had so much more impact .", "jordan does n't beg for our sympathy and is all the more magnetic as a result . the finale is devastating .", "the film 's version of grant has been carefully calibrated to be just nice enough to scare up empathy and just mischievous enough to take some polish of his character .", "it focuses on its subject 's humanity and assesses the tragedy on a personal rather than explicitly sociopolitical level . however , the way in which it fleshes out oscar 's character makes it an acutely political work .", "the problem with MOV is n't that it is so dense with foreboding but that foreboding is the only register it has .", "coogler 's spare , sombre style serves the story well , skillfully avoiding cliche and formula to soberly rage against a grave miscarriage of justice .", "the emotionally wrenching MOV does n't feel like a call-to-arms so much as a call against them .", "there is something almost spiritual in the eerie importance that all the ordinary , banal facts of a life achieve under scrutiny , as time is running out .", "why is goodhearted liberal cinema sometimes so dumb ?", "made with assurance and deep emotion , `` MOV '' is more than a remarkable directing debut for 26-year-old ryan coogler . it 's an outstanding film by any standard ." ], "summary": "passionate and powerfully acted , MOV serves as a celebration of life , a condemnation of death , and a triumph for star michael b. jordan .", "id": "771324998" }, { "movie": "last_king_of_scotland", "reviews": [ "whitaker is astounding in this role , moving easily between the happy charm that made amin champion of his people , and the madness that led this infamous dictator to kill almost half a million of them .", "so often the gentle giant , whitaker changes tack here with an intimidating display of girth and guile , mixed in with the outward signals of untouchable nuttiness .", "whitaker is mesmeric as the bombastic despot , perfectly capturing his oddly comic but ultimately brutalistic nature .", "whitaker commands his scenes as effectively as he did in clint eastwood 's film about charlie parker .", "amin , rather discomfitingly , is a marvellous monster .", "this is a thoroughly enjoyable , confident , dramatically satisfying movie from macdonald , and incidentally another triumph for peter morgan , for whom the period now seems to offer any amount of rich material .", "whitaker fully captures the menace of the man who murdered more than 300,000 of his fellow citizens , but also - and this is the difficult part - his humour , charm and charisma .", "it seems certain whitaker will get that oscar nod for superbly conveying amin 's weird mix of buffoonery and cold-bloodedness .", "starting as a lively adventure , this film slowly twists into a haunting and unforgettable thriller , using real life events to tell a devastatingly powerful story .", "there 's a nihilistic and unmistakeable whiff of apocalypse now about the last wild reel , and the carnage left over by the israeli raid on entebbe airport .", "a stinging rebuke to both do-gooder white-man 's - burden fantasies and the disingenuous , africa-exoticizing movies that promote them .", "forest whitaker 's performance as idi amin is so good it 's scary .", "provides a vivid snapshot of uganda and a tour-de-force portrayal of a creature who is all the more horrifying because his evil is so recognizable , and so chillingly embracing and warm .", "mcdonald gets the relationship between the two central characters so right , makes it so fascinating , that more historical detail would have been a distraction .", "this politicized faustian tale is a provocative and shrewd blend of fact and fiction in the case of a naive doctor seduced into amin 's political apparatus , but film suffers from problems of other political-horror sagas told from strictly white pov .", "an extraordinary piece about naivete caught up in terrible events .", "whitaker is a commanding force as he navigates the line between charmer and monster .", "forest whitaker checks in with his most powerful performance since tackling charlie parker in bird .", "a spellbinding safari into the mind of his excellency the madman .", "... whitaker 's superb work remains the highlight of an otherwise routine effort .", "historical fantasy rules in hollywood 's africa .", "whitaker does n't so much play the ugandan president and charismatic monster , deposed in 1979 and responsible for an estimated 300,000 deaths , as he lights a slow fuse on a highly complex bomb .", "pit stop for white liberal guilt and neocolonial pillaging", "whitaker pulls off a spectacular thespian coup that has oscar-winner stamped all over it .", "captivating hyper-realism , a taut political thriller , and the performance of the year .", "the MOV will no doubt be picking up an armful of gongs come award season , and rightly so ; it 's not only lovingly shot and acted , but it evolves into one of the best thrillers of recent memory too .", "film postaje daleko mra % u010dniji nego % u0161to su to njegovi autori imali u plan", "it 's whitaker that kept the film alive when everyone was handing him best actor statuettes", "its ultimate effect is that of shallow self-congratulation .", "whitaker portrays amin as funny , vulnerable , tender and enigmatic -- all without ever letting us forget he was a maniacal monster .", "whitaker is on fire , and as long as he 's onscreen , king keeps you riveted .", "the MOV , and especially whitaker 's performance , provide insight into the troubled psyche of one of history 's most terrifying leaders .", "although last king is faithful to the novel , it is superior in almost every way .", "-lsb- whitaker -rsb- puts in one of the most amazing acting performances of the year making amin appear to be equally likable and detestable all at the same time", "it 's a curious piece of work , part biopic , part history lesson and part hitchcockian thriller . unfortunately , macdonald is not skilled enough to meld the three .", "-lsb- forest whitaker inflects -rsb- the character with a recognizably human complexity without soft-pedaling his essential barbarity . it 's an arresting performance .", "the performances are universally strong -- though the documentary-like realism is hampered by the fact that the story revolves around a fictitious character like garrigan .", "this role is the pinnacle of whitaker 's film career . it is the type of performance that belongs alongside classic characterizations from hollywood 's past .", "this is a powerful film . it is beautifully written and expertly acted . it should not be missed .", "this is director kevin macdonald 's first feature film , yet along with cinematographer anthony dod mantle , he has produced a motion picture that will become an instant political classic .", "by the end of this remarkable , uneven film , we believe that through whitaker we have come to understand the very nature of power and corruption .", "forest whitaker that is nothing less than formidable and that most likely will merit an oscar nomination .", "forest whitaker gives a titanic performance as the general ... and as he seduces the naive young man into his murderous regime , director kevin macdonald unpacks the ignorance and arrogance that still characterize the west 's attitude toward africa .", "recommended for the work of forest whitaker alone , even if the gifted actor was restricted by a screenplay which squandered a golden opportunity to imbue his character with a complex range of motivations and emotions .", "the compression of time is a stiff reminder that we are watching , after all , a movie .", "in a remarkably restrained piece of acting , whitaker gives us a likable totalitarian madman whose bluster appears more amusing than terrifying .", "forest whitaker 's mesmerizing performance as idi amin drives kevin macdonald 's adaptation of giles foden 's 1998 novel about the dictator 's reign of terror , which left uganda 's once-thriving economy in ruins and at least 300,000 of his countrymen dead .", "forest whitaker shatters abstraction and replaces it with flesh , blood and unspeakable charm .", "... an intriguing hybrid of robert penn warren 's all the king 's men and joseph conrad 's heart of darkness ...", "an uneven film not entirely successful in juggling its very different tones , but ... whitaker 's performance is so good that it makes the picture almost insanely watchable .", "graham greene it 's not ... whitaker 's striking work aside , the MOV is insipid , obvious movieland history .", "a dominant whitaker lords over this flawed mixture of history and intrigue .", "see the movie for whitaker alone : he 's possessed by evil and possesses it wholly , rendering the film -lrb- and everyone in it -rrb- his plaything .", "a good movie elevated by whitaker 's pitch-perfect performance .", "great as whitaker is in this juicy slab of oscar bait , macdonald 's movie does n't have much to offer beyond a pair of stunning performances , propulsive editing , fantastic scenery and the heartbeat rhythms of african music .", "it 's whitaker who grabs your attention and sends chills down your spine , as he twists seductive charm into depraved power . he 's electrifying , a classic example of a performer who takes a moderately intriguing movie and elevates it to must-see status .", "in addition to a very engaging script , forrest whitaker and james mcavoy amazingly express the tension and the camaraderie shared by amin and garrigan .", "whitaker 's acting resurrects the dictator and his deeds with stunning immediacy .", "starts well , but trips over preposterous plot developments as it pushes toward its climax .", "having cut his teeth on documentaries , kevin macdonald acts as if a shaky-cam aesthetic alone is enough to fuel dramatic tension .", "whitaker 's riveting and deserved oscar-nominated performance pretty much dominates -- almost to the point of overpowering -- this fictionalized drama , based on giles foden 's novel .", "la pel\u00edcula vale la pena sobre todo por la imponente actuaci\u00f3n de forest whitaker , igualmente encantador o amenazante en la piel de uno de los dictadores m\u00e1s sanguinarios de \u00e1frica .", "two terrific performances cap this interesting historical perspective on ruthless dictator idi amin .", "whitaker 's incendiary and incandescent performance dominates this movie as much as helen mirren 's performance defines the queen .", "exalando um carisma mais do que apropriado ao personagem , -lsb- forest whitaker -rsb- busca seduzir n\u0103o apenas nicholas , mas tamb\u00e9m o espectador .", "it 's a deconstruction of idi amin 's persona , played with such dedication by whitaker the surrounding narrative feels without purpose .", "there is surprise in whitaker 's step , with a curtain of menace running beneath it . his is one of the fiercest , least predictable performances of 2006 , so fully on edge that he becomes the movie 's edge .", "the four highly diverse leads are uniformly excellent .", "whitaker brings us close to amin , yet he never allows us to actually become comfortable around the man . his amin is capricious and unpredictable , a personality that can seem volcanic one moment and vulnerable a few minutes later .", "a devastating morality tale that shows just how easy it is for a well-meaning outsider to become lost in a culture he does n't understand , and to find himself seduced and corrupted by taking very small and seemingly reasonable steps .", "featuring vivid supporting performances from simon mcburney and gillian anderson , the MOV is one of 2006 's best films to date .", "whitaker 's dedicated , nuanced performance is excellent and lifts the film from some unsteady early moments .", "... if whitaker does n't get an oscar nomination there is officially no justice .", "we see idi amin through nicholas ' eyes and it 's a shocking transformation ... he starts out as the people 's hope for a brighter future and turns into the nation 's nightmare .", "whitaker 's performance is absolutely spellbinding -- and should land him his first oscar nomination .", "in the MOV and through director kevin macdonald 's contrived broad strokes , amin is at first a sitcom character on the receiving end of sophomoric fart jokes , then a despicable villain .", "if this genius turn by whitaker -lrb- he starred in bird and the crying game -rrb- does n't earn an oscar nomination , then those little statues will lose what little meaning they have .", "with an unsympathetic everyman as our stand-in and an evil despot at the center of the story , the MOV struggles to win our hearts .", "approximates through its fictional lead character -lrb- a white doctor who spins a globe , closes his eyes , and plops his finger on uganda -rrb- what it might be like for , well , members of the national board of review to be air dropped into the middle of africa .", "whitaker 's boundless performance demands attention and the safest bet in town at this pre-nomination time is that it will earn one .", "it 's only the brilliant performance by forest whitaker , which keeps this film from turning too maudlin .", "amin 's story is so thick with drama , terror and bloodshed , why create a fictional character to serve as a vantage point ?", "whitaker and mcavoy inhabit their roles so fully that the film around them transforms into a major document of 1970 's cultural myopia .", "whitaker is formidably compelling as a man whose quixotic temperament and larger-than-life persona both fascinate and repel .", "the MOV belongs to forest whitaker . he is the key to making this faustian bargain work .", "the movie 's real power , and true greatness , comes from whitaker . whether or not it 's forgotten at awards season , it 's guaranteed to be remembered for a long time to come .", "this is n't a history lesson , it 's playing god co-starring idi amin with scully instead of mulder .", "a tour de force performance by forrest whittaker makes this idi amin biopic a compelling , challenging , edgy film .", "the key achievement , in this vividly shot and superbly cast drama , is to make us fear for the slightly contemptible garrigan but feel mostly for ugandans , even -lrb- a little -rrb- for amin .", "the subject is really garrigan , the embodiment of the west and its naive habit of looking at the third world and seeing what it wants to see .", "whitaker is so good as to ensure that anyone who sees the film will never forget amin again .", "a fascinating look at a violent and disturbing chapter in africa 's history .", "the film belongs to whitaker , who in a career best performance charms , rages and murders his way into the history books .", "as amin , the actor holds every scene he 's in with a kind of explosive gravity .", "macdonald has delivered a masterful tragedy , told in his characters ' wary eyes .", "whitaker 's performance dispels most of one 's objections . he is terrifying in a way that we recognize not from old movies but from life .", "there must come a reckoning , and in the MOV , the loss of innocence consumes the whole final hour , during which time whitaker appears less often , his screen time stolen by an increasingly weepy mcavoy .", "a compelling , though somewhat problematic , story set deep inside idi amin 's brutal dictatorship in uganda .", "macdonald knows how to hold our interest , and he gives his movie a dizzying sense of momentum , not unlike the mad whirl that surrounds amin .", "whitaker 's portrayal illustrates amin 's complexity -- a study on human nature , rather than an indictment .", "whitaker 's chilling , charismatic take on uganda 's general idi amin in the MOV stands up there with the great depictions of unhinged dictators like antony hopkins ' hitler in the bunker or christian clavier in the ` napoleon ' mini-series .", "hard to believe that an actor previously renowned for his gentleness could play such a monster , but the transformation is seamless .", "it observes the insanity of amin through the eyes of a corrupted soul , leaving just enough space between fact and fiction to flesh out a fascinating motion picture .", "whitaker shows him as a man who sees his own actions as perfectly rational . he is not a cartoon villain , but a dangerous madman ...", "without the force of whitaker 's presence , scotland is a mediocre , predictable and fitfully engaging tale .", "forest whitaker 's performance is n't worth the greatest-of-all-time hyperbole , but the actor is so evil , afraid and human in the role that he turns even a fart joke into nuance . his unpredictable , unstoppable force prevents the film from failing .", "at its heart of darkness , the film is about the lure of power . it 's a condemnation of all the dictators ' men over all time .", "-lsb- g -rsb- etting lost in all the well-earned love for whitaker is his costar , james mcavoy , the primary focus through which whitaker 's starburst prisms into its brilliance ...", "a smart , searing thriller with blistering performances from mcavoy and whitaker . like the best graham greene script graham greene never wrote .", "whitaker shifts from jovial teddy bear to maniacal bull in an instant , at once displaying the intimidation and charisma of an evil but undeniably colorful figure .", "forest whitaker 's portrayal of the blood-soaked ugandan dictator idi amin in kevin mcdonald 's the MOV is mesmerizingly brilliant", "a shrewd commentary on misguided western excursions into the ` dark continent . '", "an adequate thriller redeemed by forest whitaker 's sensational turn as idi amin .", "the MOV is wrenching to sit through , but in the end , it does n't leave you with quite enough to think about .", "whitaker dynamically gets his teeth into amin , capturing the schizoid conscience of a would-be king . given whitaker 's dominating presence , it 's practically a coup that macdonald would keep him waiting in the wings for half the film .", "the sheer force of whitaker 's performance guarantees that he remains the central focus even when he 's not in front of the camera . paradoxically , you ca n't take your eyes off him , even when he 's not there .", "this is the sort of movie worth seeing for the performances alone .", "rare is the actor who can accomplish an instant transformation from beast to buddy , but whitaker makes it look easy .", "watching garrigan squirm in his gilded cage has its charms . but whitaker is the one to keep your eyes on , and his work is the stuff of oscar gold .", "through its very specific story , the movie illustrates how absolute power can corrupt those who wield it , resulting in a man who , once ensconced as a nation 's leader , uses all his available resources to ensure his own survival .", "a terrifically engaging biopic of 1970s ugandan dictator idi amin , who is played with the sort of extraordinary yet restrained force that only great actors like forest whitaker can manage .", "we are in awe not that the character is so wildly unstable , but that whitaker has made such a wildly unstable character seem so natural .", "-lsb- director kevin macdonald -rsb- captures the energy and exuberance of a young nation in the throes of optimism and works it into a foreboding frenzy .", "the MOV is a parable shocking in its truth , jolting in its lack of sentimentality , shakespearean in its vision of the doctor 's catastrophic flaw .", "the movie uses a fictional device to get up close and personal , but i 'm not sure the fictional device works .", "... may be seen as this year 's `` hotel rwanda , '' but ... its viewpoint from inside the palace walls makes it more intimate , and therefore oddly , less devastating , drama .", "a solid dramatic thriller in its own right is lifted into higher territory by superb performances , intriguing subject matter , and impressive direction", "a chilling story story of how men become corrupted by power and are capable of the most horrendous evil imaginable .", "forest whitaker 's towering performance as idi amin is frighteningly realistic , in his portrayal of the larger-than-life violent , madman dictator president of uganda .", "the film itself is not as impressive as whitaker 's performance .", "though the film is mostly fiction , idi amin was the real deal , and whitaker revels in the role .", "whitaker 's riveting performance as the unraveling amin is where this film wants to be ; instead we 're stuck with garrigan 's jesus christ pose , and the expected out that amounts to little more than , `` forget it , nick . it 's africa . ''", "the horror , when it finally moves to the centre of the screen , gives us amin 's barbarity in close-up -- and he 's still smiling .", "compositions are dense with beautiful and brutal images ; and when the camera wobbles and the cuts become frequent , the freneticism is justified by the increased fracturing of amin 's sanity and garrigan 's security .", "whitaker is electrifying -lrb- i hate it when critics use that word , but seriously , it applies -rrb- , but the film itself is merely agur for his performance .", "forest whitaker 's intense , studied performance shows amin not only as a madman responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of his countrymen , but as a charismatic figure capable of winning hearts and minds", "the MOV , fitting its brutal subject , is not an easy film . yet in the realm of movies that depict seductive , evil men of power who easily smile as they kill , it 's a bloodstained achievement .", "the colonialist spirit is alive and well in the MOV , a return to the pandering celluloid depictions of african turmoil that insist on putting a white face on black suffering .", "forest whitaker , uncorking the power that he usually holds in check , gives a chilling , bravura performance as ugandan tyrant idi amin .", "a masterfully skewed twist on a connecticut yankee in king arthur 's court ... macdonald has really made his mark as a filmmaker .", "a thunderous performance by forest whitaker as ugandan dictator idi amin informs and ignites the MOV so far beyond its limitations as both a biopic and a political thriller that he becomes the movie itself .", "i ca n't think of a better actor to toggle between media-savvy jester and stone-cold killer than forest whitaker , who , even dressed in a kilt , conveys serious menace along with mania .", "it would all be for naught without whitaker , who makes amin fun , funny , vulnerable and poignant while never letting us forget his murderous monomania .", "this is not hyperbole . this is how good whitaker is : he actually makes you feel sorry for idi amin .", "featuring an extraordinary , oscar-worthy performance by forest whitaker , this gripping drama interweaves historical fact with fiction into an edgy , eye-riveting tale .", "few films this year have been as suspenseful as the MOV , which is due in large part to the tour de force performance of forest whitaker .", "as storytelling , it could use some fine tuning , but it keeps its dark premise close to its heart at all times .", "whitaker carries the film on his broad shoulders , creating a realistic and frightening portrait of one of the world 's most elusive and notorious figures .", "it 's mean girls , with more bloody warlords", "kevin macdonald 's queasily enjoyable fiction film creates a portrait of the ugandan dictator idi amin from inside the palace walls .", "both an enthralling examination of a horrific time and an adrenalin-filled thriller full of wry humour .", "as idi amin , whitaker embodies the spirit of a smiling , deranged , murderous fool . amin is a child with power and guns and a devastating to watch paranoia and inferiority complex .", "director kevin macdonald brings his experience as documentary filmmaker to bear on the film , giving us a burnished portrait of uganda 's descent into hell that is heavy on location photography , handheld jerkiness , and zooms .", "whitaker ... supplies this pulp bogeyman with a human face and heart , enlisting - for moments at least - our empathy as well as our horror .", "-lsb- t -rsb- he movie 's emphasis on nicholas 's misadventures , as if the audience could n't get into the story of uganda without an educated , white , middle-class european as a protagonist , is a huge let-down in its own terms .", "mr. whitaker and mr. mcavoy head a first-rate cast that helps the MOV to illuminate one of the many dark chapters in recent african history .", "last king powerfully explores the duality between congeniality and brutality .", "powerful academy award caliber performance by whitaker .", "the history of idi amin is an intriguing story , but this film tells us too much about its fictional european and not enough about the politics of uganda under an all-too-real tyrant .", "flamboyantly chaotic vision of hell that certainly wo n't encourage african tourism", "whitaker creates one of the most indelible screen portrayals of recent years .", "forest whitaker has been one of our most interesting actors for 20 years , and he gives the performance of a lifetime in the MOV .", "powerful drama with whitaker 's performance a career peak .", "his sleepy eyes hinting at buried malevolence ... whitaker 's amin will make you flinch in your seat each time he appears .", "forest whitaker makes the case for a best-actor oscar or , even better , a best-actor designation from ny film critics online .", "forest whitaker shines in this high voltage portrayal of the maniacal and maniacally charming ugandan dictator idi amin .", "one of the best films of the year with its depiction of the dynamics of power in politics and the dangers that ensure when paranoia overtakes a leader and those around him .", "the film as a whole measures up to forest whitaker 's performance . that 's high praise indeed .", "whitaker has done some surpassingly gentle and rueful work in the past , but for this role he has transformed himself -- he 's either sprawled in a stupor or alarmingly mobile , throwing his big body around the room as if it weighed nothing .", "the film is phenomenally well directed by kevin macdonald and edited by justine wright to bring out every bit of scary volatility in the most casual interactions .", "forest whitaker gives a masterpiece of a performance , the kind of incredible acting that crosses the line into just being .", "idi 's got da bling !", "the MOV is n't for everyone , but for those who can stomach its brutality , it offers a compelling look into how such a popular leader became known as one of africa 's most vicious dictators of the 1970s .", "i would never sit through it again , but for those of you who want to see every movie nominated for an academy award , you 'd might as well go ahead and see this one now .", "last king is a wonderful compendium of facts and greater truths . also , a hell of a good movie .", "as a metaphor , the fictional nicholas makes clear the insidious means by which the west , and in particular , the caucasian west , exploits and abuses its privilege ." ], "summary": "forest whitaker 's performance as real-life megalomaniac dictator idi amin powers this fictionalized political thriller , a blunt and brutal tale about power and corruption .", "id": "287865404" }, { "movie": "better_luck_tomorrow", "reviews": [ "those looking for the gangster movie seen in the tv spots will be seriously disappointed .", "a fairly provocative look at teenage life , featuring the kinds of multidimensional characters that are n't typically included in movies aimed at the high school crowd .", "... its bolder themes and naked ambition heighten the sense of disappointment towards the film 's end when it fails to deliver on its initial promise .", "the picture 's relative uniqueness is what intrigues and compels , marking MOV as important , if not ultimately entirely successful .", "a powerful and unpredictable film .", "reviewers seem surprised that a young asian-american filmmaker has been reading bret easton ellis and watching quentin tarantino , when in reality the opposite would be startling ...", "justin lin 's biggest accomplishment is providing a stereotype-shattering insiders ' view of the angst and rage of a group of asian teenagers ...", "-lsb- i -rsb- f the story has some rough edges , well , it 's a first film .", "does n't settle for easy thriller plot twists .", "at times lin 's story slides into crime cliches , but whatever he lacks in plotting he makes up for in style and brute emotional force .", "MOV is an inventively delivered cautionary tale about some smart and upwardly mobile asian high school students who , bored with their lives , embark on a course of violence and self-destructiveness .", "it tries to stuff in so many different subjects and genres that you 'll stop caring about what start off to be interesting characters .", "a vibrant film which follows a trajectory yet somehow surprises at every turn .", "what began as vibrantly original devolves into something suspiciously tarantino-like , strained through the hollow nihilism of bret easton ellis .", "it 's a long way from long duk dong .", "if ` tomorrow ' has the feel of an afterschool special , it 's a surprisingly good one .", "the story gets as melodramatic as anything in amy tan .", "-lsb- a -rsb- piercing portrayal of american teenagers who are for the most part good-looking , smart , funny -- and almost completely lacking in morals .", "smartly photographed and edited , it manages to walk the difficult tightrope strung between the typically loopy coming of age film and a simmering disaster in the making .", "all too caucasian in its tired devotion to the bloody , boneheaded tropes of quentin tarantino and bret easton ellis .", "like go meets boyz n the hood , this good-teen - gone-bad thriller crackles with wicked authenticity .", "this is a different kind of street-gang picture , one that improves your vocabulary even as it teaches fatally bad study habits .", "what helps lin 's feature-directing debut is his insight into the dark side of living up to ` model minority ' stereotypes in a materialistic culture .", "an accomplished technician and an adept director of actors , lin does n't have a distinctive visual style but he does have the advantage of being as smart as he is slick .", "there 's a sting to this film that gets to you .", "justin lin 's look at overachievers who achieve bad things is a thriller , a social satire , a character study -- and one of the year 's best .", "not just a thriller , not just a social commentary , not just a comedy or a romance , but all of those in a clearly seen , brilliantly made film .", "a shrewdly tense piece of storytelling .", "being simultaneously proud of and embarrassed by one 's scholarly perfectionism is a trait i find particularly identifiable to young , male asian-americans . MOV draws on this trait for its strength .", "though MOV is the work of an intriguing new talent , there remains something amiss about a movie so desperate to legitimize its own daring .", "it 's as smart , as sharp and as compelling as filmmaking gets .", "it makes you think about the clich\u00e9d pictures of asian kids in the popular imagination and how painful it must be for them to carry the burden of perfection .", "it springs from such a good idea that it can be forgiven many faults .", "lin starts with the stereotype of the asian-american kid as clean-cut , hard-working and industrious and turns it on its head .", "the cycle is designed to resist breaking : even when you think you 're out , you 're in ; if you 're ben , overachieving and banging on the side , you 're caught coming or going .", "with none of the smarmy voyeurism that taints larry clark 's teen exposes , MOV manages to get at the truths and the traps of a high-strung segment of today 's youth .", "perpetuates another stereotype : the one about affluent suburban teens who have everything they could ever want but so lack a moral compass that even murder seems like just another extracurricular activity .", "director justin lin 's dark twist on the coming-of-age tale is a waft of fresh air .", "you do n't have to be an honor student to take this ellis-esque expos\u00e9 over the rules of attraction any day .", "the dialogue is school-hallway hip -lrb- mtv has a hand in distributing this -rrb- , the humor consistently dark and the stereotypes ready for the puncturing .", "mtv -lrb- which bought this movie out of sundance -rrb- believes the target audience to be high school and college students . i would argue that it 's anyone in search of a well-made , thought-provoking motion picture .", "feels nearly as hollow and unknowable as its characters ' hearts .", "if this is what lin can do for the hollywood equivalent of pocket change , we ca n't wait to see what 's possible when he has an actual budget at his disposal .", "it 's as if ferris bueller morphed into goodfellas , and , knowing the transition did n't work , the director tossed in some run lola run to pick up the tempo .", "for asian-americans , the perception of their culture takes a new turn in `` MOV '' , director justin lin 's wonderful bold new film that is well acted by an amazing ensemble .", "... a worthy movie , but it should n't be the best one justin lin ever makes .", "led by a novice cast and director , MOV is a fascinating and absorbing look at the self-destructive ambition of high school life .", "unique , highly entertaining , completely uncompromising and terrifically acted .", "it 's not a perfect work ... but it is so filled with energy , angst , talent , authenticity and passion that it stands heads above most supposed youth-culture releases .", "a savvy , seductive and observationally vivid bit of popcorn culture that is every bit as brainy as its characters .", "um filme do qual martin scorsese pode se orgulhar .", "you could have replaced everyone in this movie with the cast of some lily-white show like dawson 's creek and nobody would notice the difference .", "provides both a searing satire of modern suburbia and provocative insight into the malignant maturation of generally well-meaning and privileged kids .", "there 's something refreshing about the violation of ethnic stereotypes , especially when the stereotype is politically correct and the violation is more than a simple counterstereotype .", "it is amusing and entertaining , and more than a little thought-provoking .", "a enerally absorbing look at a slice of society normally taken for granted , both in life and onscreen .", "justin lin succeeds in shocking audiences with a story that breaks the mold ...", "MOV , a corrosive , insightful study of the pressure-packed lives of suburban high school students , brings a new variant to gangster movies : gangsters with perfect sat scores .", "MOV breathes new life into a familiar story : coming of age in high school .", "spends more time avoiding asian-american stereotypes than it does making sense of its characters and plot .", "has an optimistic outlook that uses pessimistic results in a manner fitting for a film of such solid morality .", "intriguing but dramatically thin .", "incisive -lsb- and -rsb- cautionary .", "very disturbing but often enthralling .", "beyond its mangled morals ... better luck is a riveting and stylized ride from a director with great promise .", "the director sacrifices finesse to run around in the baggy duds of a lurid gangsta flick looking for street cred .", "an impressively authentic portrait of teenagers who , given too much money and freedom by absent parents , have confused maturity with a veneer of sophistication and blase amorality .", "starts out like an asian-american version of the breakfast club , but quickly turns more towards boyz n the hood ... shows what can happen when rich kids at private school and smart kids at public school get bored .", "the movie could end up being the asian american version of the breakfast club .", "although this movie shows lin 's promising moviemaking sensibilities , its point of view feels coldly amoral and dismissive .", "starts with the right intentions but quickly unravels .", "like his characters , lin may be an overachiever and the strain of trying to do too much shows .", "the problem is that lin is just as seduced by gangster trappings as his characters .", "until director/co-writer justin lin navigates that pivotal final turn , MOV has a vitality and novelty rare in any youth movie .", "most of writer-director justin lin 's shapeless movie is as bland as the neighborhood .", "sublty captures the mood of the fast-track contemporary california teenager and saturates it with poignant black humor .", "... consistently in over its head .", "while its characters are specifically asian american ... the film really speaks to all young people , about dangerous games and their disturbingly untidy consequences .", "about how incredibly stupid the smartest of kids can be , which is inherently watchable .", "although directed in a pop-smart style that eschews dark , deterministic melodramatics for an unsettlingly sunny tone ... the film also frustrates for having come so close to being something truly challenging .", "as teen angst films go , this is as good as any .", "a funny , smart , fearless movie .", "a film that merges cocaine , ivy league , college applications , the asian american experience , dark comedy and high school drama while maintaining a personal tone and likable lead characters is just too impressive to knock .", "worth a look-see for fans of crime comedy .", "marks lin as a talent to watch .", "despite giving in to melodrama 's nagging demands , lin displays an arch , nervy style that could serve him well in the future .", "solid performances by the cast and lin 's expressive storytelling techniques combine for an absorbing twist on this coming-of-age tale .", "lin never gets on a soapbox , and these characters could have walked out of any high school in the country .", "shen and tobin are particularly good as the straight-laced , handsome ben and the half-mad virgil .", "there is a moral ambiguity to the film that could disturb some viewers , but the film 's clever plotting and intriguing characters will stay with you well after leaving the theater .", "lim 's premise is a great idea for a short film , but while he makes several serious points about racial profiling and tokenism , there 's not enough story here for a full-length feature .", "the movie so credibly taps into the confusing emotions of adolescence that nothing these kids do ever seems less than spontaneous and uniquely individual .", "makes the grade with its youthful pace , sly sense of humor and comments on racial stereotypes .", "lin 's assured and electric tale of good kids gone bad might be just another run-of-the-mill exercise in flashy adolescent nihilism were it not for the cleverly atypical way in which he confronts the material .", "director justin lin `` gets '' the essence of the kids and deftly handles their story with sharp editing edgy camerawork darkly funny script -lrb- some lines are priceless -rrb- and an excellent punk-pop soundtrack .", "... lin infuses even the most cliched aspects of the screenplay with a sense of style that 's never overbearing ...", "mean streets meets the chess club .", "disturbing and enlightening , MOV is one of the few contemporary films guaranteed to make you think . and it wo n't let go .", "the film really rumbles in the undercurrent of race and identity that lin sketches in the margins of their lives ...", "what 's most impressive about this movie is how familiar , rather than how different , everything feels .", "a coming-of-age film that takes the clich\u00e9 of wanting to be cool and gives it a very particularized spin .", "every generation produces its own version of the graduate . chalk up MOV , justin lin 's smart , sometimes raw comedy-drama , as a contender for today 's teens .", "it does n't offer audiences easy answers familiar to dozens of mtv-style teen comedies ." ], "summary": "a promising work by lin , the energetic MOV is disturbing and thought-provoking .", "id": "14423" }, { "movie": "still_alice", "reviews": [ "moore 's performance is exquisitely nuanced - the only thing worth remembering about this otherwise tone-deaf weepie .", "still still hums with humanity in the person of moore , whose towering performance shows a staggering technical proficiency while never losing a whit of emotional resonance .", "this thoughtful movie ... raises an issue any of us might face .", "jullianne moore is devastating without italicizing anything", "when she wins the academy award , i 'm just going to pretend it was for todd haynes ' 1995 masterpiece , safe , and leave it at that .", "the focus on alzheimer 's might be off-putting , but do n't let that stop you from seeing julianne moore in MOV .", "as films about people with devastating diseases go , MOV is understated , thought-provoking , and written and directed with a steady hand .", "a horror movie for gentlefolk : its methodical terrors -- memory loss , disorientation -- seem all too likely , especially for mature moviegoers less worried about things that go bump in the night than the fall of night itself , so to speak .", "i 'm saying it could have been more worthwhile and aware than it is . as for the film , it has two strong performances and enough grace notes to make that a solid yes , you should see this .", "a mind is a terrible thing to watch waste away and rarely has the horror of losing one 's inner self to alzheimer 's been conveyed as precisely and powerfully as it is here .", "it uses enormous and expressive tricks for obvious but fairly effective external signs for subjectivity in the story . -lsb- full review in spanish -rsb-", "while the relationship between moore and stewart 's characters is interesting , most of the film follows well-traveled roads .", "a sympathetic look at mental decline in a middle aged woman .", "moore turns alzheimer 's drama into acting master class .", "more sincere than convincing , MOV is the rare picture that earns plaudits for its star dimming , not glowing . in a real sense , moore gradually disappears from her own movie .", "MOV is not an easy film to watch , but it is a movie well worth seeing .", "a brilliant performance by julianne moore manages to overcome some melodramatic pitfalls .", "julianne moore 's lead turn is towering and momentous , the work of an actor whose awe-inspiring natural talent knows no limits . watching her in this role provides a thrill that not even some of the best action films could hope to attain .", "a very fine screenplay based on a novel written by a neuroscience researcher with a phd from harvard who obviously knew the territory , including the life-style of its mandarin lead character toppled by alzheimers .", "the finely nuanced script takes a sensitive look at this disease and its effects , not only on the person afflicted , but also on family members who have to deal with it .", "it 's a quietly harrowing portrait of a family losing the woman they know -- and a woman losing herself .", "it 's the kind of performance that does n't just support a film , it gives the film its breath of life .", "heartbreaking and convincingly told it may be , MOV only hints at the desperation the disease leads to , shying away from depicting the true horror of alzheimer 's .", "moore 's own face starts to become as bare a cupboard as her mind . it 's more than the no-make-up look . first , lines of doubt and fear map her face . then starts to come a blankness like infantilism .", "moore plays the descent into dementia with notable subtlety . there 's no grandstanding .", "the reality of alzheimer 's may be even harsher than its presentation here but that would surely make a film that would only dismay its viewers .", "MOV is unquestionably well researched and sincere in its intentions , but at times it feels a little schematic .", "-lsb- moore -rsb- almost carries the film beyond disease-of-the-week blandness , but both sarah polley 's away from her and michael haneke 's amour mined deeper and more surprising material from the familial fallout .", "never once veering into heavy-handed sentimentality , it 's a film to break your heart .", "while moore has deserved an academy award for years ... the surprise is stewart , who has left the twilight zone and burst forth as a creature of brutal honesty on screen .", "the material has n't been properly reimagined for cinema .", "co-directors wash westmoreland and richard glatzer keep the film simple and straightforward , cutting to the core of the matter without the need to tug at the heartstrings .", "in the wrong hands , this is the stuff of disease-of-the-week sentimentality , but MOV stays away from that terrain by focusing less on the illness than on the emotional effects it has on all involved .", "competently directed , and delivered with the expected emotional beats , `` MOV '' achieves its modest goals , but one wishes it had a grander vision .", "thanks to this brave and gutsy actress ' overwhelming candor and sincerity , you go away feeling educated , enlightened and more compassionate than you can possibly imagine .", "the rare film possessed with the courage required to shine a light into that abyss knowing full well that down is the only way out .", "a caring and compassionate portrait of a linguistics professor stricken with early onset alzheimer 's . carried home into our hearts by julianne moore 's mesmerizing performance .", "the filmmakers and their lead actress never make a misstep ; their approach is both clinical and deeply intimate , and the emotional journey feels true and resonant .", "MOV becomes more and more engrossing as it progresses ...", "it 's one of those rare films that makes you think and gives you a debate to have with your loved ones . a deep , human movie that does n't shy away from baring its soul and the vast complexities that come with it .", "-lsb- this -rsb- film will mean a lot to a lot of people - not just anyone whose life alzheimer 's has affected , but anyone whom it could affect , ever .", "this is an effortlessly excellent film , about a horribly hard subject .", "`` MOV '' provides a valuable lesson in empathy and understanding , with a message for all of us in accepting what we 've lost , and celebrating what has n't yet gone .", "julianne moore 's stunning turn in the deeply emotional drama MOV is head and shoulders above anything else achieved this year .", "julianne moore is wonderfully good as alice and her performance will bring a tear to many eyes .", "for my dad , who died of complications from alzheimer 's . this is the movie that needed to be made .", "moore is the real reason MOV works . she 's so natural and free of vanity . she does n't telegraph the tragedy of her situation . it 's a quiet performance and the uncertainty of how present alice is undercuts everything , even the joyful moments .", "moore gives a controlled portrait of emotional implosion ...", "... a performance beautifully coloured with varying shades of emotion that also makes clever use of -lsb- moore 's -rsb- porcelain looks to evoke the vulnerability of the eponymous alice .", "this is an affecting and thoroughly worthwhile film on a very contemporary topic - with some larkinian reflections on what will and wo n't survive of us .", "an absorbing portrait of one woman 's interior landscape .", "julianne moore gives the performance of her career -lrb- no mean feat , given the strength of her previous work -rrb- in this heartbreaking yet life-affirming tale of a woman determined to hold onto her identity while under attack from a debilitating mental disease .", "julianne moore and kristen stewart 's artful consideration of familial friction acerbated by disease , and vice versa , nearly saves MOV from the banality of its lifetime-movie execution .", "`` MOV '' is hampered by both an unimaginative script and ordinary direction , but it 's a serious oscar contender . why ? because julianne moore is in the lead .", "all of the actors clearly know they are there to support moore . this is alice 's story and no one else 's .", "moore 's portrayal of 50-year-old alice howland , adapted from lisa genova 's 2007 novel , is one of the best of her career .", "losing your mind is a terrible thing to watch , but the splendid acting in `` MOV '' makes it worth the pain .", "MOV is a movie that addresses a nightmarish circumstance with calm , compassionate sensitivity .", "MOV is rarely anything short of compelling , in part because its sense of progression and scale offers such a distinctively unsentimental take on the terminal-countdown tearjerker .", "julianne moore is extraordinary at revealing the gradual loss of memory and confidence , and at showing the hulk of physical persistence that remains after intellect and reference have gone .", "moore has been a fine actress for a long time and `` MOV '' gives her a remarkable role , and the space to truly live it .", "MOV is so busy being compassionate that it forgets to be anything else .", "you bet your ass that julianne moore is overdue for academy love . she 's supremely gifted , possessing the beauty of a true star and the intuitive technique of a true actress .", "a film that benefits from ms. moore 's lovely performance , yet suffers from glib contrivance and predictable writing .", "MOV is a searing portrait of one of the least understood , most frightening plagues of this century .", "sorrow-laden and moving , MOV is n't gratuitously grim nor is it easily sentimental . there 's humor here -- vaguely gallows-like , perhaps but also earned .", "moore 's performance , with all its subtleties and nuances , demands recognition , even if it 's the only thing about `` alice '' worth remembering .", "while -lsb- MOV -rsb- is bleak and incredibly serious , it mostly avoids cheap sentimentality , managing to educate without becoming an after-school special .", "the great strength of the film is that it never resorts to cheap sentimentality . the facts themselves are hard enough , crushing enough .", "MOV is accurate and compassionate , and anyone who has known someone with alzheimer 's will appreciate the film 's sincere intentions .", "movies about slowly dying characters almost never leave us feeling ennobled or uplifted - they make us feel like suckers .", "thanks to some intuitive direction from the filmmakers and a truly inspired performance from julianne moore , MOV articulates the very specific type of loss that alzheimer 's and other cognitive disorders represent .", "do n't be surprised to find yourself suddenly obsessed with forgotten names and misplaced keys .", "it 's moore who really brings the film home . it 's in her expression when the doctor gives his diagnosis and pessimistic prognosis . it 's in the way she looks at her family , knowing there will come a time when she wo n't recognize them .", "the triumph of MOV is that it 's not about an illness ; it 's about a person .", "even though glatzer and westmoreland 's film occasionally flirts with three-hankie , disease-of-the-week lifetime-network clich\u00e9s , it mostly rises above them thanks to a pair of stunning performances . one that 's pretty much expected , the other less so .", "MOV is as powerful as it is crushing . ms. moore delivers a performance that will endure .", "profoundly eloquent and empathetic , elevated by julianne moore 's restained , delicately nuanced performance .", "in this adaptation of lisa genova 's novel , one is left wondering why anyone would want to be alice to begin with .", "this is one of moore 's defining performances , and it is a brave one .", "it does have a predictable trajectory -- how could it not ? -- but it 's certainly not movie-of-the-week fare .", "but , sadly , it 's not a good movie .", "in the absence of the anger and the wildness that are crouched and caged within this most terrible of themes , `` MOV '' is worth watching , for the sake of julianne moore .", "-lsb- moore 's -rsb- performance here as the deteriorating alice is restrained and analytical in a way that allows us to see through her eyes .", "the older you are , the more sensitive and receptive to the script 's somber material you will likely be .", "we 're all familiar with the hollywood clich\u00e9 that playing a character with a disease or disability is an attention-grabbing ploy for oscar glory , but what is remarkable about julianne moore 's performance is just how subtle and un-showy it is .", "the subject matter may be tough , and the end-point inevitable , but the message we take away is defiant and ultimately uplifting .", "julianne moore 's terror at watching her own emotional and intellectual life slip away is palpable , and much scarier to me than any slasher movie .", "julianne moore shows us that she is still in her prime , playing to every subtle nuance of the degenerative disease with precision and respect .", "MOV certainly has a superb lead performance in julianne moore , but directors richard glatzer and wash westmoreland focus more on the situation than the story .", "not only are there not enough good , smart roles for women , the movies that do contain those roles are too often one-dimensional .", "julianne moore does all the heavy lifting in what otherwise feels like a tv movie .", "when it 's not fending off an attack of the glums , MOV comes down with a big case of the prims .", "writer-directors glatzer and westmoreland have written a rich , multi-layered screenplay that works equally well as family melodrama and as a meditation on language , identity and mortality .", "the toll the disease takes on the life of a brilliant linguistics professor is superbly detailed by julianne moore in a career-high performance , driving straight to the terror of the disease and its power to wipe out personal certainties and identity .", "julianne moore guides us through the tragic arc of how it must feel to disappear before one 's own eyes , accomplishing one of her most powerful performances by underplaying the scenario ...", "-lrb- julianne -rrb- moore ably displays the frustration and fear that most likely is a daily occurrence for most alzheimer 's victims .", "this is not an easy film to watch but it 's relevant , courageous and full of grace .", "it 's well cast and generally much more sincere than sentimental .", "attempting to describe the level of tragedy contained in moore 's performance in the film 's third act brings to mind the limits within alice 's chosen field of study . because no words do it justice .", "while a fine showcase of a great screen actor 's talents , and an admirable depiction of an all-too-common disease , it is a grind , and one wonders if the filmmakers had an audience in mind .", "moore 's performance as an early onset alzheimer 's patient is arguably her best . and , that takes into account four earlier oscar nominations . she is due .", "as lyrical as angels in america may be , it hijacks the focus .", "julianne moore deserves all the accolades but the movie wants tears and never quite earns them .", "MOV will be remembered for moore 's efforts , with her performance one that audiences wo n't forget .", "it 's heart-breaking to watch , made all the more poignant by julianne moore 's largely subdued , deeply moving performance .", "not since jeff goldblum succumbed to a purely sci-fi disease in ` the fly ' has watching a great actor gradually lose it being so gutting .", "if only the movie deserved moore 's precision work , and if only there were more to this character than the cheap irony of a language professor losing her words .", "the combination of a brilliant lead performance and a respectably honest portrayal of alzheimer 's make MOV affecting , even during the times when it feels as though it needs a little more plot .", "simple and direct , rather than a discovery .", "inherently heartbreaking and miraculously pure , glatzer and westmoreland gift their leading lady with a blank canvas and she returns the favor by pouring her soul on to it .", "MOV is heartbreaking but it does n't earn its tears through easy emotional manipulation .", "for a film about early onset alzheimer 's , this is a remarkably wry , honest and even hopeful drama , anchored by another staggeringly sensitive performance by julianne moore .", "for all the movie 's honesty , the reality of alzheimer 's disease is a lot worse than what you see in `` MOV . '' perhaps directors richard glatzer and wash westmoreland made a calculation as to how much an audience can take . they were right .", "a beautiful movie at times , tapping into a pure experience that 's gracefully handled by the production , allowing the work to be educational , dramatically satisfying , and , of course , utterly heartbreaking .", "thank god julianne moore got an oscar nod for her new film MOV .", "it is impossible not to be affected by this devastatingly sad portrait of a woman , whose reliance on memory and its compilation to communicate in her role as professor of linguistics at columbia university , accentuates the intensity of her loss", "there 's a difference between a great performance and a great performance . julianne moore 's turn as a professor afflicted with early onset alzheimer 's easily qualifies as the latter .", "paradoxically , even when pulling its emotional punches ` MOV ' ca n't entirely escape the limitations of the disease-of-the-week genre , but largely as a result of moore 's extraordinary skill it largely transcends them .", "`` MOV '' is much too clear-eyed to hold out false hope , but it 's a moving testimonial to going down with grace .", "ultimately this is a movie built around moore 's performance , and she does n't disappoint .", "if it did n't star julianne moore , it would be well worth skipping . but the exceptional way moore plays alice , a renowned columbia university linguistics professor with early-onset alzheimer 's , lifts the film above its morose potential .", "sensitive , compassionate storytelling .", "moore is sensational -- all the reason anyone might need to see this film , which unfortunately offers little else to command our attention .", "without moore 's uncompromising , brilliant work , this would be a mediocre film , so the way she elevates it into a work of art is nothing less than astonishing .", "a decent film that 's emotionally raw , worth seeing if only to see how one of the masters of her craft single-handedly manages to rescue -lrb- along with the help of her castmates -rrb- a film from being a maudlin mess into a watchable , moving piece of cinema .", "the movie is harrowing , as any story about alzheimer 's should be , but moore gives it an extra layer of gravity and heartbreaking inevitability .", "a modest drama , but moore 's heart-wrenching and oscar-nominated performance makes this a must-see .", "while it 's no surprise that moore is so good , `` MOV '' has an unexpected trick up its sleeve : the sweetly gentle performance of kristen stewart , as alice 's actress daughter lydia .", "in MOV , julianne moore delivers a heartbreaking , emotionally astute portrayal of a woman disappearing in full view of her nearest and dearest .", "it 's a heartbreaking performance by moore , who never forgets she 's portraying a woman whose professional success has been built on intellectual rigour and self-discipline .", "the kind of movie that exists solely to facilitate a great performance in the lead role , and julianne moore provides one .", "`` MOV `` might sound maudlin , or more on the frequency of a made-for-tv movie than what it is . but this is not only sensitive material handled with tact , it 's also sensitive material bolstered and braced by moore 's stunning performance .", "MOV works and , at times , with assured , depressing clarity .", "julianne moore is the main reason to see `` MOV . ''", "a realistic , heartbreaking look at a savage disease so eloquently exhibited by moore given the proper respect by its filmmakers .", "julianne moore , as dr. alice howland , evokes the heartbreaking reality of this dreaded condition . yet through it all , she is `` still '' alice , and that 's why moore is a lock for the academy award .", "glatzer has cited ozu as an influence , and MOV honors the japanese master 's serenity unto nothingness .", "MOV lives or dies on moore 's performance , whose portrayal is nuanced yet never maudlin .", "a performance as perfect as moore 's deserves to be seen .", "this middlebrow drama presents the heroine 's mental deterioration calmly and sensitively , though it feels pretty thin on the whole .", "the movie 's most expressive element is moore 's face , slowly moving from engagement , flecked with worry , to disconnection and blankness .", "MOV benefits from solid acting down the line -- kristen stewart is especially fine as moore 's struggling actress daughter -- but it exists in a rarefied world of privilege unknown to most alzheimer 's patients .", "julianne moore is n't merely good in the lead role . she 's devastatingly , heartbreakingly good , and she 's a big reason why MOV is as moving as it is .", "after showing the audience how much alice has to lose , the film shows her losing it . julianne moore 's finely honed , affecting performance makes her an oscar frontrunner .", "yes , julianne moore will win the oscar . and yes , this in one depressing film .", "julianne moore delivered the best performance by an actress in a leading role throughout the duration of 2014 . only wild 's reese witherspoon and two days , one night 's marion cotillard came close .", "there 's a directness to the production that might feel blunt were it not elevated by moore and baldwin 's heartbreaking duet performance ...", "at times -lrb- moore 's -rrb- subtleties feel like a rebellion against the potentially cheesy directions taken by the screenplay .", "julianne moore 's oscar clip will likely be an instance of high drama . but she 's at her best during the still moments in between .", "`` MOV '' provides a valuable lesson in empathy and understanding , with a message for all of us in accepting what we 've lost , and celebrating what has n't yet gone .", "the film is hobbled by a naff , tv-movie aesthetic and jarringly mawkish score . yet moore gives us raw heartache , running the gauntlet from fear to fury to powerless frustration , before she 's barely there at all .", "simultaneously rawly realistic and airbrushed .", "the tearjerker of the year .", "if only the movie were as good as -lsb- moore -rsb- and stewart are .", "julianne moore is devastatingly good , charting alice 's decline with subtlety and grace . it 's just a slight disappointment that her oscar-worthy performance is not just the crux of MOV , but also the film 's entirety .", "moore 's performance is gutsy , subtle and oscar worthy", "glatzer and westmoreland do n't need to stack the emotional deck on alice 's behalf ... they just leave the camera on moore 's beautiful but increasingly faraway face , and our tears come on their own .", "it 's a way better movie than it ought to be , but not good enough to escape its pulpy , mendacious roots .", "moore handles the role beautifully , emphasizing alice 's fastidiousness and dignity as they unravel against her will .", "with a combination of power and grace , julianne moore elevates `` MOV '' above its made-for-cable-television trappings , and delivers one of the more memorable performances of her career .", "overall `` MOV '' feels rather incomplete , but the blemishes are overshadowed by some tender and potent moments , a lovely score by ilan eshkeri and julianne moore 's fantastic performance ." ], "summary": "elevated by a gripping performance from julianne moore , MOV is a heartfelt drama that honors its delicate themes with bravery and sensitivity .", "id": "771387088" }, { "movie": "drunk_stoned_brilliant_dead_the_story_of_the_national_lampoon", "reviews": [ "worth watching if only for the wonderful clips from the various `` lampoon '' stage shows , and an almost endless parade of covers and comic strips .", "a generous and briskly entertaining look at the american humor magazine 's legacy .", "the funniest documentary since the aristocrats .", "director douglas tirola and his many interview subjects make a strong case for the lampoon itself as genuinely transformative .", "douglas tirola 's upbeat doc on national lampoon already feels essential for celebrating a hard-fought moment of american comic subversion .", "it mistakes touch-and-go navel-gazing for comprehension , as if speaking to as many subjects as possible produces an inherently compelling take .", "the laughs come from the vintage bits , and there 's a little missing context . but any documentary that humanizes chevy chase is a movie making miracle .", "douglas tirola 's source material ... is chock-a-block full of the magazine 's oft controversial articles , art work and , most famously , the cover art", "full of magic and promise", "the doc is a bit more loony than the recent snl film , but it 's still just a bit too tame - i.e. lots of talking heads - to truly represent its subject .", "what makes drunk stoned brilliant dead feel particularly vibrant is how the lampoon 's specific art direction is put to use .", "tirola finds great archival material , some lively and insightful interviews , and does an entertaining job of reminding us how important national lampoon was in the development of modern american comedy .", "the movie is an orgy of boomer self-congratulation -- yet it lacks even that movie 's ironic notation of how a bastion of white-male privilege managed to pass itself off as radical .", "a slick documentary , and a vital reminder of the power the magazine once held as it welcomed comedic geniuses and lovable miscreants to help create monthly doses of lethal mischief .", "if you think there is nothing funnier than putting a sacred cow in a blender and hitting the pur\u00e9e button , this is the movie for you .", "tirola 's documentary is brisk and entertaining , if not especially thoughtful . but then neither was the magazine , whose militant bad taste spawned `` saturday night live '' and so much more .", "we can only imagine with glee what these comic geniuses could have done with some of today 's political and cultural figures .", "the jazzy drunk stoned brilliant dead is filled with talking heads you actually want to listen to .", "the tone is sharp and freewheeling , the craziness is infectious and the pace is cocaine-quick .", "pack rats of a certain generation will all but run to their attics after seeing `` drunk stoned brilliant dead . ''", "filled with anecdotes and information about this irreverent satirical magazine and the people who made it what it became , with archival film and interviews , i was captivated .", "it 's mostly for nostalgic fans of the magazine .", "funny like its subject but not nearly as daring .", "energetic , laugh-stuffed and very colorful .", "it 's dispiriting that a film about a humor magazine that broke and rebuilt the forms of both humor and magazines is itself so staid - and so lacking in sociologic sweep .", "drunk stoned brilliant and dead is a reminder that the nl 's reach , scope and legacy is rich and varied ; indeed it might be thought of the putrid petri dish where an entire generation of north american comics were cultured .", "film allows for viewing the full extent of the nat lamp comedy empire , with rapid-fire montage of ... boundless energy to offend everyone and everything for 30 years .", "douglas tirola 's loving doc captures the anarchic '70s college satire magazine that became a comic force .", "an ambitious attempt to follow how the various alumni and side projects of one scurrilous publication variously gave us animal house , the simpsons , saturday night live and the breakfast club .", "talking heads , rock n ' roll spirit , and animated elements of the magazine come to life in comedic form . there 's certainly nothing wrong with this approach , but it 's certainly becoming formulaic .", "-lsb- both -rsb- a glorious celebration of the lunatic fringe -lrb- led by wild-child doug kenney -rrb- and a cautionary tale of the destructive impact of fame and fortune .", "unsparing about the ravages of time , cocaine and lorne michaels , tirola 's film also does what was previously considered impossible : it makes chevy chase seem like a human being .", "a frenetic , rough-edged , unapologetic tribute to the lampoon , featuring some amazing archival footage , nifty bits of animation and dozens of straightforward talking-head interviews that crackle and pop .", "whiplash-inducing . considering all the scenes of the staff working in a pot haze , the filmmakers might have benefited from taking a hit or several .", "offers a great oral history of the publication 's rise and fall , as told by dozens of people who were actually there .", "a poignant documentary for a time when nostalgia runs rampant , satire 's under fire , and comedy 's experiencing its own renaissance .", "whether you 're familiar with the lampoon magazine or just a fan of comedy in general , this is a thoroughly enlightening and entertaining homework assignment .", "pretty rock n'roll , aiming for a fun aesthetic that 's right in line with the brand", "what it lacks in specificity it more than makes up for in the articulate emotions of the interview subjects and the remarkable array of archival material .", "the film is uproarious , not for what its many talking heads say but for its astonishing procession of brilliant , boundary-breaching illustrations and captions ...", "aesthetically it 's meat-and-pototatoes , but what meat and potatoes - all giggled reminiscing and crazy anecdotes , peppered with racy and cutting sights and sounds .", "if only drunk stoned brilliant dead was a fraction as intelligent or entertaining as its subject .", "a must-see documentary for comedy fans ! more than a simple recounting of lampoon history , drunk stoned gives a strong sense of the players involved .", "it 's an engaging and entertaining film , filled with funny anecdotes expertly related .", "while drunk stoned brilliant dead is a nostalgic look back at some of the most celebrated funny men and women in the genre , it is one with a sense of finality . what once was will never be again : the industry has forever shifted .", "this is just about hanging around talking about the glory days , and as far as reminisces go , you could do worse than the group of people who put out the funniest work of the '70s .", "douglas tirola 's doc about the satirical bible 's rise and fall is fascinating , funny , smart , juvenile , tragic , and likely to offend just about everyone . it 's a must-see for anyone who cares about comedy .", "douglas tirola 's celebration of the '70s comedy institution does n't know when to put on the brakes . nevertheless , its enthusiasm proves infectious ." ], "summary": "drunk stoned brilliant dead might not be the definitive doc national lampoon fans are waiting for , but it 's still almost as transgressively funny as the magazine in its heyday .", "id": "771411944" }, { "movie": "the_angels_share", "reviews": [ "as heartwarming and uplifting as any tale could be that features vicious beatings and grand larceny .", "whether robbie pulls off his caper should be left for the audience to discover . but loach 's great cinematic switcheroo goes off almost without a hitch .", "a fairy tale with its feet firmly on the ground .", "director ken loach 's latest glimpse of the u.k. underclass is really two rather different movies , either of which i would 've enjoyed on their own . but they do n't really fit together in any satisfying or even logical way .", "charming enough to satisfy even the trenchant-commentary crowd .", "a lark , but it 's a serious-minded lark , addressing issues of class and culture , the haves and have-nots .", "lead actor paul brannigan , the product of glasgow 's working-class east end , is a natural .", "while it has some likable characters , particularly its charismatic lead , it 's impossible to shake the feeling that we 've seen this movie before .", "the angels ' share is a stellar bit of activist cinema with a light touch .", "the usual loachian elements are all in place , but there is a gentle spirit at work here as well , and not just the alcoholic spirits around which the plot revolves .", "as unlikely a fable of redemption as any that hollywood might deliver , elevated by loach 's insistence on naturalism .", "they 're a fun bunch of tart-tongued scots , and if their adventures do n't amount to anything of thematic significance , watching them is a pleasure .", "mingling the peaty scent of scottish street life with a distilled take on unemployed , at-risk youth , director ken loach serves up a surprisingly upbeat cocktail thanks to a subplot involving rare whisky .", "despite its ultimate sense of optimism , the glasgow-set dramedy nevertheless carries a sense of foreboding . and yet , that might not have been the intention .", "with this shaggy-dog tale of four petty glaswegian criminals and their improbably successful scheme to steal the world 's most valuable whiskey , loach turns na\u010fvet\u00e9 into a sort of moral philosophy .", "... a low key and rather marvelous , sweet-natured heist movie", "probably the first ken loach film you could call ` jaunty . '", "modest in scale , expansive in emotions , this movie is a rarity : a contemporary tragicomedy .", "the film is cocktail of comedy and heist with a large shot of social realism .", "slipping back and forth between drama and comedy , the angels ' share initially seems shaggy and unstructured , but that 's part of its appeal .", "there is love , laughter and whisky galore in ken loach 's unusually joyful comedy drama about delinquent scottish youths defying the odds society has stacked against them .", "some may find the tendons of the story a little slack occasionally , but for me loach and laverty are speaking with an engaging dramatic voice .", "like a subtly blended malt , this mixes light and dark to create one of loach 's most life-affirming tales . funny , frank and it wo n't give you a splitting hangover .", "this is british comedy at its warmest and most pleasurable ; cask strength , unfiltered and neat .", "much like a stiff drink at the end of a long day , `` the angels ' share '' gets the job done , but you 're probably not going to remember it in the morning .", "loach 's realism lends an easygoing , ramshackle quality to the film that smoothes over any lack of tightness .", "-lsb- ken loach -rsb- and his longtime screenwriter , paul laverty , find a good balance between drama and wacky character moments .", "the title , by the way , refers to the distillation process : the 2 % of whisky that evaporates in the barrel is known as `` the angel 's share . '' i 'm afraid there 's more than 2 % evaporation going on in loach 's latest .", "if you want to look for it , you 'll find a layer of metaphor -lrb- the distilling process as a symbol of the characters ' evolution -rrb- and social-realist commentary amid the gentle , life-affirming laughs .", "drink it up !", "the result is a sometimes gritty , occasionally charming highland hybrid , but the final balance feels slightly off-kilter .", "loach takes us through the mysteries of whisky making , exploring the subtle tastes and scents in ways that will have audiences wishing they had a dram at hand . but a glass also serves more symbolic purposes ...", "a surprisingly warm and heartfelt film about a flawed criminal struggling to start a new life after the birth of his first child .", "ken loach walks on the lighter side", "the scenes where the angels ' share unexpectedly becomes a surprisingly-tense and innovative heist movie are much more fun than the averagely tiresome bank robbery drama .", "ken loach goes full-on feel-good with this enjoyable , rough-edged and well acted comedy drama that 's by turns moving , suspenseful and laugh-out-loud funny .", "nowhere in the movie is reality short-changed for story effect .", "another likeable but uneven comedy in the vein of looking for eric , -lsb- loach 's -rsb- 2009 film starring eric cantona .", "the time is ripe for a great ken loach film . if only ken loach was up for making one .", "newcomer brannigan is a real find , though his dramatic weight is splendidly countered by the scene-stealing maitland who provides one of the film 's two unforgettable , ca n't - believe-he-did-that moments .", "brannigan is an engaging lead and henshaw offers light relief , but director ken loach , famous for his social realism , and regular writer paul laverty struggle to find a balance between the film 's comic and serious elements .", "a wee heart-warming dram of scots spirit ... a rich fermentation of the best of british comedy filmmaking with a greater social agenda .", "a whimsical crime caper comedy in the ealing vein about a bunch of delinquent glaswegians who pull off a very unlikely heist - think whisky galore with sweary neds instead of twinkling hebridean islanders .", "it is an uplifting tale of redemption with a hint of politics , which is not overstated .", "ken loach 's latest cannes fest entry is a light , amiable scottish fable -lrb- with dark tones to be sure -rrb- about how the discovery of whisky can change one 's life .", "like good whisky , loach is mellowing and becoming subtler with age - though a swift chug still has a bit of a kick .", "the angels ' share is often hilarious , always hugely charming , and carries a wholly appropriate social message .", "oddly structured like a whisky tasting , this film cycles through moods from the first taste to the full flavour to the final kick .", "it 's the glaswegian specificity that makes this contrived heist comedy mildly enjoyable .", "the angels ' share is loach at his most playful and invigorating .", "an amiable comedy about young glaswegian roughnecks discovering the world of whisky , `` the angels ' share '' finds helmer ken loach and long-term screenwriting partner paul laverty in better , breezier form than their rebarbative prior effort ,", "something 's gone wrong when a would-be cheerful comedy leaves you feeling as if a condescending finger has been wagged in your face .", "loach and laverty never fully resolve the yin and yang : the blood and the banter . but it 's still rewarding to see these filmmakers exploring a different ton .", "a heartwarming , social-realist fairytale with enough rowdy humour and sweet sentiment to appeal to loach 's dedicated global followers and beyond .", "the feel-good comedy of the summer . who knew ?", "there is politics underlying every aspect of this funny , warm-hearted , deftly plotted film , and we fervently wish for the caper planned by this endearing quartet to succeed .", "it has a spellbinding heft of charm , carrying itself just like a fine whiskey - warm , a little sweet , and unequivocally a joy to return to time and time again .", "the redemptive path is paved with laughter and charm , mixes mirth with tears beautifully", "if i had to make a comparison , i 'd say it is an unlikely pairing of green street hooligans and sideways .", "finds room for some well-earned warm fuzzies .", "the spirit and the flesh are willing in this mischievous , bittersweet comedy in which single malt whisky , an ex crim and second chances come together in an interesting blend", "ken loach does hope ' could be the headline a fleet street sub might slap on a review of the angels ' share , in which a young scot accidentally finds salvation and a way out of his trapped life of crime and misery", "-lsb- loach 's -rsb- latest collaboration with screenwriter paul laverty proves the pair can pull off a genre entertainment with aplomb when in the mood .", "the film has a rough and ready look , but the charm of its battler characters shines through and there 's plenty to relish here , even though the plot gets more and more improbable the further it proceeds .", "loach brings a warm-hearted poignancy to this feel-good tale of the more disadvantaged in society who , miraculously , find redemption .", "i loved this . i walked out of this film just really filled with delight . ken loach is such a socially conscious filmmaker .", "scent , fine acting , plus superb cinematography carry you through . however , you ca n't help but feel you 've been cheated out of a truly devastating drama by folks in search of something more commercially palatable and , consequently , less plausible .", "ken loach 's breezy scribble about lowlife redemption and drunken buffoonery is n't so much heavy-handed as it is charmingly weightless .", "-lsb- its -rsb- fleeting slapstick tendency wins out , regrettably diminishing the film 's social consciousness in the process .", "loach 's best film since the wind that shakes the barley .", "this is as close to a feel-good film as -lsb- director -rsb- ken loach gets , yet he never loses sight or touch with the reality he is so brilliant at capturing on camera .", "the angels ' share is the charming story of four scottish criminals who find redemption - if not exactly rehabilitation - through alcohol . it may not seem like the typical logline for a heart-warmer ; it seems about right for a ken loach flick .", "loach 's realism always carries a distinct sense of humor , volatility and , most alarmingly in this hypercapitalist new century , a socialist passion for the people .", "although some of the accents are so thick it 's difficult to understand the dialogue -lrb- where are the subtitles when we need them ? -rrb- the performances feel genuine .", "i 'm not suggesting the angels ' share is a chock full of bellylaughs , but it 's the first loach film in some time that lacks the sensation of having a plastic grocery bag pulled over one 's face .", "ken loach comedy about young glaswegian reprobates fighting for a second chance has charm aplenty , but suffers from occasional portions of cheese and a hard-to-swallow premise -lrb- whisky-tasting as gateway to a better life -rrb- .", "some good laughs and a passable air of bonhomie do nothing to cover up the fact that the angels ' share is totally lightweight and distractingly underdone .", "while there 's no ignoring the social ills that haunt robbie 's hopes , the movie 's optimism serves as a cheeky , and surprisingly inspiring , retort .", "watching it is like receiving a hard slap in the face from someone who expects you to laugh it off , even though the sting lingers .", "-lsb- mr. loach -rsb- has gone and directed a comedy from a script by his longtime collaborator paul laverty , and it 's so delightful that his fans will be clamoring for more .", "loach films have been funny while making their point before -lrb- see `` riff raff '' -rrb- , but this one is imbued with a little bit of magic ... those offended by four letter words should be warned that even the voice of god slings a heavy dose of them here .", "graphically observant about the ease with which young men starved of opportunities can turn their energies inward to destroying themselves and one another .", "loach coaxes an endearingly poised performance out of nonprofessional brannigan , and largely sells these scuffling characters as neither hopeless nor heroic-just terribly human .", "just how is one supposed to react , in 2013 , to a non-ironic use of the proclaimers ' '' -lrb- i 'm gon na be -rrb- 500 miles '' in a musical montage ?", "the plot thickens , but the mood grows lighter .", "unexpectedly , and blithely , amusing .", "sweet-natured and high-spirited , it 's a fanciful fable with a wee dash of magical realism .", "this is one of the most likable movies so far this year .", "although the english director ken loach has been making socially conscious movies for close to 50 years , this shaggy comedy unfolds like the work of a young man on a lark .", "the film itself vaporizes before your eyes , but it 's likable . given its unstable mishmash of thuggery and whimsy , that 's something of an achievement .", "like the spirit it celebrates , `` the angel 's share '' is a neat little jolt of pleasure - and guaranteed to leave you feeling just a mite warmer .", "while a few farcical moments fizzle , it 's mostly charming .", "`` the angels ' share '' leaves a warm glow .", "with the angels ' share , ken loach expertly combines a handful of genres which congeal into an often funny , always charming affair that serves as a salute to whisky to boot ." ], "summary": "the angels ' share is a surprisingly delightful , uplifting comedy that successfully blends a charming story of redemption with bits of dark humor and a social message .", "id": "771303117" }, { "movie": "ajami", "reviews": [ "it has a complex , elliptical structure that uses unconventional filming techniques to tell a bleak and fatalistic story conveyed with an unnerving sense of verisimilitude .", "good intentions are one thing , of course , and good writing and filmmaking another . MOV is lucky to have all three .", "MOV brings its audience into a world where the cultural conflict is fierce , emotions run high , yet the hopeful vision of peaceful coexistence shines through the cracks .", "observing the ominous nature of violence and its crushing aftermath , MOV is a striking raw nerve of a feature film , holding to a steady path of dread , but keeping the story on its toes by jolting back and forth through locations and time .", "a brutally honest , harrowing and provocative glimpse into the cycle of violence in the middle east .", "extraordinarily accomplished and deeply provocative , the film 's appeal among sophisticated filmgoers should remain strong throughout oscar season and beyond .", "hollywood -lsb- may -rsb- think that MOV is making a political statement ... given the partnership of the directors . unfortunately , it 's not enough to make this a memorable film .", "this is vividly challenging , utterly inclusive and heartfelt cinema . it 's not only gripping to watch , but it 'll open your eyes to the intractable human conundrums behind the blood-stained headlines .", "the specifics of the plot in MOV are n't as important as the impact of many sad moments that build up one after another . hatred is like the weather . you do n't agree with the rain but still you get wet .", "shani and copti -lrb- who costars as a hipster druggie -rrb- elicit moving performances from their nonprofessional actors , who ground the somewhat breathless action in a streetwise realism .", "a bold and serious film about the frail threads that keep -- or fail to keep -- a society from falling apart .", "like an israeli amores perros crossed with city of god .", "an urgent , immediate , jarring-but-fluid , multicharacter portrayal of arab life in an israel ghetto .", "aside from its honesty , i just think it 's a really gripping narrative .", "do n't worry if you miss some details ; this is the kind of movie that rewards a second viewing .", "MOV is n't a downbeat film , though it is a relentless one . it is alive with energy , if only the energy devoted to survival .", "gripping , gritty tragedy of complex families who cross at the wrong place at the wrong time . misunderstood intentions and attitudes sadly lead inexorably to violence .", "there are hints at the sort of collective punishment so often rained down by palestinians and israelis upon one another , but really there are far broader concerns here in what is , in effect , a drama of divisions", "a poignant drama set in the tense multi-ethnic community in jaffa , israel , where dreams are regularly shattered by violence , poverty , and religious strife .", "complex like its nation 's own ethnic and cultural stew , this is bracing cinema even while its implications are distressing in the extreme .", "... deft filmmaking and storytelling by the tyro directing team . i can not wait to see their follow up works .", "has an honest urgency born from the filmmakers ' very specific personal histories .", "it 's a film that rewards close attention , involving disparate characters whose lives intersect over the course of several chapters .", "it 's an admirable achievement , taking simplistic , old-fashioned material and passionately adapting it to make it urgent and relevant .", "copti and shani are promising talents , but they 're a bit too clever for their own good .", "filmmakers scandar copti and yaron shani , who also wrote the story , effectively show how , in a tinderbox fueled by racial and religious suspicions , quiet lives can be upended by mere chance , and how constant , random violence feeds upon itself .", "it 's an admirably even-handed portrait of life in an occupied ghetto that is bounded by checkpoints . everyone we meet is a more or less honorably motivated victim of circumstance .", "a compelling drama about prejudice and folly .", "it does place the audience squarely amid the myriad horrors of a land and a conflict predicated , it appears , on little more than an age-old blood feud and joseph heller 's concept of catch-22 .", "the fact that these two israelis from opposite camps worked together to make this movie is as important as the movie itself .", "as complex as paul haggis 's film `` crash , '' this one may be confusing the first time around but affords the viewer an emotional picture of life in one of israel 's toughest neighborhoods .", "MOV has an appealingly rough-edged , authentic feel to it , thanks to some strong location work and the fact that the cast is drawn largely from non-professionals and real life locals .", "a terrific and well-realized first film , one that allows you into a world that very few outsiders have a chance to see and allows you to marvel at the storytelling skills of these two filmmakers .", "more impressive as a formal exercise than as a means to deepen our understanding of the characters or their situations .", "the combustible movie has had a strangely unifying effect on audiences worldwide ; it deserves to find traction where it counts .", "untidy , despairing , oddly exhilarating .", "you emerge from MOV moved and also a little worn out , but mostly grateful for the heart , craft and intelligence the movie has shown .", "israel 's 2009 academy awards foreign film entry has been getting good buzz and deserves most of it .", "rarely has the tinderbox nature of the middle east been so accurately lensed , on such an intimate scale , as in scandar copti and yaron shani 's powerful MOV .", "the complexity might require a second viewing , but there is compensation in the realistic acting by a cast of non-pros and the eye-grabbing , hand-held lensing by boaz yehonatan yacov .", "a stylish and important step towards forming a more compelling , bravely engaging portrayal of a country in turmoil without disregarding its hypocrisies , corruption and seemingly never-ending suffering .", "MOV , nominated for the foreign lingo oscar , captures impressively the entire spectrum of religious and cultural diversity of contempo israel , but the tale is repetitious and unnecessarily convoluted , imitating gomorroah and other multi-layered crimers .", "MOV is a powerful crime drama in which all are heroes and all are villains .", "contrivances bring this bunch together , and the plotting gets a little too complicated and convoluted . luckily , these are characters that feel real , whose problems are relatable .", "while its themes of revenge , mutual resentment and grim fatalism offer little hope for a ready solutions , the movie itself testifies to the power of creative collaboration in finding common ground .", "MOV keeps asking : when do people cross the line ? and when does pulling the trigger become a viable option ?", "the structure teeters but does n't succumb to the contrivances of crash .", "... these young filmmakers show maturity in how they have crafted their script , building layers of perspective that shift and change as they change points of view .", "among other things , MOV reminds us that `` israeli '' and `` jewish '' are not perfectly congruent circles in a venn diagram ; and that neither these -- nor `` arab , '' `` muslim , '' `` palestinian , '' and `` christian '' -- describe perfectly homogeneous groups .", "by showing how people fail to live together - in a film you could call israel 's city of god , with its sectarian-feuding story lent power and immediacy by improvisation and non-professional casting - MOV shows how they might or should live together .", "the performances are searingly intense , all delivered by non-professionals cast to type and extemporizing within the parameters of the script . they take the play out of acting , and the effect is unvarnished realism .", "any given half-hour of the film has dramatic impact ; at two hours , it 's a power punch to the gut .", "while quentin tarantino used the narrative device to give his film a caffeinated jolt of hipster cool , co-directors scandar copti and yaron shani use it brilliantly to show the chaotic web of violence that traps jews , christians and muslims alike .", "a deceptive movie , one that introduces its characters in the heat of violence , allows us to make conclusions based on what we see , then shatters our assumptions in the telling of how that moment came about .", "a rare film that will force you to confront your own prejudices .", "MOV may be set in israel , but at times it plays more like an american gangster drama . the film does address the ethnic and social tensions that run through the country , but it does so in a nuanced and refreshingly clear-eyed way .", "the movie is insightful in revealing how messy life can be with enemies living in close proximity to one another . the press notes point out the ...", "its sense of ambiance , most apparent during scenes of simple conversation between characters , more than compensates for the cinematic overdetermination .", "una contundente \u00f3pera prima , narrada en forma fragmentaria a la manera de amores perros o crash , que retrata con brutal honestidad la vida en un conflictivo vecindario de jaffa . estupendo elenco de actores no profesionales .", "gripping modern-day drama about crime and tensions among the israeli jews and israeli arabs .", "... acutely insightful about the social divisions within israel , but it examines them without scolding or sentimentality .", "a confident contemporary crime thriller that , yes , may rely on perhaps a few too many plot coincidences to hang together , but otherwise offers a bracing insight into a troubled situation without hectoring us with insipid platitudes .", "stories of violence , revenge and corruption smartly told by next-gen foreign filmmakers", "the actors , every one of them new to their craft , make the everydayness of the picture indelible and real .", "the pattern of connections and coincidences is a little overschematic , but the movie has energy , especially in the grippingly real shooting scene at the beginning ." ], "summary": "this multi-character drama balances intimate portrayals and broad political implications to paint a bracing and moving portrait of the middle east conflict .", "id": "770811529" }, { "movie": "1196221-quarantine", "reviews": [ "` MOV ' is a solid horror movie and one of the better to be released this year . the last 15 minutes is hardcore suspense that redeem any cheap movie making flaws .", "develops into a legitimately unnerving experience .", "... one could surely do far worse as far as horror remakes go .", "a respectable , if uninspired , adaptation of ... -lsb- rec -rsb- , a blair witch-style variation on zombie movie cliches that might seem fresher had it not opened after veteran george romero 's grimly pared-down diary of the dead .", "i do n't care how dedicated a tv journalist you are : when a rabid , shrieking hellion lunges for your neck , teeth a-gnashin ' , it 's time to hit the standby button and defend yourself .", "MOV is symptomatic of a broken industry ; one that would rather remake a perfectly good foreign language film with nice , safe , recognisable american faces rather than plough any money into original concepts .", "the best thing about this cheesy rip-off mockumentary-styled horror pic is that i did n't catch its virus or vomit after following its shaky developments .", "works as every bit the disposable jolt dispenser it 's assembled to be .", "good news for those who missed the spanish zombie horror -lsb- rec -rsb- when it opened here a few months back . here comes the inevitable fast-tracked hollywood remake , which covers the same ground without the burden of all those subtitled hysterics .", "real no frills filmmaking . anything that gets in the way of the main idea is stripped to the bone . this includes certain niceties like character , humor , and even story .", "not as frightening as it should be , but still better than the average hollywood scare-a-thon .", "delivers a pleasingly high quota of decent jolts as the body count mounts and the tv airhead becomes increasingly hysterical .", "the spanish film worked better than john erick dowdle 's remake , which is , if possible , even more chaotically filmed to the point that you often have n't got the slightest idea what 's happening -- you just know that it 's nasty .", "the premise is n't bad ; i like the fact this hysteria happens in and around people 's homes , because it 's an excuse for the filmmakers to uncover secrets normally kept behind closed doors . a pity there are no great revelations here .", "it 's one of those rare movies where you ca n't quite ascertain as to whether the filmmakers are trying to create scares or laughs .", "an affair that aims low and succeeds well in such .", "the camera bounces along , its path blocked frequently by the back of some fleeing figure , so that you 're never quite sure where you are , where you 're going or what you 're looking at ...", "we are saddled with the limitations of the ` found ' film premise - seemingly endless screaming and scrabbling around in the dark , filmed from just a single angle .", "an eye-popping both metaphorical and literal genocidal rat race scare scenario made especially haunting when it kicks in , with its post-9 / 11 domestic terror lurking around every corner , hyper-paranoid sensibility .", "jennifer carpenter is terrific as the news reporter who gets swallowed up in her own story , and leads an excellent cast , all of whom bring a veracity to this remake in the hands of the talented dowdle brothers", "unlike so many other jerky camera horrors , and even zombie film shockers , MOV escalates the tension with a perfect sense of fearful exploitation . one of the best chillers of 08 .", "what 's a smart , well-crafted horror movie like MOV doing in today 's marketplace ?", "MOV is worth seeing for its solid first two acts , some terrific acting by some favorite character actors , and a several solid spook-show scares .", "despite the cronenbergian themes , the film is relentless and singleminded : it just wants to scare you , and it succeeds .", "good halloween-type fun for the fans of adult thrillers , ` MOV ' is a cleverly done scare flickt aht will keep you wondering who 's going to get it next .", "as a visceral , camera-shuddery ride into foamy-mouthed zombie hell , it 's efficient enough - but if you 've already seen -lsb- rec -rsb- , steer clear ...", "an american remake of the spanish horror movie ' -lsb- rec -rsb- ' that adopts the same basic recipe , but removes any hint of flavour or texture , reducing cutting-edge catalan cuisine to bland , bite-sized mcnuggets .", "MOV , yet another pseudo-documentary horror movie , delivers the heebie-jeebies with solid acting and perfectly calibrated shocks .", "i have seen many execrable films -- plan 9 from outer space , disaster movie , batman & robin -- but never has a movie made me so physically ill .", "MOV is based on the 2007 spanish thriller -lsb- rec -rsb- . like any imitation , the quality 's not as good , but this is about cheap thrills , of which there are not enough .", "give MOV credit : without resorting to computer-generated monsters or supernatural explanations , it uses consistent logic and confinement to find new ways of being scary .", "this is n't as good as cloverfield , but it does a pretty decent job at generating some thrills . unfortunately , the movie is ruined by carpenter 's distractingly awful performance .", "MOV is a hugely satisfying film , if you 're the sort of person who likes hanging around on the edge of your seat .", "MOV is the type of movie that is made to see in a theatre . the film is brutally realistic and shot in such a way that you feel like you are watching real footage .", "a vertiginous , nauseating , unscary mess of a film .", "as the first-person pov conceit goes , it 's not the nocturnal nightmare of `` cloverfield , '' but it 's more compelling than the dog-eared `` diary of the dead . '' it 's stylish , and the sound design is superb , but it eventually gets too dumb to be very scary .", "in some ways ` MOV ' is better than ` rec , ' not only xeroxing all its shocks but managing to add more .", "grows increasingly repetitious and tedious as the same cinematic tricks are played over and over ... the effect is suffocating rather than enjoyably spooky .", "actress jennifer carpenter of exorcism of emily rose fame surely deserves some kind of award for giving the most hysterical over-the-top performance in a horror movie since marilyn burns in the original 1974 texas chain saw massacre .", "... a movie that did n't need to be made and which no one needs to see .", "my suggestion is to see the original first and then skip this one altogether ...", "a rote reproduction of a more effective film .", "rarely more than competent and never inspired . but it more or less passes for a few cheap thrills if you 're not too demanding .", "despite tweaking the format , MOV successfully replicates the claustrophobic tension of -lsb- rec -rsb- and cranks up the sudden eruptions of frenzied violence , making it as much of a white-knuckle terror ride as it was the first time around .", "horror movie fans can enjoy the visceral experience . the core purpose % u2013 to make people jump out of their seats % u2013 is executed with intense precision .", "too much information in the trailer spoiled some of the suspense of the film", "carpenter and harris are able to pull off the whole charade with impressive energy and convincing bursts of sheer terror during some very long , uncut takes .", "... this is what the resident evil sequels should have been .", "if a remake must be made in lieu of original thoughts and ideas , one could do far , far worse . MOV is the real deal -- a primal , uncompromising vision of insanity run amok .", "MOV is a well-acted , competent remake that does n't betray the original , though it 's somehow less scary and slightly longer than it needs to be .", "the spanish did it all a little better but carpenter rivals her european counterpart in hollering blue murder .", "MOV feels awfully familiar , and it grows less convincing with each passing moment . at its worst , it abandons realism entirely and flirts with gory kitsch .", "when the month 's horror options boil down to a modestly clever exercise like this or yet another saw sequel , you know you could do worse .", "despite MOV 's theft from nearly every film in the subgenre , there are parts of the film that just plain work , no matter how much it does n't seem like they should .", "rather too hysterical to be coherent , but it 's still jittery and thoroughly unnerving", "MOV is a lucrative steal by dowdle . the spanish original is arguably the best v\u00e9rit\u00e9 fright movie since the blair witch project . the american version is not quite in the same league .", "just like its forebear , this is bluntly effective exercise in first-person horror .", "if you did n't catch rec fever first time round , let yourself get bitten by MOV . such brilliance is an isolated incident in modern scary movies .", "i raved about the oddly-titled spanish horror -lsb- rec -rsb- , saying it turned the terror up to 10 . now , as night follows day , it 's time for a hollywood remake - and the result is n't half bad .", "the downside is that for the final half-hour the camera shakes so badly i started suffering from motion sickness .", "underdeveloped and predictable , there is little compelling about the film other than the premise and a few of the kills .", "this derivative horror flick can be confined along with its numerous inspirations .", "MOV is a modestly inventive , sporadically exciting thriller that nonetheless proves too faithful to its central conceit for its own good .", "claustrophobic , jittery at times , and electric in pace , MOV is a stripped-down bloody thrill ride that -- while certainly not catering to everyone 's tastes -- should satisfy gore-hounds looking to step up their theatrical horror cuisine .", "no , the script is n't anything special and the novelty long ago wore off in this style of movie making . but the execution in this film from john erick dowdle is amazing , the camera work and cutting perfect .", "MOV fails to correct some of the problems evident in its predecessor while also incorporating a few defects of its own .", "if you are looking for a film that will scare the wits out of you , even briefly , you ca n't wrong from seeing this one .", "disregarding its xeroxed pedigree , it 's easily one of the best american horror films of the year .", "even those who despise remakes will have to admit that director john erick dowdle 's furious retread is scary as hell .", "there 's never a dull moment in ` MOV . '", "visually , this one mirrors cloverfield right down to the dropped camera left to record what happens when the humans in the vicinity have been , uh , quarantined .", "... feels as if someone had videotaped their trip through a haunted house run by the local jaycees .", "what director john erick dowdie has done is veer away from the supernatural atmosphere of the spanish version and ramped up the bloodletting - it 's more gory than ghostly .", "effective scares make up for some dodgy storytelling in this horror v\u00e9rit\u00e9 about a tv crew trapped in an apartment building teeming with plague victims .", "MOV director john erick dowdle and co-writing brother drew wisely stick close to the told-from-the-cameraman 's point-of-view template of the terrific original .", "MOV is the unavoidable american replica , only this version has ingested a bottle of idiot pills and washed it all down with a full glass of directorial incompetence .", "the original spanish thriller -lrb- rec -rrb- is no doubt better acted and executed , but considering the bad `` prestige '' movies recently it 's hard to understand why screen gems decided not to press screen the cheap , quicky horror flick that delivers the basic goods", "a solid , suspense-filled 90 minutes", "considering how worthless most horror remakes are , the fact that this `` carbon copy quickie '' actually works is fairly impressive ." ], "summary": "MOV uses effective atmosphere and consistent scares to stand above the crop of recent horror films .", "id": "770684110" }, { "movie": "10012136-winters_bone", "reviews": [ "a tough tale of survival in a harsh environment , this adaptation echoes through the emotional chill and connects with us", "the tone and the mood are consistent , the wintry setting forbidding , the characters silhouettes in a world of lean survival . it 's the kind of filmmaking that shows off the talents of all concerned", "... a deeply naturalistic brand of high lonesome noir .", "a rewarding , richly detailed exploration of the strength of character required when confronted by ugly truths .", "it 's the kind of movie that pulls you into its setting and does n't let go .", "a masterpiece , and a gem worthy of oscar gold ...", "as ree , 20-year-old lawrence is an absolute revelation ; her performance easily ranks amongst this year 's best .", "winter 's bone is indeed harrowing , but it is also fun . it 's fun , because it 's excellent , and after enduring the mostly-disappointing hollywood blockbuster season , simply seeing an exquisite piece of work such as this brings a smile to my face .", "a southern teen navigates dangerous blood ties , and a new star emerges in the revelatory thriller winter 's bone .", "from the moment you meet ree dolly -lrb- jennifer lawrence -rrb- in winter 's bone , you know what she 's capable of .", "strikingly unsentimental . winter 's bone has no time for backstory , moral lessons , or other cute stuff .", "serious , sensitive and stirring , it reveals a gritty , cruelly uncompromising world within the confines of our own country .", "the way lawrence captures a young woman 's fear and resolve , often non-verbally , well ... this is a considerable talent well on her way to a great career .", "there is a hazard of caricature here . granik avoids it . her film does n't live above these people , but among them .", "chilling as the woods in the dark , this quiet mystery has kindness and humanity sprinkled across hopelessness so constant you forget to breathe .", "a riveting exploration of old-society notions of responsibility and obligation , loyalty and betrayal", "... slow but fascinating ...", "a good deal of the credit goes to actress jennifer lawrence , playing the kind of character you start out quietly rooting for , then end up backing , like some world cup soccer hooligan .", "winter 's bone is the best film of the year .", "the social detail of a 21st-century mountain community is completely persuasive , heightening the drama immeasurably .", "... consciously attempting to avoid clich\u00e9s can erode authenticity . to director debra granik 's credit , realism permeates every frame of digital imagery", "a gripping movie that graphically portrays poverty as the worst form of violence in the life of a 17-year-old heroine struggling to save her family .", "there is a profound sense of neorealism percolating beneath winter 's bone 's noirish mystery plot .", "debra granik 's bleak little film is as tough , unflinching and fascinating as the characters who eke out a life amid its cold , gray hills .", "un retrato realista , crudo y duro de ambientes y personajes que viven al margen de la sociedad , de la ley y la moral , y que crece en intensidad como un thriller de suspenso . estupendas actuaciones de jennifer lawrence y john hawkes .", "uma narrativa densa e multifacetada que permite que aquelas pessoas desafiem nossos preconceitos e se apresentem como indiv\u00edduos imperfeitos , sim , mas jamais unidimensionais .", "an acutely gripping , grimly authentic thriller .", "full review at movies for the masses", "winter 's bone is boosted by a stellar cast of characters who engender both scares and occasional sympathy .", "winter 's bone is as quiet as a snake . it 's a chilling and challenging visit into a remote -- perhaps alien -- world . but while winter 's bone has anguish and fear , the film is ultimately life-affirming and real .", "while winter 's bone hardly exploits the poor in its depiction of them , its decision to focus on bree while showing audiences their world seems like an artistic compromise .", "take it from a genuine hillbilly that this is a true and powerful statement on the tragedy of ozark life .", "it 's a tough , no-nonsense film , with a tough , no-nonsense protagonist , and the kind of slow-burning , ominous atmosphere that gets under your skin and lingers for days .", "granik also manages to make viewers care about characters who would n't think twice about betraying their own families for a few bucks or maybe another hit .", "kudos to debra granik for making a film that packs as many surprising punches as this one , and doing it in a refreshingly cinematic idiom .", "this emotionally scarring , pain-wracked character study/missing person mystery plays in a parallel brick-like environment with its own language and code of conduct .", "in an impeccable act of sympathetic imagination , director debra granik has entered into the soul of debt-ridden appalachia .", "a scorching drama of grim traditions , meth-cooked justice and a teen 's desire to survive", "winter 's bone boasts one of the strongest , most authentic , most fully realized heroines i 've ever encountered . jennifer lawrence is revelatory .", "with a level-gazed approach to its milieu , empathetic but clear-eyed , winter 's bone practically makes up for 40 years of deliverance-style hillbilly cartoons .", "lawrence is outstanding as the young girl stepping up to do whatever 's necessary to save her family , not allowing herself the luxury of even the smallest smile to deter her from the job at hand", "both a whodunit and a coming-of-age tale , dominated by jennifer lawrence 's luminous performance as the resourceful , much-tested ree .", "highlighted by a knockout performance by jennifer lawrence , granik 's direction and mcdonough 's cinematography make this tense thriller as compelling as a documentary .", "what we 've been waiting for : a work of art that grabs hold and wo n't let go .", "the result is a film and a character of unusual strength . pity ree , question her decisions , wonder about her future . but the girl does not quit .", "with winter 's bone , granik has morphed from a director worth watching to one who demands our undivided attention . she 's got mine .", "a masterpiece of sparseness .", "jennifer lawrence gives a stirring turn in a gift-of-a-lifetime role .", "the setting , which i do n't recall ever seeing on film , is menacing , unsettling and so foreign-seeming i kept forgetting winter 's bone is set in present-day missouri .", "winter 's bone is the kind of film that should be offered to us more often .", "deserves to be the major commercial breakthrough for both director debra granik and jennifer lawrence , its luminous , moon-faced star .", "the picture offers a rare look at a region that will seem as foreign to most moviegoers as the forest moon of endor .", "by its towering ending , the movie feels like a feminist reworking of a classical heroic myth .", "winter 's bone sometimes feels like a haunted house , where only extreme deference to scary people will save you .", "winter 's bone perfectly captures a hardscrabble setting some of us drive past on two-lane roads , wondering how people live that way .", "leavens its worst moments with a sense of compassion and tenderness that reminds us to understand and empathize with , rather than judge , the characters", "jennifer lawrence is superb in debra granik 's graceful film about gritty people .", "an altogether astonishing film , not in the least because winter 's bone lives up to the hype -- or so nearly that it makes no difference .", "` winter 's bone ' is a movie to be experienced , not merely watched . but be forewarned . it 's powerful stuff .", "it won both the grand jury prize in the u.s. dramatic category and the waldo salt screenwriting award , and is well-deserving of both .", "brilliantly rendered story of a girl falling into a dante-esque descent in search of her prodigal father .", "for all the horror , it 's the drive toward life , not the decay , that lingers in the mind . as a modern heroine , ree dolly has no peer , and winter 's bone is the year 's most stirring film .", "the film 's succinct , well-paced plot avoids narrative convention and cheap sentimentality . it 's the anti-frozen river .", "a coming-of-age story that is not entirely about breaking free .", "director debra granik has the grace to approach the film 's grim material and run-down , depressing setting with genuine humanity and curiosity , and the movie offers gripping suspense and uniformly excellent performances .", "the main reason for winter 's bone to exist is that it delivers a little voyeuristic thrill -- a bit of poverty porno -- for the critics who awarded it their highest honors at this year 's sundance film festival .", "employs a conventional amerindie template ... without ever feeling stale , forced or phony .", "if you enjoy good movie-making , excellent characters and a tightly wrought story then winter 's bone is the film for you .", "this lead performance -lsb- from jennifer lawrence -rsb- is excellent .", "together , lawrence and granik have created a heroine as tough as she is pretty , with a smart mouth and brazen attitude that give way to glimpses of scary vulnerability .", "lacks adequate suspense and intrigue , occasionally drags , and leaves you feeling underwhelmed despite strong , well-nuanced performances and a richly atmospheric setting .", "winter 's bone is a welcome reminder that thrillers do n't have to be loud and boisterous to grab the attention and keep it captive .", "granik makes something real out of all of it . and even , against all odds , hopeful . because , yes , this is a hard and stony land . but the life that manages to take root there tends to survive .", "gothic in tone , and unapologetically downbeat , `` winter 's bone '' is a film that turns over a rock of backwoods american reality and studies the beautiful and ugly things that crawl there with equal interest . it 's the strongest drama of the year , so far .", "america at its bleakest is on display in this hard-hitting look at hill people that does little to counter the stereotypes .", "winter 's bone is a genuine triumph , a great movie with astounding performances so natural , so genuine , that you forget it 's a movie .", "i think every teen who 's ever watched `` the hills '' should get to know ree , just as a reminder that being a girl is about more than mumbling and accessorizing .", "a spare but riveting drama built around a raw , revelatory performance from jennifer lewis , it is one of the best movies to land in theaters to this point this year . by far .", "this unblinking look at america 's red state crystal meth belt is an instant southern gothic classic .", "every once in a rare while a movie gets inside your head and heart , rubbing your emotions raw . the remarkable winter 's bone is just such a movie .", "the sound of rarely heard voices and a portrait of a world all but forgotten except by the people who live there .", "the film explores the crushing poverty of america 's rural regions , a grapes of wrath-style story with a country noir twist -lsb- that -rsb- feels authentic and original immediately .", "there are so many unforgettable scenes , in which i found my heart racing at not knowing what was about to happen , that i found myself forgetting to breathe .", "the temptation to call debra granik 's latest film , frozen river jr. , will be great . but the longer the buzz builds for it and for jennifer lawrence 's star-making performance , it will become abundantly clear that this is the senior of the two films .", "vivid , punishing , craggy-faced", "an absolute knockout .", "noir may be the msg of genres -- a little pinch makes almost any film tastier -- but does it work for ozark gothic drama ? yes .", "might have been more gripping if it had embraced its status as an utterly distinctive detective-genre effort instead of presenting itself with such determination as an ` art film ' ...", "a character study , not only of ree , but of a place and way of life , which shows that there is a lot more to what most people think of as ` hillbilly culture ' than the stereotype .", "intense , immersive and in control , winter 's bone has an art house soul inside a b picture body , and that proves to be a potent combination indeed .", "grim backwoods tale takes its time building momentum .", "spectacular for its humanity , austere beauty and heart-stopping urgency .", "following its brave heroine -lrb- an outstanding jennifer lawrence -rrb- as she seeks to uncover the truth behind her father 's disappearance , the film employs the structure of a whodunit to take a tough , unflinching look at an impoverished ozarks community .", "an extraordinary picture ... a chilling portrait , but one with human warmth pulsating beneath the surface .", "with its rugged performances and bleak sense of place , granik 's midwestern gothic is definitely going somewhere , and will take viewers with it all the way .", "impressively directed , superbly written and featuring an oscar-worthy performance from jennifer lawrence , this is a thoroughly riveting , naturalistic thriller that exerts a fierce emotional grip .", "sobering but unfailingly engrossing , uncompromising yet not without a certain hope by the end , winter 's bone is the kind of original , blessedly independent work that major studios simply refuse to make .", "sadness radiates authentically from every scene , with the narrative 's slow advance mirroring the glum conditions of ozark life .", "winter 's bone is one of those movies that ca n't quite make a distinction between profundity and plain old bleakness .", "something of a minor miracle", "austere and grimly realistic .", "make no bones about it , this is first-rate stuff .", "it 's a film full of mounting tensions and an atmosphere of dread and incipient terror that will make you uncomfortably familiar with the edge of your seat , which is where you 'll mostly watch it from .", "like a botoxed face , the movie never shows an interesting wrinkle or passion-attesting lifeline .", "it 's a tight , gripping mystery with a well-chosen supporting cast and countless great little moments , such as a supremely spooky sing-song at a birthday party .", "easily one of the best films of the year thus far .", "this movie is a real tour de force for writer-director debra granik . this is the best movie i 've seen this year and it will make my top 10 list for this year .", "as bleak as it sounds , winter 's bone has a special quality that makes it an unmissable film , and deserving of the grand jury prize that it received at this year 's sundance film festival .", "it 's bleak , slow moving ... but in its gradual , aimless way it ratchets up the tension to terrific heights , and its climactic twists come home with the force of a shotgun blast .", "keeps things authentic and chilling .", "granik deftly creates a film that 's both a suspenseful crime drama and a pitiless portrait of a part of america that 's usually ignored .", "winter 's bone ... constantly surprises you , not only with unexpected twists in the story , but also with the complexity of the moral and ethical decisions made by the characters . .", "for jennifer lawrence , she 's probably the most gifted actress of her generation . how wonderful that , so young , she has already found a role worthy of her talent .", "this is a world out of time and , despite the trappings of flinty realism , the film too unfolds like an elemental myth from the stormy past -- a greek tragedy driven by dark fates and struggling toward a catharsis .", "it 's visually arresting . from scenes of ree frying potatoes in bacon fat to discussions of deer stew and squirrel meat , the combination of poverty and insularity that defines this particular socio-economic group is quietly and carefully established .", "the gritty , desperate ozarks milieu of winter 's bone feels so real , so right , that you only slowly realize you 're watching a detective movie .", "the dialogue is so sparse and the plot is so lean in winter 's bone , it requires acting of exemplary strength , and the movie delivers in spades , chiefly in the performances by lawrence and hawkes .", "has genuine urgency in the conflict between the younger ree 's old-fashioned ideas of family and the older generation 's newfound awareness of the need to abandon such ideals .", "watching `` winter 's bone , '' one is not as impressed by the turns and twists of the plot as by lawrence 's willingness and ability to carry the film , and by the way in which her face , a work of biological art , holds the camera 's attention .", "no movie is perfect , but this sundance winner comes close .", "it 's been a long time since a film has conveyed a culture , and a sense of place , with such telling precision . at the same time , winter 's bone thrums with suspense .", "gritty and real ...", "granik ... proves a dab hand with the camera , capturing the starkness of the ozarks and ree 's situation in a free-flowing and pensive way that transfers the chill of it all on to the screen .", "not having been to this part of the country , i ca n't say for sure whether granik has captured it accurately . the point is that it feels genuine .", "granik pays deference to the curious ways of the mountain folk , rejecting the prevailing hillbilly clich\u00e9s to depict people with hardy survival instincts in the grip of financial hardship and addiction .", "peyton place meets deliverance in a meth lab .", "in moments of confrontation -lsb- jennifer lawrence 's ree -rsb- is as fearsome as sigourney weaver in aliens , taking on monsters to protect the small and the vulnerable .", "jennifer lawrence is dazzling as the film 's protagonist as she struggles to uncover the truth between her addict father 's disappearance .", "winter 's bone is an absorbing and socially conscious piece of work , underwritten by the constant threat of violence .", "the darkness that surrounds winter 's bone almost overwhelms the entire movie . fortunately , the thriller ends on a somewhat optimistic , even positive note .", "an unflinching portrait of shabby life in the ozarks , this powerful indie drama features an oscar-caliber turn from jennifer lewis , a real discovery who 's only 20 , in the lead .", "winter 's bone certainly has its redeeming qualities , particularly its cinematography and a superb lead performance by jennifer lawrence , but man , does it feel empty until a gripping sequence near the end .", "even when winter 's bone feels like two different movies playing at once , they 're both engrossing .", "it will be a crime if jennifer lawrence is n't on every best-actress list at the end of this year .", "winter 's bone is a rewarding watch that does repay a fairly slow-moving narrative with heightened tension and twists at the end .", "director debra granik has captured a female performance of such rare , career-defining intensity that the film actually has a life-affirming effect .", "lawrence gives a guarded and watchful performance .", "with a face as impassively beautiful as the landscape she trudges through , ree dolly is a heroine you wo n't forget . tenacious and stoic , she holds her own in a vernacular that 's equal parts hillbilly and hard-boiled .", "lawrence 's mature and inspiring determination makes this much , much more than a grim skid-row whodunnit .", "granik balances the pace and intrigue of a mystery thriller with total compassion for ree , played with much skill by lawrence .", "a vivid reworking of daniel woodrell 's novel that brings the book 's conflicted heroine to searing life in a piece of unhurried filmmaking too rarely seen these days .", "it is all given unironic dignity and power due to the outstanding lead performance from 20-year-old jennifer lawrence as ree , a young woman who must take on some scary neighbourhood types to protect her family .", "a sparse , engaging film perhaps easier to respect than love , but by any measure hugely compelling .", "think a film like trash humpers offers insight into a crappy life in the poor south ? winter 's bone will make you see the light .", "it will wow anyone who thinks grimness equals profundity .", "winter 's bone is raw , real , understated , fiercely intense and surprisingly gentle and decent amid bursts of ferocity in the rural crime culture where the story 's set .", "lawrence is the movie 's blooming discovery , a mesmerizing actor with a gaze that 's the opposite of actress-coy and a voice modulated in the low , almost monotone cadences of local ways .", "bleak as hell yet stubbornly optimistic , this low budget knockout is the best picture of the year so far .", "granik has no taste for noir archness , opting for a chilly , shot-on-decaying-locations naturalism that feels as lived-in as lawrence 's performance .", "every so often a film gets under our skin with its haunting authenticity , reinforcing our faith in the wonderfully transporting power of cinematic storytelling . winter 's bone is unquestionably that film .", "the film , adapted by director debra granik and anne rosellini from the novel by daniel woodrell , establishes a formidable tension between mystery and matter-of-factness .", "there is poetry here -- as artists as diverse as walker evans , james agee and harry smith have found -- of the rawest , most desperate kind .", "-lsb- debra -rsb- granik 's rich sense of place and culture has the convincing detail of authenticity , and it avoids any sentimentality of southern rural poverty or kin loyalty .", "these spooky woods are a dangerous setting - here we find desperate , brain-dead trailer-trash , with moral centres as hollow as the burnt out shacks of their meth misadventures .", "if the film lacks a certain pinch of mesmerizing drama , it makes up the difference with an exquisite lived-in quality . a frightening , yet crookedly poetic realism .", "a chilling reflection of nature 's darker side .", "a chilling look at american poverty .", "the coen brothers ' o brother where art thou ? was the last film to make such delirious use of mountain music . the rest of the world can start drooling over lawrence . i 'm gon na git me a copy of that soundtrack .", "the film continues to grow in the memory months after it was first seen which is always a sign of something great .", "movies do n't come much duller than this .", "... a relentlessly bleak tale that in some ways echoes charles portis ' classic true grit , another story about a young girl who takes on adult challenges ." ], "summary": "bleak , haunting , and yet still somehow hopeful , winter 's bone is writer-director debra granik 's best work yet -- and it boasts an incredible , starmaking performance from jennifer lawrence .", "id": "770856649" }, { "movie": "flammen_and_citronen", "reviews": [ "a polished , dazzlingly photographed tale of resistance heroes that is curiously devoid of tension .", "a captivating , engrossing and character-driven thriller filled with solid performances along with palpable suspense , intensity and intrigue .", "-lsb- amidst -rsb- corruption and complicity ... a no-frills male friendship to fight against impossible odds -lsb- where -rsb- life during wartime is seen as the precursor to postwar noir -lsb- yet -rsb- stirringly vivid .", "a deeply involving look at people living permanently on the knife-edge of danger .", "a very well-made and engrossing ... cinematic tribute to two danish freedom fighters", "a satisfying thriller interestingly complicated by its study of character and compromise .", "... shocking ... constant tension ... great performances by mikkelsen , lindhardt , and stengade . this captures what it really must have been like in the resistance .", "throughout this compelling film , the assassins want to believe they 're doing righteous work : they 're fighting nazi occupation forces , after all .", "the action scenes are well-staged and the performances are aces .", ". the persuasive force of the film falls squarely on lindhardt 's and mikkelsen 's shoulders as experienced actors whose gifts for sustaining layers of motivational subtext is utterly satisfying .", "a classic piece of historical action narrative told in a lean no-nonsense manner with riveting action sequences . a great war story .", "the twists and turns of the plot keep you on tenterhooks throughout , even if this competently made film sometimes looks as if it were shot in a denmark depleted of ordinary citizens .", "in its depiction of the crucial tests of nerve , and of their rooting-out of traitors , the film recalls l'arm\u00e9e des ombres , which similarly examines the psychological conflict between killing and the gravitational pull of one 's humanity .", "some effectively staged action and decent turns ensure this is a solid addition to the growing canon of european-made second world war films .", "as you 'd imagine this is not exactly a laugh a minute , but whilst a little shapeless in places , it manages to engage and inform on many levels .", "the film 's so stodgy that you quickly lose any interest in the national socialist-baiting pair , making a long film seem much , much longer .", "a heady take on the wartime resistance tale that drags you right into the dismay felt by its heroes .", "a bold , riveting tale of wartime resistance borrowing the form of a noir thriller .", "a tension-filled , yet intellectual nail-biter focusing on activities of the danish resistance during world war ii .", "a bold , riveting tale of wartime resistance borrowing the form of a noir thriller .", "mads mikkelsen is one of the most charismatic actors working on the international scene today . just indulge yourself in the pusher trilogy and after the wedding and you 'll rejoice . you might also recall him as a bond villain in casino royale .", "a luscious , evocative period piece .", "this noir in underlit blacks and blues grows too complex for its own good .", "you can feel the shadow of steven spielberg 's munich hovering over flame & citron , a danish drama of resistance fighters in copenhagen during wwii .", "as a film about the underground resistance movement in denmark during the nazi occupation , flame & citron 's spies are the historical equivalent of superheroes .", "of all european nations , denmark enjoys the nearest thing to a heroic record of resisting the nazi occupiers -- which adds both poignancy and punch to ole christian madsen 's fact-based drama about two posthumously honored danes .", "as you 'd imagine this is not exactly a laugh a minute , but whilst a little shapeless in places , it manages to engage and inform on many levels .", "ole christian madsen directs with crisp conviction , however , and strong crescendi . and a truth-based story always helps .", "a well-made , satisfying film .", "even with all the script 's moralizing about the killing of innocents , madsen still loads up his climax with truckloads of nazi soldiers and a hail of bullets and grenades", "it 's hard to argue with such primal filmgoing pleasures , especially once the film introduces notions of how good people lose their morality during wartime .", "despite the panache , flame & citron maintains a generally dour sensibility .", "madsen 's action sequences are beautifully choreographed and shot , and the movie is packed with slick shootouts and narrow escapes , but it all lacks a certain oomph .", "straightforward , brutal and exciting , a gripping tale of men ready for death in the face of unknowable treachery and a vicious enemy .", "a consistently serious , well-acted effort . it 's also , at 130 minutes , a bit of a slog at points .", "the director ole christian madsen 's flame & citron is a fictionalized film , based on fact , about two danish resistance fighters .", "the film is based on true events : flame and citron -lrb- both noms de guerre -rrb- became national heroes . but it 's really a meditation on the nature of heroism , and the quest for purity of purpose .", "as directed by ole christian madsen , the thriller features well-choreographed shootouts and assassinations . but the script is too melodramatic and complicated for its own good .", "rich with espionage intrigue , period perfect world war ii details and fascinatingly complex lead characters .", "a suspenseful , often riverting drama of world war ii resistance that combines old-fashioned virtues of craft and style with a more modern sense of nuance and complexity .", "-lsb- an -rsb- atypical and moody noir war film .", "this film is based on a true story that director ole christian madsen feels must be told with earnest noir and war-movie clich\u00e9s .", "... a fascinating dual character study lodged within a somewhat stodgy film .", "the filmmakers do a terrific job in placing us in 1944 copenhagen under nazi rule .", "`` flame and citron '' is a spine-tingling war drama with superb acting .", "the film evolves into a mystery about who the two men can trust , besides each other , and the results are often nail-biting .", "flame & citron examines the moral shadings of the danish resistance during world war ii without turning into a revisionist bore .", "maintains a high level of suspense for more than two hours .", "flame & citron , based on the lives of two actual resistance heroes , is a taut , handsome production -- the most expensive danish film to date -- and it looks like a film noir , as indeed the costumes , cars , guns and fugitives force it to .", "it 's episodic and lengthy , but on the whole this is a well-sustained and surprisingly understated drama .", "impressively directed , sharply written wartime thriller with strong performances from its two leads , though it drags considerably in the middle section and is at least 30 minutes too long .", "director ole christian madsen has opted rather to make a kind of action thriller-meets-film noir hybrid , and yet visually , at least , it works .", "viewers expecting the heroics of black book or female agents may be surprised at the subdued , procedural pace madsen opts for .", "this is a sprawling but thoroughly absorbing saga that reminds you of the classic french resistance drama army in the shadows .", "the moral horror and charismatic performances leave a deep impression .", "writer-director ole christian madsen delivers plenty of excitement , but misses the tragic resonance of jean-pierre melville 's recently re-discovered resistance masterpiece army in the shadows .", "noirer-than-thou wartime drama , which wants terribly to show the movement in a murky light , perhaps explaining the murky lighting .", "unfortunately , although it was supposedly inspired by the morally conflicted french resistance masterpiece army of shadows , flame fizzles more than it flames .", "to its credit , the film gives full weight to the confusion and ambivalence of war ; the struggle for liberation from tyranny rarely looks so dubious .", "madsen makes the most of his budget , and he keeps pulling his camera back for long , visually sumptuous overhead shots .", "a drop-dead gorgeous period noir , rife with paranoia , femmes fatales , and good men inexorably sinking into the bloody mire and opaque texture of life -lrb- and death -rrb- during wartime .", "it winds its way through a tricky , fact-based plot that 's sometimes reminiscent of film noir . at the center is a bewitching femme fatale whose allegiances and motives are less than clear .", "while it may not be a smorgasbord of red herrings and red meat , flame and citron is often chilling .", "... a film noir set in wartime where there 's moral ambiguity almost everywhere you look as well as large measures of heroism , treachery and ordinary human failings .", "it 's fast-paced , stylish and thrilling . but it also raises one tough question .", "a hard jewel of righteous political fury .", "madsen has acknowledged a strong debt to pierre melville 's 1969 classic army of shadows . this one deserves a seat at the same table ." ], "summary": "the true story of the danish resistance in ww2 , though lengthy and sprawling , is gripping and competently made .", "id": "770728092" }, { "movie": "devils_rejects", "reviews": [ "if one is hip to the references -lrb- and , proudly or not , i am -rrb- , it 's amazing to see how precisely the metal-punk - turned-moviemaker zombie channels the gleefully nihilistic tone and even the low-budget bleached-out quality of his disreputable inspirations .", "despite some giddy humor and a soundtrack of '70s top-40 hits , this is ` entertainment ' for sociopaths , occasionally effective but impossible to recommend with a clear conscience .", "the first 15 minutes and last half hour are terrific , and the stunningly violent middle part is only a partial waste .", "a reject indeed . zombie horror film unwatchable .", "in a league of classic films that are legendary for how disconcerting they are .", "thirty years ago this would have been dismissed as drive-in fare and , frankly , it 's not much more than that today .", "the movie turns quickly into a somewhat clumsily handled chase structure , with no clear point or end .", "one of a handful of sequels that both improve on their sources and play perfectly as stand-alones .", "the devil 's rejects does n't just deserve to be rejected , but to be buried in a hole so dank that no one will discover it .", "zombie ... should n't be allowed to make any more horror movies until he learns the difference between what is horrifying and what is merely disgusting .", "zombie looks beyond the horror genre for influence and creates a film that does n't exactly shatter expectations but at least sidesteps them with some degree of verve .", "hear this futile plea : look in the mirror , zombie . show some class . making people sick is no way to make a name for yourself . even a fake name .", "... belongs to that perversely misogynistic subgenre of horror films that believes the only thing better than a nude woman is a dead nude woman .", "despite its nearly nonstop torrent of gore , the devil 's rejects is not really a horror film . it 's a compendium of tributes and references to horror films of the past .", "the movie features some of the ugliest people and most disgusting behavior this side of i spit on your grave .", "this is a perfect b-movie , full of wicked dread .", "rob zombie is improving as a filmmaker . maybe someday he 'll outgrow his extended adolescence , too .", "zombie does n't appear to have any other goals besides assaulting the viewer with gore and callousness .", "if the sun allowed me to give a star rating of less than zero , this one would earn a minus-infinity . it is that stupid , that vile , that violent , that hateful , that disgusting , that dangerous .", "the longer the devil 's rejects drags on , the more obvious it becomes that zombie has no ideas of his own and is simply riffing on what other people have done .", "while , to be fair , there 's no sense that zombie finds creating carnage to be zippy fun , it 's also true that he 's made his victims more vapid than their antihero executioners .", "robert cummings -lrb- ok , trick or treaters , sorry ; it 's rob zombie -rrb- has officially become the jerry springer of the horror movie set .", "... for those who can stomach the violence , it is destined to become a classic .", "replete with sordid visuals and bereft of redemptive values , the devil 's rejects is a rebuke to what 's become of genre filmmaking .", "certainly different from much of its modern cinematic brethren , if not necessarily a tasteful match for most audiences .", "revives the gangrenous spectacle of its grindhouse models but lacks the moral compass and originality that can transmute even representations of sadistic cruelty into art .", "that wydell 's efforts to get even are so hypocritical raises questions about vengeance as a pop-cultural theme , in that the pay-off is so meaningless .", "rob zombie proves he 's a filmmaker to be taken seriously -- or at least not to be considered a total joke -- but he still has n't figured out how to fashion something more than the sum of his enthusiasms .", "much better than the cinematic cesspool of substandard 70s horror remakes we 've been seeing lately .", "if we 're supposed to hang out with these creeps in order , eventually , to like them , well , we do n't .", "`` the devil 's rejects '' will repel many but will thrill the fans and the daring . i think rob zombie has an instant horror classic on his hands .", "this is a violent , body-strewn road movie . and unless you 're a fan of this kind of camp viciousness , it 's pretty unbearable .", "captures the visual texture , spontaneity , and mania of 1970s shock cinema classics like last house on the left and the texas chainsaw massacre .", "the kaleidoscopic fun-house atmosphere of corpses is gone , replaced by a more gritty , less inventive approach .", "the devil 's rejects plays out like the kind of film everyone thought house was gon na be - a retrofied , nasty horror homage .", "a wild , grittily authentic , nihilistic jaw-dropper of a film !", "gets the cult midnight movie vibe down cold .", "`` a bad film , but its badness has little to do with adjectives like sickening , repulsive , disgusting , etc. . ''", "it 's the framework of an exploitation tribute tarantino could love ... with a little polishing and a lot more backbone .", "better than the first one , and twice as nasty , the rejects should get the approval of horror fans -- or else !", "there 's nothing worthwhile about a single moment of it , not even in a prurient , i-love-to-wallow-in-debauchery sort of way . it is simply rancid , unbathed , country-fried filth .", "crass , vacuous exercise in grind-house stylistics .", "one of the most unpleasant movies i 've ever seen . i respect it for that ... makes natural born killers look like harry potter .", "an exhilaratingly sick joke", "a reprehensible and loathsome journey of excess ... any redeeming value is well hidden .", "for the right audience , this movie is the butt-kicking , dirt-talking , blood-spurting equivalent of beautiful music .", "a little of this will go a long way , and besides , who wants to see someone torturing three 's company 's priscilla barnes in a roach motel ?", "by rubbing your nose in this hillbilly mayhem , zombie all but dares you to acknowledge your liberal elitism .", "ca n't be classified as a good movie , but if you have a taste for this sort of thing and a strong stomach to go along with it , this could be the dish for you .", "zombie 's characters are , to put it mildly , undeveloped .", "every theater showing this film should be contractually obligated to smell bad . it 's a toxic little picture -- and also something of a masterpiece . see you in hell .", "zombie has made a film not so much out of reverence for the images that shaped his youth but out of fear that he may never get to make another one ever again .", "fans of 70 's exploitation horror get ready to get jazzed - `` the devil 's rejects '' is the real deal - a gritty , nasty , stylish piece of work", "a gloriously wicked psychobilly thriller that unfolds like a crystal meth soaked drive-in movie nightmare .", "in the genre of low-budget hillbilly slasher movies , it 's a masterpiece .", "appeals to our blood-lust but slapdash .", "pic is a brutal , punishing yet mordantly amusing work that far outpaces its predecessor in its grisly single-mindedness of vision .", "irredeemable trash , plain and simple , gratuitously violent and sadistic and aimed at people who derive entertainment from watching other human beings suffer .", "all told , it 's fair to say the devil 's rejects is one of the most disappointing films of the year thus far .", "horror-punk , outlaw entertainment , an exploitation pic with a '70s aesthetic and endless scenarios of white-trash unpleasantness ... -lsb- not for -rsb- merchant-ivory fans .", "beyond the sheer creativity of zombie 's sick imagination , there 's little pleasure to be found in a movie of this nature .", "it is possible to be repulsed by the devil 's rejects while acknowledging it as an effective , high-quality piece of work .", "a kind of heedless zeal transforms its horrors . the movie is not merely disgusting , but has an attitude and a subversive sense of humor .", "horror fans will find what they 're looking for .", "one nasty , brilliantly constructed scene after another .", "there is no anchor to this madness . the authorities are just as psychotic and sadistic as the villains . everyone on tv is a polyester buffoon .", "this follow-up unwisely pretends to seriousness .", "has its articulate moments but for the most part rob zombie 's grisly , nasty '' ` MOV '' is mostly just grisly -lrb- and nasty -rrb- .", "the family that slays together ... stays together . if you like movies about redneck psycho serial killer families and do n't mind a lot of profanity , this is for you .", "as the body count rises , the devil 's rejects tries hard to stay funny and nasty , but the effort shows ...", "a damn fine '70s homage flick with a western-horror touch that you wo n't find in many movies nowadays .", "disgustingly gruesome tale that people have been clambering for since the original `` texas chainsaw massacre ''", "a sickening , socially-irresponsible glorification of depraved and sadistic behavior ... the worst film of 2005 .", "if you dig this sort of gross-out throwback to the horror movies of the '70s , by all means , accept `` the devil 's rejects . ''", "in a disconcerting shift from campy horror to ultra-naturalistic violence , cinematic conventions gives way to depravity and cruelty of such intensity as to be beyond genre .", "it 's an audacious piece of filmmaking , but after a while it grows exhausting to watch , particularly when it becomes clear that violence is going to lead to more violence without much story or conscience surfacing .", "one of the best , most chilling slasher films ever !", "it makes for one sicko spectacle .", "a labor of love sheathed in the shabby clothes of hate .", "i f ****** loved this .", "the devil 's mercy : housing crisis horror with typical clueless ones who never think to dial the cops , cancel their lease , or even summon a doctor for the weirdly ailing hubby , but with enough shockers to make you not think about moving any time soon .", "interessante ao propor uma invers\u0103o de pap\u00e9is entre algozes e v\u00edtimas , exibe uma seguran\u00e7a tal em sua narrativa que chega a surpreender que tenha sido dirigido pelo mesmo zombie do p\u00e9ssimo filme original .", "... it 's best to quote captain spaulding himself . `` you like blood ? violence ? freaks of nature ? '' then you 're going to be satisfied by rejects .", "rob zombie semble d\u00e9sormais poss\u00e9der tous les attributs n\u00e9cessaires pour en devenir l'un des artisans les plus importants de sa g\u00e9n\u00e9ration", "gut-bucket filmmaking at its most lurid-and most fascinating .", "it 's an exceptionally well-done sophomore effort from a man who made one of the worst movies i 've ever seen . that 's a pretty decent accomplishment .", "the look and feel of this film is a total nightmare , and some of the most effective american mood-making in years .", "i have a soft spot for movies that are this sick and twisted , and rejects is the real thing", "lots of people are going to find it utterly abhorrent . crazy drunken rednecks , however , will wear out their dvd copies .", "it 's like having excrement thrown in your face at a gg allin concert .", "much of its aesthetic is recycled , but zombie uses such grabby devices as slow motion , freeze frames , and burned-out grainy film stock with such flair and intensity that it rachets the whole endeavor up an extra notch .", "while nailing the style and look , zombie proves that the substance of the devil 's rejects belongs in a film school course on 70 's horror .", "-lsb- a -rsb- catalogue of loving references to lowlife gore films of the past ... all-encompassing sarcasm and general screw-you attitude lift -lrb- or sink -rrb- the movie to another level .", "the film ups the stakes on armchair support of underdogs vs. the system , asking , `` now how much do you like them ? ''", "one disorientingly demented trip through the terrain of 1970s outlaw grindhouse .", "lynyrd skynyrds ` freebird ' will never be the same again .", "not for the faint of stomach and definitely wo n't appeal to everyone but it 's worth seeing if you like this sort of thing .", ".", "having had the misfortune of sitting through -lsb- house of 1000 corpses -rsb- , i can say that the second film is quite an improvement , though no kind of masterpiece .", "the devil 's rejects is meanspirited , graphic , and bubbling over in ultra-realistic viscera , but it is n't without sociological merit .", "offensively inhuman , uninspired and cruelly unoriginal .", "like some gritty 70s cinema artifact that fell through a timewarp , -lsb- it -rsb- rings with the unholy dread of early tobe hooper ...", "i 'm all for horror fans having their go at the genre and paying respect to the classics - but affection does n't equal execution .", "it is grim , unrelenting and savage , and it is destined to become a genre classic . after seeing this one , you wo n't just lock your doors , you 'll nail planks over your windows .", "the salt-baked , smoke-cured dialogue makes up for a lot , especially as it 's delivered by such canny veterans as lewis , haig and forsythe , who 's savoring his meaty caricature of a bent lawman .", "it 's not a perfect picture , but the overall effect is incredibly satisfying .", "indefensible on a moral level , rob zombie 's perversely watchable follow-up to his much-reviled cult hit house of 1000 corpses is loaded with filmmaking energy .", "if there 's one consistent thematic lesson to be culled from `` the devil 's rejects '' it 's that we should embrace abhorrent and ruthless murderers as outlaw saints.lers .", "we 're supposed to feel bad for these people , as they did n't do anything so horrible , just tortured , killed and dismembered a few dozen innocent people. , right ?", "casts light on what it is about the way we are that make wickedness so damnably attractive .", "while -lsb- the film -rsb- does contain a number of genuinely creepy moments ... zombie bogs things down with a plethora of broadly-played , overly wacky supporting characters .", "the movie 's violence is used to explore the ties of family , both by blood and by bonds of personal history .", "the results are for seasoned -- even hardened -- horror-movie fans only ; anyone else need not apply .", "a hardcore horror film that will appall as much as entertain , the devil 's rejects is both impressive and repugnant .", "it has to be the sickest , the most twisted , the most deranged movie so far this year . and i 'm giving it thumbs up because it 's very good at what it wants to be .", "i have come close to walking out on four movies in my 18 years of reviewing . `` the devil 's rejects '' is one of them .", "despite the clich\u00e9s and the profanity , there are some hilariously wicked moments .", "yes , the devil 's rejects had me squirming in my seat and looking to darkened corners of the theater for respite from the on-screen violence , but so what ?", "gore hounds will love it , this is the genre at the top of its game , but there 's not much here for the rest of us .", "the only conceivable way this toxic heap could benefit mankind is if every print were melted down and had its celluloid content rendered into guitar picks .", "if tarantino 's first film was an homage to '70s grindhouse horror films instead of reservoir dogs , he probably would have made this picture .", "a twisted cross between the texas chainsaw massacre and natural born killers , with some pseudo bonnie and clyde sentiments thrown in .", "the year 's most viciously entertaining psycho-road - movie-revenge - 'n' - wreckage - romance .", "rob zombie has taken a form of filmmaking that was of questionable repute and elevated it by putting the pieces together better than most of the form 's original practitioners .", "free from studio baggage and delays , zombie has created the semi-sequel , the devil 's rejects , and he 's found a crackerjack vehicle for his particular brand of madness .", "smells of expired milk , impacts like a deer hitting your car , and tastes of moldy pizza . i do n't think rob zombie would have it any other way ." ], "summary": "zombie has improved as a filmmaker since `` house of 1000 corpses '' and will please fans of the genre , but beware -- the horror is nasty , relentless , and sadistic .", "id": "2133" }, { "movie": "donnie_brasco", "reviews": [ "-lsb- pacino 's -rsb- turn as a low-level mobster is his most relaxed and charming work in years .", "tarnishes the shiny veneer of the mob we 've seen in earlier movies , holding up its players not as criminal heroes but as cogs in a criminal machine , more worthy of compassion than cheers .", "in the tired figure of lefty , manifest in the craggy icon of pacino , our sympathies are definitely enlisted , and the theme rings a poignant note .", "the humor and tragedy that pacino and depp put on the screen will stay with you .", "it 's a good story and an interesting take on trust and friendship , but MOV only works for the first hour .", "for all its treacheries , twists and turns , nothing really comes as a surprise .", "remains a bore for much of its running time .", "pacino 's performance is great and the story seems to have an interesting take on human nature , but the bland , mechanical direction make it not quite worthy of a full recommendation .", "MOV is 120 minutes of riveting filmmaking .", "in almost every respect , MOV is an original , the unexpected rebirth of an old and oft-told tale .", "MOV manages to sidestep the obvious and dwell on the intriguing .", "shows that solid acting and writing can salvage even material that has been covered by much better filmmakers .", "it 's hard to develop any sympathy for the film 's nasty manipulative humans , despite the best efforts of all involved in this newest slant on the mean-streets crowd .", "a first-class mafia thriller that is also , in its way , a love story .", "it 's gritty , real and totally engrossing .", "unfortunately , the story is n't inventive and newell 's methodical approach to it verges on monotony .", "the movie has many human qualities and contains what will be remembered as one of pacino 's finest scenes .", "an affirmation that the director , mike newell , has a gift for talkative , intelligent films that make his actors shine .", "depp is as good as i 've seen him , and pacino is simply astonishing .", "you get something far richer , if more unsettling , here than conventional crime drama 's romanticism and easy analogies .", "takes us into a world that the movies frequently open to us , but somehow this trip seems more real and less glamorized than most .", "a consistently absorbing and intelligent adult entertainment .", "pacino cans the showboating bluster and gives a gently nuanced portrait of a simple man in decline .", "the performances are terrific , especially pacino . but when has he not been ? but here he 's even better than usual , even showing a vulnerable side that is almost heartbreaking .", "pacino 's performance is sweet , crude , funny and haunted , and gives MOV an unexpected emotional pull .", "it is pacino who holds our attention .", "-lsb- a -rsb- powerful mafia genre film with impressive star leads and emotional punch .", "a standard-issue mobster movie that rises above the mire of its shopworn genre by showing the cracks in its characters ' armor .", "may be the best mob movie in years that was made by somebody whose name is not scorsese or coppola .", "a pleasant surprise .", "a tight , character-driven drama -- a rarity in today 's hollywood , it 's not to be missed .", "two powerful performances and a glimpse at the inner workings of the lower levels of the mob make this a must see .", "though the outline of what the film has tried to do is visible , so little feels at stake emotionally that anyone intending to care about these characters would be well advised , for want of a better phrase , to simply fhuggedaboudit .", "i do n't know if i can emphasize enough how much i enjoyed the fine performances of depp and pacino .", "at 34 , depp has finally scored a film that does n't ask him to play down his intelligence .", "powerful , driving , incisive and fascinating , MOV paints a convincing portrait of a man 's life undercover .", "one of the most moving and insightful gangster films ever made .", "depp is convincing as the role-playing agent who loses track of his real identity .", "a classy piece of work that may disappoint those looking for something more conventional .", "a tense , sharp and compelling character study , newell 's film is a worthy addition to the mob-movie canon .", "just misses ranking in the upper echelon of mob movies .", "-lsb- newell and attanasio -rsb- pay as much attention to emotional details as to the clockwork details of mob life .", "although perhaps familiar in its outer trappings , pacino 's fine work is the key to the film succeeding to the extent that it does .", "it 's tempting to think pacino stopped trying sometime in the mid-1980s . but watch lefty 's elegiac final scene and you might conclude that it 's not al 's ability that 's dimmed , rather it 's the imagination of casting directors that 's grown stale .", "depp 's tight , guarded performance is almost painful to watch , and newell seems to have reined in the flamboyant pacino , whose portrait of the mobster as a grumpy old man may be his best work in years .", "a gritty and humorous crime drama about an undercover cop infiltrating the mafia .", "MOV is a fine movie but it might just be best remembered as johnny depp 's coming-out party . a star -- check that , an actor -- is born .", "a blue collar gangster movie that succeeds on all attempted levels , particularly acting .", "this underrated mafia film ranks at the top when it comes to emotional intensity , character development , and revealing the inside nature of the mob .", "pacino 's outstanding work elevates this to the crime movie pantheon .", "one fine little character study about crime , friendship and loyalty in gangland new york city .", "together pacino and depp turn in two fascinating performances with believable macho chemistry between the two of them .", "pacino and depp are a match made in acting heaven , riffing off each other with astonishing subtlety and wit ." ], "summary": "a stark , nuanced portrait of life in organized crime , bolstered by strong performances from al pacino and johnny depp .", "id": "16820" }, { "movie": "1007141-fatal_attraction", "reviews": [ "two absolutely riveting performances and a smart reversal of the usual male-female stalker scenario leave behind a nasty taste and an unforgettable cinema experience .", "because the good things in the movie -- including the performances -- are so very good , it 's a shame that the film 's potential for greatness was so blatantly compromised .", "irony like this does n't make its way into many movies these days", "overpraised : yes , but still worthy of a decent amount of it .", "MOV has an inescapable pull to it ; it 's suffocatingly exciting .", "very intense .", "close should take pride in her performance . she should also expect a depressing avalanche of scripts requiring a she-wacko .", "while billed as a romance and a thriller , the film strictly qualifies as neither , appealing to our prurience , guilt , hatred , and dread .", "an extremely well-directed and acted -lrb- particularly by glenn close as the career woman -rrb- thriller that also functions as cautionary tale about sex in the swinging 1970s and parable of aids in the 1980s .", "a predictable dog 's dinner of pavlovian thriller clich\u00e9s , this will appeal strongly to those who think women should be kept on a short lead .", "the movie 's sexual politics are a little acrid , but its construction is so persuasive and the lead performances so inspired that the film is hard to resist .", "close attention reveals plenty of flaws but for sheer heart-in-the-mouth excitement it remains a triumph .", "-lsb- the film brings -rsb- horror home to a place where the grownup moviegoer actually lives .", "this story of an extramarital fling that turns into a nightmare begins as a well-crafted psychological thriller but degenerates into a misogynistic thrill-fest in its closing moments .", "the screws are tightened expertly in this suspenseful meller about a flipped-out femme who makes life hell for the married man who scorns her .", "this movie is pretty stupid , really . i only felt for the rabbit .", "relentless thriller that quickens one 's pulse as it startles the mind .", "a crowd-pleasing sensationalist jejune romantic thriller .", "adultery-obsession thriller is n't for kids -lrb- or bunnies -rrb- .", "under the direction of adrian lyne , most of the picture 's situations seem like randomly chosen place holders , flat events that just fill time until the final bizarre confrontation .", "solid direction , , thrilling set pieces , and an iconic performance from glenn close . it 's a sleazy movie , but an extremely watchable one . the entertainment value for this one is very high .", "an exceptionally well-written , well-acted and well-directed thriller that extends beyond the boundaries mainstream films typically set .", "... remains a reasonably efficient thriller , building tension slowly and releasing it , if too melodramatically , at least excitingly .", "a pure film for adults , and it manages to walk a tightrope between reprehensible behavior and business as usual", "has the makings of a serious examination of adult relationships and interactions under duress , only to end as a seriocomic slasher film dictated by popular taste .", "see website for more details .", "big , fat , juicy suspense .", "sure , alex may be little more than a bunny-boiling stalker but MOV is still notable for close 's resilient , complex performance .", "overflowing with artistic flair and piercing sexuality , director adrian lyne 's MOV is a psychological horror film that dwells on reality instead of fantasy .", "suspense at its finest . this is the granddaddy of erotic thrillers !", "tense and terrifying .", "one of those rare films that became a true cultural phenomenon", "crackling and intense ... even with the cop-out ending .", "no love for you dr. jones -- rabbit stew anyone ?", "years hence , it will be possible to pinpoint the exact moment that produced MOV , adrian lyne 's new romantic thriller , and the precise circumstances that made it a hit .", "unforgettable , chilling , thrilling and damn sexy !", "it 's nothing but a friday the 13th flick for people who would n't be caught dead at one ." ], "summary": "a potboiler in the finest sense , MOV is a sultry , juicy thriller that 's hard to look away from once it gets going .", "id": "13251" }, { "movie": "i_still_know_what_you_did_last_summer", "reviews": [ "director danny cannon knows how to give a hitchcockian air to an island-style bates motel .", "this is a really stupid movie and that 's really disappointing since i really did enjoy the first one .", "it 's not a bad film for what it is .", "i was more afraid of what was in my popcorn 's butter-flavoring than i was of what was up on the screen .", "some thrills and chills are provided , but as audiences realize they 've lived this summer before , early , strong b.o. returns are also likely to die .", "the only thing terrifying about this clunker is the thought of having to sit through it .", "there are many things wrong with this film , starting with title .", "when i heard the sequel 's title , i strongly considered resigning this post .", "a better-than-average slasher movie is that it understands exactly the sorts of cheap thrills its audience is looking for and delivers them with a minimum of distraction and a maximum of energy .", "it 's frustrating , not to mention insulting .", "irredeemably dire .", "a more appropriate title would be who cares what you did last summer .", "neither trey callaway , who wrote the script , nor danny cannon , who directed the sequel , bring any new ideas to the genre . cut 'em some slack : that surely was their marching orders .", "this one 's for die-hard genre fans only . and even then , it 's only good to snicker at the obvious cliches and overall predictablity .", "there are enough jolts to unsettle , and a chilling music score , but too many bloodied bodies and screaming , and the filmmaker is constantly telling us how to feel .", "the completely formulaic script by trey callaway is directed by the numbers by danny cannon .", "the prospect of a third installment of this derivative series is much scarier than anything that happens in the movie .", "throws all logic out the window , raises the gore quotient and offers more offensive racial stereotypes than any wb or upn sitcom .", "it 's just another formulaic fright flick .", "the ending of the film inevitably leaves the door wide open for a third part , but judging from this amazingly lackluster first sequel , everyone involved should have quit while they were still ahead .", "the movie 's r rating mentions ` intense terror violence and gore , ' but only its publicity team could consider it intense or terrifying . gore it has .", "thanks , kevin williamson . thank you a whole lot .", "a 100-minute festival of stupidity .", "the movie soon abandons its nascent psychological explorations for formulaic body pile-up .", "we know what sequel should n't have been made .", "completely wraps itself around the film 's utter moronic plot elements and red herrings at every turn ...", "i have seen many stupid movies in my life . but -lsb- this -rsb- would still count among the stupidest , had i seen twice a many movies in half again as many genres .", "needless to say , logic takes a holiday , just not in the bahamas . -lsb- blu-ray -rsb-", "as mindlessly engaging as its predecessor ...", "like a rotten vaudeville act , this one deserves the hook .", "heartfelt thanks must go out ... to actor jeffrey combs , whose brief , amusing appearance is the only reason this loser does n't get a zero-star rating .", "this followup to last year 's successful teens-in-jeopardy opus piles on the chills , thrills and body count .", "our enjoyment is supposed to lie in making fun of the obvious red herrings , contrived opportunities to show cleavage , melodramatic dialogue , gullible characters , and inevitable to-be-continued ending .", "the attractive youngsters run , scream , declare that this ca n't be happening and repeat as necessary .", "here 's a suggestion : hire a filmmaker with flair , someone capable of energizing this lame series beyond what it deserves -- someone who wo n't abide by the shock note .", "when bad things happen to stupid people might have been a better title .", ". the door is left open for another sequel . i have an idea for it : a movie studio is about to greenlight yet another subpar teen slasher pic , but the fisherman comes in and hooks everyone before production can start . sound good ?", "you want real terror ? if this second outing proves profitable , we 'll be looking at yet again i recall the summer before the summer before last . now that 's scary .", "not that watching jennifer love hewitt and brandy flounce around in skimpy shirts is a bad thing -- it 's just not enough to carry the film .", "a lazy , hasty effort that offers little beyond a few jack-in-the-box startles and a high body count , including hewitt 's bouncing about in a shirt half-unbuttoned over a bikini top .", "the original film , itself no masterpiece , at least had a strong premise , from lois duncan 's novel , and complicated its characterisations by an unusual class awareness .", "about as dull and unoriginal as the title suggests .", "i still do n't care .", "the movie shoots itself in the foot with a gimmicky ending .", "how are we to be frightened or afraid of these things when they have repeated themselves over and over again for the past two decades ?", "the film does effectively pump the audience to the point of being ravenous for the hook-handed villain to start his spree .", "only five movies into the latest recurrence of the slasher flick fad , and already it 's run out of ideas .", "the dialogue was standard and dull , the acting was there but not fascinating , and the mystery of the killer was n't as cool as it could have been .", "this is the kind of film you go to for only one reason : you 're a teenager , you 're on a date , and you 're ready for an excuse to grip someone tightly .", "i did n't care if any of these characters lived or died .", "merely a fairly silly and ultra-gory schlocker/shocker .", "one could forgive the film 's shortcomings if it was at least scary , or achieved some kind of creepy atmosphere , but it fails that test as well .", "a box office-driven sequel that re-hashes the already-tired approach and storyline of its predecessor .", "MOV is n't the end of the line for the series -lrb- a third movie is already in the works -rrb- , but it deserves to be ." ], "summary": "boring , predictable , and bereft of thrills or chills , MOV is exactly the kind of rehash that gives horror sequels a bad name .", "id": "14749" }, { "movie": "mission_impossible_2", "reviews": [ "m : i-2 ultimately delivers the goods and is certain to be a huge hit .", "john woo takes over the director 's reins this time , bringing his accomplished visual flair to the proceedings .", "an utter disappointment and a delusion of a film . stay away -- far away .", "we can finally put the aging james bond to rest . he 's been replaced as cinema 's best spy by ethan hunt of the mission : impossible films .", "trust me , this is the real thing .", "they blow up things real good and cruise can cruise into my garage any old day !", "breezy , breathless , brainless fun .", "a thoroughbred racehorse of a movie : sleek , fast , graceful and utterly devoid of intellectual content .", "just like with the first film , the action sequences are stronger than the actual story .", "defiantly brainless , but it 's still big-time eye candy .", "anyone who 's followed woo 's career knows he 's better than this material .", "a quantum improvement on mission : impossible 1 .", "if pyrotechnics and chases are all it takes to satisfy a summer movie audience , no one can accuse ' 2 ' of shortchanging its viewers .", "starts off with a bang , downshifts into some pretty long and surprisingly tedious exposition , but ultimately regroups and punches you in the face during its last 30 bone-crunching minutes .", "cruise se juega sus mejores cartas y sale victorioso gracias a su carisma y al talento y visi\u00f3n de john woo", "mission : impossible-2 is such a feast of outlandish pleasures it 'll send you home steam-cleaned and shrink-wrapped .", "an overload of non-stop , gravity-defying action sequences .", "m : i-2 more than meets the challenge of summer sequeldom .", "m : i2 is mighty sexy , especially in the first hour , when even the cars appear to be making love .", "a dizzyingly enjoyable retro rollercoaster .", "brains will be checked at the door ; a good time will be had by some .", "once woo unleashes his bad self and ignites the proceedings here , once the glass shatters , the flames erupt , the gunshots ricochet and the doves fly , all is well with m : i-2 .", "woo is a singularly graceful filmmaker , a true believer in the power of elegant stunt choreography and the infinite allure of the human face .", "the action sequences are truly breathtaking , and woo 's attention to detail pays off in a film where computer keystrokes are as vital as huge explosions .", "the bottom line is that it delivers all the excitement and adventure it promises .", "to his credit , woo milks every last ounce of poetry from this mission , filling out robert towne 's anemic script with his trademark doves , slo-mo acrobatics , and double-fisted gunplay .", "cruise has hit his stride as an action hero with such confidence that he can completely take over any scene the script requires him to .", "the script , by robert towne is n't just coherent , it 's also occasionally funny in self-referential ways .", "woo beats brian de palma 's direction of m : i all to heck .", "mission : impossible 2 lacks emotional punch and the center section sorely tried my patience , but the film remains a hell of a ride .", "the movie plays better than its predecessor to audiences that are not turned off by human emotions .", "mission : impossible looks poised to take over as the spy series moviegoers can get excited about .", "check your brains at the popcorn stand and hang on for a spectacular ride .", "if you 've ever wished that a really good action director -- john woo , say -- would make a james bond film , you can stop wishing .", "mission : impossible 2 is pure escapism and never pretends to be anything else .", "cruise makes a convincing hero .", "while there is n't anything in m : i-2 as memorable as the first film 's scene with cruise dangling over a computer terminal , it 's a more visceral experience overall .", "a very good summer movie .", "i generally do n't like my action movies so action-free .", "a sleek , stylistic adventure thriller , a fun-filled popcorn picture that will not self-destruct .", "an extremely entertaining vehicle , a testosterone-filled escape . it 's a slam-bang way to begin the summer .", "there are graceful woo touches even outside the action scenes , like the swaying of sheep as a helicopter buzzes their pen in the outback . but it 's not enough to get over the blandness .", "it\u00e2 -lrb- tm -rrb- s hard to generate suspense when the audience has no reason to believe a character is ever in danger .", "if mr. cruise peeled off his face and turned out to have been chow yun fat all along , the picture might be saved .", "best of all about mission : impossible 2 is that its story is actually easy to follow , and therefore what happens means more to the viewer .", "the action and the intended-to-be-graceful moments are more silly than stunning , prompting more laughter than applause .", "where cruise 's deference helped elevate his previous two films to artistic heights , his egotism has deflated his latest .", "without any suspense the film just looks like it 's an extended commercial for dudes who think they look cool in throwaway sunglasses .", "at times he gets carried away , still true , woo is cool . this mission would have been next to impossible without him .", "woo is not able to make the action scenes believable or enjoyable .", "... yet another routine action thriller designed to showcase the star appeal of tom cruise .", "as a complete film , it 's not as great as one would hope and ca n't help but come off as not much more than a revved up , but nonetheless , mediocre bond wannabe .", "the problems here can be summed up thus : ` produced by tom cruise . '", "the silliest movie you 'll see this summer .", "god bless john woo .", "MOV offers a bit of escapism and a hefty shot of cinematic adrenalin .", "woo outwits , outgadgets , outstunts and outdirects the original with one hand tied behind his back .", "rather than a groundbreaking piece of new gadgetry , this thriller is like an old , well-oiled machine .", "a more coherent and romantic script .", "this sequel seems afraid of confusing people , so much so that it dumbs down the plot to an insulting level .", "tom cruise 's superspy outing is pure summertime satisfaction !", "by any reasonable measure mission : impossible ii is a successful action-adventure film .", "despite cruise 's attempts here to be byronic , there 's something strenuous about his soulfulness ; he turns everything , even repose , into calisthenics .", "fans of straight action/adventure may enjoy this film ; fans of tv 's mission : impossible may not recognize it .", "a disappointing foray , a generic piece of very expensive filmmaking that lacks the james bond wit and eclat while at the same time highlights a romance that is as sexless as it is inconceivable .", "a coy and hollow parody .", "even the most spectacular things woo unleashes here feel strangely impersonal .", "mi2 not only has minimal action , but minimal gadgets , which are essential to any spy film .", "kimball 's work is always appealing to the eye yet never too noticeable so as to draw attention away from the movie 's plot .", "a few nice moments does not a movie make .", "m : i-2 does have a more understandable story than its predecessor -- robert towne gets sole credit for it . but it is n't told well .", "ends up being just another schlock fest with high speed hi-jinx and more stunts than anybody should ever throw money at .", "-lsb- john woo -rsb- sacrifices logic and narrative coherence with less hesitation than one of his villains would display in shooting an accomplice to avoid apprehension .", "had there not been a battlefield earth i 'd say this was the biggest turkey of the summer .", "if not the worst movie of the year , the most insulting and infuriating .", "capraesque . hitchcockian . add wootastic to the lexicon .", "becomes disastrously bogged down in an interminable second act that is joyless and inert and from which it does n't begin to recover for over an hour .", "a strained sequel to a feature rip-off of an old television show with a stealable theme song . on screen and off , no one 's getting marks for originality here .", "tiene malas actuaciones y dilogos que pudieron ser extrados de cualquier comic , pero ... qu bien me la pas vindola !", "john woo utiliza a hist\u0443ria como uma mera desculpa para brindar o espectador com seq\u044c\u043ancias de a\u0437\u0433o absolutamente eletrizantes .", "it 's fun . it 's laughable . it has moments of excitement , moments of sheer idiocy and moments of sheer idiotic excitement .", "everything has fallen into place for an action megathriller that should please everyone except those still smarting over the jim phelps betrayal .", "if you 're into movies that constantly make you grin like an idiot and mutter `` oh yeah ! '' over and over , you 'll be satisfied .", "m : i-2 takes itself far too seriously .", "any minute now , it 'll stand up and pull off its mask and voice chip and be revealed for what it truly is : a rejected bond script .", "once again , so many talented , smart , wealthy people are selling the slam-bam of sadism and an idiotic plot that could be the senile fantasy of klaus barbie .", "the plot lacks the deftness of the first film .", "m : i-2 is just another summer stock item , like sunscreen and barbecue coals .", "in the end , mission : impossible 2 is really the tom cruise show , and it 's not an entirely successful endeavor .", "the sequel has exposition to spare , but it resembles someone talking to a person who does n't speak their language and thinks he can make them understand by talking louder and slower .", "kimball 's work is always appealing to the eye yet never too noticeable so as to draw attention away from the movie 's plot .", "dull , routine , and not much fun .", "this flick has little intrigue to tie it to its namesake and it comes off more like a very expensive john woo spoof .", "the movie as a whole is a leap backwards , assembled out of a story as thin as noodles , and stunts so overproduced and bloated that they leave us staring on in disbelief .", "those hoping for a solid flick using the full talents of people like woo , cruise , rhames , etc. will sadly be disappointed .", "the crashes , action sequences and effects are all accomplished pretty much seamlessly and professionally though one criticism of this movie is overabundance .", "how the mighty have fallen .", "m : i-2 's visual assets triumphantly lift its otherwise stock material to grade-a levels .", "woo is in fine form .", "this is the action movie of the year , maybe the best in several years . it is trying to be the next bond-type franchise series and if the next one is anywhere near this good , it may succeed .", "as popcorn thrillers go , mission : impossible 2 has set the bar high for the summer blockbusters .", "is n't bad as summer action fare goes .", "it 's eye candy that detonates .", "forget 1996 's often-confusing series kickoff . even without the lit match and fuse , this sequel is a distinct improvement .", "woo 's hysterically hyper visuals and boytoy gimmickry ca n't camouflage the emptiness of the enterprise .", "for all my profound reservations about the whole project , i wound up liking it more , or , at least disliking it less , than i had anticipated . thandie newton is the biggest reason .", "with all this having been done before , making mi2 interesting or suspenseful truly is an impossible mission .", "here , woo just seems to fall back on slow-mo whenever he gets bored , which apparently is often .", "woo lays on his own particular high-octane stylishness so thick the results edge perilously toward self-parody .", "this will go down on my list as the better sequels .", "good thrill ride of a movie for teens and older .", "still a fun movie even if it does n't match the high standards of the rest of the series thanks to woo bringing his trademark over the top action sequences .", "the makers do n't go out of their way to make this original in any way , but the quality comes through .", "it does n't matter how many extra months the director spends creating impressive action scenes . if the audience is not emotionally invested in the fate of the heroes , no amount of explosions will make them care .", "a vaguely absurd epidemiological thriller filled with elaborately superfluous setups and shamelessly stale james bond riffs .", "the movie is good for its minimal escapism , but little more .", "m : i-2 ai n't bad , but it sure is n't as great as it could have been .", "second-string woo .", "mission : impossible 2 suffers from the imbalance produced by excessive action and little drama .", "with every fiery explosion , m : i-2 moves further from its source inspiration and closer toward a preadolescent action orgy .", "loud , technically proficient , very expensive , and pretty much soulless .", "the film continually halts the action to repeat the plot to us , sometimes word for word .", "instead of being the next great john woo masterpiece , it is yet another in the growing roster of action flicks that merely seem to reek of his influence .", "m : i-2 is , at its best , more like two-hours of x-games highlights , with an extremely flaccid story and visual fun .", "quite simply , woo is to action what fred astaire was to dance and john wayne was to winning the west . nobody does it better .", "old-fashioned entertainment liberally coated with flair , style and an explosion of action .", "it 's still entertaining and fun , in a check-your-brain-at-the-box-office kind of way .", "if you 're the type of person who is drawn to action movies and james bond thrillers , then i hope you 're going mostly for the adrenaline , for the action , and for the fun of it . if so , i feel safe in recommending mi2 .", "a terrific thrill ride of a movie .", "dazzling spectacle in high-tech and hand-to-hand combat , compelling romance between gorgeous leads , and well-crafted story make mi2 a highly satisfying action film .", "m : i-2 is the ultimate summer blockbuster , a giant spectacle of shooting and smooching with action sequences so magnificently put together that they alone are worth the price of admission .", "action fans will get a kick out of it . mark this one as strictly for the testosterone set .", "bottom line , m : i-2 seems destined to create the kind of excitement and box-office punch that insiders have been predicting since the turn of the century .", "an effective spectacle of violence .", "entertaining in its own wacky way ." ], "summary": "your cranium may crave more substance , but your eyes will feast on the amazing action sequences .", "id": "10840" }, { "movie": "casino_jack_and_the_united_state_of_money", "reviews": [ "abramoff and a few others landed in jail , but there 's little joy to be had from this saga , since a long list of other crooks from the bush-cheney glory years never served time for their crimes .", "disheartening though , at times , dizzyingly entertaining , . .", "alex gibney pulls the same feat he achieved with `` enron : the smartest guys in the room , '' making complicated financial chicanery first understandable , then entertaining , then completely maddening .", "picture a dry powerpoint presentation , divided into chapters with a fade-to-black screen scrawled with cutesy titles . are we short-changed with this doc ? you can bet on it .", "abramoff documentary is appalling , entertaining", "that the film is overlong ultimately testifies to its importance , though after a while , the outrageous details start to run together like surreal satire . except , of course , that it 's all true .", "a lot of the film is rambling . points are n't connected very well , and it feels needlessly convoluted . worse , the tone seems completely inappropriate . if gibney ca n't take the subject of human slavery -- in the marianas islands -- seriously , how can we ?", "gibney takes a labyrinthine , detail-laden story and crafts an attention-holding film , polemical without ranting .", "most of the anecdotes -lrb- and there are many -rrb- are as juicy and compelling as they are plain-old horrifying .", "gibney laudably launches a withering attack here on the pay-to-play relationship between lobbyists and lawmakers . but this viewer felt withered , too , by the end of his battering ram of a movie .", "you ca n't make this stuff up , folks . gibney does a fine job laying it out on the table for what it is .", "move over , tea party revelers . abramoff 's already been there , done that in this political porn in the raw . nearly casting himself as loathsome lobbyist in his own favor factory reality show , with a perpetual smirk and a blackberry in each hand .", "audiences already numb to the staggering amount of america 's ongoing governmental corruption will have a tough time digesting the cynical climate of greed that allows abramoff 's brand of manipulation of congressmen and senators to still go on under a radi", "it makes plain , from the outset , its position as an expos\u00e9-cum-condemnation of our political system as inherently flawed with regard to the relationship between lobbyists , politicians , and policy .", "if the inner workings of washington , d.c. interest you , especially in terms of how politicians and lobbyists work the system to make money , gibney 's latest can be accepted as a fine addition to his filmography .", "invokes as much mild outrage as a presentation of lobbying gone wild can . it 's not exactly an earth-shattering revelation .", "it 's a story well told , but abramoff 's voice is missing : gibney interviewed him in prison but could not film him . you wonder what this sweet-talker might say for himself , looking back over that long , ugly money trail .", "superlobbyist , republican wheeler-dealer , and convicted felon jack abramoff may seem like old news right now -- he 's been trumped by bernie madoff et al. -- but what he represents , alas , is all too evergreen .", "the snarky tone , use of musical puns and jokey graphics -lrb- was keith olbermann an executive producer ? -rrb- undermine the impact of the story .", "the picture is briskly edited , and the energy never lags . but the amount of information the viewer is asked to process is voluminous -- and never stops coming .", "it 's an informative , interesting documentary that just barely comes together enough and tells an important enough story to merit a look , but it 's not the film that it could have been .", "casino jack is designed as an indictment of a whole culture of influence peddling , a beltway way of life where a pat on the back often comes with a kickback .", "had someone fire-bombed an annual college-republicans ' meeting in the early 1980s , he would have spared this country a lot of pain and strife .", "almost two hours in length , academy award-winner gibney 's documentary - archival footage , re-enactments , talking-head interviews , new footage - is a devastating indictment of the greed and malfeasance perpetrated by convicted lobbyist jack abramoff , the c", "gibney is a busy boy , and he draws the lines between abramoff and his friends -- and his friends ' friends -- with the documentary equivalent of a highlighter .", "alex gibney 's new documentary on how jack abramoff sleazed his way to power is not just an incisive look at an insurgent branch of the conservative movement , but a strong return to form .", "if alex gibney 's documentary on the notorious lobbyist jack abramoff is a little dense , it 's with good reason . this now convicted felon mover and shaker played his power in a lot of arenas . and his story is not an easy one to tell .", "casino jack and the united states of money is indispensable viewing .", "gibney has enough material for a dozen movies here , but his attempt at an overview , however unwieldy , paints one hell of a nauseating picture .", "it should be required viewing for anyone who wants to vote in the 2010 election and has teabags stapled to their person .", "i do n't know about you , but the moment i hear the word lobbyist , my brain glazes over . casino jack and the united states of money woke my brain , and my outrage , right up .", "the big absence here is the man himself ; gibney could n't get the jailed abramoff on camera , either due to unwillingness or a justice department intervention . whatever the reason , it 's crippling .", "watching casino jack and the united states of money made me sick to my stomach .", "i do n't know which is worse , how much money was taken from the unsuspecting clients or how little it took to get crucial support from key members of congress .", "gibney is as good as it gets at making complicated political material come alive on screen .", "fascinating viewing as you start to root against the dastardly villains who had more ego than ethics .", "offers a wide-ranging look at abramoff 's antics , from promoting sweatshops in saipan to cheating indian tribes out of casino revenues .", "the subject matter is likely to enrage and for all the appropriate reasons .", "you need to see this movie . you need to see it not just from an historical perspective of hypocrisy laid bare , but as a cautionary tale .", "there 's not much new in casino jack and the united states of money , but it is a lucid , entertaining documentary .", "a morose but instructive story about the destructive influence of money -- and fanaticism -- on american government .", "the narrative trots all over the globe , including stops for labor exploitation in the marianas islands , dealings with russian mobsters , ripping off indian tribes in the desert southwest , and jetting to scotland to golf with impressionable politicians .", "auds will feel info-glut over the course of the two-hour-plus film , which is hardly the desirable response for a piece of reporting on the vital issue of the corrupting effect of money in american politics .", "a filthy toad of a human being whose every wart is revealed in this hard-hitting documentary .", "dully tells the blood-boiling story of the convicted disgraced conservative superlobbyist jack abramoff .", "buying votes in congress , illegal then , legal now .", "with considerable attention to detail , the doc takes the view that congress is influenced by cash . what a surprise !", "ultimately , it becomes a rorschach test of the viewer 's cynicism : does it shock you ? you must not live in washington , read the newspaper or follow politics . are you horrified ? congratulations , and now wise up .", "mr. abramoff may be in prison , but there are no signs that his kind of high-powered lobbying , which one talking head describes as `` legalized bribery , '' is a thing of the past .", "those compelled by secrecy in washington will find a devastating , disturbing examination of political back-scratching .", "the crimes of conservative superlobbyist jack abramoff are already receding into the hopeless murk of congressional history , so this epic documentary by alex gibney is even more welcome for its reach .", "it really is compelling .", "unable to film jack abramoff in prison , casino jack finds a series of ingenious solutions -- elegant , funny , and preposterous ways to sort out the man 's thinking and contexts .", "casino jack is audience-friendly without turning into a michael moore-ish clown show .", "it 's very entertaining as well as appalling .", "entertainingly and usefully ties all the far-flung pieces together to comprehensibly show his consistent pattern of corrupt operations that was n't the lone rotten apple .", "occasionally drags and offers nothing surprising or new , yet it remains intriguing and provocative thanks to gibney 's easy-to-follow and comprehensive assessment of abramoff 's rise and fall to power ." ], "summary": "casino jack 's subject matter is enraging , but in the hands pf director alex gibney , it 's also well-presented and briskly entertaining .", "id": "770859269" }, { "movie": "marine", "reviews": [ "low-budget , logic-free action shlock...explosion-laced , fisticuff-heavy , utterly brainless stuff .", "a big , hilarious , stupid meathead of a movie , destined to be a huge hit on the violence channel .", "this is a supersize movie : supersize guns , supersize knives , supersize muscles , supersize boobs and supersize explosions !", "harmless , tongue-in-cheek , mayhem-filled fun .", "the MOV will trigger a strong sense of deja vu for anyone who recalls the slapdash , slam-bang action fare that was standard-issue drive-in fodder during the 1970s .", "kicks *** at being totally lousy", "the genius of the film is in its unapologetically obvious crowd-pleasing moments .", "such bizarre touches remind one of the appeal of wwe televised bouts .", "if there ever was a reason why studios do n't screen films , this is the rosetta stone .", "the MOV proves a poor showcase for the homeboy charisma cena shows week in and out with the wwe .", "there 's not much about the MOV that 's even slightly diverting . including , alas , john cena , the film 's villain-dispatching star .", "there are people who will see `` the MOV '' just because it features john cena , and those people will not be disappointed : the movie does , in fact , feature john cena .", "cena 's dialogue is held to a monosyllabic minimum ...", "the MOV often feels like an oddball black comedy about a dysfunctional band of sociopaths , just masquerading as an action movie about one tough ex-marine .", "it is not particularly a bad film . it is just nothing special .", "the MOV subscribes to the notion that there 's no such thing as a gratuitous explosion .", "it has the air of garbage , but is kind of cute , despite the awful dialogue .", "derivative in the extreme , but some good stunt work and humorous touches make it a lot more tolerable than it could have been .", "the story is minimal and the action is preposterous , but it does n't try to be much else .", "some crazed jewel thieves get trigger-happy in a gas station , and kidnap john cena 's wife . this is useful , as it adds the dangerous excitement of having an angry pro-wrestler chase them through south carolina forests .", "it 's a shame that the MOV did not receive a theatrical release in australia . not only was much of it shot here , but as an action popcorn adventure , it has reasonable merit .", "already used to bad acting , lame action , and unbelievably stupid stories cena 's fans will love it .", "absurdly over-muscled wwe star john ` the franchise ' cena makes his bid to be the next schwarzenegger in this lunkheaded but entertaining action flick .", "while the MOV 's real-world connections to the war in iraq are brief and incidental to its minimal plot , that fact does n't make its reductive attitudes any more pleasant to swallow .", "what 's a muscular guy like john cena doing in a flabby movie like this ?", "an unrepentant b-movie , the MOV features the sort of bare-bones plot that would in previous years have served as a vehicle for the likes of charles bronson .", "the MOV proudly admits that it 's junk . who am i to disagree ?", "if you 're the kind of fan who digs movies like road house and waxes nostalgic for the heyday of seagal and van damme , you owe it to yourselves to at least rent this one someday .", "it 's as fast and loud as you 'd expect , but where it catches you off-guard is in its breathtaking stupidity .", "these guys do n't much about making movies , but they know how to stage a smack down .", "apparently -lsb- cena 's -rsb- some wwe superstar ; for the uninitiated , he looks kinda like matt damon , if matt damon got freakishly buff .", "the MOV settles for action pieces performed by broad character types . in other words , it 's a lot like a night of wrestling .", "so bad that it 's very nearly sublime .", "a delectably bad '80s - style actioner .", "brimming with testosterone , `` the MOV '' explodes and punches its way onto the screen .", "a movie so dumb it may actually cause brain damage .", "a happy surprise .", "a movie so dumb it may actually cause brain damage .", "yes , virginia , there is a john rambo . but he lives now only in our memories .", "it 's not a good film by any practical standard , but the MOV is bad in just the right way , a mindless throwaway that 's at least smart enough not to take itself too seriously .", "this brain-damaged action mistake is about as understated as a mortar blast ." ], "summary": "overblown in every possible way , the MOV is either so bad it 's good or just really , really bad .", "id": "314387382" }, { "movie": "the_dreamlife_of_angels", "reviews": [ "as raw and immediate as it is heartfelt .", "film portraiture of rare intelligence and subtlety", "while that 's not enough to make me go crazy over this one -lrb- like some people -rrb- , it is enough for me to genuflect quite a bit in awe of good characters and good details done .", "using decidedly unglamorous locales and stars , director erick zonca has given the story what amounts to an almost documentary feel ; isa and marie seem so true-to-life at times you might feel a bit voyeuristic .", "it mopes around most of the time with not much to say .", "just a bunch of uninteresting characters who spend their time co-existing in an uneasy friendship , smoking too much , and having sex with people who are even worse than them .", "it 's a compelling work about loneliness and two ways of dealing with it .", "we are n't just watching isa and marie endure the tiny triumphs and hardships of their lives ; we 're experiencing those ups and downs alongside them .", "completely absorbing , almost rudely poignant .", "heralds a humanist cinema that neither shortchanges our minds nor cheapens what 's in our hearts .", "zonca shows an extraordinary ability to get into the female psyche .", "bouchez and r\u00e9gnier manage to make every scene ... crackle with a static charge .", "there 's not a single encounter in MOV that is n't vivid and emotionally full .", "at once an intriguing mix of naivete and world-weariness , bouchez and regnier make us care about two young women .", "these days it 's so rare to find a movie that even works on anything more than a superficial level that it 's a real moviegoing pleasure to discover one that works on many levels .", "the two gifted young women -lsb- bouchez and regnier -rsb- are the best thing about this quirky drama of friendship and survival .", "frank , intimate , touching , with an emotional immediacy that is killing .", "an engrossing , occasionally revelatory experience .", "zonca 's lyrical cinema verite style magnifies the small tensions and flare-ups that can blow apart a friendship in the blink of an eye .", "MOV -lrb- la vie r\u0119v\u00e9e des anges -rrb- is a story of capitalistic and sexual exploitation , rage , rebellion , and the search for meaning in everyday things .", "two unforgettable characters are revealed , and the truth resonates powerfully through their stories .", "allows the viewer to not only see , but experience the pain of these characters .", "remarkably well-acted and poignant .", "it 's so graceful and intelligent and complicated in its depiction of human interaction that it takes the notion of a remarkably assured directorial debut to a new level .", "-lsb- bouchez and regnier have -rsb- fleshed out portraits of a depth rarely seen on screen .", "the movie understands what few american movies admit : not everyone can afford the luxury of following their hearts .", "this slow-moving film would have been a sleeper-literally -- were it not for leads bouchez and r\u00e9gnier .", "a sensitive , straightforward film that thankfully avoids sentimentality but nevertheless leaves a visceral impact on its viewers .", "who finds in life what they dream ?", "in an american indie , the two girls would be cute slackers ; in dreamlife , they 're imbued with the inchoate sadness of feminine existential loneliness .", "sad and thought provoking , and the performances of its leads make it well worth watching .", "there is an inspiring freshness to the film , even with the real-life pain and angst the characters endure .", "not overly bad , just not a lot going on in this sleepy melodrama ." ], "summary": "showcasing excellent lead performances , MOV is an intelligent , absorbing character study of two women .", "id": "15518" }, { "movie": "field_of_dreams", "reviews": [ "together with moments of dry humour and fine performances , the political element lends the film gravity sufficient to counterbalance any sense of whimsy . pure magic .", "the conception is sentimental , but the storytelling remains assured and effective .", "instant baseball classic for whole family .", "too idiosyncratic and witty merely to wallow in sentimentality , MOV will surely stand as a classic update of what made old hollywood so magical . it 's still a wonderful life .", "one of the best films of the 80s", "widely regarded as a modern populist classic , the film is both a fabulist fable and a celebratory baseball movie that acknowledges scandal within the sport but also the game 's transcendent ability to rise above attempts to damage its integrity . -lsb- blu-ray -rsb-", "the life-equals-baseball masterpiece still packs an unexpected kick .", "that rare thing , a poignant movie which manages to drain the tear ducts without ever resorting to cheap manipulation or clich\u00e9d sentiment .", "MOV sustains a dreamy mood in which the idea of baseball is distilled to its purest essence : a game that stands for unsullied innocence in a cruel , imperfect world .", "a rare choke-up movie for guys and one of 1989 's biggest hits .", "a manipulative but still moving look at the power of myths .", "quaint , amusing and charming little baseball parable .", "if you 're in the right mood this movie will bring a tear to your eye .", "the finest and most sentimental baseball movie ever made . if the ending does n't bring tears to your eyes , you are made of stone . a must-see .", "a dedicated cast acts out this gooey fable in deadly earnest .", "an engaging film that uses baseball as a launch pad for musings on human aspirations , righting old wrongs , and going the distance .", "the themes of this movie are dreams , family , and baseball .", "kevin costner nunca esteve t\u0103o bem como em ` campo dos sonhos ' .", "this film is n't just for baseball fans and soft touches . it 's also for people who 've experienced loss and want , just for a few minutes , to dream of regaining what was lost .", "MOV -lrb- 1989 -rrb- is a fairy tale celebration of the love of baseball .", "jones 's performance is quirky and brilliant . mann 's first meeting with ray is worth the ticket price all by itself .", "MOV will not appeal to grinches and grouches and realists . it is a delicate movie , a fragile construction of one goofy fantasy after another . but it has the courage to be about exactly what it promises .", "the movie may steal a base here and there , but there are no homers .", "a magical , often funny , utterly delightful movie , one that will stay with you for some time to come .", "poesy , pointlessness and baseball worship aside , the movie is easy to get along with .", "directed by phil alden robinson , who treats the fantastic story with admirable conviction but allows the action to become so sugary that it 's hard to swallow after a while .", "quite simply one of the best sports movies ever .", "whether you view it as capracorn or capraesque would depend on your values , but there 's no denying the film evokes the vastness and grandeur of middle-america", "the best baseball film of all time .", "a movie for a thorough tear-duct cleansing - the only film that makes tears stream down the cheeks of this hardened critic , and it gets me at least twice every time .", "robinson 's whimsical sports saga is nostalgically engaging ... guaranteed to load the bases with sentimentality", "anyone who loves their father or baseball -- or both -- will find it difficult -- no , impossible -- to resist this hokey , wonderful film .", "say what you want about kevin costner , but you ca n't say he never played jesus christ .", "original and moving fantasy about the things that make guys tear up .", "it seems much easier to fall into MOV than to resist its warm , intelligent , timely appeal to our most idealistic selves .", "one of the best baseballmovies off all time", "despite a lovely cameo turn by burt lancaster , MOV is the male weepie at its wussiest .", "-lsb- a -rsb- special experience , sort of an it 's a wonderful life for the late '80s .", "alden 's script goes from charming to preposterous to preachy .", "MOV is n't a home run . it 's more like a suicide squeeze : if it had n't been perfectly executed , it would n't have worked . but as they say in baseball , a run is a run .", "the sentimentality , of which there is plenty , is nicely balanced by a humor of ironic pragmatism , as when ray , having built his baseball field as a monument to human dreams , decides to charge tourists $ 20 a head to visit it .", "all of this would work better if robinson built up the reality of the town more , made the citizens a more palpable presence , as frank capra did in hollywood 's greatest fable-fantasy , it 's a wonderful life .", "if you like to think of every time at bat as a new hope , if you can taste a kind of poetry along with the hot dogs they serve at the ballpark , if you like to imagine that life is meant to be good , and miracles are n't out of the question ... go see -lsb- it -rsb- .", "... view baseball as much a business as a sport and ca n't imagine getting gushy over such mush .", "this fantasy drama from director phil alden robinson is a delightful blend of the blind-fate story and the more fanciful feel-good corn of frank capra .", "rightfully a ballgame classic , this is sentimental nonsense , sure , but charmingly so ." ], "summary": "MOV is sentimental , but in the best way ; it 's a mix of fairy tale , baseball , and family togetherness .", "id": "11618" }, { "movie": "meeks_cutoff", "reviews": [ "this is the sort of film critics love to praise because the filmmaker has done good work before ; and well , there must be something there . well , there 's not .", "thanks to brilliant directorial decisions matched by a cast that was clearly inspired by this unique effort , this will surely be one of the most memorable films of 2011 .", "a promising , intermittently entrancing film that the viewer wishes could have made more of an impact than it does .", "we watch them trudge for miles , growing tired of listening to the squeaky wheel of a wagon .", "an existential nightmare of maddening uncertainty , a notion only emphasized by reichardt 's commitment to ambiguity .", "whatever allegory of pre-feminist roles that reichardt hopes to achieve is slowly put to sleep along with the rest of the audience with a less-is-less narrative style that , like meek , is too stubborn to realize how lost it is .", "a film ponderously slow in pace yet kinetically charged with insight ; starkly realistic yet allegorical too ; psychologically astute yet politically resonant .", "stripped of hollywood embellishment , meek 's cutoff examines issues of leadership , trust and ` the other ' in ways that suggest it could be taken as a metaphor for the american way of thought , then or now . well , maybe that 's just us .", "those with the courage to explore uncharted territory will be rewarded with a rough gem of a movie .", "`` meek 's cutoff '' is more an experience than a story .", "a mesmerizing cinematic journey that is often as arduous and spare as the lives of its hard-bitten protagonists .", "if there 's a genre even more suited to political allegory than horror , it 's the western . and if you can make it through this grim , grimy wide-open-space odyssey without thinking of iraq then it 's because you 're not thinking hard enough .", "there are stretches that are , frankly , boring . but the vivid details and intimacy you develop with these travelers sticks with you , leaving you in awe of the insane feats people had to accomplish in order for us to enjoy the world we know today .", "-lsb- rides -rsb- a thin line between the intangibly graceful and the merely frustrating in its rejection of narrativity .", "returns to the craft of the deconstructionist western , ... stripped bare of the mythmaking , shiny spurs and hero worship , leaving a reality so stark it makes the coen brothers ' harsh take on true grit seem like an episode of gunsmoke .", "the subtle ways in which reichardt explores how these characters have been playing their socially and religiously assigned parts throughout the movie , and likely their entire lives , is the core of an absolute masterpiece .", "yes , it 's sharply shot , and its stark realism is refreshing . but meek 's cutoff never gets anywhere .", "it will definitely divide audiences . some may find it a graceful and understated master class in observation . others may be put to sleep .", "greatly enhanced by the performances of michelle williams and bruce greenwood , director kelly reichardt 's film quietly becomes engrossing - it almost sneaks up on you .", "imagine a collaboration between john ford and wallace stevens and you might get a sense of what kelly reichardt pulls off here : a sincere re-creation of the pioneer experience , brought to life through careful , often unexpected detail .", "at once gossamer and purposeful , it 's terrence malick with a map .", "amounts to a master class in the power of observation .", "`` meek 's cutoff '' is earnest and sober to the point of suffocation , which often happens when the decision is made to shut off the air of entertainment .", "the cinematography , by chris blauvelt , captures the rugged landscapes and rainless skies with a homespun elegance .", "told largely in long shot , it 's a painfully , beautifully slow film , which is understandable given the time , place , and situation .", "reichardt serves the broccoli of historical pedantry , deliberately withholding the delicious cheese sauce of entertainment .", "this is the arid equivalent of werner herzog 's aguirre , wrath of god . reichardt offers the minimum of genre conventions and none of the genre 's satisfactions or resolutions .", "the prose of jack london has been effectively translated to film via the sparsity of reichardt 's intensely detailed neo-western .", "violence -- potential and inevitable -- shapes each moment in this extraordinary film . rarely visible and never cathartic , this violence is instead like the land that offers possibility and lays down limits for the emigrants .", "williams also starred in reichardt 's last , and best , film , wendy and lucy , and she clearly has a special affinity for the director , for whom she shows off her subtlest shades .", "vast and mysterious , the american west of kelly reichardt and jonathan raymond 's `` meek 's cutoff '' is not quite like any other landscape .", "boring .", "of time and place : an interview with john raymond on meek 's cutoff", "it 's the anti-western western , a story stripped of zane gray romance , sagebrush and mythic heroes .", "meek 's cutoff , certainly a deliberate title for a story touching on fear of the unknown , is the human experience stripped to its bones .", "if you allow its windswept silences to work on you , `` meek 's cutoff '' gathers its own snakelike sense of momentum ...", "i guarantee you that , in a decade or two , it will be regarded as an enduring film classic .", "this revisionist western -- intellectually , aesthetically , and narratively absorbing -- rattles to the bone , but never quite rends the heart .", "demanding , ultimately mesmerizing variation on an antique theme wanders off into a wilderness of its own where the essential stoic loneliness of what we call the american character comes into focus .", "the movie gives thoughtful viewers plenty to ponder , and plenty of situations in the story have two right answers , but no definitive one .", "a cinematic immersion of both modest and cosmic proportions , beautifully enacted by a cast that makes you fully believe that they are these beleaguered characters , and make you glad that you are n't .", "it challenges patriarchy and racism , but it never risks questioning received political ideas .", "with its mythic , dreamlike atmosphere , hints of feminism and a subversive touch of political allegory , meek 's cutoff is a bold new take on the old west .", "a monumentally awful movie . pretentious , uninformed , boring , and enough to drive one to a steady diet of adam sandler movies .", "recalls jim jarmusch 's dead man and even werner herzog 's aguirre : the wrath of god in its evocation of frontier surrealism and manifest-destiny madness ; the reichardt approach is , however , more stringent and pointed in its weirdness .", "austere and unforgiving ... a picture of extraordinary detail and deliberate execution , rewarding the brave with a rare screen realism that 's hypnotic .", "who goes to the movies for 104 minutes of punishment ? where is john wayne , now that we need him ?", "meek 's cutoff may not match reichardt 's previous two works in emotional heft , but it continues to cement her as a young director to watch closely .", "a slow , methodical , carefully researched look at traveling the oregon trail before stagecoaches became extinct .", "a more subversive than revisionist feminist western , and with a title intimating iconic macho cowboy metaphorical castration . while touching on current persisting and troubling questions about imperialist incursions , labeled manifest destiny back then .", "it delivers a patient , swoony account of itinerant tribulations in which conflict and intrigue bubble up only occasionally , and always gently .", "simultaneously a compelling allegory and a hallucinatory fable , meek 's cutoff is the most ambitious and accomplished film reichardt has yet made .", "kelly reichardt 's gaunt , mysterious and superbly calibrated movie about pioneers and the old american west appears to have come from another age - from the early days of malick or antonioni .", "under oregon skies , there 's political subtext for the taking in this terrific , unsettling film .", "not an easy journey for the characters or their audience , reichardt 's film demands respect for its sheer bloody-minded determination to leave its own questions frustratingly up for debate .", "reichardt 's boldness in eschewing a sprawling retelling of how the west was won should be applauded , but she has n't yet earned the right to take this long saying so little .", "the ending will divide opinion between `` hauntingly ambiguous '' and `` cop-out . ''", "it 's an intriguing take on actual diaries kept by women pioneers of the time , but their journey may be as punishing for some viewers as it was for them ...", "reichardt 's parched tale builds up a pressure cooker of tension and loyalties are strained and doubts are sewn ... but then does n't seem to know what to do with it .", "while i would love to fully appreciate this circular , feminist , counter-cinema perspective , no payoff makes for an audience that feels cheated .", "... a maddeningly dull drama ...", "presented people who were so devoid of personality , humor and interest that i did n't care if any of them made it out alive", "beautifully shot and impressively directed , this is a haunting , contemplative western with terrific performances from bruce greenwood and michelle williams , though reichardt 's relentlessly minimalist approach might prove hard going for some .", "reichardt 's film is - to put it simply - a masterpiece .", "filmed with a rapt severity worthy of ermanno olmi 's the tree of the wooden clogs , hers is a horror-western where the minimalist subtly grows into the hallucinatory .", "i was hypnotized from the opening sequence .", "meek 's cutoff is a thoughtful , and intimate narrative that is beautifully shot and has outstanding direction .", "a better complement than ` the big trail ' would be ` the blair witch project , ' another film that taps into an american unease with the wilderness that is the shadow twin of the country 's bold sense of manifest destiny .", "i felt like i was trapped on a slow-moving wagon train to nowhere with a bunch of people i wanted to escape from .", "the film 's most powerful performance belongs to williams , who shows a spirit and resolve seldom seen before . her scenes confronting meek are explosive and give the film a strong emotional core .", "i rarely feel the heart-in-my-throat suspense that i felt as reichardt 's characters sent a covered wagon down a steep hill ...", "a story about people facing both physical adversity and adversity within a group", "reichardt puts such an unequivocal spin on this well-trod territory as to make it feel heretofore uncharted and of her own reckoning .", "offbeat and most interesting western about emigrant pioneers lost in the prairie .", "in this quiet , beautiful and terrifying fable about a group of lost pioneers , reichardt combines epic ambition with a focus on intimate , personal detail .", "you might be tempted to call meek 's cutoff an exercise in feminist , multiculturalist piety if these two latter characters had any clear idea of what they were doing , or an overriding motive other than self-preservation ; but they do n't , and you wo n't .", "reichardt has stripped `` meek 's '' down to bare essentials and careful emotions . the cast captures that quality beautifully - like the water that is running out , everything is conserved .", "like the bits of home life its pioneers have brought with them to an alien landscape , the careful craft grounds the film in a reality that is as much felt as it is observed .", "it 's reichardt once again subtly overturning the myths that have sustained american cinema for decades ...", "reichardt trusts her audience , encourages her viewers to feel comfortable in the stillness and the quiet , and to draw their own conclusions from an ending that 's as profound as it is enigmatic .", "... a reinventing of the -lsb- western -rsb- genre where nothing seems to happen but lots does .", "meek 's cutoff is simultaneously cerebral and astonishingly cinematic , a historical road movie that stretches the inhospitable landscapes and marginal living of wendy and lucy in intriguing directions .", "in reichardt 's latest , she takes the great american film genre - the western - and makes it her own by making the point of view distinctly feminine .", "it enlivens and illuminates a genre that once dominated the american cinema and still holds a considerable grip on our imagination .", "a sterling effort , determined to tell some of the truth of the times .", "at once an intimate drama about a group of emigrants led dangerously off-course in 1874 oregon , and an epically ambitious think piece about nothing less than the fate of western civilization .", "highlighted by precise performances , simmering tensions and unforgiving landscapes , this odd rarity - an arthouse western - will help broaden reichardt 's rabid but select fanbase .", "a realistic slice of pioneer life that offers a disquieting alternative vision of america 's most mythic location .", "the film , which clearly owes a debt to terrence malick 's days of heaven , proceeds at a snail 's pace .", "one of the finest american films of the year , and one that 's going to infuriate as many people as it enthralls . that does n't matter , as long as they see it .", "may well be truer to what the migration west was like for many settlers than hollywood 's romanticized and sanitized version of such stories .", "michelle williams is now the only dawson 's creek cast member with a chat-worthy film career .", "`` meek 's cutoff '' works wonders even if you do n't buy the political metaphor , instead appreciating the film as a historical survival tale and a meditation on the nature of trust - how others win it from us and why we give it to them .", "exhausting and ambiguous , it 's for moviegoers who relish a quiet , arduous chronicle of bleak hardship , seemingly portrayed in real time .", "... a primal piece of filmmaking , wrought from dirt and rock , calico and splintered wood , and illuminated by natural light and campfire .", "be warned . some stretches are almost as much of a slog for the viewer as they are for the pioneers ... but meek 's cutoff conveys a far more realistic account of what life was really like on the frontier trail than john wayne or clint eastwood ever did .", "this is a film where life and death decisions are made at every turn ; where the very concepts of religion and humanity are dissected in gorgeously subtle yet devastating ways .", "kelly reichardt 's extremely modest film is slow , but it is also intriguing , moving and meaningful .", "sparse , uncompromising and bewitching . reichardt has stripped back all but the bare essentials , scattering the characters across the sun-bleached landscape like marbles .", "by privileging the dynamics between the characters over story , reichardt has created an extremely rewarding cinematic experience that is rich in political commentary , pathos and visual beauty .", "meek 's cutoff is an ambitious feat of visual storytelling that 's alive to both its landscape and the actors who people it . this is a big movie masquerading as a small one , fully awake in even its quietest , slowest moments .", "a meditative western that focuses on the spiritual transformation of a female settler into a leader as she journeys west in a covered wagon caravan .", "forget that old computer game you may have played in middle school : kelly reichardt 's fourth feature is a beautifully evocative portrait of life on the real oregon trail .", "kelly reichardt has crafted a haunted dream of a movie to get lost in .", "it is an american independent in the true sense of the word , and it may well be the best homegrown movie we 'll see this year .", "less western or anti-western than it is a masterful bad trip littered with foolish expectations and `` we should have '' regrets", "it 's a deceptively small piece of onscreen art that resonates afterward with such insistence that i felt positively nagged by it .", "one way or another , there will be blood .", "a bracingly original foray into territory that remains , in every sense , unsettled .", "meticulous and immersive , meek 's cutoff feels like history in three dimensions .", "the film is both evocative and provocative ; atmospherically and conceptually , respectively .", "meek 's cutoff is an act of inversion , a western that reverses the genre 's traditional forms and dynamics to create something new and startling , yet still familiar .", "without exception , the actors give understated but compelling performances .", "reichert really captures what it must have felt like to venture off the edge of the world in search of a new life", "upgrading her production values without compromising her minimalist style , kelly reichardt has nonetheless made her most accessible movie .", "our interest is constantly stoked by reichardt 's choices as a director .", "fans of kelly reichardt 's minimalist portraits will adore her stark western , but others may be taken aback by the bold lack of traditional filmmaking .", "-lsb- kelly reichardt has -rsb- taken on her biggest budget -lrb- essentially a thicker shoestring -rrb- and most recognizable cast yet , while fully retaining her patient , deliberate approach to narrative and attentiveness to nature as a character .", "there is n't a fully developed storyline , and there are n't enough ideas in a movie that film snobs will congratulate themselves for adoring . pshaw .", "reichardt 's westward-ho is a world of confusion , geographical and moral , a dislocation beyond the remedy of water or bibles .", "it 's a pleasureless , anti-sensuous aesthetic , but the movie , in its thorny , grudging way , is stirring , with many startling details .", "this impressionist western wo n't be everyone 's slug of bourbon but it 's a slow burn that will richly reward the patient ." ], "summary": "moving at a contemplative speed unseen in most westerns , meek 's cutoff is an effective , intense journey of terror and survival in the untamed frontier .", "id": "771203826" }, { "movie": "house_of_the_devil", "reviews": [ "the MOV is really a romance : a love letter to the kind of gal we thought had given up the ghost .", "west 's assured way with widescreen framing , long takes and silences followed by sharp if explainable noise are almost cruelly funny in their heart-stopping pleasures .", "more concerned with stretching nail-biting suspense to the breaking point than finding new ways of making heads explode .", "although the payoff is creepy , it takes a little too long to arrive -- and when it does , it 's about as worn-out as the movie 's title .", "part of the film 's off-kilter surreality comes from its retro look , tone , cinematography , and even music .", "the MOV is not only set in the early '80s , but director ti west chose to shoot and structure the film in a way so as to make it feel like it was made in the early '80s . in a way , this throwback style is reminiscent of what quentin ta", "the MOV could have certainly turned out stronger with a shorter buildup and a more drawn out climax , but who am i to argue ? i have n't been this scared watching a horror film in years .", "those of us who remember that strange and marvelous era when the grindhouse gave way to vhs pajama parties are apt to see a kindred spirit at work here .", "as much as the slow pacing , the out-of-time quality creates a sense of dislocation , that makes what 's coming for her even more unpleasant .", "impressively directed with impeccable production design , this is a note-perfect pastiche of a 1980s horror film that 's both suspenseful and scary without resorting to cheap tricks .", "a first-rate chiller .", "it may not completely succeed as a horror film , though i would take its deliberately funky and low-key vibe over the hard-sell nonsense of `` paranormal activity '' any day of the week .", "even the familiar tropes of the MOV are familiar in the right way , like an old , bloodstained sweater .", "the cinematic equivalent of foreplay . it 's all about building mood , teasing us , and , in between the lines , promising an eventual payoff .", "if you like horror movies that actually have some artistic merit to them , this is definitely one of the more noteworthy pictures of the year .", "the film may provide an introduction for some audience members to the hitchcockian definition of suspense : it 's the anticipation , not the happening , that 's the fun .", "if you love a nerve-stretching build up to a seriously creepy payoff , you 'll want to see for yourself .", "the film is a perfectly pitched old-school horror homage to a '70s / '80s - era of cinema that should have been .", "... there is one scene early on with mr. a.j. bowen that is as creepy as anything you 're going to get this summer .", "ti west knows how to set up his prey for the kill", "in keeping with his models , west is concerned with not suspense exactly but the ritual withholding and ultimate lavishing of bloody chaos .", "fans seeking the immediate gratification of random shocks and sudden gore will be disappointed , but anyone savoring a sense of dreadful anticipation and menace will be enthralled .", "west , a rising young director of minor cult pleasures , comes clean here about his love for all things bava -lrb- mario -rrb- and carpenter -lrb- john -rrb- .", "less is more , and writer/director/editor ti west knows it -- until he forgets near the end of this babysitter-in-peril nailbiter .", "al\u0439m da excelente ambienta\u0437\u0433o de \u0439poca -lrb- e da pr\u0443pria est\u0439tica setentista -rrb- , west concebe uma narrativa bem constru\u043dda e tensa , resultando num filme tenso e eficiente .", "in today 's ironic age , a movie like the MOV that wears its homages proudly % u2014and wears them this well % u2014is something to be celebrated , and this blu-ray release should attract it the fanbase it deserves .", "a very impressive formal exercise in style and restraint ... -lsb- blu-ray -rsb-", "the heroine walks about campus doing errands for about 20 minutes , then some semblance of a plot begins . just too slow for horror fans . paul chambers , cnn .", "there 's a payoff in the MOV , if you have the patience . some of the scenes seem draggy , but the characters are complex , and their motivations are explained .", "there is a lot about the MOV to admire but west ultimately likes the slow burn a bit too much and it fizzles out .", "not a bad venture into the `` girl meets devil '' genre but a few rock songs short of a hit .", "yet another of this year 's homage-facsimiles , the MOV forgoes campy self-awareness in favor of reverential faithfulness -- and in doing so , implicitly critiques contemporary horror cinema .", "puts to shame most major studio horror releases . classy even while getting down-and-dirty , unusually savvy about the importance of tension and character nuance over viscera and a soulless body count .", "director west gets credit for delaying the mayhem to the last 20 minutes , but fails to evoke a necessary tension until then .", "made for those who have fond memories of low-key '70s devil chillers that focused on mood and atmosphere", "west is going to do something outstanding someday , as soon as he figures out something to say .", "the problem with it , and with MOV , is that it 's mostly pedestrian stuff leading to a pay off that 's just not enough .", "sam 's end is disturbing but also banal , even silly , but the end is not the point . the point is your anticipation .", "the MOV is n't just a movie : it 's an experience . it joins the league of rosemary 's baby , the exorcist and the omen as one of the most diabolical entries in the modern horror library .", "in this era of torture porn and slasher pics , MOV is a shining example of how to build atmosphere and tension the old-fashioned way .", "if you do n't get a kick out of watching doomed babysitter samantha put on that portable cassette player and dance around that creepy house to the strains of the fixx 's `` one thing leads to another , '' you might need a course in horror appreciation 101 .", "laden with dread and executed with a musician 's sense of timing , the MOV is better than a substantial number of the films it resembles .", "a virtual refutation of all of the conventions of contemporary horror that manages to be terrifying precisely because it refuses to give you that gratification until you 've almost given up wanting it .", "the sudden climax is a gore-drenched bonanza of satanic delirium that seems to be making up for the calm that came before , if not spoofing the very idea of cinematic payoff .", "a truly superb throwback to eighties horror . .", "while its furnishings may be old and not a little worn , in this house , genre fans will feel right at home .", "slow-building dread rather than all-out splat , house keeps you guessing which way the sneaky plot is going , all adding up to a satisfying shocker .", "like paranormal activity and let the right one in , ti west 's shocker favours old-school tropes - plot , character , suggestion and suspense - over gorno extravagance . seems like the devil has great taste in films too .", "both an authentically scary turn of the screw and a stunningly meticulous retro homage .", "the film 's nostalgic design is subtle enough not to dampen the seriously sinister atmospherics .", "things quickly get silly and unscary .", "although the last reel is a little disappointing , the twist ending is a scream .", "by trading in loud and increasingly low-dividend `` shocks '' for well-earned dread and fear , west immerses the audience in a genuine shared experience .", "it favors tension over spectacle while delivering a palpable sense of helplessness .", "... despite his fine attention to detail , a great cast and a deliciously edgy build , west ca n't bring his film to the finish line .", "slow , yet oddly spellbinding , horror film ... a living , breathing nostalgia piece oozing period authenticity", "start -lsb- s -rsb- to add up after a while to a faintly unbearable level of dread .", "this pitch-perfect genre throwback would be right at home among the creaky and weird supernatural thrillers of the 70 's and 80 's . -lrb- and yes , i mean that as a compliment . -rrb-", "that 's the problem with this sort of homage : unless you 've got a startling new take , you wind up with a movie that 's been done hundreds of times before , to much better effect .", "a horror film with no punch .", "carefully , perfectly , beautifully built occult horror follows the roadmap of the early '70s and '80s indie screams with reverent precision and the occasional , wise reference to the cannon .", "an old school vintage terror yarn that comprehends how horror rules when simmering to a slow boil percolating in its own solidly crafted narrative juices , as opposed to a kneejerk reaction slice 'em up overcooked brew .", "call it the best '80s babysitter-in-peril movie never made .", "a group of people old enough to remember vhs parties may very well have flashbacks of the old days - for better and for worse - should they visit the MOV .", "recreates the feeling of 80s horror ; less cgi , more imagination and a whole lot of corn syrup .", "it 's full of meat and marrow . i 'm going in again .", "the MOV takes itself and its cinematic heritage seriously , and is made better by this earnestness .", "now this is how you make a scary movie . the MOV is a delicious throwback to the golden era of hollywood horror -- one that is unapologetically earnest and overwhelmingly committed to the task at hand .", "the power of this film lies in the approach to the inevitable final act , rather than the realisation of the act itself .", "the finale descends into predictable mayhem , but it 's the build-up that 'll haunt you .", "... there 's simply never a point at which the almost distractingly uneventful narrative becomes as compelling as one might 've hoped .", "the pay-off is a little far-fetched , but by then we have had our emotional workout .", "a master of the slow-burn , west carefully creates an atmosphere of clammy dread through noonan and woronov 's off-kilter performances and dialogue , and direction that encases donahue in shadow or squeezes uncomfortably close-in .", "imagine a bad ken loach film invaded by monsters from a george a. romero movie that 's run out of cash , and you 've already visualised a movie better than this one .", "you have to wait for the MOV to deliver on its promises -- but when it does , holy crap .", "ti west has been building a reputation among horror fans as an expert in the art of the slow burn , and more power to him for exhibiting something that seems to be increasingly rare in filmmakers in any genre : patience .", "70s-savant writer/director ti west has come up with a satanic-panic stroke of genius with the MOV .", "in the end , this homage to '80s horror is little more than a faithful flashback -- authentic in execution but about as scary as something you saw again and again way back when .", "gravely gorgeous in the style of a storybook snow white , donahue gives eloquent reaction shots and nails west 's pi\u010dce de r\u00e9sistance -- a bounding , walkman-soundtracked , jazzercise dance through the house .", "from his era-appropriate soundtrack to the visual style of his opening credits and his slyly reverential camerawork , west gives his movie the look and feel of a 25-year-old relic , yet nothing about ` devil ' seems stale .", "the main reasons to see this deliberately retro and derivative flick , which borrows freely from satanic cult and babysitter-from-hell subgenres , are iconic actors tom noonan and mary woronov in their first teaming .", "a fine example of how a talented filmmaker can tackle a horror sub-genre in a way that 's stylistically reverential but also original in its own way .", "the classical structure slowly builds tension before erupting into a decisively gory finish , harkening back to a smarter and more nuanced era of spooky storytelling .", "written , directed , and edited by ti west , this movie is an old-school tension builder , slowly ratcheting up the anxieties of the audience who , of course , is fully aware that something bad is going to happen .", "when the karo syrup finally hits the fan , the film loses its footing some , but only because no concrete explanations could possibly do justice to west 's expert buildup .", "writer-director ti west 's crisp , economical , satisfying little horror pic reclaims the pleasures of the kind of old-school formula that the jokey scream franchise deconstructed into satire .", "this is scary in a way that unrelenting brutality could never be .", "west avoids clich\u00e9 and cheesiness with wise casting choices . donahue 's naturalistic performance is as persuasive as the subtly sinister portrayals by tom noonan and mary woronov .", "after years of vivisectionist splatter , here is a horror movie with real shivers .", "with the suspense cranked so high , it 's almost inevitable that the bloody finale comes as a bit of a letdown .", "skims away so much of the noisy and excessive clich\u00e9s of today 's terror flicks that it feels like a breath of fresh air", "devil is generously unassuming , making the film more of a secret handshake than a blood-spattered , deafening gorefest . the attention to mood and setting is marvelous .", "from the opening statistic about documented instances of devil-worship , west aims for a mix of the plausible and the ridiculous ...", "a slightly faster set-up , and slightly more drawn-out climax , would make this even better ." ], "summary": "though its underlying themes are familiar , MOV effectively sheds the loud and gory cliches of contemporary horror to deliver a tense , slowly building throwback to the fright flicks of decades past .", "id": "770806327" }, { "movie": "10008621-run_fat_boy_run", "reviews": [ "the film is better than expected . it 's directed with warmth , humor and intelligence .", "there 's much too much of everything in run , fatboy , run . every ounce of comedy is so forced and full-on ridiculous that when characters express even a smidgen of sentiment , it feels like a parody .", "the sort of flat-footed studio film that takes the basic ingredients of an underground hit , drains them of personality and style , and spits them out as a situation comedy .", "this is a romantic comedy light on romance but heavy on comedy , and it 's well cast to skew in that direction .", "tere 's nothing edgy or new about run , fat boy , run .", "run fatboy run is largely content to follow the formula , guide us on a sunny tour of downtown london 's tourist hot spots and transform pegg from paunchy schlub to runderella with a few decent laughs along the way .", "thanks to a jaunty brit-rock score and likable characters all around , the movie 's easy to watch and occasionally pumps up the emotions .", "the kind of movie that 's apt to be dismissed a goofy lark . it is that . but it 's also a rare comedy that believes in its own message , and that could inspire the depressed and the demoralized to grit their teeth and keep running .", "enough already . i mean , i do n't have anything against comedies about dopey guys who win the love of a good woman by competing in ridiculous olympian contests . but if i wanted to see a really funny one , i 'd rent a rocky movie .", "the humor tends toward the mildly crass -- bare buttocks and inappropriate scratching are schwimmer 's go-to comedy staples -- and the story is ridiculous .", "pegg has staked out a peculiar slant on genre material that ventures beyond irony toward rehabilitation -- and nobody plays blithe humiliation with more style .", "i would n't believe that MOV was co-written by simon pegg if he were n't up there on the screen in teeny briefs and with his gut stuck out , trying to endear himself to the american audience in material maybe a notch above rob schneider 's .", "-lsb- star/writer pegg -rsb- ladles a deeper understanding of why men screw up into dennis than we usually see in romantic comedies ...", "it has meaning and sentiment and a nice pay-off for its finale . but without more laughs , run fatboy run is awfully winded by the time it crosses the finish line .", "the presence of simon pegg and dylan moran elevates what might have been merely a pleasant , harmless but ultimately forgettable romantic comedy .", "clumsy and inept in demeanor but a whirlwind of comic energy , with an air of self-congratulatory winsomeness , simon pegg steals this otherwise minor but enjoyably unpretentious little comedy and pockets it like a mars bar .", "a thin premise undermined by rampant stupidity at every turn .", "predictable losers-are-people-too jesting raised a notch by the quality work of consummate professionals .", "director david schwimmer bloats this slapdash concept into dim , witless overkill .", "brit romcom mixes laughs with swearing , smoking .", "thin-on-laughs fatboy stumbles more than sprints .", "there 's a cheeky , cross-continental exuberance to run , fatboy , run that lifts it over its predictability and keeps you laughing louder than you know you should . it 's an upfront guilty pleasure without pretense ; what a pleasant surprise .", "this is not a film with blazingly original ideas or a groundbreaking script - i guessed the ending before the movie even started - but it has a sweet nature , an abundance of laughs and plenty of pegg to spare .", "from storyline to characterization to style of comedy , everything about the directorial debut of former friends star david schwimmer is a nod to accommodation , compromise and consensus .", "while this movie lacks the screaming energy and consistency of shaun of the dead and his hysterical hot fuzz , pegg is able to keep things interesting .", "a movie that is smartly written , boasts plenty of funny lines and rides hard on pegg 's ability to look and act like the most stoically put-upon person on the planet .", "pleasant but unfocused , a romantic farce , trying very hard to be sweet when it needs to be a bit more cheeky .", "the material is n't any more inspired than the protagonist is inspiring . run , fat boy , run should have been whipped into better shape before the starting gun sounded .", "run , fatboy , run is n't going to win any prizes for fresh questions . but it 's just fleet enough to hold its own in the middle of the pack .", "MOV might as well have been written by a rushed piece of software . the program calls for a surprise engagement , a street fight complete with crotch punches , an apartment eviction , and a runaway child -- all in about five minutes .", "for all its faults however , this is a romantic comedy that works - if just barely .", "deserves credit for not working us over the way so many modern comedies too . it brings us to the finish line with energy to spare , instead of leaving us feeling sapped .", "an overlong over-conventional under-funny romantic comedy . to put it in its own terms , it might make it as a 100-yard-dash , but does not have the stamina for a marathon .", "a near-miss , a film with some funny scenes that will probably work significantly better on dvd , but , ultimately , it quite simply does n't have enough laughs to elevate it to greatness .", "it runs out of steam - and you 'll likely run out of interest - long before the finish line .", "MOV would n't make it to the finish line without simon pegg 's winning performance .", "simon pegg is almost brilliant with his slapstick comedy and dedication to goofiness .", "outside of a couple of moments of self-conscious shock humor , the most surprising thing about the film is how square it really is .", "ends up feeling like a boring limerick told over and over again .", "this brand of unfailing comic timing and expressive physicality is rare , and it 's why pegg , in particular , is a star . -lsb- blu-ray -rsb-", "the project represents an uncertain britification of a script by chicago native michael ian black , and the result finds itself stranded somewhere out in the atlantic , mid-crossing .", "so pathetically average that you can barely muster the energy to have an opinion about it .", "... lacks the invention of -lsb- simon -rsb- pegg 's comedies with edgar wright , which buzz and crackle with ideas and energy . this one simply plods through ...", "run fatboy run is n't particularly hilarious or moving , but it 's got just enough humor and pathos to render its myriad flaws almost forgivable . almost .", "could a better combination of collaborators have produced something greater ? definitely . but this cheerful mix of juvenility and grown-up-relationship angst goes down smoothly enough to be worth watching .", "MOV is hard to love , thanks to the tedious romantic-comedy cliches to which it subjects its characters -- and us .", "schwimmer is wise to keep his camera trained on pegg at all times , as the actor can make any sequence worthwhile with his unexpected , jittery retorts and reactions .", "fatboy may be more welcome than the latest matthew mcconaughey-kate hudson vehicle , but only by a nose .", "while -lsb- pegg -rsb- gets some mileage out of this sketchy material , he 's undermined by story and character problems , as well as the limp , uninspired direction of actor-turned-filmmaker david schwimmer .", "it looks like british writers simon pegg and michael ian black have been studying the romantic comedies of adam sandler .", "this feeble premise limits the movie to perfunctory gags about the hero 's sloth and some canned underdog drama .", "far from the gut-busting brilliance of pegg 's other , self-made starring vehicles .", "nothing to be embarrassed about here . though the kick-in-the-balls scene does run on a bit .", "about as funny as ross on `` friends . '' david schwimmer -lrb- ross on `` friends '' -rrb- directs .", "schwimmer completely lacks what it takes to ever get this movie off the ground . the story is fairly formula and the actors are basically on mark , yet the jokes -lrb- most of which are so predictable they are telegraphed a mile in advance -rrb- land with a virtually", "... cuter and sweeter than i expected , a mildly pleasant surprise .", "the picture manages to juggle both the silly and the sentimental without falling flat .", "the film , like its flabby aspiring marathon runner protagonist , feels shapeless and exhausted from the sheer effort of trying to please audiences .", "it 's a good formalic romantic comedy . nothing more .", "it 's a generation x movie in a way very few movies are any more ; it is unseemly to admit that our generation is about as slackery as we had promised to become . go with your ex and smile .", "it 's a lazy effort that offers little encouragement for the future of schwimmer 's directorial career .", "run fatboy run n'offre rien pour r\u0439volutionner le genre , mais pr\u0439sente assez de bonnes intentions pour justifier son existence , et nous faire passer un bon moment", "run , fatboy , run winds up being as immature and exhausting as its protagonist .", "turn and run , no matter what size you are .", "em sua estr\u0439ia na dire\u0437\u0433o , schwimmer atira para todos os lados : com\u0439dia f\u043dsica , escatologia , estere\u0443tipos , besteirol , e por a\u043d afora , falhando consistentemente todas as vezes . e pegg jamais esteve t\u0433o artificial , o que \u0439 uma surpresa desagrad\u0431vel .", "-lrb- run , fat boy , run -rrb- is your nice , fun , romantic film that is not necessarily worth spending your money to see in theatres .", "-lsb- the protagonist is -rsb- a petty , unlikable loser .", "schwimmer offers generic rom-com conventions in his feature directorial debut .", "warm/funny film about a man trying to re-win his true love by running a race", "it is neither as funny nor as wickedly subversive as ` shaun of the dead , ' but it respects its characters enough to make them thoughtful and surprisingly complex , unlike the sitcom stereotypes inhabiting lesser romantic comedies .", "friends star david schwimmer proves that nothing wins over a crowd like a barking underdog and bags of below-the-belt humour - his directing debut is a wheeze .", "what should be dreadfully synthetic actually plays as a pleasant time-passer , thanks to a goodly supply of one-liners , and pegg and newton 's facility for investing a string of hokey plot devices with genuine warmth . formulaic , yet disarmingly enjoyable .", "pegg pitched shaun of the dead as `` richard curtis shot through the head . '' run , fat boy , run comes on more like `` richard curtis kicked in the nuts '' - a refreshingly honest britcom that never really threatens the ribs but which is amiable company throughout", "enjoyable , sharply written and frequently hilarious comedy with strong comic performances from its cast . this should strike a chord with slightly overweight men everywhere .", "predictable sitcom but delightfully feel-goodish .", "this is yet another parody that falls victim to the desire to become what it 's intending to satirize .", "pegg is brilliant , pratfalling his way through heartbreak and indignity", "pegg 's dennis is lazy , insensitive and unhygienic . yet his most defining quality is blandness . i could barely rouse myself to dislike him .", "depends on the charm of its leading man . but that proves a commodity which , in pegg 's case , proves to be not only in short supply but positively out of stock .", "it may be the kind of film that will make you smile more than laugh , but you 'll smile a lot . and although it practically forces you to root for its hero , you wo n't mind a bit because the hero is played by simon pegg .", "anyone hoping for the lean meat of the fast , furious , and riotously funny shaun of the dead or even the popcorn fancy of the lesser hot fuzz will do best to look elsewhere .", "there are so many scenes of him running , it 's surprising pegg did n't just take off and never come back to the set after he saw how things were going .", "-lsb- director -rsb- david schwimmer takes the sow 's ear of a script given him by -lsb- simon -rsb- pegg and michael ian black and deep-fries it into a burnt pork rind of a movie .", "-lsb- director -rsb- schwimmer shows some skill by keeping the mood light and making no notable missteps , but he still comes away looking like someone trying , and failing , to play judd apatow , the reigning champion of realistic , emotional comedy .", "snarkiness and sentiment are in constant battle for supremacy throughout MOV with no chance of a comfortable draw .", "... a bit rude and uncouth , but sweetly affecting ...", "simon pegg gives it the old college try , but his character is n't worthy our cheers . maybe pegg should resurrect his most famous character , the resourceful , much funnier shaun , and do battle with the zombies of london rather than the marathon runners of lo", "certainly not the worst movie of the year , not in a year that brought us over her dead body , one missed call , fool 's gold , snow angels and mad money . it could be the most mediocre though .", "predictable and clich\u00e9d as run fatboy run is , it is an entertaining romedy that , unfortunately , does n't have much staying power after credits roll .", "neither original nor packed with surprises . it is , however , entertaining and thoroughly likable .", "simon pegg has a great face ! not since jerry lewis has anyone been able to look pathetic , adorable and stupid , all at the same time .", "a fine work of craftspeople both in front of the camera and behind ... whose chief mistake is that every one of them appears to have forgotten that it was in fact a comedy .", "a fry-up of american , british and irish comedy sensibilities that will have no trouble satisfying mainstream movie appetites .", "give me this type of writing any day over some of the inane scripts that plague a will ferrell or adam sandler flick . simon pegg can hold his own with any comic working today .", "schwimmer 's sliced cheese mediocrity gets him off the hook ; not so for the usually inventive pegg and black and their arms race of bland jokes and cheap male nudity", "an enjoyable if patchy and predictable ride , but simon pegg shows he 's more than capable of going the distance .", "pegg exudes his usual air of faint self-congratulation playing an unlikeable prat whom nobody in their right mind would prefer to the high - flying azariah or indeed to anyone .", "schwimmer often resists an easy laugh in favour of a poignant moment and thereby heightens the sense of urgency during dennis ' last dash for glory .", "you 'll laugh a bit , but not much , while your interest in the storyline will hover between mild interest and vague indifference . needless to say , all memories of this movie will evaporate on contact with daylight .", "... despite lacking marquee stars could do well with the date-night mainstream .", "predictable and conventionally anti-american .", "... excessive product-placement has turned the film into one enormous ad for nike , with all the chilling humourlessness that this implies .", "there are no surprises here -- just broad , frequently slapstick gags that do n't avoid but do tamp down a bit on the bodily-function school of yokkery .", "when schwimmer managed to get pegg on board , his good fortune became ours .", "pegg proves agreeable company in a lightweight britcom whose biggest laughs emanate from its supporting cast .", "amiable . bland . cute . formulaic . inconsequential . run fatboy run goes down with ease , but it 's awfully slight .", "while some moments rely solely on pegg 's natural on-screen goofiness , he & m. i. black have simply written a very funny script that spreads the fun evenly throughout .", "pacing is brisk , the laughs frequent . with an ending corny and capra-esque , ` run , fat boy , run ' charms right to the finish line .", "seldom laugh-out-loud funny and the script does n't have the witty insight of pegg 's last few films , but pegg 's bumbling charm is just enough to make this movie run .", "simon pegg is a wonderful physical comedian . and he 's able to take off with his talent in `` run fatboy run , '' a comedy that 's not up to par of his other starring roles but one that nonetheless provides quite a few laughs .", "it 's clear in the scene where they try to scam the marathon officials that dylan moran would be a good candidate to play the grown harry potter in the harry potter and the deathly hallows film . somebody take note !", "the jokes land softly , but run fatboy run moves at a sitcom-like clip that keeps it watchable even when it is n't especially funny .", "when all is said and done , you 're better off renting the friends season four finale ... that was brilliant . this is like a bad farrelly brothers movie .", "overcomes its occasional stumbles , thanks almost entirely to the charm of its cast ...", "sure it 's predictable . sure it 's a slight effort , but i still think it 's pretty funny and charming .", "formulaic and thoroughly conventional .", "it is an immensely likable , big-hearted romantic comedy that has a wide-ranging appeal as unpretentious feel-good escapism and a perfect date movie choice .", "run , fatboy , run is the type of romantic comedy apt to be described as `` nice '' or `` sweet , '' both of which are codewords for `` unexceptional '' and `` useless . ''", "it 's not hysterically funny , but this british comedy is sharp enough to keep us chuckling right to the predictably sappy conclusion .", "simon pegg 's considerable skills can only do so much to enliven the mediocre text of actor david schwimmer 's feature directing debut , a mildy humorous trifle with some heart but not enough hilarity .", "run , fat boy , run shows that simon pegg ca n't rescue a derivative dud .", "schwimmer and pegg have scored a win -- largely due to tasteful choices in the subplotting and providing such a rich ensemble to tickle the shenanigans to a higher level .", "it 's as if -lsb- director david -rsb- schwimmer managed to shoot himself in his foot with the starter 's pistol .", "seems to lack the aspirations necessary to overcome its failings .", "... a mess of sentimental cliches ...", "amiable , consistently amusing and surprisingly affecting , it has the flavor of a nick hornby novel , with its focus on an overgrown boy struggling to grow up and be a man .", "run , fat boy , run is the directorial debut of actor david schwimmer , who is much better behind the camera than in front of it . here , he 's taken material best suited to sketch comedy and turned it into a feature of no small heart and humour .", "although you can see the finish line from the starting shot , pegg elevates the movie from eye-rolling to forgivably genial with his ace delivery and genuinely entertaining pratfalls .", "it ambles along pleasantly , produces a few chuckles , and is forgotten by the time you pass the popcorn counter on the way out of the theater .", "i wish the script credited to michael ian black -lrb- the pleasure of your company -rrb- and -lrb- simon -rrb- pegg had a little more intrigue along the way to its predictable finish .", "a hackneyed slacker scenario reduces this film from an entertainment marathon to a plot treading water . the feel-good message comes around , but there is too much packaging for the product .", "-lsb- the movie -rsb- may not -lsb- provide -rsb- an onslaught of gut-busting laughs , but the humor that does come forth is heartier and more authentic .", "for his debut directing role , schwimmers steers a safe `` pg-13 '' date movie that roots for the underdog and has a good overall message .", "it would have been funnier if , instead of pegg , his frequent collaborator , nick frost had taken the role . then we would have a film worthy of its name . and maybe even a few more genuine guffaws .", "one thing schwimmer does do right is keep the story moving swiftly . you 're in , you 're out , no harm done -- unless you want that hour and a half back .", "this is an amiable film that will provoke some chuckles .", "run , fat boy , run stays out of sitcom quicksand long enough to make you think that schwimmer has a knack for this comedy-directing thing .", "well enough crafted to keep you in stitches while on the edge of your seat for the duration , even if this laff-a-minute escape is more mindless than cerebral .", "`` run , fat boy , run '' is a cut-and-dried formula comedy slightly elevated by its more than competent cast .", "pacing and suspension of disbelief aside , i had fun with the heart-felt moments and the sheer comedy . plus , it\u00e2 -lrb- tm -rrb- s great to see pegg jump out of his edgar wright-zone for a bit and try making a movie with a different group for a change .", "credit pegg for inserting his smart brand of character-driven humor everywhere the script needed him -lrb- he polished up an old script by michael ian black -rrb- , and credit schwimmer for keeping things moving quickly and efficiently .", "an unapologetic throwback to the days when comedies did n't have to be all that original -- just as long as they were funny .", "using conventional slapstick gags and inventive crosscutting , david schwimmer scores as a creditable , if not memorable , director ... but the innocuous script is totally predictable .", "although i did enjoy the incongruity of the characters , this well-intentioned low brow co-production does not quite make it to the finish line .", "schwimmer just does n't have the directorial wit to elevate the intermittently amusing script , and none of the cast seems dedicated enough to raise the bar either ." ], "summary": "run , fat boy , run features sporadic laughs , but is ultimately too formulaic and predictable .", "id": "770670572" }, { "movie": "good_hair", "reviews": [ "who defines good ? this doc never quite finds the source , but it sure shows us the damage it 's done to wallets , egos and follicles .", "the subject matter would still be fairly interesting without rock 's involvement , but the comedian brings a accessibility to the material that no amount of facts and figures can replace .", "chris keep the action rocking , the beautiful women and not so handsome men in the cast sometimes matching his humor , joke for joke .", "rock never misses a beat and here 's hoping he continues the documentary chapter of his career . there 's nothing wrong with a little competition for michael moore .", "MOV is a raucous and rigorous inquiry into the subject of african-american hair -- the stigmas , the secrets , the shocking price of maintenance -- that gets at universal but rarely discussed truths about black femininity .", "a wise and wacky dye-laughing doc about black female high maintenance hair that is no laughing matter , the movie finds a pg-13 rock channeling michael moore , while nearly tumbling into a jumbo vat of processor goo .", "that many of these hairstyles derive from standards of beauty laid down by white tastemakers is a question that hangs over MOV .", "-lsb- a -rsb- breezy , superficial doc .", "whether you have MOV or not , there 's plenty to appreciate in chris rock 's rollicking documentary about what goes on when african-american women hit the salon .", "rock takes aim at the truth and humor of this potent cultural question with a sharp wit and lively curiousity , even if he does n't pursue vigorously enough its uglier side .", "a surprisingly fascinating subject that ... yields lots of laughs .", "MOV , directed by longtime rock collaborator jeff stilson , is such a rollicking , thoroughly entertaining ride that it 's easy to take for granted just how easy rock makes it look .", "unlike most documentaries with a message , ` MOV ' invites moviegoers to a conversation , not a lecture .", "full of sweetly sardonic observations , the docu-comedy is one of the funniest movies of the year .", "chris rock 's MOV is one of those rare documentaries that works on two seemingly incongruous levels at once : it 's both social commentary and pure delight .", "rock is not only funny , he 's an affable and intelligent host in a documentary that is accessible , breezy and highly informative .", "one of the best movies of the year seems to be lost in the halloween-time shuffle .", "it 's an inside look at an offbeat , under-examined corner of american life -- one of the things that documentaries do best , and MOV does it well .", "despite the padding , there 's enough interesting sociological digging here -- not to mention the easygoing presence of comic chris rock -- to keep us entertained and even enlightened .", "MOV ... uncovers a multibillion dollar industry relying on misinformation , misrepresentation , and misguided personal opinions about fashion to maintain its beauty salon stronghold .", "hair-larious !", "the `` girlfriend , ya got ta see this movie ! '' of the year for an entertaining and provocative tour of some of the permutations of african-american women with their hair .", "MOV stands as an informative and entertaining documentary , and one that 's pulled off with no small measure of style .", "educates more than it entertains , even though there 's plenty of colorful subjects -lrb- chris -rrb- rock could have gently lampooned .", "provocative and funny at the same time ... a window into a world most white people -lrb- or most people in general -rrb- know nothing about , one that is not quite what it seems to be .", "part of the fun here is the way our narrator gets at complicated questions in his characteristically glib way . ... -lsb- but -rsb- real answers will have to be teased out elsewhere . MOV is n't selling anything but a good time .", "MOV is certainly no arid anthropological study . rock 's queries are loose and quippy , but his instincts are as sharp as an investigative journalist 's .", "superficial doc .", "some of this , a lot of this , is preaching to the choir . but it 's still pretty compelling no matter what perspective you 're coming from .", "scattered as it sometimes seems , MOV is a real eye-opener ...", "should be seen by everyone , especially mothers and daughters , to remind us that all hair is MOV and that beauty is more about how we feel than how we look .", "though its production values are on the low side and it flounders a little as it bounces from hollywood to india , overall it 's a fascinating , energetic and enlightening film that 'll ensure you 'll never look at hair the same way again .", "rock imparts a comical look at the desire to keep the natural state of black hair a distant memory . funny stuff , though a few nuggets of information he stumbles upon introduce a semi-horror film element to the documentary .", "MOV is a film that will make your head itch to know more .", "chris rock 's deeply funny and very serious documentary about the african-american obsession with straightened tresses .", "-lsb- rock -rsb- conveys a lot of information , but also some unfortunate opinions and misleading facts . that does n't mean the movie is n't warm , funny and entertaining .", "funny , fascinating docu explores african-american culture .", "a wonderfully insightful and entertaining , yet remarkably serious , documentary about african american hair culture .", "an amusing , poignant and surprisingly candid look at the topic with a disarming rock coaxing answers and opinions from an eclectic cross section of african americans .", "in chronicling the permutations of black hair , the filmmaker ends up making a breezy statement on the universality of narcissism .", "... a surprisingly in-depth documentary in which a niche subject - black women 's hair - turns out to touch upon all type of societal issues from self-esteem and ideals of beauty to economics to sexual intimacy .", "quite brilliantly , rock skillfully peeled back archaic layers , opening up a dialogue that could 've been volatile . his natural talent made the doc hilarious and thought-provoking , rising above race and gender .", "a generally superb model of how to make a pop documentary", "a funny , head-scratching doc with a few loose ends .", "rock takes his MOV job as a documentarian seriously enough to be interesting , but not so seriously that the film groans with earnestness .", "it 's funny , clever and marginally educational . you can tell your friends you went to a documentary without having felt as if you saw one .", "whatever rock 's impetus for exploring the wallet-busting , day-consuming , sometimes chemically dangerous desire of black women to achieve european hair , he 's never wanting for laughter .", "it 's rich food for thought , though you wonder why little attention is given to the idea that perhaps some women relax their hair because it 's easier to style that way , or that elaborate attention to hair is hardly exclusive to black women .", "in the end , all we 're sure of is that vanity makes people do idiotic things .", "hair is personal . it 's also political .", "rock sheds new light on this old story through a poignant mix of interviews , investigation and his trademark satire .", "... subject is interesting , -lsb- the -rsb- treatment is entertaining , and the movie has thoughtful things to say ...", "`` MOV '' rocks ! one of the year 's best documentaries .", "the result is a pop documentary in the morgan spurlock mode , cheeky and smart without being too serious .", "a stylishly-edited , often amusing and funny documentary that 's too euphemistic and poorly synthesized to be truly enlightening or revelatory .", "rock 's impressive multitasking pays off in a lively and entertaining documentary about the styling conventions , beauty-product companies and flamboyant hairdressers that make up african-american hair culture .", "morgan spurlock , look lively . sacha baron cohen , watch your back . chris rock 's bright , wisecracking expos\u0103 -lrb- c -rrb- MOV is the mane event .", "if you arrive at MOV never having thought about the complexities of black hair , bring a notebook . if you are a black woman wearing a weave , bring a tissue .", "it 's more tv special material that theatrical release . but thanks to rock 's laid-back humour , MOV is also good entertainment .", "... an amiable and mostly funny spotlight on a part of black culture ...", "mr. rock and mr. stilson do n't beat you up with a tiresome polemic a-la michael moore . never does he put himself at the center of the film , condescend to the audience , or insult his interview subjects regardless of their views ...", "parental content review", "who would have thought that chris rock would make one of the best documentaries of 2009 ?", "the film succeeds as a vehicle for rock 's personality .", "chris rock hosts this exploration into hair issues in the african-american community , talking to celebrities , experts and hairdressers . what 's surprising is that this is such a big issue , although the film is n't much more than entertaining fluff .", "all christopher guest-allusions aside , this is a crucial documentary about race and gender today .", "though rock 's affable nature and probing comic instincts ensure the tone is always light and jocular , his discoveries are sometimes jaw-dropping ...", "it 's an eye-opener , if a blatantly chauvinistic one : rock 's main beefs seem to be that men have to pay for it , and upkeep of such a coveted accessory is a barrier to intimacy in the bedroom .", "it 's just about sharp and funny enough to make you wish it was a bit sharper and funnier .", "this entertaining exploration of black hair issues will get your dander up .", "despite dozens of interviews and rock 's personal agenda , this is n't the hard-hitting expose it should have been .", "rock fronts this informative rummage through the $ 9 billion us black hair industry in a style much like his stand-up comedy : hilarious , insightful and charming enough to let him get away with the flammable stuff .", "i 've never been much of a chris rock fan , but i was riveted by the on-screen interviews he conducts with celebrities like nia long and al sharpton , as well as regular folk , to explore african-american women 's very complicated relationship with their hair .", "rock is our quick-witted empathetic guide in the film about black women 's hair , a topic you might think would be of interest only to black women . you 'd be wrong .", "spirited , probing and frequently hilarious , it coasts on the fearless charm of its front man and the eye-opening candor of its interviewees .", "this movie just does take what seems like a kind of a superficial topic and really does go into it with great depth .", "rock and his director jeff stilson have clearly touched a nerve that was ready to blow ." ], "summary": "funny , informative , and occasionally sad , MOV is a provocative look at the complex relationship between african americans and their hair .", "id": "770802637" }, { "movie": "hidalgo", "reviews": [ "every time someone opens his or her mouth , out comes something asinine .", "it 's a bit of an oddball story , but surely there was a less plodding way to elaborate on it .", "delivers great-looking people and animals and action to stir your most youthful blood .", "it 's not as if we have n't seen movies like MOV before -- the cowboy , the horse , the hat -- and yet there 's something fresh about it all the same .", "although MOV is frequently exciting and has been handsomely produced on a grand scale , you ca n't help but wonder what either spielberg or cameron could have done with this material .", "a rousing popcorn adventure , old-fashioned and rather innocent .", "it 's an extremely handsome movie , and it has an abiding love of horses .", "`` MOV '' is a barely entertaining movie ; what it does best is prove that viggo mortensen has legs", "suffers from weird shifts in tone , offensively outdated stereotypes , a cumbersome subplot -- and a supposedly fact-based story that bears only a nodding acquaintance with reality .", "it 's a flaccid affair , a movie that could stand to lose about 30 minutes right off the top .", "MOV 's often-sweeping vistas of a foreign land commingle with the beauty of its star , viggo mortensen , to deliver an interesting , multi-genre yarn .", "total cheese .", "if you 're in the right mood , this can be diverting , partly because viggo mortensen is ideally cast as MOV 's owner .", "falls far short of the epic grandeur to which it so obviously aspires because it ca n't shut up .", "opulent , overlong and uneven .", "too hokey and predictable .", "feels like an old-fashioned western , but not in a good way .", "the touches of shocking physicality impart a genuine sense of consequence to a potentially trivial horse opera .", "this primitively plotted family action adventure is one of the few movies that seem to be making up their plots as they go along .", "... will probably be good for the kiddos who see that there 's a ` horsey ' movie playing at the cineplex , but for any adults wanting a sweeping epic , look elsewhere .", "the action is often gorgeous , but the screenplay is a collection of clich\u00e9s , and mortensen 's performance hits one note at the beginning and stays with it for the whole movie .", "all the characters ... are either saints or devils , with no attempt to explain why any of them behave the way they do .", "a big , beautiful film that 's thoroughly enjoyable even if it never tries to be meaningful .", "an exciting , colorful and very appealing movie .", "slow , plodding and arduous , though spiked with occasional hiccups of excitement .", "it is pure popcorn fun , whether there is a grain of truth in the story , or if it is merely an entertaining western tall tale .", "an entertaining western adventure that radiates simplicity .", "it 's a widescreen saturday matinee movie gloriously resurrected .", "the picture plays out with the robust character of the old flash gordon movies .", "the stereotypes and blatant propaganda would n't irritate so much if the action itself was n't so relentlessly dreary -- a desert of imagination , parched of original ideas .", "an adventure that never met a cliche it could n't saddle , mount and ride for a butt-numbing two hours and sixteen minutes .", "completely lacks the nobility , statue , and credibility due such an amazing story , even if it is an old man 's folly .", "certainly has its problems , but they 're outweighed by the simple pleasures of a picture that takes its cue equally from old-fashioned adventures like gunga din and newfangled ones like the mummy .", "fans of viggo mortensen 's performance as aragorn in the lord of the rings will find at least one thing to like about MOV : the movie 's a veritable viggo-a-go-go .", "like last year 's seabiscuit , the movie spends too much time harping on ancillary bustle , and not enough watching the title character put his hoofs to work .", "an entertaining but far-short - of-epic popcorn romp that 's equal parts indiana jones and the last samurai .", "dances with seabiscuit of arabia ... of the rings", "mortensen attempts to channel the ghost of clint eastwood westerns past .", "a thrilling race with cartoon contestants .", "the hero feels old poop to find out how far behind he is . he steals water from evil military guys , but ... the sandstorm turns his water to mud.these are all intriguing elements .", "a rousing if occasionally overwrought adventure saga that plays like a cinematic buffet table , piled high with seabiscuit , bite the bullet , lawrence of arabia , the last samurai and the black stallion .", "the events of hildago are so far-fetched you wonder why the filmmakers maintain the pretense this story was based on fact .", "an intermittently savory stew of pecos bill , laurence of arabia , and spirit : stallion of the cimarron .", "one horse movie that 's just lame . and that 's straight from the horse 's mouth .", "there is a lot for the eyes , but not enough for the heart .", "hokey though it is , with a horse-hugger ending thrown in to boot , MOV has a sweet-natured appeal that welcomes sentiment without overdoing it .", "as sheer popcorn-munching fun , it 's an often-rousing action-adventure that confirms mortensen as a star .", "MOV could have been a real eye-roller in the hands of a director of less sincerity and dexterity , but in johnston 's hands it 's crowd-pleasing gold .", "mortensen does an exquisite job of revealing just enough of the bottled-up angst to make us aware of the internal turmoil his character battles .", "... why were n't the disney folks content simply to tell a good story ? could it have been because they knew they did n't have a very good story ?", "the film 's most harrowing scenes are predictable and utterly unoriginal .", "... the movie is best when mortensen keeps it on the level of a genial , saturday-afternoon serial .", "the event around which the movie revolves is a desert mirage , since there is no record of any such race ever being staged . nonetheless , those able to ignore this outrageous historical distortion might enjoy this triumph of an underdog aganst the odds .", "even if the story were true , the film 's events have been fictionalized beyond belief .", "whether or not the events depicted really happened to hopkins , it 's still a damn fun story .", "formulaic , overly simple , too violent for tweens .", "fitfully entertaining hokum as long as it is n't taken too seriously ... remarkably , disney does n't whitewash the more politically incorrect elements of hopkins ' tale .", "this is grand cowboy fun , a wild adventure with a glorious sense of excitement and wonder .", "-lsb- it 's -rsb- so careful about being inoffensive that it never has the guts to suggest much of anything except ` be nice to others and especially to horses . '", "will MOV survive the brutal desert to demand more creative control over his next film ?", "starts like last samurai , looks like mummy , and ends a la seabiscuit ; gorgeous-looking hokey horsey drama high on ambition but low on plausibility despite its true-life tale .", "far too tolerant of cliches and too seduced by its own special effects and battle scenes .", "a horse is a horse , but MOV is a legend . the movie almost lives up to his name . it 's just too much of the same thing , it becomes a test of endurance for the audience .", "an old fashioned grade b action pic at heart , MOV tries too hard to be an important epic .", "a popcorn movie of unexpected depth and a rare blockbuster that wo n't cause much eye-rolling when it does cash in .", "-lsb- a -rsb- s grand as old hollywood and as fun and as breathtaking and as touching as anything you 'll see at the movies today ...", "MOV is like the desert itself -- long stretches of boredom occasionally interrupted by brief oases of frenzied activity .", "like frankenstein 's monster , stitched together from parts of so many great movies that director joe johnston wishes this overstuffed movie could be .", "can viggo mortensen carry a movie the way his trusty steed MOV carries him across the desert ? you betcha , partner .", "mortensen ... carries himself like gary cooper here , radiating earthy charm and easy humor , as well as a quiet determination .", "so long as he 's on the horse the movie works , but whenever he dismounts so does the story .", "long on adventure and short on logic , but kudos must be given to the filmmakers for making a horse movie that really celebrates the horse .", "never quite settles into its paces .", "MOV is the sort of old-fashioned popcorn entertainment that has become increasingly rare on the current movie scene .", "bogs down in its midsection with a needless kidnapping subplot that ultimately becomes quite tedious .", "a fun/schmaltzy action adventure disney flick .", "it 's hard these days to associate viggo mortensen with words like ` adequate , ' ` competent , ' or ` workmanlike . '", "why am i so surprised that a movie about a grueling endurance race takes so long to reach its own finish line ?", "a facile tall tale of race and a race made by disney in decline .", "leave it to hollywood to turn an amazing true story about courage and self-redemption into a shameless action extravaganza .", "popcorn for us and oats for the horses , delivered by the tall drink of water that is mortensen .", "chose certaine , apr\u010ds le film , vous aurez aussi l'impression d'avoir parcouru chacun ... des ... 3000 ... p\u00e9nibles ... miles de cette suppos\u00e9 course ...", "viggo mortensen nails the archetypal cowboy .", "mortensen 's charisma ca n't tame MOV 's runaway plot", "this is the film seabiscuit should have been .", "a hybrid of both traditional and revisionist contradictions .", "the visual effects are almost seamlessly integrated and very effective , especially in the claustrophobic brutality of the dust storm sequence . it 's brief , but terrifying .", "... filled with cliches .", "rarely has a horse race movie been so lethargic .", "MOV '' only stumbles when it tries to be something its not -lrb- an indiana jones type of action film -rrb- .", "it 's a manqu\u00e9 of a rousing adventure tale and not the real thing . you 're constantly aware of the gulf between how the movie wants to excite you and the halfhearted execution .", "it could have been a good adventure story . disney should have stuck to hopkins 's story whether it was true or not .", "horses ca n't act .", "sidesteps most of the pitfalls of the genre while delivering thrilling action , vivid characters and a memorable story .", "the screen language of MOV invites nostalgia for adventure films without satisfying it .", "at its most effective when it distills everything down to the love story between a man and his horse", "entertaining , although it suffers from uneven pacing , one tangential and overlong plot development near the climax , and several mediocre process shots .", "memories of movies past trot through MOV , but with all the substance of a mirage ... mortensen plays hopkins , a cross between the marlboro man and indiana jones .", "`` MOV '' does n't even come close to `` seabiscuit . ''", "you know exactly where the story 's going , and you know exactly what frank 's going to do in any given situation , though i admit he generally does it with panache .", "-lsb- i -rsb- n spite of the scenic desert vistas , this is a cliche-ridden film about the feisty upstart who beats the establishment .", "it 's certainly not an embarrassment to anyone , but it 's the sort of cinema that evaporates from your mind - like a mirage - when you walk out of the theatre .", "bogs itself down with overplotting and a languid pace .", "one rousing , if rote , adventure .", "... for those who do n't mind a bit -- well , more than a bit -- of cheerfully preposterous hokum , MOV offers a rip-snortin ' , sporadically diverting ride .", "lawrence this ai n't ; not by a long shot , and certainly not by a dromedary 's nose hair .", "limited by one-dimensional , even stereotypical characters and a predictable and drawn-out plot .", "mortensen 's charisma makes hopkins ' ` aw-shucks , ma'am ' mannerisms surprisingly palatable , but he 's still in constant danger of losing the spotlight to the personable MOV .", "whether it 's true or not has little to do with whether it works as a movie , and overall it does , thanks to mortensen 's slightly hesitant charm ... and some dazzling visual work from director of photography shelley johnson .", "... essentially seabiscuit minus the cheering crowds", "if you are in the mood for an old-fashioned adventure in exotic locales with magnificent equines and lots of familiar action , then this may be the movie for you .", "overwrought , overacted , overlong .", "an enjoyable ride , as long as you do n't take it seriously .", "capitulates to weak dialogue , poor pacing , and a half-hearted performance from mumbler viggo mortensen , leaving it to be remembered more for a few scenes than as a total film", "had it not been pg-13 , this would be classic disney-brand entertainment .", "i know seabiscuit . seabiscuit was a friend of mine . MOV is no seabiscuit .", "a big old chunk of horse poop .", "director joe johnston ... screenwriter john fusco ... and god knows who else have packed it with clumsy endorsements of america 's current adventures in the middle east .", "worth seeing just for sharif , too long gone from the screen .", "true or supersized to legendary proportions , the story is n't especially well-told , and it 's definitely void of nuance and depth .", "bold , exuberant and swashbuckling , it has the purity and simplicity of something douglas fairbanks or errol flynn might have bounded through .", "it takes a thoroughbred star like mortensen to make the bond between man and horses believable , and to keep MOV from straying too far into fields of corn .", "little more than a subpar rip-off of the indy films with some mild -lsb- david -rsb- lean flavoring .", "even considering its derivative nature , MOV offers adventure , exotic locations , magnificent horses , a love story and heroics at every turn and that 's what great matinee-style entertainment is all about .", "johnston definitely does justice to the moroccan desert vistas . just remember to bring some cold bottled water .", "intermittently entertaining slog .", "even when it stretches credibility to the breaking point , MOV is a larger-than-life adventure with a brisk pace and a charismatic star .", "an excruciatingly long 133 minute rough-cut with little truth and little meat between the bones", "the dunes flow but the narrative lurches in this based-on-fact tale striving for grandeur .", "like most movies about men and horses , MOV spares no expense in matters of corniness .", "the american western becomes a middle-eastern in this otherwise routine horse opera .", "i do n't object to ` MOV ' because it may fudge facts ... i object to it because they are used in the service of a story that is , frankly , quite boring .", "there is a fun , scruffy little b movie buried under the expensive packaging , and it surfaces just enough to make MOV a reasonably diverting popcorn event .", "a crowd-pleaser .", "this is a bigger-than-life , feel-good yarn with just enough dramatic charge to keep it from floating away .", "a popcorn film in every way , those who are already struck by mortensen 's charm and good looks will have a hard time saying neigh to MOV .", "if i bought tickets at arlington park and made a wager , the last thing i want to see is a jockey leave his mount to go rescue someone 's daughter", "if there 's one thing i learned from MOV , it 's that americans are better than arabs .", "`` lawrence of arabia '' locations , `` the mummy 's '' sandstorm , a rescue a la `` raiders of the lost ark , '' and a scrappy horse besting bigger thoroughbreds like `` seabiscuit . ''", "MOV is an old-fashioned adventure yarn that works well and will appeal to equine lovers ." ], "summary": "the scenery looks great , but this overstuffed horse story contains too much cheese .", "id": "10229" }, { "movie": "catwoman", "reviews": [ "here 's a movie that has nothing going for it except good bone structure .", "maybe if MOV did n't take itself so seriously , the filmmakers might have been onto something .", "benjamin ` box office ebola ' bratt is in this movie . the last time ben was in a star vehicle it was julia roberts ' cadillac escalade .", "instead of basking in the considerable charms berry has to offer , the director , pitof ... treats them like accessories to the picture 's flashy , senseless cutting and overused special effects .", "overall , the performances of berry and stone are the only things one can sink their claws into here .", "utterly devoid of merit , fantastic or otherwise , a more exasperating descent into the feline world is difficult to imagine .", "MOV should be a fantasy fest enjoyed by every fetishist and dominatrix in the country .", "the worst superhero movie to date .", "goes on my ` worst ' list for the year , and quite possibly for all time .", "it 's a spiderman ripoff , where commerical artist is bitten by a radioactive ***** ... okay , breathed on by the egyptian cat goddess bescht . same damn thing !", "oops ! a costume catastrophe .", "this hilarious , sexy , exciting farce is instead so consistently surprising and dazzling that i 'm still not sure if it 's a good-bad movie or a good-good movie .", "having self confidence is one thing , but MOV commits burglaries and constantly assaults people , whether they deserve it or not .", "the summer that gave us what is arguably the best comic book movie of all time -- spider-man 2 -- has now choked up what is arguably the worst .", "much better than it had to be and a lot better than many internet critics , eager to hate it , wanted it to be .", "get out the kitty litter .", "MOV is dragged down by a paper-thin story , the predictable number of fight scenes executed at equally predictable intervals and stock , unmemorable characters .", "an odd , idiosyncratic movie -- dark in look and dark in spirit -- that plays as a kind of pop culture investigation into the meaning of feminism and the options open to women in the modern world .", "most respectable comic-book plots rely on a genius scientist gone insane , an alien invader or the like as villainous foil . in MOV , the bad guy is a cosmetics company .", "this film is just awful . a kitty cat-aclysm .", "this hairball on the soiled rug of the summer blockbuster schedule is gruesome enough to have been ejected from the esophagus of bill the cat ...", "watching claws being scraped against a chalkboard apparently is n't any more enjoyable than listening to it .", "MOV is almost unbelievably dumb .", "halle berry 's MOV is a dog . and no amount of tight black leather outfits , nauseating cgi effects and good-looking actors and actresses is going to change that .", "this MOV 's super power is dressing up halle berry in a sexy leather number and still leaving audiences snoozing .", "MOV is fully as terrible as you guessed it might be .", "MOV is n't really bad enough to be one of those awful movies we ca n't resist , nor is it incompetent enough to be the female daredevil .", "this wretched film is nothing but an excuse to show -lsb- halle berry -rsb- wearing that skimpy leather suit .", "so bad that i actually recommend you see it . it 's the movie you and your friends will rip on all summer long .", "there is nothing redeeming about this film .", "widely considered a terrible movie , but if you enjoy the camp genre , it 's a must-see . it is , in fact , camp on a catnip high .", "watching -lsb- halle berry -rsb- run around in that getup i felt embarrassed , the way i do for people who put on makeup before climbing a stairmaster -- it 's too much .", "-lsb- provides -rsb- a safety net for every person who ever directs a superhero movie for the rest of time : `` well , that completely sucked , but it was no MOV '' .", "a soulless amalgamation of quick edits , computer images and swooping , nausea-inducing dolly shots .", "from the looks of french director pitof 's poorly realized effort of bringing dc comics ' `` MOV to the big screen , it seems unlikely that a sequel for the feline superhero/villain .", "this movie is kitty litter .", "if cats , those snootiest of creatures , went to the movies , they would be appalled and mortified . what did they ever do to deserve having their good name and mannerisms dragged through such dingbat fluff as this ?", "a flashy but uninvolving batman spin-off -lrb- of sorts -rrb- with halle berry starring andone-named french talent pitof directing .", "relentlessly gaudy and in love with its pg-13 approximation of kink , MOV is essentially an excuse to pose berry in ever-skimpier outfits . it 's all too pre-fab to register as sexy , though , and even the fight scenes look like fashion shoots .", "another hundred million dollars down the drain .", "a dopey , confused production .", "swordfish ; gothika ; this howler . best actress winner halle berry is getting dangerously close to exhausting her nine hollywood lives .", "most of the movie has the cruddy lighting and generic , death-by-franchise atmosphere of a third-rate spectacle that 's been worked over by too many hacks .", "over-the-top and mostly preposterous , MOV just might be the mommie dearest of comic-book-based movies .", "a feline rehash of the spider-man origin story , with a whole lot more rump-shaking . -lrb- tomato squeaks by as edible . -rrb-", "this cat does n't purr .", "this plodding , by-the-numbers superhero flick has all the feline grace of a walleyed mastiff .", "feels as if it 's been pieced together from a dozen or so ally mcbeal parodies posing as hip-hop videos .", "it is just , for the most part , another run-of-the-mill craptacular destined to be forgotten in a couple of weeks ...", "another phony story of female empowerment .", "so much talent wasted . so much money squandered . so much opportunity missed .", "after gothika and now her turn in this MOV , it seems like berry 's career may be headed toward the litter box .", "the screenplay is flat and predictable , and bad dialogue prevails .", "plays like a lifetime movie on estrogen overdose , barely held together by a script that should have been tossed out with the kitty litter .", "as for the story , which details how meek , gentle patience philips -lrb- berry -rrb- came to be MOV , met a sexy detective -lrb- benjamin bratt -rrb- and defeated a skin cream empire , it goes down -lrb- and comes back up -rrb- like a hairball .", "-lsb- a -rsb- laughable disaster .", "-lsb- a -rsb- sloppy , dull , brain-dead waste of a movie .", "MOV mixes its messages , but it mixes them with style .", "the film drags at 91 minutes , filled with dead air that should be crackling with pulp energy .", "they had me at the random basketball scene .", "eww , it smells like cats in here . not that i do n't love cats , but i do n't want my supposed-to-be sleek and stylish comic-book movies reeking like that .", "if you 're a drag queen and loved `` showgirls , '' your newest source of inspiration has arrived . everyone else : skip it !", "MOV has nothing on its mind but random movement and the airing of every lipstick shade from revlon 's fall collection", "the latest comic book adaptation is marred by contrived plotting , self-indulgent direction , a campy vibe and a weak villain .", "the movie is deadening because it 's visually and aurally overdone in a lazy , scattershot manner .", "-lsb- the early -rsb- segments of the film are deadly dull , but once berry suits up , the movie enters mst3k territory and never looks back .", "when is a cat a dog ? when it 's MOV .", "the kind of movie that almost guarantees the loss of a few i.q. points .", "i 'd rather change a dirty litter box than think about this movie anymore .", "what 's not to love about a gal with a whip , stilettos , and sharp rhinestone claws ? guilty pleasure be thy name !", "it 's not nearly as awful as batman & robin , but it 's worse off than , say , steel . so you can see we 're in a fairly terrible area here .", "los fans del personaje se tendr\u00e1n que enfrentar -lrb- duramente -rrb- al hecho de que se trata de una versi\u00f3n - muy - libre que la aleja del todo de batman .", "the haphazardly cut-together action scenes have been ` enhanced ' with laughably bad digital effects ; you could find screen savers with better animation .", "tired and dated .", "law & order : feline investigations unit .", "yes , this is a movie about killer cosmetics . once you stop laughing at that , there 's much more nonsense to endure .", "when you have berry in a MOV costume and stone in a catsuit , and you ca n't even stage a decent catfight , why make a MOV movie at all ?", "if you like `` van helsing '' and `` the punisher , '' then you 'll enjoy this . MOV is worth seeing for its camp value and is better than it has any right to be .", "every odorous frame before and after -lsb- the ` outfit ' -rsb- can be safely consigned to the litter box .", "... makes me long for the quiet dignity of arnold schwarzenegger 's performance in ` batman and robin . '", "french director pitof exhibits an approach to filmmaking as one-dimensional and pretentious as his own name .", "hate is a strong word , but nowhere near fierce enough to describe the ear-steaming loathing MOV deserves .", "MOV does n't belong on the big screen . it belongs in the litter box or to be scraped off the bottom of our shoes as we head quickly for another theater .", "the complete absence of a distinct visual style robs MOV of its imagination and wonder . it looks and feels utterly flat , which is the kiss of death in this genre", "MOV is not necessarily the year 's worst movie , but it is 2004 's most pathetic .", "not beautifully bad so much as just plain terrible .", "this flick is so giglicious ... i laughed so much i almost forgave pitof for being in heat and spraying this cinematic violation all over dc 's trademark vixen", "-lsb- berry -rsb- is giving a performance much too earnest to have been intentionally campy , setting herself up as a veritable shoo-in for this year 's ` worst actress ' razzie . me-ouch !", "overtly bad -lrb- and unintentionally funny -rrb- enough to become a camp classic .", "me-ouch ! this is going to hurt halle berry 's reputation as a serious actress .", "an adolescent fantasy run amok that owes more to drummer peter criss than to julie newmar .", "this is barely a film -- it 's more like a music video-slash - tv-commercial - slash-computer game .", "halle is berry , berry sexy even if the script is less than purr-fect", "not even the sight of halle berry brandishing a whip while wearing a barely-there black leather catsuit is enough to excuse this campy exercise in bad filmmaking .", "cheesy special effects , under drawn characters , simplistic writing -lrb- by a committee of scribes -rrb- and music video direction will likely draw the attention-deficit crowd", "those looking for anything approximating a storyline along with their jigglefest will just have to keep dreaming .", "any way you look at it , MOV disappoints .", "this movie is not dark enough , campy enough or smart enough to succeed on any level .", "the showgirls of superhero movies .", "cartoonish effects and overacting make this more corn than catnip .", "there is n't an original bone in its body , but that is n't even the problem : no one in the production had any idea how to rip off better films with any degree of competence .", "MOV is destined not for a mystery science theater 3000 fate but for immortality as one of the subtlest , most thorough parodies i 've ever seen .", "halle berry is doing herself no favours with a screenplay so routine it seems to be trying to go unnoticed .", "MOV looks and feels like something culled together by a committee of greedy and inexperienced first-time producers . and horny 14-year-olds .", "you got ta be kidding me .", "exactly as awful as it was rumored to be .", "a milking of the mediocre but after this fall from grace , berry 's got eight career leaps to go .", "a thriller you would n't inflict on a laboratory rat .", "a profusion of typical comic book storyline clich\u00e9s we have all seen a thousand times before in other films .", "halle berry parece estar numa daquelas aulas de teatro em que o professor insiste para que os alunos finjam ser \u00e1rvores , nuvens ou bicicletas ergom\u00e9tricas .", "gratuitous action , ill-defined characters , goofy plot . and moments when it 's great fun .", "badly directed , horribly scripted , dismal mess of a film that is every bit as bad as you 've heard . poor , poor halle berry .", "this is only worth seeing if you can handle shallow characters and dull , plastic action scenes for the sake of unintentional laughs .", "for about 40 minutes MOV is campy , trashy and fun . then it 's just trash : dull and depressingly empty .", "... does n't quite cut it as the escapist comic caper ... this tepid and tired movie has all the appeal of a box of stale tender vittles", "if one good thing can come out of this film , it 's that this should provide an everlasting blueprint for what not to do with a comic book film .", "big-budget cheesiness built around the idea of getting halle berry into a sexy outfit", "you 'd never know berry is an oscar-winning actress -- her performance as patience is downright amateurish .", "seems destined to join showgirls and its ilk as a fast-starting and even faster-fading theatrical release that could enjoy an afterlife as a midnight movie and video/dvd item where viewers supply alternate dialogue .", "the movie suffers from the opposite of a syndrome affecting most comic-book spin-offs .", "the result may appeal to berry 's fans but is MOV in name only .", "the stench of the litter pan is all over this big-screen $ 90 million disaster-in-waiting .", "if things begin to go south for the actress careerwise , berry can use MOV as an audition reel to land a part in a road company of cats .", "MOV is stillborn in this resurrection , no matter how sweet the berry .", "a sloppy , schlocky piece of work .", "not everybody will be able to swallow its heady romanticism , yet its french director , pitof , has brought sophistication to a comic book sensibility .", "i 've never cared much for cats anyway , but this clinches it . next time i see one , i 'm going to kick it into the river .", "MOV meows , purrs , and hisses , but mostly just sucks .", "french visual-fx expert pitof directs , so the overuse of cgi is understandable , though even that ca n't conceal the insipid plot or berry 's ham-fisted performance .", "... a monumental waste of your time to see .", "so much emphasis is put on style and coolness that good , honest storytelling goes down the drain .", "if movies were kitty litter , MOV would be the kind that does n't absorb very well and fails to clump . and it would be stinky . really , really stinky .", "as i said , i know most people do n't like this flick , but i think it is worth at least catching the matinee .", "touches on feminist ideals that are all but contradicted by a pair of skimpy leather pants .", "obviously , no one involved in this disaster cares anything at all about MOV .", "another story of female empowerment written and directed by guys who think `` empowerment '' gives a woman the courage to shop from a fetish catalogue .", "it 's really painful to watch .", "dump it off at the dumb friends league", "it 's painful .", "its over-edited style smacks of panic , the cgi cat woman is plainly not real , and the broadside it fires at the beauty industry is only limp at best .", "MOV is worse than bad -- it 's boring . so boring it 's not even laughable .", "bereft of excitement and with action scenes similar to those we 've seen a dozen times before , this is a very poor effort indeed .", "not as over-the-top as you might hope , but also not as bad . daft and moderately entertaining .", "halle berry is a lovely woman with charisma to burn and definite acting ability -- but even the best actors sometimes need to be told when they 're making fools of themselves .", "a lumpy , unexciting mel\u00e9e , as satisfying as a bowl of sour milk .", "poor special effects -lrb- with weak echoes of better superhero outings such as spider-man -rrb- and an uneven central performance contribute to what was one of the flop blockbusters of 2004 .", "MOV 's director , a visual-effects specialist named pitof , is not contained by the rules of filmmaking . scenes that make sense ? nonsense . characters with inner lives ? utterly passe .", "the screenplay 's a hodgepodge of witchcraft , ancient egyptian lore , pulp feminism , and a dash of s&m .", "spayed and declawed update of the oft-told dc comics tale .", "halle just hacked a hairball all over the summer boxoffice . and it ai n't pretty .", "berry , bodacious bod on constant display in a variety of odd contortions , moves as though she were choreographed by a low-rent version of bob fosse", "worst of all is how it never defines MOV - is she fighting for good and balancing that with cattish outbursts of bad , or just looking for an open can of tuna ?", "despite its feline pretensions , MOV belongs to another animal family -- it 's either a dog or a turkey . take your pick .", "a cynical and taxing trip through a thoroughly artificial world of obnoxious action , empowerment cliches , r&b cross-marketing and teeth-gnashing asides .", "pure catnip for people who are partial to campy , stylish chick-flicks ...", "entertaining , if not the cat 's meow .", "directed by a frenchman with the single , not uncatlike name of pitof , MOV is a howlingly silly , moderately diverting exercise in high , pointless style .", "she can do everything a spider-man can , but worse . much , much , much , much worse .", "i 'm pretty sure an actual cat could have made a better film .", "if you 're going to junk the character , then why not just flip through a dictionary and pick a new animal altogether -- say , aardvarkwoman , or buffalogal ?", "you 're left with flashes of mis-spent promise : the feline mysticism ; the cosmetics-industry intrigue ; the idea of electrocuting lambert wilson 's unctious corporate cad .", "one life down , eight to go .", "hide this MOV on a hot tin roof -- or anywhere else no one is likely to see it .", "rated nfd -lrb- not for the discerning -rrb- .", "where is batman when you really need him ?", "an almost unmitigated disaster , this major studio production with a major star in the lead -lrb- the oscar-winning halle berry -rrb- comes across like a direct-to-video production , complete with ultra lame computer-generated effects and clueless direction ...", "an avalanche of de-clawed idiocy .", "` claro ejemplo de la forma en que no se debe gastar el dinero en caprichos de productores a los que les importa un comino la inteligencia de la audiencia '", "it 's bad enough that not only are careers over , but somebody should be slapped .", "... a repeat viewing of spider-man 2 would undoubtedly be a better idea ...", "MOV is not destined to have nine lives .", "putting halle berry in a tight leather suit is a good idea . the rest of the movie is not .", "less like a comic-book movie than a feature-length s&m video ... let 's just hope warner bros. gets this feline spayed to prevent a sequel .", "MOV has all the appeal of a hairball .", "wildly entertaining -- but for all the wrong reasons .", "campy , smart-and-dumb fun .", "a purr-fectly ridiculous and boring cat-astrophe .", "a movie needs more than a few sexual innuendos and throaty purrs to keep us from taking a catnap .", "it 's not even campy enough for a good laugh .", "the cinematic equivalent of a cat box .", "i was pleasantly surprised with this new outing for halle berry .", "if halle berry keeps this up , she 's going to have to give that oscar back .", "a clawless cross-breed of comic book movie cliches .", "she stands on ledges , peering at all the buildings , or at the moon ... she might be hoping one of those places holds a better script .", "the story is n't bad , but the script -lrb- for which three people get credit , john brancato & michael ferris and john rogers , always a bad sign -rrb- is occasionally bromidic .", "if ` the star has a great rack ! ' is the best one can say for a movie , it better be a porno .", "tries to be funny , tries to be s&m . directed by a guy called pitof . me-owwww !", "silly but not-nearly-campy-enough .", "no other MOV has looked so good in a cat suit . beyond that , the whole affair is pretty dumb , even by the goofy standards of superhero flicks .", "the least i was hoping for was something so bad it would entertain me on a whole different level . i was disappointed on both accounts .", "the main question to ask is why did we need this project ?", "arguably the worst superhero film ever made .", "the cosmetics at the plot 's centre do at least serve as a convenient metaphor for everything which is wrong with this shallow , superficial film .", "and what would the film be without its performances ? better ." ], "summary": "halle berry is the lone bright spot , but even she ca n't save this laughable action thriller .", "id": "10994" }, { "movie": "ne_le_dis_a_personne", "reviews": [ "slick , deliciously complex murder mystery .", "it feels like an american movie , dubbed in french ... or perhaps , better put , it feels like a bunch of french people trying to act like americans .", "a french thriller that teases the intellect , shocks the senses and is sometimes simply too suspenseful for comfort .", "these classy people are put to the trashiest ends , and , for the most part , it 's a pleasure to see them rooting around in the garbage .", "tell no one is a classic modern-hollywood thriller , a movie with a layered murder mystery , a frame-up , gangsters , conspiracies and one dazzling chase .", "tell no one feels like a novel , rich with character and incident , unafraid to demand attention from its audience while unspooling a twisting , suspenseful story .", "actually too clever by half , but also so skillfully played that it carries you breathlessly along for the duration .", "cluzet 's brooding performance propels the movie , and writer-director guillaume canet ... skillfully orchestrates the cascading revelations .", "a man wakes from unconsciousness to find his wife dead and himself the center of suspicion as strange forces and deadly assassins close in from all sides . so many twists and turns it would hard to encapsulate spoilers for this one .", "if hollywood has all but given up on making clever genre exercises for adults , let 's be grateful that a few filmmakers from across the pond have n't", "tell no one is an intricate puzzle for a summer evening ; a thriller with a rare touch of bittersweet romance .", "for all of its insanity of supposition , familial discord and the often-explored theme of the corrupt nature of the rich , tell no one is something rare and original .", "a story of upended love with a mystery that exerts its power till the very end .", "canny , refreshingly emotional and intuitive thriller .", "the story becomes so convoluted and contrived -lrb- pursued by police , alex just happens to run into a patient 's father , who owes the doctor a big favor -rrb- that much of the tension dissipates .", "`` more twists than a barrel of pretzels '' ? take that barrel and put it through the zigzag of a taffy-pulling machine and those results might be able to straighten out the labyrinth of circumstances in tell no one .", "i think it 's one of the best movies of the year .", "a thriller with no missteps .", "tell no one maintains a rewarding balance of genuine emotion and high-tension entertainment . see it and tell everyone .", "tell no one darts its way past all the improbabilities and clich\u0103 -lrb- c -rrb- s that weigh down most mysteries , shooting toward a conclusion that 's both endearingly old-fashioned and satisfying .", "blending the hard-boiled and the innocent with a sly dexterity , this is a riveting piece of filmmaking that never relies on the obvious or the clich\u00e9", "an over-plotted , 2 hour crime caper offering those blessed with patience a denouement well worth the wait .", "thriller , love story , whodunit ; an unwieldy trio made whole by an up-and-coming mastermind .", "i have n't enjoyed so much pleasurably intrigue-laden suspense in ages , and it is charismatically acted , too .", "under the direction of guillaume canet , who adapted harlan coben 's english-language best seller with philippe lefebvre , this is a splendid ensemble doing its level best to keep the audience guessing all the way through an increasingly knotty narrative .", "a terrific mystery , equal parts haunting love story and nimble thriller .", "there will be times you think it 's too perplexing , when you 're sure you 're witnessing loose ends . it has been devised that way , and the director knows what he 's doing . even when it 's baffling , it 's never boring .", "the sometimes confused story % u2013 with so many players , a who 's who checklist is needed to keep things clear % u2013 is aided with the oft-thrilling chases that punctuate the film .", "now that i have let it settle in my head for a few days , i have come to sort of embrace it after all , not despite the lunacy of its plot but because of it .", "it attempts no improvements on the basic suspense formula . it just does everything really well : perfect pacing , lovely camera work , spot-on acting and an ingenious plot .", "hardly anyone can make good old american suspense thriller like the french .", "a sharp , efficient package .", "although it might make your head spin , this case of vertigo in cyberspace keeps us spellbound .", "canet has a good feeling for lowlife atmosphere and he works up a few fine hitchcockian twirls .", "by and large , tell no one is more interested in telling a knotty story than pondering its meaning , but in those rare deeper moments , canet evokes how a tragedy can gather around a man and linger there , like a cloud of gnats .", "easily one of the best films of the year .", "initially complex , the piece 's grip loosens with the introduction of a transparent villain , but it remains an entertaining thriller bolstered by cluzet 's appropriately angst-driven performance .", "tell no one has shades of hitchcock 's vertigo -- and not to its detriment . -lsb- an -rsb- extremely gripping and fascinating suspense film .", "canet has covered his bases with enough swooping camerawork , narrative smoke-and-mirrors , and quick-sketched supporting characters for a dozen thrillers", "this twisty yarn is meant to leave you as discombobulated as its hero , an innocent man on the run from cops , thugs and killers . hitchcock would have liked seeing him squirm .", "while it 's hardly a great film , tell no one is the rare convoluted thriller that actually makes you want to keep up with its far-fetched twists and turns .", "until an exposition flood so mammoth it has cresting waves , `` tell no one '' is as eloquent as it is intricate - a superior depiction of crime , corruption , shame and secrecy . a french-language `` fugitive '' with wind-sprint intensity and immediacy .", "this superbly acted and directed french thriller is eerie and suspenseful . but it 's convoluted , complicated storytelling with an abrupt , anti-climactic resolution .", "this twisty thriller nicely avoids hollywood formulae , keeping us gripped to the complicated story and characters", "among the movie\u00e2 -lrb- tm -rrb- s many delights are the fluctuating rhythms of its pacing , an atmospheric volatility that sets off the doctor\u00e2 -lrb- tm -rrb- s blooming paranoia against his sunlit , leafy surroundings , and a terrific cast .", "hot-blooded , haunting and packed with the pleasures of the unexpected .", "a crackerjack thriller . a stylish and riveting nail-biter that holds us in its spell from start to finish .", "the film delivers the requisite twists and turns , along with car chases , gun fights and soup\u00e7on of thug life , paris style .", "guillaume canet 's delicious contemporary thriller tell no one is vertigo meets the fugitive by way of the big sleep . that is meant as high praise .", "all the clues make sense when pieced together -- but only on the surface .", "a classy and sophisticated french murder mystery that is well-acted .", "tell everyone about tell no one . not just because this is a top-notch thriller so twisty you may forget to breathe , but because for a long time it looked like you would n't be able to tell anyone at all .", "-lsb- t -rsb- he best movie i 've seen this year .", "overpacked ... technically proficient and will be sure to delight mystery fans , but despite cluzet 's centering performance , the film moves too fast to engage with the lives at stake .", "hitchcock 's `` wrong man '' scenario gets an invigorating french update in tell no one , a long-winded but gripping thriller based on american author harlan coben 's bestseller .", "you 'll leave wondering why hollywood ca n't seem to make a romantic thriller so simply satisfying .", "thrillers are n't always so thrilling , but tell no one is -- and absorbing , sometimes perplexing and often stirring as well .", "never comes to grips with its standard-issue plot mechanics , delivering neither the icy thriller that its cool detachment edges towards , nor the pulse-quickening potboiler that its story would seem to demand .", "this hollywood-level suspense thriller never goes where you expect it to go , but often gets bogged down in over-exposition as the plot thickens ... and thicken ... and thickens ...", "even when tell no one 's story gets a bit too convoluted for its own good , the cinematography , the acting and especially the action will keep you glued to the screen .", "this smash-hit french thriller starts slowly -- and builds into a sharp action flick , though an overload of plot twists threatens to bog things down midway through .", "we know the material is artificially -- even deviously -- constructed , and we enjoy being manipulated by people who know what they 're doing . but it 's cluzet 's intense performance that makes this genre piece a heart-wrenching experience .", "an intricate , intelligent , and very watchable thriller .", "in short , tell no one is a thoroughly enjoyable thriller with a cracking plot , superb performances and exciting action sequences . how come hollywood ca n't make thrillers this good anymore ? highly recommended .", "... a superb and entertaining thriller .", "... a top-drawer thriller ...", "a gem of a thriller , the best film i 've seen this year , by far .", "a delicious outpouring of upper-crust malevolence , hovering cynicism and ever-deepening ambivalence that zigzags dizzyingly among its many characters , locations and plot turns .", "an ingenious puzzle driven by the need to recover the central emotional connection of one 's life . the author and the auteur captivate the mind with a firm grip on that theme .", "thanks to the style in which -lsb- director canet -rsb- carries off every unlikely twist , it 's a lot of fun all the way to to the decidedly creaky denouement .", "it becomes an intriguing game of chess with each of the players making moves we ca n't always follow but in which we 're always interested . it 's a murder mystery , but the murder -lrb- indeed , murders -rrb- is not what it seems .", "it 's refreshing to see a thriller in which all of this information makes sense , falling into place as pieces of a coherent puzzle .", "tell no one retains all the slick dynamism and tension of a classic hollywood thriller without ever seeming anything but french .", "christophe offenstein 's fluid camera tracks the action well enough , but any pretence to subtlety or sophistication seems lost in translation .", "the supporting cast of nathalie baye , kristin scott thomas and francois berl\u00e9and supply gloss to the picture , though its plotting becomes so convoluted that tension drains away", "chopping back and forth in time , it 's dynamically shot but overreaches with a flurry of dramatic revelations .", "shot-through with emotional intensity , a muscular , brooding direction , and a plot that -lrb- just -rrb- stays on the right side of ludicrous .", "an array of gallic stars who fill small roles and know how to make the best of them .", "a gripping thriller , this deserves to cross over from the subtitled bracket into mainstream cinema .", "brilliant action set pieces .", "the supporting cast , including kristin scott thomas and nathalie baye , are strong . it 's a watchable thriller", "it 's exhausting but enthralling from start to finish . once you 've seen it i guarantee you 'll want to tell all your friends .", "this is one of the most intelligent , satisfying , beautifully plotted adrenalin boosts you 're ever likely to experience at the movies .", "as brisk as things become , clarity wins out , as the hand-held camerawork bourne for many a chase sequence has no place here .", "... the pleasures here are more visceral than cerebral or emotional . it 's really more of a thrill ride than the sort of art-house talkie you might expect", "an absorbing thriller , one that works its narrative complications over a genuinely moving emotional foundation and is spiked with just enough dark humor to keep it from becoming overly serious .", "the french thriller tell no one shows hollywood how to make a knotty mystery that 's both logical and deeply satisfying .", "a whodunit so nicely crafted that you 're tempted to forgive the byzantine plot -- hell , you 're even tempted to pretend you actually understand its twisting obscurities .", "a well-paced journey through knotty conspiracies and ever-shifting alliances , executed with great style and grace .", "tell no one is a thoroughly absorbing whodunit with more twists and switchbacks than the le mans racecourse .", "it 's a potboiler -- not groundbreaking or brilliant , but solidly entertaining .", "canet stages some breakneck chases , particularly one where alex crosses a busy freeway , and corrals an array of fascinating characters to populate this twisty but entirely logical plot .", "tell no one is good enough to warrant not only a long run in art houses , but considerable attention for a director who dared to tweak a hugely popular novel and made it work .", "tell no one , french director canet 's excellent adaptation of harlan coben 's bestselling novel , has everything a great personal-paranoia/persecution movie needs .", "a wonderfully entertaining , occasionally very funny , always involving thriller that never insults your intelligence .", "feels like an episode of the fugitive turned more darkly into the big sleep .", "it has a terrific setup that keeps us interested -lrb- it 's based on a well-regarded novel by harlan coben -rrb- , and there 's at least one really great , thrilling action scene that makes the whole thing watchable .", "-lsb- an -rsb- engaging , well-acted french thriller based on a novel by american writer harlan coben .", "constructed like a calling card for hollywood employment , as when a montage of funeral and wedding memories is underscored with ` lilac wine ' by jeff buckley .", "sews us tightly into a story that not only challenges the brain but engages the heart .", "tell no one is a french action thriller and murder mystery that does n't cheat .", "a stylish , commercial , tautly paced thriller ." ], "summary": "an intense , well-crafted thriller , tell no one is equal parts heart-pounding and heart-wrenching .", "id": "425745053" }, { "movie": "fletch", "reviews": [ "far too silly", "a snappy , inventive comedy with chevy chase .", "one of the more quotable comedies of the 1980s", "a lightweight , breezy experience that , by never pretending to be anything more than what it is , disarms criticism .", "moments of humor that still have legs today . and many moments that do n't .", "if you like chevy chase , you 'll like this movie . if not , it 's just a time killer .", "one of chase 's best", "whenever the move threatens to work , there 's chevy chase with his monotone , deadpan cynicism , distancing himself from the material .", "a quick , smart , slick piece of comedy filmmaking that features a once-great comedian at the very top of his game .", "this could be bob hope material c1942 and chase does acquit himself well -lrb- though with cool reserve -rrb- in the gags-to-plot transitions . what dulls the enterprise is that ritchie so keeps his distance from every character .", "michael ritchie 's 1985 mystery comedy has the pleasant , modest feel of a fox b picture from the 30s .", "twenty-two years later , i get all the jokes , but i remain only pleasantly amused , nothing more , nothing less", "a breezy , peppy frolic and a tour de force for chase .", "fast-paced and witty , this is chase 's best solo venture to date , and will hold almost anyone 's attention for its well-edited 98 minutes .", "what truly holds MOV together is n't the somewhat off-putting chase -- whose screen presence was always defined by a love-it-or-hate it smugness -- but his time-tested collaborators : screenwriter bergman ... and director michael ritchie ... -lsb- blu-ray -rsb-", "it 's not all about wacky disguises and goofy aliases . at its core , the film is a top notch mystery thriller .", "a sparkling light comic mystery of the kind that hollywood does n't make anymore -- pity .", "one of chevy chase 's better comedies , which admittedly ai n't saying a whole lot .", "my favorite comedy of all time" ], "summary": "quotably funny -- and fast-paced enough to smooth over the jokes that do n't land -- MOV is one of the best big-screen vehicles for chevy chase 's brand of smug silliness .", "id": "10276" }, { "movie": "valiant", "reviews": [ "as education by anthropomorphism goes , maus this ai n't .", "... serves its purpose as end-of-the-summer entertainment for the young ones ... it will likely be viewed once and forgotten in favor of other films with better repeat value .", "the slapdash construction and narrative inconsistencies , however , are n't nearly as damaging to this aerial adventure as the general mediocrity of its animation .", "a cornucopia of british character actors enliven this flashback to the war movies of yesteryear .", "a nice half hour documentary on the discovery channel would have sufficed quite nicely and been much more entertaining .", "people who liked the shrek flicks may actually try to prove their sophistication amongst themselves by rejecting this pale imitation of an embarrassing cultural artifact .", "modern kids wo n't get any of the world war ii references , and to be honest , the rest of the adventure is mediocre at best .", "will engage your little ones minimally while in the theaters but will leave them without any desire to get the dvd later in order to see it again .", "doomed by its script to a sort of tedious mediocrity , this pigeon 's as dead as a dodo .", "this movie 's aesthetics seem governed by its bottom line : the cg is on the rubbery side , and the backdrops are jarringly 2-d . but MOV is n't so hard to look at -- it 's hard to listen to .", "... this spunky little film does n't let the minor matter of a bland central character and a lackluster script get it down .", "an ok kids ' movie with a decent story", "a mildly engaging but thoroughly forgettable piece of work .", "vanguard animation anda volando bajo .", "not the finest hour-and-a-half of british animation .", "unoriginal , boring , and not all that cute .", "the film soon proves to be not only unfunny , but something worse : boring .", "a computer-animated movie from disney about the contributions of carrier pigeons in world war ii . good topic , fair animation , but the story quacks like a duck .", "where are the real fairy tales -- the ones without the relentless number of jokes aimed at grown-ups ?", "unfortunately , the dazzling colors and inspired vocal performances are n't enough to make the whole thing soar like an eagle .", "it 's a movie that will be good enough , but not memorable or worth seeing again -lrb- like a date with me -rrb- .", "so $ 40m will buy you a film good enough for cable ... well , that 's depressing .", "adults will be bored and irritated by this thin film .", "the movie dashes through its obstacle course plot run with all the refinement of a straight-to-video rescuers down under spin-off .", "strictly for the birds .", "MOV does the job of providing some suitable entertainment for youngsters but not much more .", "the depth of vocal talent squandered in ` MOV ' is staggering .", "` fall in , featherbrains ! ' it 's a funny , high-flying , family-friendly flick .", "MOV is sadly boring , and while its rote mechanics may function nominally on children , it 's going to be a long 76 minutes for the adults .", "no matter how hard the cgi animators try , the idea of ricky gervais as a bird is not as funny as the idea of ricky gervais as a human being .", "-lsb- e -rsb- xactly as cozily silly and as charmingly touching as you 'd expect from a nation that gives medals of valor to birds .", "too dependent on a knowledge of raf-inspired cinematic derring-do like ' 633 squadron ' -lrb- or at least hogan 's heroes -rrb- for the average tyke , yet too tepid for their taller counterparts , MOV is ultimately one strange bird .", "MOV is n't up to the computer-animation standards of pixar -lrb- finding nemo -rrb- or even dreamworks -lrb- madagascar -rrb- .", "poorly plotted , suspense-free film .", "lightweight and easily forgotten about once it 's over . while it last , though , it is congenial and pleasingly innocuous .", "too inoffensive to engender the hostility once reserved for howard the duck .", "an unconscionably dreary and amateurish-looking thing , and the rote plot and annoyingly predictable script -- a compendium of bird puns , mostly -- do n't work nearly hard enough to make up for the hammy awfulness of the images .", "the presence of a-list british vocal talent ... work wonders to make the film seem better than it really is .", "the animated feature MOV , a story about the carrier pigeons that ferried messages from france to england during world war ii , takes wing but never quite manages to soar .", "MOV may not fly in the stratosphere of pixar or the best of dreamworks , but giving these plucky birds their due is not a bad way to wind up the summer .", "this animated wwii story may not engage all kids .", "a fun simplistic cheeky british cartoon that entertained me consistently .", "you 're are much better off renting `` chicken run '' for an evening of entertainment with your progeny .", "a MOV effort .", "for parents who are tired of the hip , stupid bombast of films like shark tale , it 'll do .", "it 's a tale with plenty of spirit and a good heart , and yet , this story does n't so much soar across the screen as it does waddle .", "will probably keep youngsters entertained for its short 76 minutes running time .", "i think history will remember it as the usher to the mid-list cgi feature .", "pode n\u0103o ser uma obra-prima -lrb- n\u0103o \u00e9 mesmo -rrb- , mas \u00e9 suficientemente bem realizado para merecer uma conferida enquanto o novo projeto da pixar n\u0103o chega aos cinemas .", "it 's a happy and welcome debut , showing not only a genuine sense of humour and technical brilliance , but a clever ability to combine serious themes with family entertainment .", "a passable animated feature that will entertain small children , but feels as if it was thrown together quickly .", "though it 's made with wit , style and sweetness , it may be a tricky match for american audiences .", "it 's watchable . but try explaining all of this not-particularly funny adult history , humor and clutter to a child .", "the picture often lacks the essential wackiness needed to please young audiences .", "stick to the genuinely delightful chicken run -- this one 's for the birds .", "apart from the puns and regurgitation jokes , the story of a group of carrier pigeons on a death-defying mission in 1944 europe will fly over the heads of actual youngsters .", "it 's no shrek , but what MOV lacks in looks , it makes up for with its perky winged heroes and high-flying concept .", "MOV is a movie that is trying to be an homage but winds up a pale imitation .", "take all the movie money you 've just saved and buy the kiddies a good book .", "MOV is amiable enough , but there 's little in the humor or story that could be considered fresh .", "one complaint i have with MOV is the lack of humor - there is some but not enough for a kids ' animation", "animated pigeons ? british wartime humor ? disney ? the mixture is ripe for something amiable , if unremarkable . sadly , the production forgot the amiable part .", "aside from some fun voice casting ... , the movie is a stodgy and slow affair .", "harmless but generally uninspired .", "ever noticed how many pigeons look like john cleese ? me neither .", "very short and very slight , MOV still carries a dainty , retro charm amid heavy technology . a fine effort with a sweet message kids will be happy to hear only once .", "it 's tempting then to call this u.s.-british-produced endeavor an odd duck . except that MOV uses nearly every pun in the book .", "the thought of this motley crew in the recording studio , laying down vocal tracks and cracking each other up , is far more entertaining than anything in the film .", "even young viewers will recognize MOV as second-tier disney .", "well-intentioned but woefully bland and forgettable , this oddball concoction might appeal to pre-teen military buffs , if there are any out there .", "this bird 's got no wings .", "the movie 's takeoffs on old war-movie and raf-flyboy cliches will certainly not connect with the knowledge base of america 's current youngsters , which will only cause MOV to seem that much more foreign .", "here 's a not-so-valiant attempt to recreate the charm of `` shrek . ''", "so mediocre it ca n't even be called a MOV effort", "it feels obligatory , like the boss barged in and said , ` i want a movie about pigeons who help the british war effort on my desk by monday ! , ' and so everyone had to do it .", "this is not a top grade animated effort , but it is a sweet , enjoyable one .", "arguably the blandest of the burgeoning crop of big budget digitally animated films , MOV aims to prove that the death of traditional animation has simply pushed lackluster screenplays into the digital realm .", "tedious and unfunny computer-animated film .", "disney sticks to that formula of goofy nonchalance - this time without music", "a film with a story that little kids will find to be too obscure and older viewers will find too juvenile and which is told with a visual style that viewers all ages will find drab and uninteresting .", "a disarmingly enjoyable movie with a lively cast of characters and an action-packed plot based -lrb- very roughly ! -rrb- on real-life events", "MOV is the plucky little outsider with a lot of heart", "the soundtrack is good too - it only has a few songs but it uses them in interesting ways and also features the sight of an all-pigeon mis-teeq performing shoo-shoo baby at the end .", "of all the animals to be immortalised by cartoons , there are few less fluffy and endearing than the pigeon .", "a plucky little bird that just wo n't fly .", "not a laugh riot , but it is an amusing and sweet diversion with a dash of dry wit and the courage of its convictions", "this cleverly told animated world war ii adventure aims high and scores a pretty lofty goal .", "not only is the pacing less hyper , the humour less pop-cult savvy and the story almost creakily old-fashioned -lsb- than a pixar production -rsb- , it even looks like it was made in a cloudier climate : the dominant colours are muted blues and greys .", "despite its formulaic trappings , ` MOV ' proves that great heartfelt storytelling will almost always win out over big budget brawn .", "it has enough laughs and close calls to keep the target audience entertained for an hour or so .", "there are far more aspects of the film that may leave younger viewers confused and may not even be fun after lengthy parental explanations .", "an animated war epic - it does n't sound like it would fly but it does .", "these pigeons do n't fly .", "MOV never takes flight . this disney animated war film is dull and ugly .", "even though its historical references and battle scenes may fly over their heads like so many homing pigeons , kids will enjoy MOV , too , if only for its nonstop action and lively visual design .", "despite a handful of good aerial ` birdfight ' sequences , ` MOV ' fails to get off the ground due to a by-numbers script and dodo-ugly character design that add up to less than one would expect from ` shrek ' producer john h. williamsjohn h. william .", "a lame-duck movie about pigeons .", "it 's not at all clear which audience director gary chapman has his eye on .", "the script is typical family-flick underachievement , with feeble puns and other stabs at birdie personification .", "like its title character , this little animated film has heart and charm . what it will have trouble finding is an audience to appreciate it .", "-lsb- the vocal talents -rsb- and some meticulous period details make up for the film 's unsurprising plot and occasional tepid stretches .", "MOV seems built merely to distract and divert for a brisk hour-and-small-change .", "a mix of top-notch voice talents , standard computer animation and several missed story opportunities .", "unlike the terrific claymation film chicken run -lrb- 2000 -rrb- , here the jokes largely lay eggs .", "the animated tale of misfit recruits accomplishing a heroic mission lacks an integral component - humor .", "what MOV does most is give pigeons a break from the nasty ` flying rat ' reputation . aside from that , it 's does n't ruffle any feathers ." ], "summary": "MOV has a good collection of voice talents , but the story is strictly by-the-numbers .", "id": "5080" }, { "movie": "paul_blart_mall_cop", "reviews": [ "the shot of blart quietly crawling into a hostage situation inside the mall 's bank and walking through a roped line is a moment of absurd grace , only it 's shot with the vulgarity of a crash test dummies commercial .", "james and mays are engaging and a handful of moments do generate genuine laughs . not enough to justify a paid night at the movies ...", "tv 's king of queens working stiff james relocates to jersey in an even larger than life silly but good natured big screen laughathon , as the corpulent crimefighter who 's more than a little obsessive about cornering anyone shopping around for trouble .", "james makes a funny , likeable doofus , and the expansion of his girth since his hit sitcom the king of queens is used to great comic effect .", "there 's no doubt that james is a fine comedic actor and the role of paul blart fits his big frame like a well worn glove . as writers , however , he and bakay rely too heavily on slapstick ...", "the numerous making-of featurettes includes a treat for those of us in eastern massachusetts with the burlington mall highlighted ...", "an unfunny comedy with a limited imagination and a steady diet of fat jokes .", "about ten times funnier than the similarly-themed observe & report , though this silly , slapstick adventure is aimed more at kids than adults .", "the title and premise alone sound like every stupid comedy you 've avoided for decades . something was different % u2013 something was done right . three other friends shared my secret shame enjoying this amiable , broad % u2013 and subtle % u2013 romantic act", "i found myself really quite enjoying this film , partly for its cheerful guying of mall culture . the heroine , amy , works on a hair extension stand called unbeweavable .", "y si , b\u00e1sicamente se trata de re\u00edrse del gordo . pero como es el propio gordo quien sirve la broma , uno no se siente tan culpable y se r\u00ede con \u00e9l .", "what 's most disappointing here is that kevin james appears capable of far more rich and subtle comedy than he 's ever likely to be part of in a happy madison production .", "... a genial , inoffensive little comedy that coasts on the charm of its `` king of queens '' star james ...", "an almost shockingly amateurish one-note-joke comedy on which the star also shares writing and producing credit .", "-lsb- kevin james -rsb- proves to be a warm leading man who grounds the movie as it morphs into a loopy heist thriller after a promising start as something entirely different : a gentle comedy of suburban underachievement .", "paul blart : mall cop is a slapstick comedy with a hero who is a nice guy . i thought that was n't allowed anymore .", "give this to paul blart : mall cop : it delivers on everything it promises . which is to say , nearly nothing .", "somewhere beneath its mediocre comedic trappings , there 's a decent action movie trying to fight its way free .", "the end product wo n't win any oscars , but the edges of this slapstick action film retain james 's blitzkrieg sense of humor , making for a light comic adventure i 'm positive kids will flip for .", "if you are a kevin james fan you probably will want to see him rolling around , otherwise you can pass on this one to save a few bucks .", "-lsb- james -rsb- plays yet another misfit , but one who 's so two-dimensional , needy -lrb- and frankly annoying -rrb- that it 's difficult to root for him .", "like the movie 's sad-sack hero , this comedy never comes close to achieving its real potential .", "the thin comic appeal of kevin james is laid on a bit thicker in paul blart : mall cop , his first solo star vehicle for the big screen .", "a good-natured , but awkward and often unfunny comedy that bounces from sad-sack pathos to slapstick action parody", "you ca n't be too hard on a film that blows up a rainforest cafe , can you ?", "an ` arresting ' comedy . james ' best work .", "paul blart : mall cop is a tongue-planted-firmly-in-cheek force to be reckoned with .", "with only some scattershot scenes of physical humor , ` paul blart : mall cop ' does little to keep viewers safe from boredom .", "to my surprise , once the action part of the story kicked in , `` paul blart : mall cop '' transformed into a rather enjoyable comic adventure .", "men of a certain size will love paul blart - and his pursuit through the centre is remarkably inventive . truly for all the family .", "although juvenile , predictable and utterly forgettable , has an endearing central character in kevin james", "thanks to kevin james ' earnest portrayal of an earnest guy , i was won over by the film 's goofy charms .", "i know this is january , the month where dreadful movies go to die , and i know we have to take what we can get . but this ? spring has rarely seemed so far away .", "mall cops everywhere should sue . the movie is trash .", "kevin james is hard not to like . he 's a big , goofy , personable doofus better suited for a half-an-hour tv show like the king of queens than trying to carry a 90-minute movie .", "`` i just love this guy , '' james says of paul blart in the movie 's production notes . for the sake of humanity i hope and pray that barely anyone else shares his affection .", "kevin james ' slapstick comedy will amuse older tweens .", "a couple of segway jokes stretched to an hour and a half running time .", "... this is a masterpiece compared to anything rob schneider has put out only it suffers from the same form of stereotyping .", "the film 's drawback seems to be -lrb- kevin -rrb- james ' indecision on a tone as well as how to present blart .", "just one long pratfall ... an avalanche of really dumb action comedy that aims to be a variant on the inspector clouseau formula but fails miserably .", "forget the rocky character development . give me a fat guy falling down , and i 'll start to laugh .", "the road from tv star to movie leading man is loaded with ill-conceived films .", "like a mall , has long stretches where you see nothing of interest and a generally stale air to it . unlike a mall , you ca n't just browse and then move on to a better section .", "i really , really like kevin james . but this is disappointing .", "kevin james throws his weight around as the dedicated mall cop , but sometimes his actions are more silly than funny .", "there 's nothing quite like the words ` happy madison productions ' appearing on the screen to diminish my expectations concerning the movie about to unfold .", "james takes a segway , a cheesy mustache and the comic idea of die hard in a mall and bumbles his way to a lightweight but frequently funny film for the whole family .", "this is n't brain surgery ; this is daffy entertainment that plays to its strengths , with director steve carr trusting in james ' deadpan earnesty", "james gives it everything he 's got , totally committing to the character and delivering clean comedy which often times is often more difficult than creating just a raunch-fest .", "once you 've seen about the first 20 minutes of the movie , you 've got a sense of what all of the jokes were going to be .", "it 's a trivial pursuit , slathered with peanut butter .", "the hero is named for a disgusting bodily function that 's hardly pg material , but the movie itself seems to be aimed at grade schoolers .", "just as james struggles to make unfunny material tolerable , so too does the supporting cast fall flat .", "paul blart tepidly goes through its motions , but that does n't mean you have to .", "an inoffensive way to spend 90 minutes , unless of course you 're on the husky end of the spectrum , in which case they 're all going to laugh at you .", "it 's just not particularly funny . that segway , alas , only goes so far .", "as cheapo larks go , it 's a winningly unassuming one : no stars , no big action set pieces . just a fat guy , a near-empty mall , and a lot of really ridiculous ideas .", "paul blart : mall cop is like the many variations on tuna surprise that show up at potlucks : generic but with a little something added to differentiate it .", "it 's surprisingly okay , in a january kind of way .", "the last name blart may be the funniest thing in the movie , so that 's a hint as to just how bad this shopping-center saga can be .", "directed by steve carr , a man who knows how to put a camera in front of things , if little else , and written , sort of , by nick bakay and mr. james .", "i suppose the food equivalent would be that nacho cheese that comes in a can with little chunks of jalape\u0144o mixed in .", "... a hopelessly underwhelming comedy ...", "does n't offer anything new but it is an ample addition to the comedy genre , and after a mostly rip-roaring 91 minutes , you 'll understand how the film did so well in america .", "shoot me now !", "neither good enough to to really cheer for nor bad enough to really care about trashing it , it exists in that room-temperature middle where nothing feels like it matters .", "james is much better than a lot of his contemporaries at this , eschewing over-the-top clowning for actual humanity . but it all gets thrown out the window in the second half . maybe he 'll do better next time .", "in places the plot sags a bit and some jokes do n't quite hit their mark or tickle the funny bone as much as they 're obviously meant to .", "save for its dalliance with the everyman action movie , there 's no surprises in paul blart : mall cop , another largely listless comedy from sandler 's happy madison production company .", "unmemorable , unfunny and unoriginal .", "it 's only almost the making of a comedy classic .", "unfunny , unoriginal and tedious - mall cop is successful only at living up to the standard set by past films that have begun with the words ` a happy madison production ' .", "avoid this mall cop and just go shopping instead .", "perfectly inoffensive and almost entirely unfunny .", "it 's a juvenile motion picture designed primarily for a juvenile audience . but there 's a little more here than one might reasonably expect .", "laughs occasionally ensue .", "some people really love goofy comedy , and for those people there 's paul blart : mall cop . you can bring the kids .", "james , at his best when he lets loose , plays his character a little too straight and so loses some of the movie 's comic potential .", "-lsb- the film -rsb- oo often settles for easy , lazy jokes , most of which revolve around either food or running into stuff .", "paul blart : mall cop is so inconsequential you forget about it even before the movie is over .", "sensationally stupid , haphazardly made and qualifying as unmitigated trash by any standards , paul blart : mall cop also manages to be consistently hilarious , thanks to star kevin james .", "this comedy from adam sandler 's happy madison production company takes itself too seriously for its own good .", "never delivers the big laughs this star in this promising premise really should .", "parental content review", "so , as much as i hate to be mean , it is my solemn responsibility as a movie reviewer to award MOV a frowny face . -lrb- do n't hate me , kevin james ! or you either , steve carr ! -rrb-", "adept at physical comedy , kevin james -- who co-wrote the ` paul blart : mall cop ' script -- emerges the king of his retail domain .", "who could have imagined that , mere days into 2009 , we 'd already have a formidable contender for the worst film of the year !?", "boring and predictable in both its narrative and its aesthetics , paul blart : mall cop is dumbed-down , low-rent slapstick with stereotypes galore and a violent undercurrent that does n't sit well .", "it 's die hard meets home alone on a segway ! except , kevin james is not as cute as macaulay culkin and not as tough as bruce willis .", "james , who co-wrote , endows the title character with such piercing sweetness that even his geeky pretensions are endearing .", "this dim-bulb , family-oriented slapstick film benefits greatly from james ' knack for physical comedy , but it 's ultimately too bland and uninspired .", "... after a dismal first half hour , it changes from a piteous low intellect attempt at humor to a light-hearted takeoff on bruce willis and the `` die hard '' movies .", "paul blart delivers laughs , yes , but it 's only one great slapstick actor and a little bit of heart away from being just another truly idiotic comedy .", "paul blart : mall cop is a perfect display of clich\u00e9s and predictability but i could n't help but laugh at kevin james riding the scooter and his addiction to pixie sticks .", "... a silly film that exists primarily as a vehicle for james ... this marks the emergence of a comedy star who may get to fulfill the promise he shows here in films to come .", "producer adam sandler must have though so little of the film that he did n't even see it fit for a rob schneider cameo .", "oh my goodness , it 's a ripoff of die hard . a shameless ripoff that gets more and more shameless the longer it goes on ...", "you 'd better shop around % u2014you could probably find an unfunny comedy with an unappealing hero and clumsily shot action choreography for much less than retail price . maybe the straight-to-dvd bin ?", "to call this kevin james comedy fatuous might be misinterpreted as an attack on the star 's girth -- so how about inane , tepid , lazy , puerile , phony , and unfunny ?", "surprisingly winning .", "you might chuckle occasionally as the film drones on to a close , but mostly you 'll be wondering when it will all end .", "it 's unlikely that even wall-e could bring himself to scoop up this movie and leave it on his post-apocalyptic junk heap .", "not a bad premise , but most of the comedy just dies . hard .", "co-produced by adam sandler , mall cop has an innate sweetness that 's reminiscent of sandler 's 1998 romantic comedy the wedding singer , although the laughs do n't quite reach those levels .", "a senseless hollywood comedy .", "unfathomably unfunny ... centered around mean-spirited fat jokes", "the film is completely forgettable , frequently funny and weirdly satisfying in a jersey loser gets respect kind of way .", "unlike james himself , the movie is a few bricks shy of a load , which explains why a movie obviously ticketed for a holiday release has backed up to mid-january .", "a shamelessly sentimental comedy with a few crude gags thrown in arbitrarily .", "-lsb- has -rsb- such obviously humble intentions that busting on it is a bit like harassing the junior high school outcast who just wants to eat his tater tots in peace .", "-lsb- james ' -rsb- remarkably winning performance turns blart into the ultimate underdog -- a decent guy who 's finally having the kind of day he deserves .", "mostly this film spins its wheels not unlike the way that paul spins the wheels of his mall-issued segway % u2122 ." ], "summary": "paul blart : mall cop has some laughs , but its plot is flimsy and lacking in any sustained comic momentum .", "id": "770782196" }, { "movie": "four_weddings_and_a_funeral", "reviews": [ "some of the funniest scenes bounce off the nightmares of every bride and groom before the wedding .", "MOV provides us with a taste of drama , a bunch of laughs and , most importantly , some restraint .", "a high-spirited romantic comedy of intoxicating fun .", "grant at his bumbling , fumbling best .", "harmless entertainment , but overpraised .", "a grocery store would sell this on its generic shelf : the brittle upper-class british cleverness is strictly standard issue .", "a witty romantic comedy with a sardonic edge .", "macdowell 's dull drawl drags doings down .", "the comedy in the film is howlingly funny . but as the title suggests , there is also a funeral , which has some very poignant scenes .", "comparisons to another grant named cary are not entirely out of place .", "entirely charming ... and i half-expected to hate this flick .", "not everything works out neatly for everyone , but life seems a little better by the end of two hours ' struggle , for the characters and for the audience . -lsb- blu-ray -rsb-", "conveys everything that is hilariously and poignantly true about the ceremonies we use to tie the knot and bid loved ones farewell .", "the movie dazzles with its slick lines , but there 's a situational intelligence at play too .", "the setup is too arch to support the movie 's detour into poignance , though john hannah does give a moving reading of w. h. auden 's `` funeral blues . ''", "there are movies so breezy , even flimsy , that you can enjoy them as genial providers of an evening 's entertainment yet forget all about them by the time you leave the multiplex .", "the infectious charm and sunny goodwill of MOV can so immediately buoy a soul ravaged by winter weather and winter movies .", "british films are rarely as funny or as charming .", "sexy , funny , romantic comedy at its finest .", "if anyone asks if you want to see MOV , just say `` i do . ''", "hugh grant 's body english captures every nuance of his character 's confusion precisely and hilariously .", "MOV is a rare movie commodity , an adult comedy that takes a mostly smart , mordant approach to such topics as sex and romance .", "the pitch-perfect profanity , bumbling romanticism and hugh grant 's floppy-fringed charm remain enduringly , endearingly funny .", "most of the acting is first-rate , with special credit going to grant as the hero and simon callow in a memorable supporting role .", "MOV is one of those rare films that have you smiling from the get-go , and keep you that way -- with a few well-earned poignant interludes -lrb- including , of all things , a reading of w.h. auden -rrb- -- right to the end .", "deftly written by richard curtis and directed by the versatile mike newell , four weddings is as good as its word , breezily following a small circle of friends through every one of the events the title promises .", "although the film is basically a light romantic comedy , it could n't be more psychologically astute in its portrait of a man who defines himself by his bachelorhood , which empowers him to get past his fear of commitment .", "this is a decidedly lightweight film but well made and one that has occasionally very funny gags .", "as directed with a light touch by mike newell , there 's little doubt as to where it is going or how it will be resolved . that 's all right , since getting there is so much fun .", "neatly structured and full of genuine warmth for its characters , richard curtis 's oscar-nominated screenplay is superbly observed and well served by mike newell 's deft direction .", "it 's bright and spirited and well-paced .", "a very good viewing experience .", "the simplest and most honest expression of praise that i can offer mike newell 's latest movie is that it represents two hours of solid movie magic .", "if ever a film resembled a wedding cake it is MOV , a multi-tiered confection with a romantic spirit and an enchantingly pretty veneer .", "a very funny and warm effort , four weddings strives to recapture the screwball sensibility of another era , succeeding to a surprising degree .", "an intelligent romantic comedy that appeals to our love of happy endings , without making it too trite .", "funny , agreeably sweet and exceptionally well acted and directed .", "the movie is funny . it 's mostly entertaining .", "take a date ; it 's great fun .", "four weddings is more a romantic screwball comedy , one is as intoxicated by words , dialogue and characters as by love .", "delightful and sly .", "the players , who include simon callow , kristin scott thomas , rowan atkinson and sophie thompson , exude comedic brightness as they go about their gossipy , farcical , self-deprecating , sorry-about-that-old-chap , just-being-english business .", "light-hearted english comedy with a hilarious wedding ceremony filled with bloopers .", "overhyped , overrated , overdone ...", "what can we say . a classic is a classic is a classic .", "a perky , funny ensemble comedy that perversely pushes its great cast out of the way so andie macdowell can snooze on center-stage .", "a british comedy that 's classy and commercial -- and , most important , very , very funny .", "richard curtis ' screenplay nicely blends humor with drama , ensuring that some of the more serious moments never seem jarring or out of place .", "the colorful cast brings it all home , and the film has become something of a minor classic in its genre .", "courting stardom , grant delivers an engaging performance in mike newell 's romantic comedy about the horrors of flying solo in a married world .", "truly beguiling romantic comedy is one of the hardest things for a modern film to pull off , but a winning british team has done it in MOV .", "this elegantly shot , well acted british comedy is an updated version of hollywood screwball comedies , boasting an intriguing narrative structure ." ], "summary": "while frothy to a fault , MOV features irresistibly breezy humor , and winsome performances from hugh grant and andie macdowell .", "id": "15959" }, { "movie": "affair_of_the_necklace", "reviews": [ "a crass , often ridiculously misguided period drama that spells everything out in nice , big block letters so even a small child could comprehend it .", "a cheap bauble of a flick .", "jeanne is no fun at all .", "... takes a fascinating footnote and reduces it to a mediocre and fitfully entertaining film .", "swank 's honest mistake is in trying to be worthy of a project that 's beneath her .", "i felt as if i was at an yves st. laurent fashion show and the actors were modeling the latest in 18th-century fashions .", "... what really sinks the film is its script ...", "much of the dramatic juice and intrigue have been drained out of this old-fashioned costume drama , that in the hands of director charles shyer and actress hilary swank becomes stiff , stuffy , and banal affair .", "-lsb- swank 's -rsb- out of her league here and her tendency to underplay -- as if she were afraid of the material and did n't want to risk anything flamboyant or bold -- makes her performance seem tentative , half-felt .", "the kind of movie made bearable only by uttering snide comments to a friend .", "the film has a desperate , disjointed feel that suggests the filmmakers realized it was n't working and kept trying , ineffectually , to fix it .", "the MOV drags and meanders when it wants clarity and clockwork , and bogs down in hazy , vague emotions .", "a general air of petulance and decadence fails to give the piece much resonance .", "the storytelling is hopelessly compromised by the movie 's decision to sympathize with jeanne .", "this sumptuously designed film ... has all the ingredients of a juicy historical romp . but it 's bloodless , fussy , and undermined by hilary swank 's stiff , one-note performance .", "it may not be dangerous liaisons , but it 's a rendezvous that 's largely worth risking .", "hilary swank and simon baker make an especially attractive couple who have several electrifying moments onscreen .", "though necklace might be pretty much useless in every other respect , at the very least , it 's proof that swank has the stuff real stars are made of .", "as a history lesson , the movie is entertaining enough , but at times you long to get out of versailles and join the rabble in paris .", "while this fact-challenged period piece has all the glam of a good costume drama -lrb- think amadeus -rrb- , there 's nothing underneath the corsets .", "there 's no fury to the movie , repressed or otherwise , which may be why when the revolution arrives , it has all the impact of a guillotine with a deadly dull blade .", "the MOV improves as it rolls along , owing much to its eminently appealing cast .", "feels like it 's been clintonized in order to achieve some degree of non-gallic interest .", "no matter how ornate or magnificent a strand of jewels might be , it 's not the most effective device to pin a story on .", "an impressive achievement on the part of the writer , john sweet , as well as the director , charles shyer .", "while director charles shyer ... may have succeeded in creating an appropriate environment for all this skulduggery , he does so at the expense of coherent storytelling and drama .", "the psychology is muddled , the badinage is bad and the acting is inadequate .", "it is a pleasant , but forgettable film , worth seeing for the tale itself and for baker 's and price 's performances .", "watching it is rather like strolling through an overstuffed museum exhibit in the company of a dry-as-dust , long-winded guide constantly chattering into your ear .", "valois has the potential to be a great character -- a woman who refuses to stay in her socially prescribed feminine role , but swank instead highlights her passive characteristics and domestic longings .", "oddly cast and ploddingly executed .", "shyer 's film denies us the double dip of vice and virtue . it 's moralistic .", "a discombobulated , transparently fictionalized french revolutionary melodrama .", "an endless illustrated harlequin paperback of mawkish backstory and corset-popping purple prose .", "far too sodden to light my fire .", "it 's all about as elegant as jewelry from a home-shopping channel .", "the MOV has costume-drama snob appeal in spades , 't is true , but this is pure bodice-ripper romance , done up right .", "memo to hilary swank : fire your agent .", "shyer could have tightened the actors ' creative reins a bit , along with the meandering story , but alas , we instead get an all-too-much affair to forget .", "this ham-handed period piece could cast oscar winner hilary swank back to the ranks she came from .", "the intrigue is stretched out long beyond when it remains intriguing and it all grows quite dull .", "beautifully acted and mounted .", "sadly , oscar-winner swank is completely miscast and seems every bit a 20th-century woman , even in a corset and silly wig .", "the result is a mess , but a fairly enjoyable one , with some gorgeous period detail .", "little more than sexed-up soap opera in powdered wigs .", "shyer ... fails to whip the production into anything very special , and swank seems hopelessly miscast and weak at its center .", "shyer ... exhibits little flair for the ebb and flow of a costume caper movie .", "hokey , embarrassing costumer .", "this is a good example of what can happen when a bunch of grownup humans who really ought to know better get funny ideas about art .", "rolled out in limited release in the hopes of making some lists -- the last and cruellest irony of the MOV is that it will succeed", "-lsb- after 90 minutes -rsb- the film drags on for another half-hour and unnecessarily pads the finale until it seems interminable .", "both swank and shyer sink without a trace into the fog of the story trying to be told .", "i 'm sure that it 's sort of a ` fractured fairy tale ' version of the real events that happened , but the fact that it was inspired by real-life events made me enjoy it all the more .", "the entire film seems a series of disjointed pieces , a screenful of iron filings waiting in vain for the magnet that will line them up in a unified field .", "the performances are really good , and if you 're into clothes , this is fascinating , but the film itself is pretty much a bore .", "the MOV is no paperback romance or swashbuckler it at first appears to be , but rather the remarkable odyssey of a young woman who lived to tell her amazing story herself ." ], "summary": "a film about court intrigue , the MOV turns out to be more dull than juicy . swank seems flat and miscast in the central role of jeanne .", "id": "14830" }, { "movie": "wordplay", "reviews": [ "the film succeeds by following the spellbound format and formula .", "the competition is less interesting than the revelation of a crossword culture in which fans can identify the style of professional puzzle constructors -lrb- ` that 's a merle reagle ' -rrb- the way music buffs might recognize a guitar lick -lrb- ` that 's steve cropper ' -rrb- .", "a fun documentary about those who make puzzles and those who do them .", "as diverting as it is derivative ...", "creadon 's inventive visuals turn puzzle-solving into a spectator sport .", "... fills in the blanks with genial zeal .", "an affable , lightweight documentary about crossword puzzle aficionados .", "how do you make an entertaining film about a solitary and cerebral pastime , however popular ? that 's the puzzle that creadon never really solves .", "enough of this curiously fascinating subject is in play in the film , and the range of fans creadon interviews -lrb- from yankee pitcher mike mussina to the indigo girls to president clinton -rrb- demonstrates the broad appeal .", "a playful , informative and very sweet documentary about the world of words ` across ' or ` down . '", "MOV has no subject , finally , besides the puzzle you could be solving instead .", "niceness ... takes the edge off patrick creadon 's otherwise revitalizing documentary .", "there are seemingly few subjects less cinematic than poindexters filling out grids and boxes , but the filmmakers create a palpable sense of excitement by dividing the screen into split screens that invite audiences to fill out puzzles alongside the film 's", "what is an eight letter word for a totally engrossing and entertaining documentary about crossword puzzles , those who create them and those who obsessively solve them ?", "first , spelling bees , then , penguins and now ... crossword puzzles ? unlikely as it seems , this warm-hearted , star-flecked inquiry into the word-game habit could very well be this summer 's hit documentary .", "here is yet another documentary built around a competition -- in this case the 28th annual crossword puzzle tournament in stamford , conn. .", "-lsb- an -rsb- amiable brainiacs-are-cool documentary .", "a playful documentary about crossword puzzle-heads that is a total delight from start to finish .", "creadon manages to find the tension in the sight of a bunch of people frantically penciling letters into small boxes .", "whether or not you enjoy word puzzles , it 's hard to resist this eager-to-please documentary about crosswords and the people behind them .", "this movie is done so well that even if you 're like me and do n't do crossword puzzles , you 'll still be entertained .", "similar in structure to the recent movie spellbound , MOV is a fun documentary about an american institution and national habit .", "boy , was i wrong . there 's more palm-sweating suspense in one minute of this baby than in all of the omen .", "director patrick creadon has turned crossword puzzling into a spectator sport .", "as pleasant and good-natured as MOV is , it 's not exactly potent stuff ''", "a poignant inside look into the world of crossover puzzles of the ny times .", "patrick creadon 's documentary about the new york times crossword puzzle 's creators and fans is a positively joyful movie that will appeal even to audiences who have little affinity for the mind-bending puzzles .", "if the movie emphasizes anything , it affirms that common-interest societies like this ... all survive by sharing the traits of community , devotion , and mutual dedication .", "where MOV wins is not so much in the contest footage , but in its interviews with average , everyday crossword puzzle junkies .", "a five-letter synonym for this movie : zzzzz .", "enticing , delightful and any word for ` highly entertaining ' that will fit in a bunch of little boxes on a page .", "this is like finding the spellbound kids trapped in perpetual mania .", "MOV functions as a playful celebration of brain power , and in that respect , it gets its point across . and down .", "it 's so rare , and so delightful , to see a film that unabashedly celebrates folks who are supersmart and feel no need to hide it that that alone is reason to check out this unexpectedly riveting film .", "a rousing endorsement of the principles of fair play and communication .", "creadon approaches his subject with the same respect and intelligence shortz credits his audience .", "the fact that MOV works as a film at all is a testament to its skill .", "less than riveting filmmaking , but if you 're a puzzler , you 'll probably enjoy it .", "brain-busting and amusing , it does for puzzlers what `` spellbound '' did for spelling bees and `` mad hot ballroom '' did for dance competitions .", "insight into an intriguing little world bound by a grid and the human imagination", "using a slew of interesting interviews and a brilliant visual device , filmmaker patrick creadon treats the ordinarily solitary pursuit of ` crossword-puzzling ' as a kind of spectator sport .", "it 's entertaining , brainy and eye opening .", "engaging without being especially insightful or compelling .", "this is so joyous , without being condescending , that one ca n't help but feel good .", "while the handling of the matter may seem slight , this is crossword puzzles we 're talking about here , not rocket science - you enjoy them , throw them away , and move on .", "one of the great nerd docs about nerds in recent years .", "-lsb- MOV -rsb- cheerfully and winningly celebrates the passionate practitioners of crossword puzzles .", "less interested in reinventing the non-fiction wheel than in providing a rousing , addictively brainy good time .", "a fitting tribute to ambitious thinkers who see life as a series of blanks waiting to be filled in .", "-lsb- a -rsb- charming documentary from first-time director patrick creadon .", "MOV gave me new respect for the intelligence of those who solve them well , and admiration for those who create them .", "intriguing , surprising and stimulating , MOV is much more than a documentary about a crossword tournament . anyone who is remotely interested in the english language will be fascinated", "even though these puzzles are mapped out with utmost precision -- and even though logic is an extremely useful tool for solving them -- they 're still , somehow , objects of intrigue and mystery .", "their world of puzzles is like an alternate universe and this film offers a window into it .", "is n't the nail-biter that the 2003 spelling-bee documentary ` spellbound ' was -lrb- but -rrb- creadon and editor doug blush successfully build suspense and find unexpected drama and comedy in the competition .", "a wonderful little documentary that seems fascinated with humanity .", "cleverly devised and creatively made in ways that ought to make its subject accessible to anyone .", "so there 's this new documentary about crossword puzzles ... wait , get back here !", "i have to admit that for me these self-proclaimed nerds are more interesting and impressive than anything that i have ever seen in a nfl documentary .", "it 's a movie about crosswords , as seen through -lsb- puzzlers ' -rsb- eyes , and it makes us one of them as we learn how to do crosswords by their side .", "whatever the documentary 's flaws , the filmmakers should be saluted for giving us a rare glimpse of life in these trenches .", "i have never so badly wanted to finish a crossword .", "what 's an 11-letter phrase for fellowship ? the answer is ` camaraderie ' -- and it 's on view in every scene in this film .", "with affectionate humor and quirky , low-key charm , first-time documentary filmmaker patrick creadon leads us on an engaging tour of the world of new york times/npr puzzle guru will shortz .", "affectionate , smartly done promo for puzzling .", "it has a charming protagonist in will shortz , the crossword editor of the new york times .", "oh , beckham can bend it and shaq can dunk , but , in the annals of spectator sports , nothing can compare with the sight of rugged down-and-acrossers strutting their stuff on the vast playing field of words .", "this is an odd and endearing look at the minds behind those tricky puzzles as well as the minds on the receiving end of all that down and across .", "now you may be thinking that crossword puzzles would a pretty thin idea to hang 80 minutes of movie on ... and you 'd be right .", "bright , concise and to the point .", "a light , breezy documentary that introduces us to a genial gang of crossword puzzle fans whose passion for the pastime is gleefully infectious .", "a film so crammed with characters and quirks that you 'll smile all the way home .", "the film is made with a lot of style and visual ingenuity .", "the most minor entry in the brainiac-doc genre to date , it 's nevertheless a perfectly entertaining hour and a half for crossword adepts .", "creadon has a lively , jazzy touch , and he enjoys an embarrassment of engaging subjects .", "even if you 've never done a crossword in your life or been frustrated by the attempt , you will likely be drawn into this intriguing world through the enthusiasm expressed by its adherents .", "just like its predecessors , MOV is likable and engaging . it 's even , at times , a cut above .", "... it 's hard to resist the charms of MOV , particularly if ... you have a touch -lrb- or more than a touch -rrb- of the puzzle geek within .", "MOV is geared towards those fanatics who ca n't get enough of the so-called sport .", "so many aspects of our lives are mundane that just having some sort of passion ... means that people are taking time to engage themselves in more than merely subsistence . that demonstrates that there is culture left in the world ...", "though it does n't delve deep into the personalities of the amiably nerdy players , the nimbly edited film manages to eke some tension out of a three-way championship match .", "working from a template made familiar by such recent documentaries as spellbound and mad hot ballroom , MOV provides a series of clues that artfully explain the defining madness of the times crossword .", "even if you do n't know an em from an en , you 'll be amazed by MOV 's ability to take you into the mind of a crossword puzzle enthusiast .", "warm , lively and organized around an ingenious structural conceit .", "writer and director patrick creadon makes us care about this passionate cast and finds visually inventive ways to illustrate the players ' thought processes .", "finishing a crossword puzzle may be satisfying , but patrick creadon 's absorbing documentary MOV proves that it 's more interesting to see how one gets started .", "get ready to attend the world 's biggest celebration of nerds !", "this documentary is not for everyone , but if you 've ever enjoyed sitting down with coffee and a crossword , you 're part of a very large group of people who will ` get ' this film .", "dramatic , especially for those moviegoers who tax their brains working crosswords .", "it 's a simple tribute to a smart man -lsb- shortz -rsb- , an elite , who knew what he wanted .", "manages to present lively and entertaining portraits of men and women who think in boxes while working outside of them .", "playful and delightful , it 's a wonderfully and breezily entertaining film .", "it manages to turn an internal , solitary activity into fodder for an engaging , even exciting movie .", "there 's a surface satisfaction to MOV that 's absolutely undeniable . but there are also just enough smarts here to make you wish for something more .", "if you 're the kind of person who has never attempted a crossword more challenging than the celebrity-themed puzzles found in the back of star magazine , it 's remarkable how gripping and just plain fun you 'll find MOV .", "in the resourceful documentary MOV , action does n't speak louder than words . instead , these components have the same creative cache worth exploring .", "MOV is downright whimsical in its love and appreciation for the crossword crowd .", "thankfully , just when you 're ready to nod off , stewart comes back . watching him attack the times with his pen and screaming ` bring it ! ' is worth the price of admission .", "a sincere , comprehensive look at the inside world of hardcore crossword puzzling .", "patrick creadon has configured a piece which you may think appeals only to people crazy enough to devote a portion of every day to solving crossword puzzles . that would be wrong .", "a funny look at the subculture of crossword puzzling , a study of both solver and constructor -lrb- like mr. reagle -rrb- that culminates in the annual tournament to determine the best solver in america .", "engaging documentary that opens up a world of words .", "every bit as smart as the times puzzles , puzzlemakers and puzzle solvers .", "what 's an eight-letter word for a non-fiction feature that is witty , wise and wonderful ?", "an exhilarating celebration of a national pastime .", "MOV captures the exhilaration that comes from navigating the ins and outs of complex puzzles . it also celebrates the english language in a way that is stimulating and immensely entertaining .", "... like a good crossword , it is artfully constructed .", "for those of you who think you 're pretty adept at solving crossword puzzles , as i do , think again . we are basically all rank amateurs .", "word nerds get their props in this gleefully geeked-out doc .", "this is the kind of documentary that is a must for anyone who steadfastly spends the time each day or week to complete his or her favorite crossword .", "a cute , quirky but predominately superficial portrait of brainy wordsmiths .", "an enjoyable and entertaining distraction that makes crossword puzzles seem a hell of a lot cooler and hipper than they 've ever been .", "a delightful diversion .", "a composite portrait of the estimated 50 million americans weekly -- including bill clinton , bob dole and jon stewart - who clear the cobwebs from their mental machinery by completing a crossword .", "well-polished and craftily constructed , this is a documentary that 's at its best when sitting down with the various crossword crackers from around the country", "a delightfully unimportant and entertaining documentary about the new york times crossword puzzle .", "punsters , linguists and crossword puzzle fanatics everywhere could n't ask for a more bracing tribute than helmer patrick creadon 's buoyant and exhilaratingly brainy docudocu MOV .", "for those curious as to the activity 's history , this quirky cast of characters provides all you want to know and more ." ], "summary": "you see them hunched over with their brows furrowed , folded newspaper in hand as they attempt to complete the crossword puzzle . this may even describe you . this ingeniously edited documentary introduces viewers to some of the more dedicated fans of this solitary pastime , none more well-known the puzzle editor for the new york times , will shortz . this underground world provides a surprising amount of crowd-pleasing entertainment and suspense , especially at the annual crossword tournament . did n't know there was one , did you ?", "id": "155655174" }, { "movie": "men_in_black_iii", "reviews": [ "sonnenfeld ... gets just enough juice out of the time-travel idea to give men in black 3 a lift .", "it 's not quite as fresh as the first one , but it 's better than the second .", "the third film manages to remember what the second film forgot about the first film : be fun .", "an early surprise for the summer , men in black 3 defies the odds as a fun , flawed romp with an unexpectedly sweet , affecting climax . but they need to call it a day here .", "those expecting wanton alien bashing will not be disappointed ... but be prepared for more of a sentimental time-travelling journey down memory lane ...", "ultimately , it proves to be a bit long in the tooth , but a few bits manage to do the series proud .", "mad men in black", "lighting has clearly escaped from the bottle .", "nothing worse than a action comedy that delivers neither quality action nor comedy .", "a fitting , franchise finale featuring all the fixins for a satisfying sendoff !", "by the time the credits roll , MOV makes you wish you , too , could travel back in time , skip the movie and see the original for the first time .", "not bad but not memorable , it seems to only exist as a kind of nostalgic revival piece , a belated attempt to wring one last curtain-call from a long-dead series .", "its opening sequences are a near marvel of confusion , mayhem and embarrassments for its actors . if it was a person , you 'd worry it had dementia .", "the plot swirls around in fun and frothy circles for much of the running time , but like a dog chasing its tail never quite gets where it wants to go .", "if it 's not nearly as fresh and clever as the 1997 men in black , it restores a bit of luster to the series after the dud sequel of 2002 .", "rick baker 's creepy-crawly critters continue to impress , but sadly they 're the most original and imaginative thing about men in black 3 . the humans ? do n't make me laugh .", "men in black 3 is almost good enough to make you care about its existence . and yet not quite .", "-lsb- brolin 's -rsb- performance defies explanation ; it 's mysteriously marvelous .", "`` men in black 3 '' has got the mib mojo back - well , most of it anyway .", "the fresh blood added to mib3 makes it such an enjoyable movie . brolin 's evocation of jones never fails to amuse .", "the unexpected spark between smith and brolin makes mib3 primo summer fun .", "you 've already got a hidden universe of alien inhabitants below the surface of normality , why throw in time travel as well , especially when the family guy does it better ?", "the movie 's a mixed bag , but a cheery , sunny , nifty-looking one , whose emotional strokes count for more than its predecessors ' surly attitude .", "mib 3 is fun yet forgettable . nice to see mr. smith back on the screen .", "lackadaisically conceived splooge .", "silly , lightweight , completely unnecessary but surprisingly fun .", "nothing more than nonsensical escapist entertainment .", "the standout here is brolin , who nails jones ' mannerisms and vocal tics . every time he calls smith `` slick , '' hondo '' or `` sport '' you almost expect to see jones standing behind him .", "the third act resolves into the thrill-park experience high-concept movies of this type typically become , before ending on a note of unexpected -lrb- and possibly uncanonical -rrb- sweetness . in the end , mib3 is surprisingly touching . it may make you wet your eyes .", "despite having such a franchise-ready concept , it 's becoming all the more clear that 1997 's original mib is a perfectly self-contained action comedy that need n't have been sequelized .", "moderately enjoyable ...", "a lazy , paceless lump of special effects and zero laughs", "this third installment does n't do anything notable enough to justify the franchise 's revival , critically lacking in ambition , originality and narrative direction .", "josh brolin impersonating the young tommy lee jones is worth the price of admission to `` men in black 3 . ''", "it 's bright and cheerful and , in a hokey third act twist , generically sweet .", "sonnenfeld should be proud of himself for reinvigorating this series and making it a witty , entertaining , joy ride from start to finish .", "even if mib3 exists simply to gobble up cash and rejuvenate some careers , it 's a reasonably engaging bit of disposable entertainment .", "at this point , the franchise seems as exhausted as its two stars look .", "will smith is funny , but josh brolin as young agent k is so exceptional at mimicking the tight-lipped tommy lee jones that he steals the show . if only the story had unforgettable moments . or have we been neuralized ?", "it 's not bad , but it 's not great either .", "it evaporates almost as soon as it reaches your retinas .", "the men in black are back , baby .", "if , inevitably , it 's not as fresh or inventive as the original , it does that thing of riffing on the old favourites in a way that flatters the audience 's familiarity pretty well .", "sonnenfeld imbues each scene with impish humour , from a protracted kiss that churns stomachs to a slime-slathered skirmish with a giant fish .", "men in black 3 is a series of okay gags and okay action sequences , with enough elements to make it moderately enjoyable .", "j threatens to `` pimpslap the shiznit '' out of andy warhol , and the artist is befuddled by his ultra-hip parlance . if someone said that to me today , i too would assume they were a time-traveller , but from 1995 and not the future .", "a character-driven story that resurrects this entertaining franchise .", "for families looking for a fun trip to the movies , or even a casual night out with friends looking for easy to digest entertainment , there is enough enjoyment to be had .", "although it still remains the threequel nobody was demanding to see , MOV works as a solid creature feature filled with memorable performances and remarkable visual effects .", "mib 3 does justice to the fun and whimsy of the original , and gives you a surprisingly emotional insight into the characters - it travelled back in time to save this franchise from dying .", "in a summer hardly starved of comic-book properties , this redundant extension of a series that ran out of gas a decade ago does n't need a neuralyzer to be forgettable .", "there is genuine heart in the reteaming of j and k , certainly sufficient to warrant mib3 's existence ; enough , perhaps , to even trumpet it .", "sonnenfeld and cohen move their baby along with an integrity and gait that ought to serve as a blueprint for other filmmakers faced with the particular challenges of reviving big-ticket and time-dated hunks of pop culture .", "brolin 's performance is funny , masterful , confident , and more than a little unsettling . if one human being can sample another , that 's what 's going on here .", "it 's better than the first one .", "sonnenfeld 's mildly overachieving film is n't essential , but it finds just enough ways to justify its existence beyond the insatiable demands of commerce .", "the franchise is no doubt a little dated , yet will smith 's first film since 2008 's seven pounds is a likable dose of brain-neuralising entertainment .", "josh brolin 's hilarious turn as the younger version of the character made famous by tommy lee jones is alone worth the price of admission .", "`` MOV '' is n't bad , certainly not as bad as it might have been . but it 's not exactly good , either . mostly , it 's something else : unnecessary .", "like an alien trapped in a human host , a better movie is itching to burst out of `` men in black 3 . ''", "most of the special effects are repeats of those seen in the first `` mib '' movie and the only new element is brolin 's amazing performance as the young tommy lee jones .", "the back story plot works fine , but fans will enjoy what they love best about the mib series - the visuals .", "a clear improvement over its nigh disastrous predecessor ...", "sonnenfeld wisely plays to the strengths of the series ' longevity , drawing some genuine emotion out of the buddy routine between slick-talking j and granite-faced k", "third time 's the charm ; director barry sonnenfeld finally nails a story cool enough for the men in black .", "while it 's fairly watchable , it 's not a particularly memorable film .", "the main draw is the hanging out and goofing around , something smith does really , exceedingly well .", "same silly sci-fi premise as before , but with much , much better special effects .", "mib3 is n't as good as the original , but it has a sufficient number of enjoyable moments and a delightful homage to tommy lee jones ' agent k by josh brolin .", "brolin is brilliant in his portrayal of agent k in 1969 . the interplay between will smith -lrb- agent j -rrb- and josh brolin -lrb- agent k -rrb- is very entertaining . smith uses his wide repertoire of facial expressions to great advantage .", "a palatable reprise of men in black", "third alien adventure is fun , less memorable than the first .", "almost good enough to neuralyze your memories of mib2 .", "i would have liked to have seen a more imaginative script , especially considering the premise and all of the possibilities it presents , but there 's enough decent material to warrant a slight recommendation . -lrb- full content review for parents also available -rrb-", "you stop questioning the sight of hairballs launching scorpion boomerangs or shopkeepers dropping their trousers to reveal they 're teddy ruxpin 's pal , grubby .", "a nice throwback to the original and a fun film in its own right .", "the world has n't been craving another men in black sequel as much as will smith 's agent .", "if there ever is a `` men in black iv '' -- and at this point , it 's hard to imagine one -- let 's hope it finds that delicate balance between the yuks and the yucks .", "is the goofy mib formula - a mix of deadpan acting cool and eye-popping creature effects - still funny ? happily , director barry sonnenfeld 's ingenious sequel proves the answer is yes .", "-lsb- e -rsb- ven though it manages to escape the been-there-done-that feeling of the second movie , men in black 3 still never fully justifies its existence .", "even a film with great eye-candy like this one fails to satisfy as it lacks a solid screenplay .", "a harmless bit of summer entertainment that does n't require a lot of heavy thinking and should offer fans of the original enough of what they hoped for to not be considered a dud .", "so much of MOV just kind of sits there .", "the time travel conceit is not as fresh or smart as the fans would have liked , but the film is more entertaining than the second chapter , and will smith 's charismatic performance dominates the polished package .", "it 's hard to imagine it wo n't be a hit , and hard to begrudge that success , no matter how saturated we are with comic-book properties and sequels .", "this only mildly bloated and convoluted action comedy has enough inspired moments to wipe out memories of the abysmal 2002 first sequel as surely as one of the black-suited heroes ' nebulizers .", "stars smith and jones deliver a few scenes of enjoyably antagonistic banter but neither seems as fully committed to this kind of comedy as in the earlier films .", "in this age of blockbuster bloat , sonnenfeld 's willingness to wrap things up well before the two-hour mark , as well as his eschewal of sledgehammer product placement , count as gestures of considerable mercy .", "never inept , but almost completely inert .", "engrossing and entertaining , sizzling with comedy , suspense and intrigue .", "enjoyable sequel with an engaging plot and superb performances from smith and brolin , but it 's not quite as funny as it should have been and certain scenes seem to have mysteriously gone missing .", "what makes the film work is a marvelous performance by josh brolin as a younger 1969 version of k.", "the thing is still too loud and too big in many respects , but it offers some satisfactions that the average blockbuster rarely even bothers to imagine .", "when even the most charismatic actor on the planet ca n't fake excitement , you know you 're in trouble .", "more like an attempt to reenergize a franchise than rebottle the lightning that electrified the original .", "this is a heartless , cheerless mess , a meandering 100-minute excuse to enter the already overflowing summer movie fray . here , the hipster irony that made the first film fly is all but dead . in its place is a flat feeling of deja vu .", "is there any big movie star performance more genuinely charming than will smith 's agent j ? even when this latest chapter in the series is at its sloggiest , smith saves the day .", "it 's been ten years ... but it 's been worth the wait .", "if you are a fan of the mib franchise , you should enjoy this movie . it 's a bit cartoony at times but overall it is a fun ride .", "it 's just not good it 's bland , it 's dull . you would think you 'd have an interesting story after all these years , think again . the aliens in this movie make alf look like james bond", "in many ways , mib3 is an old-fashioned , alien-hunting saturday matinee movie - and that 's how we saw it .", "director barry sonnenfeld was the cinematographer on misery , raising arizona and blood simple - and there is no doubt he has a signature , comedic camera style that works for his material .", "not nearly as silly as the others , the time warp gimmick works .", "the oversized sci-fi fantasy , the super cool weaponry , the ultra cool humour , the adrenaline rush of action -lrb- and those iconic sunglasses -rrb- that have spawned millions of fans is back .", "it 's the exploration of the cool , unfathomable yin-yang relationship between will smith 's j and tommy lee jones ' k that elevates this third film of the franchise beyond its quirky and inventive expectations .", "intelligence and wit make mib 3 a winner .", "though there are a few highlights , surprisingly , megastar will smith is n't one of them .", "as far as unnecessary sequels are concerned , men in black 3 is a serviceable addition to the series .", "the actor and character that most humanizes the movie is michael stuhlbarg as griffin , the alien with the gift of seeing potential futures . griffin is both knowing and insecure . stuhlbarg gives an affecting performance of warmth and fearful anxiety .", "dials down the creepy-crawly alien effects and ups the human element for this trip down the time tunnel , with a running theme of mortality , fatherhood and uncovering the mysteries of the past .", "`` men in black 3 '' arrives in the multiplexes of the world with no particular agenda . which may be part of the reason that it turns out to be so much fun .", "it really is too bad that smith could n't go back in time and stop this thing .", "as in previous iterations , j and k investigate places where humans appear to reside only to discover a veritable ` star wars ' cantina of alien whatchamacallits .", "with the exception of the special effects department , i get the sense that just about no one in any aspect of the production tried , at all .", "has no msg . i mention this because many will probably want to make a meal of it and , it should be said , it 's both pretty tasty and will leave you feeling hungry an hour later ...", "... rehashes old themes without really bringing newbies up to speed , then plunges into a time travel plot that introduces ideas only to leave them dangling ... the film 's biggest asset is michael stuhlbarg as new character griffin", "the franchise is no longer the zenith of blockbusterism , and the gooey effects from hollywood veteran rick baker look overly familiar , but `` men in black 3 '' remains an amiable comedy with some fondly familiar faces .", "few things in life are worth waiting a decade for , and this is n't one of them , but after witnessing so many big-screen sci-fi comebacks go so hideously wrong in recent years , men in black 3 emerges as something of a triumph .", "look into this device and wait for the flash and forget any talk of sequels , please . move along . your work is done .", "`` men in black 3 '' is all surface but , as with the moon , the surface can steal our attention", "there 's a zippy and clever movie going on all around the two lumps with their names above the title .", "looks cool , seems promising and goes absolutely nowhere .", "despite some good moments , agents j , o and k are missing an e.", "apparently , it 's okay to be nostalgic again , especially when the emotional payoff is this big-a wonderful surprise .", "if you opt to rent the 3-d glasses , men in black 3 will be $ 14 ; the product has not , otherwise , changed significantly .", "i 'm still not convinced anyone really needs it , but this is a respectable effort in the circumstances .", "-lsb- i -rsb- t 's funny , it 's thrilling -- the actual sequences of travelling through time are intense and inventive -- and it 's even poignant .", "exactly what you 'd expect : amiable mediocrity and nicely laid-back performances with pricy special effects plugging in the gaps where jokes should be .", "-lsb- video essay -rsb- go ahead and eat some popcorn . `` MOV '' is a great excuse to do so .", "tommy lee jones deadpan stoicism and will smith 's quasi-hip parlance does n't add up to much in this film .", "fun , fast-paced .", "the first follow-up to ` men in black ' , ten years ago , seemed to be running on empty . it was the embodiment of everything that 's wrong with sequels , whereas this one won me over completely .", "not even a melodramatic last minute twist or a reminder of race relations from half a century ago can inspire us to feel much for this parade of cheap humor and intentionally gaudy special effects .", "sonnenfeld strikes a rich vein of comedy in production designer bo welch 's imagining of the mib in the 1960s .", "mib3 defines how a smart summer tentpole extravaganza should look and act .", "it 's summer movie smack , and it leaves you hungry only for more of the same .", "despite a rough start , `` men in black 3 '' is still decent . it 's mostly due to the likes of josh brolin and michael stuhlbarg 's fantastic performances along with rick baker 's exceptionally creative creature designs , but the ending packs an emotional punch .", "mainly rollicks along , keeping a nice balance between grotesque-alien playfulness and badass secret-agent seriousness . the story does n't have as much fun with the near-alien weirdnesses of 1969 as it could have but the ending comes with a poignant twist .", "beneath all the polish -- and will smith 's considerable charm -- is a mediocre , lazily written story .", "nowhere near as exhilarating as the first , a triumph compared to the second , MOV offers one sci-fi alternative to a moviegoing summer front-loaded with caped avengers in tights . but not much more .", "smarter than its predecessors , and better-looking , ` men in black 3 ' is an entertaining and -lrb- i hope -rrb- touching wrap-up to the buddy film science-fiction franchise that began 15 years ago .", "here 's a case of a second sequel being better than the first because , well , it had to be ... thankfully , reliance on visual effects has been dialled down this time around for the sake of a decent story .", "consegue divertir gra\u0437as a josh brolin e a alguns instantes de maior inspira\u0437\u0433o na maneira como a trama envolvendo viagem no tempo \u0439 conduzida .", "you may be wondering what thrilling , creative idea caused the filmmakers and stars to resurrect this franchise . the answer : none .", "a solid plot , one with credible sci-fi twists but also heart . it throws off the jokiness in which this series has been mired to create action-adventure in service to story .", "there are some hilarious moments and sublimely silly asides , but the film never shifts into full-speed .", "they used to protect us from the scum of the universe but now they 're the scum of the cinema-verse", "a small movie in a blockbuster suit ... with enough emotional pull to rise above irrelevant , if south of necessary .", "in the mists of the past , damned if an old tune does n't find some new energy . delight , a modest yet palpable measure of the stuff , is restored .", "men in black 3 is so dull and empty , it 's the first movie that has ever made me think `` thank god this is in 3d . ''", "if itv had made doctor who then it would look something like this .", "brolin 's performance gives comedic heft to this three-peat of the franchise about a group of dark-suited federal operatives who oversee the presence of extraterrestrials on earth .", "it 's that rare threequel that does n't suck . great special effects , surprising amount of heart .", "`` men in black 3 '' is fun and entertaining and shows hope that the series is not as dead as it seemed .", "like so many sequels , `` mib3 '' lacks the charisma of the original `` men in black . ''", "too often sci-fi epics miss the balance between spectacle and storytelling . while men in black 3 is n't always consistent in humour and pace , sonnenfeld , with a well-considered script from david koepp , manages to make it work .", "this mostly solid sequel is a return to form for the series and just stellar enough to make it a must-see for fans of summer popcorn fare , no matter your age .", "discerning viewers will find problems with a few of the film 's twists and turns , but moment to moment , there 's still plenty of fun to be had with the men in black .", "the effects and direction make this a pleasant diversion , but with a bunch of clunky one-liners and half-baked scenes this is a film that wo n't be remembered long .", "funny , if familiar . energy and pacing are reasons it 's able to skate by . it actually deepens the relationship between j and k , but it 's still really a showcase for more of the same offbeat humor and imaginative special effects the first two are known for .", "`` mib 3 '' does n't have the same see-it-for-the-first-time magic that the original had , and tonally , with boris , it 's a totally different animal . but it 's just as strong of a film .", "keep you interested enough to leave the cinema without feeling you 've been cheated", "at some point in the future , probably not more than a couple of weeks , you 'll realize that you barely remember seeing it .", "third entry in the popular series satisfies on every level .", "it may sound good as a screenwriter 's pitch , but it 's not much fun to watch .", "did the world need another `` men in black '' ? no , not at all . but if there had to be one , then it 's certainly a relief that it should be one as agreeable as this .", "it 's like a cross between looney tunes and the naked lunch - a hallucinogenic popcorn movie you can safely forget the moment it 's over . so bring on men in black 13 !", "happily , it far exceeds the second effort . and while it does n't quite match the first , it 's still a good time - extraterrestrial warts and all .", "sonnenfeld depends on crashing action and hyperventilating camera moves to puff up the slack blimp of a story . unfortunately , there 's one effect that computer-animation technicians can never duplicate : a genuine sense of fun .", "a film made by committee that does n't display the touch of anyone with any remaining actual interest in the characters . in the pipeline for years , the film has been fine-tuned to the point that all of its personality was buffed out in the process .", "it 's all acceptably diverting , not actively unpleasant like the 2002 sequel . there are no grand twists or revelations comparable to the truth about the `` galaxy '' in the original .", "but MOV proves that it 's always fun to save the galaxy with agents j and k , even when bravely facing down the law of diminishing returns .", "i would n't recommend taking mib3 's tortured path to success ; i 'm just really glad it got there .", "`` men in black 3 '' is a bore .", "the most important thing is that MOV is actually fun .", "smith continues to make the goofy plot , wild spectacle , and crazed alien antics look good .", "proves two out of three acts ai n't bad", "that memory-erasing neuralizer used by agents j and k comes in handy with men in black 3 ... forgetting the scattershot second movie is easy . not recalling how wonderful the original was is a necessity . mib3 will leave few fond memories of its own .", "an eclectic cast and stellar visual effects coalesce to make men in black 3 a quintessential kernel of summer popcorn cinema .", "smith tries hard here , but that 's part of the problem - beads of sweat are all over this thing .", "`` MOV '' is an efficient hollywood summer blockbuster product .", "while they probably needed the decade-long gap between films to make us forget mib2 - this third installment is actually quite decent .", "josh brolin seems to have inhaled tommy lee jones ' grumpy essence and to be exuding it through his pores . it 's a flawless comic performance .", "not just the funniest film in the series , men in black 3 has the best story , too .", "smith looks younger than ever , and remains impossible not to like , just as it is impossible not to like ice-cream or the first intimations of summer .", "this sequel is so lifeless and pointless that it moves beyond `` unnecessary '' into the realm of `` unwanted '' and `` insulting . ''", "gone is the spark that made the relationship between the exuberant smith and buttoned-up jones so much fun .", "this is n't nearly as satisfying as something like the avengers , but it 's not trying to be . it 's a breezy popcorn movie that 's supposed to entertain you while you 're in the theater , then you return to your normal lives when it 's done .", "the basic plot is so lame and uninvolving that it would have gotten tossed out of a story meeting amongst little kids playing with action figures in a sandbox .", "some big laughs and an air of sweet melancholy get you through the slow spots . but enough is enough .", "with a budget reported at $ 375 million , the latest project to incorporate apollo 11 into its sci-fi rewrite of history represents one small step for cinema , one giant leap for creative accounting .", "brolin is such a perfect match for jones , and smith so confidently charismatic , that everything else seems like a distraction .", "this messy , overbearingly loud and barely diverting action comedy happens right in front of you . then high-tails it out of your memory for good .", "MOV is a perfectly acceptable summer blockbuster , with all the frenetic action , visual inventiveness and lack of substance that has come to be associated with the phrase .", "surprisingly funny , smart and , dare i say , tender . the first great blockbuster of the summer .", "did a third installment in this series need to exist ? no , but it offers enough new variations on the formula to make me glad it does .", "the smith-jones duo 's return as the titularly clad operatives , while not exactly essential , comes with the charms of reprised , well-liked characters and a `` did n't - see-that-coming '' conclusion that makes up for the first hour 's sequelitis .", "it turns out to be reasonably entertaining , though not enough to make me crave men in black 4 .", "a funny , exciting , spectacular and surprisingly poignant thrill-ride -- definitely worth two of your earth hours .", "it 's not a sequel that needed to be made , but thanks to the charm of its leads and a tone that harks back to the wit and humour of the original , it 's a pretty enjoyable trip .", "MOV is far better than we had any right to expect .", "a lackluster , overly cheesy film desperately trying to grasp hold of something that was hip and cool more than a decade ago", "the good news is that it is an improvement over the previous film .", "the movie represents at least a partial return to form -- not as inventive as the first , but surely better than the recycled materials that made up the second .", "men in black 3 is n't a spectacular summer comedy nor is it the worst comedy you 'll see this year .", "the addition of josh brolin as the young agent k proves to be a brilliant stroke .", "the customary assortment of mib aliens is in full flower . kudos to more than 285 special effects and visual effects crew members who had a hand .", "brolin captures jones ' essence to such a high degree that he falls right into the old chemistry with smith . it 's a smooth transition , and happily , the old comedy team is back .", "high action , slick humor , raucous fun , mib 3 is also a surprisingly thoughtful paean to the higher implications of pie , and to the miracle of chance that makes up the unified fabric of the past , present , and future .", "director barry sonnenfeld is as over-caffeinated as ever . his frenetic tone changes between comedy , action and pathos are quick enough to induce whiplash .", "enjoyable enough that you wo n't need neuralising afterwards .", "this is far from -lsb- smith 's -rsb- finest hour but , rather like the film itself , he ticks all the right boxes , does more than enough to justify the price of a ticket and delivers more than a few genuine laughs .", "as in most successful fantasy blockbusters , there 's a comfortable balance between technological wizardry and human talent .", "if you 're looking for cinema verite , look elsewhere . if you 're looking for a fun , fizzy sequel in a franchise left for dead 10 years ago , have at it .", "this spirited three-quel comes close to the exuberance of the first men in black and is a distinct improvement over its limp 2002 follow-up .", "ups the ante ever so slightly by incorporating some fireworks and daring to the typical gags , but it 's still more often than not no great shakes .", "they probably should n't make a fourth men in black , but then again , they probably should n't have made this one either , and it turned out all right .", "mib 3 is n't a bad movie at all ; it 's simply a vapid one .", "it 's a massive film with a chewy center , yet the effort does n't sink under the weight of its elaborate intentions . it 's intermittently pleasurable , getting the franchise back on track .", "does n't amount to much with josh brolin , but it would be a lot less fun without him .", "josh brolin and a dose of back to the future breathe life and laughter back into the franchise .", "while it 's a little thrown together , `` men in black 3 '' seems focused on recapturing not just the style but also the soul of the original .", "the script was enough of a mess to stop the shooting for high-priced rewrites , but you know what they say about washing garbage .", "it 's been ten years since the last underwhelming men in black movie and 15 long years since the brilliant original - and no one particularly asked to have it back .", "whilst mib iii wraps up the series neatly , there 's talk of a fourth already and you ca n't help but feel the joke is wearing a little thin .", "a decade-late three-quel anticipated by nobody .", "it 's not a totally unpleasant way to spend an escapist evening , but considering the talent involved , ` mib3 ' should have been more out of this world .", "this is the proper sequel to the 1997 original , and not the 2002 laugh-free abomination , men in black ii .", "mib3 is dumb , flashy fun , and if you simply ignore its obvious shortcomings you may in fact find that being back in the saddle with the boys in black remains an enjoyable , frivolous ride .", "the hip , knowing backdrop of these films - their winking acknowledgment that what you suspect about aliens is true - is more interesting than the run-of-the-mill plots scampering around in front of it ." ], "summary": "it is n't exactly a persuasive argument for the continuation of the franchise , but MOV is better than its predecessor and manages to exceed expectations .", "id": "771041419" }, { "movie": "baghead", "reviews": [ "much of the fun of MOV is that it 's unclassifiable , by turns a movie-movie lark , an eric rohmer-like relationship comedy , and a surprisingly effective friday the 13th kids-in-the-woods slasher film .", "once the threat arrives , i was praying to return to the childish mating rituals of these monotonous characters . watching lousy actors try to express heartache through limited gifts is far more frightening than any masked , crazed killer .", "a very short and cheerfully scruffy comedy-thriller by the duplass brothers .", "i want to persuade you to see MOV , but i do n't want to overhype it , because in many ways it 's a delicate construction best served as a surprise .", "satire , you see , requires the sort of artistic discipline that is anathema to mumblecore filmmakers .", "while the acting is uneven and the focus wavers , the duplasses take several well-aimed potshots at their bloated industry .", "delightfully unpredictable .", "one of the year 's standout indie efforts .", "the semi-improvised performances , which seem so natural that it is tempting to confuse the actors with their characters , bring MOV into the realm of group therapy observed through one-way glass .", "what could have been an amusing short subject , the duplass brothers ' not-quite-horror/not-quite-comedy drags its one note premise out to an almost mind-numbing 84 minutes .", "the movie 's concern with its characters ' shifting alliances and petty vanities also evokes early john sayles and , at times , eric rohmer .", "simple , minimal yet charming and original , MOV should be included in courses like indies 101 , as demonstration of the democratic nature of the filmmaking process and the viability of low-budget guerrilla cinema .", "... you 're not quite sure what to make of MOV , though in a good way .", "MOV is an original , confident piece of filmmaking that is n't easily categorized or even summarized .", "a raw , wickedly clever comedy that also includes moments of genuine terror .", "the movie 's cheap , it 's clever -- it 's even a little scary in places .", "a funny , scary send-up of filmmakers .", "it 's a relationship movie , a horror film and an independent hollywood insider satire , all three elements winking at each other the whole time .", "mark and jay duplass -lrb- the puffy chair -rrb- once again show how you can make a good , cheap movie with a good idea , some strong characters and one , simple visual motif .", "he -lsb- MOV -rsb- is obviously simply a device to make the movie long enough to qualify as a feature , and the denouement will be one of stunning underwhelmingness .", "MOV is a mumblecoreish meditation on the increasingly permeable boundaries between movies and life .", "jay and mark duplass know better : it is n't how much you spend that determines a picture 's quality , it 's how you spend whatever you have . the brothers are master strategists .", "what do four young film makers and a demented savage with a bag over his head have in common ? they all want to be stars , and they almost make it in this super-indie horror satire .", "it 's very funny , it 's smart , and it could be really scary . and it really has some nice performances as well .", "MOV does n't strike with the same impact of puffy chair , but it does provide proof that the duplasses are as talented and unpredictable as they are clever and resourceful .", "the balance is weighted in favor of character-based laughs rather than scares , but the deadpan tone is maintained throughout", "although it displays some mumblecore characteristics , such as a performance from hannah takes the stairs star greta gerwig , MOV distances itself from the movement by being well , watchable .", "hats off to MOV .", "the directors like dissonant relationships : here , their spectacularly self-absorbed protagonists step on each other , jockeying first for position and ultimately for survival .", "the duplass brothers ... get some decent mileage from their cassavetes-lite , semi-improvisatory filmmaking approach , capturing authenticity in their cast 's fumbling gestures , half-spoken lines , and stumbling advances .", "you 're never quite sure if you 're supposed to laugh or shudder , which is saying a lot at a time when most movies drop their seventh veil before the trailer has even come to an end .", "it 's entertaining , often funny and ultimately endearing , thanks mainly to its ensemble cast .", "for the duplass ' film about these talentless slackers to work - both as a drama and then as a horror film -- it 's essential that we care about the characters . i could n't do it .", "if you find slasher films and endless saw sequels too predictable , it 's worth giving this offbeat comedy a look .", "it 's an indie about indies -- meta , right ? but also mighty effective if you 're into idle , drunken chit-chat about getting laid while waiting out the bogeyman in the bushes .", "but what makes MOV more than just a hipster version of the blair witch project -lrb- young filmmakers in the woods , being terrified -rrb- is the bromance at its core .", "sibling writer-directors jay and mark duplass have figured out how to use their meager resources to intriguing effect . after watching `` MOV , '' i 'm not sure if i 've seen a horror film or a comedy , and i 'm sure that 's what the duplass brothers intended .", "directed by jay and mark duplass , it 's very broad , but the satire -- and its attendant babble -- actually heightens the scares .", "seems as though it 's made up as they go along , which is part of its charm .", "however talky and handheld , the story is deceptively strong ,", "the co-directors and co-writers , jay and mark duplass , appear to be saying , ` hey , we are the new emperors of the independent cinema . and guess what ? we have no clothes . '", "MOV is best in its first half , when it 's just about a group of four friends trying to escape the ruts their lives have become .", "a refreshingly brisk and modest salvo from the american independent film front , proving there 's still interesting life in the scruffy , shot-on-video genre .", "jay and mark duplass -- the brothers who wrote , directed and produced this bauble -- take literally two-thirds of the film to come to a very small point .", "alternately funny and scary , ` MOV ' suggests that ` the blair witch project ' may be as responsible for mumblecore as any of the self-consciously anti-commercial movies that usually are credited with jump-starting the trend .", "the truth eventually comes out , as it must , and it 's not exactly a stunner .", "i want to shout , not mumble , that the duplasses are a couple of the most promising filmmakers out there .", "MOV 's got exactly one joke to exploit -- it 's a relationship movie masquerading as a horror movie -- and proceeds to beat it to death .", "alternately hilarious , subtly sinister , and finally poignant , MOV is not quite like any other film in memory .", "MOV is at its best when it captures the subtleties of romantic machinations , macho power plays and the indignity of women aging in hollywood .", "-lsb- a -rsb- generally charming , funny and sweet movie that 's far more accessible than past efforts -lsb- from the duplass brothers -rsb- .", "a sly poke at indie filmmaking , a non-stop roller-coaster of sexual and romantic politics , and -lrb- yes -rrb- a slightly scary thriller when all is said and done .", "-lsb- a -rsb- clever insider 's riff about life on the lo-fi end of the indie spectrum .", "being creative is scary and personal and when you involve other people in the creative process you have to trust them or find a way to get what you want . and that happens here as do laughs , gasps , confusion and terror both real and internalized .", "a blast of fresh air . it has warmth and innovation , and the mischievous good sense to subtly make fun of the type of film that it is .", "what the duplasses are really adept at , and what truly sets them apart from their lo-fi american indie brethren , is an almost antiquated kind of physical comedy .", "its horror is n't anticipated because there 's nothing about these people that justifies harm ; they 're just people , not pawns . but this , as with perception of what sort of film this is , is n't ultimately certain .", "for all the use of first takes and jerky camera moves , the john cassavetes invoked by MOV is not the indie pioneer saint but his faustian thespian-husband character in rosemary 's baby .", "... there 's a sly wit to the way the filmmakers mix and match and upend genres .", "very uneven super-low-budget exercise ... the sort of thing that 's usually referred to as ` showing promise . '", "even in the spookiest woods in the dead of night , there will be no difficulty figuring this one out .", "although the final act telegraphs the endgame a little too obviously , MOV is nevertheless a late summer treat .", "the problem with MOV is n't that it 's cheaply made but that it 's sloppily composed .", "this is the kind of imaginative and witty filmmaking that brings us that scarce commodity : a little movie gem .", "takes an ingenious -- and perhaps necessary -- shift into more accessible filmmaking . okay , it 's less of a shift than a sort of yawning amiable slouch , but you get my drift .", "in this interview , filmmakers jay duplass and mark duplass talk about the road to their first distributed feature , the process of their filmmaking and the meaning of the term mumblecore .", "a sweet little movie , it does n't have a pretentious bone in its body . the four lead actors are uniformly likable , so the thinness of the production never detracts from our enjoyment .", "keep your eyes open , and there are lots of other , subtler things going on .", "there are some humorous and touching moments in MOV , but the actors lack the finesse needed to make us really feel for their characters .", "the duplass brothers waste a perfectly good porno premise by getting meta on our asses", "something -lsb- that -rsb- is both impressive and thrifty is jay and mark duplass ' MOV , unquestionably the most inventive horror film in years -- one that puts character first and genre expectations last .", "... an intriguing premise that 's employed to predictably subdued effect by the duplass brothers ...", "an extended navel gaze .", "a wildly funny parody of low-budget horror cinema .", "that documentary-like naturalism might be a bit much for some viewers , but MOV is still an intriguing film , as the duplass brothers construct genuine suspense while toying with their audience 's expectations .", "MOV delivers more scares with its paper masked stalker than jason and michael myers combined in their respective reboots .", "just when you think the film is about to zig , it zags and heads another direction . and it 's smart enough to cut things short before it wears out its welcome and before it gets too predictable .", "the plot is tired , the actors are not much good , the situation is way too familiar , there is no humor or fright in sight .", "trouble is , it 's never really funny or really scary , and a lot of it is hugely predictable .", "when the origami model of the plot finally unfolds , and the well-justified surprises are disclosed , there are still a couple of revelations up the duplass brothers ' sleeves .", "MOV works on the same principle lucy used when she kept promising she would hold the football for charlie brown but kept moving it before he could kick it .", "he brothers duplass have a knack for the to-and-fro of modern relationships . their horror sense is less acute , but at least they understand that when the budget is low , it 's best to keep the villain in the shadows .", "i felt like putting a bag over my head .", "too bad the characters are so rote . the women are almost nonentities , and the bond between the men borders on the maudlin . the actors are often better than their lines .", "the coda , even if it does n't wholly work , should have some sobering lessons for would-be filmmakers who see this . kids , try this at home .", "compared to films such as tropic thunder and the blair witch project , MOV 's poke at the film industry and attempt at verite horror are a little like making vroom-vroom noises next to a porsche .", "it 's clear that horror is n't really the duplass ' forte : the simple scenes of these four aspiring filmmakers sitting around a table , brainstorming ideas while tearing each other apart are more interesting than all that running and screaming .", "MOV is at once a terrifically smart and scary piece of entertainment , an embodiment of the mumblecore aesthetic , and a sly commentary on the challenges aspiring and independent filmmakers face in finding an audience for their work ." ], "summary": "pitting actors against murderers in a self-aware struggle for stardom , MOV successfully skates the borders of horror and comedy .", "id": "770682459" }, { "movie": "constantine", "reviews": [ "-lsb- a -rsb- stylish and moody thriller that actually sort of works , despite everything that seems poised to go wrong with it .", "keanu reeves surfs through his acting in this otherwise excellent demonic film noir .", "sometimes dense and impenetrable , but it also contains an unusually thoughtful consideration of the difference between faith and belief .", "the matrix meets the exorcist -lrb- with a little chinatown thrown in for good measure -rrb- in keanu reeves 's just-below-okay supernatural adventure .", "i 'd argue that MOV could be watched with the scenes rearranged in any order and still make sense , like episodes of the simpsons .", "despite the professionalism of its stars , MOV is another rip-off of the matrix , the omen and a hundred other films , gussied up with 21st-century effects and attitude . it 's a mess .", "a grab bag of bits from the whole demons-and-angels spectrum .", "lawrence directs with energy , humour and an amusing eye for bizarre details - such as the fact that hell can be accessed via the judicious use of a cat and a puddle .", "groovy , sexy , well-crafted adaptation with just the right casting to make it fly when it could have sunk .", ". . outside of some nice cinematography , MOV has few of the matrix 's virtues .", "reasonably satisfying cinematic junk food ... enough crackerjack sequences and admirably trippy rhythms for a recommendation .", "despite some witty special effects and a appealing concept , MOV meanders in too many directions to make much sense even to itself .", "the definition of a mixed bag , MOV has the potential to both grasp your attention and lull you to complacency .", "man 's interpretation of god is so often ground for war or denial of personal responsibility , it 's nice to see it used for good entertainment as well .", "the film is chock full of pleasures ... perhaps too many for its own good .", "here 's hoping that keanu reeves begins to get a bit of respect with MOV , and that francis lawrence does n't get sold short for doing a tentpole film .", "lawrence keeps the story on track and does n't cheat the world of MOV , which embraces good , evil , unforgiving judgment and the human ambiguities that offer the possibility for forgiveness .", "so where are we ? in two hours of dullsville , as sinatra used to say .", "the much-maligned reeves gives a subdued , convincing performance .", "reeves once again bears the sins of man for heavenly good , this time with attitude", "a cut above the typical apocalyptic thrillers that rolled off the assembly line with regularity in 1999 .", "i especially enjoyed the great special effects as MOV battles the demons . be sure to stay through the end credits for a special scene .", "MOV provides a novel twist on the typical comic book movie until it collapses under its own goofy logic", "save yourself the cash on this one ; it 's too silly to be scary and too stupid to be watchable .", "a solid if less-than-satisfying popcorn movie .", "you can just picture the meeting : a few guys in prada suits sit around an l.a. boardroom table going , ` the matrix meets the exorcist , huh ... ? with keanu ? i like it . no wait - i love it . '", "reeves 's performances is nuanced and offers multi layers of character that we 've not ever seen from him .", "keanu reeves is -- let me just get this off my chest -- very good .", "this movie will satisfy reeves fans in search for a good-looking action flick .", "trying to effectively depict hell is a daunting task , but director lawrence and production designer shohan manage to do more than a decent and credible job of it .", "MOV seems to share more of the right wing 's agenda than just an apocalyptic point of view .", "-lrb- MOV -rrb- fails to capture the imagination . it is what it is , a cinematic comic book .", "MOV does generate some mid-level amusement and f/x interest in the epic battle it 's based on , but has very little to show for it once the final credits role .", "`` MOV '' is n't about the people of the story and only uses the story as a reason to blow things up .", ".", "simplified and predictable plot that uses every pseudo-religious cliche imaginable", "reeves has created a unique character that has the potential for future installments .", "by every standard of good filmmaking , MOV is a mess . yet i did not find it one of those so-bad-it 's - good affairs . i honestly enjoyed it .", "let 's drop the bias and negativity and cut to the chase here : reeves is good in this role .", "despite all the bad acting jokes made at poor reeves ' expense , his slightly wooden , straightforward delivery has a powerful charm backing it .", "it just so happens that i always had a theory on how to visit hell , too : sit in a chair and watch a keanu reeves movie .", "MOV is n't a good movie . but it 's reasonably fun , and its silliness is its saving grace .", "the story is a retread of the old exorcist and omen formats , but it delivers as much action and spectacle as fans of the genre could want .", "this supernatural , super-noir thriller has been shot beautifully -lrb- by philippe rousselot -rrb- , and directed with enjoyable , crazy-angled aplomb by francis lawrence .", "keanu reeves plays a haunted , expressionless traveler in an overblown theological thriller based on the dc/vertigo comic book hellblazer .", "MOV deals , at least in part , with its title character 's attempt to cross over from hell to heaven . but there 's no uncertainty about the movie 's fate . it quickly heads south .", "takes too long telling a story that could have delivered maximum impact in less time .", "the screenplay by frank a. cappello and kevin brodbin is only interesting for a few characters , hardly the story .", "it 's all about the visuals and the attitude , and both are are cool and striking , reflecting its comic book origins and music video sensibilities .", "keanu reeves brings a gravity to john MOV that makes neo -- his cheerless character in the matrix movies -- now appear to be the height of the actor 's madcap jerry lewis period . hey hayyyy-deees !", "occult detective john MOV -lrb- reeves -rrb- has seen it all and responds to the most hideous threat with a puff on his cigarette and a self-assured leap into the abyss .", "borderline incoherent , theologically unsatisfying , and short to the point of dwarfism on suspense .", "devilishly more entertaining than it has any right to be .", "a stylish energy sustains this film even when it begins to drift into draggy incoherence .", "plays more like a bunch of vaguely realized ideas strung haphazardly together than it does as a coherent story with rhythm and purpose", "a tacky , cgi-driven action-horror flick with some of the most vacuous writing and wooden acting to ever torment damned theatregoers .", "keanu reeves is a chain-smoking , tough-talking , and *** - kicking exorcist , taking out the demonic trash like a hybrid of father karras and mike hammer", "maybe some of the audience should wonder if they are n't performing the devil 's work by sitting so quietly through movies that turn wonders into garbage .", "where the exorcist , the prophecy , and ... dogma have all ventured , MOV gives the middle finger and delves into darker territory .", "a construct of heaven and hell that makes no sense , and changes when the plot requires it , is the least of its problems .", "`` MOV '' is n't heavenly . but it 's an interesting enough look at what lies beyond .", "... entirely miscast ...", "i deeply loathe the heaven-and-hell genre to which this cinematic comic-book spectacular belongs .", "it 's just sad that a movie ostensibly based on a frequently intelligent comic book should end up a no-brainer .", "blazes few new trails and bogs down in a confusing narrative muddle .", "rachel weisz gives it her best shot , but she ca n't save the messy script from its own feelings self-importance .", "a very satisfying film .", "the prime conceit of the movie is its gallows humor that seeps out like clotting blood from a decomposing corpse .", "visuals and attitude -- not for kids .", "an enjoyable revelation .", "halfway through MOV , a fully clad keanu reeves steps into a shallow pail of water , sits on a chair next to it and holds a cat in his lap .", "this film combines elements of comic book fantasy with horror to create an enjoyable brew - sort of a film noir version of the exorcist , crossbred with the stylization of the matrix .", "it may not be the first great movie of 2005 , but it is certainly the first really entertaining one .", "the stylized , almost film noir design uses extreme close-ups and bizarro angles to give us the feeling you get from the best comics , the feeling that we are seeing everything from an angle that is perfect , unexpected and new .", "though the story is potentially fascinating and the visuals sometimes spellbinding , the movie itself is stranded in the purgatory of the second-rate .", "hellacious , audacious , visually stunning and deeply wiggy , MOV is a miracle , a comic-book movie for smart people .", "i do n't know about the rest of you clowns , but there 's something about the whole heaven/hell thing that , when it 's done really well , becomes incredibly captivating .", "it 's sort of like the matrix minus all the cool stuff .", "... an entertaining ` exorcist ' for our computer-generated , action-movie age .", "... one of this year 's cooler ` must-see ' flicks for all lovers of the genre .", "-lsb- MOV -rsb- has tilda swinton giving a marvelously androgynous turn as the angel gabriel", "lawrence is a skilled copycat , and his adeptness at creating a mood of otherworldly unease helps make up for his story 's familiarity .", "reeves has a deliberately morose energy level in the movie , as befits one who has seen hell , walks among half-demons , and is dying .", "all style . no soul .", "intelligent , wildly entertaining nerve-jangler .", "reeves wears essentially the same black wardrobe , does the same moves , shows off the same galling lack of acting ability , but with a slightly different haircut .", "swinton 's presence proves as strange as the rest of this sometimes-stimulating but often-ludicrous endeavor .", "takes itself just seriously enough to put on a good show . reeves earns some theatrical redemption , the demons put a scare into the waywardly righteous , and there are plenty of evil-duders left over for a sequel .", "admittedly , a big bunch of supernatural mumbo-jumbo , and it 's also a cool looking big bunch of supernatural mumbo-jumbo garnished with a healthy dollop of religious cynicism .", "makes repeated visits to a hell that looks to have been designed by hieronymus bosch in collaboration with gianni versace for a marilyn manson arena tour .", "occasionally , reeves forgets what movie he 's in and strikes a neo-like pose .", "the movie pulls no punches when it comes to biblical prophecy , black comedy and artistic visuals . and that 's totally killer .", "an imaginative , if overstuffed attempt to chart the boundaries of american spiritual life .", "peppered with so many neat touches , it almost does n't matter the story is a muddle .", "a pretty good set up for what could be a franchise that has potential to get better and better .", "reeves is more wooden than the cross and is about as sexy", "... a spiritually spry yet lumbering fantasy ... the technological flourishes are a marvel to behold but the film 's erratic journey is as choppy as a country dirt road", "brimming with good ideas but fails to exorcise the demons of audience pandering .", "while haters might go into the movie hoping keanu will go to hell , MOV is not so bad as to make you continue to feel the hate .", "MOV 's incoherent plotting ruins the comicbook 's frazzled , hard-bitten edge .", "... stuck in a plane between deliberate laughs , and filmmaking that 's laughably bad", "o roteiro impede que MOV fa\u00e7a jus ao interessante personagem-t\u00edtulo .", "it 's difficult to understand what MOV is about , or indeed , whether it 's a good movie .", "obviously toned-down from the comic , it 's still a pretty provocative piece - a slyly funny biblical detective story -lrb- sort of a sunday school film noir . -rrb-", "the biggest problems with MOV all seem to stem from keanu reeves . the problem is that reeves really ca n't act . sorry , keanu , but the truth hurts .", "... a stand-alone , rapturous good time-craftily and accurately captures the straight-faced camp , wry wit and episodic structure of its source material .", "a moody mystery movie that moves from questions of faith to demon beat-downs to fatalist humor with the compelling , churning appeal of a hard-boiled b-movie ride .", "a clever fantasy/horror noir with a dash of broad comedy , the big-screen adaptation of the `` hellblazer '' comic books certainly has an original if loony vision .", "imagine if bosch and dante were 21st-century geeks and they collaborated on a graphic novel ... holy crap , but there 's some imagery here that will stalk your nightmares ...", "a riveting piece of suspense and action , and one of the strongest horror films in recent memory .", "... slow , silly and stupid but tolerable when funny .", "per usual for the genre , the cast is tops , the action contrived , the effects and design state of the art , and the writing strictly bottom feeding .", "the end explanation seems as reasonable and metaphysically valid as a pok\u00e9mon card battle . that 's ok , though , because MOV is all about look , sound and feel .", "you 'll either love it or hate it . i loved it .", "gives a gothic , grotesque twist to `` the road to hell is paved with good intentions . ''", "reeves is back to his usual monotoned self ... as a routine demon-slayer who plays second fiddle to expensive special effects .", "viscerally , i feel shut out of the fun .", "memo to keanu reeves : it 's time to get away from the metaphysical .", "there is , though , an undeniable pulse and momentum .", "you have to die a little to catch a glimpse of the depths of hell ... or this movie . bless them father , for they have sinned .", "there 's something seductive and irresistible about it .", "in the end , MOV is an intense theme park ride into the abyss of hell -- for no reason other than to feel the heat .", "there is no person in movie history who has devoted more time to defending civilization from evil and obliteration than keanu reeves , or who has spent more time shifting between spiritual , perceptual and historical planes to do the job right proper .", "the year is young , but it 's never too soon for the worst of the year party . crashing through the door , a balloon in its ear and a plastic devil doll up its nose , comes 2005 's early achiever .", "has enough subtextual codes to spawn its own cult .", "reeves plays one of the comic-book world 's most intriguing antiheroes in an adaptation that is n't the massive screw-up fans rightfully expected , but has a cool-to-silly ratio that 's just barely acceptable .", "the movie is n't hellish , because there 's always hope of leaving it . it 's more like purgatory , two whole hours of it .", "the actor 's black-on-white getup makes it plain that MOV is one ` whoa ' away from neo-dom , and that MOV likely represents the start of another hollywood franchise with diminishing returns in its future .", "an achievement of both story and technique , MOV is one of the finest comic-based films ever made .", "the film resembles nothing so much as a punctured tire with a slow leak , letting all the air seep out until what 's finally left is flat and fairly ineffectual .", "an uneven amalgamation of the brilliant and the preposterous , MOV left me by turns intrigued , confused , and wary .", "once you let yourself fall into its rising hellfire , you 'll get caught up in its thrilling storyline , ominous ambiance , and wild and weird action sequences", "this is n't the hell that just kinda sucks . this is the hell that puts fear in your heart and makes you want to head to church directly after leaving the theater .", "keanu 's back in black , and in a ` hell ' of a fun movie ... what 's not to love ?", "apocalyptically awful , end of days bad , the order bad , lost souls bad . religiously it 's blasphemous , but as a movie it 's just plain lousy .", "MOV is a pretentiously muddled , emotionally hollow , nonsensical film about catholic angst , and a cancer-ridden hero who 's been to hell and back .", "it has the grace of a tumble off a ladder .", "MOV does have its pleasures .", "great-looking but torturously slow .", "for all its spiritual angst , MOV is about as silly as fantasies get .", "every time weisz and reeves share the screen , ` MOV ' goes weirdly out of whack , since she 's doing some actual acting while he seems to be playing ` let 's pretend . '", "this is nonsense , of course , and the trappings surrounding it only typify the absolute worst of comic books .", "it 's all so well-paced and cool-looking and mordantly clever that you may forgive the film 's transgressions .", "it 's a ponderous bore . dull dialogue , dull situations and a serious lack of urgency hinder what should be a high-stakes slice of pseudo-religious heresy .", "any movie that casts tilda swinton as the angel gabriel has its heart in the right place and a serious screw loose -- two things worth wishing for any time you lay your eight bucks down .", "under -lsb- reeves ' -rsb- laconic surfer-dude exterior lies a performer capable of seething rage and even some wit .", "toto , we 're not in kansas anymore , and we 're not in hell . it 's only california .", "i believe in satan , hell , demons walking the earth , and keanu reeves as a cancer-ridden exorcist . stay until after the credits for a denouement .", "good-looking , but decidedly hollow . misses the opportunity to explore its evocative central conceits by attempting to do too many other things at once , and failing .", "one of those rare pulpy page-to-screen translations that actually gets it right .", "the idea of a guy trying to buy his way into heaven is good , but this movie does n't take it anywhere other than the usual set of world saving scenarios .", "at a time when big-budget movies are focus-grouped and diluted into oblivion , MOV dares to dream .", "there may be a special room in hell for such filmmakers , but it 's the audience that suffers the agonies of the damned by having to sit through it .", "say what you will about reeves , but he 's a unique creature . even when he 's bad , he can be pretty fun to watch . and to listen to .", "music video-trained director francis lawrence whips up a witch 's brew of gray-on-gray atmosphere , but for all the end-of-the-world mumbo jumbo , nothing much ever seems to be at stake .", "screenwriter kevin brodbin 's script is quite wacky in parts ,", "those who can set aside their preconceptions will discover one of the more artfully designed comic-based films in some time .", "it turns out to be a pleasant surprise , never taking itself too seriously and with some fairly tense and creepy moments .", "there 's a potentially good story rattling around somewhere inside this broken , self-contradictory and finally meaningless film .", "a more visceral approach might have upgraded MOV from what in its present form feels more like a trip to heck and back .", "alternates between quiet , surprisingly dull scenes in which the hero and the girl talk in that italicized comic-book way about his past and orgies of computer pixels dressed up as gibbering fiends .", "`` MOV '' is n't a movie , per se ; it 's a stunt with eye-catching effects that work to lure in audiences , those who , after seeing this beauty , will be the real lost souls .", "though i have a soft spot for keanu reeves there 's no denying this is one of his worst performances ... sounding dopier than usual .", "unnecessarily complex in parts , MOV still delivers a supernatural wallop , fueling a never-ending fascination with what lies beyond our world .", "beneath the rings of absurdity , there 's a degree of seriousness .", "if you 're willing to buy its premise , it 's a great ride .", "... painted in such broad strokes that potentially exciting context becomes little more than incessant hogwash .", "without a perceptible heartbeat , none of it is of much consequence .", "keanu can do better than this .", "it 's occasionally cheesy , sometimes enjoyable , intermittently scary , and constantly spiked with celestial blatherskite .", "virtually anyone but reeves would have made a better john MOV .", "peaks early , then descends into portentous nonsense .", "while decidedly no one 's idea of the john MOV of the comics -lrb- who was originally modelled on sting -rrb- , reeves acquits himself well enough .", "a kind of gothic guerilla warfare , with moody demonologist john MOV caught in between .", "full review in greek", "entirely beyond redemption .", "reeves , meanwhile , has confidently entered his self-parodic period .", "while lacking the richness of its source material , it remains an enjoyable , immoral and sometimes beautifully gothic tale .", "a little too muddled and erratically paced to command much interest . while some of the effects are cleverly worked-up , the picture seems more often to be on cgi autopilot .", "MOV waves rotted meat in front of the rabid dogs of both comic books and religion , but mostly just manages to hack off any moviegoer that enters its hallowed doors .", "a good horror-noir roller coaster ride ...", "add MOV to the list of movies that took comic-book concepts , but left the soul on the page .", "a movie like MOV is a huge undertaking . ... this is a vast canvas encompassing two worlds . it cries out for an experienced director , not a first-timer .", "it 's good production values , interesting story and characters are perfectly fine for genre fans but for everyone else an instantly forgettable experience .", "MOV is one of those excruciatingly awful movies where you check your watch every few minutes hoping the agony will soon end .", "muddled to say the least ... although at least it 's more interesting than anything in hellboy or van helsing .", "it 's just so awful that the crew must have been snickering .", "an entertaining supernatural film noir .", "proves better at juggling the neo-religious elements central to the story far better than , say , the last two matrix films .", "by the time peter stormare appears -lsb- as -rsb- lucifer , the story has become so convoluted , we ca n't take it seriously . judging from his campy performance , neither can stormare .", "ok , the movie is too long and pretty silly , but it 's also a good deal of fun .", "this is by no means a perfect movie , but it 's stylish , eerie , and better acted than you might expect . it also has at least half a brain in its head .", "slightly better than your run-of-the-mill late winter horror film .", "while the tone stays faithful to alan moore 's `` hellblazer '' series , the film does n't really work because reeves is the wrong guy to play the title character .", "i 'd call it anticlimactic if there were any rising action ...", "if you 've ever wanted to see keanu reeves go to hell , this is your chance .", "i spent the better half of MOV wondering what in the hellblazer was going on .", "se queda en alg\u00fan punto intermedio , un purgatorio de las cintas que no pueden ir al infierno pero que , lo siento por la inversi\u00f3n , tampoco se ganan el cielo .", "MOV forces us to make giant leaps of faith over its gaping holes in logic and plot . and unfortunately , we fall quick and hard .", "if its dark-heartedness is sometimes counterfeit , MOV still scores courtesy of its convincing comic book milieu .", "-lsb- i -rsb- n no way a great movie , -lsb- it 's -rsb- a serviceable take on the property that manages to be both appallingly liberal with and nicely faithful to the character .", "MOV is no hellblazer , but if you can get past that , it 's a fun little film worth the price of admission .", "all style , close to zero substance .", "unintentionally hilarious theological mumbo-jumbo which boils down to `` the passion of the keanu . ''", "` interesting and intelligent , if dark and sometimes murky theologically . '", "it 'll work well for comic fans and goth kids , but may work best as a rental for everyone else .", "while structured like a traditional fantasy action film , MOV only manages to be truly exciting maybe twice during the running time .", "a deceptively thoughtful tale tricked up like an action movie ; it 's beautiful to look at but even more lovely to ruminate over .", "fans of the horror/fantasy genre will find plenty to applaud , and dc executives can finally breathe a sigh of relief -- even if that 's not so easy for john MOV .", "... after surviving MOV , i definitely prefer the trip to hell -lsb- keanu reeves -rsb- took in bill & ted 's bogus journey .", "doubting his mission and his faith even as he 's consumed by them , MOV is an achingly topical comic book/movie hero .", "reeves and weisz have chemistry , and they know a little humor goes a long way in a film of this sort .", "an intriguing , eye-popping and sometimes downright startling slice of pulp science fiction .", "the storyline , despite the best efforts of everyone involved , just is n't engaging , primarily because it 's so ludicrous -lrb- unreasonably so -rrb- .", "a good enough movie to make you forget , most of the time , how truly dreadful reeves ' stilted , monotonous delivery is ." ], "summary": "despite solid production values and an intriguing premise , MOV lacks the focus of another spiritual shoot-em-up , the matrix .", "id": "12977" }, { "movie": "1124859-grind", "reviews": [ "cinematic fecal matter at its best .", "pretty much a complete waste of time .", "if you love skateboarding , feel free to rent MOV , hit the mute button and fast forward through anything that does n't involve a half-pipe .", "suitable entertainment for boys too young to shave .", "first-time director casey la scala may have taken his fledgling film 's title too literally , grinding together borrowed ingredients like a mischievous chef .", "it 's the sort of movie that makes american wedding look ... subtle by comparison . -lsb- t -rsb- his summer 's notorious bomb gigli is starting to look better and better .", "director la scala ca n't direct his way out of this can of half-baked beans .", "brings out the worst of a fringe sport that fights for mainstream acceptance ... this film fails so completely in almost every aspect .", "viewing the earthbound sequences in `` MOV '' is like watching the dialogue portions of pornos . pity the viewers who catch this one without the benefit of a fast-forward or chapter select button .", "you 've seen and heard it before , dude .", "sitting through this shoddy , boring production is most certainly a MOV .", "manages to capture enough honest moments to make it watchable , but it 's never really funny enough to recommend to anyone who 's outgrown short pants and kneepads .", "at 102 minutes , much longer than such a trifle needs to be .", "laughs are virtually nil , despite a plethora of crude attempts at humor : jokes about vomiting , defecating , flatulence , bosomy babes .", "bursting with energy and highlighted by some exciting skateboarding sequences -lrb- the more dedicated will wish for more -rrb- , MOV has its laugh-out - loud moments .", "a crass , condescending piece of corporate bamboozling .", "it seems to have been written on a ... dare , to see if a coherent , entertaining screenplay could be written using only the words ` dude , ' ` man ' and ` bro . '", "it 's obvious none of the ` skateboarders ' can really skate , so MOV ends up feeling like a mash-up of two different movies .", "a tip for filmmakers attempting to appeal to young moviegoers : do n't hire thirtysomething actors to play recent high-school graduates .", "it 's not the hit of the summer , but it 's not a `` MOV '' to watch it , either .", "the movie flowed as though every scene and every line of dialogue was decided on the fly .", "the story is bad and the writing even worse , but one would at least expect a skateboarding movie to feature some noteworthy stunts . not so .", "a logo-laden celebration of the joys of sponsorship wrapped inside an innocuous teen-pic package .", "will mostly be remembered as the wasted first starring role in the hopefully lengthy career of the very , very talented adam brody .", "i think actually guys and women , who love skateboarding , probably wo n't like this movie because it does n't do it justice-the skill it really takes to be at the top of the game .", "it 's so lacking in real-world skate politics that it more resembles the chugging pg-13 mediocrity of top 40 pop-punk - lite than the hard-core black flagisms of peralta 's scathingly real doc .", "` MOV ' rather economically describes the experience for anyone above age 11 who wanders into this skateboarding ` rad ' retread for ` jackass ' fans .", "you 'd feel sorry for the poor actors if they were n't so perpetually annoying .", "... predictable gross-out humor and sports cliches are in ample supply .", "ca n't quite shred the formula that 's dragging the plot down .", "without tons of exciting skateboard footage or a strong appreciation for the skating culture , nothing remains but pure pain .", "what MOV lacks in cinematic skill , it makes up for in heart , which is what most dudes-in-arms flicks are missing .", "excruciating ... an astoundingly awful follow-your-dream fantasy , so bad it might make you look back fondly on ` gleaming the cube ' and ` airborne . '", "unbelievably tedious and seems to have been improvised on the spot -- just not by anyone with any discernible talent .", "it 's a comedy filled with non-star actors , a sloppy story and misfired humor .", "you leave feeling glad instead of cheated , and for a summer movie , that 's a pretty big accomplishment .", "oh , c'mon , MOV is mindless fun most of the time and if you pretend for a moment you 're about 12-15 years old , its totally awesome !", "these characters are so flat , the story line so one-dimensional , that the whole triumph-over-adversity bit just loses its bite after the first five minutes of adversity .", "humourless , hackneyed yawnfest .", "the skateboarding footage is underwhelming compared to dogtown .", "there 's a line in `` MOV '' where one of the guys says , `` this is a revolving nightmare ! '' that 's the feeling you 'll get .", "the press materials for this movie explain that `` MOV '' refers to a particularly spectacular skateboarding move . in my case , it referred to what my teeth were doing as i had to sit through this dumb and boring movie .", "your standard ` kids on the road pursuing their dream ' movie , interchangeable with any other . no standout bits , but very little stands out as not working at all , so you 're in that safe zone of joyful mediocrity .", "a tiresome teen romp that never leaves the ground , despite its many aerial stunts .", "` skateboarding is not a crime ' ... but the movie is -- a tasteless , plotless , brainless , humorless , charmless and endless crime against cinema .", "far too much of the movie 's energy is devoted to rampaging hormones and irritable bowels .", "it may not be deep , but it 's sincere -- even a bit weird .", "there is nothing remotely entertaining about this film .", "without the charm or irrepressible imagination of the farrellys or ` american pie ' writer adam herz , the filmmakers succeeds only in making their protagonists look like jerks , who well deserve the misfortunes that befall them right up to a happy fadeout .", "akin to a real skateboarding show , MOV lands a few tricks but ends up falling on its face the rest of the time .", "the worst movie of the summer .", "alas , the great teen-skateboarding comedy has still yet to be made .", "many of the characters are n't even likable throughout the first half of the movie , and while they evolve positively over time , it is barely enough to win anyone over .", "they say it takes a certain knowledge of a subject to truly empathize a movie based on it , but i 'm guessing it will take more than that to show any sort of genuine interest in a movie like MOV .", "striving for street cred , i 'm positive even skaters will turn their noses up at this .", "among those rare films that starts at the bottom and burrows downward .", "brody and vogel anchor the cast , portraying likeable , charismatic dudes with a friendship that is genuine and enduring in spite of their differences .", "a mix of road-trip , coming-of-age and gross-out comedy cliches .", "if you stay awake , you 'll certainly feel more than a little ground down after watching perhaps 15 minutes of skateboard footage padded out with nearly 90 minutes of strenuously unfunny toilet humor .", "it looks like junk and even the few laughs there are feel like junk laughs .", "attempts to combine the extreme sports visuals of a good warren miller ski film with the plot of a bad tom green picture and does n't come close to landing on four wheels .", "a lively , if at times juvenile , movie .", "a jaw-dropping exercise in futility .", "about 65 minutes of plot and 30 of slow-mo skating highlights , rather obviously performed by professionals dressed as the characters .", "breezily unmemorable and not nearly as raucous as it thinks it is , MOV hits all the usual buttons", "it 's a cheap , half-baked attempt at a summer road-trip comedy .", "braying teen sports fantasy .", "think blue crush without water - or awesome surfing footage , likable characters with real personalities , beautiful girls in bikinis or anything else worth watching .", "the comedy wears thin quickly because it 's the same jokes and character quirks all over again .", "truly a mess , technically speaking , and appears to have been edited by stevie wonder ." ], "summary": "mediocre skateboard stunts are padded by a half-baked plot and one-dimensional characters .", "id": "11016" }, { "movie": "playing_for_keeps_2012", "reviews": [ "MOV unfolds like a metaphorical deconstruction of his charms : a meandering , formulaic look at a former sports star confronted by an uncertain future as he continues to exploit the superficial things the world still seems to want from him .", "smarmy . dopey . sloppy . lazy . creepy . tone-deaf . predictable . embarrassing . lousy .", "like undercooked leftovers , it makes you wish they had spent a little more time getting some heat into it .", "it wo n't be up for any oscars , nor will it score points for originality , but it 's harmless enough fare for its target audience .", "another day at the romantic comedy factory : ' ... pull me down a gerard butler and a jessica biel , will ya ? '", "ho-hum sports romcom lacks both laughs and chemistry .", "it could be just the kind of pleasant surprise that leaves your inner cynic at a momentary loss for words .", "i 'll long be haunted by dennis quaid 's manic performance as a palm-greasing dad who seems to be under the influence of bath salts ...", "MOV takes place in a tonally incoherent universe , constantly shifting between rom-com farce and mawkish family drama .", "as the old saying goes , ` well , that 's two hours of my life i 'll never get back . ' time is precious . do n't waste yours on a film like this . -lrb- full content review for parents also available -rrb-", "no matter what kind of drab , derivative fluff you prefer , this exceptionally toothless comedy has something to offer .", "all the characters and their motivations are banal at best and half drawn at worst , leading to the question : why did n't this end up on the hallmark channel starring tv 's hot-tail of the moment ?", "someone maybe should 've told this guy if you want to rekindle a romance with a woman , you probably should n't start by sleeping with all her friends .", "a celluloid own goal .", "did gerard really leave the uk and a guaranteed pundit spot on match of the day for an automatous son and callous wife ? MOV asks difficult questions like these but provides no satisfying answers .", "if this was a biscuit , it would be an own-label digestive , full of sugar and trans fats - but suited and booted in a glistening wrapper .", "... a half-hearted comedy about the perils of former professional athletes that unsuccessfully tries to force together elements of domestic melodrama and romantic farce .", "an own-goal shambles of bland characterization , comic shtick , exes-still-in-love clich\u00e9s and lazy implausibilities , MOV plays down to the ugliest american stereotype of soccer-dull to the point of brain-death .", "the comedy has its moments but they are few , and a high-powered cast , which also includes judy greer and dennis quaid , give mostly low-powered performances .", "even the usually reliable dennis quaid flounders as a fellow parent in a film that is at least slickly put together but is ultimately a sheer waste of talent .", "george is desperate , a point hammered home when , as he 's recording a sportscasting demo , his concentration is broken by a phone call from a debt collector .", "director gabriele muccino ca n't decide whether robbie fox 's script should be played as sex farce or heart-tugging romance - and splitting the difference is a loser both ways .", "unfortunately for butler it is another romantic comedy that misses the mark and does not score .", "there 's a lot of poorly-conceived plot crammed into this film , and it never actually decides what it wants to be , emerging as a disjointed story suffering from severe adhd .", "what could have been a more complicated and contemporary suburban spin on alfie feels like a lazy and anonymous daydream postcard of discord and resolution .", "a slow drip of a movie that refuses to make up its mind about what it wants to be as it circles the drain", "another `` almost there '' film for gerard butler . amazing that he is still coasting on his `` 300 '' fame .", "fox has n't penned a script since 1993 's so i married an axe murderer , and he apparently has n't left his home , either ...", "a star-studded cast and a good concept add up to less than nothing in MOV , an attempt at a warm , family romantic comedy that , like the main character , succumbs to its vices .", "these are actors due a break . unfortunately , this comedy-drama about a kids ' soccer coach boinking a bunch of desperate housewives does n't appear to be it .", "at some point you hope -lsb- butler -rsb- will find a movie that will give him the right material to make hearts truly beat faster .", "if gerard butler exudes rakish charm and jessica biel a charming flintiness , then why is MOV so utterly charmless ?", "one of those movies that comes `` straight from the heart '' - the heart of the hack screenwriter 's manual that pushes formulaic structure to cover up a lack of compelling characters , genuine emotion or actual humor .", "about the best thing to be said for this movie ... is that it does n't costar katherine heigl .", "this is simply a groan-inducing comedy of errors about an accidental lothario mixed with a transparently predictable look at an irresponsible man forced to become -lsb- better -rsb- .", "there 's absolutely no reason to waste time playing around with MOV .", "for a trifle - one that probably looked like one on the printed page , too - `` MOV '' somehow attracted a strong cast .", "as boldly original as its title , `` MOV '' is an unconscionable waste of time and talent -- the kind of film seemingly designed to appear on a cable channel that you just had deleted from your package .", "an acceptable but very slim romantic comedy .", "how can you stick gerard butler , jessica biel , uma thurman , catherine zeta-jones , dennis quaid and judy greer in a comedy and come up so empty ?", "it appears to be an empty-headed piffle of a film about a dashing former professional soccer star coaching his son 's team and having affairs with an assortment of randy soccer moms . and that 's precisely what it is .", "butler beware : in acting as in soccer , if you keep taking dives , sooner or later you pay the penalty .", "the only thing MOV teaches us is : guys , forget the bars and nightclubs . soccer moms are where the action is .", "soccer moms will find eye candy gerard butler good to look at if they can stay awake through his movie .", "at least ` MOV ' does a service for the late rodney dangerfield . his ` ladybugs ' is no longer the worst movie about a youth soccer coach .", "at this point , i 'm positive gerard butler selects his scripts by blindfolded dart throw .", "an undistinguished , impact-free watch-checker that will soon be vaguely distracting transatlantic travelers who forgot to carry on their ipads .", "another exercise in here 's - the-woman-you-belong-with-and-we 'll - just-delay-the-inevitable-for-90-minutes-before-you-stop-her-from-getting-on-that-plane .", "a film that 's pretty much from the assembly line .", "bland romantic comedy is the cinematic equivalent of processed food .", "contrived and phony from beginning to end , `` MOV '' never does make sense of its characters , who flip and flop from scene to scene .", "half the actors realize they 're in a bit of hollywood fluff , but others deliver emotional performances worthy of a serious drama . as for butler , well , it 's hard to say exactly what he 's doing .", "it is perplexing as to how such an unambitious , paint-by-numbers work got made .", "not only is it not funny and not particularly romantic , it treats women like idiots .", "MOV is n't that bad ; muccino simply does n't know how to fix the script or manage his actors , and the whole thing just sort of sputters out .", "-lsb- MOV is -rsb- a mushy-headed vehicle for what are supposed to be a lot of high-voltage star turns . nothing much makes sense , but look at all the celebrities . this would be better if they had anything interesting , or appropriate , to do .", "perhaps , if this movie fails , studios will finally accept that we all deserve better .", "it 's comforting to know that american culture has progressed to where soccer routinely joins baseball , football and basketball as a backdrop for forgettable romantic comedies .", "a sloppy , poorly focused comedy that wants to be about the relationship between a father and his 9-year old son but ends up being about nearly everything else .", "` MOV ' wants to run and kick feel-good moments through the goalposts , but it limps and wheezes from the opening faceoff until its final whistle , with a lot of effort expended to earn , and make , very few points .", "none of it is especially credible or engaging .", "`` MOV '' plods along pretty much as you 'd expect . its small pleasures come from the relaxed cast .", "this is modern movie stardom , and it 's depressing : the romantic lead who could also be selling us body spray .", "a bedroom farce without the farce , a fish-out-of-water comedy on sun-cracked lake-bed , a story of fatherly redemption that barely gets past the hair-mussing stage .", "awkwardly blends family comedy and sex farce and winds up with squat .", "MOV does n't play with a full deck .", "MOV is a throwaway movie if ever there was one .", "is it a heartwarming romantic drama ? or a cynical sex and sports comedy ? there is no wrong answer , dear ticket buyer .", "`` MOV '' is a perfectly pleasant romantic comedy completely lacking in novelty . this will leave many viewers unengaged , but may not be a disadvantage for its core audience .", "this rock-stupid combination of family schmaltz and horny-milf male fantasy does this charismatic leading man -lrb- and everyone else involved -rrb- no favors .", "gabriele muccino 's film is knee-deep in `` do n't hate the player , hate the game '' territory .", "a modestly affecting reconciliation drama wrapped in a so-so sports movie by way of a misogynistic romantic comedy , MOV ca n't stop tripping all over itself .", "attractive actors ca n't redeem a sodden script .", "it is truly baffling that all the talented , acclaimed actors involved actually read this script and then agreed to devote their time to this movie , especially given its uncomfortably flagrant misogynistic streak .", "gerard butler , what went wrong ?", "wasting the talents of seveal charming actresses , this misogynistic romantic ccomedy is one of the silliest films of the year .", "hitting our screens on new year 's day , let 's cross our fingers and hope that MOV is n't an indication as to how the rest of 2013 will be for cinema . best to get it out of the way early , i suppose !", "not quite as bad as it sounds , despite the corny game plan .", "rigidly formulaic and shamelessly sentimental .", "dennis quaid hammers away at a nothing role as thurman 's husband , an adulterous alpha dog ; it 's nearly identical to the one he played earlier this year in what to expect when you 're expecting , but who 's counting ?", "in the long , ignoble tradition of naff romcoms starring butler , this stands alongside the ugly truth and the bounty hunter as the worst of its kind .", "sadly wastes its star-studded cast and has very little to offer in the way of laughs and touching moments .", "even an actor as capable as dennis quaid is incapable of wading in to save it .", "everyone involved deserves a script with more wit , originality and sense of purpose .", "a father-son heart-tugger wrapped around a mushy reconciliation rom-com sprinkled with tinsel of shiny hollywood supporting stars acting like they 're in another movie entirely .", "garbage ." ], "summary": "witless , unfocused , and arguably misogynistic , MOV is a dispiriting , lowest-common-denominator hollywood rom-com .", "id": "771244799" }, { "movie": "due-date", "reviews": [ "this would be passable enough fare for a throwaway comedy had the two stars bothered to bring their a-game .", "phillips squeezes a lot of comedy juice from the odd couple pairing and , even with a few flat moments , the film shows a remarkable ability to keep hitting its sweet spot .", "the actors are fine : it 's their long , arduous trek that lets the movie down .", "the ride in MOV is not only the usual raucous escapade , with car crashes and run-ins with authorities , but also takes a turn toward what might be called peter 's dark side .", "with a strange sense of ` planes , trains and automobiles ' , but missing the magic , this one would be a great buddy film !", "as an overall journey , the movie disappoints , but as a collection of scenes , it 's funnier than most comedies . when todd phillips ' picture slows down , its character-driven moments are usually a winning mixture of the absurd , insensitive and poignant .", "the initial setup is a bit of a stretch and the ending feels unfinished but most of the stuff in between - bog standard as it is - works pretty well .", "it 's bad enough that it took four screenwriters to ineptly rehash planes , trains and automobiles , but it 's even worse that they 've only managed to come up with one new joke each .", "todd phillip 's lack of restraint in the hangover brought a wild , yet funny energy . unfortunately , that same approach makes MOV a chaotic , humourless mess .", "i think the movie lost me when robert downey jr punched out a ten-year old .", "it 's almost like they said : i know , let 's create a great setup for a mismatched buddy road comedy thing ... and that was about all the thought that went into it .", "there are some decent laughs scattered throughout MOV , but phillips ca n't find a way to make his two leads likeable : they remain obnoxious and ill suited right to the schmaltzy finale .", "on the rebound from the mammoth box office success of `` the hangover , '' director todd phillips -lrb- `` old school '' -rrb- has sharpened his comic sensibilities to detonate laughs even where none seem possible .", "MOV should be a disaster , derivative of every road-trip movie you 've ever seen . what prevents that are the efforts of the two stars .", "once again the filmmaker blows his momentum on woeful miscasting and a script that mistakes rampant mean-spiritedness for a bong-sucking good time .", "the movie never reaches the highs -lrb- or lows -rrb- of the hangover , or even its most obvious crib sheet , planes , trains and automobiles .", "MOV steals so often and so shamelessly from planes , trains and automobiles that , despite an abundance of genuinely funny moments , we 're happy when the ride ends .", "it takes a sitcom approach to male class differences and flatters the juvenile behavior that 's become the favorite , indulged subject of comedians and tv writers .", "the unexpected pairing of galifianakis and downey is a pleasure -- they 're an unlikely duo so off in their chemistry as to be bizarrely on .", "another hangover was too much to hope for , especially as this was scripted by committee . it 's a bit funny but also quite a bit nasty .", "the odyssey of downey and galifianakis is composed of far too many sharp edges and far too little warmth .", "phillips convolutes the adventure with a bizarre mix of unrealized emotional complexity and over-the-top gross-out humor but most viewers will still enjoy the loony ride .", "`` MOV '' wants to get you attached to its characters , but never finds the emotional resonance to make it happen .", "... dramatic moments work better than most of the comedy .", "downey and galifianakis start this year 's movie countdown to christmas ho-ho-ho 's with a solid round of rousing ha-ha-ha 's .", "MOV is absolutely hilarious ! downey jr. and galifianakis are perfect together and the film is wildly entertaining .", "as far as road trip comedies go , this is n't the best one . however , it has plenty of funny parts - even outside of the trailer .", "aims the slow burn of robert downey jr. at the addled idiocy of zach galifianakis in a `` hangover '' director 's version of `` planes , trains and automobiles . ''", "`` MOV '' begins with a bad dream and eventually feels like one . it 's tired and formulaic and offers only a few mild laughs .", "it runs out of steam before the end comes into view .", "some amusing bits punctuate the tone-deaf proceedings like actual bits of chicken in campbell 's chicken noodle soup .", "downey is not entirely comfortable playing straight man and a little of galifianakis 's antics goes a long way .", "full review at movies for the masses", "a post-9 / 11 reproductive countdown road movie , MOV rummages for laughs by pairing two eccentric comic actors together for a long cross-country drive , who should probably never be in the same room together .", "MOV manages to deliver the laughs .", "how much you 'll enjoy MOV depends more on your esteem for the leads rather than the quality of the screenplay ; it is a mess of emotions and situations , working more than not , though tainted by that air of laziness that the entire production invites .", "... an ill-tempered comedy , relying on misfortune and childishness for its humor .", "having established that this movie has no good reason to exist beyond extending zach galifianaki 's recent brand ascendancy , it 's as good as you could want a useless entertainment exercise to be .", "peter and ethan are not people you 'd care to have sitting next to you on the shortest of bus trips , let alone a 2,000-mile car journey , but downey jr and galifianakis make MOV well worth the ride .", "MOV is a sparkling spin around the old block , boasting ace leads , eye-snagging cameos , spit-your-popcorn laughs and a more marked tenderness than phillips ' all-conquering mega-hit , the hangover .", "remember the john candy/steve martin comedy ` planes , trains and automobiles ' ? if so , ` MOV ' will bring it back to mind because it 's a blend of that film and `` the hangover . ''", "sometimes laugh-out-loud funny , sometimes depressing , ` MOV ' may be more psych test than comedy ...", "MOV follows all of the classic story twists you 'd associate with the sub-genre ; they get arrested , they get drunk , they get high , and they destroy their car , but never are these shocking moments ever actually surprising .", "a road trip romance with spitting .", "phillips seems to have forgotten that bawdy comedy is only deemed `` edgy '' if it 's funny . when the seedy jokes fall flat , the result is crass .", "with its premise so easily established , MOV is able to be modestly raucous as well as character-driven , which is how it goes astray since it tries to evoke complex moods and feelings that are beyond its ken .", "i doubt that MOV will catch on quite as overwhelmingly as phillips ' the hangover did , mainly because this one does n't feel as fresh . this one simply dissipates like ashes over the grand canyon .", "under the nuanced direction of john hughes , candy made annoying seem hilarious and his broad girth endearing . as amped up by director todd phillips , galifianakis makes annoying seem annoying .", "perfectly ok .", "the actors could have coasted on the odd-couple script , but they both dig deep into their characters .", "as in the most useless sitcoms , the laffs depend entirely on someone behaving as ridiculously as possible , in uninteresting ways devised by the dullest minds .", "the hype makes you think MOV was going to be as funny as combining ghostbusters , caddyshack , old school and the hangover all into one movie . instead , the result are just `` eh '' .", "zach galifianakis is so funny in `` MOV , '' even the way he wears his shoes -lrb- capezios -rrb- is a scream .", "downey and galifianakis make for a truly marvelous collision of opposites , and their interplay is what elevates ` MOV ' above its often puzzlingly flat material .", "it ai n't old-school todd phillips , but it * is * todd phillips .", "may be the year 's least amusing comedy .", "galifianakis was one of the stars of hangover and here he 's reunited with its director , todd phillips . MOV is a comparative misfire , with its workmanlike predictability taking the sheen off the comic timing of its stars .", "while not up there with the hangover , this delivers a respectable rate of gags-per-minute , largely thanks to the comic timing of the two leads and some occasionally inspired dialogue .", "MOV is fast , lazy , and out of control in a manner that 's basically commendable .", "MOV may not be nearly as clever as the hangover , but it 's a fairly satisfying film on its own merits , a fun experience that 's more than just an endless stream of jokes .", "phillips can still launch a dog-masturbation joke into the stratosphere , but the welcome surprise here is tenderness .", "it 's got some individual laughs here and there but lacks sufficient story or character development to hold the whole endeavor together .", "todd phillips needs to get off the road .", "random goofiness only begets more tired jokes .", "the need to write hilarious scenes is ignored in favor of hasty , obvious decisions like , ` ok , now they could get in a car accident , ' or ` hey , what if they got really high ? '", "there are some surprisingly poignant moments amid the high jinks .", "the best advice is just to watch ` planes , trains & automobiles ' again and keep this stink-bomb off your itinerary .", "in its best moments , the film 's duo of galifianakis and downey jr. remind us of a bickering laurel & hardy digging themselves out of another fine mess . and we 're happy to be along for the ride .", "this odd-couple comedy reunites galifianakis with todd phillips , who directed the hangover , but do n't expect anything like the other movie 's novel plotting or wild slapstick .", "none of what they 're doing ever actually means anything .", "todd phillips ' MOV is a massive wedgie of a comedy , which is to say it 's a comedy of extreme discomfort -- it 's so unnerving , in fact , it sometimes seems more like an experimental theater piece than a mainstream entertainment .", "basically planes , trains and automobiles with robert downey jr. and zach galifianakis , minus the earned sentiment and john hughes cred .", "involuntary drug use , the understanding female waiting at home , masturbating innocents , violent strangers with crowbars - it seems as if this whole film is a hangover from the hangover .", "downey and galifianakis -lsb- are -rsb- flailing at every turn trying to make something out of really played-out , limp material .", "presumably `` MOV '' looked great as a film treatment . not so great on actual celluloid .", "it is moronic , juvenile and seriously offensive to the intelligence of the movie going audience .", "alas , MOV takes a simple premise and goes nowhere with it as the two lead characters travel thousands of miles on a journey of self-discovery .", "more of an extended sketch than a comedy classic . still , it has robert downey jr. in a comic role , which is a fine use of his incredible talents .", "welcome to the ritual humiliation of robert downey jr. .", "less raunchy than hangover , but still edgy , mature .", "if you 're jonesing that hard for hangover 2 , this is just going to be the sickly sweet methadone that leaves you craving a better high .", "an indolent and painfully unfunny attempt at comedy with uninspired , forced humor and annoying characters that have zero chemistry .", "what was abundant before but is now missing in philips ' latest outing is a small but essential element that helped leaven the vulgarity : surprise .", "this is a sloppy shakespearean tragedy , full of forced sound and fury , and in the end , signifying a wasted 90 minutes of movie stock nothingness .", "MOV is funny enough , but it should have been funnier .", "MOV will have you laughing your a ** off !", "i strongly endorse watching bits of MOV when you stumble upon it on starz .", "a funny road movie that brings together an angry architect and a laid-back aspiring actor on a cross-country journey .", "when characters here are n't mean , they 're fed up , and after a while , the feeling is mutual .", "the biggest liability the road comedy MOV carries is expectations .", "disappointing follow-up to todd phillips ' blockbuster comedy the hangover is an often unpleasant road trip with robert downey , jr. and zach galifianakis .", "a savage sense of the absurd unfettered by convention , shame , or guilt", "a painful comedy in the lowest-common-denominator mold .", "you expect a comedy to throw in the heart , not go all precious : based on the novel push by sapphire on you . you need that to appreciate when they get goofy though .", "you can usually tell when a mainstream american comedy is worried about its laugh quotient , because it goes into needlessly crude mode .", "films like get him to the greek have already done a far superior job with madcap this year .", "that four writers basically rip off the 1987 classic planes , trains , and automobiles and do it badly says it all .", "most comedy threads the needle between humor and discomfort , but the noisy and curiously bleak MOV jabs that needle right in your eye . repeatedly .", "robert downey jr. and zach galifianakis try to make the most of a film devoted more to a series of silly situations than to believable interactions and plot .", "MOV is just like ` planes , trains and automobiles ' but without the humor and heart .", "the most offensive bodily fluid being hurled around in MOV are the tears that phillips dishonestly tries to wrest from the audience 's eyes .", "this is a disappointing turn coming from phillips , particularly since `` the hangover '' was such a fresh , bracing brew of black comic fun .", "it 's downey 's signature sarcasm and distinctive slow burn that make the movie . galifianakis , in a perm that makes for comic gold , plays an expanded version of his hangover character .", "whereas planes , trains and automobiles stands tall as one of the great comedies of the past quarter-century , MOV comes off as a pale , uninspired rendition that will be all but forgotten in a few years ' time .", "for a road movie , `` MOV '' generates hardly any momentum .", "MOV is a modern change-up on the old screwball comedy formula .", "for all its supposed comedy , there 's very little joy in MOV .", "those hoping for another `` hangover '' may be disappointed by todd phillips ' punch-drunk followup , which is basically `` planes , trains and automobiles '' for the road-rage generation .", "watching downey 's vein-popping discomfiture in the company of galifianakis is the best and possibly only reason for seeing the film .", "`` MOV '' is ultimately a long road trip to a predictable ending . somebody wake up the real downey and tell him we miss him .", "directed by todd phillips -lrb- `` the hangover '' -rrb- , this movie has the same absurdist feel and dark humor , but not the comedic snap .", "the movie probably contains enough laughs to satisfy the weekend audience . where it falls short is in the characters and relationships .", "at this moment in their careers , phillips , downey and galifianakis can probably make anything they want . why settle for something so half-assed ?", "todd phillips ' follow-up to the most successful r-rated comedy of all time serves up its share of laughs while not actually providing a terribly enjoyable time because of a queasy undercurrent that never goes away .", "there are some dark laughs , but the film does n't commit to being dark , like the film does n't mean it , and it always pulls back .", "with more than a nod to the great comedy `` planes trains and automobiles '' , this odd-couple road picture still delivers a wacko good time .", "downey and galifianakis work it hard - but there 's just not much for them to work with ... a script that runs out of laughs before they 're halfway across the country .", "the material may not be as inspired as the hangover , director todd phillips ' last outing , but it never bores and keeps the laughs in the theater so loud you 'll miss enough few follow-up jokes to want to see the movie again .", "so infuriating is ethan that MOV very nearly loses us , too , at the outset , but over time , the bearded boor manages to win everyone over , audience included .", "has a handful of laughs but is mostly repetitive and lazy , with neither galifianakis nor co-star robert downey jr. at anywhere near their comedic best .", "too bad that phillips and his team of screenwriters do n't take full advantage of the stars ' unique chemistry .", "while MOV hits more than it misses , its familiarity and disjointedness prevent it from being the gem it might have been .", "it 's a little crude to see the character 's weirdness being exploited for drama after so readily being jabbed for cheap laughs in the first half", "what starts out as an inspired coupling turns into another hate-you-love-you buddy flick , a moratorium on which is long overdue .", "MOV is uproarious fun and comfortably holds its own alongside its steve martin forebear .", "downey is slumming and looks like he knows it ...", "MOV does have its funny moments , but it pales in comparison with phillips ' the hangover .", "MOV ai n't the hangover . but it is a decent leftover .", "zach galifianakis manages to mix quirky-just-this-side-of-crazy with facial expressions that at times are strangely expressionless .", "mismatched buddy film takes us through a lot of familiar apatow turf , whose low-brow formulaic comedy antics are getting stale with overuse .", "an idea and cast that should be great does n't have enough laughs to get through all of the annoyance .", "good performances , but where the film falters is in its inability to deliver the laughs .", "phillips shows tremendous ability in the film 's first hour , but he still needs to shed off more of the clich\u00e9s and gross-out stunts", "you can look at MOV as a foulmouthed planes , trains and automobiles , or as the hangover 1.5 , something to tide you over until 2.0 arrives .", "MOV is , for all intents and purposes , a planes , trains and automobiles for the post-jackass age .", "just enough laughs to merit a recommendation .", "mr. galifianakis is good enough to make you almost forget the movie .", "i did n't believe this movie . which is not the same as saying i did n't like it -- although , there is that .", "there is something comically symmetrical about downey as an expectant dad rehearsing fatherhood with the overgrown boy and galifianakis as the fatherless son who adopts downey as his surrogate dad .", "ultimately it 's a collection of gags that do n't add up to much .", "directing with more focus -- and eventually , more heart -- than he brought to the hangover , todd phillips smartly lets his leads ' chemistry power the movie .", "very inconsistent , but when it 's funny , it 's damn funny .", "a relentlessly-offensive bottom-feeder of no redeeming social value which i learned in law school is the supreme court 's definition of obscene .", "too little comedy ; too much galifianakis ; and why is robert downey , jr. in this movie ?", "simply unfunny , obnoxious and mean-spirited . i might also add that it 's thinly plotted and annoying , but there 's no point in kicking the movie while it 's down .", "plenty to laugh , and cringe , at .", "an uneven yet affable piece of work ...", "MOV joins furry vengeance and i 'm still here on the list of the year 's worst movies .", "let me say right off that i liked this movie the first time i saw it , when it was called `` planes , trains and automobiles . ''", "it is as if judd apatow were directing rain man .", "watching MOV is kind of like taking a really lengthy car trip . every so often , you see something awesome , but then there are long stretches of monotony in between .", "the film suffers because every funny joke is in the trailer and director todd phillips overuses zack galafianakis .", "... a distasteful film ... with one absurdly contrived scene after another , one eventually just rolls his eyes and hopes for a quick ending .", "would n't be nearly the knee-slapper it is without robert downey jr. and hangover revelation galifianakis holding down the lead roles .", "rowdy , raunchy road trip that probably delivers the laughs you expect until ` hangover 2 ' debuts next year .", "with `` MOV , '' director todd phillips perfects the particular brand of comic alchemy that made his 2009 comedy `` the hangover '' such an unexpectedly huge hit .", "the laughs are sporadic at best , and downright scarce in the second half , as the film trudges from one mishap to the next .", "the scale is tipped pretty heavily on the side of insanity with the dynamic between peter and ethan .", "while distinctly less raunchy -lrb- and correspondingly less outrageous -rrb- than the hangover , MOV still manages to deliver -lrb- pun intended -rrb- .", "between galifianakis ' unlikeable travel companion and the film 's preposterous series of events , the laughs never really register .", "phillips has once again delivered an enjoyable , if ever so slightly forgettable , romp .", "is MOV the new hangover ? it is not . but it has its own rewards .", "poorly conceived and occasionally questionable comedy that fails to deliver a single decent laugh , despite strong performances from the two leads and colourful supporting turns from the likes of danny mcbride .", "this film purports to be a comedy and yet does n't contain a single genuine laugh . although there are a few very cheap ones .", "it 's not as funny as the hangover , nor is the screenplay nearly as good , but there is an appealing sense of the ridiculous", "MOV leaves viewers stranded .", "there are some amusing moments but the film is not funny enough to sustain interest .", "it 's true that they 're undesirable travel companions -lrb- to each other , and to the audience -rrb- , but you have to admire a comedy bold enough to feature such detestable lead characters .", "it 's a bumpy ride , but MOV is a road movie trip worth taking .", "i would much rather see two hours of -lsb- robert downey , jr. -rsb- improvising without any script , than watch five minutes of zach galifianakis ' tired shtick .", "america 's coolest actor , funniest new comedian and hottest directing talent have somehow conspired to make one of the most worthless films in recent memory .", "i was actually surprised at the lack of good comedy in the film and i think it has to do with the fact that both these characters , with whom we spend so much time , are not actually all that sympathetic .", "it 's a tough double act , but the film pulls it off with great confidence and some major laughs .", "-lsb- phillips ' -rsb- talent lies in the comedy of embarrassment and while this is n't quite up to the standards of the hangover , it 's not a bad example .", "although both downey jr. and galifianakis give strong performances , it takes too long to truly warm to their characters .", "`` MOV '' is pregnant with possibility ; it 's the delivery that disappoints .", "this feels like minor phillips to me -- something in the neighborhood of 2006 's `` school for scoundrels , '' quality-wise , though with a much grimmer heart .", "a cross between `` the hangover '' and `` planes , trains & automobiles , '' `` MOV '' is a refreshingly mean , mismatched-buddy comedy featuring robert downey , jr. and zach galifianakis .", "it is such a thoroughly unpleasant journey that it forced me to reconsider my previously firm conviction that i would happily watch robert downey , jr. in anything .", "the basic problem is the script , which is credited to three writers plus the director -- seldom a good sign . never mind that it 's a retread of `` planes , trains & automobiles '' minus the trains , and minus john candy .", "it has laughs . take any scene at random , and it will probably have something mildly funny in it . but the comedy never really takes off because it 's phony .", "a premature baby that 's easy to watch but needed more development .", "MOV is not so much a road movie as a cultural car-crash .", "... succeeds more as a character than plot driven comedy and downey jr. shines in it .", "there are some nice moments , but the comedy mostly does n't come off and there is no double-act chemistry between downey and galifianakis ." ], "summary": "shamelessly derivative and only sporadically funny , MOV does n't live up to the possibilities suggested by its talented director and marvelously mismatched stars .", "id": "770814359" }, { "movie": "truth_about_charlie", "reviews": [ "at once listless and overheated , giddy and utterly zipless .", "the chemistry between mark wahlberg and thandie newton generates a mere tingle -- not even close to those exciting sparks between cary grant and audrey hepburn .", "an uneven but engaging remake of the 1963 romantic caper charade .", "-lsb- demme -rsb- creates a film that is both traditional , in keeping with its source material , and new millennium hip .", "the MOV is the most playful film to come from demme in a long , long time . it 's also the first of his films i 've seen that has the personality that once made his work seem so fresh , ever since 1988 's married to the mob .", "in any right-thinking universe , no one would attempt to shoehorn wahlberg into a cary grant role .", "the affectionate loopiness that once seemed congenital to demme 's perspective has a tough time emerging from between the badly dated cutesy-pie mystery scenario and the newfangled hollywood post-production effects .", "demme whips together lots of fun stuff ... in a successful effort to keep the movie diverting and light .", "donen 's playful spirit , his giddy sense of fun , is sorely lacking .", "somewhere in the middle , the film compels , as demme experiments he harvests a few movie moment gems , but the field of roughage dominates .", "fresh , jazzy and fun", "charade was magic ; charlie is n't , but it 's a pleasant paris-flavored treat , beret or no .", "it never has a consistent tone . in fact , it never settles on one or any particular genre for that matter .", "the MOV is n't stupid or dull , but it has just too many flaws for me to recommend it .", "this experiment works essentially as a remake criticizing the trend of remaking films in the first place .", "the MOV is that there 's so much more here than you 've been led to believe .", "wahlberg comes across as a retired underwear model .", "jonathan demme 's fumbled remake of charade tries to mix old-fashioned champagne romance with straight-from-the-bottle swigs of new wave style .", "demme finally succeeds in diminishing his stature from oscar-winning master to lowly studio hack .", "-lsb- demme -rsb- zigs and zags and drags his camera through paris with an abandon he has n't displayed since his days toiling on the roger corman assembly line or shooting something wild .", "i realize that mark wahlberg is not cary grant , but should n't there be some compensating reason for his presence in this movie ?", "newton 's a radiant beam of beguiling star power in this stylish muddle .", "a bad remake of a good movie .", "apaixonado por sua pr\u0443pria ` sabedoria ' ao transformar esta refilmagem em uma homenagem \u0430 nouvelle vague , demme cria um filme irritante e confuso em seu tom e em seus prop\u0443sitos , prejudicando-se ainda mais em fun\u0437\u0433o da p\u0439ssima performance de newton .", "... a story as mixed up -lrb- yet with an outcome as predictable -rrb- as a plate of spaghetti .", "demme ca n't sustain the fizz , but seeing a real filmmaker try and fall short is still more fun than watching a hack hit the mark .", "just one bad idea after another .", "it successfully lured me into a world of shadows , mysteries and confusion . maybe it did its job , in that regard , a little too well . by the film 's end , i could n't find my way back .", "may not be and should not be everyone 's cup of tea , but at the end of it , i felt a guilty affection for all its participants .", "did we really need a remake of `` charade ? ''", "the ideas behind this charlie are far more fascinating than their execution proves to be .", "never do you get the feeling that anybody is in any real danger , or that there 's any real attraction between newton and wahlberg-and when you 're making a caper film that does n't have any suspense or romance in it , there 's not a hell of a lot else left for", "it does n't know what kind of movie it wants to be .", "the MOV is that it 's a brazenly misguided project .", "demme 's film looks very french , and appears as appetizing as a croissant .", "jonathan demme nous revient avec un film qui se cherche , \u0430 l'instar du personnage-titre , une identit\u0439 .", "it 's a forgery that diminishes not only the originality and pleasure of the film it copies , but also the entire school of filmmaking it wants to emulate .", "the truth is that the MOV gets increasingly tiresome .", "even in death , charlie is n't all that interesting .", "cary grant has somehow become mark wahlberg . talk about diminished expectations .", "if you love film , you 've got to see this movie once , even if only to shake your head at the screen and wonder how this script ever got made .", "it 's destined to do for thandie newton what roman holiday long ago did for audrey hepburn . spread the word : a star is born .", "there is a light , carefree bounce to much of charlie that makes the film a rollicking good time even after its plot has become a drag .", "entertaining but instantly forgettable .", "with co-writers steve schmidt , peter joshua , and jessica bendinger , demme takes a whack at a remake and mucks it up completely .", "demme not only makes a sexy , fresh and exciting sky thriller , but he also smartly pays tribute to the legends of the french new wave .", "if you dock demme points for inconsistent tone , you have to give him extra credit for originality .", "demme 's loose approach kills the suspense .", "a movie that , rather than skip along the seine , more or less slogs its way through soggy paris , tongue uncomfortably in cheek .", "overburdened with ` style , ' and worse , boring .", "i just sort of went along for the quasi-enjoyable ride in the MOV , crappy and nonsensical as it may be on the whole .", "it 's a sometimes interesting remake that does n't compare to the brilliant original .", "flat , pointless and unexciting .", "it almost feels as if the movie is more interested in entertaining itself than in amusing us .", "the soupy end result has the odd distinction of being playful without being fun , too .", "i found myself liking the film , though in this case one man 's treasure could prove to be another man 's garbage .", "newton draws our attention like a magnet , and acts circles around her better known co-star , mark wahlberg .", "grant and hepburn treated `` charade '' as if it were a working vacation , clearly having a wonderful time as they maneuvered around the plot 's many turns ; wahlberg and newton have been encouraged to take the whole thing much too seriously .", "boring and meandering .", "the camera whirls ! the camera twirls ! oh , look at that clever angle ! wow , a jump cut !" ], "summary": "newton has star quality , but this exercise in style ca n't hold a candle to the original .", "id": "98836435" }, { "movie": "inkheart", "reviews": [ "this children 's fantasy flirts with the dark side , though family values win out .", "a fantasy film intended as an adventure flick that requires this disclaimer : do not operate heavy machinery after viewing .", "the ending needs to soar like a winged monkey , and instead it flops around like a landed fish .", "MOV has an engaging premise in its notion of a silvertongue and a refreshing love of books .", "if you can ignore fraser and his trademark lumpishness , MOV is imaginative and entertaining .", "meh .", "'' ... unconvincing characters and uncompelling action . ''", "there are moments of absolute wonder to be had . just not enough to make the film anything more than a painless misfire .", "last action hero for books . by proxy , it 's also kind of the purple rose of cairo for books , but it 's not as good as either ... it would really amuse me if it ended with the family deciding , after all this trouble , let 's never read again .", "much less cringe-worthy , juvenile and bland than bedtime stories , it lacks the awe-inspiring thrills , brilliance and imagination that makes superior films like harry potter so exhilarating and unforgettable .", "absolutely adorable and enormously entertaining .", "the movie has no personality . it flops from scene to scene and crisis to crisis with no passion , no intensity and % u2014worse % u2014no fun .", "any grown-ups deputized to accompany kids to this picture should find the usual watch-checking squirm factor to be surprisingly minimal .", "brendan fraser needs to make a serious movie and get his career back in gear .", "movies like ` MOV ' are one of the reasons i list fantasies as one of my least favorite genres .", "i understand this is the first offering in an ` MOV ' trilogy . if so , color me hooked .", "this folklore-filled children 's story about the love of literature is disappointing because of its poor execution .", "chaotic , wildly unevern kids ' fluff .", "tween-targeted fantasy adaptation is no harry potter .", "... an agreeable fantasy epic that 's generally elevated by the strength of the various performances ...", "over and over again , characters in MOV wax eloquent on the power of books . but there 's nothing in the movie as haunting or as compelling as the sound they make when they speak for themselves .", "even though brendan fraser might be one of the worst actors out there , his co-stars and a clever script keep this movie alive and entertaining .", "the aesthetics of MOV are part of what make it such a surprisingly enjoyable experience to watch .", "-lsb- has -rsb- plenty of thrills , a smart although oft-confusing script , delightful scenery-chewing scenes from stalwarts like helen mirren , jim broadbent and andy serkis , and a gorgeous high-concept visual style .", "keep your expectations reasonable , and you 'll have fun .", "seemingly intended as a celebration of the power of books , it 's an occasionally incoherent , sleep-inducing picture that reduces narrative to mere mechanics .", "a whimsical , exciting and entertaining family flick .", "for the effects spectacle , the film works to a degree , but the vast majority of the humdrum plot might leave more kids asleep rather than engaged .", "MOV finds brendan fraser getting out-acted by flying monkeys and toto the dog .", "parental content review", "the film 's message that books are the doorway to learning and adventure is not overplayed even if the pic cheats a bit at the end for a tidy denouement .", "this is one of those adaptations that tries to keep you watching with its sheer busyness . at times , though , you just want it to stop and catch breath with the aid of some rather better lines and deeper characterisations .", "a brisk , overstuffed adaptation of cornelia funke 's international bestseller .", "even if it ca n't quite conjure up the movie magic it intends , MOV does serve as public service announcement promoting literacy . and as such , your kids could do a lot worse at the cineplex .", "as an adventure flick , MOV is not all that adventurous . it goes to places and falls on tropes that many fantasy films -- most notably but not exclusively the lord of the rings trilogy -- have covered .", "the film 's storybook alpine vistas are lovely to behold , and bits of humor pop out in welcome moments . other than that , it never quite springs to life as intended -- not in your kitchen , and not on screen .", "taken far too literally from the best-selling trilogy by cornelia funke , MOV is a passable , but prosaic and remarkably humourless kidflick that all but sucks the magic out of fairy tales by rendering the characters ordinary .", "despite strong production values and a cast of heavy hitters , MOV never hooks us as it should .", "the movie never achieves the sort of transporting fantasy that formed the backbone of the novel : the limitless potential for adventure and excitement that books provide , given physical form when transplanted into our reality .", "the overqualified cast gives its all , but logical lapses and sober-sided direction siphon off the fun .", "a flea market of fairy tales and hocus-pocus , MOV makes as much sense as an inkblot .", "MOV takes a great idea and then refuses to do much with that idea -- including , i 'm afraid , explaining it clearly to the audience .", "a few of the creatures , as well as one startling moment , might unsettle little ones in the audience . but the greater danger is that they 'll fall asleep .", "there is loads of action and an amusing turn from helen mirren as meggie 's aunt . most important , MOV performs the trick of encouraging our kids to love both books and films .", "adapted from the best-selling novel by cornelia funke , this makes a splashy fuss about `` the magic of books '' , and yet undermines our imaginative instincts by monstering the screen with special effects .", "a convoluted story but otherwise this is solid fantasy fare , nicely performed and handsomely made .", "MOV shows why books are wonderful yet dangerous places ; how a well-told story unlocks the imagination ; and how words unleash the most unpredictable emotions .", "magical , if messy - this gets by on a good heart , high adventure and an unashamed love for books .", "it 's a familiar tale , but one told with gusto , wit and visual flare .", "gamely played and impressively filmed -lrb- in the liguria area of italy -rrb- , it 's good , saturday matinee-type fun . if it were a book ... you could n't put it down . word up .", "MOV the novel is intended to be the first of a trilogy , but - like the golden compass , but even more so - it falls well short of convincing me that the next two films would be a worthwhile investment , financially or emotionally .", "cgi fantasy adventures in the post-potter , young-adult , old-child mode are not quite my taste , but this one is likably boisterous , and iain softley directs with flair .", "MOV is cheerful and amiable , and in the absence of a harry potter film this winter , it fills a gap neatly .", "there 's nothing terrible or offensive about MOV , but until a hero decides to read letters from penthouse forum , let 's can it with the ` things coming alive ' stuff .", "does n't fill us with a sufficient sense of awe for the spectacular visual concepts that we 've come to expect in big-scale movie fantasy .", "this shrill , moronic and often ugly family adventure feels cobbled together from spare parts , with a script that ca n't even be bothered to follow its own rules or internal logic .", "MOV was a busy , crowded , hugely successful book to start with ... the film version retains nearly all of author cornelia funke 's story complications . it 's a mixed bag and a serious load for a movie to carry .", "MOV gets a pass for making books seem cool -lrb- if scary -rrb- : if only it could have done the same for movies .", "whimsy should n't be overwhelming .", "MOV illustrates an obvious problem with making a movie about the joys of reading when the movie made is labored and sludgy looking : why bother seeing it if you can stay home and read a book instead ?", "cold , bland and gimmicky .", "much of this comes across as a labor of love , with a classy cast frolicking in iain softley 's whimsical direction of a lushly imagined adaptation by david lindsay-abaire .", "it 's handsomely mounted , with supporting turns by helen mirren as the girl 's flinty aunt and jim broadbent as the author of the book that caused so much fuss .", "better an adventure movie for families that -lrb- however paradoxically -rrb- extols the value and wonder of books than yet another movie that celebrates violent revenge or asinine behavior .", "another fantasy adventure story based on a bestselling book that turns out to be a dud .", "MOV is a fantastic read , and i was n't expecting the film to live up to it at all . much simpler than the book , the film is still a pretty fantastic ride . the story is changed around a bit but the main characters are there , exactly as you remember them", "for a movie about the power of books and stories , it 's a bit ironic that MOV is itself so poorly thought through .", "enjoyable fantasy adventure in which the strong cast , likeable characters and impressive special effects provide just enough distraction for you to ignore the plot holes .", "whatever made the german novel MOV by cornelia funke so popular that it got translated into 37 languages is nowhere in evidence in its film version .", "MOV is a case of a good children 's tale assigned to the wrong director , iain softley , who 's unable to bring the magic of the german best-selling novel to the screen .", "it all smacks of that overdone ` passion for literature ' common in english teachers who send any healthy-minded kid running from books .", "winged monkeys and a minotaur you do n't get a good look at make up some of the mediocre special effects in an unsatisfying kid 's movie .", "the real problem with MOV is n't that it 's badly made but that it simply should n't have been made at all .", "it 's the limitations of the film when considering the nearly limitless possibilities suggested by the premise that make MOV a disappointment .", "while we can appreciate the decent effects , the bang-up settings and a good cast , we can only hope they got some sight-seeing in on their days off . whatever magic there was on this shoot is probably in their home movies .", "filled with the prerequisites of talking animals , an appealing young heroine and some heinous villains , all the ingredients are there , although an overly complex plot makes for an altogether middling experience .", "bit by bit , MOV gets backed into a very moribund soundstage finale with loose ends either rapidly wrapped or abandoned entirely .", "it 's not that MOV is horrible or stupid or has something about it that scars you so badly and deeply you will never want to go to the movies again . it 's just not special .", "its countless missteps earn nothing but scorn even as its wonderful intentions make us ashamed to voice them .", "despite its interest in creative expression , MOV 's hurried pace , shorthand characterizations and regularly scheduled set-pieces obliterate all but the faintest traces of lucid thought .", "beautiful cinematography , good direction , solid supporting actors , interestingly enough story , despite its predictability , but the main character was absent .", "it 's an interesting idea , but instead of imagining an equally clever conclusion , the film eventually collapses into a series of chases and fights with a big raiders of the lost ark-style special effects blowout ending .", "the concept of ` MOV ' is worthy but the execution leaves viewers ' heads caught in the library and their feet in the cineplex .", "brendan frasier 's mo may be able to conjure magic , but the same ca n't be said for this film .", "a movie that can produce the image of helen mirren astride a unicorn has some claim on the audience 's interest , and a movie that can make that image seem perfectly uninteresting is in some serious trouble .", "... focused on giving the film a palpable threat of potentially fatal consequences and the characters an emotional foundation .", "the story shimmers with imaginative details .", "MOV feels as though it has been pulled apart and put back together several times over , leading to a viewing experience that 's equal parts bewilderment and tedium .", "entertaining enough for young teens , but a little more thought could have made it appealing to adults as well .", "no child seeing MOV will ever want to be read to again .", "MOV is entertaining enough , if not always easy to follow . and if it does nothing else , at least it may inspire kids to read , if for no other reason than to help make sense of it all .", "a literary fantasy with a charm deficit .", "a visually overstuffed but emotionally undernourished piece of whimsy ... yet another big , overblown fantasy movie that never takes flight .", "una aventura entretenida sobre todo para p\u00fablico adolescente , y para todo aquel que haya disfrutado alguna vez de un buen libro de fantas\u00eda .", "the message is so muddied by the film 's dizzying changes in pitch and tone that a lot of young readers are n't going to know what to think .", "readers who want to exercise their imaginations may prefer to stick to the written word . if a story gets boring , you can always skip a few pages and move on . in the cinema there is n't much choice .", "as far as movies based on books about books go , it 's anything but a pageturner .", "when you have to question every other scene and a ferret steals the show , you know you 're in trouble .", "for all its problems , it 's a sweet , clever work .", "if there 's a problem for me with MOV , it is one of scope . this feels like it should be an epic movie , but it 's not .", "brendan fraser 's boyish face usually oozes charisma , but here he just looks plain bored . which is kind of how the audience looked too .", "kind of a neverending story-lite , MOV never makes full use of its strengths . the ideas about reality and fiction have already been explored better elsewhere , even in light family films .", "cobbled-together fantasy about a dad who can `` read '' characters in and out of books .", "much is made of the magic of literature in MOV , but the joys of losing yourself in reading are undermined by the movie 's barrage of special effects and a convoluted plot .", "making a movie about the magic to be found in reading books , is a little like general motors singing the praises of riding a bike instead .", "purposefully confusing and , on occasion , downright indefensible", "bettany 's wonderful performance is as compelling as the movie itself is lackluster and downright dull .", "despite his name , -lsb- director -rsb- softley plays it with a heavy hand , distracting viewers with lots of action , hideous makeup and garish costumes , but the effect is more perplexing than enlightening .", "plot holes notwithstanding , MOV is a well-timed and well-made family film that seems too good for the traditional january dumping grounds .", "while the story proves the pen is mightier than the sword , this flaccid adaptation proves the book is mightier than the film .", "MOV is a valentine to books mainly by negative example -- the leaps of imagination it does n't achieve .", "a kids ' adventure movie can be a lot of things -- wild and woolly , loosey-goosey , full of foolishness -- but they should never be shabby . and that 's the best word for MOV .", "MOV may not be rotten to the core -- instead of maggots , the fantasy adventure seethes with good intentions -- but the overripeness of its special effects ca n't be overstated .", "similar to the movie adaptation of philip pullman 's the golden compass -lrb- knopf , 1996 -rrb- , the filmmakers shoehorn most of the book 's plot into a small amount of time , leaving little room for character development or nuanced acting .", "-lsb- u -rsb- nquestionably for children , but unlike many children 's movies , it does not assume kids are stupid or will respond only to toilet humor or slapstick ...", "take some bits from `` harry potter '' and `` arabian nights , '' loads from `` the wizard of oz '' and mix with an original story that we never even get to hear and you get the torturously tedious `` MOV . ''", "the story is a whirl , a jumble , an effusion -- sometimes flowing smoothly , other times jerking along as if the filmmaker has been given advice he resents regarding pacing and the balance of sweetness and danger .", "MOV was shot in and around liguria on the italian riviera , and it looks absolutely ravishing . but the most resonant and , frankly , wonderful aspect of the film is its unabashed love for books and the wonders to be found within .", "a brisk and engaging adventure for kids who love books as well as for those who do n't .", "the finished product teases , but does not fulfill , with what could have been . having seen MOV only days ago , its details have already begun to fade from memory . great literature and cinema is not this easily forgotten .", "MOV wo n't make people forget princess bride , but it may give them pleasant flashbacks while it rollicks through its own bookish adventures .", "we leave doubly convinced that words are better left squat , inert , and black on the page", "there is nothing that resembles fun anywhere . no sense of emotional involvement by anyone on screen , and certainly no breathtaking and/or lurking sense of doom", "this adventure-fantasy film does n't have the special effects depth of a lord of the rings movie , nor the charm of the harry potter franchise , but it is still quite enjoyable .", "a diverting excursion into fantasy gothic territory .", "it 's a familiar tale , but one told with gusto , wit and visual flare ...", "gaping plot holes aside , MOV is a lovely little film , aimed at the bookish among us , and peppered with a love of the literary .", "kanones bebaia poy agnooyntai , prospernioyntai , lygizontai , i spane horis kamia egnoia , otan to apaitei i formoylaiki ploki gia na ftasei stin epomeni pista mias asymmazeyta asynartitis sto desimo tis plithorikis se ypoplokes kai deyteroys haraktires isto", "there 's a shortage of magic in this adventure fantasy , and despite some good elements including its spectacular italian settings and a solid cast , this adaptation about storybook characters prised from their world , is a bit of a blot", "there 's nothing terribly wrong with MOV but it just does n't quite engage us , ''", "not ghastly , but not exhilarating either .", "the main attractions are the serious british thespians cutting loose and having fun while still displaying convincing commitment to the fanciful material .", "this fantasy-lit film is too intense for young ones drawn to its books-come-to-life story and not sharp enough for potter fans ." ], "summary": "heavy on cliches and light on charm , this kid-lit fantasy-adventure does n't quite get off the ground .", "id": "770673032" }, { "movie": "1046060-high_noon", "reviews": [ "flaws do n't negate the strong impact this film would have on the viewer , the impact that inspired many future filmmakers and made MOV one of the most important pieces of american film legacy .", "the western may be one of the few truly american art forms , and MOV shows exactly how much potential it can embrace .", "a film about what it means to be a man that manages to avoid the musk of machismo , MOV is truly a film that improves with each and every viewing .", "just a good guy , a bad guy , and a clean-cut ending that leaves you shrugging the whole thing off .", "this outstanding drama ticks by in real time , only 84 tense minutes long .", "o primeiro filme a ensinar que um faroeste poderia ter densidade dram\u00e1tica sem perder suas pr\u00f3prias caracter\u00edsticas .", "one of the best westerns ever made . had me on the edge of my seat the entire time !", "there 's no reason to upgrade if you own the previous dvd release . ... -lsb- but -rsb- if you do n't have this movie , you should pick up a copy . it 's a classic .", "meaningful in its implications , as well as loaded with interest and suspense , MOV is a western to challenge stagecoach for the all-time championship .", "regarded as '50s melodrama , it 's nearly perfect .", "a simple , somewhat creaky tribute to defiant courageousness .", "drop-dead brilliant western noir .", "one of the most overestimated westerns in film history , MOV is schematic and more of a reflection of the times in which it was made than the classic it 's considered to be , though gary cooper and grace kelly are excellent .", "MOV won a fistful of oscars , but in these days of pasteboard screen machismo , it 's worth seeing simply as the anatomy of what it took to make a man before the myth turned sour .", "more than a half-century later , foreman was right after all : MOV is a scorching and sour portrait of american complacence and capacity for collaborationism .", "... plays on the psychology of its characters and situations ; an oater with insight and introspection ... thought over action .", "generates claustrophobic suspense by focusing on three images : kane 's increasingly tense , pained expression ; implacably ticking clocks ; and the ominous , empty train tracks .", "can be enjoyed simply because it 's so well done .", "the great american western .", "quintessential western that transcends the genre", "MOV -lrb- 1952 -rrb- is possibly the all-time best western film ever made - a successful box-office production by stanley kramer", "not a frame is wasted in this taut , superbly directed , masterfully acted film .", "arguably the classic western .", "the film works remarkably well as a simple but powerful parable .", "some of the results ring false , but the memorable theme song and some equally memorable character acting -lrb- by thomas mitchell and lon chaney jr. more than lloyd bridges and katy jurado -rrb- help things along .", "one of the essentials", "MOV is n't really a masterpiece , and if you 're a fan of more honest westerns , it 's hard not to notice zinnemann 's general lack of interest throughout . but it is a tense , effective little film .", "file under ` classic ' .", "deserving of its label as a true classic , and essential viewing .", "MOV combines its points about good citizenship with some excellent picturemaking .", "tense 1950s western is still a cinema classic .", "zinnemann carefully and deliberately makes the most of the mood cast by the threat of impending violence .", "carl foreman 's brilliant screenplay pays due respect to each character , no matter how sad or loathsome .", "one of top five westerns of all time w/cooper 's oscar winning role . powerful ." ], "summary": "a classic of the western genre that broke with many of the traditions at the time , MOV endures -- in no small part thanks to gary cooper 's defiant , oscar-winning performance .", "id": "22011" }, { "movie": "exorcist", "reviews": [ "a film of such horrifying power that audiences are apt to be visibly shaken .", "at once an honest , disturbing exploration of the darker aspects of religion and the spiritual world , it is also an unabashed horror movie", "i simply see no justification for such sacrilege . you know what scene i mean .", "it never was a great film , but it 's still effective -- the 2000 version is nearer greatness", "the film turns out to be a superior horror story , very ably directed by william friedkin whose last film was the french connection .", "there is nothing dated about the MOV , which remains an effective excursion into demonic possession more than a quarter of a century after it was first unveiled to the public .", "the MOV -lrb- 1973 -rrb- is the sensational , shocking horror story about devil possession and the exorcism of the demonic spirits from a young , innocent girl", "no matter how many times viewed , the MOV never fails to deliver the goods .", "the film is an intense rollercoaster ride , a marvel of audience manipulation , with director william friedkin pushing all the right buttons to make this a genre landmark .", "this notorious battle between good and evil , nominated for eight oscars when it was originally released in 1973 , is both a hysteric scream and an intentional as well as unintentional hoot .", "essential viewing for anyone who loves cinema . if you can endure it ...", "it 's good stuff but , basically , the MOV is a museum piece , something to be enjoyed for its historical value , its datedness and its almost quaint shock value .", "friedkin 's MOV holds up remarkably well .", "the MOV is what it purports to be , no less than one of the best horror films , one of the best films , of all time .", "i loved it .", "a brilliantly constructed , chilling tale of demonic possession and medical torture", "a finely crafted thriller that benefits immensely from william friedkin 's controlled direction , william peter blatty 's thematically fruitful script , owen roizman 's imaginative camerawork and dick smith 's startling makeup designs .", "an expert telling of a supernatural horror story .", "it stimulates and rewards , time and time again .", "succeeds best in developing its characters", "some movies are n't just movies . they 're closer to voodoo -- they channel currents larger and more powerful than themselves .", "aall the MOV does is take its audience for a ride , spewing it out the other end , shaken up but none the wiser .", "the MOV not only tops the horror genre but transcends it , resulting in a profound experience where moviemaking horror , thrillingly dramatic storytelling and deeply felt spirituality of the catholic kind make for pivotal viewing .", "-lsb- friedkin -rsb- knew he was n't making art ; he was concocting gross-out pop -- a movie so `` scary '' it borders on being silly .", "von sydow , blair and mercedes mccambridge -lrb- the originally uncredited actress who dubbed regan 's gross mutterings -rrb- are flat-out terrific .", "less a cleverly spun story than a disjointed collection of shockeroos , surrounding a few ghoulishly effective moments with overcooked plot twists and in-your-face vulgarity .", "william friedkin 's adaptation of william peter blatty 's novel , with a screenplay by the author , is a dead-serious meditation on the struggle between good and evil .", "the MOV , with its excellent cast , mounting intensity , and ingeniously constructed surprises , is still a commanding achievement .", "the movie that launched a new era in horror films , and which , for one generation , remains one of the scariest experiences of their lives .", "the MOV , like most memorable hollywood movies , gains its power from the way it mixes opposites : new-style realism and sexual radicalism , old-style horror and religion .", "when i first saw the MOV , i saw only the literal side of the story . but as i watched it again , i began to view the movie as a dark fairy tale about a parent whose child is experiencing a painful trauma .", "provocative , thoughtful horror", "arguably the most troubling factor is the lack of true redemption in the twist ending , which resolves the demon possession without allowing good to triumph over evil .", "the scariest movie i have ever seen . so scary , i refuse to watch it again .", "barbarism and exploitation here parade as something deeper . abominable .", "this 1973 horror thriller is highly instructive as well as unnerving .", "this is the dark frightening place where modern horror cinema began .", "one of the few horror films that hold up well , the MOV is still scary due to the visual and sound effects , but it 's also well-written by blatty , well-directed by friedkin , and well-acted by ellen burstyn as the mother and linda blair as her daughter", "totally ludicrous .", "absolutely timeless horror in its purest form . seeing this recently with a bunch of rambunctious college students , not even they were immune . exorcism time came around -- you could hear a pin drop in the cinema .", "a sour odor of spiritual guilt wafts through every fascinating minute of the MOV .", "it just never gets un-scary . that 's the best part .", "but , is it just me , or is karras 's the only story that 's really compelling ?", "the MOV is likely just as disturbing today as it was 25 years ago .", "there 's something new to be discovered in every viewing of the MOV .", "if it failed on all other levels -lrb- which it does n't -rrb- , the MOV would nevertheless be an excellent family horror story .", "... the movie is right up there with the cinema 's better chillers .", "an unforgettable horror film that does n't just get under my skin - it stays there .", "trendsetting shocker about a possessed child .", "... a crude religious exploitation piece -lrb- although poor linda blair - required to urinate , swear and vomit on cue - is exploited more than anything else -rrb- .", "from the day of its first release in 1973 , `` the MOV : was the greatest horror film ever made , and it remains so to this day .", "the overall film has a well-developed sense of atmosphere that most films of today are missing .", "friedkin and blatty seem to care nothing for their characters as people , only as victims-props to be abused , hurled about the room , beaten and , in one case , brutally murdered .", "the MOV is not an unintelligently put-together film , which makes one all the more impatient with it .", "if movies are , among other things , opportunities for escapism , then the MOV is one of the most powerful ever made .", "a story whose archetypal pull and sheer visceral power ca n't be negated by even the worst audience behaviour .", "there 's something elemental about the MOV ." ], "summary": "the MOV rides its supernatural theme to magical effect , with remarkable special effects and an eerie atmosphere , resulting in one of the scariest films of all time .", "id": "15615" }, { "movie": "pokemon-heroes", "reviews": [ "subjecting kids to such shoddy junk when they could be watching ` spirited away ' or ` finding nemo ' should count as cinematic child abuse .", "grown-ups may have to scrub the sugar from their frontal lobes . but it 's not about them , is it ? never was . never will be .", "the film 's traditional cel animation seems to have reverted back to the lackluster standard of television-quality cartoons .", "it 's one of those little ironies that as interest has flagged in the animated pok\u00e9mon movie franchise , the scripts have actually gotten better .", "having settled into a formula of maximum action and minimal whimsy for its battery of feature releases , the makers of MOV : latios & latias barely raise a ripple as they tread water in this fifth entry .", "the story 's better but there 's still the animal cruelty that 's disturbing - the trainers have pok\u00e9mon battles that resemble ` cockfights for kids ' and the wild pok\u00e9mon are kept captive in pocketsize pok\u00e9balls when they are not being used for entertainment .", "those less obsessed with the colorful creatures will squirm as the the uninspired story -- which could have easily been condensed into a half-hour series episode -- unfolds over the course of 80 long minutes .", "a tedious , unimaginative affair .", "the plot is paper-thin , supporting players like the bumbling team rocket baddies are mere window dressing and the devious designs of annie and oakley are generic at best .", "surely a form of child abuse .", "this one 's for kids and no one else .", "judged purely as a movie for young children -lrb- 10 and under , tops -rrb- , this latest feature spinoff from the card-game , toy and tv-animation empire is , surprisingly , not bad .", "a reasonably entertaining entry that , thanks to its exotic setting and several new characters , should prove engaging for the small fry and not too painful for their adult chaperones .", "the pied piper of shameless kiddie-marketing strikes for the fifth time in as many years .", "if you think of it as the cinematic equivalent of a dental appointment that 's less painful than you 'd anticipated , you 'll have a fairly accurate notion of its quality .", "the same old grab for the wallet .", "it looks cheap and feels slapped together .", "the story is also less violent and combative .", "with the same vocal talent and weak combination of computer and hand-drawn animation , the film is about on par with the previous entries in the series .", "if you still have pok\u00e9mon fans at your house , i suppose there 's no harm in taking them to see this movie ; but with pixar 's finding nemo set to open in a couple of weeks , surely you can find something better to do this weekend .", "you 'd have to classify MOV as an action movie , but with the static long shots and inert faces , it 's more like an inaction movie .", "those who have n't fallen under the pok\u00e9mon spell will find little here to convert them .", "kids will revolt , parents will snooze , and i will be downright giddy if i never encounter another pok\u00e9mon movie as long as i live .", "nothing can save this sinking ship of a film series .", "parents , only you can prevent another pokemon .", "at worst , you 're paying to see something you can basically see on television .", "an easily avoided waste of time .", "it 's a pointless exercise in animated tedium .", "we 've seen it all before , and too many times .", "there are , alas , the requisite new characters and this round it 's a pair of winged critters with high-pitched grating ` voices ' that sound most awfully like mr. bill from saturday night live .", "the result is impressive but does little to further the experience .", "-lsb- i -rsb- t seems these things are being made and released by rote . if no one went , would the next one come out anyway ?", "below-average for series and too violent for younger kids .", "all that a piece of product like MOV will inspire is the urge to nap .", "the new characters ' voices are even more grating and annoying than in previous installments , and some of the animation seems downright archaic .", "directors kunihiko yuyama and jim malone pull off a few striking visual effects . but it 's still a pokemon movie ." ], "summary": "this series is n't getting any better .", "id": "9595" }, { "movie": "wedding_date", "reviews": [ "you know how some movies just ring so utterly true that they defy your expectations and take a predictable genre to new and unexpected places ? this is not one of those movies .", "some films are ripped from the headlines , others are ripped from the pages of cosmopolitan .", "a great excuse for staying single .", "this is a charmless , lifeless affair that had me leaving the theater in a mood more appropriate to a funeral than a wedding .", "you could call this horrid romantic comedy one wedding and a funeral , with stress on the funeral .", "one wedding . no funerals . a pretty woman . lots of borrowed somethings , but nothing new .", "following this botched ceremony , anyone fond of debra messing and dermot mulroney will be left standing at the altar in tears .", "` the MOV ' does n't exactly resurrect romantic comedy , but it proves there 's still life in the genre .", "clare kilner 's cast frolics in the countryside in an appropriately british-romantic-comedy fashion , and at times the characters trade silly snaps , but dana fox 's screenplay is structurally shaky .", "to say that the script is bottom-of-the-barrel would be too kind ; this one was already decomposing under a mountain of mulch before debra messing unwisely fished it out .", "perhaps the movie should have been called `` four bridesmaids and a hookah . ''", "should n't romantic comedies be a little more romatic ? or maybe at least likable ?", "messing and mulroney have wonderful chemistry -- too bad they frequently have it long before their characters should .", "the film is made by women , which just goes to show female moviemakers are equally capable of insulting female audiences .", "... plays like a hollow and manipulative gimmicky lifetime channel television movie . alertly , one should decline the cheeky invitation to this senseless ceremonial event", "yearn , dammit ! the movie screams at you , as you turn your eyes to the wristwatch and lament that , like kat , you 've just wasted your money .", "the MOV 's ending is one of the most contrived in recent memory ...", "the shenanigans that first-time screenwriter dana cox concocts from this lame scenario fluctuate from stupid to lazy and back to dull", "there 's no clich\u00e9 from any romantic comedy of the past twenty years that this movie is n't afraid to borrow , water down , and then recycle .", "flashes of engagement mired in starry-eyed pabulum with a bubble-gum score to match .", "so many body parts from other engineered romantic comedies have been crudely harvested and stitched together in the making of this weird robotic lark that maid of honor of frankenstein might be more useful a nickname .", "tv movie level fluff . yawn .", "the MOV presents the curious case of two appealing performances surviving a bombardment of schlock .", "... the only possible happy ending involves your escape from the theater with a few precious brain cells intact .", "there is not a single memorable joke or line of dialogue in it , something that even the dumbest of comedies usually delivers .", "this is a movie that wants to break out and be tepid . it would like to dare to be tepid . but it just ca n't find the energy .", "call this will & dis-grace .", "you wonder if the filmmakers intended you to utterly despise everyone in the story . probably not .", "a fairly mediocre film , not nearly as funny as it should be , nor as heartfelt .", "from the look of it , poor debra messing 's first starring vehicle was an unmitigated disaster even before the cameras started rolling .", "the film 's generic nature extends to everything about it : the unengaging cinematography , haphazard editing , emptily jaunty score , even use of locations .", "there 's no real tension , because kat and nick are more surely fated than a pharaoh for his tomb .", "the writing shows occasional wit and the performances are charming enough , but there is too much working against them .", "my suspicion is -lsb- the filmmakers -rsb- started out making a raunchy , r-rated bridget jones 's diary sort of movie , but ... the suits got nervous and demanded a pg-13 cut .", "confuses sex with romance", "if there 's anything truly scary about this time of year , it 's the typical appearance of the ghastly beast known as the sitcom star feature hiatus project .", "simple and tiresome , as well as unoriginal , borrowing bits from any number of like-minded movies .", "clever lines , chic sets , appropriately incorporated cloying songs , and a sympathetic debra messing keep the film enjoyable .", "directed with muddled confusion , the movie goes through its stock characters and obligatory plot points without enthusiasm or charm .", "the film is just not very funny or original .", "inexplicable fantasy romances for the harried modern gal 101 is a more fitting title for this shameless mediocrity .", "seldom has a movie so blatantly illustrated the need for genuine star power in the lead , especially considering the MOV 's obvious comparisons to not one , but three more successful julia roberts movies .", "debra messing ... is a nightmarish golem-creature constructed , frankenstein-monster style , from the worst stereotypes of modern femininity ...", "yes , it 's another romantic comedy with the happy moral that single women are miserable and worthless .", "going to see MOV is like going on a date with me . it is moderately pleasant , but you are not going to do it a second time because you know you can do better .", "mulroney contributes virtually nothing save a convincing profile and makes the transition to lover-for-life feel about as shallow as a single-tiered wedding cake .", "surprisingly adapted from a novel , date is saccharine , uninspired entertainment , eventually collapsing into a flat-out mess .", "there 's a bizarrely republican message , asserting that `` every woman has the exact love life she wants , '' which strikes me as kind of unsympathetic .", "just why jeffrey dumped kat is a revelation so unsavory that this initially breezy movie sinks beneath its weight , despite the frantic efforts of first-time screenwriter dana fox and director clare kilner .", "elicits a handful of smiles but not many laughs as it approaches a finale that comes as a foregone conclusion .", "same ol'", "the movie goes wrong from the start by simply throwing us into the action and asking us to identify with messing 's desperate scheme .", "the film has an energetic grace , directed with fluid efficiency by clare kilner .", "why kat must be so emotionally clueless or her sister so selfish is a mystery that invites an essay about what women think of each other these days .", "an epic comic miscalculation .", "it is in no way a match made in heaven .", "not a single scene connects smoothly with the next , characters make head-scratching choices that come out of nowhere and logic consistently proves itself an enemy to be avoided at all costs .", "although the trappings are familiar , writer dana fox has contributed a lean but clever script , and director clare kilner keeps the story moving .", "admittedly , no part of the year is immune to bad romantic comedies . but what distinguishes the MOV , what qualifies it so impeccably for turkey season , goes way beyond generic foulness .", "like a bridal shower , it 's probably more fun if you have some champagne first . perhaps some enterprising theater manager will consider this .", "a movie of utter inconsequence -- a cinematic listerine strip that evaporates from the brain before you even get your popcorn tub to the trash .", "a bit like cheap champagne : it 's better if you revel in its bubbly fizz and do n't think about the finish .", "romantic comedy is a tough genre to pull off in this crass and explicit day and age . this movie gives it a perky try , but its formula , unlike its hired-for-the-occasion leading man , just is n't the right package .", "it might be best to discreetly misplace your invitation to these strained festivities .", "even if the material is terribly formulaic and derivative , it 's still such a simple , by-the-numbers romantic comedy that only a herculean effort could mess it up . and the filmmakers have managed to do exactly that .", "do n't bother asking how an ivy league guy would end up hooking . such a query could only lead to some dark answers , answers that the filmmakers have no interest in dealing with but which would make for a much more interesting movie .", "messing should know this is precisely the kind of movie grace would ridicule will for dragging her to see .", "even if we could buy the contrived setup -lrb- right : debra messing needs to buy a date -rrb- , there is no thought to fleshing out the characters .", "hardly worth an $ 8 ticket , however , especially since you can see messing play the same character in a better-written venue every week . after all , that 's one of the central messages of the film : never pay for something you can get for free .", "is true love with a prostitute the best valentine 's day fantasy hollywood has to offer ?", "this particular wedding-cake walk does feature the excellent comedic timing of debra messing and the charm and sex appeal of dermot mulroney , which will likely combine to make this film a hit with the date crowd .", "my best friend 's picture perfect wedding , er , i mean the MOV ... is surprisingly engaging -- mostly ...", "but i think that if you 're a guy you would be best to avoid this like the plague !", "the MOV reveals no trace of recognizable human behavior in it .", "as forgettable as a hollywood couple 's marriage vows .", "the main problem with the film is that it seems to be missing a sequence where we see kat and nick actually falling for each other - the script pretty much expects us to take it for granted just because they 're the leads .", "messing-mulroney romantic comedy has `` something borrowed '' in its plot -- and a sense of missed opportunity that 'll leave you blue .", "perfectly watchable even if it 's deeply lazy filmmaking .", "as predictable as a church ceremony and witless as the pastor 's blessings , leaving one to ponder this wedding 's `` reception . ''", "as stale as last week 's wedding cake .", "a dupla principal at\u00e9 que se esfor\u00e7a -lrb- principalmente mulroney , que vem se especializando neste tipo de personagem -rrb- , mas o roteiro repleto de clich\u0119s frustra suas tentativas .", "while there are many of the right ingredients here -- a likable cast , plot potential , a dreamy english countryside setting -- i still ca n't say `` i do '' to this fluffy flick .", "this was a fun film that told a good story without getting ridiculous like some of these have been in the past .", "trite , but , dermot mulroney , i took an exit poll . you are definitely worth the extra three hundred .", "mulroney is like a young stallone - and he 's got half the acting ability to prove it .", "a distillation of so many rom-com formulas and conventions it 's hard to know whether the filmmakers even realized what they were actually doing .", "know this from the get-go : i 'm one of a dozen or so women scattered throughout the world who didnt like pretty woman .", "`` the MOV '' has a few good laughs and appealing leads , but it never achieves the lift off of a real sparkling romantic comedy .", "tonight a very special `` will and grace . '' grace goes to london without will . dermot mulrooney guest stars .", "messing seems to be searching in vain for some shred of credibility , while the amiable mulroney moves about in his tuxedo as if he 'd been strapped into a straitjacket ...", "most of the time , it 's as flat and lifeless as debra messing 's hair .", "i refuse to believe that there 's anyone on the planet , starved enough for romantic affection , that they 'd find something likable about this movie .", "focus-grouped to such a precise dot that everyone in the audience will not only be able to name each brand of luggage the characters use , but will do so with joy and pride .", "a tossed bouquet full of dead flowers and bad jokes that belongs in the nearest trash receptacle .", "mulroney , best known as the title character in roberts ' comedy my best friend 's wedding , is by far the best thing about this gaggingly unromantic comedy . his character 's bio , divulged in a thumbnail , is the least convincing thing .", "this is a MOV that would have benefited from a different designer , a more knowing caterer , and -- most of all -- a whole new guest list .", "it 's telling that we do n't find messing 's character worthy of a male prostitute 's love .", "it 's all the actors can do to race through their lines before their gag reflexes kick in .", "dana fox 's script is all setup , skimping on the quirky character touches and comedic flourishes that could make a predictable outcome gratifying .", "scenes do n't build momentum , and i do n't think i 've ever seen a feature where so many lines of dialogue were delivered by actors hovering off-screen or standing with their backs to the camera .", "too bad the filmmakers felt compelled to give this sufficiently charming doodle some emotional heft by veering into four weddings and a funeral territory . it only distracts you from the MOV 's own modest charms .", "all the romantic comedy gloss in the world ca n't save a script as stale as last week 's wedding cake .", "meandering , occasionally funny , wannabe fanciful .", "the movie is so elementary , so simplistic , offering stock situations and cardboard characters who ... remain unchanged that it plays like an extended version of a sitcom ...", "the movie is being sold as a buoyant confection , i think mainly because its distributor does n't quite know what to make of its neither-fish-nor-fowl film .", "aimed squarely at the single-and-over-35 demographic , the MOV is a guilty pleasure that is perfect for a girls ' night out .", "dermot mulroney , portraying a very expensive male escort , provides enough eye candy and mystery to save this movie from being a total disaster .", "an embarrassingly bad comedy .", "-lsb- the MOV -rsb- should really berelegated to video where you wo n't have to shell out $ 20 + to see it at a theater .", "the MOV is a manfest extravaganza and for that i salute it !", "mulroney is a stealth actor : whenever you see him in a picture , you 're not just reminded of how good he almost always is -- you have the sense of discovering it for the first time .", "it 's not romantic , it 's not comic , the performances are weak , the writing is amateurish , and even at 90 minutes it will feel like a long time in the theater .", "it 's a blessing that the MOV does n't try too hard , but it 's a curse that it does n't try hard enough .", "debra messing and dermot mulroney star in a romantic comedy that struggles to capture the charm and ebullience of four weddings and a funeral .", "with la debra finally in the picture , all i can say is , `` give us more messing . '' our first date might have been a dud but i 'm willing to go out again .", "all surface and no soul . come to think of it , the surface is n't so darned hot either .", "kilner 's light touch keeps the romantic pair dancing around their romance without tripping , but as the film reaches the inevitable happy ending , the steps look all too familiar .", "how does kat feel about falling in love with a high-priced escort ? what prompts nick 's lightning-bolt conversion to unpaid monogamy ? what kind of work can a former comp lit major expect to find in the world ? these and other questions are left unanswered .", "even the most ardent evacuees from super bowl madness will recognize the familiar road map that the screenplay diligently follows .", "like a wilted bridal bouquet ... a movie that arrives dead on the vine and then asks you to spend eighty minutes watching it wither .", "what good is a uniquely photographed dance scene if the characters dancing together are barely two-dimensional ?", "as far as big day experiences go , a drunken speech from a distant relative would be far more entertaining -- and funnier -- than the MOV .", "with blinders on to deflect the obvious - that this movie is n't remotely believable - the MOV skates by on the charm of its actors .", "it takes about 10 minutes to figure out every major plot twist in this cheap-looking romp involving a collection of obnoxiously quirky characters .", "even some much needed logic would n't have been able to save this awful mess .", "unlike pretty woman , and most other successful romances , we have absolutely no reason to understand why either of these empty vessels would ever find themselves attracted to the other .", "glides along with the unself-conscious assurance of a deodorant commercial , confident that the presence of attractive actors in gowns and tuxes will sanction any idiocy .", "`` the MOV '' is slight and it knows it . it has no pretentions . it 's an odd little fairy tale about a single woman and her paid stud . messing is a movie star .", "laudably manages to avoid the inherent sordidness of `` pretty woman '' and the underlying sadness of `` my best friend 's wedding . ''", "nothing says true love like a movie about a desperate , neurotic woman who hires a male whore to take her to her sister 's wedding so she can make the ex-fiance jealous . i wonder if they have a vermont teddy bear for that ?", "the first problem the MOV runs into is that the whole `` converting a hooker '' fantasy skews mainly male .", "part romantic comedy , part soap opera , part travelogue , the MOV fails to deliver on all counts ." ], "summary": "critics are leaving the MOV at the alter , calling it shopworn , bland , and lightweight .", "id": "10051" }, { "movie": "kisses2008", "reviews": [ "kisses feels like a decent little short film padded to feature length for the purposes of fulfilling some local funding body 's film-making quota for the year .", "kisses regards the world through fearful , foolhardy preadolescent eyes .", "there 's nothing so frustrating as a small movie , made by a clearly gifted filmmaker , that flies close to magic only to be sternly jerked back to earth .", "dorothy parachutes into dublin in search of the wizard but there is no place like home .", "a blend of gritty realism sand magical fantasy that 's undoubtedly calculated but still deeply satisfying .", "a marginally sweet movie about two woebegone irish kids .", "it 's arresting .", "terrific non-pro actors kelly o'neill -lrb- kylie -rrb- and shane curry -lrb- dylan -rrb- are the backbone of the film , directed by lance daly , who says as a kid he thought of running away .", "rewarding tale of two kids loose on dublin 's mean streets with outstanding performances .", "a xmas where neverending nightmares instead of sugarplums dance in children 's heads", "exquisitely-shot and deeply affecting with just the right balance of humor , sweetness and grittiness . newcomers kelly o'neill and shane curry shine in raw , heartfelt and charismatic performances .", "a pedestrian picaresque that trivializes the suffering and yearnings of hardscrabble youth .", "the immediate sympathy evoked by dylan -lrb- shane curry -rrb- and kylie -lrb- kelly o'neill -rrb- creates a lasting impact solely with the sorrow and confusion that crosses their faces .", "what begins as a painfully bleak portrait of life in the slums on the outskirts of dublin transforms into a lovely , if dark , love story .", "the movie 's ending may be less satisfying than that of slumdog millionaire , but kisses is truer to the tragedy of a generation of children whom we have utterly failed .", "captivating and poignant portayal of life on the edge for the disregarded of our societies .", "devoid of colour and up to its eyeballs in domestic turbulence , kisses fosters a painful , monochrome melancholy .", "the child actors are first rate , though the movie should be shown in a double bill , possibly with shane meadows 's 72-minute somers town .", "a minor work notable only for the strong performances of two non-professional actors .", "charming without being precious .", "a touching , tender coming-of-age drama which balances gritty realism with an intriguing sense of the fantastic .", "while the film 's compassion is never in doubt , it 's sometimes a bit too cute for its own good .", "a surprisingly genuine and sweet film .", "lance daly 's ireland is not the scenic irish wonderland of ondine .", "when it 's not trite , kisses can be refreshing in its realism .", "cute but foul-mouthed , tough but vulnerable and obviously crazy about each other in a reticent way , these kids are a wonderful presence , giving the most contrived scenes genuine emotion and a veneer of realness .", "sincere and vulnerable , aching with youthful insight", "what the writer and director , lance daly , means as some kind of transporting urban adventure for them is a disenchanting slog for us .", "a darkling , modern-day fairy tale and lyrical coming-of-age story , irish filmmaker lance daly 's 2008 film `` kisses '' is a small gem .", "there are undoubtedly more dark days ahead for kylie and dylan , but in kisses , we see the beginning of character forged by circumstance .", "it 's exciting , sweet , gritty and generally just a joy to watch .", "in writer-director lance daly?s lens , downtown dublin is like a modern-day oz ? and the movie even starts by showing the kids ? dreary home life in black-and-white , slowly moving to full color .", "a coming-of-age drama so irish you 'll want to take out your pogues ' lyric sheets beforehand to brush up on gaelic mumbling .", "it 's just a shame the plot was n't fleshed out more to enable a more complete cinematic experience , rather than a handful of inspired components .", "curry and o'neill are adorably unadorable , and though the film ultimately leaves them as we found them , buried alive in beautiful b&w on a dead-end estate , we know their worlds have changed forever .", "the dialogue throughout this touching , though never sugary , film is delivered in the language of the streets and the performances from the two young stars are nothing short of remarkable .", "beautiful black and white photography -lrb- also handled by daly -rrb- slowly evolves into color once the adventure is underway -- it 's a nice gesture to the wizard of oz .", "kisses is a short and beautiful movie . and i loved it . it made me cry .", "only 75 minutes long and made in ireland for what had to be a micro budget , this sweet , savvy and heartfelt film will impact you more and stay around longer than many more elephantine productions .", "kisses is an interesting look at the side of a famous city we do n't often see . and at the sort of unhappy childhoods that perhaps we see far too many of -- if we only dare look .", "an engaging and well-acted irish film about two pre-teens who escape their oppressive life in a slum for an adventure in the city of dublin .", "an unexpectedly tart juvenile drama that trusts in the emotional purity of life .", "a superior lyrical ragamuffin irish drama about neighbor kids in a dingy outpost of dublin who run away from their crummy home situations at christmas and spend a picaresque night on city streets .", "a serendipitous journey worth taking .", "no one would claim that director lance daly delivers an emerald isle version of the spirit of the beehive , though this scrappy film does have a knack for capturing the elation and confusion of late childhood in their ragged glory .", "compelling and amusing , breathtaking at times in its ability to put these kids in harm 's way and slip them out of it with imagination and nerve", "like arthouse roddy doyle it 's ambitious and phoney in equal measure .", "a worthwhile film with real acting and directing talent , though probably best regarded as an extended short .", "the sharply written script is refreshingly free from sentimentality and the developing relationship between the two leads is both well written and extremely moving .", "both sweet and tough , with vivid characters and an unnerving sense of danger .", "this delicate , charming low-budget irish film is a gem worth discovering . a thoughtful and whimsical film .", "the unknown child actors are appealing but kisses tries too hard to pluck at the heartstrings ." ], "summary": "although admittedly sleight , this gritty but tender coming-of-age irish drama features some impressive work both in front , and behind the camera .", "id": "770789898" }, { "movie": "elite_squad", "reviews": [ "subtle shades of friendship are lost in a melee of violence , which quickly crescendos and then maintains a one-note intensity for the duration of the film , punctuated only by an ill-advised narratorial voice that serves to keep the viewer at arm 's length .", "... for all the glorification of the mercenary methods of this MOV , it 's still a fascinating portrait of a nightmarish police and crime culture and a vivid narrative .", "it 's just a pity the story is so slipshod - it only really gets going halfway through .", "it 's a bit like a latin american episode of the bill written by richard littlejohn and directed by chuck norris .", "nascimento 's penchant for rambo theatrics is unfortunate , because elsewhere MOV has interesting things to say .", "here is the biggest , fattest , dampest squib of the week : perhaps the most disappointing film ever to have won the golden bear at the berlin film festival .", "it is impressively made , but leaves a nasty taste in the mouth .", "an action-drama that 's fascinating for its insights into rio 's social structures . but while it 's compellingly intense , it 's also morally muddled .", "you 'll swear you smell gunpowder during the earthshaking gunfights of `` MOV . '' forget john woo 's hong kong , or sergio leone 's west . with bullet-slinging gusto , director jose padilha -lrb- `` bus 174 '' -rrb- proudly pronounces rio de janeiro the bloodiest onscree", "despite the voiceover , padilha has created a shocking insight into a world in which corrupt cops slug it out against drug dealers but , ultimately , nobody wins .", "an instruction manual of sorts that does n't illuminate police corruption and violence so much as it revels in it .", "pois \u0439 infinitamente mais recompensador assistir a um filme que estimula a discuss\u0433o e a auto-an\u0431lise do que um que , por covardia ou falta de ambi\u0437\u0433o , limita-se a seguir a corrente do politicamente correto .", "a tough and realistic cop story that stays believable from beginning to end while delivering the truth about loyalty , courage and gut-wringing fear on an inner city military mission with no second chances .", "a very compelling movie that 's almost ruined by a horrible narration track .", "-lsb- jos\u00e9 padilha -rsb- recariously pitches the squad 's brute force as less a necessary evil than the outgrowth of an existing evil -- a no-win situation that mocks liberal ideals and warps conservative pragmatism into domestic terrorism .", "it bears a resemblance to viscerally exciting seventies urban thrillers like the french connection , in which only the fascists could do what needed to be done .", "the film 's message is that all of society is corrupt , so it does n't matter who gets killed . it 's a propaganda movie that shows no empathy for its characters or for its audience .", "padilha succumbs to monotonous , hollow flamboyance with his city of god clone .", "the moral dilemmas are gripping , but the film takes itself far too seriously to ever connect with us .", "a film that simply does n't have enough cinematic flair to make it a better than average cops and robbers thriller .", "padilha gets as close to the daily violence as city of god , though this feels more like a documentary than an epic .", "padilha 's style , honed in his hijack documentary bus 174 , is verismo with a vengeance . for two hours the viewer feels as hand-held as the camera , hauled about by the neck .", "as for the plot , flashy editing and an over-reliance on jittery handheld cameras mean you 'll struggle to tell what 's going on - if you have n't already given up by then .", "nothing is clear-cut in this intense brew of brutality , stupidity and genuine tragedy . we 're left lamenting that it will go on , unless brazil engages its brain before its fist .", "MOV ca n't decide whether it wants to pull the lid back on what urban decay has wrought or simply open up a can of whup ass .", "MOV succeeds at putting the worst of the violent spectacles on screen , primarily through a series of nicely staged shootouts and torture sequences .", "a poor man 's city of god that suggests the only answer to the problems of brazil 's slums are blazing guns wielded by a neo-fascist police force .", "trying to address important and serious social issues in this violent world rather than just creating something sensationalistic or exploitative gives MOV an edge over normal police thrillers .", "with no star names and a tough subject , it will be hard sell despite being a runaway hit on its home turf .", "MOV is a relentlessly ugly , unpleasant , often incoherent assault on the senses from brazil .", "a depressing film that celebrates brute strength as the only means to stem the tide of violence and crime in rio de janeiro .", "for nearly two hours , padilha bombards viewers with senseless , sickening violence for its own sake .", "a satisfactory enough cop movie , but not one that people will still be name checking years hence", "given that brazil , as a latin american moviemaking powerhouse , steadily produces vibrant , vital films of real impact and humanity , it 's a crime itself that MOV may be the only brazilian film that american audiences see this year ." ], "summary": "brutal , action heavy , brazilian cop film with a pointless voiceover . lacks flair , overdoes the violence and is never quite sure where its morals lie .", "id": "770677558" }, { "movie": "benhur", "reviews": [ "a majestic achievement , representing a superb blending of the motion picture arts by master craftsmen .", "... fairly defines the word ` epic . '", "mr. wyler and his money-free producers have smartly and effectively laid stress on the powerful and meaningful personal conflicts that are strong in this old heroic tale .", "predictable but magnificent and satisfying .", "widescreen biblical epic is bloated with spectacle and thin on plot .", "one of the most exciting action epics ever made , blustery `` ben-hur '' is filled with over-the-top performances , but memorable scenes .", "charlton heston plays charlton heston , but his charismatic macho woodeness carries the film like no other actor of his day .", "a defini\u0437\u0433o cl\u0431ssica do \u0439pico .", "shows how difficult forgiveness is once the heart has hardened in hate .", "if we later came to realize that movies could be a whole lot better than ben-hur , that still does n't detract from the enjoyment the film still provides .", "an entertaining and compelling drama that may be shallow , but is too exciting and appealing for that to be much of a concern .", "a chariot-race classic .", "a masterpiece of epic filmmaking , a profound religious experience and one of the greatest films ever made .", "there is no reason to feel guilty about not loving this mammoth epic .", "some critics believe that william wyler 's box-office smash is no match for the 1925 silent version , but there 's no denying that the race that forms the famous climax is one of the most iconic sequences in hollywood history .", "epic in both length and stature , ben-hur goes on for-bloody-ever ... but the action set-pieces remain unrivalled , even in the age of cgi .", "1959 biblical epic has fierce blood-spilling , cruelty .", "at 212 minutes it is far too long , and large swathes of the action appear redundant or unnecessary . `` bigger than ben-hur ! '' they say . that may not be a compliment .", "-lsb- video essay -rsb- it 's worth sitting through four hours of charlton heston 's hammy pregnant pauses of strained dialogue and toothy grimaces just to savor the legendary larger-than-life marathon where single rider chariots ...", "although it is a spectacle film , the story of how a man takes on the tyranny of the romans , with all sorts of horrible consequences to himself and his family , is powerful and gripping .", "the biggest and the best of hollywood 's super-spectacles .", "mostly tedious sunday school tale .", "the film moves with an assurance and majesty hardly seen in modern movies .", "the movie could be trying to say that for some people religion is an escape from their sexuality , but it seems unlikely .", "a movie that has come to define biblical epic .", "an absolute classic hollywood epic !", "it 's very much of its time , overblown and overlong -- but ben-hur is rightfully lodged at the forefront of hollywood history .", "entire new frontiers in boredom were opened up by this mgm whopper from 1959 .", "the kind of sweeping pseudo-biblical epic that hollywood was famous for . if not for heston 's weak performance and boyd 's ludicrous one , the film might have been better .", "in the lead , heston is stiff , and the writing is uneven , but overall , it 's a rousing epic done on a massive scale with hundreds of sets and extras , and a priceless race scene .", "the mgm production is a lavish , colorful spectacle that will linger long in the eye of the beholder .", "still making waves in movies today -- from the phantom menace 's podrace to the whole of gladiator -- little can come close to captivating the grandeur and epic quality of william wyler 's magnificent bum numb-er .", "ben-hur -lrb- 1959 -rrb- is mgm 's three and a half hour , wide-screen epic technicolor blockbuster - a biblical tale , subtitled a tale of the christ .", "ben-hur is not great art . but it is great fun .", "awesome spectacle , unforgettable story , heston 's best", "the grandest of hollywood 's classic biblical epics ... does n't transcend its genre , with its spectacle and melodrama , but it does these things about as well as possible .", "opening with a full overture played against michelangelo 's ceiling of the sistine chapel , you know that you 're in for something unembarrassed by its own grandiosity .", "it is one of the most resplendent films you 'll ever see ." ], "summary": "uneven , but in terms of epic scope and grand spectacle , ben-hur still ranks among hollywood 's finest examples of pure entertainment .", "id": "9402" }, { "movie": "of_gods_and_men", "reviews": [ "a ponderous crowd-pleaser with stray moments of grave beauty", "... leaves you with both a feeling of hope and of sadness . the hope is that such men of pious faith exist . the sadness is that there are so few such people .", "a really strong , really well put together , intense , b film in a monk 's habit .", "director xavier beauvois keeps the drama hushed and expectant as the monks themselves .", "a beautifully filmed story of self-sacrifice . however , if you want flashy dialogue , do not invite monks to the party .", "... quiet , unassuming and honest about the very difficult decision of putting your spiritual principles before your physical life .", "by largely limiting the action to the monks ' ascetic daily lives , beauvois helps the their musing become the audience 's own .", "`` MOV '' is a quiet , austere film that is more electrifying than a dozen action movies .", "the air that `` MOV '' breathes is so clean and so cold that it feels like a fresh beginning .", "beauvois ' camera is watchful and unobtrusive , panning the monastery and its spartan rooms , documenting the brothers ' quotidian tasks , but also the modest ritual , the beauty , the illumination .", "beauvois deliberately avoids nationalist reproach , seeking commiseration that goes deeper than the acquiescence for which french liberals are typically known .", "french monks face evil and their own decisions in the first truly brilliant film of 2011 .", "beautiful , somber and rigorously intelligent .", "be prepared to be shaken .", "austere yet provocative , this is not only a film about faith , it also has faith that the power generated by complex moral decisions can be as unstoppable as any runaway locomotive .", "a lacerating elegy", "MOV is that rarest of films : an illuminating , pro-religious meditation on faith and courage in the face of certain death .", "gravely serene and suffused with tenderness , MOV takes the simple , profound stand that how a person of faith lives matters more than the circumstances of his death .", "in spite of its subject matter , the film has a scant feeling for spirituality , which mainly surfaces in the monks ' fatalist hymns . beauvois admires the monks ' steadfastness , but does n't seem to understand it .", "... perfect best foreign-language film oscar bait , offering viewers a frisson of spirituality with none of the demands of actually believing in a creed .", "sensitively written and directed ... bears similarities in plot and tone to 1986 's `` the mission . '' the cast is exceptional .", "poignant , haunting and profound with thoroughly captivating performances . it 's one of the most powerful and unforgettable films of the year .", "just as the monks live an austere , thoughtful life , beauvois ' direction is low-key and reflective .", "MOV takes a subtle , respectful approach to the material , adopting the pace and rhythm of monastic life .", "beauvois channels the pace of the monks ' life , which is both his film 's strength and its weakness .", "the problem is that a whiff of saintliness envelops the cistercian monks right from the start .", "begins and ends as a testament not to god but to brotherhood , and as a portrait not of war 's violence but of love 's endurance .", "considering the movie is based on the real-life murder of these monks 15 years ago in algeria during the civil war , it is a calming and spectacularly life-affirming picture .", "both a moving , almost abstract parable of faith and an all too real episode drawn from recent history .", "MOV , a transcendent drama of uplift and inspiration , reveals the cavernous divide between heaven and earth .", "beautifully acted by its ensemble cast -lrb- especially lambert wilson and michael lonsdale -rrb- , it immerses us in its subjects ' rituals , everyday tasks and spiritual dilemmas .", "the way it dramatises anxieties , expressed and unexpressed , is enthralling and quietly provocative ...", "this is a deeply humane and compassionate film , frightening because we know the probable outcome but moving because it tells us , often in the quietest detail , what basic decency and goodness really means .", "it 's a remarkable tale of bravery , tolerance and self-sacrifice , made all the more powerful by the understated lyricism of beauvois 's compositions and the steely , naturalistic performances of the cast", "it 's spare and meditative in that way that one viewer responds to as profound artistry , while his neighbour -lrb- that would be me -rrb- feels shushed into submission , and almost guilty for questioning its tactics .", "MOV strives for simplicity ; cinema is usually about dynamism , attraction , ego , but this movie concerns the renunciation of these things , in art and life . but it is also about the question of how to act when this life is violently challenged .", "it is not often we are swept up , even exalted , by earnest simplicity .", "moves at its own pace , luring you in before delivering an ice-cold hammer-blow of an ending .", "some viewers might find the pacing over-deliberate , but it 's clearly part of the film 's plan to immerse us in these lives of devotion , and it works beautifully .", "-lsb- a -rsb- quietly powerful drama ...", "i was stirred by the emotions expressed in this film-and the wonderful performances of its cast . filmmaker beauvois chose great faces , as well as great actors , to bring these characters to life , and they manage to convey an enormous amount with very ...", "a wonderfully humanist film about a tragic story .", "... a movie that made me sad and proud to be human , to belong to a species capable of such cruelty and such kindness , and possessed of the power to choose to love those who hate us , and to die with peace in our hearts as the world burns down .", "more than anything , we come away remembering the monks ' frightened-to-serene faces ... and the sublime music .", "monks ' faith is tested by religious extremists next door", "it is a thoughtful film , a serious one , and one that is sneakily affecting .", "one of those increasingly rare things in modern cinema -- a deeply-felt , powerful film about religious faith that has no interest in peddling the gospel to the viewer .", "slow moving but gripping true story based on a terrorist incident of religious violence that shook up the french in 1996 .", "audiences will be spiritually moved by the beautiful voices singing the liturgical gregorian chants . the cinematography is outstanding , capturing the natural beauty of the surroundings .", "the movie warns against rash judgments , harmful hate mongering and ugly stereotyping -- a film ultimately as much about rush limbaugh and his ilk as it is about osama bin laden and his .", "rather than serving up a historical film inflated with importance and flash , beauvois keeps things hushed and spare , adopting a style that reflects the ritualized lifestyle of his characters .", "masterfully directed by xavier beauvois .", "contemplative as it means to be , MOV is not without generic excitement .", "a sublime bit of filmmaking that explores faith and history without the pandering that often comes with the former and the hollywood clich\u00e9s that normally comes with the latter .", "a taut drama of bravery among the monks .", "beauvois never loses sight of the monks ' interconnectedness-what affects one inevitably affects the others .", "my question is not so much the reason why the film was made , but how in the world did anybody get someone to finance something like this ?", "agonizingly long and slow .", "a deeply human and spiritually enlightening french film about the mission of seven catholic monks serving a poor muslim community in algeria . one of the best films ever made about christian life !", "-lsb- video -rsb- `` of gods & men '' is a chamber piece tragedy trapped in a bubble of naive optimism . a little cynicism could have gone a long way .", "confirms without really challenging our readily held beliefs about the nobility of selflessness and sacrifice .", "... as powerful a film you 'll ever see about faith , commitment and the courage of one 's convictions .", "a deeply moving and profoundly beautiful film about a group of monks working in the mountains of algeria who are faced with the most difficult personal and collective decisions when the country erupts in brutal civil-war", "beauvois takes his time limning the daily rhythms of the monastery , lingering on its most lyrical and sensuous moments , so that when violence finally reaches its gates the effect is all the more chilling .", "in a world in which faith and ignorance are often yoked together , MOV lifts faith from just the throbbing heart to the thinking mind as well .", "alternately harrowing and humbling , this is a story of ordinary men whose compassion is tested in the cruelest , most profound fashion .", "una pel\u00edcula dura , hermosa y conmovedora sobre un episodio tr\u00e1gico que fue , ante todo , un acto de sacrificio y resistencia ante la violencia y el miedo . desde ya , una de las fundamentales del a\u0144o .", "MOV has a slow , introspective quality that gives the viewer plenty of time to mull over the monks ' quandary , but it also has a feeling of constant dread .", "quietly compelling , if not as emotional as you might have hoped", "beauvois shows respect for all of the characters and cultures involved -- the monks , the community they served , even the enemies that the monks remembered in their prayers .", "the camera barely moves , and most of the scenes are lit by whatever light happened to be available , which helps `` MOV '' achieve a feel that is as pure and plain as its characters ...", "one of the few pictures to take religious belief seriously without getting maudlin or sanctimonious about it ... stark and unsentimental , it 's a quietly powerful piece that encourages reflection rather than tears .", "... a deeply moving docudrama based on a true story which uses music in provocative ways .", "this is really a story of finding peace and purpose in a chaotic world .", "one of the best films i 've seen this year is also one of the most unusual i 've encountered in a long , long time . while it 's inspired by a true story , it deals with something ...", "that almost unheard-of film that you do not judge -- it judges you .", "beauvois provides an illuminating look at life inside the monastery .", "it is a portrait of the healing power of faith and community that also demonstrates its powerlessness and futility in the face of well-armed fanaticism .", "when you think of monks , you might think of martyrdom , fresh baked bread , 24/7 hoodies , unrelenting devotion or tony shaloub . well , what about balls and bravery ?", "forgive me , father , for i was bored .", "there are numerous sequences of tremendous emotional power here , none more so than one in which the monks gather together to sing an ancient gregorian chant as an algerian army helicopter gunship hovers threateningly overhead .", "some nice performances , but the sad , harsh truth is that two hours spent inside a trappist monastery turns out to be achingly dull .", "the rare movie that treats religious commitment with respect and regards nonviolence as a legitimate , honorable response to brutality ...", "i ca n't recall the last film that so wholly , honestly and movingly explained what it means to be a christian .", "uma obra comovente e respeitosa que faz jus aos homens que a inspiraram .", "it 's an attempt to capture the essence of monasticism : self-sacrifice , introspection , obedience and achingly lovely moments of quiet brotherhood .", "the film , directed by xavier beauvois , moves back and forth between the monks doing their daily chores and the decisions they must face as a group .", "fascinating and affecting .", "beautifully expressed and measured , men seizes a tumultuous state of mind with captivating cinematic control , making flashes of resistance and companionship all the more heartfelt and devastating .", "for a nation that swears by its christianity , it amazes me how frugally that righteousness is wielded . ... beauvois reminds us of those who see their faith as a reason to serve , as a calling to embrace mankind in all its flawed grandeur .", "a superb and austere drama in french and arabic ...", "the movie has a mournful electricity , as we come to realize it 's about accepting the inevitable .", "MOV can be a little heavy-handed in its storytelling at times , but the confident direction and strong performances ensure it is an absorbing experience , and the beautiful final shot ends the film on a haunting note .", "xavier beauvois 's cannes winner is a spellbinder drama about courage and faith and a fascinating take on global extremism .", "full review at movies for the masses", "inspired by a true story set in 1996 , this spiritual meditation on conscience , religion , and values is intriguing , haunting and relevant in todaly 's world of turbulent politics of religion ; it should be a frontrunner for the 2010 foreign-lingo oscar .", "i thought the depth of field was amazing .", "incredibly moving", "-lsb- a -rsb- moving , elegantly made spiritual docudrama .", "breaking up its quiet , contemplative tone with occasional fevered outbursts of activity , MOV maintains a tension borne of uncertainty while paying proper respect to the hushed , unhurried lifestyle of the monks .", "one of the most austerely beautiful movies about the monastic life that i 've ever seen .", "a transfixing meditation on religious conviction , post-colonial strife and the force of actors who elevate every gesture to a loftier domain .", "this is a beautiful film , full of gray - and white-haired men who grow in stature before our eyes .", "beauvois tells the story he wants to beautifully , and it 's a success in that it shows us a depiction of the monks that does n't feel exploitative , but he seems to equate austere minimalism with depth .", "the climax is both misty and unforgettable : a sacrifice that looks like a ghost story .", "a succinct , heart-wrenching distillation of why confusing religion with politics by the ignorant and the cynical , have made darkness", "loses some power by letting the central debate fizzle out ... but rallies in the end with an eloquent post-climactic testament by christian , an attempt to respond rationally to the irrational .", "the moral and spiritual dilemma at the foundation of xavier beauvois 's award-winning MOV is a fascinating one that drives this complex drama in a way that sears it into memory .", "i found myself resisting the film 's pull of easy emotion . there are fundamental questions here , and the film does n't engage them .", "the monks do n't speak their minds often , but when they do , the actors infuse their utterances with bottomless grace and humility yet very human dread and doubt ." ], "summary": "patient and restrained , MOV asks deep , profound questions that will linger in the audience 's mind long after the movie .", "id": "770808657" }, { "movie": "final_destination_3", "reviews": [ "whether conscious or not on the part of the filmmakers , the gory logic follows america 's understandable desire to rationalize the effects of such physical violence that its invisible soldiers are suffering in afghanistan and iraq .", "it 's here to up the ante from final destination 2 -lrb- which featured a beautiful car pileup , a barbecue explosion and a fire-escape impaling -rrb- and instead it creates poetry out of the filmic slaughter .", "more teenagers dying gruesomely .", "the people in this movie are some of the stupidest people in the history of movies .", "`` MOV '' does n't strive to be anything more than a loose collection of cool killings .", "once more , wong raises questions of fate and predestination and , while throwing in a tasteless reference to 9/11 , fails to address them . it 's an orgy of cheerful carnage with no context or purpose and , worst of all , no suspense .", "with inventive ideas like this , the series can clearly run and run . but they really need to take it to another level now .", "wong goes on auto-pilot to plot even more despicable ways of killing off the survivors , preferably minus their clothes .", "the notion of horror movie as thrill ride is cannily literalized in the bravura amusement-park opening sequence ...", "this third installment of the final destination franchise is the most disgusting , and viscerally enjoyable movie blood-bath in years .", "depends on your tolerance for some very ... uh ... juicy deaths and flying viscera . face it , you 're not watching this for deep meaning .", "like saw ii -lrb- 2005 -rrb- , another grisly sequel to a film that seemed to have hit on a foolproof formula , this third destination blows it , big time .", "as a horror flick , MOV is literally laughable .", "some good special effects but the story cannibalizes its own predecessor .", "convincingly pointless and breezy in its hedonistic hokum ... hence , the third time around is not the charm for this foolish and faceless fright flick .", "it 's deja vu all over again", "death may not be quite as creative in past films , but the trick is n't in merely using a tanning bed or a nail gun to kill somebody . it 's how you do it .", "fans of the series wo n't be terribly disappointed , but if there 's an fd4 , i hope they have the sense to scale things back just a little bit . comparing fd3 to the original proves that a modicum of restraint is most effective .", "-lsb- director -rsb- wong and -lsb- writer -rsb- morgan honed their skills on the x-files , millenium and the commish and it shows in their ability to create suspense and tension as well as carnage .", "... is n't for everyone , but those in the know who like their horror served up r-rated and over-the-top , MOV delivers ...", "the final destination series caters to its target audience without insulting it -- which is why the flicks make so much damn money .", "the film starts to pick up after it begins borrowing liberally from the omen , even more liberally than the film 's two predecessors which , as freak-accident horror films , are by definition omen clones .", "this one regresses the series to what roger ebert , back in the splatter-film '80s , dubbed the dead teenager genre .", "even hostel showed more respect for the dead", "a boring and repetitive sequel ...", "so lazily plotted and poorly written , one wonders why new line did n't just release a half-hour version consisting of nothing but death scenes .", "director james wong enjoys organizing dangerous objects and circumstances into precariously menacing rube goldberg arrangements .", "as a forced , unnecessary addition to the series , it lacks a satisfying relationship to its predecessors while simply rehashing the original 's plot ...", "i 'm not sure how much more overkill this franchise can take ...", "a great date movie for couples who like to share their revulsion at squelchy death scenes and hug each other in dread . not recommended for the squeamish .", "vapid , pointless and wholly predictable .", "after a fiendish start , filmmakers james wong and glen morgan approach their task with all the subtlety of a hammer to the head -lrb- or a knife to the gut , or an ax to the back -rrb- .", "keeping this series of black-comedy skits fresh is a challenge that the writers do n't always meet , and their expository scenes need to be nail-gunned .", "the plot has more holes in it than the victims , but the shocks make up for the flaws . do n't think , just watch , and expect a wild ride .", "might this be the final final destination ? do n't bet on it .", "these movies have never been my cup of tea , and contemporary horror movies ' appetite for pointless sadism leaves me unmoved and not a little alarmed .", "the picture returns to the biting humor of the first fd and , in fact , improves and deepens the rube goldberg-ian deathtrap scenarios .", "if you 're a final destination fan , it 's unlikely that # 3 will disappoint . if you like horror/thrillers with plenty of cartoonish blood and gore , this will hit the spot .", "fans of cheap thrills can enjoy fd3 for what it is : a ridiculous teen horror movie that piles on more than enough dry humor and freshly moistened gore to satisfy its lowbrow audience .", "the final destination movies may be pointless and crass , but they play on that fascination with malicious efficiency , and 3 is no exception .", "3 suffers in comparison to the insanely inventive 2 , which found wittier ways to exploit the idea that laughing and screaming are closely linked methods of relieving tension .", "death finds gloriously grisly new ways to deal with teenagers who dare to spit in his face .", "it 's disturbing by not being disturbing at all .", "if you 're willing to overlook some plot holes big enough for a conductor to drive a subway train through and all you want is total , complete and grisly annihilation , then ` all aboard ! ' you 'll love MOV .", "MOV has plenty of giddy gore and a couple of suspense-driven scares , these days that 's really all you can ask from a horror movie .", "the notion of butchery as a spectator event notwithstanding , there 's an almost admirably workmanlike quality to the way co - scenarists glen morgan and james wong set up their characters for carnage like so many fleshy bowling pins .", "i 'm a fan . the guys in the audience shouted at the clever , cruel deaths : `` nice ! ''", "the plot 's pretty lame , the dialogue is downright hokey , and the characters are a bore , but somehow MOV -lrb- an oxymoron if there ever was one -rrb- still delivers a certain degree of over-the-top amusement .", "a desultorily plotted affair that feels less like a thriller than a homicidal checklist .", "a reminder of how low a filmmaker will sink to pander to our most corrupt tendencies .", "it 's an escalating contest of can-you-top-this brutality , with each death staged as the final link in a rube goldberg chain reaction .", "the original film had pathos and humor ; this is gratuitous and silly rather than engaging and funny .", "week in and week out , horror movies cheat us , so it 's wonderfully cathartic to watch a bunch of kids cheat death in what turns out to be the best installment yet in the final destination franchise .", "if this film makes money , and it probably will , there may never be a final final destination . and that is the most disturbing thing about this movie .", "MOV still falls squarely into the category of guilty pleasure , but it 's fashioned with a fair amount of craft . if fate should bring us another installment , let 's hope it 's at least as fun as this one .", "let 's just hope that MOV really is the final entry in this successful but intellectually bankrupt horror franchise .", "the third time around is not the charm , but we can only hope this will be the final final destination .", "if you 're into state-of-the art depictions of human pureeing , this is indeed your flick .", "MOV is junk , and proud of it , but it certainly delivers what it promises .", "an uninspired splatterfest that wears its vulgarity on its blood-caked sleeve and is cynical enough to use 9/11 in its vapid story line .", "at least the audience i was with laughed more than it screamed .", "morgan and wong 's snarky iterations on their initial premise do n't show much development ... a fair diversion but , make no mistake , a waste of time .", "granted , nothing here is going to go down in history as a horror classic . but as far as dead-teen flicks go , this is one pretty lively affair .", "... there 's no suspense or tension and little gallows humor , merely dead space between the next spectacular spray of blood and body parts .", "-lsb- a -rsb- n unredeemably sadistic film that makes a joke of horrific death . there is absolutely no point to this film except inciting audiences to new levels of bloodlust ...", "the third film is pretty much what you expect : heads popped and brains yuckily visible .", "this gory sequel begins with a promising thrill ride , but by the end has become little more than a merry-go-round , spinning pointlessly in circles .", "MOV should n't be mistaken for a good film -lsb- but -rsb- there is an important difference between this and truly odious films like saw ...", "wong and morgan : your diminished returns are ready . get 'em while they 're hot .", "james wong makes his return to the series he started , after bowing out for 2003 's lackluster sequel , only to essentially remake the first film .", "it 's easily the funniest movie of the year", "if you have seen the first two final destination movies , you know what you are getting into . if you have n't seen the first two , why start now ?", "it 's official : this is a horror series that actually wo n't disappoint .", "to get to the good stuff , you have to sit through atrocious dialog , amateur acting , and a snail 's pace , and maybe there 's 15 minutes of good material here .", "finally , the first great movie of 2006 is here . final destination is the only franchise that always delivers everything it promises ... i 'm so happy .", "robustly embodies the cathartic pleasures of shared scared silliness .", "after the third body is completely crushed into salsa chunks , someone from the audience should be allowed to scream ` seen it ! '", "the series has made it work with macabre humor and devilishly clever setups .", "the law of diminishing returns is in full effect here .", "pure , 100 % grade-d gunk", "the gnawing familiarity of the formula has caught up with the series . perhaps it 's time that morgan and wong took the first word of the title seriously and moved on .", "you ca n't cheat death . -lrb- but apparently you can cheat audiences over and over . -rrb-", "it 's more dead teenagers and lunatic determinism in this grim third installment of the enjoyably preposterous final destination franchise .", "gore fans will doubtless enjoy the film , which could spin off several more sequels . after all , death is the one villain you ca n't ever kill off .", "at its heart , this second sequel is standard slasher stuff , though director james wong does rise -lrb- or maybe sink -rrb- to the occasion with grisly staging .", "it 's a surprise , really , that this entry is as much fun as it is , but trilogy looks about as far as this destination can go .", "the series has gotten to the point where there is now effectively nothing to see here .", "with a premise as cavalier as this , perhaps director james wong could have found a tone more original than post-wes craven cynicism . instead , he panders to viewers , allowing them to take gleeful comfort in the destruction of the stupid and doomed .", "the problem with fd3 is since it is clear to everyone who must die and in what order , the drama is reduced to a formula in which ominous events accumulate while the teenagers remain oblivious .", "MOV manages to push all the requisite buttons and then some .", "there 's nothing new , but in the case of the final destination films , new is not necessary .", "... the sick kind of comedy that involves laughing at stupid people being ripped in half , but we know there are plenty of you out there .", "in its own morbid little way , this is very much a stand-up-and-cheer -- or shriek , as the case may be -- kind of film .", "this film is the least of the three : it lacks the novelty of the first film and the cleverly morbid humor of the second one .", "who needs an intriguing story line when an everyday piece of equipment can be used to splatter someone 's head like a festering zit ?", "with its third outing , the final destination series surprisingly gets a second wind .", "you know , the `` final destination '' movies contain characters who are self-obsessed , cheap , profane and mean-spirited . maybe that 's why it 's so much fun to watch them get taken out , one by one .", "enjoyable threequel which delivers handsomely on the demands of the franchise : an attractive cast , inventive direction , a dark sense of humour and increasingly nasty death sequences .", "you wo n't be scared one bit , but that 's not exactly the point here . the murder is the only message .", "... an entertainingly shallow , undeniably mindless horror flick .", "if you like splatter flicks , this is for you .", "easily the best of the series , -lsb- it -rsb- blends serious fright with funny situations ... as in the deaths that occur at the phoenix tanning salon .", "the movie gives you the fun and fright of a roller coaster , which is nice , since you may not be riding those anymore after watching this .", "not having seen final destination -lrb- 1 or 2 -rrb- , i am perhaps not in the best position to judge MOV . on the other hand , i know a stinker when i see one .", "all we can say is : death be not proud . if you have to work this hard to take down these dim-witted kids , you do n't deserve to be a cosmic force .", "you have all the ingredients here of the pernicious id roiling in the secret think-pan of most thoughtful americans .", "do the producers of this overdone trilogy understand the concept of ` final ' ?", "you could condemn such a movie for being such a smirking , calculatedly cheesy gore-fest . but that would presume that the movie aspires to be anything else .", "each demise serves as a testament to a refreshingly old-fashioned villain -- not another nut-job human with a saw , but a dedicated ghoul with a job to complete .", "absent of the edgy suspense , creativity and thoughtful moments of existentialism that had previously made this horror series more than just a cheap study in evisceration and decapitations .", "les amateurs de morbidit\u00e9 y trouveront un plaisir ind\u00e9niable" ], "summary": "MOV is more of the same : gory and pointless , with nowhere new to go .", "id": "19049941" }, { "movie": "the_wrestler", "reviews": [ "it 's a hell of a performance -- and a hellish one -- in a film that is n't entirely sure what to do with it .", "the balance and nuance of this portrait hold realities that perhaps only rourke can fully understand .", "rourke and tomei bring a tender , lived-in honesty to their sad roles .", "director , darren aronofsky , and the writer , robert d. siegel , have turned the story of this washed-up faux gladiator into a film of authentic beauty and commanding consequence .", "the movie feeds off rourke , who plays a genuinely decent guy who never lets his dawning self-awareness interfere with his responsibility to give the fans a show .", "MOV is about one thing - mickey rourke - and that makes the movie both fascinating and limited .", "darren aronofsky tells a solid character-driven drama with simplicity and impact .", "director aronofsky gets all the details right in a movie that feels like a tribute to so many who were gone too soon : curt hennig , road warrior hawk , rick rude , et al. . . this one 's for you .", "the best wrestling movie ever made . i 'm sorry , no holds barred , you 've been topped .", "director darren aronofsky puts himself up as a major contender with this film , based on a really excellent and uncompromising screenplay by robert d. siegel .", "to put it simply , this is the best film i 've seen this year .", "with swelling lips to rival pete burns 's , and long blond locks shorn from marilyn -lrb- the '80s pop singer , not monroe -rrb- , rourke sails above the freak show to give his greatest performance yet .", "MOV is well worth catching . against all of the odds you end up caring deeply for this battered and lonely man ... plus mickey rourke is astonishingly good .", "i watch very few movies which could n't have been improved upon , but this is one of them . i loved every mythic moment of it .", "aronofsky 's most authentic film refuses to ridicule the amateur wrestling circuit , while rourke 's portrait of a has-been will surely be the comeback of the year .", "randy 's climactic recreation of a former glory befits a film about someone unable to prevent himself spinning out of control , and is a smackdown conclusion to a mature , powerful tearjerker .", "it 's rourke 's display - crushed , hopeful , almost unbearably poignant - that 'll stay with you after the ring lights fade . his light has n't died just yet .", "the characters may be stereotypes to us , but they 're played here with a love and tenderness and resignation that could break your heart .", "the platitude-intensive script by robert siegel would have been laughed off the screen without rourke 's dogged grandeur .", "but rourke is so brilliant even iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad would be cheering `` ram jam '' by the end .", "MOV is , in essence , an excellent b-movie centred upon a defiantly top-rate performance from rourke .", "a beautifully etched , touching essay about a damaged , desperate brute hoping for one taste of dignity and real fatherhood before his life goes down for the count for the final time .", "there was no character to root for more strongly in spite of himself in 2008 than randy the ram , and `` MOV '' spat and bled his physical poetry - an elegy of emasculation and exhaustion building , in its final shot , to all the exhilaration he needed .", "-lsb- rourke 's -rsb- performance here is so good and unshowy that you wind up almost happy to keep watching that mangled mug struggle for redemption .", "i would much rather have seen a movie about the devastations of the real mickey rourke . by comparison , the ram seems like a stand-in -- a screenwriter 's pseudo-hard-boiled concoction .", "darren aronofsky 's sensational MOV marks a major comeback for mickey rourke and '70s style filmmaking in general .", "has a lot to say about america 's entertainment and celebrity culture , and it tells a poignant story in the process .", "the most interesting aspect of the film is its depiction of the irreconcilable difference between someone 's public and private personae .", "the movie is populated with real wrestlers , and it makes sure to nail all the little details .", "darren aronofsky 's filmmaking in MOV is the most subtle and nuanced he 's ever done .", "pro wrestling fans are the obvious target audience for `` MOV '' but rourke 's fine performance , aronofsky 's craftwork directing and the well-written script by robert d. siegel should garner interest from others , too .", "emotional and engaging , MOV is a masterful piece of work that deserves every award the academy can throw at it .", "savour one of cinema 's rawest talents finally powerslamming his way to glory and be grateful that aronofsky dragged himself off the ropes on countless occasions to convince the money men to finance the movie with such a seemingly unbankable lead actor .", "the mick is back .", "rourke makes you feel every ache , disappointment and battle scar , both inside and out .", "MOV is like rocky made by the scorsese of mean streets . it 's the rare movie fairy tale that 's also a bravura work of art .", "represents a perfect match of actor to character and back story to script ...", "rourke 's performance is worth the price of admission ... it 's a portrait of a man 's life , and one you wo n't soon forget .", "whatever rourke has been through since his early movie-star days ... it translates seamlessly into the ordeal of randy the ram .", "it must have been extremely hard for rourke to play the ram because he had to revisit some of the most difficult moments of his life , but it actually ends up helping his performance because it feels so genuine and sincere .", "emotions ooze slowly out of -lsb- rourke 's -rsb- creased and battered face in darren aronofsky 's latest heart-wrenching , hard-to-market drama .", "... strong , affecting stuff that can stand as a comment on the actual actor 's career as much as that of a fictional grappler .", "if rourke does n't grab the oscar , there 's no justice on this planet , simply for crushing the collective audience soul with the often wordless torment of aronofsky 's abrasive but brutally wounded roughneck muse . silence of the ram , we feel your pain .", "mickey rourke is indebted to darren aronofsky for casting him as a washed-up has-been in this emotionally-engaging character study , even if the role was n't exactly much of a stretch .", "this is rourke 's big comeback role , and he definitely deserves the academy award nomination he received .", "you will feel pinned to your seat watching rourke 's characterization of a broken man in this modern take on the old-school boxing movie .", "this is a case where an actor makes the difference .", "the resurrection , renovation , and reinvention of mickey rourke", "but rourke 's work in the film transcends mere stunt-casting ; his performance is a howl of pain that seems to come from a very real place .", "do n't believe the hype -- or , more importantly , look past it ; MOV offers viewers far more than just rourke 's performance -- which , it must be said , is excellent -- if they 're willing to not flinch from what it has to say .", "the absolute key to the movie 's success is that it 's mainly one actor playing one man in a way that we can join him inside his skin , and that 's all the movie needs to be about , just pure pathos .", "rapturously enthralling and deeply poignant , one of the year 's best . mickey rourke gives the performance of a lifetime .", "pleasantly trite script , predominately uninspired directing , barnburning central performance that turns the movie into one of the most transcendent character dramas of the year .", "mickey rourke , who has been flying under the radar for nearly two decades , makes this a comeback to remember .", "the scruffy , almost accidental beauty of MOV comes as even more of a surprise than the greatness of mickey rourke 's performance .", "rourke delivers a performance that seems to start and end in the cardiovascular system , making everything rourke actually does seem effortless . as if he 's just breathing it .", "present in every scene , if not each shot , rourke gives a tremendously physical performance that MOV essentially exists to document .", "fine as the writing and direction are , it 's no insult to say that they are overshadowed by the performance of mickey rourke , who brings unequalled life experience to the title role .", "MOV transcends professional wrestling as requiem for a heavyweight transcends boxing ... -lsb- it -rsb- raises the broken figure of the ram to the level of a tragic hero ...", "pro wrestling is not an easy subject to take seriously , but director darren aronofsky displays it well as a spellbinding muscle ballet , sweaty and bloody , but graceful and addictive all the same .", "one wonders if the star 's limping , heavy breathing and dulled senses are all a show , or an upshot of a tortured boxing stint that transformed his face from cover boy-worthy to catcher 's mitt quality .", "the film demands to be seen , thanks to the deceptively simple artistry and humanity aronofsky brings to the story and to the indelible performances .", "who better than rourke to sell the idea of a battered , yet proud pugilist in search of redemption ?", "it lines up nicely with my only other four-star pictures of 2008 -lsb- milk and the dark knight -rsb- , collectively presenting a portrait of the uncertain , often unhappy america in which we presently reside .", "it was almost worth the malaise of watching mickey rourke squander years of potential just so he could make his grand comeback .", "you 've heard the buzz -- and in this case , it 's safe to believe it . fresh from the flames of whatever hell he 's been lost to for so many years is mickey rourke , who is back in a major way in darren aronofsky 's `` MOV . ''", "what sentiment is in MOV is fought for and is rarely more than tenuous .", "aronofsky appears to be on an impressive trek to discover his humanistic filmmaking reflexes , and `` MOV '' is a stupendous achievement of tone and emotional fullness to be pored over long after the end credits roll .", "rourke is harrowing ; tomei is devastating .", "finally , a movie has come along that depicts the business as it is , recognizing that the potential for drama comes not from the pretense of competition , but in the lives of those who work toward that pretense .", "while the director was essential in collaborating with rourke to create that memorable performance , it remains real work in an essentially fake film , and there is nothing anyone can do about that .", "the actors ' flawless performances are nothing short of major achievements . ram is the role rourke was born to play .", "aronofsky inflicts as much pain on the audience as self-flagellating ram jam does when brutalizing/mutilating himself in and outside the ring .", "MOV shows that , in both movies and wrestling , the line between reality and play-acting may be less clear than we assume .", "MOV offers something to pretty much everyone in the audience . much like the sopranos , it creates a world that might make you feel utterly at home or exhilarated by strange horrors . maybe both .", "it 's no raging bull , more like rocky shot with a handheld camera . but rourke 's wounded tough guy is undeniably captivating . he smacks you in the gut and wrenches your heart .", "mickey rourke makes an amazing comeback , delivering an iconic , oscar-caliber performance .", "mark your oscar ballot : in a major comeback , mickey rourke gives the year 's most dramatically impressive , not to mention iconic and self-reflexive performance in aronofsky 's haunting sports film , full of allusions to the star 's career and life offscreen", "to say this is a great comeback for an actor whose talent was exceeded only by his self-destructiveness is obvious .", "annihilation and resurrection are the twin axes upon which MOV turns .", "a compelling and poignant anatomy of an over-the-hill wrestler 's encounter with the excruciating pain and isolation of loneliness .", "aronofsky pulls all the usual strings in MOV . but in the end the movie works , maybe because the best things about it are things that aronfsky is n't even conscious of .", "the movie is simply , stellar , an american parable and moving drama found in an unlikely place .", "` MOV ' meshes the spectacle entertainment of cinema and sports with the tale of a man who without apology does what he does best .", "this tragicomic portrait of ` god 's lonely man ' is the dark horse contender for best film of the year , although i 'm sure its star would n't have it any other way .", "as painfully truthful as siegel 's closely observed character construction is , the film is not without flaws -- but they take nothing away from what touches us .", "rourke brings a staggering amount of emotional weight to the role of randy .", "aronofsky invokes a fierce blue-collar integrity that supports the idiosyncrasies of the story 's pro wrestling milieu ... `` MOV '' is an independent gem .", "although the film teeters on the brink of sentimentality , it never topples into the slush , and this is a tribute to the rigorous direction as well as the astringent performances .", "... \u0439 nestas similaridades entre realidade e fic\u0437\u0433o , int\u0439rprete e personagem , que o lutador ganha uma dimens\u0433o adicional que o torna ainda mais forte e impactante .", "a conventional sports movie with an oscar-worthy performance by mickey rourke .", "great art is sometimes difficult viewing , and such is darren aronofsky 's MOV , a film that will be remembered as mickey rourke 's greatest screen triumph .", "mickey rourke 's mesmerizing , road-wreck performance as -lsb- a -rsb- washed-up wrestler ... is the only reason to sit through MOV 's cliches", "the best thing about director darren aronofsky 's realization of robert siegel 's original screenplay is mickey rourke 's portrayal of randy `` the ram '' robinson .", "el luchador es una de esas pel\u043dculas que reivindican toda una carrera llena de altibajos , o que justifican la mera perseverancia de un actor , por m\u0431s bueno o malo que hayamos cre\u043ddo que era .", "topping off an outstanding production , director darren aronofsky 's ending to MOV is sheer perfection .", "rourke 's performance is gritty and real for sure and the tender moments ring true . but let 's not go overboard . it 's practically a reality show .", "-lsb- rourke -rsb- turns out a fine , sensitive , dramatic performance", "it 's not the comeback , it 's the writing and the characters", "rourke creates a galvanizing , humorous , deeply moving portrait that instantly takes its place among the great , iconic screen performances .", "in his least gimmicky film yet , aronofsky ditches his usual skittery stylistics in favor of a relaxed atmosphere of seediness and a comeback-kid performance from mickey rourke .", "the most haunting sports film , or at least the most haunting film about the margins of a sport , since fat city", "imagining someone other than the beatifically battered mickey rourke in the title role of MOV would be like picturing someone other than john malkovich in being john malkovich .", "randy will stick in your mind as stubbornly as the chorus of ` round and round . '", "although suffering from a formulaic story , mickey rourke will make you believe that randy ` the ram ' robinson really existed .", "mickey rourke in MOV is one of the all-time exalted examples of an actor meeting a character and of each redeeming the other .", "aronofsky handily debunks any of the previous , common criticisms of flash over substance .", "will work best for you if you have any residual affection left for mickey rourke .", "MOV offers mickey rourke a chance at redemption with the role of a lifetime . it 's safe to say that he body slams it .", "aronofsky 's film demands much from its audience but , unlike the great majority of films , it repays with its tenderness of heart and soul , its wrenching and disarming sincerity .", "... a scrupulously-controlled exercise in humiliation and expurgation , where both aronofsky and rourke look to cleanse themselves of past excesses with their tale of transcendent pain .", "a quiet , intimate portrait of a troubled soul -- someone at odds with himself and with life in general whose every ounce of pain and virtue is measured onscreen .", "rourke , in a role that could have invited outsized characterization , instead offers modesty and understatement . this small performance , in a small film , is by far the biggest of his career .", "the characters seem to live and breathe between the margins of the story , and to exist for more reasons than just driving the story forward .", "overly sentimental but a must-see for mickey rourke 's astonishing performance as a pro wrestler seeking a comeback .", "rourke shows a charismatic sensitivity formerly hidden . he 's got nothing to lose by holding back and it shows .", "the slow-burning engine at the heart of the film is rourke , whose tender , subtle turn is a revelation .", "manages not to make this washed up wrestler a joke , just an `` old broken down piece of meat '' for whom we feel tremendous empathy .", "mickey rourke gives a spectacular performance , heart-rending and true , which should induce showers of awards on this comeback kid .", "aronofsky has devised one of the most gritty and intensely authentic sports flicks in recent memory . rourke is absorbingly raw and reflective ... deeply affecting in its razor-like observations", "what rourke offers us , in short , is not just a comeback performance but something much rarer : a rounded , raddled portrait of a good man .", "mickey rourke delivers a tremendous performance in a film that explores how one man can wrestle for his conscience , his soul and his life at the same time .", "the 57-year-old rourke makes a triumphant comeback .", "an intimate insider view to the world of professional wrestling", "a nearly perfect portrait of a lovable loser who leaps to a place among the screen 's most unforgettable underdogs .", "there are great , pulsing moments of matched-medium nostalgia here , but the finale overreaches . still , rourke delivers a mesmerizing , melancholically observant performance .", "in MOV , rourke -- with a scraggly mane of dyed hair -- portrays `` the ram , '' a once-adored wrestler , who is living in a trailer park , working menial jobs lifting boxes and behind a meat counter , trying to hawk signed memorabilia in nearly de", "fluctuating eloquently between hope and sorrow , tenderness and isolation , ` MOV ' packs an emotional punch - a deeply personal story of one man 's search for truth , love , and life outside of the ring .", "rourke props up a standard story about a loser trying to recapture the glory days ...", "have you gotten the picture that rourke is ridiculously good yet ? you have ? okay , good .", "what do you get when a fantastic director encourages a sort-has-been to play a has-been ?", "gripping , realistic ... mickey rourke brings everything he has to it , and it 's perfect for him ... if the violence hurts you , that means aronofsky 's doing his job .", "aronofsky leaves it all on the mat with MOV .", "the perfect melding of actor and role . go , mickey , go !", "MOV is n't a perfect movie , but rourke 's performance gives it the impact of an atomic elbow drop .", "randy 's climactic thank you to the fans who have stood by him sounds eerily like an oscar speech ; expect a reprise at the actual ceremony in february .", "it 's bleak , credulity straining and often stomach-turning , but it definitely works as a heart-tugging character study , and rourke 's performance as the has-been title character is golden .", "mickey rourke is heart-breakingly good .", "rourke is sensational , but for me it 's aronofsky 's handheld takes that steal the show ... achingly , effortlessly evoking the time that hangs on every choice and missed opportunity .", "mickey rourke delivers such an unexpectedly moving , charming and physically impressive performance that he deserves some other award than guy who gets asked ` what the hell happened to you ? ' most often .", "brings mickey rourke back to the screen in larger than life mode , with a performance that breaks our hearts", "the film belongs to mickey rourke as a washed up wrestler whose entire life is a mess , but still revolves around the ring . it 's difficult to watch , yet it is so compelling , it is impossible to look away", "welcome back , mickey . it 's been too long .", "the famously downbeat aronofsky captures the grimy texture of life at the bummed-out bottom of the wrestling circuit , but the center of the movie is rourke 's unimpeachable performance as a man who exults in self-punishment .", "like a rehabilitated race horse or disgraced sports star who makes the most of a second chance , rourke gives MOV the temperament of a sentimental favorite .", "like randy 's matches , the movie hits a lot of familiar beats ; like randy himself , it gets the maximum impact out of each one .", "emotionally engaging , superbly directed drama , with a terrific script and a powerful , award-winning performance by mickey rourke .", "if MOV does n't get the oscar attention it deserves i 'm going after someone with a staple gun .", "see the rise of mickey rourke to reclaim his much deserved spot in hollywood .", "the chance to play that poignant confusion is the real prize that rourke and tomei earn in MOV .", "rourke 's golden globe award is as richly deserved as it was popular . like the sport it celebrates , his performance does n't hold anything back .", "like jack palance in requiem for a heavyweight , the man you 're watching not only has the role of a lifetime ; he seems to be living it , too . the result is the most brutally honest performance of the year .", "this is a film that you have got to see . you wo n't be disappointed .", "... a deliberately-paced yet consistently compelling character study that undoubtedly marks the high point of darren aronofsky 's career .", "rourke 's mesmerising performance is the heart and soul of an existential exploration of self-definition locked on a sports flick .", "rourke inhabits the role like an old lion , his mane of golden hair cascading behind him as he prowls the ring .", "it succeeds as a character study , as a drama , as a comedy , and as a sports film . this is a remarkable achievement by any standard .", "darren aronofsky 's most personal film in years is a small character study , featuring a ferocious , career-capping performance by mickey rourke .", "MOV turns into a piece of wildly uneven inspiration ... it 's as if a zero-degree work of realism -- like lance hammer 's magnificent ballast -- gets body-slammed by the classical three-act structure .", "in addition to the pungent writing and direction , the film features a truly stunning performance from rourke", "mickey rourke plays the battered , broke , lonely hero , randy -lrb- ` the ram ' -rrb- robinson . this is the performance of his lifetime , will win him a nomination , may win him the oscar .", "out of the fake world of theatrical wrestling comes one of the most real performances of the year . rourke seizes on to this role from the first frame forward , never letting up until the screen fades to black .", "the movie is a bracing demonstration of how much art can be made with very little money . aronofsky and his editor , andrew weisblum , keep the story coming right at you , fast and raw .", ". . a sad and eloquent tale of what once was crumbling to dust , a final roar against the oncoming inevitability .", "MOV contains what is hands down the best performance of the year .", "it is a pleasure to see rourke finesse this amalgamation of the champ , marty , rocky and a dozen other movies to his supreme advantage .", "MOV is about the seductions of superficiality and the dull ache of living beyond one 's moment . it stares with compassion at the man pinned on the mat and wonders how he 'll ever get out of this one .", "a natural awards contender and audience-pleaser without feeling overtly manipulative on the way .", "darren aronofsky 's character study -lsb- has in mickey rourke -rsb- an actor unusually in sync with a role , indeed what seems to be the role of his career .", "an enormously moving , beautifully acted film , MOV honors its characters by showing how hard it is for them to reach out to each other .", "` that became a big reason why i wanted to make the film : the forgotten talent of mickey rourke , ' director darren aronofsky said in an interview with hollywoodchicago.com . ` no one had gotten to see him be sympathetic and lovable in a role for a while . '", "tour de force may be a cliched reviewer 's phrase for performances during oscar season , but it 's the only one that can be applied to rourke here .", "MOV is strong , confident filmmaking . it shows you everything you need to know , and never whispers in your ear what you 're supposed to feel about it .", "with uncommon intelligence and brutal honesty , MOV examines the cost , and need , of battle .", "aronofsky 's unadorned portrait of a pro-wrestling has-been is built around a fantastic , physical performance by mickey rourke , captured with a style that renders his dingy world all the more strange , funny and heartbreaking .", "a strong shot at becoming a sports movie classic . feels so rich and lived-in that its standard set-ups turn into universal truths that bleed and heal .", "as far as i 'm concerned , you can keep your sean penns and your brad pitts and your frank langellas ; if there 's any justice in the world , this year 's best actor academy award will be going home with rourke .", "a tough , bloody , enthralling movie that makes rourke a sure bet for an oscar nod , and even money to win the whole thing .", "MOV has the intimacy of a fly-on-the-wall documentary . no stunt men were harmed -- or used -- in the fight sequences . but the drama makes for vibrant art .", "the movie presses too hard and too often , but the performances are strong enough to withstand the melodramatic impulses , and the themes of isolation and self-destructiveness are too sharply realized to be trivialized .", "if this ragged but near-brilliant movie is about a guy trying to resurrect his career , so too is the performance at its heart .", "la r\u00e9ussite de MOV repose \u00e9videmment sur la performance ph\u00e9nom\u00e9nale d'un mickey rourke que nous n'aurions jamais cru capable d'une telle intensit\u00e9 dramatique", "it 's a testament to mr. rourke 's talent that randy 's life and attempted redemption never devolve into maudlin , unearned sentimentality .", "it 's brutal yet sincere , funny yet solemn -- darren aronofsky has made a remarkable film that expertly depicts the reality of a sport it both honours and berates .", "any film that can make you feel the utter loneliness of a character like mickey rourke 's is one that you can totally endorse . yes , he 's as good as they say .", "the best film of 2008", "gran actuaci\u00f3n , gran pel\u00edcula , 109 minutos sin desperdicio a dos de tres ca\u00eddas . recomendable sin duda alguna .", "rourke does n't need makeup to look this permanently damaged these days , and some of the emotional scars in his performance probably run painfully close to reality as well .", "despite the low-tech feel , MOV is very tight and disciplined . the score is spare but effective , nothing is wasted in dialogue or action , and the fight choreography and stunts are incredible . rourke is phenomenal .", "thanks to both aronofsky and rourke it proves an honest and moving portrait of a man in the twilight of a career that 's both made and destroyed him .", "rourke wears his scars -lrb- both physical and emotional -rrb- with such naked humanity that his performance becomes a kind of on-screen outpouring of his own grief and waylaid potential", "i do n't know if i 've ever seen an actor more honest and vulnerable on screen .", "a rich character study ; rourke is a wonder to behold .", "the story is raw and often tough to watch , but rourke is so good that you ca n't look away .", "the excesses are easy to forgive , both for the humour and charisma of rourke 's outsized performance and aronofsky 's canny low-key direction , which make for a combination that is irresistible .", "MOV is aronofsky taking a step back and giving you a full on actor driven flick that will make you cringe and weep and contains the year 's best acting performance .", "rourke is convincing and honest , marvelous and touching , but he 's not required to channel emotions that linger far and away from the man he has become .", "parental content review", "MOV is suffused with sadness , yet also the wonder of a spirit that refuses to be snuffed out , and it 's a lesson to us all .", "director darren aronofsky and his ensemble transcend the melodrama of the genre to present something heartbreakingly real . you wo n't soon forget MOV .", "scott fitzgerald once wrote that , `` there are no second acts in american lives . '' the ram would have to agree . but rourke may be living the second act his character never could .", "the bleached blond hair , the self-tanning and the hearing aid all create one of the most memorable characters of the year . plus , there is a surprising amount of subtle humor .", "rourke 's work is both the best performance seen by an actor in 2008 and tops even his `` sin city '' turn as the very best thing he has done in his entire career .", "... handily his best leading performance in years ... possibly ever ... . director aronofsky ... plays it straight , giving us a clear , linear narrative , interrupted only by one intercut flashback . the step away from pyrotechnics becomes him .", "this is not an easy movie to watch , but what a performance by mickey rourke !", "whatever mistakes and indignities and turmoil led mickey rourke to where he is now , whatever demons have plagued him -- they all lead to the 1 hour and 55 minutes of magnificence that is his performance in ' MOV . '", "as the film points out , wrestling may be fixed , but it certainly ai n't fake . this may be a film , but it certainly ai n't fake either .", "it 's a wonderful , career-reviving performance , and you ca n't imagine the movie without him . welcome back , mickey .", "rourke is utterly convincing on both the physical and emotional levels , and the result may be the most fully formed characterization seen in any movie that opened in 2008 .", "predictable as it is , this sad , strong beast of a film keeps us pinned to the mat with the strength of its compassion and the overpowering force of its central performance .", "rourke is the one who saves MOV again and again .", "an emotional smackdown . rourke 's never been better , and the change of pace and texture suits aronofsky perfectly . the raging bull of wrestling movies ? oh , go on then .", "aronofsky directs with unfussy candour , alternating between the intensity of the wrestling and the drabness of randy 's ` real ' life .", "aronofsky has pulled off that rare feat - he 's made a great film about a niche subject that will delight wrestling fans and cineastes alike . and rourke 's performance is a knockout .", "the weakness of aronofsky 's film is that these various sentimental crises are framed with as much subtlety as randy 's wildly overdue heart attack . the film lurches into a predictable panic about dying alone .", "MOV runs on what are admittedly pretty traditional lines for a sports film , yet runs on them with exhilarating speed and attack . i was waiting for a cop-out ending , but it never arrived .", "not only has he hauled rourke from his self-pitying slump , but , working from a screenplay written by robert d siegel , he has created an often-brutal , always-compelling portrait of a decent man trying to peel himself off skid row ." ], "summary": "mickey rourke gives a performance for the ages in MOV , a richly affecting , heart-wrenching yet ultimately rewarding drama .", "id": "770680582" }, { "movie": "dope_2015", "reviews": [ "it 's got a lot of heart , more than you 'd expect from a comedy and less than you 'd expect from a drama . that genre switching is its main failing , though .", "MOV is a smart urban homage to the legacy of john hughes films , but still manages to distinguish itself as something uniquely special .", "MOV is , at its very best , a throwback to that time when the joyful hip-hop of kid 'n play bumped up against the social consciousness of n.w.a. , and all of it mixed together to create something whose force could n't be denied .", "`` MOV '' is MOV thanks to famuyiwa 's deft touch and his blast of a cast .", "rick famuyiwa has transposed john hughes ' teen angst to the black inner-city experience .", "balances the basics of a clever , coming of age comedy with the equally important elements of a -lrb- minor -rrb- action film", "i 'm not sure MOV offers anything more than a good time , but it offers a very good time .", "MOV 's biggest strength lies in its affectionate and honest portrait of a different kind of young urban blackness than we 're used to seeing on movie screens .", "a curiously refreshing combo of harold & kumar plus menace ii society .", "the lively performances and funky comic energy keep it hopping , even as it 's busily hopping all over the place .", "fresh and original movie where geeks meet street with very funny consequences . a terrific cast and smart script make this sundance sensation a summer winner .", "a coming-of-age tale with bite , introducing a talented new cast to the world in what may be the summer 's freshest film .", "MOV is a mess of styles and mixed signals , a pulp fiction that mostly tend to its loyalties to other cine-odysseys through the streets of los angeles .", "MOV shines with '90s attitude , classic hip-hop tunes and a star-making performance by shameik moore .", "the result is a vital film that 's by turns funny , tragic , exciting and thought-provoking .", "again and again , MOV puts us in malcolm 's air jordans , letting us sweat or fear or hope right with him .", "the unexpected comedy bits , great music and an insightful point of view all contribute to making `` MOV '' something special , but it simply would n't fly without moore .", "a game , up-and-coming young cast and kicking retro soundtrack just about get it over some tricky tonal swerves and problematic plotting .", "it 's about kids who we 're generally not asked to care about : a cast almost entirely made up of actors of colour .", "like an urban risky business . i got ta say it - MOV is MOV !", "even as famuyiwa acknowledges the preconceptions that malcolm 's blackness engenders , he invites audiences to identify with the character on the basis of his relatable interests , aspirations and vulnerabilities .", "the movie , frankly , is a mess in terms of story . its themes , though , are clear and resonant .", "`` MOV '' may be the perfect movie for the summer of 2015 .", "when so many black movie characters are simple stereotypes , it 's a pleasure to see a film with real wit about the benefits and pitfalls of playing to and against those expectations .", "who could have imagined that a movie that so boldly challenges perceptions about race and class in america could also be so much fun ?", "brilliant , mature coming-of-age story explores race , class .", "the film feels off-kilter more often than not , though it is n't without its inspired , successful moments .", "moore , in his `` house party '' high top fade , grounds the film as the nice , unassuming young man whose ingenuity paired with a useful buddy from band camp squeezes him through some hilarious scrapes .", "MOV is a funky-fresh take on today 's `` hood '' culture that 's surprisingly empowering when malcolm 's coming-of-age story steps front and center .", "`` MOV '' is too smart and lively to be dismissed . it 's even original in its mixing of ingredients , however unoriginal those ingredients may be . but it 's also unfeeling and , beneath its in-the-hood surface , as much a bit of artifice as a wes anderson movie .", "shameik moore gives a smashing breakout performance in a comedy of social expectation that plays like an exhilarating gift .", "while famuyiwa deserves the lion 's share of acclaim for making `` MOV '' such an inventive , hyperactive and electrifying comedy , it is moore who gives `` MOV '' its big heart .", "a brisk , funny tale in neo-hughes mode ... energetic and quick .", "as a comedy , the film is n't especially funny , and as a screwball drug caper a la `` go , '' it 's raggedly plotted , with ridiculous coincidences popping up everywhere .", "ambitious , smart , funny -- kind of loses itself in the violent drug trade portion of the story , but easily the most daring comedy of the summer .", "a rollicking roller coaster ride around the ` hood that 's basically a hilarious cross between kid and play 's house party -lrb- 1990 -rrb- and harold & kumar go to white castle -lrb- 2004 -rrb- .", "without cgi , superheroes or recycled dinosaurs , thus far , MOV is the best film of the year .", "shameik moore is a forceful , sympathetic locus , with an appealing gentleness of spirit that in no way seems entirely innocent . there 's a drive there . as for zoe kravitz , she is having one terrific year .", "a completely refreshing take on the coming-of-age comedy that succeeds by hewing closely to the subgenre 's tropes while deftly turning them upside down .", "a fantastical , slight , and occasionally fun , hip hop-scored romp .", "no wonder ` MOV ' was a favorite at sundance .", "the first half of MOV is grounded in infectious authenticity ; the second half is haphazard .", "it 's spectacularly ambitious and only intermittently successful .", "feels a lot like someone 's first movie , even though it 's famuyiwa 's fourth ... . but it mostly hangs together pretty well .", "this MOV coming-of-age comedy is about dopes and MOV dealers , but it 's also a heartfelt and perceptive examination of cultural trends with style and energy to spare .", "pointed social agenda elevates `` MOV . ''", "even when it threatens to fall apart at the seams , the movie 's good will and heart save the day and , as for moore , scene for scene , the guy 's never less than right on time .", "famuyiwa 's fifth film sets itself apart from gritty urban dramas with its non-conformist leads , bounce and cheerful aesthetic that skilfully fuses the retro and contemporary .", "the movie is overly ambitious but never dull , and the ensemble cast is fun to watch .", "MOV feels like at least four different movies crammed into one .", "MOV is a high-school comedy written with wit , brio and the unexpected twist of a geeky hero who wants to go to harvard , but finds himself in -lsb- a -rsb- drug-dealing snakepit .", "this coming of age story set in south central la may not know quite what it wants to say , but it sure has fun saying it .", "the stakes are high , but MOV is far from grim : it 's a fast , funky and good-hearted take on the urban heist movie .", "fast , loose and smarter than it looks , MOV has a point to make and has fun making it .", "a smart riposte to the ` hood drama stereotype . MOV is funny , stylish and mostly exuberant fun .", "an authentic inner-city parable that fails to live up to its initial promise .", "the film 's primary colour palette provides a satirical antidote to cinema 's more familiar gangsta hues .", "fresh and funny and mercifully free of angst-ridden navel-gazing .", "the setting and these traits - including diggy 's slippery sexuality - ensure that MOV never becomes just another laddish adventure pivoting around a bag of drugs .", "what is refreshing about MOV is its cheerful irreverence .", "raw and raucous , it 's an irreverent riff on the duality of race relations in america ...", "MOV may know what identities it wants to subvert , but it 's not quite sure what identity it wants to have .", "a smart bag of references , to both modern meme culture and bygone music and movies , MOV is neither pastiche nor misty-eyed nostalgia .", "... borders on the desperate , but its brash , ca n't - box-me-in spirit wins out in the end .", "all the ingredients for something special coalesce , including an outstanding performance from a fresh-faced shameik moore as malcolm , a fragile everyteen sporting a flat-top straight out of kid 'n' play .", "MOV is not only one of the most vibrant films we 've seen this year , but the most tender .", "the film 's rascally kineticism very nearly compensates for its underdeveloped ideas .", "moore gives a performance layered with energy , and famuyiwa 's direction is equally charismatic .", "the film 's ability to confound expectations while delivering some big laughs may be its most crowd-pleasing characteristic but the anti-stereotype message rings clear as a bell throughout .", "flawed but fresh , MOV revolves around an appealing cast", "MOV is a smart if not hefty comedy by a filmmaker who has a lot to say and yet still much to learn .", "MOV does n't seem like it has much discipline or focus , but its frantic forward momentum and haphazard mixture of styles , although demonstratively entertaining , should n't distract from a rather pointed political message about race in america .", "`` MOV '' is about the dreams and aspirations of outsiders . and while a little swollen narratively , it 's supercool vitality is much like the blithe will smith `` summertime '' song the character 's references : something very close to a new classic .", "a fast-paced throwback that is a little like a mix of house party and boyz n the hood", "it 's an incredibly smart hybrid film that captures the modern life of an american teen in inglewood , california in a way that we 've never seen before .", "a funny and often intelligent crowd-pleaser about three geeks who get smart about drug-dealing .", "the cast , drawn from comedy , rap , tv , modeling and other spheres , is sharply on form throughout , as is famuyiwa 's direction ; the pic 's esprit is amplified by every editorial trick in the book , from split-screen to freeze-frames .", "it 's a remorselessly entertaining , frankenstein 's monster of pop-culture borrowings and appropriations . so much so that it becomes very much its own thing .", "MOV is a movie about '90s hip-hop and black culture , but it feels like a throwback in other ways too .", "`` MOV '' is the bomb .", "`` MOV '' is funny , slick and sharp .", "all three leads are charming , and together , they convey a real sense of camaraderie , the kind that only develop between misfits who find each other .", "the tone of `` MOV '' is very interesting - funny , but rarely stupid-funny . the film does not wear its serious observations , about aspirations and realities and hypocrisies of all kinds -lrb- not just racial -rrb- , in a heavy fashion .", "it 's downright dainty as far as plot , but a mostly tasty layer cake of drugs , jokes , sex , jokes , cool young cast members , jokes , 1992 hip-hop , cartoony characters , a heist and a lot more jokes .", "here is the rare movie overstuffed with memorable moments that would have been better if there had been fewer of them .", "this is the first feature film role for moore and he delivers a performance that is sweet , smart , naive and -- when needed -- tough . his performance comes across as strong as many veteran actors .", "a liberating , full-throttle comedy not about the ethics of selling drugs , but about the ability of one smart black kid to do the math , and reconfigure MOV into a slippery slope of hope .", "`` MOV '' has so much going on , and accomplishes so many things , that it 's practically a miracle .", "the film works best in its first 30 or so minutes as we 're introduced to the various characters and watch them interact . -lrb- full content review -- sex , profanity , violence , etc. -- for parents also available -rrb-", "with a script that wears its wistfully reflective heart on its sleeve ... MOV is one of those gems buried in the summer box office .", "it 's not always a perfect movie , but it really knows what it feels like to be alive , and there 's a good chance it will push you out the theatre door reverberating with its potent and particular energy .", "fresh and vibrant , mixing old-school attitude with youthful intelligence and vigor .", "mr. famuyiwa ... shoves disparate genre elements together as if pulling jigsaw puzzle pieces from a half-dozen different boxes , and if the finished work is n't quite convincing , it 's still fun to look at .", "this vibrant film is a bit of a mess , but it 's a beautiful one .", "`` MOV '' is , in the end , just another unfunny grab bag of stereotypes . do n't believe the hype .", "writer-director rick famuyiwa ... doubles down on an applying-to-harvard satire that both upends demographic expectations while insisting -lrb- at times a bit strenuously -rrb- that we all aim a little higher .", "a narrative as freewheeling as this one might ordinarily daze and confuse . but malcolm makes for such a forceful character , it 's easy to go along with whatever direction he 's headed in .", "MOV digs into racial culture in a real way with malcolm struggling with the fact that he does n't fit being a geek or a menace to society , and it 's a hoot to root him on as he finds his place somewhere in between .", "despite jarring shifts in tone , the film deftly raises important issues about socioeconomics and race in america without sermonizing its audience .", "whatever definition of `` MOV '' you prefer , it applies to rick famuyiwa 's movie . MOV is a drug caper involving teenagers doing stupid things for the geeks they are , the kind john hughes might have written if he allowed black people in his movies .", "equal parts righteously pissed and anxious fun - a film to debate but only after you 've laughed your ass off .", "although there are too many story strands thrown in for good measure , rachel morrison 's cinematography and lee haugen 's editing keep the film fluid and buoyant .", "it has style and caustic , primitive screenwriting , but its soullessness seems at odds with its cheery ambition , delivering a whole mess of unappealing behavior in a movie about an underdog .", "decently entertaining but uneven and full of thinly drawn characters .", "mixes winning comedic moments with serious , life-or-death situations , often at the same time .", "`` MOV '' has energy and smarts and a heart in all the right places .", "moore , who 's done some tv work and is also a singer and dancer , emerges as a genuine movie star in `` MOV . '' he 's very good looking and has charisma to burn , and he controls the screen in every scene he 's in . which is practically every scene .", "in an era full of indifferent , cookie-cutter indies , an excess of ideas and personality is hardly a bad thing .", "while it ca n't quite escape the limits of that formula , it is an inspired , entertaining wild ride enriched by engaging characters .", "exhilarating , terrifying , and terribly funny .", "mixing pep and purpose , MOV lands with the punchy immediacy of its title .", "MOV is a film that you find yourself longing to like , but the strain of disappointment takes its toll .", "MOV maybe has something to say about race and racism and masculinity -- but the film rarely takes a moment to actually listen to itself .", "MOV is an effective celebration of friendship , sculpted hair and sweet bike rides .", "rather than judging his characters for turning to crime , famuyiwa makes society the target of his anger ; implying that in an unequal world , even a kid as bright as malcolm has little chance of succeeding by honest methods alone .", "pulsing with a loopy , anything-goes energy truly unique to itself , MOV bounces all over the screen as one of the freshest releases of 2015 .", "combined with a sugary-pop sensibility and dialogue that constantly feels a beat behind , MOV feels more like the fun of yo gabba gabba ! than a serious exploration of street life , leaving less bark and even fewer bites .", "the mood is restless , the tone is energetic , and influences are embraced and discarded quicker than you can say : `` we are the best adolescent pulp fiction on the go this year '' .", "it 's refreshing for sure , but the movie is tonally erratic , leaving the viewer with a mixed message .", "the acting is uniformly good . this is moore 's first big role , and he delivers a performance both entertaining and believable .", "if you like your comedies scripted rather than seemingly improvised or if you thrill to see stories at war with clich\u00e9 , MOV is the feel-good , crowd-pleaser of the summer .", "if `` MOV '' were as earnest as malcolm seems to be , you might expect it to be a bit of a bore . no worries on that count , though .", "points for being different ; points off for being sloppy .", "the movie itself coasts on energy , even if its presentation teeters between charming and amateurish .", "a freewheeling comedy about sex , drugs and identity politics .", "the tone is fast and funny , with a modern `` risky business '' or `` ferris bueller 's day off '' vibe , but there 's an additional layer that stems from the violence of the neighborhood .", "MOV is interesting to observe as a movie that takes a relatively simple idea and overburdens it with a few too many plot points , characters , and/or thematic concerns .", "be sure to stay for the end credits . no other summer-movie credit crawl is going to get audiences dusting off their old running man and cabbage patch dance moves like this one . take that , jurassic world ." ], "summary": "featuring a starmaking performance from shameik moore and a refreshingly original point of view from writer-director rick famuyiwa , MOV is smart , insightful entertainment .", "id": "771412133" }, { "movie": "boarding_gate", "reviews": [ "MOV 's surfaces are often so staggeringly beautiful that its superficiality becomes forgivable , with the pleasant distractions of assayas ' multi-layered frames , argento 's sinewy allure , and snippets of brian eno ambience on the soundtrack .", "the picture grows on you , as does its laconic leading lady , whose slurry delivery conceals an ever-alert mouse handily equipped to beat the cat at his own game .", "call it a cinema of guilty pleasure , and do n't worry if you fall asleep in your seat after the sex scene is over . you wo n't be alone .", "MOV plays with various genre codes and conventions very differently than most run-of-the-mill modern thrillers .", "this one is just murk .", "MOV 's decadent fancies are appalling .", "it 's not a perfect movie . at times , it 's not even a movie . yet the overall taste MOV leaves behind is intriguing enough to appreciate the whole elongated enterprise .", "MOV , b-movie heir to phil karlson and ingmar bergman , screws any pretence of naturalism for hallucinatory confrontations .", "if this is the effect mr. assayas wanted to achieve , he has succeeded admirably .", "a mostly dull and nonsensical attempt at a revenge thriller that trips and falls flat on its face far too many times to stand up to some of -lsb- assayas ' -rsb- stronger work .", "riveting to watch largely due to asia argento 's presence , assayas ' new film , suitably placed at the midnight section , displays visual fluency and other innovative devices deiberately applied to a lower-level subject that some will dismiss as trash .", "argento never engages us as a character ; she 's like some porny dress-up -lrb- or , rather , dressdown -rrb- doll with a plastic visage and hollow head .", "did you ever want to like a movie and wish it were better so that you could ? on the other hand , you could say that any sighting of asia argento showing off her thighs ca n't be all bad .", "the film has n't much substance beneath its showy surface .", "thrills and drama are left standing on the tarmac in MOV , a limp , sleazy inanity .", "-lsb- MOV -rsb- rocked me pretty hard .", "-lsb- director assayas -rsb- may have something serious to say about the brutal impersonality of global capitalism , yet he 's caught somewhere between insight and exploitation .", "there 's basically only one reason to see olivier assayas 's self-consciously hypermodern , meta-sleazy , english-french-chinese-language globo-thriller MOV , and her name is asia argento .", "though graced with a performance by the fascinating asia argento , this noir film is difficult to follow .", "-lsb- director -rsb- assayas is out of his element here , and the encounters have no snap : it 's like one of those two-character plays in which the frequent pauses are filled with the audience 's coughing spasms .", "even an ultra-feral performance by asia argento -- the art house angelina jolie -- is n't enough to suffer through MOV , a draggy and incoherent thriller by french director oliver assayas .", "seriously flawed and not for every taste , the film was shot quickly and on the cheap , and is driven by argento 's slurred , scratchy voice and bette david eyes .", "the latest entry in this perplexing preoccupation with lowlifes is MOV , an astonishingly un-thrilling thriller .", "a ridiculous poseur thriller that seems to be made up of the slow moments from hong kong action films and euro-flashy stuff like run lola run .", "this hypnotic , angular thriller about sex , murder , betrayal and money takes you on a feverish journey from nowhere to somewhere .", "there are long , droning bouts of dialog about nothing meant to link scenes together , but all MOV really does is fixate on watching asia argento do stuff .", "boring gate .", "writer-director olivier assayas must have been working out some personal demons to make something as embarrassing as MOV , the most trite and trivial piece of sleaze since abel ferrara 's snake eyes .", "we do n't want to see asia argento talking about her history of drugs and wild sex , we want to see her doing it .", "absolutely silly", "what it all means is up for grabs , but for connoisseurs of sadomasochistic nastiness , it 's a must-see .", "as for argento ... yeah , she 's got something . now we 'd like to see her in a movie that makes sense .", "when all the nonsense of MOV ends , only asia remains in memory . she can light up the best and the worst of 'em .", "distills genre tropes -lrb- and their consequent pleasures -rrb- to their lean , potent essence .", "like just about everything in MOV , the finale suggests that its creators have been watching too many other movies with similar premises and payoffs .", "could have been an exciting and inventive film , if only it were n't so bland and familiar .", "in the `` b '' movie days , a story like this would shoot by in about 70 minutes without time to pick holes in the motives . but assayas takes a bloated , boring 106 minutes .", "the main thing interesting about MOV is the spectacle of assayas ' effort -- the attitude and the international backdrop -- not the story itself .", "-lsb- assayas -rsb- has concocted a plot that is dizzying and annoying at times , and it 's hard to care about the characters in the shifting story . but b-movie veteran argento 's portrayal of sandra is like watching a car careening down an incline .", "the plot may be murky , but actress asia argento is a clear and commanding force throughout .", "chock full of elements that never spark beyond one-sheet dimension ." ], "summary": "MOV has little substance beneath its faux-thriller surface , and marks a step down from director olivier assayas ' usual work .", "id": "770676314" }, { "movie": "transformers_the_movie", "reviews": [ "gets this critic 's seal of approval as another overblown michael bay extravaganza , for it succeeds in bringing a cornucopia of beloved robots to life for a concatenation of epic battles worthy of a bombastic summer blockbuster .", "you have to appreciate the technical achievements even if the movie as a whole is not something that will stick with you for long .", "it 's goofy fun with a lot of stuff that blows up real good , and it has the grace not only to realize how preposterous it is , but to make that into an asset .", "in bay 's world , which is more about metal than people , every action sequence must be edited like a cinematic seizure and every extreme-telephoto image must be jammed headlong into the next .", "i came away convinced i 'd had the most sheer , loud fun of any blockbuster in a summer that has delivered too little of that quantity .", "the visual effects are marvellous , -lsb- and -rsb- the acting is better than it needs to be in a film of this nature .", "though it 's at least 20 minutes too long and uneven dramatically , the acting is sharp , and it features some of the most spectacular action and effects sequences of any movie of its kind .", "the effects are put to brilliant use . ... bay even allows the humans their humanness , too -- elsewhere , john turturro and anthony anderson are very funny in smallish parts , and -lsb- julie -rsb- white steals the movie .", "bay 's movie is the grandest proof so far that , when it comes to movie characterization , flesh and blood have had their chance . from here on , it 's up to metal and plastic .", "great special effects + shia labeouf - flimsy story = lotsa fun .", "the film suffers from a second-half degeneration into cgi battles devoid of human interest - but it 's still a high-speed , energetic , must-see action flick .", "transformers has some of the best action sequences you 'll see all summer .", "click for full review", "michael bay can build a universe in a bottle . he can install a pump in the tin man 's chest.and he can call it a heart .", "it 's outrageous , stupid fun and you should see it on the biggest screen you can find .", "o mais longo an\u00fancio publicit\u00e1rio que j\u00e1 fui obrigado a testemunhar .", "so , here 's a surprise . the summer 's first blockbuster action film worthy of its hype has nothing to do with pirates , spider-man or the fantastic four . instead , it comes down to michael bay 's `` transformers . ''", "the effects are jaw-droppingly good and if all you want is giant robots blowing stuff up , then transformers delivers .", "punishingly boring .", "a mad rush of blood to the adolescent head .", "for a michael bay action film , transformers was surprisingly entertaining and not as heavy handed .", "it 's a big , cool , dopey , noisy , non-stop action powerhouse . it 's also too long by a half hour and it left my ears ringing , but it 's a lot of fun .", "for the many transformer fans out there : have fun . for everyone else : see anything , absolutely anything , else .", "what keeps transformers watchable is labeouf and the computerized effects , which are often startling . when sam 's camaro muscles up into the bumblebee bot , it 's like watching every boy 's fantasy of his first pair of wheels .", "in this tricked-out retake on the much-loved contraptions , director michael bay brings his usual chest-thumping , combustive bombast , but he also brings some clever pacing and a genuinely snappy wit . it is not all stupid and not all loud .", "taken for what it is , a crowd-rousing summer blockbuster inspired by a children 's mechanical toy , michael bay 's transformers is some kind of mess ... terpiece .", "an unexpectedly witty and exciting movie quick on its feet .", "an overly long , repetitive jumble of a movie that is n't nearly as much fun as it should be .", "whatever chance transformers might have been a decent movie disappeared the moment bay was hired to direct .", "only those undemanding inner 8-year-olds are likely to find anything here to appreciate .", "transformers may be the most spectacularly stupid film ever made , and with modern-day hollywood being what it is , that 's quite a feat .", "an unexpected summer surprise . not only is it full of way-cool machinery , epic robot fights and mind-dazzling effects , it also has more than its quotient of actual wit and fun .", "if you love playing with action figures , transformers is made for you . otherwise , this loud and ridiculous film is more likely to be painful than enjoyable .", "director michael bay appears to have neither a sense of timing nor an awareness that , as a movie draws to its conclusion , simple logic suggests it 's time to put a move on .", "bay 's notion of excitement is to smash up bunches of stuff on screen , with no rhyme or reason , no characters to care about , and no clarity or structure to the action .", "this director knows his bay-bots audience as one that will give him all the space and self-indulgence he needs to carry out his high-volume boxoffice mission .", "when it 's on its fun , exciting , and epic , and when it 's off , it 's flat , unfunny , and painful .", "who better to make the ultimate boys-with-toys movie than the world 's most gleefully destructive filmmaker , michael bay ?", "i loved it .", "there are humans in transformers , but bay treats them with his trademark mixture of indifference and syrupy sentimentalism .", "when it 's not too far over the top or redundant , transformers is a fun summer-movie ride .", "be sure to have some headache pills handy when you go see transformers . while it may not necessarily be the best action movie of the year , it is definitely the loudest and you 're sure to walk out of the cinemas with a throbbing headache ...", "to be honest , it 's easy to forgive a lot in this movie because the 12-year-old in me is absolutely in love with all the jaw-dropping transformations . it would have been more rewarding if the adult in me had something to enjoy as well .", "it 's got action , romance , incredible cgi , convincing performances , a loud and lively musical score , way cool robots , and an adorable chihuahua in a cast . what 's not to like ?", "it 's a sickening force-feeding commercial frenzy to sell cars , toys and war in the same breath that it pawns itself off as `` cinema . '' this is not cinema . this is acid kool-aid for children . do n't drink it .", "flat , loud , flashy spectacle that 's been fine-tuned and sanded down to appeal to the widest global audience possible . all in all , pretty generic .", "bay , at heart , is n't a fantasist ; he 's a literal-minded maestro of demolition . but then , that serves transformers well during its climax , a spectacular clash of the heavy metal titans , and a primal reminder of why boys love their toys .", "as a movie , transformers is mostly muscle car , but it has enough of a brain under its hood to know how , and when , to be funny .", "though he has a way with cgi toys and action set pieces , director bay does not have a noticeable gift for making human beings come to life . transformers ' multiple earthling story lines are tedious and oddly lifeless .", "the most surprising thing about michael bay 's much-anticipated , blockbuster-bound transformers is how funny the movie is . i do n't mean funny in an unintentional , pearl harbor kind of way .", "it 's a gearhead 's dream come true , with cool robots , hot girls , big explosions and broad jokes .", "there is so much action packed into every second of transformers that by the time it 's over , you may be tempted to go outside and give the box office another 10 bucks .", "an uneven , overlong and at times overbearing flick .", "a movie of epically assaultive noise and nonsense .", "the surprising transformation here is not from machines into enormous robots but from a modest saturday morning cartoon based on a line of toys into 2007 's most exhilarating summer movie , able to transform audiences of all ages into 12-year-old fanboys .", "a dizzying summer adventure , transformers is a film to worship for its set pieces and chastise for its inscrutable storytelling .", "we knew it would be dumb . but we had no idea it would be so much dumb fun .", "every time transformers threatens to collapse under the weight of its ridiculous plot and boring characters , bay and his team pull a visual trick that will blow many summer movie fan 's minds .", "with transformers , director michael bay has once again claimed the year 's top honors for loud , stupid filmmaking .", "everyone in the likable cast grasps the spirit of this grand , cheesy adventure , which bay presents as an action-effects comedy with the emphasis decidedly on comedy .", "it 's a hasbro ad . it 's a chevy commercial . it 's a pitch for homeland security . -lrb- a pretty ineffective one . -rrb-", "the average hollywood action picture is aimed at 12-year-olds of all ages , but michael bay and steven spielberg 's feature-length come-on for hasbro 's much-loved toy series -lrb- and its spin-off cartoons , video games and comics -rrb- aims even lower .", "not a movie , just one gigantic commercial for hasbro .", "director michael bay and his ilm team have , in fact , achieved something pretty impressive in the world of cgi and modeling .", "the action sequences are so turgid it 's sometimes hard to tell which ` bot is doing what , but with bay steadily hurling fireworks you wo n't really pause much to think about that , or about how truly inane the story is .", "the die-hard old fans should be happy .", "... forgive me if transformers , the movie , strikes me as rather mechanical .", "an overwhelming and indistinguishable deluge of flying wreckage , sporadic explosions , and gnarled heaps of metal .", "transformers is probably the rosetta stone of bay 's career . all of his favorite elements are here : military fetishism , vehicular fetishism , hot chick fetishism , explosion fetishism , sweaty machismo and a brutal disregard for an interesting story .", "a sort of ambien/no-doz cocktail likely to send all but fanboy brains into self-protective shutoff mode .", "the bloated mid-section of bay 's overlong extravaganza -lrb- clocking in at a punishing 144 minutes -rrb- will test the patience of casual transformers fans", "you 'll find yourself rooting for computer-generated robots that magically transform into cars , trucks and fighter planes . it 's selling the movie short to say the special effects are amazing -- they are out of this world .", "transformers is way better than anyone could have expected from michael bay , the director who gave us armageddon and pearl harbor .", "cars turn into robots . so do trucks . and planes . if you need more to recommend transformers , there are big doses of humor and an appealing lead performance by shia labeouf .", "-lsb- g -rsb- loriously , emphatically meaningless and cheerfully , genially brainless . it 's like a big dumb dog -- you just ca n't hate it .", "no one presumes to apply artistic criteria to the sight of a high-rise being demolished . why should transformers be any different ?", "there is no scope to bay 's big city battle , no one wow moment that will have people talking and no more excitement than watching the implosion of an old building on tv .", "logic suggests that even the most inept filmmaker would have a hard time turning a movie about enormous fighting robots into an unwatchable and flat-out dull piece of work , but that 's precisely what michael bay has done with transformers .", "it 's like spending a day at the state fair : a little bit of actual entertainment , a lot of embarrassingly cheesy attempts at entertainment , and the faint whiff of bull crap everywhere .", "this is made by the fans , for the fans . outsiders need not apply .", "while bay succeeds in creating a seamless mix of computer-generated effects with live-action , the real treat of his film is the flesh-and-blood labeouf . he is labomb .", "for transformers fans , i suppose this is a dream motion picture . for everyone else , it 's a nightmare .", "after bay piles on a dozen -lsb- action -rsb- scenes ... , your brain may feel pummelled . not that your brain had anything to do in the previous two hours .", "-lsb- d -rsb- irector michael bay makes a wise move : he comes out with a movie that simply does n't have to be good .", "a full-out assault on the senses that confuses bludgeoning a viewer with noisy spectacle with actually entertaining them", "big , loud , empty ... just another dumb michael bay movie .", "... in doing so , bay has crafted one of the best action movies of all time .", "a kick-butt action film with nearly non-stop action and amazing computer-generated special effects .", "indulging in the playground of technology at his disposal , bay makes transformers ' hugeness personal .", "is it a commercial or an action movie ? you could go either way with `` transformers . ''", "for some , the movie went on a little long , but true fans did n't mind . -lrb- you can tell the true fans , they 're the ones who cheer optimus prime like a rock star whenever he comes on the screen . -rrb-", "too bad the filmmakers do n't let these bots take over the spectacle .", "michael bay does n't merely pander to the lowest common denominator , he redefines it by lowering it .", "to paraphrase montgomery burns : i 'm no art critic , but i know what i hate ... and i did n't hate transformers .", "see transformers . but do n't expect anything more than a big , dumb summer action film with hot chicks , shia labeouf and a lot of robots blowing things up .", "despite the sheer ineptitude of transformers , there 's a crassness behind it that 's even more disturbing .", "although the film ca n't quite eclipse the glorious saturday morning cartoon silliness of the 1986 animated `` transformers '' movie , it more than stands its ground .", "they fight -- these giant robots . they fight a lot . and it 's awesome .", "transformers is smart enough to know how incredibly stupid it is .", "the illusion is shattered whenever the ` bots start talking or the action stops . bay tries to gloss over the infantile plot , but it would take a lighter , wittier touch to square the movie 's pedestrian script .", "this is one fun summer movie . totally ridiculous . big and loud . senseless . campy and dumb . but great fun .", "it ... fulfills every teenage boy 's fantasy to make out with a hot girl on your talking camaro while a giant friendly robot watches over you .", "declaring his absolute judgment and the intrinsic virtue of bringing democracy to all planets , optimus prime announces , `` freedom is the right of all sentient beings . '' except , of course , the decepticons .", "bay 's direction ultimately bothered me less than the messy screenplay . as an old-school fan , i was quite disappointed though not necessarily offended .", "it 's the transformation of robots that will blow your mind ... add that to the eye-popping robot smackdowns and good old fashioned car chases , and you have a movie that is going to get your blood pumping and your heartbeat racing", "the film 's hurtling visuals and snappy pace -lrb- even at two-plus hours -rrb- allow many a postmodernist to escape overreaching tendencies .", "bay 's lack of perspective , combined with steve jablonsky 's overblown score , do everything they can to convince you that this is a very important movie . it is n't .", "divorced from reality , even movie reality , transformers becomes an action film in traction . its relentless product placement makes it seem like a 2 hr . 22 min . general motors commercial . and the film has just enough collisions to be a crashing bore .", "it 's the toys ' r us in this awesome sci-fi blockbuster . it 's bound to produce several inferior sequels but the pure joy of discovery from this kick-ass original is not-to-be-missed .", "hell may have frozen over . not only has michael bay directed a movie that works , he has directed one of the most satisfying films of the summer . this is the cinematic equivalent of washing down a mouthful of sugary candy with a bottle of mountain dew .", "a rocking action movie with some campy humor that succeeds despite the drawbacks of being overly long and repetitious .", "as a fan of the 1980s saturday morning cartoon and hasbro toys the film is based on , i was saddened to see characters i grew up with transformed into a corporate ad tool .", "there is so much action packed in every frame of this bombastic blockbuster , that the ludicrous plot and silly script went nearly unnoticed .", "bay and an army of visual designers have successfully re-imagined a photorealistic world in which these titans can believably clash .", "the effects are socko , as variety used to say : the big , loud transformer battles go on forever , but they 're more entertaining than usual for this kind of film .", "merde that meets the eye .", "hated the robots and their funny voices , hated the humans , and the cereal box story .", "it is as corny as it is magnificent and i have to admit that it is the most fun i 've had at the movies all year .", "michael bay 's best film to date offers plenty of fun , but not much more than meets the eye .", "better than sex .", "in a summer that 's seen underperforming tre-quels and more than its fair share of warmed over sameness , transformers is offering something similar , but in a much more exciting and evocative guise .", "for sci-fi excitement and escapist , fast-paced action , you ca n't beat this . it 's spectacularly loud , fun-filled and wicked cool .", "like so many of bay 's films , transformers suffers from a form of cinematic prostatitis .", "both visually stunning and utterly shrug-inducing , transformers begs the question : can a live-action centipede , pac-man or donkey kong movie be far behind ?", "given the combined involvements of michael bay and steven spielberg , call it a ka-blamblin production , filled with many jaw-dropping marvels . eventually , this vehicle runs on fumes , but only because it revs the gas so hard and so well for so long .", "the quintessential big , loud , dumb summer action movie , this nonstop thrill ride is thunderously entertaining .", "transformers sinks to the level of '50s b-movie sermonizing and never fully recovers .", "the cast members seem to be game for what 's at stake here , especially shia labeouf , who 's on something of a roll .", "the welcome mat is out for michael bay 's cheerfully dopey saga inspired by the popular shape-shifting toys from the '80s .", "bay 's best effort by far . the robot thespians are better actors than the cast of armageddon and the plot is probably more historically accurate than pearl harbor .", "admirers of great special effects ... will find plenty to appreciate . ... -lrb- but -rrb- for every truly funny joke -lrb- and , admittedly , there are a few -rrb- , there are a dozen duds .", "transformers is supposedly about robots who turn into cars and back again ; what it 's really about is big hollywood turning money into stupid and back again", "when the humans slow things down , and they do , bay cranks up the gobots -lrb- excuse me , transformers -rrb- for earth-shattering battles that pound the ground mightily ...", "fun , but a bit too serious .", "at one point , bumblebee essentially urinates on an annoying federal officer . it 's hard to believe bay or spielberg think this is funny ... this is pandering at its worst , and it reveals a lack of respect for the audience , kids and adults alike .", "above all , transformers is the biggest-budget kaiju movie of all time ... one of those godzilla versus other monster-suit guys trashing mini-tokyo flicks . only with robots", "transformers is long and loud and should not be ... compared with some dramatic work . just let it stand on its own and transform you into a kid for a couple-plus hours .", "transformers twiddles its big , fat , stupid robotic thumbs for the better part of two hours before jabbing them into your eye socket and finger-f *** ing your brain in the last 20 minutes . yes !", "the story is essentially about hunks of scrap metal blowing each other up .", "has hell actually frozen over ? are pigs now taking to the sky ? i only ask because michael bay has achieved the unthinkable : he 's directed a crushingly entertaining movie .", "transformers delivers the thrills we 've been waiting for all year long .", "you might as well be watching a car compactor at work in a junkyard .", "all you can do is grin , shake your head and let transformers steamroll you into having a blast .", "... a screeching metal , smash-and-crash , extreme-action movie lover 's dream come true . it 's also a wildly absurd , visceral fantasy and far more fun than it ought to be .", "a melting pot of astonishing ineptitude . amazing , how hundreds of millions of dollars can go into making a finished product that does n't offer one solitary second of wonder , momentum , tension , or authentic emotion .", "this film is soulless and heartless but at the same time it 's a lot of fun and contains a lot of `` wow ! '' moments . i feel dirty for liking this movie so much . michael bay is a mad genius .", "transformers is so hot and bothered over its reassembling robots that it can barely muster the energy to develop even an up-front text that makes sense .", "transformers is n't just dorky , it 's gloriously dorky .", "ridiculously awesome -lrb- or awesomely ridiculous ? -rrb- sequences of mass destruction , lost in a lot of uneven dramatic or comedic material .", "director michael bay , never known for subtlety , transforms the popular 1980 's toy line into a loud , flashy , goofy mashup of a movie that plays like `` gremlins '' as really big hardware .", "reaction in taormina fest signals popular franchise , and artistically what might have been like a big , noisy amusement park with lots of attractions -lrb- subplots , robots -rrb- is more unified and involving due to spielberg 's creative input and labeouf 's acting", "it 's long and loud and everything about it is big : from the massive stunts , the pounding orchestral score and the transformers themselves , which tower above everything and everyone in this mega-budget sci-fi adventure .", "there 's not much under the hood , but ` transformers ' roars with power and style thanks to awe-inspiring action and flawless effects", "this is a transformers movie , so why do the humans take up so much of the time , story and heroics ? it should be robots with maybe a few humans on the periphery , not the other way around .", "... high-octane nonsense for those who suffer from permanently arrested development . the fact that it is a big-budget blockbuster based on a toy really says it all .", "even folks who would n't know a transformer from a teletubby can expect to have a good time at transformers , which easily emerges as the biggest surprise of the summer thus far .", "the whole movie has a lightness of tone , an affection for its own cheesiness .", "a big , dumb , special effects-laden action flick .", "transformers is in a stellar class of seamless fx films populated by genre classics like jurassic park , twister and titanic", "kids may just love this film . but for adults , there 's not much of a story . and what little story there is eventually devolves into virtual nonsense .", "okay , i 've been reminded that i do n't like michael bay 's directing style . that 's the last reminder i will need for the next ten years or so .", "transformers is n't a movie , it 's a software program , into which quirky personality has been inserted like a line of computer code .", "citizen kane , it is n't . but for 140 minutes in the dead of summer , it 's a ton of dumb fun .", "a high-octane symphony of machine battling machine and stuff blowing to pieces .", "this is a movie to see on the big screen .", "transformers is about as clever as an unplugged blender : take away the many effects crews who so clearly gave their all , and what you 're left with would n't pass muster in georges m\u00e9li\u010ds ' time .", "no one should be expecting much from michael bay except fast pacing and decently choreographed explosions . with transformers , he does n't even make it that far .", "who needs all that noise ??", "do we really need an action film in the middle of summer to remind us how `` good '' some americans can be ?", "audiences are liable to be in a state of utter bewilderment .", "the action scenes are too chaotic to be exciting .", "when transformers is going strong early on , it 's the grandest -- in every sense of the word -- entertainment in years .", "if you take transformers with a grain of salt ... you 'll have a pretty fun time checking out both the robotic -lrb- transformers -rrb- and human -lrb- megan fox -rrb- eye candy", "an overachiever of a film that practically defines the term summer blockbuster .", "` transformers ' is a loud , unsophisticated testament to the visceral thrills of effects-driven mayhem .", "transformers is the best action movie i have seen since the matrix .", "although it strives to appeal to the whole family , it winds up emerging as a kiddie flick on steroids - a big-budget , effects heavy , feature film version of a saturday morning cartoon .", "director michael bay 's bigger than life version of the cartoon i grew up loving pretty much ruined one of my favorite childhood memories .", "come to think of it , i was pretty stupid when i was six years old . so is this film .", "... if you are an adult and not already a fan , you may find the movie more than a bit long , loud , and frenzied .", "it is a teenage boy 's wet dream . the girls are insanely hot , the lead is awkward/funny and the action sequences are top notch .", "works for more than just the built-in fan base who grew up on the old cartoon series and the toys . this is a fantasy for which suspension of disbelief is a pleasure . sleeker , spiffed up , and daring to rely on solid storytelling", "probably the worst computer-generated-special-effects-driven summer blockbuster to ever disgrace the screen .", "one silly , overblown movie , skillful but bombastic eye-candy for the adolescent-minded , with the cinematic i.q. of your average household appliance .", "horrible ! hey , i did n't poop on your childhood . michael bay did .", "transformers delivers on its promise of stunning visuals and well-crafted action sequences , but it 's not remotely worth the slog it takes to get there . once the novelty of the robots wears off it 's hopelessly insipid .", "hat was delivered will no doubt send merchandising sales spiralling into orbit , but sadly at the cost of countless brain cells popping through after nearly two and a half hours of tedium .", "transformers leaves very few blocks left un-busted .", "for the bot-neutral rest of us , two-and-a-half hours of mostly incoherent special effects may be a bit much .", "transformers is a rollicking , rousing experience .", "thank god the transformers speak primarily in proper nouns -- if they had n't shouted `` optimus ! megatron ! '' every time they struck a blow , i 'd have no idea what was happening .", "morphs from army-enlisting ad to toy ad -lrb- on its way passing through a panoply of car ads , computer ads , beer ads -rrb- without ever becoming a movie", "bay , of course , ca n't resists temptation to use as many explosions in the film as possible", "when you get a good view you 'll probably be thrilled . but the thrills vanish with the next quick cut . there should have been more that met the eye .", "a slam-bang sci-fi action drama with exploding cars , razzle-dazzle battle sequences , a bling-wearing dog , robots with heart , and a secret agent with silly underwear .", "a fairly rip-roaring piece of rock 'em , sock 'em robot mayhem that 's more entertaining than it really has a right to be .", "it 's as juvenile as it exhilarating , as staggeringly-stupid as it is keenly well-crafted .", "giant robots drop from the sky and transform into colossal structures of suck . stuff blows up . the talking gadgets attempt to save humanity , but changing a flat tire provides more of a thrill than this flick .", "maybe if ... you spent a lot of time playing with the toys you 'd instantly recognize the robots . for the uninitiated , it 's merely cgi creatures hitting each other ...", "one of the stupidest movies on record . but hey , it 's also , you know , really , really fun .", "most directors would be content to retire with armaggedon as the stupidest film on their resume . let it not be said that michael bay does n't know how to top himself .", "there 's less to this picture than meets the eye .", "if it 's true that there 's an 8-year-old boy inside every man , transformers is just the ticket to bring the kid out .", "surprisingly , bay actually subdues his usual , attention-deficit style for this sometimes rewarding , science-fiction action thriller .", "transformers is the comic-book movie on steroids , a fusion of sound and fury and sci-fi plotting that leaves plenty of room for a franchise .", "grab some popcorn and make a pit stop , then sit back and enjoy it . you signed up for a movie about giant robots .", "the script may have rubbery legs , but the action is rock-hard . the surprise is the lightness of touch : treat as a comedy for best results .", "there are sights on show here that i promise the likes of which you 'll have never seen .", "... bay and his team know what we want from a transformers movie : cool transformations , over-the-top chase sequences , and senseless destruction .", "a sensory attack that drives us into tiny little fetal balls on the ground , whimpering that we must have liked it because the car effects looked cool .", "without expectations i could sit back and enjoy the updated computer - generated nostalgia for what it was .", "just a whole tub o ' fun .", "i challenge you to name another movie about an alien robot come to save the world while disguised as a yellow camaro . is n't it just an intergalactic herbie the love bug ?", "films directed by michael bay are usually like being shouted at by a halfwit for two and a half hours , and transformers is no exception .", "eventually , though , the big metal things start talking and possessing names like optimus prime , ratchet , and bumblebee . this is the point that separates the men from the boy-geeks , and i just could n't make that leap .", "the film goes on and on , it is unbearably loud , and much of the dialogue is impossible to hear ." ], "summary": "while believable characters are hard to come by in transformers , the effects are staggering and the action is exhilarating .", "id": "358177192" }, { "movie": "1003033-brazil", "reviews": [ "an energetically quirky social metaphor , political commentary and action/sci-fi farce all balled up into one outrageously enjoyable experience , provided you like the work of terry gilliam .", "gilliam crams the screen with such a proliferation of bizarre and comic details that you 'll want to revisit this particular nightmare again and again .", "inventive , prophetic black comedy ; lots of violence , mayhem .", "MOV is this unique amalgamation of ideas straight out of terry gilliam 's head that results in something so strange and so unique that it 's just genius with a conclusion that is undeniably haunting .", "MOV is a stinging , strangelovian satire of the power of the bureaucracy in an orwellian landscape .", "MOV serves up one of the most breathtakingly imaginative worlds ever to be put on screen .", "-lsb- a -rsb- darkly funny and truly visionary retro-futurist fantasy .", "influenced by kafka , orwell , and kubrick , gilliam 's darkly humorous futuristic satire is narratively flawed and excessive in many ways , but it displays its creator 's wildly vivid imagination and is intermittently witty .", "MOV -- a black comedy that remains ahead of its time -- is one of the most audacious fantasies ever made .", "MOV offers a chillingly hilarious vision of the near-future .", "not in everybody 's taste , but why risk missing one of the most brilliant science fiction movies ever made ?", "although the good outweighs the bad , the film is , nevertheless , one big muddle .", "MOV succeeds in painting an entertaining and chaotic picture of a nasty world where none of us would want to live .", "gilliam understood that all futuristic films end up quaintly evoking the naive past in which they were made , and turned the principle into a coherent comic aesthetic .", "everything that terry gilliam does seems to come in a peak . his movies tend to be a series of exhilarating , madding high points , and his method of dazzle can be exhausting and exasperating . but you never want him to stop .", "a glimmering hunk of fractured brilliance riddled with orwellian paranoia encased in a production design seemingly pieced together from the shared dreams of franz kakfa and salvador dali .", "contains some of the most clever lines ever .", "` imagination ' is this futuristic film 's middle name .", "fortunately the story of an alternative future is realised with such visual imagination and sparky humour that it 's only half way through that the plot 's weaknesses become apparent .", "brilliant all around ; gilliam at his peak", "celebrates imagination as the only escape from a bleak , ridiculous , and troubled world .", "a masterly film -lrb- and still one of the ten best films of the 1980s .", "terry gilliam 's ferociously creative black comedy is filled with wild tonal contrasts , swarming details , and unfettered visual invention -- every shot carries a charge of surprise and delight .", "the bleak MOV reaches for greatness but just falls short .", "if anyone ever doubts the visionary significance of terry gilliam 's once bright genius as a filmmaker of enormous depth and cynical humor , you need only to visit upon his career-topping 1985 masterpiece of surreal satire .", "gilliam 's orwellian vision is memorable and distinctive", "it has visual style and imagination to burn , but it 's the ideas behind it that make it a modern classic . .", "an intelligent , thought provoking , visually stunning film .", "for all its occasional long-windedness and visual dazzle , MOV may be the strangelove of the 1980s .", "very hard to follow .", "this film is considered terry gilliam 's masterwork . i am inclined to agree .", "the most original movie of the past thirty years ; a triumph not only of brilliant filmmaking , but of the director 's desire to stay true to his vision .", "one of the greatest films of the century .", "MOV -lrb- 1985 -rrb- is from british director/co-screenwriter terry gilliam - a combination science-fiction , despairing black comedy and fantasy that combines elements of ...", "an imaginitive and haunting post-orwellian reimagining of 1984 .", "dense , complex , nightmarish , thought-provoking and ultimately shattering .", "hollywood is notoriously plagued by commercial incentive and a lack of art ; MOV is a rare success , particularly so because it is decidedly anti-commercial .", "a superb example of the power of comedy to underscore serious ideas , even solemn ones ." ], "summary": "MOV , terry gilliam 's visionary orwellian fantasy , is an audacious dark comedy , filled with strange , imaginative visuals .", "id": "13466" }, { "movie": "birdcage", "reviews": [ "nathan lane , i would personally like to send you a big , fat kiss of admiration .", "an american remake with plenty of new pizazz .", "far less plastic than most cross-dressing comedies .", "it 's a rare event when a remake of a film rivals the greatness of the original .", "the beauty of the MOV is that its jokes and its message are one and the same . these characters could n't change themselves if they tried . and only a fool would want them to .", "MOV does a remarkably good job of delivering a movie that puts its own decided spin on the tale .", "-lsb- not -rsb- nearly as funny as it has been made out to be .", "pretty funny comedy from the days when williams did n't feel he had to be either a. totally charming or b. absolutely evil .", "it is not the broadway classic , but it 's ok . just for fun .", "shows no reason why it had to be made again .", "it does n't so much champion diversity as celebrate conformity .", "if you like to laugh and laugh hard , do n't miss this one . it 's a genuine hoot .", "broadly funny , with solid performances all around .", "broad and fairly belabored , but williams ' ceaseless energy , hackman 's dry wit , and azaria 's insanity save the day .", "a glossy miscalculation with nathan lane and robin williams .", "the MOV is a funny film , with terrific performances by headliners robin williams , as an aging gay man , and gene hackman and dianne wiest as an uptight conservative couple he hosts at a dinner party while trying to act straight .", "a bit of a letdown in some ways , the MOV nonetheless features some scene-stealing performances .", "basically , the movie 's an extended setup for a dinner-table comedy of errors , in which the mismatched relatives confront one another in a nerve-racking test of appearances .", "one of those rare motion pictures with side-splitting laughs where the humor never stays dormant for long .", "this movie is the definition of average . not bad , but not good .", "the interchanges and conversation are hilarious , and the comedy continues to build until the movie 's implausible but humorous end .", "this critic admired robin williams 's performance as well as some of the minor actors , but found the film 's depiction of gay people more insulting to them than funny .", "this feel-good family comedy with a twist is based on the 1978 french film la cage aux folles .", "what makes mike nichols ' version more than just a retread is good casting in the key roles , and a wicked screenplay by elaine may , who keeps the original story but adds little zingers here and there .", "the result is a nearly flavorless 118 minutes punctuated with a few hilarious scenes -- mostly owed to the physical comedy of stage actor nathan lane .", "robin williams plays off of a flaming nathan lane with delicious understatement and anchors a farce that moves along at a brisk pace-with or without heels .", "at its core , it is about human relationships . they 're extreme relationships , and they 're cross-wired to get an electric reaction , but they 're real characters nonetheless .", "the MOV grossed nearly $ 200 million worldwide in 1996 , and that is significant . box office mojo says it 's the highest grossing queer film of all time , though they 're not counting frozen and 300 , and they probably should .", "campy , comedic romp with lots of profanity .", "colourful , camp , beautifully acted and brimming with gags , mike nichols the MOV sits comfortably in hollywood 's canon of unchallenging , ` it 's ok to be gay ' films .", "this is n't the supreme masterpiece it might have been , but nichols 's direction is very polished and some of the lines and details are awfully funny .", "what might be a surprise , given the talents involved , is how relentlessly unfunny it is .", "it undoubtedly remains a genial crowd pleaser . if the dress fits , wear it .", "if the MOV is n't exactly the mike nichols-elaine may movie of our dreams , it does manage to transform what was formerly a campy bit of french fluff into one of the loopiest , most hysterical family-values movies ever made .", "the MOV is a scream ." ], "summary": "mike nichols wrangles agreeably amusing performances from robin williams and nathan lane in this fun , if not quite essential , remake of the french comedy la cage aux folles .", "id": "12915" }, { "movie": "up_in_the_air_2009", "reviews": [ "it 's very enjoyable , if ultimately a little insubstantial for best picture glory .", "uma imensa evolu\u0437\u0433o por parte de reitman , que vem crescendo rapidamente como cineasta .", "it 's reitman 's whip-smart script , well-developed characters , and keen use of his actors that ultimately makes MOV the highly entertaining modern american classic that it is .", "not only is this a rare hollywood production that offers as much substance and panache as the cream of current us tv , i 'd go further and say its cynical wit almost places it in the billy wilder bracket .", "un film sobrio y ligero , a medio camino entre la comedia rom\u0431ntica y la mirada hacia lo cruel , c\u043dnico y competitivo que es el mundo del empleo en una econom\u043da en crisis . lo m\u0431s destacable es la actuaci\u0443n de george clooney .", "MOV is one of few movies to truly get with the times , and actually get it right .", "it 's a pleasure to watch an adult american comedy that tries to deal with the real world , however much of a fantasy it carves from it .", "in reitman 's care , still channelling the breezy , matter-of-fact perkiness of juno , it is an emphatic statement that hollywood can still make great movies ; a celebration that stardom can be as thrilling a concept as 3-d or cg or mooncalf vampires .", "there 's nothing too profound here , and yet it works well as a smart , light cosmopolitan comedy : it 's a snack , rather than a meal , but expertly made .", "a deliciously self-referential treat , and perhaps even -lsb- clooney 's -rsb- best movie yet .", "jason reitman 's satires are the gentlest kind , more interested in laughs than in getting hardcore or tough-minded about a message .", "jason reitman 's third film has the lifespan of a state-fair churro : tasty at the point of consumption , it congeals soon afterward into its component ingredients of sugar and lard .", "jason reitman does it again . although full of product placements , this dark comedy is surprisingly enjoyable , highlighted by anna kendrick , who made me laugh out loud .", "both funny and sad , life-affirming and , as with life , not always fair . fictional characters though they are , there is such an aching intimacy and resounding spontaneity to them that they seem real . it is bittersweet to have to say good-bye .", "this is reitman 's third film , and he has proven in each of them to be able to transcend gimmick and make it personal and then further transcend that and make it universal .", "a film that is one of the very best of the year and which officially launches reitman into the top ranks of major american filmmakers .", "rarely has a film spoken more effectively to something we all wonder at some point in our lives , usually more than once -- where am i going ?", "parental content review", "this is a great story well told , thanks to a deft script and brilliant performances .", "MOV has been shaped for clooney 's prodigious , slightly melancholy charm as a comic leading man . happily he has worthy sparring partners .", "hits the predictable beats of a belated coming-of-age story , but it 's exceedingly well accomplished , with a confident visual style light-years beyond juno 's functional setups .", "no director pulls off the bait-and-switch as craftily as jason reitman . he gets you thinking that you 're watching a hip , caustic comedy subverting the status quo , but by the end , he 's vindicated all the platitudes he seemed to scorn .", "MOV takes the trust people once had in their jobs and pulls out the rug . it is a film for this time .", "gasping for some reassuring bit of realism or bravery to permit a lasting impact . reitman lacks that special finesse , searching for an extraordinary pitch of melancholy , only to connect incomplete ideas with half-baked execution .", "with his third project it is now clear : jason reitman is our foremost maker of good-but-not-great films .", "every time we think we know what cliched path this movie 's about to follow , the smart storytelling confounds our expectations and veers off into less-traveled , and more recognizably human , territory .", "the picture is brushed with a fine glaze of slickness , a product sealed in a blister pack . it 's like airplane air -- it has a packaged freshness that is n't really fresh at all .", "a timely seriocomic work that manages to be breezy without once diminishing the sobering realities that constantly hover around the picture 's edges .", "... one of 2009 's best experiences , a narrative highway where every mile represents another revealing rest area , where each conversation pushes us closer to our formidable final destination .", "-lsb- director -rsb- reitman pleases yet again . i look forward to seeing what else he 's capable of ...", "this crowd-pleaser is currently the frontrunner to win the oscar for best film of 2009 . the talented kendrick in a breakthrough role is the spark plug in this enterprise .", "a fresh , somewhat humorous and entertaining movie perfect for this time in our lives .", "jason reitman may just have the greatest , albeit mainstream , start any director has ever known . it 's another crowd-pleasing , great film .", "MOV ... flies the friendly skies of termination . given his style and tone in MOV , -lrb- director -rrb- jason reitman would make a good lobbyist for big pharma .", "timely hollywood dramedy about the human fallout over job loss during the current hectic economic times .", "anyone who has traveled for work , especially across the country 's heartland , will appreciate the view .", "what could be more perfectly in tune with the zeitgeist at the end of the ' 00s as a movie about a guy who 's job it is to fire people ? the best movie of 2009 .", "an assertively , and unapologetically , tidy package , from its use of romance to instill some drama into the narrative -lrb- the book introduces disease instead -rrb- and the mope-rock tunes that mr. reitman needlessly overuses .", "MOV is light and dark , hilarious and tragic , romantic and real . it 's everything that hollywood has forgotten how to do ; we 're blessed that jason reitman has remembered .", "a comedy that 's willing to be sad , a romance that 's ok with ambiguity and a timely corporate satire with far more than slash-and-burn mockery on its mind .", "reitman has an impeccable talent for tearing out the spine of a novel and transposing it to the big screen , streamlining and simplifying a literary work without dumbing it down .", "though it 's far from perfect , MOV is without a doubt jason reitman 's most mature film to date . in other words , it 's his least flawed . a filmmaker who is certainly in tune with his generation , reitman gives prominent roles to blackberry an", "witty , pertinent and moving , this is a sophisticated treat from a director who gets exponentially better with every picture . but it 's clooney that makes it soar with his most accomplished acting to date . think of this as his jerry maguire .", "while , certainly , capable of a dark humour and moments of extraordinary bleakness , it 's also commendable for another superb performance from clooney .", "as a portrait of recession-era america , and an examination of our humdrum working lives , i think it 's unrivalled in its wit , its authenticity and its asperity .", "MOV stays clear of genre clich\u00e9s , offering a satisfying hybrid of 1950s glamour , 70s realism and 21st-century attitude .", "a witty , often delightful , adult love story that deserves most of the oscar-love it will surely get . that it 's also glib will help rather than hinder its chances in march .", "this is a film of the american here and now , rooted in an on-the-go , technologically oriented society facing a crisis only survivable through genuine human connections .", "where thank you for smoking was perhaps too madcap and juno too wordy , MOV perfectly combines witty dialogue and set-pieces with real emotional connectivity from all three leads .", "funny , thought-provoking , uplifting and tragic , MOV is a first class comedy that 's not afraid to travel to some difficult destinations .", "ambitious -lsb- and -rsb- unnervingly timely .", "this is jason reitman 's first film since juno , and it 's easy to see why actors and audiences are attracted to his visual eye .", "george clooney revels in the role of his life in this unique and often brilliant mixture of topical drama , romantic comedy and corporate satire .", "delivering his killer one-liners with a gently raised eyebrow , clooney impresses at every turn and is fast becoming one of hollywood 's subtlest comedy actors .", "pleasant enough in the moment but maintains considerable distance from actually plumbing the raw emotions of its central subject .", "why , you 'd almost think that tyler durden had n't gone off on those rants of his ten years ago ... . ryan is jack 's smirking nonrevenge ...", "this is not the best movie of the year , not by a long shot . it is depressing from the start and never changes .", "too smart to be a solidly mainstream film , too trite to be an art film , MOV is perfectly , emptily middlebrow .", "... often hysterical , but most of the time the humor is low-key . and -- as in juno -- when the movie needs to be heartfelt , it 's genuinely heartfelt without being sappy .", "treats the wracking terror of living in today 's economy as the pretext for the kind of `` vapid man finds redemption '' story that was old hat when sound cinema was still a gimmick .", "jason reitman is america 's smartest young filmmaker .", "a very funny movie with a timeless message : you may not always have your job , so make sure it 's not the only thing in your life .", "at the center of it all , is george clooney in the role he seems born to have played -- a role he 's lived himself into .", "`` MOV , '' more than any film released this year , is tailored perfectly for its time .", "a smart and meaningful comedy for grown-ups , easily one of the best films of the year . ... it 's so sophisticated and enjoyable it should come in a martini glass .", "`` MOV '' belongs to clooney . he easily fits into a character who is at ease with himself and enjoys living a lifestyle in which he can go about unencumbered .", "one of the warmest , funniest , and most insightful movies of the year .", "topical , humorous , and moving , this savvy dramedy about corporate life in america should resonate across the classes ...", "MOV never cheats and delivers an almost perfect mix of humor , satire , and underplayed drama .", "now arriving at the main terminal is the movie of the year .", "for all the sharp one-liners and breezy visuals that sometimes suggest the film might be in danger of floating away into the ether , reitman remembers to add some weight to proceedings .", "as well as making a hugely entertaining and funny film , writer and director jason reitman gives us plenty to ponder and taps into timeless themes that will hit a resonant chord with most .", "writer-director jason reitman again shows he can mix comedy with the deeper emotional stuff . the soundtrack 's peppered with great choices . small but perfectly formed scenes abound . and the ending is totally unexpected - but totally apt .", "in a time of economic meltdown , it is pleasing to have a drama that animates the alienation all around us , asking questions about what life is really all about . the director does all of this , and we can be grateful . the film is a breeze to watch .", "t is a performance that could win -lsb- clooney -rsb- a best actor oscar in a film that is as warm and civilised as a welcoming bar on a bleak winter 's night .", "the film , written by reitman and sheldon turner , is consistently entertaining , though it coasts through a long middle and towards the end threatens to take a nose-dive into sentimentality .", "a brilliantly accomplished feat of self-contradiction . we have our cake , or candy box , and eat it .", "charming , funny and touching . a classic .", "director jason reitman has expanded his emotional range with this enchanting blend of ripped-from-the-headlines downsizing , romantic entanglements and mentoring .", "what a sophisticated dramedy is ` MOV . '", "an assured and layered film that 's neither drama nor comedy .", "i think that this is a classic in the making .", "this is one of those all-encompassing dramedies that makes you laugh , cry , contemplate life , hope for better times , believe in family % u2013 but it does n't stick with you after it 's over .", "the consummate bachelor , mr. clooney reflects just enough comfort in his own skin without teetering into arrogance , quietly amused by life 's idiosyncrasies .", "clooney is excellent , incidentally , in a role that must have hit home . `` you do n't want to get married ? '' his character is asked , and his reply is the same as clooney 's always is : `` nope . ''", "timeliness can be tricky to pull off convincingly in movies . it 's tough to capture an era while it 's still happening , yet MOV does so brilliantly , with wit and humanity .", "... it goes a long way to renewing our faith that movies can tackle grown-up comedy resonant with real-life dilemmas and tragedy , often beyond our ability to grasp or control .", "farmiga matches clooney 's rhythms perfectly , and watching these two glossy creatures circle and parry is one of the great cinematic pleasures of the year .", "boasting solid performances , this is a movie of the moment , but might be too close to home for some viewers .", "it seems to be struggling between populist and satirical impulses . but there are many , many moments it gets right and it 's an enjoyable , if minor entry in the year-end movie rush .", "adult dramedy taps into emotions of current tough times .", "clooney is an undeniable movie star , but this film reminds you that he is an actor .", "ryan is an antihero for these parlous times and , of course , since he 's played by clooney , we wait for him to redeem himself and become a full-fledged hero .", "reitman deserves credit for going through with a bitterly ironic ending , but the movie is marred by its warm condescension toward flyover country .", "jason reitman 's dry , moving `` comedy , '' based on the walter kirn novel , is a sly indictment of corporate america , marketing america and frequent flying america .", "by looking the displaced worker in the face the film handles a painful and timely subject with considerable grace ... nothing less than a requiem for the american dream .", "jason reitman 's coolly upbeat adaptation of walter kirn 's novel gives clooney a role which fits him as snugly as one of ryan 's interchangeable suits .", "MOV is engaging , by turns witty and serious , unpredictable and surprisingly moving . definitely recommended .", "there are n't that many mainstream directors who have the courage to allow you to indulge in slick hollywood escapism but are also prepared to pull the rug out from under you when you least expect it .", "-lsb- reitman -rsb- delves far beyond the obvious satirical targets to deliver a more mature , well-rounded tale about the emotional collateral of cold corporate plays .", "jason reitman 's slick romance is a studio movie that is a throwback to the sort of relevant and entertaining adult movies hollywood once turned out routinely .", "performances are really fine -- especially from the casually seductive farmiga -- and visually , it 's a blast , with eric steelberg 's camera capturing spectacular bird 's - eye views of american cities .", "MOV is so elegantly conceived and effortlessly accomplished in every department that reitman deserves to be regarded as one of the best in the business right now .", "how locations , production design , editing choices and shot compositions partner with ryan 's `` journey to self '' is masterful , as is reitman 's inclusion of real people who speak directly to camera about being retrenched .", "it 's the kind of hollywood picture they should make more often -- the kind that does n't insult your intelligence .", "MOV is mostly honest and sometimes raw . there is power in that kind of storytelling .", "reitman is a feverishly talented and meticulous filmmaker ; he 's also an unapologetically populist one .", "the increasingly slick reitman ... has the good sense to not slather every emotional beat in score and really seems to like his actresses .", "never before has clooney conveyed so much emotional depth , resulting in an unforgettable performance that 's commanding , charming , vulnerable and heartbreaking .", "well-crafted , well-acted and ambitious as MOV is , the movie 's third act taxies to nowhere .", "... a familiar premise that 's generally employed to better-than-average effect by reitman ...", "it deserves it and should stand up as one of 2009 's best pictures .", "i do n't know if MOV is a film for the ages , but at the nervy start of the new century , it certainly feels like the perfect film for our age .", "george clooney gives his most resonant and heartfelt oscar-caliber performance in reitman 's timely , sharply written social satire that deserves to be nominated in major oscar categories , including picture , director , actor , and two supporting actresses .", "smart , honest , quietly moving and funny with charismatic , lively performances and a witty screenplay .", "the picture is really one of a kind . and it 's virtually perfect .", "reitman possesses a flair for off-kilter scenarios , and he 's in fine form again , taking his triangulated principals -- ryan , alex , keener -- out of their comfort zones and into a more complicated geometry .", "few recent films have been so adroit at looking outward while burrowing inward .", "this bittersweet yet uplifting dramedy is writer-director jason reitman 's best work to date and a surefire oscar contender .", "mr. clooney is perfect in the role of ryan : aloof without seeming uncaring , roguish without being threatening , lost but with a veneer of control .", "reitman has given us a witty , elegant movie that is nonetheless , like its protagonist , somewhat aloof from the vicissitudes experienced by mere mortals .", "buoyant , timely and bittersweet , MOV finds reitman at cruising altitude , confidently in the same airspace once occupied by zeitgeist masters billy wilder and hal ashby . this is the year 's best film .", "as these lessons all come together , the film 's floaty , cool affect starts to come down to earth , the points and plot turning more conventional .", "this breezy and bittersweet drama carries dark resonance for a society caught in the middle of both recession and downsizing", "reitman packages MOV 's relevance with a delicately balanced mixture of comedy and tragedy", "the pitch-perfect direction by jason reitman perfectly balances comedy and drama .", "a totally dishonest movie and just what one might expect from director jason reitman who used to do tv commercials for wal-mart .", "a slickly engaging piece of lightweight existentialism highlighted by winning turns from george clooney and vera farmiga .", "between MOV and 2007 's michael clayton , it becomes glaringly apparent that no actor can carry a script-driven character study better than mr. clooney .", "off to the usual howling good start with the current master of sexy comedy `` MOV '' runs out of fuel towards the end and barely is able to make it to the terminal with message intact .", "it is odd that a film on such a painful subject in this economy can still entertain . perhaps the economy even helps it .", "it 's refreshing to hear characters that display some verbal dexterity and a script that moves cleverly along , entertaining us as it actually works to develop its characters and themes .", "the likeable rogue whose soul is redeemable is an eternally useful cinematic character , and george clooney is the ideal actor to play him .", "reitman 's film is far from being a masterpiece but he has succeeded in making MOV very much a film of its time .", "good performances are not enough to salvage this glib film from it 's own superciliousness .", "commitment , happiness and travel are the themes of jason reitman 's bitingly good film which looks at the life of a high flyer for whom express lanes , corporate clubs and frequent flyer miles are the ultimate thrill .", "MOV often looks like an american airlines commercial , and i would n't call it a feel-good movie per se , but there 's a certain satisfaction watching two snappy , beautiful people at the top of their form .", "short version : i loved it .", "populated by a handful of assured performances , MOV is first and foremost an actor 's movie .", "this is reitman 's third film , and i 've liked them all about the same : recommended with reservations .", "a movie about a guy who fires people , released at a time when at least a tenth of the work force is out of work , is utterly nervy . and wonderful .", "george clooney has never seemed more vulnerable or more in tune with a role than he does in MOV , a film that will be hard to beat for best picture come oscar time .", "it 's one of those rare mainstream hollywood pictures that addresses contemporary issues gracefully .", "shows the very growth and evolution that proves -lsb- reitman -rsb- is a filmmaker who will be with us , making quality films that leave us deeply moved , for a very long time .", "does it live up to the hype ? hell yeah !", "laughs and heartbreak meld seamlessly in this brilliant character drama .", "jason reitman 's direction nicely translates the seductive appeal of sterile public places while letting the assured performances do much of the work .", "the film catches a jet stream of thought-provoking whimsy and barrels through fatalist turbulence before landing in a rich catharsis .", "it 's hard to think of an actor who 's better at projecting the professional smoothness that 's essential to make this character palatable , but clooney turns out to be willing to take that persona further .", "one of the best films of 2009 with a bright , sassy , and relevant story about home , connections , unemployment , technology , and traveling light .", "director jason reitman is becoming like a fine wine . and in MOV , he has managed to pour a likely oscar contender on prescient subject matter while continuing to display his directorial range .", "great cast , smart writing , and a timely but touchy storyline make MOV a film you wo n't forget about the moment you leave the theater .", "i think it 's important to note the realities the movie portrays . racial stereotypes are still true at airports . we want to believe things are better , but they 're not . you still have to deal with the way things actually work .", "-lsb- jason -rsb- reitman 's most mature film to date is about as grown-up , smart and savvy a film as anyone could hope for from hollywood .", "hugely entertaining ... . reitman can turn bitter , unpalatable material into mainstream movies without stripping away all the bite", "no other picture captures contemporary angst like this timely , turbulent tale . without doubt , it 's one of the best pictures of the year .", "smart , sobering , and the perfect funhouse mirror of the zeitgeist", "it 's a timely tale of job loss and economic upheaval , at times hidden behind screwball-comedy dialogue . and it is n't perfect , but when it works -- which is most of the time -- it works like gangbusters .", "george clooney has an old-time movie star quality .", "it 's funny , it has heart , it has the courage of its convictions and , happily , it shows that jason reitman 's films may be worth watching for many years to come .", "one 2009 's best films .", "like juno , MOV conjures a troubling reality and then wishes it away .", "clooney has no peer at conveying suave , unflappable charm , but the role of ryan requires the actor to do something different with his persona : deflate the illusion and explore the emptiness beneath the cool .", "-lsb- its -rsb- themes are n't necessarily original , but MOV knows how to package them well , adultly , soberly , with its dependable script and performances .", "this movie has great things to say about the vitality of human connection and how to be a better traveler through life , but it mercifully does it with no message and a somehow satisfying lack of resolution .", "a solid adult comedy-drama , with lead characters sturdy enough to have been played by cary grant and bette davis in another era , and actors confident and talented enough not to be humiliated by the comparison .", "this sharply honed script does n't mince words , while sticking it to clooney 's corporate hitman . along with the genius move of hiring real people who 've been fired , proving that you do n't have to be an actor to dazzle and devastate audiences in a movie .", "a down-to-earth look at 21st century dating habits in this no-strings age of friends with benefits .", "jason reitman 's MOV had me thinking that i have n't seen a young filmmaker with such astute command of hollywood craft since steven spielberg .", "funny and poignant tale similar to director jason reitman 's two earlier efforts , thank you for smoking and juno , but more mature , less snarky .", "only seriously deluded people could enjoy reitman 's funny-sad whiplash . he 's playing that same hollywood game : keeping people ignorant of political economy .", "MOV succeeds because it does n't take itself that seriously and it 's not interested in trying to explain obvious truths to the rest of us plebeians . it just wants to show a moment of fundamental change in a man 's life .", "sometimes , it suggests , you can fly 10 million miles but never really go anywhere at all .", "there is perhaps no film that represents the present better ...", "one of the warmest and most entertaining films of this or any year , which is saying something considering it 's about a man who fires people for a living .", "this is a likable film , with likable actors and a breezy , pleasant pace . if you 're not paying close attention , you 'd almost miss that this film is a crock . but it is . it 's an elegant con .", "by far reitman 's most accomplished film to date , both in terms of craft and its stealth avoidance of typical hollywood flight patterns ...", "vibrantly witty and exceptionally delivered", "even though the film finally turns out to be yet another hollywood fairy tale , at least it speaks the truth about our great recession .", "an ideal bittersweet adult comedy sleekly directed by jason reitman about life during recession . clooney achieves an emotional level that breaks new ground for him . oscars ?", "once again , reitman the screenwriter gives reitman the director an excuse to ponder the spaces between us and the ties that bind . or do n't .", "incisive and occasionally sad , this captured the zeitgeist of the late-zeroes ' tectonically shifting economics . but jason reitman 's generous , rich , rewarding tragicomedy of occupational dissatisfaction will still wow viewers even after -lrb- hopeful -rrb- recovery .", "just when you start to wonder where the surprise twists will happen , reitman defies conventional storytelling .", "if reitman 's first two films were triples , this is a home run .", "hay tantos \u00e1ngulos desde donde se puede hablar de esta cinta - responsabilidad social , management , internet , matrimonio , soledad % u2026 - que est\u00e1 desde ya , destinada a convertirse en un cl\u00e1sico .", "as much as it is a comedy in the classic tracy/hepburn mold , `` MOV '' is very much a drama of the moment .", "one of the pleasures of the film is watching jason reitman blossom into a filmmaker light years ahead of the one who made the underwhelming thank you for smoking and the overly self-conscious juno .", "companionship . independence . loyalty . flyer miles . all are a part of the life of george clooney 's corporate downsizer in the timely , and timeless , MOV .", "one-word reaction : bravo .", "MOV is so funny , so consistently surprising and so emotionally in-touch that it could have only been crafted by one of the most soulful directors working today .", "one of the things that makes george clooney a great movie star is that he 's always letting us know just how much fun he 's having being george clooney .", "life happens ... live it one day at a time and connect to whomever you can , even if it 's the person losing their job sitting right across from you .", "reitman further perfects his sharp , funny , and affecting seriocomic style in crafting films that wildly entertain in the moment and then linger long in the mind and heart .", "george clooney is thoroughly likeable as the amusingly callous ray - even watching him at the heart-breaking job of terminating folk en-masse is fun , but it is the women that give the film its heart .", "hugely enjoyable , well written comedy-drama that delivers a powerful emotional kick , thanks to terrific performances and strong chemistry between clooney and farmiga .", "clooney -- slim , dark , perfectly tailored -- glamorizes insincerity in a way that makes you want to go out and lie .", "george clooney 's deliberately ambiguous character ryan bingham is a poster boy for america 's lack of ethical direction in a thought-provoking satire that does n't swing its hammer of simmering revolution hard enough .", "a story about uncertain times .", "gently devastating , MOV is a movie of great grace and modest aspirations that plays as dry comedy but resounds with tragic gravity .", "life 's contradictions are MOV .", "clooney had a great year , and his stellar work here is the capper .", "do n't let a premise that sounds as boring as a corporate board meeting keep you from catching what may be the year 's best movie .", "today , this story of people who are hired to fire other people brings a timely punch to the gut that , almost by accident , adds a resonance that 's hard to shake .", "director jason reitman brings such splendid balance and nuance to bingham 's story that you ca n't hate the man ; indeed you end up pitying him .", "clooney is perfect , nothing more be said . `` MOV '' is the best film of the year : smart , funny and well-directed . get connected with this film , it 's worth it . paul chambers , cnn .", "as a send-up of both technology and the myth of the happy bachelor , ` MOV ' is fly .", "the kind of feel-good film about bad news that has been winning oscars for decades .", "it 's a lean and economical film about a lean and economical time . the only things it is rich in are empathy and compassion .", "as serious as it is funny , as substantial as it is breezy , MOV is an astonishing balancing act from writer/director jason reitman .", "the acting ensemble is good , top to bottom . clooney might be playing a thinly veiled version of himself here , but he 's well-matched with farmiga , who brings some needed warmth and sex appeal .", "an unromantic comedy with a social content on the side in order to provide the ballast of `` importance . ''", "clooney , reitman both soar with the richly satisfying MOV", "nobody plays the guilty corporate insider better than clooney . let him through . he 's got a titanium ticket .", "ryan bingham , michael clayton , mr. fox - these are guys who have what could be called the clooney conscience .", "george clooney knows all the travel secrets , all right . and not just the ones he uses to bypass every woman 's homeland security .", "reitman wants to have his cake and eat it , too .", "from taxi to touchdown , reitman knows how to get us to the next destination .", "reitman proves with MOV that the sky 's the limit for his career - he has proven with his three films to be one of the premiere directors of his generation .", "smart , sexy , funny and poignant ... flies high on the old-fashioned virtues of intelligence , wit and cleverness -- with a dollop of seriousness added to the mix .", "one of the best films of the year .", "the film has been lauded for being very of the moment in its treatment of massive corporate layoffs , but where it truly shines ... is how it details the importance of a personal touch .", "MOV is not only a funny , satirical delight as well as a beautifully crafted thoughtful observation on society , but it is also refreshingly different , and a film that prompts a second viewing even as you enjoy the first ride .", "umjesto romanti % u010dne komedije film vi % u0161e odgovara % u017eanrovskom okviru mrtva % u010dki ozbiljne egzistencijalne drame", "the year 's sharpest film -- but it may not speak to everyone .", "moderately amusing comedy . nothing special despite the surrounding hoopla .", "at its best when it finds humour and sadness in the grey areas between what is traditionally `` right '' and `` wrong '' .", "well-polished bull **** at best , manifest of nothing less than everything wrong with america today .", "think what you will of it , the movie says a number of different things to a number of different people .", "MOV is a well-intentioned hollywood product with a message about the value of human connections . but it mistakes glibness for wit and charm for irreverence .", "with this deft , witty , smart and soulful film , reitman establishes himself as a modern purveyor of the same cinematic tradition as frank capra and preston sturges .", "the first great dramedy of 2010 .", "a well-acted piece about a man 's inability to cope with a world more real than the one he lives .", "the ensemble acting works smoothly , and the dialog and editing move the narrative along a well paced 109 minute route .", "MOV is a timeless movie that 's utterly of its time -- a movie of humor , heart and mind .", "the tension between the bleak and the blithe , the prime source of this movie 's strength , is sustained by reitman to the end .", "reitman , who also cowrote the screenplay , feels the constant need to `` deepen '' his characters , granting them wants and motivations -- especially during the moralistic third act -- that are totally alien to how they 're initially portrayed .", "the highest compliment for MOV is it 's not looking back on this era of insanity , ineptitude , and seesawing hope . instead , this magnificent film has captured , with nonstop laughter and a few tears , our times while they 're actually happening .", "nobody gets offended , nothing gets questioned , the crowd goes home properly cheered .", "i do n't know if it 's the best movie of the year , but it 's the most utterly enjoyable .", "a lovely hollywood romance that floats buoyantly along on a sea of sadness .", "it would be easy to make ryan a louse or a hero who just needs a bit of armor polish . clooney makes ryan both ruthless and sympathetic .", "how often can you fault a wonderful comedy for an excess of humanity or plausibility ?", "MOV is actually several good movies -- a workplace comedy , romantic comedy , and family comedy -- seated on the same flight in the same aisle . they all feel forced together .", "the film glides to a perfect landing , leaving several characters changed , one coldly untouched and nothing MOV at all -- except , perhaps , the question of what this very talented crew is going to do next .", "... -lsb- an -rsb- observation , and that is the many parallels between `` MOV '' and alexander payne 's `` about schmidt . '' i for one would much rather see the gifted younger reitman under the influence of payne than diablo cody dialogue .", "hands down , one of the best films of 2009 . anna kendrick steals the show in jason reitman 's best film to date .", "there are many easy jokes here , and they do n't always jibe well with the recurrent spectacle of bingham and natalie 's interviewees getting their lives cut apart one after the other .", "clooney has found a role he fits into so comfortably , that he might be mix his post-oscar cocktail with two one-ounce bottles of grey goose .", "in its funny , rueful way , MOV touches contemporary american notes few hollywood movies acknowledge .", "one of the year 's very best films from one of hollywood 's very best young directors .", "perhaps only george clooney could make getting fired sound like a positive development .", "quite possibly the sweetest movie you 're going to see about corporate layoffs", "i 'd like to see reitman step away from his usual schtick and try to delve more deeply into his character 's souls : the surface is stylishly done , but MOV 's underbelly is strangely and unfulfillingly hollow .", "MOV exists at the perfect intersection of snappish fun , modulated gravity and sociocultural relevance , which makes for a funny and poignant work that arrives at all its emotional moments honestly .", "... clooney delivers a performance for the ages ...", "there 's a slickness and calculation to the tone and texture , but it 's closely wedded to the story and it 's awfully well done . even if you doubt the film 's sincerity , you ca n't deny its skill .", "MOV is n't a challenging picture , certainly not a transportive one , but it is a well-crafted entertainment made for and about adults . sometimes , well , that 's good enough .", "a perfect end to the 1st decade of the 21st century . tech advances have created hermits of us all , heads bent over smartphones and screens , blue-toothed in the face . we , too , are cushioned in clouds ; all somewhat MOV .", "of every film that came out this year , i did n't see a single one more assured , more confident , more utterly comfortable in its own skin than MOV .", "clooney is great in this . they are all terrific . vera farmiga just gets better in every role she pays .", "MOV is firmly rooted in contemporary life -- and , to its great credit , it does n't pull its punches in the end .", "what begins as a surprisingly successful mixture of michael clayton and intolerable cruelty eventually skirts uncomfortably close to the as-yet-unfilmed epilogue to planes , trains and automobiles ." ], "summary": "led by charismatic performances by its three leads , director jason reitman delivers a smart blend of humor and emotion with just enough edge for mainstream audiences .", "id": "770790933" }, { "movie": "1017712-robocop", "reviews": [ "smart , satirical and nefariously vicious , this is easily one of the finest sci-fi flicks of the 1980s .", "ultraviolent sci-fi that meets its goals", "whatever may have been in the minds of the writers , edward neumeier and michael miner , has more trouble emerging from mr. verhoeven 's sizzling battles than poor murphy does from his robosuit .", "an ultra-violent cyberpunk comic book come to life . kurtwood smith serves up one of the most deliciously nasty villains in movie history .", "deals with reagan 's mad vision of a bellicose , secretive consumer wonderland as the city on the hill .", "MOV set the tone for much of dutch auteur import paul verhoeven 's career in america .", "MOV is weighed down by its humor , action , and abundant special effects ; its humanity is its distinguishing trait .", "somehow the more violence that the director shows , the less real it becomes .", "prime science fiction .", "the 25-year-old flick still feels as if it was made tomorrow .", "more intelligent than the usual action-packed sci-fier .", "a sci-fi action film with a silly title that turned out to be a biting satire of big business practices .", "a sardonic but perfectly-realised depiction of a mayhem-fuelled near future .", "when the law-enforcing MOV cleans up corrupt motown , his victory is satisfying because he 's got machinery and morals on his side . MOV is where high-tech meets high noon .", "like the tormented figure at its center , this movie combines the mechanical with the human . and though much of the film is made up of spare parts from cop shows , exploitation flicks and comic books , it nevertheless comes to life .", "as the years pass , MOV seems more prescient than ever .", "an extremely well-made , often humorous comic book revenge fantasy with an underlying subtext of constant satirical jabs at american corporate domination", "MOV is as tightly worked as a film can be , not a moment or line wasted .", "MOV may sound like another bubble-gum science fiction techno-blaster , but it ` s more than that . do n`t let the title fool you .", "it 's verhoeven 's scabrous dissection of american social issues , trashy sitcom culture and corporate greed that makes this comic-book opus a subversive and thought-provoking edge-of-the-seat treat .", "verhoeven 's strong suits have always been visual energy and a rabelaisan realism : a gutsy , jovial way of ripping through social systems .", "MOV relies for most of its impact -- and , more disturbingly , for much of its comedy -- on an absurd exaggeration of physical force .", "paul verhoeven on blockbuster explosions like douglas sirk on lachrymose households", "a perfect version of the thing it sets out to be , one of the most intellectual and propulsive of all '80s action films .", "paul verhoeven 's glorious sci-fi satire combines searing social comedy with some of the most graphic ultra-violence ever to grace legitimate cinema .", "great effects and a nasty undercurrent drive this vehicle .", "the story amounts to a celebration of brute force in a crudely etched law-and-order context .", "it proceeds from a vision , and it takes that vision seriously . it ends up being moving -- and for a comic book of a movie , that 's no small achievement .", "one of the smartest , funniest and most exciting satires of the year . and the ravages of time have barely touched it .", "`` MOV '' is an action buffs dream - larger than life robots , inexorable villains , cartoonish template and jaw-dropping special effects", "... a genuine classic , a unique blend of violence , humor , poignancy , and imagination .", "... a surprisingly smart and funny satire that just gets sharper as the years go by .", "there 's a brooding , agonized quality to the violence that almost seems subversive , as if verhoeven were both appalled and fascinated by his complicity in the toxic action rot .", "though extremely violent , MOV showcases an invigorating style even in its goriest scenes . paul verhoeven makes every scene sparkle with tilted angles , oddball twists , and special-effects wonders .", "a graphically violent sci-fi actioner -lrb- especially in its uncut version -rrb- with verhoeven 's now trademark demented sense of humor . the scenes with the ed-209 will blow you away .", "vile , violent , and very funny . the pace is breakneck , and when the wit does run out , way-out weaponry and whole-scale destruction keep the appalled excitement burning .", "great sci-fi action . gory , satirical and thrilling .", "sort of amusing in a smart-alecky way .", "most thriller and special-effects movies come right off the assembly line ... MOV is a thriller with a difference .", "the plot is supremely cliched .", "... verhoeven strives for bloodcurdling , darkly comic eloquence . he gives us heart with the hardware . savagery with smarts .", "manic , fast-paced and outrageous , MOV is a classic of its genre . do n't miss it -- even if you ca n't really stomach violence : it is a glorious comic book come to life .", "one of those rare movies that manage to be funny and entertaining , yet thought-provoking and dead serious at the same time .", "... MOV is one weird and entertaining hybrid of camp and sci-fi shoot - 'em - up .", "MOV is a strangely perverse pleasure . who would expect such a rattletrap concoction to emerge as this summer 's sleeper ?", "the idea is that in a techno-capitalist world , acting like a decent human being means mechanizing whole chunks of yourself and shutting off your emotional despair" ], "summary": "while over-the-top and gory , MOV is also a surprisingly smart sci-fi flick that uses ultraviolence to disguise its satire of american culture .", "id": "18016" }, { "movie": "spirited_away", "reviews": [ "creative beyond all reason or expectation , this deserving winner of the best animated feature oscar is a phenomenal achievement .", "the imagery is rich , colorful and imaginative -- as you 'd expect from miyazaki .", "a rich and fantastic world awaits us in this extraordinary film from hayao miyazaki -lrb- and a crew of thousands -rrb- , through which our little heroine has to progress and learn responsibility amidst great dangers and fearsome spirits .", "a wierd and fulfilling fantasy , chalk full of inspired transporting imagery , crucial to the success of animated films but in short supply of late .", "it 's weird , wonderful , and not necessarily for kids .", "taking a page from `` alice in wonderland '' seems to have helped .", "it 's the sort of film that gives rise to the awed question , ` how did he do that ? '", "as soft and strange as a dream .", "repeatedly reminded me of the later oz books , with chihiro 's dorothyesque role in a surreal and perilous fantasy land .", "it 's a wonderful example of traditional japanese anime , and a flat-out terrific film .", "it 's easy to get lost amid the flow , as characters transform and magical powers emerge and disappear without warning .", "a work of beauty with a surprising capacity to be cute and cunning .", "this instant classic spins a web that will snare anyone with an imagination .", "i might as well just come out and say it : MOV is the best movie i 've seen all year .", "a movie full of bewitching images and timeless fun and beauty .", "not as visually awesome as ` princess mononoke , ' but more appealing to youngsters . a wonderful combination of simplicity and spectacle .", "nothing short of wonderful with its ten-year-old female protagonist and its steadfast refusal to set up a dualistic battle between good and evil .", "a triumph of psychological depth and artistic brilliance .", "it 's a beautiful experience , nearly perfect with a fragile flowing fluid score .", "kudos to the most enchanting film of the year .", "an epic film of very bizarre proportions ... kinda like a japanese acid trip , but without the drugs .", "yes , MOV is a triumph of imagination , but it 's also a failure of storytelling .", "... its visual style is remarkably beauteous and its creative touches abundantly imaginative .", "an explosion of original artwork , weird characters and thought-provoking action", "i could hardly wait for the next plot twist or astonishing set piece , not to mention what visual magic miyazaki still had up his sleeve -lrb- and he has plenty ! -rrb- .", "the most enchanting thing about miyazaki 's work is his desire to do just that -- enchant .", "another classic movie from the master of japanese animation .", "much of what makes the film work lies in the combination of its small touches and emotionalism , making it something more than a film for people who like to get stoned and go watch freaky animation -lrb- though it almost certainly works on that level , too -rrb- .", "i hate to gush in the first sentence of a review , but i absolutely love this film .", "one of the greatest animated films ever made .", "like a combination of ` the wizard of oz ' and ` alice in wonderland ' retold by a clever storyteller who incorporates his own details , twists and bits of humor into the plot .", "a lovely , evocative tour de force .", "a two-hour feast of visual imagination , consistently rendered at the highest level of graphic art .", "it 's easy to give this one credit for the mind-blowing creativity , but i ca n't recommend this to anyone who 's not already a fan of miyazaki or mind-expanding drugs ... it 's just not going to translate .", "combines some wonderfully imaginative visuals with a plot that , to put it charitably , will seem loony to most american viewers .", "when animators go to animator heaven , they will probably view drawings of the caliber of those in sprited away .", "an amazing piece of work .", "even the worst miyazaki picture is a remarkable achievement , and MOV is one of his better films .", "plot here takes a backseat to set pieces that flow into each other like a glorious stream of consciousness .", "wow .", "MOV is every bit as captivating for its sheer graphic power as it is for its message of go-get - 'em - girl power .", "MOV transcends masterpiece status . composed of layer upon layer , it creates its own terminology .", "a genuinely magical experience that both adults and children will enjoy . see it -- you 'll be glad you did .", "\u00e9 como se david lynch tivesse dirigido sua pr\u00f3pria vers\u0103o de alice no pa\u00eds das maravilhas .", "can at best be described as a surreal blend of alice in wonderland and the wizard of oz", "miyazaki conf\u00eda en la inteligencia del p\u00fablico y en su capacidad de asombro , y ambas cosas las pone a prueba constantemente en este viaje extraordinario donde todo , cualquier cosa , puede pasar en cualquier momento .", "the wonders never stop .", "one of the most impressive animated features of this year , or any other .", "even if cg cartoons come to dominate japan as they do much of the world , there 's a corner of the animation field that will be forever miyazaki .", "even though disney released this film , MOV points up just how by-the-numbers the studio 's fare can be .", "there 's a sense of delicacy , and artfulness , in the tone and in the magic . the 10-year-olds who see this like to be scared , but they wo n't have nightmares days afterward .", "what separates miyazaki 's animation from everyone else 's is the way he imagines his worlds .", "to call this film inventive is to grossly understate its accomplishment .", "creating a rare story-world that follows a consistent logic yet allows for most anything to happen , miyazaki again proves himself to be more genii than filmmaker .", "a cultural wildcard experience : wacky , different , unusual , even nutty .", "like old myths and wonder tales spun afresh .", "MOV has the quality of a dream : it takes you places so foreign and fantastic you have no option but to yield completely to it and be spirited along .", "this animated adventure from genre superstar hayao miyazaki has spirit to spare .", "MOV is too intense for the youngest viewers , but teenagers will enjoy it -- an ill-smelling ` stink-god ' character is almost worthy of a kevin smith gross-out movie -- and grown-ups should find it diverting , if not exactly deep .", "hayao miyazaki 's breathtakingly beautiful and poetic MOV -- a japanese cross between alice in wonderland and the wizard of oz -- is such a landmark in animation that labeling it a masterpiece almost seems inadequate .", "MOV delivers chunks of yellow submarine and the phantom tollbooth -- a vividly timeless oddity suitable for many children and most stoners .", "hayao miyazaki may be one of japan 's leading animators , but in his new film , miyazaki 's MOV , he also envelops you in a wondrous landscape of archetypal magic .", "this is one of the year 's best films .", "MOV is one of the most richly imaginative and visually spectacular films you will see this year .", "i spent two hours staring at the screen in utter amazement .", "has an unfortunate animistic sensibility , seeing gods and spirits in all things ... the most striking thing about MOV , however , is its arresting visuals .", "a fractured , knotted story about adjusting to new surroundings and having courage in the face of peril .", "think you 're too hip for japanese anime about a lost ten-year-old girl whose parents turn into snorting pigs ? get over it .", "miyazaki has created a complete , complex world with this film , and it 's certainly a magical journey . very , very good entertainment .", "despite a dip midway through , this is a captivating fantasy that sets a new benchmark for animation .", "initially seems like a through the looking-glass fantasy , but rapidly picks up a resonance , weight and complexity that make it all but shakespearean .", "i struggled to find the source of imperfection in this film", "far and away the best film i 've seen this year .", "not instructive , as disney is , and not aloof , like anime . MOV is fun without being a lesson , and it welcomes you in .", "` mostrando un profundo respeto por el mundo espiritual , miyazaki logra una verdadera joya de la animaci\u00f3n que a veces raya en lo po\u00e9tico '", "it races along with the speed of a bullet train , visiting weird , enchanted places the likes of which have never been seen before .", "a film not to miss .", "a must-see for japanamation fans , anyone familiar with japanese folklore , or anyone sick of the boring stories that typically accompany american animation .", "every scene brings a new set of wonders to delight and sometimes stagger the mind", "the magic -lrb- and original running time -rrb- of ace japanimator hayao miyazaki 's MOV survives intact in bv 's re-voiced version .", "the spark of special anime magic here is unmistakable and hard to resist .", "the film is not recommended for toddlers and easily frightened little tykes . but for everyone else , kid or grown-up , this thrilling foray into magical realms is a must .", "a haunting and indelible fable that warms the chilly soul of japanese anime and points the way for its american sponsor .", "a marriage between the power of mononoke and the lively pop-pop-pop of his film my friend totoro .", "writing about a film like MOV is n't about regurgitating information out for those who know little about it , but more of an experience in reminiscing .", "if you 're dispirited by look-alike , sound-alike , think-alike movies , disturbed by an art form that seems not only to tolerate , but also to reward a paucity of imagination , you 're not going to believe your luck .", "this english-language version ... does full honor to miyazaki 's teeming and often unsettling landscape , and to the conflicted complexity of his characters .", "what it does have is the same kind of free-floating , imaginative animation , taking wing for even wilder flights of fantasy .", "artful but not arty , MOV is a handcrafted cartoon , as personal as an utamaro painting , yet its breadth and heart give it an appeal that should touch american viewers of all ages .", "this one is an event , a huge accomplishment in the world of traditional animation and a powerful rebuttal to the notion that films for children must be simplistic and visually dull .", "chihiro 's escapades do n't always proceed one from the other , but let yourself go and you 'll be swept away as well .", "the impressive watercolour backgrounds and intense focus on the smallest details make MOV more than a kid 's flick . it will grab hold and impress , amaze and entertain before letting you go .", "MOV is unquestionably the best animated feature since brad bird 's the iron giant .", "part alice in wonderland and part hansel and gretel ...", "knock me down with a feather , it turns out to be terrific ; maybe not a masterpiece , but certainly aglitter with invention , excitement and a mysterious kind of wit .", "vivid , amusing and genuinely awe-inspiring .", "writer-director hayao miyazaki , who previously made the impressive princess mononoke , has created a wonderfully bizarre world filled with a gallery of creepy , and some not so-creepy , characters .", "full of riches , thematic and visual , and the best way to understand them is simply to watch the film and take it all in .", "magnificent , spellbinding movie has a bit of edge .", "enchanting and impressively crafted .", "... a gorgeously animated yet sporadically entertaining endeavor that is n't quite the instant classic one might 've expected ...", "magical is a word used casually about films like this , films about fantasy and childhood . yet this one really does deserve it .", "filmgoers of all ages should not pass up the opportunity to experience such a work of staggering imagination .", "i went nuts over this movie .", "MOV exalts the young girl chihiro 's uncanny experiences into an adventure that is as thrillingly ambiguous as it is vividly soundtracked and illustrated .", "MOV is wonderful .", "this persistently fascinating if slightly over-long fairytale is propelled by the seemingly boundless imagination of writer-director hayao miyazaki .", "it almost goes without saying that the animation is jaw dropping .", "miyazaki understands the magic disney intended , and he elevates it to a higher realm of dreamy , worldly mysticism that is appealing to children of all ages and temperaments .", "miyazaki has provided another triumph , and , in the midst of the quality fall-off of disney 's in-house animated projects , a reason for animation-lovers to rejoice .", "the shape-shifting creatures might be a little too imaginative for traditional audiences to get their heads around .", "a smashing technical achievement coming out against greed , gluttony , and pre-adolescent whining .", "watching MOV is like watching an eastern imagination explode .", "miyazaki seems to have an inexhaustible supply of ideas to fill the screen and to fill screen time .", "this fantastically weird cartoon is definitely one of the most intriguing movies of the year .", "has few rivals as a work of visual imagination .", "miyazaki is one of world cinema 's most wondrously gifted artists and storytellers .", "MOV has much to say about many worthy things : the life of the spirit , materialist greed , the importance of words , the power of love .", "anything but your regular ` toon , it 's a -lrb- literally -rrb- fantastic experience .", "it 's an amazing work , filled with a visual intelligence that 's meticulously composed and obscenely clever .", "miyazaki 's luminescent , gorgeously realized world is relatively safe for children , but it also acknowledges blood , pain , dread , and death in ways that other animated films would n't dare .", "the result is nothing less than magical , a throwback to the very best of early disney . if i ca n't remember the last time i was this enchanted by an animated film , it 's because i was too young .", "to watch MOV feels like a special gift . it is a film of such startling imagination , originality , intelligence , and emotion that i feel inexplicable joy when the opening title card fades in .", "MOV is a masterwork , the latest and best in a long line from japan 's premieranimator .", "watching the japanese cartoon epic MOV is like strolling into alice 's wonderland and seeing every wonder sprout up around you as if for the first time .", "at times it 's even vaguely reminiscent of the wizard of oz , only as if illustrated by hieronymus bosch . it 's wonderful .", "director hayao miyazaki 's insistence on hand-drawn graphics gives the cgi visuals an ethereal charm that ensures the story is always a pleasure to behold , even during its rare moments of inaction .", "there is a force of visual rapture in MOV .", "packed with strange beings amid painterly settings , MOV delivers one of the most colorful fantasy worlds since the similarly surreal yellow submarine .", "miyazaki , the master animator and director of the enchanting kiki 's delivery service and princess mononoke , leads us through the looking glass as never before in MOV .", "the colors , textures , and settings are impressively beautiful , and the overall effect is mystical and magical , familiar and dreamlike .", "at its heart and most importantly , MOV concerns a little girl learning to honour her friends and her family by valuing herself .", "has the mythic quality and the familiarity of great children 's literature .", "that the story sometimes makes not a lick of sense is among its virtues , imparting as it does the exhilarating feeling that anything can happen .", "a breathtakingly magical animated fable that lifts your spirits and carries you away to a world far beyond your wildest imagination .", "at the almost-two-hour mark , the film , which seems poised to keep going with yet another bravura sequence of magic , suddenly wraps everything up really fast .", "visually imaginative , thematically instructive and thoroughly delightful , it takes us on a roller-coaster ride from innocence to experience without even a hint of that typical kiddie-flick sentimentality .", "a feast for lovers of animation .", "the version you 'll see has been well dubbed .", "miyazaki floods the screen with beautiful scenes and enough fascinating creatures to put pokemon to shame .", "miyazaki ... conjures up worlds that are wondrously bizarre yet follow their own peculiar logic .", "this gorgeous epic is guaranteed to lift the spirits of the whole family .", "as surreal as a dream and as detailed as a photograph , as visually dexterous as it is at times imaginatively overwhelming .", "that rare movie that has the emotional and psychological depth to match its stunning surface .", "MOV is a wonderous tale for grade schoolers that never condescends or spoon feeds its themes . miyazaki 's characters and situations are so engaging that he can condemn greed and environmental negligence without ever sermonizing .", "let 's keep it simple : miyazaki is a genius , and this film is a masterpiece ; go see it .", "` alice in wonderland meets the east ... taking full advantage of the complex powers of anime and its freedom to go wherever the mind can imagine . '", "to say that miyazaki 's intelligent , painstaking , hand-crafted anime is magical , dazzling and brilliant is an understatement - it 's incomparable , ingenious and inventive - just watch for a win at osca-time !", "an exquisitely formed , flawlessly executed masterwork ... as sheerly imaginative and groundbreakingly wondrous as any animated motion picture you are sure to have seen .", "a true work of art from one of our greatest living filmmakers .", "... brilliant in its imagery and astonishing in its creativity . many films are billed as voyages into fantasy , but this one actually delivers .", "in scene after scene , MOV unleashes so much wonder and visual imagination that you end up watching the movie in a state of rapturous , awestruck bliss .", "it 's perplexing but always enthralling .", "one of -lsb- miyazaki 's -rsb- finest .", "la cinta animada m\u00e1s hermosa que he visto jam\u00e1s .", "prepare to be MOV by this amazing animated film .", "filled with haunting imagery , subtly rendered characters and an emotional core absent from most anime , MOV is a rich cinematic experience , a story that reads like direct translation of the director 's dream ...", "MOV conjures up a beautiful , diverse , richly envisioned tale that constantly delights ... even when it verges on the limits of coherence .", "we are thrust into a kaleidoscopic wonderland for more than two hours , quite long for an animated film . there 's enough adventure and jeopardy in this film to fill five films of this nature .", "it 's a bloody shame that the anime film with the strongest theatrical push i can remember has to be this one .", "miyazaki 's nonstop images are so stunning , and his imagination so vivid , that the only possible complaint you could have about MOV is that there is no rest period , no timeout .", "sorry , y' all -- i give up .", "children may not understand everything that happens -- i 'm not sure even miyazaki himself does -- but they will almost certainly be fascinated , and undoubtedly delighted .", "the closest american counterpart to MOV is alice in wonderland , but no analogy will fully prepare you .", "an animation landmark as monumental as disney 's 1937 breakthrough snow white and the seven dwarfs .", "for all its slapstick and even the occasional gross-out gag , MOV is an animated film whose major delights are also its subtlest .", "although anime features are n't all the rage in a majority of american movie theaters , MOV should be a legitimate excuse to change this pending sentiment .", "miyazaki has created such a vibrant , colorful world , it 's almost impossible not to be swept away by the sheer beauty of his images .", "steeped in lore and unabashedly surreal , the film is just charming enough for children and just bizarre enough for adults -- a perfect balance .", "this is one heck of a movie , and one can see why it made all that money in japan .", "genius and nothing but -- that 's what miyazaki means .", "an animated film that is among the most delightful , imaginative stories i 've seen all year .", "MOV is a trip , in the literal , metaphorical and indeed lysergic senses of that word .", "` alice 's adventure through the looking glass and into zombie-land ' is filled with strange and wonderful creatures .", "even when MOV follows the easy route , with true love as the solvent to most problems , it 's so jam-packed with spectacular images , sights , and sounds that it conjures up a million dreams you 've had -lrb- lovely , awesome , and terrifying -rrb- and tra", "something akin to a japanese alice through the looking glass , except that it seems to take itself far more seriously .", "-lsb- MOV is -rsb- the most deeply and mysteriously satisfying animated feature to come along in ages ." ], "summary": "MOV is a dazzling , enchanting , and gorgeously drawn fairy tale that will leave viewers a little more curious and fascinated by the world around them .", "id": "10065" }, { "movie": "the_lord_of_the_rings_the_fellowship_of_the_ring", "reviews": [ "back in the '60s , college geeks used to wear t-shirts proclaiming ` gandalf lives . ' after watching ian mckellen 's marvelous performance , i 'm inclined to agree .", "not since excalibur have i been this impressed by a sword and sorcery epic .", "triumphantly successful ... long but never dull , filled with incident but surprisingly clear , and even at some points quite affecting .", "it enchants and enthralls .", "only the most ardent purists will object to any deletions and compressions wrought in the page-to-screen transfer .", "when it 's not stopping your heart , it 's breaking it , filling it or lightening it .", "a perfect blend of action and fantasy , of special effects and thoughtful storytelling , and , in a time when the two seem anything but mutually exclusive , blockbuster juggernaut and arthouse darling .", "it would be an insult to say the picture merely lives up to its hype ; it crashes the meaning of hype , exposing it as the graven image it is .", "the fellowship of the ring resembles from certain angles nothing so much as a 178-minute electric mandolin solo .", "for once , here 's a gigantic-budget movie that wears its outsized grandiosity well and lives up to its hype and ambition .", "there are moments in the fellowship of the ring that i have only seen in my most winsome and wildest fantasies .", "thrilling -- a great picture , a triumphant picture , a joyfully conceived work of cinema .", "it 's obvious that the editors were hard pressed to leave any of this splendid film on the cutting room floor . lucky for us .", "... the latest unavoidable cultural wonderment", "my only complaint about installment number one of the trilogy is that i have to wait for so long for the rest .", "it reaches down your mouth and rips out your throat .", "such an engrossing picture that you completely lose track of the time and the 3 hour running length just flies by .", "there 's a certain majesty to fellowship of the ring , but it 's not the majesty of stylish photography or elegant production design . it 's a majesty that can only be put on-screen by filmmakers who truly feel the material with which they are working .", "it pulls the viewer into the heat of battle and makes him believe that the fate of the earth rests on the small shoulders -lrb- and furry feet -rrb- of an ordinary person .", "for all of its good choices , there 's something deeply wanting about jackson 's vision", "the impossible dream of tolkien fans has come true , and the beauty , majesty , and genius of tolkien 's world is at last fully realized .", "the franchise cometh .", "as a feat of sheer endurance and courage , the fellowship of the ring is astonishing . as an achievement in filmmaking it 's triumphant .", "maybe it 's too early to criticize the trilogy when we 're just getting started . however , if this signals the direction the series is going to go , i 'm not sure if i care to find out what happens to frodo , sauron and those pesky golden rings .", "no other movie this year has provided as many ` i ca n't believe what i 'm seeing ' moments .", "the trouble is , much the same sort of battle-scene repeats itself every 20 minutes or so ; only the environments and the monsters inhabiting them are changed . technically wonderful ? yes , but oh so monotonous !", "fellowship is exciting for two hours . how many other movies can you say that about ?", "a movie that engages the heart and mind and actually makes you anticipate the next chapter .", "leaves us with an implicit promise that the next two movies will be more formally exciting and emotionally engaging .", "featuring amazing performances on nearly all counts , deft action and stunning cinematography , rings is the kind of adventure we do n't see every year .", "a well-crafted and sometimes stirring adventure .", "at this point , i have no negative criticism to offer . i am speechless .", "not since the original star wars trilogy has film dipped into myth and emerged with the kind of weight and heft seen in peter jackson 's first installment of j.r.r. tolkien 's lord of the rings trilogy .", "the one thing that strikes me most about lotr : fotr , besides its seductively masterful and majestic elegance , is simply how utterly right it is .", "whatever it is that makes great movies stand apart from great theater or great literature , this film has it .", "endless close-ups of wood 's icy eyes and repeated zooms on the golden ring fail to draw us in to what 's supposed to be a riveting quest .", "an extraordinary work , grandly conceived , brilliantly executed and wildly entertaining .", "despite certain stumbles and fumbles , jackson has captured something of the depth , breadth , and melancholy grandeur of tolkien 's vision .", "jackson 's vision of middle-earth is worthy of tolkien , and there 's probably no better compliment one could pay the film .", "not since gone with the wind more than 60 years ago has a movie held up as well to the original book .", "the result is not just a faithful transcription of a classic , but a wondrous reimagining of one .", "jackson ... handles the proceedings with both a flair for operatic grandeur and a respect for intimacy .", "one movie to rule the box office .", "jackson 's adaptation is certainly successful on its own terms .", "putting formula blockbusters to shame , fellowship is impeccably cast and constructed with both care and passion .", "in unveiling the holy grail for action-fantasy aficionados , director and co-writer peter jackson has begun a series to rival star wars in the pantheon .", "the sets and special effects are near flawless .", "what gave the film its greatest strength was its cast , in particular elijah wood .", "jackson ... conjures the most potent major-motion-picture magic in years .", "thankfully , if the audience has the patience , the film is good enough to warrant watching again .", "... the project could n't have made me happier . -lrb- extended edition -rrb-", "i loved it and i suggest you watch it , too .", "a stunning adventure story realized with genuine artistic flair .", "it 's full of scenic splendors with a fine sense of scale , but its narrative thrust seems relatively pro forma , and i was bored by the battle scenes .", "i 'm positive that when all three have been released , we 'll be looking at a complete , inspiring epic from peter jackson . but we 're only a third of the way there .", "the bar has been raised , and the world of film entertainment will hereinafter be better for it .", "maybe by his second year in hogwarts , harry potter will learn the trick to making a movie this good but do n't bet on it . it 's one of the best films of the year .", "mckellen plays gandalf and , truth be told , his performance is worth more to the success of the film than all the effects , visual and aural , combined .", "you can get gloriously lost in this .", "the special effects are stunning .", "the production design is a marvel , and the special effects are dazzling .", "becomes breathless in a way that even tolkien could n't manage ; the second half feels like the kind of grand action picture we 'd been missing all year .", "if crouching tiger , hidden dragon was the citizen kane of martial arts films , the lord of the rings does the same thing for the fantasy quest genre .", "the real deal , a movie epic that pops your eyes out , piles on thrills and fun , and yet stays intimately attuned to character .", "jackson 's films are sure to take the `` star wars '' mantle as beloved mythic epic for a new generation .", "definitely an epic undertaking , long with intermittent brazen fight scenes", "the good news is that jackson follows the book pretty faithfully .", "for those of you who , like me , were disappointed by harry potter , new line has the perfect answer : the lord of the rings .", "... a slightly better-than-average fantasy flick .", "what could have been a monumental failure has become one of the greatest examples of how to bring a classic book to the screen .", "once you 've got your breath back one thought will prove hard to escape : george lucas might have a few sleepless nights between now and 2003 .", "only jackson would have conceived of having a dwarf , in the middle of battle , declare ` nobody tosses a dwarf ! ' and only jackson could have gotten away with it .", "everyone on screen is all exercised about frodo 's mission , but after three hours it 's hard to see why anyone in the audience should be .", "tolkien 's world explodes onto the screen in vibrant , brooding , beautiful life .", "it is imaginative , fierce , even thrilling in spots . nevertheless , as the curtain comes down , the credits should read game over , not the end .", "director peter jackson 's awesome three hour film , seeming like half the time , is the handsomest fantasy film ever made . -lrb- published 12-22-01 -rrb-", "the filmmakers have shown great respect for their source material . i was moved by jackson 's passionate , caring , and human portrayals of these characters and dramas .", "it 's finally here . the adaptation of the first installment from j.r.r. tolkien 's `` the lord of the rings '' series , and all i have to say is , `` wow . ''", "it could not have been more of a masterpiece if tolkien had directed it himself .", "it 's a collection of spectacular set pieces without any sense of momentum driving them into one another . the damn thing just goes on and on .", "does manage to recreate in the viewer 's mind those powerful , fantastical images of the magical land of middle-earth .", "if you 've managed to elude tolkien 's siren call over the years , this is your chance to catch up and fall for it once and for all .", "we are left with frodo paddling across a lake on his way to the second film . i do n't know about you , but i can hardly wait .", "for newcomers , the movie , with its well chosen cast , extraordinary settings and impressive battle choreography goes far in explaining the hold this work has had on legions of readers .", "this is a cult book from yesterday that makes a popular film for today ...", "remarkably , and perhaps because of a fusion of images that are generic , imaginative , and by-the-book , the fellowship of the ring really does look how the book ` should '", "-lsb- i -rsb- t goes on forever .", "the greatest fantasy epic of all time .", "boasts breathtaking images and , thanks to mr. tolkien , a story that 's second to none .", "it has real passion , real emotion , real terror , and a tactile sense of evil .", "so well-made and well-cast that one can have no reservations about the rest of jackson 's monumental creation .", "you think harry potter had expectations ?", "there is little doubt that those who grab the rings at the start will anxiously await frodo 's trip into ever more perilous territory a year hence .", "funny , scary and , totally involving , peter jackson 's assured adaptation of jrr tolkien 's the lord of the rings turns the book 's least screen-worthy volume into a gripping and powerful adventure movie .", "stunning , but you see one battle and you 've seen 'em all .", "it delivers a heavy load of adventure , spectacle , and beauty , three hours with too many delights to list , all for the price of a standard film ticket .", "this is a sweeping epic of a film , which also manages to remain rooted in the personal dramas of its central characters .", "captures both the grandness and the intimacy of tolkien 's masterwork .", "this remarkable film appeals to the hero in us all .", "get thee to a theater and see what everyone is talking about !", "anyone with an extra pocket calculator may as well hand it over right now . call me a freak , call me a geek , but i really enjoyed this movie .", "the movie year 's most compelling thrill ride .", "as an allegory of war and world dominance , ring is weighty stuff , and jackson gives it appropriate resonance .", "spectacular scenery , stupefying effects and epic scope ... a dream come true .", "an accomplished movie for everyone who ever longed to hit the road and who welcomes adventure .", "brilliant -- in every way .", "tolkien completists wo n't find any of this overkill , but for those uninitiates among us , less is more is still a dictum worth heeding .", "you can almost hear a maniacal , frizzy-haired peter jackson screaming `` behold ! '' from behind the screen .", "a marvel . director peter jackson 's exuberance is evident in nearly every frame .", "it 's just a fantasy tale some would insist . probably so , but i 'm obviously not the only one that takes it too seriously .", "the best compliment i can pay the film is this : i 'm looking forward to the next two installments .", "a jaw-droppingly successful film adaptation ... stunning on every level", "an extremely entertaining introduction to tolkien 's trilogy .", "a wholeheartedly innovative , heartfelt , entertaining feast for the eyes .", "casual moviegoers should enjoy it and die-hard lotr fans should be sufficiently pleased with the final result .", "grand cinema , as director / co-writer peter jackson has struck a skilful balance between story , characters , visual images and action .", "it 's to jackson 's credit that the saga leaves viewers panting for more .", "an epic movie of a once-in-a-lifetime sort .", "visually striking , thematically poignant , and morally weighty , the first film of lord of the rings is superb .", "director peter jackson has not only attempted the most ambitious film project in modern cinema history , he 's pulled it off with a breathtaking mixture of nerve and verve , too .", "oodles of technical talent are no substitute for plain old inspiration . jackson has been working on the rings project for years , and somewhere along the way his reverence for tolkien appears to have intimidated his imagination .", "if fellowship has n't rescued an otherwise dreadful year , it at least gives us something to look forward to -- same time , next year .", "against all odds in an era of machine-made spectaculars , mr. jackson and his collaborators have created a film epic that lives and breathes , that 's swept by almost palpable weather -lrb- much of it stormy -rrb- .", "masterfully paced , the movie builds slowly , introducing the mythology , habitats and lifestyles of tolkien 's creatures .", "`` fellowship '' bears well the burden of exposition and character introduction , and also features two of the series ' best action setpieces - not just visual-effects reels , but trials by fire of the camaraderie among this ragamuffin band of brothers .", "fabulous , but also violent and scary .", "for sheer scale and ambition , fellowship is one of those rare films that actually deserve to be called ` a triumph . '", "it is remarkably well made ... too bad it was n't equally entertaining .", "an excellent film and a ripping yarn of a movie .", "sr. . jackson : vaya valor ! -lrb- vaya par ... ! -rrb- , y vaya logro ! ... la espera ser larga pero usted la ha hecho vlida ...", "when the awe on the characters ' faces is mirrored on your own you know you 're in the presence of a film that makes an objective assessment redundant .", "though the pace slackens here and there , it is always gorgeous to look at and intelligently acted .", "i left exhausted , happy , intoxicated .", "the most entertaining fantasy/adventure movie since excalibur .", "die hard fans have to wear double layers of diapers to survive their enthusiasm watching this . it speaks volumes about how jackson has touched the heart of the book .", "i 'm chimed to see it again and am hanging for the next one . jackson 's not only done it , he 's created cinematic history too .", "forget harry potter : this is what the fantasy epic is all about !", "jackson has ... adapted the complex world of j.r.r. tolkien 's imagination for the screen , maintaining fidelity to tolkien while never losing sight of his own artistry", "there is no doubt that it 's worth seeing , and yes , i 'm looking forward to the sequels .", "it 's a satisfying adaptation .", "the worst aspect to fellowship is the fact that we must wait another year before the next film . i may have to take up reading tolkien !", "i ca n't help it . i was just bored of the rings .", "the fellowship of the rings delivers like fedex and ups only dream of .", "if we 're not careful , peter jackson 's the lord of the rings could give hype a good name .", "in a word -- wonderful !", "by the time its three hours were over , i found myself out of breath .", "a fantasy achievement where the action , the characters and the message are equally strong . most importantly , it leaves us hungry for the two towers .", "the first part of the long-awaited trilogy is here , and kiwi director jackson somehow manages to exceed expectations with one of the most astonishing action epics in memory .", ". . i still came away empty , wanting more . i was expecting something that i could get lost in but instead found myself wading through some things that were less than satisfactory .", "middle-earth is a real world from the first reel on , thanks to incredible special effects woven seamlessly with great storytelling .", "prueba fehaciente de que la creatividad y el empe\u0144o de su director son m\u00e1s que sobrados .", "what a great story . what a great approach . what a great film .", "this is fantasy at its richest and most vivid . the eyes are nearly overwhelmed by the bone-crushing beasts , fiery pits , the emerald-green forests and purple-blue skies that spin across the screen .", "whether you 're a fan or ca n't tell a hobbit from lorena bobbitt , you 're bound to enjoy this film 's three hours of escapism .", "a nerve-jangling , pictorially beautiful , mostly engrossing phantasmagoria of ghouls and warriors , oozing ambitions and towering dark castles , waylaid only by an occasional dip into the bog of exposition .", "one of the best films to be released in the past ten years .", "not since lawrence of arabia have we seen such an epic saga of adventure and heroism .", "an adventure sure to satisfy both the fans of j.r.r. tolkien 's classic and those neophytes who have never turned one of its pages .", "a marvellous way to begin an adventure .", "using rollercoaster pacing , jackson milks the three-hour running time for all it 's worth , the peaks and valleys of the adventure giving the characters , particularly frodo , time to develop while allowing the audience time to catch its breath .", "a fully-realized epic .", "an experience audiences are unlikely to forget .", "the lengthy story 's nipped and tucked without missing any meat .", "an audience looking for a star wars-like fix , albeit with wands and rings instead of light sabres , is sure to offer a healthy return .", "its ability to take audiences to a completely different land and time may remind them of how they felt when they saw star wars or the wizard of oz for the first time .", "this lord reigns .", "here , at long last , is an epic adventure that 's worthy of its source .", "good , but not as great as many have proclaimed .", "this is destined to be the best trilogy since the first three `` star wars '' wowed audiences of all ages a quarter of a century ago -- and i saw that movie 100 times that summer .", "jackson was undeniably the right choice for the material . he exceeds all reasonable expectations in crossing the book over . the epic literary journey becomes a cinematic event .", "sadly , once you 've seen it , everything else will seem anti-climactic .", "\u0155s vezes , 5 estrelas n\u0103o s\u0103o o bastante .", "jackson 's offbeat sensibility is relatively muted here , but it does n't hurt the film much , nor does the film feel at all impersonal .", "this film affirms my faith in the medium .", "` here are beauties that pierce like swords or burn like cold iron ; here is a -lsb- film -rsb- that will break your heart . '", "the only thing worse than a bad movie that thinks it is good is a three hour long bad movie that thinks it is good .", "a film of incredible vision and surprising emotional involvement -- a rich tapestry of old-fashioned storytelling and modern-day technical marvels . an instant classic .", "rings is a breathtaking piece of filmmaking .", "nearly a half century after the lord of the rings was published , film technology finally caught up to bring the magic to the screen .", "a towering achievement .", "watching it , one ca n't help but get the impression that everyone involved was steeped in tolkien 's work , loved the book , treasured it and took care not to break a cherished thing in it .", "in the end , the lord of the rings : the fellowship of the ring succeeds as the event blockbuster that it was so clearly designed to be .", "certainly the most rousing and ambitious adventure film of many years and bodes well for the future of the tolkien fan .", "even if you 're not a fantasy fan , the fellowship of the ring has everything you could want in almost any kind of film . it is joyous , mythic , elegiac and , most importantly , cinematic .", "visually , then , lotr -- the first of three annual cinematic installments devoted to the quest of the ruling ring -- is a feast .", "it does have one major fault : it will just kill you when you emerge from the theater and realize that it will be a whole year until the next installment in jackson 's tolkien trilogy appears .", "genuinely transporting .", "with this production , jackson has used the lord of the rings to re-invent fantasy for the cinema in the same way that the novel provided the blueprint for the written word .", "all this plays like a giant game of myst , with ring 's mythical characters never making the leap from virtual reality to real .", "the new zealander director peter jackson , who wrote the screenplay with fran walsh and philippa boyens , works with enough dramatic tension and pictorial grandeur to sustain us through long periods of complicated exposition and heavy bouts of swordplay .", "visually , grant major 's production design and the cgi effects are amazing .", "jackson 's flights of fantasy bow before tokien and are quite unlike anything you are likely to ever see on film .", "to wait that long -lsb- for the next installments -rsb- is to feel like a child whose father has closed a beloved book at bedtime and refuses to finish reading it for a whole year .", "every frame of fellowship bursts with finesse and imagination , demonstrating what miracles a moviemaker can accomplish with his head , hands and heart fully engaged .", "a solid start to the three-part adventure .", "an ambitious and generally enjoyable film , especially for those who might desire a little more narrative coherence and depth than harry potter and the sorcerer 's stone has to offer .", "i have no serious criticisms . the film does full justice to tolkien , who has often -- and erroneously -- been accused of escapism .", "the fellowship of the ring is an unqualified triumph . more , please .", "most ambitiously , this rousing adventure closes with an ending that 's closer in spirit to an art-house film than a popcorn holiday romp .", "it 's hard to imagine any but the most nit-picky and dogmatic being disappointed by this epic , lovingly crafted movie .", "only someone with a pathological aversion to fantasy could fail to be absorbed and transported by this stunning , sincere and frequently terrifying adaptation .", "this is n't some happy , kid-friendly adventure -- it 's the story of how an entire world is plunged into war .", "the fellowship of the ring is a movie masterpiece thrilling , passionate and wise .", "an enthusiastic visionary set loose on one of the biggest playgrounds ever constructed , jackson brings more personality to the series ' first installment , the fellowship of the ring , than typically seeps into a franchise of this magnitude .", "impeccably cast , superbly acted , brilliantly directed and looking fabulous , it is safe to say that it has been worth the wait , with director jackson -lrb- himself a fan -rrb- unquestionably the right man for the job .", "i hope the next two episodes are better .", "to borrow an icon from another legend of english origin , this is the holy grail . the big one has finally been delivered to us , and it is a beautiful thing indeed .", "probably the best comment i could give it is that after sitting through the first three hours , i would have happily sat through another five .", "that such a bold , inventive artist has embraced the challenge of telling frodo 's story is cause for celebration .", "i realized that despite its flaws , the film had won me over .", "the bulk of thanks should really go to peter jackson , who has obviously lavished much love on this project with respect for the source material .", "nothing less than a masterpiece of art and integrity , capturing with vast magnitude the grandeur , majesty , and surreal whimsy of tolkien 's mythical middle-earth .", "dark , windswept , thrilling , funny and emotional .", "it will be remembered because its strengths tower over its faults . it will be remembered because it places story above all else . and it will be remembered because it 's an epic in an era of the ordinary .", "an utterly beguiling feast for eyes , pulses and minds .", "jackson gets more feeling into fellowship than he did with his previous films .", "storytelling in the grandest homeric tradition .", "the sights are ga-ga , but the storytelling gets fairly turgid .", "battle-scene overkill aside , there 's no denying the eye-popping majesty of jackson 's epic spectacle .", "jackson evokes an almost palpable sense of the will to power trapped within the ring .", "nothing i have ever seen or read could have prepared me for what i have just seen .", "the copious action sequences are kinetic and thrilling while the exposition scenes and ` character moments ' are wonderfully free of anything resembling ` camp ' .", "jackson 's film feels like an honest attempt to use the power of cinema to engage the imagination and senses in deep-ranging and seriously engaged myth .", "made with intelligence , imagination , passion and skill , propulsively paced and shot through with an aged-in-oak sense of wonder ." ], "summary": "full of eye-popping special effects , and featuring a pitch-perfect cast , the lord of the rings : the fellowship of the ring brings j.r.r. tolkien 's classic to vivid life .", "id": "12769" }, { "movie": "inside_man", "reviews": [ "nobody 's on automatic here , least of all the director , who 's probably delivered the most impersonal -- but smoothly hollywood-style professional -- movie of his career .", "if MOV is n't the best movie lee has done , it 's probably the most purely exciting and enjoyable .", "this is a filmmaker who has something to say , and knows how to say it . as creative rebirths go , it 's a lot more fun than you might expect .", "viewers may be surprised at the smoothness with which the frequently bombastic spike lee navigates the mainstream .", "the geometric precision with which this clever puzzle is laid out produces a picture whose sum exceeds its sometimes wayward parts .", "as MOV works its way toward its satisfying finale , lee trusts that we 're smart enough to work some things out for ourselves .", "if any old director-for-hire had made MOV it would have been a pretty good thriller . but spike lee makes it into something extraordinary .", "a deft , tense , pure thriller , the movie has great star turns and is brilliantly directed , but it began as an extremely well-crated screenplay by russell gewirtz .", "the climax does n't just spell out every surprise plot turn , but italicizes and underlines them too , and then puts to use a yellow highlighter for solid measure .", "-lsb- lee 's -rsb- most complete picture in over a decade .", "a police drama on the surface , MOV exudes wit and sophistication and challenges an audience to guess at the", "the filmmaker seems to be patting himself on the back for being so smart to put this heist pic over without playing by the rules of the genre .", "it has real tension and yet finds places to interject a little humor ... it 's not your average heist movie or cop flick .", "above all , the aural soundscape of this film is outstanding , from the sound recording and editing to the inspired score by terence blanchard .", "the pacing is a bit slow , but the mystery pulls you through it .", "MOV offers an intriguing yarn that explores power and ethnicity with snappy humor .", "undistinguished but entertaining .", "straightforward , solid bank heist thriller that 's filled with stylish patter and moral ambiguity .", "even past the midway point , it 's all working -- it 's taut , it 's funny , it 's trenchant , it 's stylish . and then it is n't .", "um filme tenso e intrigante que , al\u00e9m de contar com personagens interessantes , confere cores novas ao surrado subg\u0119nero `` assalto a banco '' .", "exceptionally well written with clever twists and witty dialogue by first-time screenwriter russell gewirtz , MOV is adroitly executed by director spike lee .", "there 's a hidden agenda at play in MOV , the thrilling new heist film that is spike lee 's most accessible and exciting mainstream film in at least a decade .", "MOV is adult , contemporary , and completely relaxed .", "MOV marries some ingenious caper ideas to lee 's superb feel for ethnic politics .", "this one 's a spike-for-hire affair , a case of a flashy director juicing up a first-time screenwriter 's efforts .", "lee has created a truly original film from various shopworn genre clich\u00e9 , chief among them , the new york city bank heist/hostage standoff gone awry .", "it 's certainly a spike lee film , but no spike lee joint . still , he 's delivered a pacy , vigorous and frequently masterful take on a well-worn genre .", "here is a thriller that 's curiously reluctant to get to the payoff , and when it does , we see why : we ca n't accept the motive and method of the bank robbery , we ca n't believe in one character and ca n't understand another .", "the most entertaining thriller to come out of hollywood in a long while .", "lee lends tremendous energy to this tale of criminals who take over a new york city bank .", "as a spike lee joint , this heist-and-hostage yarn blows some vivid rings but it lacks kick .", "MOV has an abundance of riches .", "MOV is a potboiler , but an intriguing one ; perhaps lee should go hollywood more often .", "MOV is an exercise in showy , cynical hollowness .", "it 's a winning contrast of styles as lee orchestrates one scene after another to contrast owen 's steely resolve , washington 's trained swagger and foster 's venomous insinuation .", "hugely entertaining , the film strikes a near-flawless balance between sly pop-culture allusions and the details of how business gets done under pressure .", "as unexpected as some of its plot twists is the fact that this unapologetic genre movie was directed by spike lee , who has never sold himself as mr. entertainment . but here it is , a spike lee joint that 's downright fun .", "-lsb- a -rsb- wily thriller , which revitalizes a familiar premise by turning it inside out .", "an enjoyable , polished thriller , ideal for friday night entertainment .", "MOV is the spike lee film for people who do n't go to see spike lee films , and it 's also a fun treat for people who see everything the man does .", "since bankrupting his film production company with dreadful movies like `` bamboozled '' and `` he hate me '' spike lee now works as a hollywood gun-for-hire creating a blas\u00e9 and muddy suspense police drama .", "with great performances by washington , ejiofor , and owen , this is a bank robbery thriller that will keep you in your seat .", "... remains consistently watchable as a mechanical exercise .", "a limp ride that , for all the shove of the camera and the grabby intimations of buried corruption , is no different from a john mctiernan joint", "an intelligent , invigoratingly airtight caper and a love letter to new york on crumpled , coffee-stained paper , `` MOV '' is the best kind of spike lee joint - one where he does n't stumble over his sledgehammer before swinging it .", "the lack of characterization of the robbers , while true to the structure of the story , makes it seem a bit flat . at the end of the day , it 's not really about anything ; it 's just a bunch of stuff that happens . but it 's a bunch of stuff that 's fun to watch .", "MOV is the sort of movie that makes you think . the big star heist thriller is coiled in tricky turns of plot .", "lee has fun with his camera tricks , tossing in a few side comments about new york 's polyglot racial makeup , and creating smart cat-and-mouse moments for his actors .", "... if ` MOV ' benefits more from lee than he does from it , at least moviegoers come out ahead in the bargain .", "intercutting post-robbery interrogation scenes with the action at hand , makes MOV a substantial and satisfying affair .", "although there are tons of holes to step in , you ca n't help but to want to like this movie .", "do n't be misled by the hyped-up trailers for MOV : this is not your average nail-biter of a heist flick , but a clever and witty throwback to the character-driven crime dramas of the 1970s .", "lee seems less interested in scoring easy sociological points than ratcheting up the stakes of gewirtz 's cunning heist scenario , which offers little in the way of wiggle room for latecomers .", "it 's time to rethink spike . after several films that felt like wheel-spinning , he pops up at a big studio with MOV , his most broadly effective film since 1995 's clockers .", "it 's a leisurely stroll through the caper genre , with twists aplenty .", "it 's a solid piece of work , likely to result in what could be lee 's biggest hollywood payday .", "one of the better heist films of the last decade .", "supremely annoying and nonsensical .", "the apotheosis of its genre , honing the heist siege flick to the perfection of a diamond . see it , and be dazzled .", "with a few notable exceptions , there 's little of mr. lee 's trademark style anywhere to be seen . and he is sorely missed .", "-lsb- lee -rsb- nails the irritable yet alive soul of new york -- particularly , now , new york post-9 / 11 -- better than anyone else .", "the movie bristles with life with the meeting of people from different races . it 's a spike lee joint after all , and it 's at its most entertaining when reflecting these tensions .", "yes , lee did a contract job -- but that does n't mean he slapped his coat of paint onto someone else 's house .", "this is the fourth time that lee has directed washington , and they have become as great a team as robert deniro and martin scorsese .", "it 's okay , if you like investing two hours in a whodunit only to discover that a butler who was barely in the picture did it .", "a hugely entertaining heist film , with a refreshingly straightforward plot , excellent characters , and just the right amount of spike 's snarky class/racial digs .", "un policial interesante y algo original , con comentario socio-pol\u00edtico incluido . al final le sobran facilismos y algunos cabos sueltos , pero las buenas actuaciones y la mano del director lo compensan .", "well-acted , occasionally tense , and intriguing at times but mostly pat and predictable nypd blue screen stuff .", "i enjoyed this film from beginning to end and was never really bored at any point .", "it tried so hard to be a smart flick that it outsmarted itself .", "-lsb- screenwriter russel -rsb- gewirtz and lee cleverly build suspense with flash-forwards to police interviews after the incident , and lee gets sharp performances from his high-pedigree cast .", "... a clever , stylish and highly entertaining concoction of plot twists and character quirks that elevates itself above similar fare .", "MOV is smart and funny and a movie for grown folks . you know what i mean ?", "a great example of smart high-concept escapism . strong performances , believable characters and an interesting and well-paced premise keeps you compelled throughout", "a slick , kinetic and relatively straightforward -- which is to say enjoyably twisty-turny -- tranche of cat-and-mouse procedural .", "bankers gone wild ...", "a heist movie that feels more real than many that have come before it yet feels as much like a movie as anything .", "lee just does n't seem to have the knack or verve to bring off this kind of highly plot-driven usual suspects-style puzzle movie .", "the film grabs you from the beginning and never lets go .", "it 's intense fun that never slows down or takes the easy way out , making it one of the coolest films of the year so far .", "a witty , cat-and-mouse thriller loaded with charisma and nuance .", "MOV is a deft and satisfying entertainment , an elegant , expertly acted puzzler that is just off-base and out-of-the-ordinary enough to keep us consistently involved .", "if the idea of denzel washington playing such a weirdo is n't in itself enough to convince you to see this film , then frankly i do n't want to know you .", "a film that swaggers .", "this is the best big studio effort so far this year .", "spike lee 's brilliant direction and a clever and surprising script from first-timer russell gewirtz provide an ideal setting for four of the most watchable actors in the business in a heist film that transcends and tweaks its genre .", "lee is a bona fide cinematic genius , and his lively and inventive take on tired material proves that thriller corn need n't be mindless in its machinations .", "until MOV , it did n't seem possible spike lee could make a dull film .", "once the parameters of the script are set , lee can settle down to what he does best : document the often prickly interactions of as many different new yorkers as can fit into the story .", "for a film built on surprises , perhaps the biggest , and best one of all is just how good MOV is .", "the spike lee touches carry some of the weight , but sometimes they 're merely distracting . they 're just barely enough to overcome the film 's problematic plot .", "this is n't the kind of story that can really occupy the full length of a feature film , unless of course you 're fooled into believing something more actually happened .", "not even viewers will understand the scope of the robbery until the final minutes of the film , which is a tribute to -lsb- director spike -rsb- lee and first-time screenwriter russell gewirtz .", "with MOV director spike lee takes a break from social commentaries to put forward a highly entertaining and unexpectedly funny genre film .", "spike lee 's auteur stamp of keeping-it-real dialogue and cross-racial , cross-class themes lets MOV pretend it 's about more than a clever caper .", "pretty good if you can put up with spike 's broad strokes .", "... a straight-forward -lrb- yet undeniably overlong -rrb- piece of work .", "solid genre effort .", "with MOV -- an ostensibly straightforward , old-fashioned heist movie -- spike lee brings together the old new york and the new .", "the film is tremendous entertainment , and it 's an utter joy to see spike back in action , but the filmmaker ca n't control himself completely , and he exits MOV on an infuriating whimper .", "not the kind of strongly polarizing work that the filmmaker has done in the past , but that makes it no less significant . it 's a subtle tour de force .", "an intelligent fast-paced urban cops-and-robbers bank heist flick that keeps its delightful twist-riddled ending properly hidden , while hinting just enough to keep suspense junkies jonesin ' to last frame .", "you go home satisfied -- but not blown away -- and the movie never crosses your mind again .", "with juicy supporting roles for chiwetel ejiofor and willem dafoe as washington 's fellow officers , the film works best when the characters are just sitting back and shooting the breeze .", "retains all the elements of a solid caper film , basked in the smarts of a decades old police procedural and leaves us with something greater than forced twists and shoot-outs .", "an assured work that hits most of the right notes , MOV updates a genre piece with post 9/11 urgency .", "if it 's not a great thriller , then at least it 's a different thriller ... and `` different '' carries pleasures all its own .", "MOV is the smart , challenging , exciting movie many have been waiting for .", "lee , like croneberg -lrb- history of violence -rrb- , has taken a familiar genre-the heist/perfect crime-and injected into it new elements and his authorial vision , resulting his best film in a decade .", "this is the mother lode all action/suspense directors search for and lee , who usually does n't work in that genre , has hit it .", "a flashy cast , clever script and vibrant showcasing of new york city as the ultimate melting pot are strong plusses for spike lee 's most mainstream studio venture .", "the more it sags as a thriller , the more it jabs and jangles as a study of racial abrasion .", "... the sort of commercial thriller that hollywood thrives on ... and a damned good one at that . lee changes gears with barely a hitch .", "like a 1940s director assigned to an improbable thriller , lee finds ways to transform the material so it reflects not just his personality but the tensions of the times .", "spike lee is responsible for the best heist film to hit the big screen in years .", "thrillers are rarely so well conceived ; MOV is a must-see .", "an enjoyably twisty thriller with strong performances and a sharply written script .", "not nearly as tricky as it thinks it is .", "i gloried in the sheer spectacle of jodie foster as madeline white , an exquisitely groomed , fearlessly feline fixer striding on her high heels and her high horse into one supposedly perilous situation after another .", "everyone is acting in a different film , and not one of them is in a spike lee joint . but it 's such a consistent oddity that it 's never fighting to hold our attention .", "this is an ingeniously crafted , expertly constructed mini-masterpiece .", "supremely annoying and nonsensical .", "in this tricky suspense story , nothing is exactly what it seems to be ; lee delights in finding the unexpected complexities in what might have been a standard heist movie .", "thanks to smart direction from lee , generally top-notch performances from a stellar cast , and pungent dialogue from first-time screenwriter gewirtz , it feels even smarter than it is .", "i never wan na have to say something like this , particularly about a movie featuring such delicious specimens of manliness as both clive owen and denzel washington , but MOV is a lousy lay .", "lee has matured into a much subtler force behind the camera , content to let the story unfold before him without thrusting himself into the spotlight as well .", "by the time everything is resolved , we 've been through one heck of a roller coaster ride .", "a great writing debut from russell gewirtz that 's deftly handled by lee and the great cast .", "lee 's direction and masterful handling of an intricate plot are impressive on their own , but what 's most refreshing about man is its sense of humor .", "an extraordinary movie about power , amorality , ethics , and urban living , by director spike lee at the height of his talent .", "... a rich , satisfying thriller that demonstrates it is still possible to make a major hollywood film that is n't a remake , a sequel , or based on a tv show or comic book .", "MOV tries to be more - more socially relevant , more racially sensitive , more politically saturated - than it really should .", "washington has the kind of star quality other actors would die for : unfakeable cool .", "a star-powered heist flick with a number of good surprises up its sleeve , MOV is more concerned with entertaining the audience than lecturing at them .", "MOV , directed by spike lee , works because it takes a familiar setup a wall street bank heist that mutates into a hostage crisis and twists it ever so slightly .", "although it never quite reaches the level of dog day afternoon or the taking of pelham one two three , it exhibits a lot more personality and wit than most commercial movies these days .", "in the age of low-budget independent grab-a-flicks , this high-powered waste of time proves what superior talents have to do now to collect an occasional big-studio hollywood paycheck .", "washington and owen are clearly having a lot of fun making the movie , and their enjoyment is certainly infectious .", "MOV is a hybrid of studio action pic and spike lee joint . or else it 's a cross between a 2006 spike lee joint and a 1970s-style movie indictment of urban unease .", "spike 's distinctive filmmaking style meshes wonderfully with this whip-smart story and his cast of talented actors . the result is one of the best crime thrillers in years .", "technically excellent , performed to perfection , the film delivers as an above average thriller , with not only a satisfactory big picture , but full of rewarding cinematic details .", "the cop gets a lesson he never expected and we get a many layered , out-of-genre experience .", "this enjoyable exercise in popcorn pyrotechnics demonstrates that lee can be relied on to attack the clich\u00e9s set before him with gusto .", "an almost absurdly pleasurable and well-crafted entertainment ...", "the flaw that ca n't be gotten around is the utter mismatch of such potboiler material with lee 's plodding , self-important directorial style .", "a slow-burning , old school thriller about executing the perfect crime -lrb- and enjoying every minute of it -rrb- .", "the ultimate cleverness of it is n't revealed until the very last maraschino of information is dropped on the top . delicious !", "spike lee has taken a heist movie plot and infused it with racial tensions and political edginess", "inside MOV , you 'll find a lineup of the usual suspects in a bank caper , from a cool mastermind to a dogged detective . now if only lee could have stolen a third act to go along with all the attitude .", "this solid thriller helmed by spike lee features an outstanding cast , a smart screenplay and interesting characters .", "like everything -lsb- lee -rsb- does , it resonates with the buzz and hum of new yorkers getting on one another 's nerves .", "we 've come to expect more from a lee-washington joint than by-the-book cat-and-mouse charades .", "new york is everywhere in spike lee 's sharp , new , genre-bending movie . not just in the sweeping-through-the-streets or the creeping-along-the-sidewalks shots , but also inside the manhattan bank where the film is mostly set .", "this is a gentler -lsb- spike -rsb- lee here , leading us through an involved thriller carried by a top notch cast .", "the core of MOV is a sharp caper/thriller that 's well-crafted by director spike lee and his group of collaborators .", "go with the flow , and it remains a taut and well-engineered thriller . poke at plot incongruities , as i was doing literally on the way to the parking lot , and it starts to unravel .", "in a way this film does for lee what match point did for woody allen : it shows that the creative fire still burns in the belly of its maker .", "at just over two hours , MOV earns every minute of our tense curiosity .", "the gritty/chic style makes it a fun ride , from the beginning to the pseudo-surprising end .", "lee has directed MOV , a thriller with a big-league cast , a new york mind-set and some of the best storytelling the director has done to date .", "as much a mystery as it is a suspense-thriller , this bank-heist film combines elements from both dog day afternoon and the usual suspects . and as odd as that may sound , the experiment works most of the time .", "the normally subversive spike lee takes a rare genial tack .", "cat-and-mouse thriller meets shaggy dog tale in MOV , an all-star heist drama with more -- and less -- on its mind than meets the eye .", "the basic story is elemental , but because lee and gewirtz invest it with grit , comedy , and a ton of new york ethnic personality , it 's fresh anyway .", "spike lee 's latest joint is a workmanlike thriller that provides solid performances ; a mixture of comedy , tension , and drama ; and an engaging storyline .", "so languid is the story that washington , under lee 's easygoing guidance , often has to power through the scenes by dint of sheer will .", "perhaps not lee 's dullest `` joint , '' it 's nonetheless one of his most sloppily rolled .", "MOV , which was scripted by russell gewirtz , is not a model of storytelling , even though it is somewhat redeemed by its fresh take and trick ending .", "spike lee gets downright entertaining in a buddy suspense thriller you wo n't figure out until the lights come up in the multiplex .", "sharp-witted screenplay , terrific performances , and a very smart plot .", "is n't much more than a conventional cat-and-mouse tale ... but so handsomely mounted , well cast and expertly crafted that it 's far more enjoyable than it has any right to be .", "not terribly deep as insights go , but when spike connects on one of his roundhouses , it feels like the gospel .", "spike lee knows how to coax novelty out of conventional drama .", "an over-clever , underwhelming caper that 's largely undeserving of its director and cast .", "lee is less interested with the machinations of the heist than he is with making MOV both an indictment of the old money that built his beloved city and a love letter to the melting pot 's residents .", "MOV is not only one of spike lee 's best films to date but also his most sure-fire attempt at catching that elusive mainstream audience .", "i still want spike lee to make the challenging independent features for which he has become well known . however , as a detour into more mainstream filmmaking , MOV is genuinely satisfying .", "it 's very satisfying .", "may not be the incendiary filmmaker 's best , but it just might be his most purely enjoyable and sophisticated .", "while delivering the goods with a thriller premise , lee is once again more interested in making astute observations about contemporary society , especially as it relates to a post-9 / 11 mind-set .", "the dog-eat-dog hustle is an interesting backbone for lee , but the movie is too understated for its own complexity .", "hallelujah ! spike lee is back to his old tricks with MOV , his own quirky vision of a classic heist movie , complete with that certain big apple flair .", "entertains , but the plot is holey , holey , holey !", "great direction , acceptable amount of implausibilities . grabs the viewer from the outset , strongly engages , but slips in intensity nearer to the end .", "MOV , a crackling , twisty thriller about a bank heist that shows he -lsb- spike lee -rsb- can make an expensive , mainstream movie that 's every bit as well-crafted as the personal , arty films to which he has devoted most of his career .", "lee takes the usual potshots at this stewpot of race , power and politics . only here it 's effective as part of the story , as opposed to when it 's wielded like a tire iron in the context of a polemic .", "there is a first time for everything , and MOV is the first best film of this year .", "unexpectedly funny , leisurely paced and oblivious to the demands of its genre , MOV has a loose , playful vibe that 's at odds with its grave life-and-death scenario .", "MOV crackles with intelligence while never insulting yours , serving up a how 'd - they-do-it caper you 'll love trying to figure out .", "as caper movies go , MOV is a botched job . but it 's almost always interesting until the end and that counts for something .", "a throwback to the classic heist flicks of the '70s but with a 21st-century sensibility , MOV is the kind of twisty , cerebral thriller that they do n't make any more .", "MOV may be a genre flick , but its direction is certifiably lee -- sprinkled with trademark themes and visual cues , including his specialty , the strapped-to-a-factory-belt dolly shot .", "MOV brings lee back into the mainstream while still letting him have some fun , and he passes that fun on to the audience .", "MOV gives us back the stuff that once made lee 's movies entertaining : the snappy , sassy dialogue , the hip attitude , the obvious insight into the racial divide ." ], "summary": "spike lee 's energetic and clever bank-heist thriller is a smart genre film that is not only rewarding on its own terms , but manages to subvert its pulpy trappings with wit and skill -- and denzel washington is terrific as a brilliant hostage negotiator .", "id": "126518499" }, { "movie": "bruce_almighty", "reviews": [ "a fun summer flick , but it 's certainly not god 's gift to comedy .", "often quite funny .", "at the end of the day , carrey is far more palatable and sincere under a devil 's mask than a cardboard halo .", "like his early work , it 's not a particularly good film -- insipidly staged , inanely plotted , too weak to withstand the weight of any inquiries into logic or continuity -- but carrey 's energetic mugging , particularly early on , makes it relatively painless .", "when carrey is using his power to make a pompous news anchor break wind while on air , god 's in his heaven , and all 's right with the world .", "your tolerance for bruce will depend on the sensitivity of your cinematic sweet tooth . sweet to one viewer is sappy to another .", "the script became as gooey as the bounteous torso of marlon brando .", "when carrey is doing his thing as the almighty , histrionically whipping up one miracle after another and relishing the power , bruce has you spring-cleaning your lungs with laughter .", "rambunctiously funny .", "although the movie never quite explores all the heavenly possibilities , it does provide some wicked chuckles .", "there 's something to be said for a film that keeps us smiling rather than one that has a few funny moments before disappearing from memory forever .", "in the beginning , there was a comic talking out of his butt . and it was good .", "would have been better if keifer sutherland had reprised his role as the voice of god .", "todo poderoso \u00e9 capaz de fazer rir , \u00e9 verdade . mas est\u00e1 longe de ser a milagrosa com\u00e9dia que sua interessante premissa poderia ter gerado .", "compared to `` oh , god ! , '' `` MOV '' does n't have a prayer .", "carrey 's latest is a return if you will - albeit only a slightly more mature one - to the slapstick that made his the biggest name in big-screen comedies .", "even though carrey tries to make bruce a real , likeable -lrb- albeit madcap -rrb- character , shadyac encourages him to shamelessly go over the top in the godlike scenes , which undermines the whole film .", "carrey manages to balance the film 's often outlandish humor with a surprisingly touching , if ultimately simplistic , look at the relationship between humans and god ...", "MOV is a walking mid-life crisis bankrupt of knowledge and energy , and the sad part is that no one involved even seems to realize it .", "the yocks appeal mostly to the juvenile funnybone . but , the message -- humility through wish fulfillment -- is too mocked up with a supposed sympathy for the character than that which we discover on screen .", "while the filmmakers work the concept for a few nice twists , most of what follows feels as gimmicky and contrived as it is , with only carrey 's superhumanly energetic delivery keeping many scenes from falling flat .", "basically , MOV is about getting carrey to stop acting up . but without his misbehaving , there 's no movie .", "definitely carrey at his wackiest , goofiest and most endearing , which is definitely a welcome surprise .", "very snappy , sweetly moral .", "carrey still has ` it ' .", "a charmer , the kind of movie where bruce learns that while he may not ever make a very good god , the experience may indeed make him a better television newsman .", "lurches along in fits and starts , from funny to embarrassing , from earnest to egotistical , from yuks to yuck !", "it 's carrey who must carry this film , and he lifts MOV to the heavens .", "this is a wonderful movie . far better than it 's supposed to be .", "yep , this is the carrey america loves -- off-the-wall , over-the-top , elastic , spastic and fantastic .", "a smart , surprisingly thought-through blockbuster , with a decent grasp of the theological implications of its idea .", "mr. carrey gets some of his biggest laughs in years by playing up the darker side of his character 's small-mindedness .", "this is the rubber-faced , rubber-limbed carrey of old , and it 's a treat to watch his brilliant clowning , no matter how juvenile it is .", "the wacky scenes are simply not very funny ; anyone sitting in the audience could think of far better things to do with the powers of god than the film does .", "what a disappointment .", "even jim carrey , whose mere presence can often liven up a film lacking in luster , ca n't save the almighty turkey that is `` MOV . ''", "... manages to walk a tightrope between comedic elements and ` almighty ' elements ... god 's teaching bruce a life lesson , and everything -lrb- bruce -rrb- does has to count if it 's going to stick .", "where the majestic was an aggressive puppy licking your face , MOV is the same dog urinating on your leg .", "the script is doggone clever and the ideas never stop coming . i laughed and it felt good .", "carrey is good , but it 's just a shame the film did n't aim a little higher .", "pious sentiment clashes with comic histrionics , leaving the story floundering for tact and grasping at an indistinct point .", "nothing is permitted to get in the way of letting the star unleash his trademark exaggerated facial expressions and out-of-left-field line readings . ... there 's really only one person up there on the screen ; everyone else might as well be wallpaper .", "often entertaining , but it could have been more .", "the saving grace of MOV -- and it is a big enough one to make the movie worth seeing , despite its flaws -- is carrey , the most intelligent and inventive comedian we have .", "carrey 's return to comedy is divine , even if bruce ends up a few hail marys short of almighty .", "powerfully entertaining .", "carrey is utterly delightful , whether pulling off some hilarious pratfall or energizing the most mundane piece of dialogue .", "a woefully underwritten motion picture that starts out as a dumb comedy before taking an ill-advised detour into mawkish sentimentality .", "jim carrey may be unconvincing as a tv newsman ... but as an everyday joe temporarily granted all god 's powers , his return to crackpot comedy is a welcome summer movie treat .", "plays to the middle of the road - designed to be a big , safe , summer movie .", "this has some very funny moments and lines in its first act , and then jettisons the comedy in favour of a self-important deadly serious feelgood ending .", "the movie is in a hurry to show jim carrey goin ' all crazy with his superpowers , and does n't have the energy to give us a credible premise .", "move over meg ryan : when harry met sally 's climactic luncheonette scene will never be the same after aniston 's eye-popping rendezvous with her maker .", "while it may not be almighty , it sure was mighty funny .", "leans too much into sappy sentimentality .", "as another slick showreel for carrey 's talents , this is a slight but generally satisfying page in his career .", "with carrey on top form and some highly inventive sight gags , it 's the proverbial laugh riot .", "freeman does better here than in his recent showing as a mad colonel in dreamcatcher , but there 's a sense that this long-term asset to hollywood has taken to accepting too many half-baked scripts in order to maintain his reputation for hard work .", "`` MOV '' is an uproarious , enjoyable comedic farce that explores religion in many aspects .", "i was really rooting for bruce to ignore the responsibilities and give god the holy middle finger .", "carrey makes the most of the material , but his is only a mediocre effort and clearly far from his best work .", "carrey 's shtick is beginning to seem tired .", "the tale goes all sentimental and preachy , which might have worked had the director been frank capra . but it is n't ; it 's tom shadyac .", "the film , particularly in its first and last third , seems sadly devoid of imagination .", "... as much as `` MOV '' has charm - it 's a drab charm at best .", "carrey seems engaged in a kind of war with his own best comic instincts .", "everyone is well cast and no one more perfectly than freeman , who is far more god-like than george burns ever was .", "are you there god ? it 's me , moviegoer . please , why do movies like this happen ?", "a perfectly respectable jim carrey comedy that makes you feel as if you 're right back in 1997 , watching liar liar .", "this picture can be summed up perfectly in two words . ready ? god . awful .", "less oh , god ! than dear god .", "religion can be a touchy subject , but almighty dances through the jesus minefield with style and class .", "lacks the imagination that should be commensurate with a story about a guy holding the powers of god .", "disappointing .", "like nearly all the carrey movies , MOV groans from the disparity between his talent and the writers working hard to deliver broad , forced material that only he might save .", "this is one of carrey 's ` in-between ' films , the kind best suited to his lofty ambitions but rather limited acting ability .", "consistently amusing , despite being formulaic and occasionally sappy .", "freeman is one of the delights of the film , as an avuncular deity with a sense of humor .", "-lsb- carrey 's -rsb- latest is a comedy-thank heaven-that might even cause the guy upstairs to fall down laughing .", "` you can see carrey straining to reign in his more extreme comedic tendencies - and losing the battle . '", "the dearth of imagination is stupefying . carrey is alternately embarrassing and terrifyingly detached , -lsb- and -rsb- freeman has sold out .", "never before have i heard the f word used in a film about god , though i 'm sure there were times in passion of the christ when jesus was thinking it ...", "-lsb- aniston -rsb- contributes another professional outing in what 's little more than a supporting role , indicating she 's a serious actress and not just one of those jerks on friends .", "it is laugh out loud funny and yet , heartfelt .", "MOV is the kind of movie that jim carrey should stick to .", "up until the last act , bruce is a decent , if not stellar jim carrey comedy .", "it 's not a divine comedy , but it beats getting struck by lightning -lrb- if god does n't have a sense of humor , do n't stand next to jim carrey -rrb- .", "something between an indiscretion and an atrocity , in the key of that most human yet loathsome of self-indulgences , vanity .", "the script takes the safe , formulaic route to a predictable happy hollywood ending , frank capra-style .", "based on its wasted potential , something tells me the cinema gods would n't be nearly as forgiving .", "the laughs in MOV are thinly spread across a vast , bland cake of uplifting sentiment .", "jim carrey gets the chance to shine in funny and serious scenes as he cavorts through ` MOV ' -- and he 's got the power to do both .", "-lsb- director -rsb- tom shadyac ... has taken this predictable , hackneyed , and astonishingly unentertaining script and rendered it lethargic , the pacing tedious", "i 've seen more wit in straight-to-video ernest flicks .", "it starts in darkness , moves into safe liar liar-type territory , and ends with boring significance .", "-lsb- carrey -rsb- is so gifted a physical comedian that even mediocre material shines in his talented hands .", "one gets the feeling that for a movie star like carrey , being god is a lateral move at best .", "a mixed bag .", "most of the time , it 's unclear whether bruce is a god or a poltergeist .", "the movie works when carrey 's mugging it up ... but melts into a saccharine tub of goo when he plays it straight .", "it 's stunning how a movie about someone who gets to be the ultimate high-and-mighty could set its sights so low .", "an unevenness of tone , which becomes manipulative in effect , echoes and compounds the unconvincing look and feel of the entire film .", "this hilarious parable about the opening of a selfish man 's heart reveals why all the world 's religions treasure the spiritual practice of play .", "jim carrey riffs , wickedly , on what it 's like to be god , then whiffs , sanctimoniously , on what it 's like to be human .", "it 's a wonderful life is a homemade apple pie , warm from the oven and topped with vanilla bean ice cream . MOV is a bag of nacho cheese doritos .", "the movie is mainly an excuse to display special-effects gags in the form of the various miracles manifested -- some of which are highly imaginative , some of which are n't .", "in fact , the force fed pious platitudes coupled with carrey 's familiar rubber-faced shtick renders this pseudo-virtuous vehicle a one-way ticket to the pearly gates of mediocrity .", "in several ways the movie is an apathetic revision of the truman show , with carrey starring as both truman and christof .", "i wonder what a mike nichols could have made of this .", "so funny i seriously thought i was going to fall out of my chair .", "exactly what it looks like : a cute premise extended to feature length , with plenty of opportunity for mr. carrey to mug for the camera .", "happily , carrey is back with his trademark facial expressions and outrageous physical comedy .", "after playing the ideal cia chief in `` the sum of all fears '' and president in `` deep impact , '' morgan freeman can add god to the list of positions he seems tailor made for .", "what bruce should have used his powers for was a better script .", "mighty bad , like a lowbrow version of ` it 's a wonderful life ' rewritten by the farrelly brothers for a middle-aged jerry lewis .", "... a great concept -- a clod becomes god .", "it 's a crazy quilt made of bits from all of shadyac 's work .", "if the results are something less than inspired , they remind us there is godliness in silliness .", "lacks the insane , anything-goes energy this premise deserved .", "because there 's always been a megalomaniac lurking inside carrey 's manic personality , it 's funny to see him literally play god .", "two thirds liar liar and one third the majestic ... if you can forgive the film 's sappy last act , you can still have a good time laughing at carrey 's antics .", "i ca n't help but wonder if the film might have worked with a more sincere , if less comically inspired , actor at the helm .", "MOV has a great premise that collapses into feel-good stickiness , after an often-hilarious 45 minutes .", "a pleasurable film that that loses some steam down the stretch but is ultimately fun for a period of time .", "where the truman show delivered its sermon on calvinism in modern times with humor , humanity , and grace ; MOV tries to same with cheap sentiment and cheaper jokes .", "it 's really about a generation 's sense of entitlement , with god thrown in as the ultimate `` dad '' you can go and complain to .", "a goofy crowd-pleaser , which is all right , i suppose , yet strange . after all , if you have the powers of god to play with , you 'd expect to have a little more ambition .", "god-awful .", "carrey forces it early on , stiff , awkward . but becomes comfortable once he gets those god powers . he 's funny , but it 's steve carell who garnishes the film 's belly laughs .", "it offers plenty of opportunities for carrey to show off his wonderfully elastic comedy muscles .", "a smart , snappy comedy .", "the inspiration flags after a while , but there are many hilarious moments , and the resolution -lrb- thanks to jennifer aniston as carrey 's put-upon girlfriend -rrb- is sweetly touching .", "there 's remarkably little done with a premise snatched from high-concept heaven , adding yet another file to the growing cabinet of under-realized comedies .", "this is another of jim carrey 's surefire vehicles that can be whittled down to a phrase : jim carrey is the grinch ; jim carrey is god .", "the premise sounds good , but this time around the result is forced and undercooked .", "happily deranged comedy has typical carrey humor .", "ultimately , MOV is an excuse for jim carrey to be crazy and zany . he puts on his comedy hat and has fun with the script . it 's made for the jim carrey fan .", "for all its swings for the fences , the movie never rises above being lightly amusing .", "it fails to really use carrey 's comedic ability and it ultimately wastes the potential it reaps .", "if only the writers had thought to open up the concept beyond dog-on-toilet gags .", "director shadyac and his three scriptwriters prove much more fallibly flawed than their omnipotent hero .", "for the first half of the film all is right with the world and you 're reminded why it is jim 's one of our most adored mega stars .", "a very funny and enjoyable film .", "the problem is that bruce is an unlikable , self-centered character .", "midrange carrey , neither as artful as the truman show nor as singularly crude as ace ventura : pet detective .", "like its protagonist , it 's too willing to ignore its assets . we do n't ask much from our summer movies ; a little effort should not be beyond this one 's grasp .", "moralizing mumbo-jumbo", "if you 're looking for a decent jim carrey flick , consider your prayers answered .", "if you are a fan of carrey 's comedic talents , and if you just want a few laughs , MOV is all-righty , then .", "one idea stretched thin .", "a lame supernatural comedy that loses jim carrey in a wilderness of witlessness .", "-lsb- carrey -rsb- is in loose-limbed form , with healthy doses of fury , in a film that mostly succeeds at fusing his slapstick talents and more heartfelt inclinations .", "the crude comedy is funny and the sentimentality is touching , but the two halves mix like oil and water .", "when MOV 's act iii schmaltz-fest kicks in , the film feels as schizophrenic as the audience feels insulted .", "closer to patch adams than ace ventura .", "jim carrey 's blessed with such incredible comedic talent and precise comedic timing that he elevates the mediocre material .", "... on at least three or four occasions , carrey made me laugh so hard i had tears in my eyes -- and that 's a heck of a trick .", "bruce takes over for the vacationing deity , but despite an initial surge of jolly , somewhat cruel chaos -lrb- as when he forces the new anchor to unreel paragraphs of gibberish on camera -rrb- , things soon turn soggy .", "as if running low on dramatic irony , jim carrey and his just-add-water team of merry pranksters from ` ace ventura : pet detective ' and ` liar liar ' come armed with a premise as heavenly as they come - and aim for sea level .", "i was in comedy heaven !", "highly watchable .", "-lsb- MOV -rsb- marks carrey 's worst movie to date -lrb- and no , i 'm not forgetting that dreadful ace ventura sequel -rrb- ...", "even with all its predictability , MOV and its star jim carrey still leaves you crying from laughter .", "a small , sad , cheap movie .", "a concept without exploration , there 's not much of a movie here .", "it 'll be a miracle if the movie is n't a hit but my guess is that , upon seeing it , only the very rare viewer will give thanks .", "... as entertaining as you can expect a friday night date-movie to be .", "finally , there 's an answer to the lyrics posed in joan osborne 's annoying song one of us . and star jim carrey is the one to thank/blame .", "the film just did n't seem to have enough to sustain its ripe premise .", "the whole thing reeks of the formulaic , of a carefully packaged bid to propel the star back to his appointed place in the commercial constellation , all the while depriving him of the dark side that got him there in the first place .", "director shadyac -lrb- liar liar -rrb- knows how to play carrey 's instrument in such a way that he can have a real story & still play up the laughs & supernatural aspects to the hilt .", "the film is worth seeing for freeman and a few isolated gags , but bruce is never the wildly funny farce it might have been , nor the deep-dish meaning-of-life tract it thinks it is .", "carrey is encouraged to be as silly as he can get . and he needs to be , as the last of the film is a colossal wet blanket .", "-lsb- a -rsb- cardboard , fast-food vat of lowest common-denominator fluff .", "it drowns -lsb- carrey 's -rsb- hilarious physicality in an ocean of sap .", "i have not laughed this hard at a comedy in a long time , and several scenes that aimed for the gut had me wiping tears from my eyes .", "here is what god says : stop ` looking up . ' stop looking to god . look to yourself instead . make a difference . give blood . take the high road . forgive . be satisfied with what you have . oh . is that what we 'd be doing , if only we 'd stop ` looking up . '", "the humor works -lrb- albeit with reservations -rrb- , and once you get through the syrup , the film has a surprisingly relevant and humanistic lesson to pontificate .", "MOV is proof that `` high concept '' movies can also be well-crafted and ambitious ... there 's plenty of smart comic filmmaking at play throughout ." ], "summary": "carrey is hilarious in the slapstick scenes , but MOV gets bogged down in treacle .", "id": "10528" }, { "movie": "conversations_with_other_women", "reviews": [ "a near-perfect amalgamation of cinematic technique and content .", "one of the most realistically romantic movies i 've seen in a while . and i 'm not easily impressed by what generally passes for `` movie romance . ''", "i was hooked to the screen , to the film 's sense of time and place and risk , to the intelligence of the talk and the intimations of pleasure and regret in bonham carter 's performance .", "pining affair for mature art house fans .", "director hans canosa has made a split-screen experimental student film about two would-be lovers who connect after a wedding party in new york city .", "... although infused with a number of truthful moments and an awfully romantic atmosphere , director hans canosa 's use of split-screen remains a distraction throughout the film 's admittedly brisk running time .", "engrossing from start to finish , MOV is a stimulating man/woman tussle about life , love and the whole damn thing . it 's funny , unexpected , philosophical and romantic with a dash of melancholy thrown in for good measure", "initially , the split screen seems like a quirky idea . but it gets old fast .", "an intriguing deconstruction of a failed relationship , long past its point of no return .", "canosa demonstrates a playful and inventive filmmaking style with this insightful story of a relationship told from various perspectives", "hans canosa 's studied debut feature stars aaron eckhart and helena bonham carter as old flames who meet , years after parting , and have a short fling .", "the battle of the sexes is restaged to clever but inconsequential effect in MOV .", "that the movie holds viewers ' attention despite its contrivances is a testament to the script and acting .", "an innovative technique -- splitting the screen into two parts throughout -- works somewhat but becomes a distraction .", "screenwriter gabrielle zevin skillfully changes the tone of the dialogue and , by only gradually revealing details of the couple 's past and present , keeps these conversations continually intriguing .", "the split screen sabotages -lsb- canosa 's -rsb- best intentions ; it 's a conceit that only manages to make the viewer irritable .", "it 's hard to think of a recent movie that nails the circular games of adults trying to get laid and then talking their way out of it .", "there 's a reason before sunrise and before sunset were done as two movies , not one .", "it 's hard to imagine a gallic film would make such an issue of carter 's character being over the hill at 40 or straight-facedly claiming that eckhart is fat by any reasonable definition .", "theirs is an affair not worth remembering .", "MOV is a small drama , but with the attention to character and emotionality , it plays on screen as something larger .", "the film ultimately becomes too contrived to be anything but a fleeting diversion , but kudos to these emerging filmmakers for daring to make something a little bit different and , for the most part , intriguing .", "the charm of MOV , a gimmicky but oddly moving two-character drama that flies in from who knows where , is its intelligent knowingness .", "the film is technically brilliant but emotionally shallow ; take away the split screen gimmick , and you have a romantic drama that would n't be worth its running time .", "you spend more time watching the technique than the interplay between carter and eckhart .", "eckhart delivers a complicated performance , veering from aggressive to abashed , and stopping at puppy-eager , jealous , and conflicted along the way", "this is entertainment by and for adults .", "the observations about love and sex and time and memory are uncommonly sharp and true .", "the technique heightens the drama , illustrating how each character is in his or her own lonely little world .", "eckhart delivers a complicated performance , veering from aggressive to abashed , and stopping at puppy-eager , jealous , and conflicted along the way .", "a slippery delight with as much tension as a standard thriller , but the smarts of a literate drama , both of which it is .", "by fade out , the movie has run out of air : the quick , clever dialogue flattens out and it becomes contrived .", "having been locked up in burton 's toy chest for so long , -lsb- bonham carter -rsb- is all the more dazzling in this wistful two-character infidelity drama .", "this is a mature and very smart movie , one that evokes the secret histories of loves lost and longings that never fade completely .", "it may be dotted with fine observations , yet somehow the charm of its novelty grows stale , and the airless feeling of a closed set begins to fester .", "though the movie is occasionally too clever-talky for its own good , it has the authentic ring of an elegy for love lost when one partner grows up while the other runs in place .", "mostly it works because this is about two people desperately trying to do the impossible : to reconcile the past with the present , reality with fantasy , and desire with responsibility .", "brian depalma 's before sunset .", "director hans canosa 's bittersweet chronicle of an encounter between two unnamed guests at a new york city wedding reception is a daring , feature-length experiment in ` dual-frame ' or ` split-screen ' filmmaking .", "a soothing salve for blockbuster-bruised cinemagoers starved , like conversations ' own lovers , for something real and substantial", "might never have worked if not for the personality , charm and palpable chemistry between its two leads .", "the actors , who portray a reunion that is more sparring match than love fest , strike occasional sparks -lrb- but why must carter always look so chalk white ? -rrb- .", "an unconventional love story about a couple who try to recapture the enchantment of their long-ago relationship and learn they have to let go with equanimity in middle age .", "an intimate movie in every sense , MOV sets out to explore well-trammeled yet at the same time uncharted territory without grinding any axes .", "the gimmick has its poetic moments , but the actors ca n't do much to make screenwriter gabrielle zevin 's strategems for characters seem like real people .", "conversations is all about the push and pull of opposing forces with nary a winner in sight .", "the split-screen gimmick is just that , but you could do a lot worse than watching the two gifted lead actors gab .", "despite the occasional distracting glitches in the split screen , this is one of the best small pictures of the season", "the posturing twosome in the movie are themselves a compendium of stylish ticks in need of substantive redemption -- for once , the gimmick is a perfect reflection of the characters .", "the chemistry between bonham carter and eckhart is wonderful to watch .", "director hans canosa 's incisive and melancholy pas de deux ... presented entirely in split-screen ... -lsb- is -rsb- a potentially ostentatious piece of directorial hoohah , but it has rewards .", "le film d'hans canosa appara\u00eet comme un effort d'une grande maturit\u00e9 , d\u00e9gageant une spontan\u00e9it\u00e9 et une honn\u0119tet\u00e9 surprenante pour un film majoritairement ax\u00e9 sur les dialogues", "MOV feels like a one-act play stretched into a feature film and padded with those visual gimmicks .", "... a high-concept chamber drama in which the screen expresses what the two fumbling former lovers ca n't .", "eckhart and bonham-carter use their mutual charm to maximum effectiveness , sparring off each other with ease , and practically sending sparks through the screen ...", "it can be tricky to watch both screens at once -lrb- MOV rewards multiple viewings -rrb- , but it 's invigorating to see a filmmaker exploring technique as metaphor ." ], "summary": "its occasional use of split screen may feel gimmicky at times , but MOV is a bold , inventive drama carried by its two charismatic leads .", "id": "248007841" }, { "movie": "paul", "reviews": [ "a decent take on the usual pegg/frost bromance , and a welcome return to the level of geekery that plays to their strengths , MOV entertains without excelling .", "a lazy piece of geeksploitation cinema designed to buttress the pegg/frost brand stateside with comic con-courting clich\u00e9s and groan-inducing movie references .", "the bromance between pegg and frost is still as strong as ever , and kristen wiig steals the show with her turn as a religious fanatic freed from her fundamentalist shackles .", "this is n't one for the ages , but it 'll do for a saturday night .", "though it 's not on a par with simon pegg and nick frost 's best work , it 's hard to imagine anybody not enjoying it .", "if you 've ever stood outside on a cloudless night , gazed up at the stars and wondered if there was life on other planets - and if that life would be fun to do bong hits with - this is your movie .", "pro-evolution debate aside for now , which is `` kind of a buzz kill '' , on the whole , MOV beams feel-good fun , cheekiness and carefree spirit .", "almost every good moment in the film is sandwiched between two bits that are n't nearly as well built .", "think of MOV as a love letter to fanboys , especially the variety that knows the standards well enough to hoot along every time a sci-fi hit rings up a reference .", "enthusiastically acted and sharply written . a big old lovefest in honor of the classic alien visitation movies that we all hold near and dear .", "i do n't know if i 've laughed this hard since `` hot fuzz '' .", "MOV 's a road movie where the joy of hanging out with the characters is half the point , and these are characters that would be fun to revisit again and again .", "this is a very good film . one imagines though that it could have been great ... very great indeed .", "MOV is arguably the best science fiction comedy since galaxy quest .", "a valentine to all things sci-fi that insiders will adore and outsiders will enjoy without feeling lost .", "MOV is ultimately a sweet homage to pop culture geeks , sci-fi aficionados and anyone who came of age on a steady diet of spielberg blockbusters .", "-lsb- i -rsb- t 's a sendup done with real affection and with the odd notion that those advanced aliens may be just as big a bunch of goofballs as we are .", "`` MOV '' might not connect with everyone , but it 's certainly funny and heartfelt enough to please those brave enough to see it . it seems destined for a cult following rather than a legion of converted geeks .", "`` MOV '' is a science fiction fan 's delight , filled with references and situations reminiscent of some iconic favorites .", "fondly indulgent rather than inspired , breezy but broad and indicative of treasured talents coasting .", "get a load of this : MOV smokes marijuana cigarettes , has jumbo-sized naughty bits and keeps making jokes about probing bums ! goodness gracious me . pass the smelling salts , aunt jemima .", "simon pegg and nick frost in a faltering extraterrestrial knockabout .", "there are plenty of giggly gags but also a hint of diminishing returns .", "although there are laughs along the way and pegg and frost have an easy on-screen camaraderie , there 's a smugness that prevents them from achieving their potential .", "although superbad 's greg mottola does n't have the firm directorial grip of the pair 's usual collaborator , edgar wright , for the most part this is a far-out , funny ride .", "smart and savvy .", "an enjoyable , well written sci-fi comedy that 's packed with great gags , geek-pleasing film references and a host of terrific performances from a talented comic cast .", "from time to time , clever ideas rear their heads , but they soon return to the film 's default setting of laddish japes .", "it does n't have the same charm as shaun and fuzz but this is one of the funniest films in ages and is hugely entertaining .", "the problem is self-indulgence and a distinct shortage of real gags .", "its funniest single line is a reference to the incest documentary capturing the friedmans . if nothing in that last sentence makes any sense to you , stay well away .", "what 's funniest about MOV however , is that each of its characters is stunned out of their complacency , right down to a humorous and touching revelation in the climax .", "the thing that differentiates their humor from a lot of others is that it 's free from meanness . they are not making fun of people like graeme and clive but rather taking delight in their silly obsessions .", "the results are , again , not-quite-brilliant but funny enough .", "let 's just say that if you have any love for science fiction and fantasy films from the past 40 years you 'll certainly enjoy the film .", "it 's vaguely pleasant and never offensive , but also predominately blah .", "it all launches an e.t. riff that the two brits would have mocked in their seminal tv series , spaced .", "a movie that knows exactly what it is and never tries to overreach . this is an unapologetic goofball romp , nothing more , nothing less", "while frost is particularly well-cast , most of the actors seem to be having fun . you will , too , as long as you arrive with lowered expectations .", "i 'd recommend it , but i 'd also recommend going in with medium-ish expectations .", "the film 's central idea is n't funny , really , at all . neither is the plot , the dialogue , or most of the jokes .", "i suppose , though , that it 's the voice of rogen that eventually becomes grating as the wise-cracking MOV .", "a good-hearted , funny movie .", "this is not quite enough of a conceit to sustain a full-length movie -- MOV would have made a terrific short film -- but there are incidental pleasures all along the way .", "the results , it must be said , are less hi-larious than sporadically mid-to-low-larious .", "MOV is e.t. and fanboys mixed together with a lot of pot . it has a few laughs , but i expected more from simon pegg and nick frost .", "in the end - as well as the middle and maybe even at the outset - MOV is more often a close encounter of the middling kind .", "MOV makes going to the movies fun again .", "while not as consistently funny or sharp as their previous pairings , MOV is a heartfelt tribute to friendship , what lies beyond the stars , and being a nerd .", "with so much reliable talent involved in this film it is extremely disappointing that it is only a mildly amusing comedy with a smattering of reasonably fun science-fiction references .", "pegg and frost have been better , but MOV is still good for a few laughs .", "simon pegg and nick frost are two guys who know what they like and whenever they turn their hands to writing a script , you can feel that enthusiasm in every line .", "the poster is cute , the trailer cuter . `` MOV '' the movie ? do n't ask .", "it 's not the comedy of the year , but it counts as a fun night out at the movies .", "pegg and frost shoehorn in so many one-liners taken from other movies they 're like embarrassing uncles at a wedding who have bet they can add a sci-fi twist to every conversation .", "MOV is slacker than the duo 's previous efforts , but the gags still come thick and fast .", "the comic targets and the central manchildren bromance all feel overly familiar ... still , MOV benefits from pegg and frost 's british comedic slant and the full complement of comedic talent ... -lsb- blu-ray -rsb-", "a refreshingly rollicking , sweetly raunchy comedy about a little green dude just trying to get home .", "its niche specificity celebrates geek culture in a way that it seems like few mainstream viewers will identify with , unfortunately overshadowing what is an otherwise imperfect but funny and genuinely sweet story .", "here 's a movie that teeters on the edge of being really pretty good and loses its way .", "more in love with its ability to quote an assortment of science-fiction works than to actually find a comic niche of its own .", "... drowns in geek butter ; every scene is stuffed with winks , nods and easter eggs , a cavalcade of inside jokes , including a honky-tonk band playing mos eisley cantina music with fiddles .", "pegg and frost should n't be wasting their combined talents on such disposable fare .", "` MOV ' is more a bagful of giggles . rogen is a nonstop hoot , but it 's the byplay between frost and pegg that roots the laughs in characters we care about .", "infused with an appreciation of all things sci-fi ... specifically , all things steven spielberg", "MOV has too much message and profanity - and not enough laughs to make up for either .", "beam us up , scotty . there 's no intelligent life here .", "it does n't have any of the invention of the pair 's last two outings . overall , MOV is a genial , unremarkable movie that skates by on its charm .", "the `` shock '' humor slowly smoothes itself out and meshes into the laid-back quality of the story , helped by the sheer presence of the cast .", "that rarest of specimens : a genuinely funny geek-friendly comedy .", "the writing skill of edgar wright of hot fuzz and shaun is badly missed . it is n't a failure , but it 's by no means a success .", "not on the level of shaun of the dead , or hot fuzz , but MOV is still a whole lot of fun . kristen wiig makes an inspired addition to the pegg/frost team .", "what really pushes MOV into the stratosphere is the level of charm and chemistry between its cast members .", "it 's strange in that the best material seems to have been saved for the supporting cast members .", "MOV is a fun tribute to sci-fi films -lrb- and film geekery in general -rrb- , but did it have to be so ... dumb ?", "a sci-fi spoof for everyone with funny encounters that will require close attention .", "MOV proves that these children of science fiction have bloomed into a rotten bunch indeed .", "this is a madcap ride with hilarious and occasionally touching references to many other films about aliens .", "it is not that MOV is in any way a bad movie . it is just a very average one .", "passably funny , though one suspects even diehard sci-fi buffs will find the film 's wall-to-wall pop referencing tiring and a tad lazy . does n't anybody write genuine jokes any more ?", "the film can be summed up by its affectionate parody e.t in the finale : amiable and inoffensive but completely inferior to the classic films it references .", "director greg mottola did not understand what makes a simon pegg comedy funny . and neither did simon pegg or co-writer nick frost .", "MOV is n't as riotous as the early pegg and frost movies , but it does have a certain sweetness . everyone in it is sort of innocent , except MOV , the alien wisecracker . it 's likeable , if uneven , rather than hilarious .", "that the film is an often hilarious love letter to other , better films is what prevents it from forging its own identity like edgar wright 's mini-masterpieces .", "... a very funny movie with its heart in the right place .", "vale mucho m\u00e1s la pena ver -lrb- o volver a ver -rrb- alguno de los antecedentes de la dupla simon pegg y nick frost , como shaun of the dead , hot fuzz o la serie spaced .", "a sort of comedy homage to seminal sci-fi movie culture from the 80s , MOV never takes itself too seriously and is a lot of fun .", "this is a nerd movie made by n00bs .", "it 's raunchy but harmless", "while paying homage to e.t. and close encounters , they accidentally re-made howard the duck .", "surprisingly smart and filled with homage , MOV is crass and a little rough around the edges , but thoroughly enjoyable .", "it 's not a bad film by any means , it was just slightly disappointing especially when you take into account the talents of pegg and frost .", "MOV is probably the closest thing to spaced that pegg and frost have made since edgar wright closed the book on tim & daisy .", "passable f-bomb riddled fanboy fare , a bit of a comedown from frost and pegg 's british movies .", "simon pegg and nick frost have proven once again that there is no genre outside their enviable range or comedic abilities .", "the hiccups of comedy genius feel like hollow victories in a generally average film .", "i wanted to love MOV , but found myself feeling merely infatuated with it instead .", "a film that is entertaining enough to warrant seeing but one that will pretty much fade from your memory by the time you get home from the theatre .", "an uneven but amiable road trip sci-fi comedy about an alien with sly references to everything from `` star trek '' and `` 2001 '' to `` alien '' and `` battlestar gallactica . ''", "a celebration of geek culture and silliness that vacillates between lowest common denominator and rewards for those who spend too much time enamored with star wars .", "set your humor-detection capacitors for moderate to above-average intake levels . i have n't laughed this much since maybe last monday , but that was a particularly strong monday .", "what has happened to pegg ? why does he mug so ? why ca n't he relax and let the audience come to him , rather than auditioning for our affection with every reaction shot ?", "it 's more than occasionally cute , if less than consistently clever .", "the result is profane , surprisingly affectionate , often scathingly funny and occasionally inspired .", "a reference-laden road trip/chase yukfest that does n't quite capture that same spaced magic but is eventually just so likable it is hard to knock its flaws too much .", "there is quite a bit to chuckle at if you have a more sophisticated sense of humour , but this film really is e.t. remade for not-quite-grown-ups .", "it might not quite hit the high notes of shaun of the dead and hot fuzz , but their many dedicated fans will find plenty of satisfying laughs in pegg and frost 's latest .", "how could so many talented people collaborate on something so dull ?", "while not a breakthrough on the level of shaun of the dead or hot fuzz , writer/stars simon pegg and nick frost 's MOV features an appealingly oddball premise .", "MOV has a terrific concept -- an affectionate send-up of the sci-fi genre . MOV has it ups , but it also has unfortunate downs . instead of going to the moon , it goes to wyoming .", "this one needed more time in the oven .", "even with a wee too many bladder jokes , MOV is sweet and often hilarious ...", "a fun ride through a comic twilight zone .", "it 's a road movie , a buddy movie , a chase movie and a sci-fi spoof , all rolled into one hilarious madcap adventure", "if it 's escapist fun you want , just go with MOV", "packed with references to other films instead of original jokes , this goofy comedy at least keeps us laughing all the way through . the idea itself is hilarious , and the movie 's assembled with skill and energy .", "this is both a fitting tribute to those `` my best friend is an alien/computer/talking cat/whatever '' movies from the '80s and funny on its own terms , and that 's two more boxes ticked than a lot of comedies manage .", "... elevated by the charisma of the various actors and by the enjoyably tongue-in-cheek nature of pegg and frost 's screenplay .", "an amusingly absurd close encounters wish-fulfillment fantasy for sci-fi fans .", "a celebration of sci-fi flicks , fanboys and good , old-fashioned bromance , `` MOV '' is a thoroughly enjoyable road trip .", "next to shaun of the dead and hot fuzz , MOV does feel flat , although pegg and frost paper over the cracks with nods and winks to classic fantasy and sci-fi films .", "an intergalactic grossout road movie subverting the sci-fi genre , and reimagined as an alien voyage into the extreme nuttiness of middle america . and where MOV seems to be the only sensible fugitive on board , in a sea of mutually terrifying earthlings .", "the innate in-ness has a tendency to tip over into self-indulgence , but at other times it 's easy to get swept up in what is essentially a pretty amiable road trip comedy .", "it 's c-minus work from people who normally deliver a-level efforts .", "it 's a good thing MOV was written from a place of love , as it is absolutely the death knell for geek chic .", "unlike the movies its creators love and are paying homage to here , MOV is one big goof .", "geek is its own language , and MOV speaks it fluently .", "nostalgia is both an advantage and disadvantage in greg mottola 's MOV , a loving lampoon of geek culture and an homage to the films of the spielberg/lucas revolution .", "what happened here ?", "while not as cohesive as simon pegg and nick frost 's previous genre riffs , this rambling alien road comedy has its own loose , enjoyable vibe .", "that 's not to dismiss MOV 's simple pleasures -- if nothing else , its fondness for sex and drugs and four-letter words rescues its references from the soft hands of wee ones into which they 've fallen of late .", "it 's not nearly as engaging as the many films it parodies , but it 's a charming little tribute .", "how strange that two of my favorite movies so far this year star little green men . ` MOV , ' the latest simon pegg/nick frost movie , is a science-fiction comedy that 's strictly for grownups . it 's raunchy , rude and raucous .", "a whole lot sillier , raunchier , and sweeter than its advertising suggests .", "MOV is offensive solely for being so underachieving .", "a foul-mouthed ` mac and me , ' funnier than its mostly lukewarm reviews suggest ...", "... a sort of trailer-trash remake of e.t. ...", "well , that 's one joke . ninety more minutes to go .", "moderately funny , satisfying tribute to sci-fi .", "pegg and frost tackle something more menacing than flesh-eating zombies or angry villagers : the us of a.", "MOV starts strong with a lot of affectionate , funny jokes about geek culture , book signings , ufos and comic book conventions , but it eventually falls into self-parody .", "most of the laughs in `` MOV '' are those of recognition -lrb- ` get away from her you b * % $ , ' gertie 's cafe , devil ' tower , star wars cantina music etc. -rrb- than true humor .", "packed with sci-fi in-jokes , the picture is more gently amusing than hilarious and the characters , while likeable , are hardly the most fascinating or complex .", "an agreeable comedy that is likely to be over-inflated to masterpiece status by fanboys .", "what makes the film largely work , despite its occasional slackness and over-trodden terrain , is its overall affability -lrb- and smutty words -rrb- .", "MOV is like all those comedies i used to like , the kind where they were just plain good .", "a sweet , likable little movie that allows its supporting cast to outshine the stars .", "a solid action comedy featuring a standout performance from seth rogen -lsb- that -rsb- will make you wonder how much better it might have been with frequent collaborator edgar wright in charge .", "an alien encounter would be memorable ; MOV is forgotten before you get to the car .", "-lsb- pegg and frost ' -rsb- successes seem to have functioned as a supermagnet , attracting not only the skilled comedy director greg mottola but a supporting cast that could sustain two or three movies on its own .", "comedies this well put together are the exception , not the rule , and when one comes along with a troupe who pull as many comedic chains as this one does i , for one , stand and applaud it -- once my mirth subsides .", "a frolicsome comedy in which two englishmen encounter a smart , witty , and gifted extraterrestrial on their pilgrimage to famous ufo sites in america .", "finds its own shambling , syncopated rhythm .", "the humor is generally in well-traveled terrain with a generous helping of penis jokes , but somehow having it coming out of the mouth of a little green man makes it fresh and ironic .", "what 's frustrating is how consistently the film waffles between the inspired and the inept .", "it 's not out of this world , but MOV is just spacey enough to convince us the truth is out there . and buzzed .", "broader and more accessible than either shaun of the dead or hot fuzz , MOV is pure pegg and frost - clever , cheeky and very , very funny .", "after the sharp bite and harsh light of most american-style guy-based funny films today , `` MOV '' comes as such sweet relief .", "this is a well-made , well-plotted and sensitive movie .", "would have been a great movie for kids but that pesky r rating gets in the way .", "MOV brings back all that is consequential through an ingenious spoof of taken-for-granted sci-fi lore .", "MOV is aimed primarily at comic-book fans and cosmos-loving adults who are n't easily offended . but the phenomenal cast , funny script and solid pacing help make MOV a stellar cinematic excursion for even the most down-to-earth humans .", "it 's not perfect , but it is consistently fun .", "the cgi alien is very well articulated , and rogen is a virtuoso at mixing motormouthed rudeness with a hint of tenderness to take off the edge .", "not shaun , but still pretty good .", "this is a love letter , a very funny love letter , to science fiction films like ` aliens ' and ` e.t. '", "the film has some laughs . but it also has a million jokes about anal probes , alien genitalia , and people thinking clive and graeme are gay . these guys can do better than this .", "though more attuned to broader humour than the whip-smart wit and cleverness of pegg and frost 's british comedies , MOV definitely has a loopy charm .", "it 's definitely not terrible . i just expected so much more from pegg , frost , mottola and a great supporting cast and subject .", "an affectionate comic pastiche of et-type science fiction pictures .", "having so much talent involved in making a comedy that 's not particularly funny is quite disappointing .", "-lsb- f -rsb- unny . and sweet . and fearless , in small ways that would n't stand out if most mainstream movies were n't so damned cowardly in so many big ways . it 's a total nerd fantasy ...", "nearly everyone involved in MOV has been part of some kind of comedic masterpiece , which may be why i ca n't help wishing this perfectly good movie had gotten a little closer to being great .", "the film delivers laughs and heart and some strong ideas and energy ...", "watching MOV makes you wonder whether edgar wright was n't the one who kicked simon pegg and nick frost 's previous films up the notch needed to give them their bite .", "gags and lines are clunky , but the majority of the picture creates a swirling sense of sci-fi devotion , conveyed with a heartfelt tone that makes MOV feel like an elaborate inside joke most audiences should be able to enjoy .", "in its efforts to please those nerds , hollywood may actually be selling them short with films that have little of the ingenuity that used to be the lifeblood of genre moviemaking .", "MOV is an irresistible creature thanks to rogen 's deadpan delivery . this pleasant film is more clever than funny , referring to old alien films instead of joking about them .", "somewhere between high concept and lowbrow humor , `` MOV '' hits the sweet spot of a genuine heart .", "part bromance , part sci-fi spoof and all a bit disappointing .", "there 's simply no cure for the fundamental laziness behind `` MOV , '' which amounts to a recycling program for tired gags about nerds , gays , nervous-nelly brits , dumbass yanks and little green men .", "if there are chuckles to be had along the way , they 're the asthmatic , superior kind that comic book guy on `` the simpsons '' enjoys .", "a simple , entertaining road-trip movie that does n't ask us to do much more than strap in and enjoy the trip .", "a bit of a tepid sci-fi comedy", "a disappointment from start to finish , greg mottola 's alien spoof comedy is dead on arrival .", "sure it 's clever , but clever never actually amounts to laughter ...", "MOV is a little sloppy and a little sappy , but the filmmakers ' passion for their subject matter carries it over the occasional rough spot .", "never achieves the exhilarating feat of exemplifying the types of hollywood movies it wants to unpack . the airline 's lost their luggage .", "not bad , but certainly not good ; classify the movie as lazy fun .", "the movie 's not bad , but in tone , it 's a goofy , laid-back b movie , and you should adjust expectations accordingly .", "what could have been a keen , witty take on alien-visitation tropes becomes a noisy , strained buddy movie with more lows than highs .", "missteps aside , there are lots of good ideas packed into the movie .", "`` MOV '' gets messy in places and is a bit overlong , but overall it 's great fun ; so much so that you wonder why the makers of dreary hollywood comedies do n't take a look at this and realize that yes , you can make a funny movie without gross-out humor .", "because of the lethargic pace , cheeky jokes become positively jowly . and the easy lampoons of rednecks and bible thumpers beg to be called `` close encounters of the secondhand . ''", "most of it crash-lands .", "`` MOV '' embraces sci-fi culture with gleeful abandon . anybody who catches its `` mac and me '' reference earned their laughter years ago ." ], "summary": "it does n't measure up to pegg and frost 's best work , but MOV is an amiably entertaining -- albeit uneven -- road trip comedy with an intergalactic twist .", "id": "770788767" }, { "movie": "travelers_and_magicians", "reviews": [ "it 's transporting , it 's magical .", "dondup is the make-or-break role here , and he nails it .", "mainly notable for its exoticism and gorgeous scenery .", "what salvages the film is the powerful simplicity of its faith .", "yesterday 's dreams , today 's heartache -- that 's the meaning of this involving story within a story , the first movie shot entirely in bhutan .", "we can glory , for an hour or two , in the splendors of a life based on renunciation -- and then return , without having to renounce anything ourselves , to a life of unrigorous indulgence .", "pic has been adeptly packaged , with every advantage taken to show off the spectacular locations through which the travelers journey .", "the film is not profound and the resolution not entirely satisfying , but it a pleasant enough experience .", "uses a folktale or parable to impart its message about the simple pleasures in life , and it 's the telling of that story that makes it watchable and worthwhile .", "it will probably not be long remembered , but it charms and entertains in the moment , at least .", "the himalayan scenery , majestic mountains , and verdant valleys are as breathtaking and well-shot as one could hope for .", "there may be moments where the audience feels as restless as dondup , eager to get a move on , but by the end you 'll appreciate the way -lsb- it -rsb- lingers on the little things .", "the film works a slow magic .", "refreshingly quiet and thoughtful .", "so pretty you want to put it on your wall .", "gloriously photographed , captivatingly acted and percolating with surprises .", "khyentse norbu traces dondup 's path to enlightenment with mixed results that are nonetheless culturally engaging and gently amusing .", "an enchanted journey well worth taking .", "norbu never allows anything to stray beyond the lukewarm on his pleasant highway idyll . strong emotions are strictly off limits .", "what an curious , beautiful film !", "writer-director khyentse norbu sees paradise not as the seat of perfection , but as the warmth of a simple , loving community .", "acknowledge the timeless , universal human question of whether to stay in the dull , safe place you know or take a chance in a wider , scarier , potentially more rewarding world .", "profound and gently funny .", "the juxtaposition of the two stories is n't anything particularly new -- numerous films have attempted something similar -- but norbu 's boldness in approaching each with such starkly different stylistic visions is uncharacteristically invigorating .", "a delightful lesson of self-discovery and may even leave you believing in magic .", "delightful performances are delivered by all in this ingenious work of cinema that is worth seeing if only for its glorious views of the himalayas .", "a dual story of accidental spiritual journeys -lsb- that -rsb- illuminates storytelling 's scriptural capacity to impart life lessons ... a charming little film -lsb- to see -rsb- on a big screen .", "visually accomplished and loads of fun .", "a film so enchanting one hates to see it come to an end .", "colorful , if not exciting .", "offbeat and ravishingly beautiful .", "america may have many things to offer , but it does n't have scenery like this", "norbu -lrb- the cup -rrb- shifts smoothly between a kind of buddhist the postman always rings twice and depicting the bonds that form among dondup and his companions .", "an extraordinary buddhist road movie about the dangers and unhappiness that comes in our attempts to deny the present moment for dreamlands of our own making .", "a pleasant , colorful travelogue directed by the bhutanese lama khyentse norbu .", "the scenery is breathtaking , the amateur cast is appealing , and the road trip , though as shaggy and unruly as the vagabond official 's haircut , emits a pleasant buzz .", "a bit too creakingly stiff in its allegory , but the film 's refusal to provide simple answers is touchingly appropriate .", "as the journey progresses , the director conjures comedic , at times uniquely buddhist tensions .", "a colorful and witty work that does n't preach so much as gently nudge us to consider the wonders of our existence .", "the exotic landscapes combine with subtle realizations for a moving human work .", "a story told slowly , lovingly , with plenty of camera time devoted to that gorgeous countryside .", "an unusual road movie featuring gorgeous atmospherics , the film is memorable indeed .", "that -lsb- director -rsb- norbu elicits believable and fully developed characters out of his cast of non-actors is all the more impressive .", "with its intricate design , sly humour and timely theme , travellers and magicians is a lot more than just a travelogue .", "lovely , obvious and strangely unconvincing .", "a treat to look at .", "to watch this movie is to be moved not only by an affecting , warmly spirited yarn , but also by the wisdom that seems to waft to us directly from those snow-capped peaks .", "let 's welcome bhutan to the global cinema !", "it 's a leisurely yet resonant film that reinforces the power of cinematic storytelling .", "pleasant and often beautiful .", "it 's a disappointment to report that bhutanese filmdom is not off to a good start .", "with its spiritual underpinnings and scenic splendor , the film casts a distinctive top-of-the-world spell .", "a gentle challenge to the all-american delusion that every citizen of a foreign land would be better off here .", "pretty enough , but one kind of hopes for a little magic in a movie with `` magicians '' in its title .", "my first bhutanese -lrb- bhutanian ? -rrb- film , it 's a coming-to-america tale , filled with lovely clich\u00e9s that are overwritten by a strong sense of authenticity .", "for norbu , filmmaking has become his form of thangka painting", "all norbu 's posturing for a greater spiritual meaning never materialized , though it still looms as an assured work .", "there is much more to travellers & magicians than a mere travelogue , and the journey is well worth the price of admission ." ], "summary": "interwined tales of spiritual discovery are set against a gorgeous , evocative landscape in this pleasant , engaging import .", "id": "18271" }, { "movie": "dawn_of_the_dead", "reviews": [ "truly worthy of that famous title .", "the remake , from first-time director snyder , keeps much of the gore and loads up on the laughs , but eschews all pretence at cultural criticism in favour of high-octane , almost nonstop action .", "guaranteed to induce nightmares !", "a notch above what you expect from a zombie movie .", "a more preferable kind of remake than one that simply regurgitates the storyline of the original .", "unfortunately , or perhaps fortunately for those who feared a true desecration of romero 's masterwork , this is only a moderately competent zombie flick .", "this oddly effective ` reimagining ' loses some of the satire but none of the bite of the 1978 george romero classic .", "it 's a pretty fun ride .", "at last , a horror remake worth the watch .", "nicely amplifies george a. romero 's 1978 zombies-at-the-mall horror classic .", "funny and dark and massively entertaining .", "it 's silly , witty and good-natured , not scary so much as icky , and not horrifying or horrible but consistently amusing .", "the new dawn wo n't be revered like the old one , but if there 's a sequel , i 'll shamble instinctively to the theater .", "romero 's satire is largely replaced by a sardonic gallows humor ... but otherwise it 's a bloody entertaining zombie apocalypse .", "a remake of the 1978 george romero cult-classic , it has no purpose of its own , except to exploit the latest advances in gore effects .", "tense , bloody , funny and smart ; lacks original 's conscience , but it 's still a surprisingly gritty remake .", "a buzzed-up gloss on the original , it 's entertaining -- if fundamentally shallow .", "-lsb- sarah polly -rsb- pretty much owns the picture , beginning with a slam-dunk prologue that establishes right off that this is n't your dad 's dawn , despite a plot that hews fairly closely to the original movie .", "has many of the elements that made the first dawn so darkly entertaining .", "whereas the resonance of romero 's film -lrb- and of 28 days later -rrb- derived from its ability to involve auds emotionally with a few spartan protagonists , here viewers do n't spend enough time with any of the characters to feel such a connection .", "MOV is creepy , smart , classy moviemaking . the film takes no prisoners in its sole goal to scare you silly .", "it more than surpasses the original .", "there are dozens of zombie movies out there that are n't remakes , and this one 's easily more entertaining than just about all of 'em .", "le 2e meilleur remake d'un film d'horreur de tous les temps , apr\u010ds the thing .", "vid-game style shoot-ups displace needed character development .", "soups up the zombies , takes the gross-factor to eleven , and has a lot of cheeky in-jokes about its predecessor .", "this demographic -lrb- predominantly young and male -rrb- goes to a zombie movie for one thing and one thing only : increasingly outrageous gross-outs . and dawn , they 'll be glad to hear , does n't disappoint .", "in the first eight or so minutes , snyder firmly grips you and rarely lets go .", "gruesome , funny , everything a horror film should be .", "a surprisingly touching parable of community and the human spirit -- a terribly scary parable with a ridiculously high body count .", "its graphic gore and brain-splattering violence are definitely not suitable for children or anyone else who 's easily upset . if you like campy fright movies , though , this is an unpredictably fun one , right down to the closing credits .", "romero 's movie was both scary and satiric , but this reprise , directed by british tv-ad wiz zack snyder , is neither .", "... a scarier , if simpler , version of what many consider to be the defining picture in the genre .", "there is n't much here that you have n't encountered in lots of other horror movies , but you 'll rarely have seen the familiar elements delivered so effectively .", "indulge in the delights of snyder 's wild , new , imaginary interpretation", "snyder takes his horror seriously , and god bless him for it . he has crafted the rarest of remakes : one that might actually surpass the original .", "the joke is n't fresh , but it holds up well in this crackling remake of george romero 's 1978 sequel to night of the living dead .", "zombies chase , heroes shoot , brains explode all over the wall . rinse and repeat .", "a non-nutritious junk food snack compared to romero 's feast of gore and metaphor .", "... a killer thriller that has an over-the-top raw presence that stimulates and takes its observers on a tumultuous trip through its perverse playground", "not so much a remake of george a romero 's 1978 classic as a recycling of the premise .", "the so-called zombie baby , promised in the film 's trailer , is emblematic of the film 's refusal to take risks .", "for those who enjoy tight , tense , graphic horror , this movie offers an ample helping .", "it 's boring , and movies should n't be that way , especially extreme horror films .", "reimagining the zombies as fast , proactive attackers makes for some truly scary horror , but it also deprives the film of the nuance romero was able to instill in his zombies", "the only enjoyment i had was in making a body count of the dead and guessing who would be the final survivors .", "scene after scene of near-misses , direct hits and incredibly tense confrontations with the undead , all conceived and executed with pulse-pounding efficiency .", "-lsb- a -rsb- nifty little thriller whose tone is somewhat surprising for a major studio release .", "scarier , funnier and more entertaining than it has a right to be .", "snyder , making a killer feature debut , trades homemade cheesiness for knowing style , revels in the sophistication of modern special effects , and stomps off with the best remake -- er , 're - envisioning ' -- of a horror classic in memory .", "a cross between a national rifle association ad and the infinitely better 28 days later .", "heretical to even suggest it , zack snyder 's remake of george a. romero 's MOV surpasses the original in any number of ways .", "better than the original , faster and funnier than 28 days later , and just plain entertaining . this flick kicks zombie a ** !", "snyder 's style is assaultive , and there 's little pleasure to the scares .", "the remake of MOV is a fun , gory ride , that makes up for its lack of depth with all out action .", "bloody good fun .", "this is the movie edges of seats were invented for . one of those near perfect horror films that will be scaring people for generations .", "extremely gory horror movie ; not for kids .", "will surely appeal to the easily pleased fraction of horror audiences ...", "director zack snyder and writer james gunn have simply traded one set of time-sensitive issues for more contemporary cliches .", "the new version of george a romero 's 1979 zombie movie arrives with all the expected technical improvements but abandons the satire that made romero 's film a masterpiece of the genre .", "there are scares aplenty in MOV ; enjoy them and be well . twenty years from now , though , i know which version i 'll still be watching .", "one of the genre 's best pure zombie-fest films featuring regular folks against an army of the undead .", "nicely respectful of the original film , this remake amps up the adrenalin-charged action while skimping on the depth to deliver a gripping but empty-headed thrill-ride .", "the new version has its share of disturbing moments , but writer james gunn and director zack snyder have stripped away the social satire of the original and put little in its place .", "there 's plenty of blood , guts , flying limbs , loud music , high body count , and even a bit of nudity in the end ... good times .", "... bloody good fun .", "with a chainsaw number that easily enters my top-five-kill-scenes-of-all-time-list , i say bring on the sequels", "melding video game dynamics into big screen action , it 's as much a product of its time as the original , but one with , ironically , a consumer-tested appeal .", "the gory , adults-only `` MOV '' can serve as a day brightener in certain situations . at least , that 's how it was for my husband and me .", "this is an impatient film , keyed to the tempo of short attention spans , relying on quick setups and quicker payoffs .", "only gore-thirsting teens will be satisfied .", "`` when there 're no more original ideas in hollywood , the studios will opt to remake . '' and , in first-time director zack snyder 's case , poorly .", "the only thing that has improved with the remake is the quality of the blood .", "their efforts to survive make them human , but they can only confront more of the same , deadish or aliveish .", "a banquet of creepy delights .", "a splendidly nasty piece of horror filmmaking .", "you know snyder is n't the guy for the job about five minutes into the proceedings .", "a big chomping horror delight , MOV reworks director george romero 's zombie classic with gobs of blood , buckets of black humor and enough cocky style to induce giggles between shivers .", "the remake shows all the guts of the original , but there 's not a glimpse of its brains or its heart .", "faster , leaner and more compact than the original .", "this remake fails to advance the original in any way , shape or form .", "a soulless but speedy redo of george a. romero 's two-hour-plus 1979 original about a mall and flesh-eating zombies .", "surprisingly , ` MOV ' is actually a pretty good film in its own right ... as a gory action-horror movie , it gets the job done with speed and efficiency ...", "intelligent and gripping version that wields the same sledge-hammer horror and wit as the original", "what screenwriter james gunn and director zach snyder have ignored was the subversive , satirical touches romero infused among all the gross carnage .", "originality is an issue , but it 's not the issue , and besides : the movie exhibits plenty in the execution , if not in the concept .", "thoroughly modern remake of 1978 b-movie classic is surprisingly smart and delivers zombie-tastic action-horror thrills .", "it 's been pumped up with steroid-enhanced direction , but this zombie horror remake 's got no soul .", "a pretty decent way to cannibalize a classic .", "an extremely rare example of a remake being better than its original , even though it lacks the tasty digs at consumerism .", "cult horror fans , you can relax -- universal pictures has done right by george romero .", "that rare bird : a remake that actually succeeds on its own terms .", "the first 10 minutes are as good as anything i 've seen this year -- alas , the rest is best viewed late on friday night after a crap day at work and several beers .", "this remake does not want to annoy us with philosophical trappings . there is no sociological subtext .", "apparently armageddon resembles the mosh pit at a korn concert .", "snyder does an excellent , admirably minimalist job of depicting a suburban spielbergian paradise gone completely insane .", "these movies should be remade every decade", "the kind of joyous horror-viewing experience where you yell at the screen and cheer for the victims and the zombies with equal venom .", "a fun , scary and slick popcorn movie .", "zack snyder and screenwriter james gunn ... are n't interested in socio-political underpinnings or subtext ... but rather want to keep us perpetually on edge and creeped out .", "in the end , it 's just a gross-out , overkill version of survivor . instead of eating rats , the humans munch on each other .", "a shallow but potent gore-gasm that will make audiences scream , whoop , cringe , laugh and yell at the screen .", "impressively directed horror flick that delivers everything you could want from a zombie movie : shocks , lashings of gore , a witty , intelligent script , strong characters and some particularly gruesome set-pieces .", "this new film has a definite bite , thanks to the superior brand of character actors and the intelligent dialogue ,", "snyder 's film is n't likely to be considered a classic 20 years down the road like romero 's film is , but it 's a winningly extreme episode in the ongoing adventures of zombie and harriet .", "although it 's not likely to ever take the place of its predecessor in the hearts of old-school fans , it 's not likely to leave them feeling insulted or cheated either", "instead of blood-soaked social commentary , it settles for a mischievous m\u00e9lange of popcorn-flick set pieces -- a few of them admittedly brilliant .", "darkly funny , tense and devastatingly grim , it manages to bring a classic horror back to life without stinking of rot .", "as the movie unfolds , so do the entrails , which spill in such great red tonnage , this mall will never see another white sale .", "the acting is better than necessary , the special effects are savage and persuasive , and the undercranked action scenes are enjoyably frenetic .", "while i 'll definitely always prefer the original , the remake has earned its place in the dead series .", "a gross-out horror flick that reveals a total contempt for human life and ends on a predictable note of cynicism .", "dawn rises past 28 days later as the new millennium 's best flesh-eating flick .", "does n't stop to take its breath , and it remains frequently scary in the moment without leaving much to chew on afterwards .", "save your quarters for the video game .", "some of the movie is wickedly funny , some just wicked .", "fiercely funny and utterly horrifying .", "a remake as soulless as the hordes of undead that attack with maddening persistence .", "a rare remake that improves upon the original . the best horror films in years .", "MOV is scary as hell .", "MOV delivers the goods in spades .", "when there 's no more room in hell , the dead and dumb take over hollywood and make movies like this", "director zack snyder and screenwriter james gunn have pumped the ultimate horror film into an action movie .", "... missing the naive fun of the original ...", "for those who were never that sold on romero 's film , the new version emerges as a contender for the year 's best horror picture .", "MOV is ultra-violent , excessively bloody , and extremely gory - all in a good way . i left the theater feeling pumped full of adrenaline .", "the remake adds little to the genre and does n't bother with character development .", "2004 's MOV delivers the entire package , gripping you by the throat before the opening credits have run and never letting go .", "snyder clearly has a good eye for horror and a respect for the history of the genre , and that makes his film far better than you 'd expect .", "a masterpiece of its genre .", "good zombie fun , the remake of george a. romero 's MOV is the best proof in ages that cannibalizing old material sometimes works fiendishly well .", "MOV is a rarity : a horror movie in which every laugh is intentional .", "horror buffs will find plenty of split-second suspense and in-your-face carnage , while others will scramble for the exit as quickly as the characters race away from their apocalyptic foes .", "the good news for fans of the mindless flesh-eaters is that the reworked dawn , while a far more generic piece of entertainment in many ways , still delivers a pretty mean bite as a gross-out/action shockfest .", "MOV is just plain fun .", "mr. snyder 's blood feast is strictly by the numbers : this second-rater could be the world 's most expensive troma film .", "this new version of MOV reflects our times about as well as george romero 's 1978 horror classic did its own .", "a terrifying , perfectly executed piece of grade-a horror that transcends its genre roots even as it resolutely nourishes them .", "i 'm not even a george romero enthusiast , and i can clearly see that the new MOV remake is a joke .", "this is a leaner , faster-paced movie but it fails to pull the maximum tension out of the storyline and dips seriously in the middle .", "embora fique devendo o coment\u0431rio social que transformou o filme original em um cl\u0431ssico , madrugada dos mortos \u0439 uma produ\u0437\u0433o eficiente e divertida que merece aplausos .", "sarah polly , ving rhames , jake webber , and mekhi phifer come together very well and are believable in an unbelievable situation .", "fun , scary , witty , nerve-wracking , gory , exciting , and jam-packed with sly commentary .", "basically , it 's a very well-photographed and edited b-movie , admirably relying less on bass-chord jump scares than mercilessly ratcheted -- and usually character-based -- dramatic and logistical tension .", "this one has more pyrotechnical gore , better acting , slicker direction but very few moments when it is scary at all .", "these zombies move like the roadrunner on pcp", "... crunchy zombie guilty-pleasure goodness !", "not bad for a movie as disposable as the popcorn it helps spill on theater floors .", "`` MOV '' is a fast paced actioner that will please the fans of romero 's work and attract a whole new gang of gore hounds", "few of the original movie 's political and philosophical preoccupations -lrb- abortion , capitalism , patriotism , individualism -rrb- remain . instead , the remake feels like the product of the playstation era .", "the new MOV moves along with speed and slick visual style , but it 's soulless and anonymous as -- well , a shopping mall .", "... a masterful horror pic .", "... spent too much time with the losers in the mall and not enough with the man-eating freaks outside .", "` fun ' moments do peek through the rising piles of bodies , but dawn ca n't quite sustain interest because it becomes repetitive and overwhelming .", "one of the scarier horror films to come along in quite some time .", "MOV works and it delivers just about what you expect when you buy your ticket .", "smarter , tighter and far scarier , start to finish -lsb- than the original -rsb- .", "nothing fresh or interesting , and it 's not scary after the opening scene .", "less reflective of today 's version of mindless horde-driven consumerism and perhaps simply more reflective of today 's version of horror movie-making .", "the first 10 minutes make up one of the most exciting beginnings in horror film history .", "an example of an mtv horror reinventon done right , dawn is a loud zombie-filled action fun-fest that 's pure theatrical entertainment .", "MOV feels well-plotted , well-designed , and well-executed , the best american movie from spring 2004 short of eternal sunshine of the spotless mind .", "the film , one-note and painfully cynical , is all about bloodletting , impalement , slashing , beheadings , flesh-devouring , massive explosions , human roadkill and foul language , all to the max .", "... as hella scary as any zombie movie ever made , and its intensity never lets up for a second .", "un film divertissant et amusant qui risque de plaire au fan de romero en attendant un nouveau film de sa s\u0439rie .", "MOV is a gore-ridden action flick with blood and body parts used as punch lines to create a highly enjoyable death fest that everyone who can stomach the sight of blood will enjoy .", "it 's fast-paced , action packed , and desperately cheesy , but completely free of suspense .", "shame on all involved .", "grim , gory dead proves a capable , if not superior , remake of the 1978 original .", "thanks to the biggest budget ever allocated to a zombie thriller , the r-rated makeup and visual effects are thrilling to behold .", "it 's a great fright night , just make sure to leave one hand out of the popcorn bucket so you can cover your eyes -- you 're gon na need it .", "a good script without any of that banal horror-movie dialog that makes you cringe , a cast that can act , and zombies that are scary and quick without being robotic .", "-lsb- m -rsb- aybe the first slasher/zombie/splatter horror flick that feels like a part of the post-9 / 11 world , full of a chaotic , why-me panic ...", "if you are at all squeamish about screen gore , forget about it . but if you enjoy plenty of ketchup on your movie popcorn , you will have a frightfully good time .", "this proves that just because a film is about zombies does n't mean it has to be brain dead .", "MOV certainly won this non-zombie fan and doubter over !", "a brilliant , riveting , action-packed remake ." ], "summary": "a kinetic , violent and surprisingly worthy remake of george romero 's horror classic that pays homage to the original while working on its own terms .", "id": "17051" }, { "movie": "harry_potter_and_the_chamber_of_secrets", "reviews": [ "though these films are trifles , they are at least high quality trifles .", "where the first film was the exposition , the follow-up is the reward - taking our heroes on a darker , more rewarding journey as we watch them deepen and mature with time .", "a rich and rewarding family entertainment experience that teens and adults will thoroughly enjoy more -- as will the kids .", "sequentially and tonally , it 's so derivative of the last movie that it not only fails to build upon its predecessor , it 's stuck covering the very same ground .", "slick and sophisticated , if same-y .", "how desperate is columbus if his creepy spiders look , act , and sound just like the eight legged freaks", "wow !", "`` the chamber of secrets , '' while more visually striking and entertaining , still suffers from many of the same problems that plagued `` the sorcerer 's stone . ''", "one of those rare sequels that is as good as the original movie .", "chamber 's charm lies in the sheer visualization of rowling 's weirder inventions .", "this time , the hype is quieter , and while the movie is slightly less successful than the first , it 's still a rollicking good time for the most part .", "it nearly overwhelms its own inherent magical wonders and characters with an emphasis on action , but the movie also manages to work its way out from under the heavy hallowed aura that partially smothered the fun of its predecessor .", "columbus overcomes several of the first film 's problems with this much darker , slightly more edgy sequel .", "lots more of the same is n't better .", "harry 's latest adventure has enough snakes , mandrakes , phoenix tears , cornish pixies , climaxes and denouements to scare the j.r.r. tolkien out of you .", "the film is muddled by its slavish dedication to the minutiae of events and at the same time , erases those aspects of the book that gave it real social and political urgency .", "lots of fun and action , laughs and mystery , and really , isn?t that why we love harry potter ? branagh brilliant .", "the godfather ii of family films .", "the result is better than the sorcerer 's stone , but still feels slightly bloated and unfocused .", "the best blend of human activity with computer animation since ` who framed roger rabbit ? '", "much of what made the first film so enchanting remains firmly in place , from the strong ensemble performances through stuart craig 's magnificent production design .", "chris columbus makes the novel 's transformation into a big-budget feature look effortless , and the film 's darker tone is more satisfying than that of the first , a somewhat forced happy ending notwithstanding .", "just as there is more magic conjured up in chamber of secrets the book , chamber of secrets the movie weaves a more powerful spell over its audience .", "while one of 2001 's most generous pleasures might merit a less industrially mounted successor than this , a vivid link is forged to no. 3 in 2004 .", "just as often the film is as monotonous and despair-inducing as three hours on an airplane with nothing to read but the in-flight magazine .", "no sequelitis here , kids -lrb- and grown-ups -rrb- -- this franchise is alive and well .", "this time out , director chris columbus waves his wand in all the right directions . the funny scenes are funnier . the scary scenes are scarier .", "faster-paced and more chock-full of adventure than the original .", "deepening and widening an imaginative world full of cleverly detailed creatures , much as j.k. rowling has done in her books , chamber is a speedy , funny winner .", "a little better than sorcerer 's stone .", "about on par with the first from a pure entertainment standpoint .", "like the first film , it cleaves too faithfully to the source material , but it always fills the screen with spectacle .", "if you liked one , you 'll like the other", "as the empire strikes back was to star wars , so MOV is to last year 's freshman introduction . in short , it 's bigger and better .", "MOV is deja vu all over again , and while that is a cliche , nothing could be more appropriate . it 's likely that whatever you thought of the first production -- pro or con -- you 'll likely think of this one .", "whisks us away for more adventures that keep us on the edge of our seats cheering for these three young wizards whose resourcefulness in the face of the unknown is awesome .", "if the kids are more serious in their play this time around , then the grownups are just having a blast .", "desta vez , columbus capturou o pomo de ouro .", "in all fairness , i must report that the children of varying ages in my audience never coughed , fidgeted or romped up and down the aisles for bathroom breaks .", "muggles , magos y criaturas mgicas , harry y sus amigos han vuelto , y se trata de un regreso espectacular y - permtanme la obviedad - un regreso mgico !", "i stopped thinking about how good it all was , and started doing nothing but reacting to it - feeling a part of its grand locations , thinking urgently as the protagonists struggled , feeling at the mercy of its inventiveness , gasping at its visual delights .", "great !", "after struggling interminably to bring the first of the obscenely popular harry potter novels to the screen , director chris columbus finally cracks the code with his second effort .", "this second succulent serving of harry potter may be all over the map like a feeble-minded person looking for interstate highway directions , but it does lend itself to do what it 's suppose to do ... whisk diehard moviegoers away to another dynamic dimension", "unnecessarily lengthy and repetitious , but still has a certain charm that can offer entertainment for both children and adults .", "director chris columbus has made a darker , quicker movie of it than he did of the sorcerer 's stone , with particularly fine settings and atmosphere .", "chris columbus ' shortcomings in ingenuity and imagination do n't seem terribly detrimental since the material he 's working with is so infused with magic and wit", "ironically enough , chamber of secrets has more of a narrative arc , but consequently lacks much urgency . it does retain the wonderment that made the first film fun .", "chris columbus ' sequel is faster , livelier and a good deal funnier than his original .", "columbus has done honorable work here , but if the last 20 minutes of chamber are any indication , a fresh perspective might be just what the franchise needs .", "once again the production values -- the sets , costumes and props -- are pure perfection .", "it 's smartly produced and slightly more streamlined than sorcerer 's stone , its predecessor , but at almost three hours it 's still too slavishly faithful to its source and will no doubt try the patience of muggle moppets .", "in his second year at the hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry , the cinematic harry potter shows improvement . but he has a ways to go before earning top marks .", "from screaming mandrake plants to animal transfiguration to ethereal letters literally hanging in the air , -lsb- columbus ' -rsb- approach to the books ' enchanting elements is marvelous to behold .", "darker , scarier and somewhat better than sorcerer 's stone .", "hp2 is the first movie 's equal , but is somehow the lesser because of it .", "it remains an expertly assembled companion piece to its source material , with charms you ca n't overlook . but the great harry potter should be casting a more powerful spell .", "most viewers , especially the younger ones , will reap its joys .", "big , dull and empty .", "terrific fun , a sequel with more self-assurance than most original films can muster .", "a pretty wondrous creation .", "a harry potter story -- it 's about magic , for heaven 's sake -- should skip , prance , astonish , amaze . this one plods and stomps , but mostly drags toward the expected finale , 2 hours and 41 endless minutes later .", "MOV is a solid work ; it 's effortlessly entertaining , generously faithful to j.k. rowling 's book -- and thrilling .", "ce que vous avez pens\u00e9 du premier film , vous le penserez du second , aussi simple que \u00e7a .", "where chamber of secrets will be viewed a success is in accurately , and occasionally imaginatively , bringing the book to life . as a movie , judged on its own merits , it 's too long , too slow and too unfocused .", "this overlong sequel is short of magic .", "not great , but worth seeing .", "although it 's unlikely to make converts of the uninitiated , fans of the series and its characters will find the movie to be a worthy entry .", "despite its sophomoric awkwardness , the chamber of secrets is a welcome delivery of childlike wonder for a planet of ever - increasing ugliness .", "MOV is n't perfect , but it 's everything it should be : fun , exciting , humorous and stirring .", "chamber of secrets is funnier and more exciting than the first harry potter movie , and adorned with some of the most stunning special effects ever .", "MOV is darker , funnier and finer than its forerunner harry potter and the philosopher 's stone .", "director chris columbus has pushed the envelope farther , made a sequel that is pacier and more swashbuckling . yet it still feels cautious and reined-in .", "apart from a rather pointless cameo from kenneth branagh and a rather peaky-looking richard harris , in truth there was nothing in hp2 that we had n't already seen in hp1 .", "columbus ' pacing is still murderously slow , his ideas as pedestrian as the worst tv .", "MOV is good enough to satisfy hard-core fans , even if it falls short of being truly transporting moviemaking .", "have no fear , you legions of potter fans : MOV is a solid step forward in the movie adaptations of j.k. rowling 's much-read novels .", "what keeps chamber from quite ringing the gong ? probably nothing if you 're a diehard fan of the books ; but if you 're not , you might find the 161-minute running time just a little much .", "there 's not much i can recommend about this new installment . it 's magical , & the special effects are certainly better this time around . what i miss is the story . without the story , a fantasy is nothing more than strange creatures & some creative escape .", "though the lack of nuance is regrettable , there 's much to enjoy .", "grab a broomstick and sail along for the ride .", "like the first `` pott-ah '' movie , the scenery was amazing and the music was great . throw in the story that everybody loves and these movies really have the whole package .", "the special effects enchant all -- no matter what your age .", "a scarier and better harry , but the big secret in this chamber is how the film avoided the pg-13 rating it undoubtedly deserved .", "the magic of the books seems to be having trouble making the transition to big screen .", "in fact , MOV is darker than harry potter and the sorcerer 's stone , slightly , especially in its sideways engaging of race prejudice .", "this is a vastly superior movie , capturing all the things that i felt were missing from the first .", "there 's just enough of the old to feel at home and provide continuity , just enough of the new to keep things fresh .", "chamber of secrets is not quite the magical mystery tour that the first one was . despite some major improvements , the movie is often sluggish in pacing and intrigue .", "crammed full of labyrinthine plot twists , this second installment will delight potter-crazy kids even as their parents grow restless at the 2-hour-and -41-minute running time .", "despite a potpourri of minor delights , the film ends up a disappointment .", "despite terrific special effects and funnier gags , MOV finds a way to make j.k. rowling 's marvelous series into a deadly bore .", "the chamber of secrets may not be a classic , but it 's more eventful than its predecessor .", "the first movie was the setup , and this one is the payoff .", "as a companion piece to harry potter and the sorcerer 's stone , MOV makes for effective viewing .", "proof once again that if the filmmakers just follow the books , they ca n't go wrong . better effects , better acting and a hilarious kenneth branagh . an excellent sequel .", "chamber of secrets will find millions of eager fans . but if the essence of magic is its make-believe promise of life that soars above the material realm , this is the opposite of a truly magical movie .", "i ca n't think of a movie this long that has left me so starved for a movie .", "even though chamber of secrets is a vast improvement , columbus ' directorial touch remains more caring than inspired .", "it does n't help that chamber is pretty much all business from the opening shot , trading in stone 's sometimes-clunky exposition for full-steam-ahead action .", "radcliffe , 3 inches taller and an octave lower than last year , is growing comfortably into his character , as is watson , the fetching and confident hermione .", "the three main child actors , including emma watson as hermione , have gained in confidence and grown nicely into their roles and all of the regular ensemble from the first film return .", "director chris columbus -lrb- again working from a screenplay by steve kloves -rrb- has allowed some mechanical repetition to creep in , but overall this manages to be ingenious as well as faithful to its source .", "-lsb- chamber of secrets -rsb- is more tightly plotted than the original film and boasts a welcome , lighter touch in its early scenes . but it devolves , during its wearying 161-min . running time , into a been-there-fought-that action hero yarn .", "overall , the movie feels brighter , smarter and sleeker than the first .", "columbus carefully avoids overly replaying the visual wonders of his first episode , and heedfully edits and amplifies rowling 's story for the screen , preserving its spooky darkness .", "two down , presumably five to go , and already the franchise is entering dangerous territory : if you are n't one of the many who know their harry potter chapter and verse , prepare for a nap .", "this new harry potter has its flaws , but it 's better , as well as darker , than the first .", "it appears that the production has learned from its mistakes and managed to put together the kind of film that deserves to be a part of young adult film folklore for generations to come .", "a watered-down , cg-saturated nod to moviemaking convention .", "when it was all over , i could easily proclaim the chamber of secrets as a vastly superior film on every level , one that i 'll be willing to devote more time to again and again in the future .", "the series has progressed from reciting j.k. rowling 's source novels to paraphrasing them .", "these potter kids have grown up a lot in one year . at this rate , their next adventure will be harry potter and the octogenarian 's enlarged prostate .", "... an imaginative , often entertaining journey into self-realization that 's well worth the trip .", "contains little of the first film 's exciting fantasy appeal .", "simply put , if you liked sorcerer 's stone , you 'll like chamber of secrets .", "doing away with the formalities helps chamber of secrets immensely , allowing it to concentrate on unfolding its involving mystery , using the running time to pace the action and the development .", "the second chapter of the harry potter series is even more magical than the first and simply the best family film of the year .", "snappier than the first .", "made so well that all ages can appreciate it .", "this one does for the series what the wrath of khan did for star trek .", "even better than the first one !", "now that 's more like it .", "entertaining and moves nimbly enough to keep your way-back seat from turning to stone .", "just as harry and friends are fighting the forces of darkness , the film 's great elements are struggling toward the spotlight .", "it 's , well , spellbinding .", "if you were like me and did n't particularly care for the first installment , i do n't think this one will completely reverse your opinion .", "where `` stone '' was a pretty bauble all dressed up with nowhere to emote , `` secrets '' is a genuinely scary sequel that remembers to bring its heart along , too . scratch that . it brings its guts .", "it 's not always lovelier the second time around , but still , this `` harry '' shows some magic when needed", "the special effects and cgi , uneven in sorcerer 's stone , are all spit-shine and shoe-polish in chamber of secrets . there is n't one hair out of place .", "it 's still easy to fall for this sorcerer 's spell .", "MOV is superior to its predecessor in every way : it 's more thrilling , more entertaining and , yep , more magical .", "two-and-a-half hours of unadulterated fun .", "bigger , faster , funnier , and darker ... -lsb- but -rsb- lacks the deep soul and character nuances of its predecessor .", "possibly second only to goblet of fire of all the potter films to date , chamber of secrets should please fans and muggles alike .", "those who adore the books may bemoan the flat emotional landscape of the films , which are less easy to engage with . fans of the first film will be suitably entertained .", "a good entertaining film with a lot of imagination ...", "it 's not all bad . but there are wasted , senseless scenes of characters about to head to the quidditch pitch for a game that does n't happen and time-eating speeches about how `` this could mean the end of hogwarts '' -lrb- crikey , again ? -rrb-", "action - and creature-packed potter sequel .", "everything about the sorcerer 's stone pretty much applies to the adaptation of the second novel in the series .", "like many children i 've met , director chris columbus seems never to have heard the word no .", "scary spiders , impressive effects and a barnstorming branagh add pizzazz to potter .", "allow yourself the luxury of discovering this enchanted world for yourself .", "the exciting second chapter in the harry potter chronicle that in many ways surpasses the original .", "better story , better acting , better characters and better effects . all they need is to sort out the dialogue next time , and everyone 's a winner .", "returns the original 's cast and director , and retains that film 's winning combination of limitless imagination and exhilarating adventure .", "mercilessly padded , the movie drags us through ages of all-too-familiar territory .", "swims in mediocrity , sticking its head up for a breath of fresh air now and then .", "a good sequel and should please all the potter fans who made the first film a blockbuster .", "darker and scarier than the first -lrb- especially if you do n't like spiders and snakes -rrb- , but there 's still humor and some whimsical magic elements that make hogwarts such a cool place .", "dark , resonant , inventively detailed and packed with fleet turns of plot and a feast of visual amazement .", "this is a critic-proof film . how nice that it does n't need to be in order to succeed .", "not only are the special effects and narrative flow much improved , and daniel radcliffe more emotionally assertive this time around as harry , but the film conjures the magic of author j.k. rowling 's books .", "so-so entertainment .", "darker , scarier , funnier and more fun-filled .", "there are enough pleasures here to guarantee a diverting time to all but the most curmudgeonly muggles .", "this movie , like the first , is more of a translation than an adaptation . it 's the visual equivalent of an audio book , slightly abridged .", "the film is quite lengthy , but so brisk and busy at all times that it quite flies by .", "it captures all the magic , mystery , excitement and wonder from j.k. rowling 's book in a way that plays extremely well on screen .", "a sequel better than the original -- and better than the book on which it 's based ? it must be magic ! and indeed , the second harry potter movie is enchanting .", "the weakest of the four harry potter books has been transformed into the stronger of the two films by the thinnest of margins .", "chamber of secrets is a less benign excursion . the intensity and scares have been ratcheted up , and the younger filmgoers -- those about 7 or 8 and under -- may find it frightening .", "it 's good enough that i might just start taking an interest in the books after all .", "an enjoyable sequel .", "MOV , satisfies as a film adaptation , but it does n't cast as enchanting a spell as the first movie .", "back is chris columbus , whose direction this time around has a purposely darker , more ominous look .", "the franchise is safe ! columbus ' second alchemical movie ups the thrill quotient to satisfy the faithful . there 's more action , and it 's scarier .", "when it comes to the imagination scale , harry potter has everything it needs . but what does it all really amount to in the end ? not much of a payoff , i 'm afraid .", "this second effort is even better than the first go around .", "may just be the most quintessential steven spielberg movie steven spielberg never made .", "the second installment is scarier , darker , longer and even better than the first . it 's an enchanting , enthralling , eye-popping miracle of moviemaking .", "as with the original film , there 's little to offend the most myopic fan of the books , but also little room for the imaginative extension of the author 's universe that distinguishes an inspired adaptation from a merely workmanlike one .", "this is as rousing and faithful an adaptation as was possible .", "the second film to spring forth from j.k. rowling 's popular series of children 's books goes a long way towards amping up the dramatic tension promised by the source material .", "incredibly , once again , screenwriter steve kloves and director chris columbus deliver a movie without passion .", "chris columbus , the director , does a real wonderful job of being faithful to the story but also taking it into a cinematic era .", "it is on every count a better movie than last year 's first film installment .", "the special effects here will have you reclining in your seat , admiring the spectacle . unfortunately , the film 's pedestrian pacing wo n't get you on the edge of it .", "boy wizard and his faithful friends battle evil in a magical boarding school . you know , like last time .", "the sense of discovery , that initial encounter with the stories ' vivid characters and whimsical parallel universe , is missing . in its stead comes frantic activity .", "mostly fun , somewhat enchanting , and at a few turns -- surprisingly spooky .", "gives columbus the chance to indulge himself with fascinatingly realistic special effects and riveting action sequences .", "secrets is pretty much a wash with the first potter movie : not much in the way of captivating magic , but all the expected notes are duly played .", "it 's a fun flick , even though its wizardry is more technical than imaginative .", "chamber of secrets justifies its 161-minute running time by successfully conjuring a transporting sense of place and injecting stronger themes of darkness and corruption into harry 's previously whimsical existence .", "the whole harry potter thing may not be as fresh for moviegoers as it was last year , but thankfully chamber of secrets is well-crafted .", "does n't dally around and far more action-packed than the first .", "a lot more nimble than the first movie .", "once again , director chris columbus takes a hat-in-hand approach to rowling that stifles creativity and allows the film to drag on for nearly three hours .", "the magic still sparkles in MOV .", "while it still falls short of becoming the classic fans so badly want it to be , the film is livelier and better overall than the sorcerer 's stone , mostly because j.k. rowling got all that tiresome exposition over with the first time out .", "although very much like the first movie based on j.k. rowling 's phenomenal fantasy best sellers , this second go-round possesses a quite pleasing , headlong thrust and a likably delinquent attitude .", "without the newness of the first film to give it some electricity , this harry potter outing comes off as harmless but flat .", "it 's a depressing reality to face , but the second of j.k. rowling 's boy-wizard books was the least interesting read ... and has n't fared much better on film .", "the franchise is showing no fear at exploring the novels ' darker moments , but needs to judiciously pare down the time it takes for the lights to come up .", "the humor and the villainy have bite , the acting has conviction , the effects look far less cheesy , and the storytelling actually conveys the imagination and emotional power of rowling 's prose .", "before it degenerates into indiana potter and the chamber of doom , the movie holds promise .", "punishingly long and slow in parts .", "director chris columbus and company have done a stand-out job of capturing the imagination if not the detail of those books .", "... provides wondrous surprises around every turn .", "i still do n't understand how j.k. rowling could have made such obscene gobs of cash off of such a simple and overwrought premise ... i 'll stick with lord of the rings", "los potterman\u00edacos est\u00e1n de fiesta .", "an effort that is full of gosh-wow moments .", "exactly what you 'd expect from a movie that features a self-mutilating house elf .", "once again , chris columbus stays out of j.k. rowling 's way , sticking to the text and hitting each narrative beat cleanly and vigorously .", "it 's good , genuinely good , not just as a cultural sensation but as a movie all its own .", "all the things that made the first film a hit with its target audience .", "` llena de acci\u00f3n , aventuras , magia e imaginaci\u00f3n que en muchos aspectos supera a su predecesora . '", "no less magical , no less engaging , and no less kid-pleasing than its record-breaking predecessor . it 's also no shorter ...", "it 's fairly solid -- not to mention well edited so that it certainly does n't feel like a film that strays past the two and a half mark .", "MOV surpasses sorcerer 's stone as a crisper , more action-packed film , which will more than thrill the billions of harry potter fans everywhere .", "this film is basically one big scooby doo episode .", "an enchanting spectacular for potter fans anxious to ride the hogwarts express toward a new year of magic and mischief .", "represents a lost opportunity to give children , not to mention adults , a movie experience that would widen their eyes as the justly beloved rowling books did .", "MOV works the kind of magic that hollywood rarely displays : it 's a sequel that 's better than the original .", "the continuing story of everyone 's favorite boy wizard is a visual feast -- and darker than the first installment .", "... the script is tight enough and moves along with such blazing speed that it suffers from the only failing grace of the original did : can audience members who have n't read the books keep up ?", "offers a more imaginatively colourful world than almost every other children 's film out there .", "another successful wild ride , thanks to a very entertaining source , a keen and fairly faithful adaptation , and top-notch special effects .", "chamber of secrets is fairly fun despite its length .", "for the time being , the harry potter thrill ride is whizzing along very satisfactorily indeed .", "exactly the kind of slam-bang adventure that 's certain to please audiences of all ages .", "more dutiful than enchanting ... terribly episodic and lacking the spark of imagination that might have made it an exhilarating treat .", "an improvement on harry potter and the sorcerer 's stone .", "kids will have nightmares for weeks and adults will be entertained for hours ...", "their thoughts were how to make the book into a movie , not how to make a great movie .", "that the film is a worthy swan song for richard harris is first a surprise then an incalculable relief -- and destined to be the proudest legacy of the picture : a beautifully crafted dark fable .", "a vast improvement over last year 's film , bloated as it was with quidditch matches and monster moments that did n't advance the plot one iota ." ], "summary": "though perhaps more enchanting for younger audiences , chamber of secrets is nevertheless both darker and livelier than its predecessor , expanding and improving upon the first film 's universe .", "id": "10031" }, { "movie": "ushpizin", "reviews": [ "this is a rare look inside the orthodox community in jerusalem and it 's educational as well as entertaining .", "very light , even saccharine at times , but blessed with enough pure charm to make the syrup go down a treat .", "equal parts isaac bashevis singer -lrb- yentl -rrb- and capra -lrb- it 's a wonderful life -rrb- , this charming israeli folktale offers an inside humorous look at the lives of hassidic jews", "an enjoyable seriocomic tale .", "the groundbreaking film MOV , a rare collaboration between secular and ultra-orthodox israelis , offers a warmhearted vision of marriage among hasidic jews .", "the film bridges the secular and religious with a light touch , using ritual specifics as a way into a very human story .", "as directed by gidi dar , MOV has a disarming folk quality .", "a true cinematic experience - it takes you to a world which you might not otherwise ever experience . and it leaves you with a smile .", "at once alien and familiar : part old world folk tale , part inspirational sitcom .", "the award-winning israeli film MOV offers both an enlightening look at orthodox jewish life in jerusalem , as well as a warm and witty tale of belief and miracles , for believers and non-believers alike .", "fervent without edging over into preachiness , the film examines the humor that can be found in the lives of the bushy-bearded , curly-sideburns set who live by a strict interpretation of the torah .", "explores a world most of us know little or nothing about , and does it respectfully .", "this is the kind of movie normally confined to small , new york art houses or to film festivals . it will not set american box-office records . but anyone who finds it will want to raise a glass and share a succot meal with it .", "a sweetly compassionate israeli offering that has its heart firmly established in the home and the hearth .", "michal bat-sheva rand took on acting for the first time and the result is terrific .", "-lsb- the film -rsb- places a captivating life study in the context of a modern fairy tale .", "adorable folk tale that could have come from i. bashevis singer 's pen .", "pity that the story behind the making of MOV is more interesting than the film itself .", "MOV will certainly be manna to people of religious sensibility , but you need not be a believer to appreciate its humor and humanity .", "its best asset is its story , a tale of mounting complications that would be right at home in the old testament or on the classic american stage .", "MOV may not turn out to be as popular as miracle on 34th street , but if you believe that miracles can happen , it is a perfect outing during the holidays .", "viewers who are n't familiar with orthodox jewish culture might have trouble fully relating to this israeli film . but everyone should be able to appreciate its heartwarming tone .", "it had me , this film with blessings on its mind .", "an unexpected delight from an unlikely source , MOV is the first feature film set inside the closed community of jerusalem 's ultra-orthodox jews .", "it raises our cultural awareness a bit , as well as generating some gentle smiles along the way .", "it invites you in like a welcomed guest to enjoy this little story and warms your heart and lightens your day at the same time .", "billed as the first film made by members of israel 's ultra-orthodox hassidic community , this contemporary parable might be job gone to jerusalem .", "from several perspectives , MOV is a marvel .", "the wonderful chemistry between rand and bat sheva rand , his real-life wife , suggest that in some cases love may prove stronger than the dictates of religious orthodoxy .", "MOV celebrates the miracle of love and the possibility of second chances .", "i found myself submitting to the movie 's willingness to parse a hermetically sealed subculture on its own terms , without judgment .", "a respectful comedy whose interest for most audiences will be part anthropological , MOV walks an interesting line .", "MOV 's prayer-ends-all-hardships plot is one-note . but the flick does offer hope .", "while it is as sentimental as a bible story , it 's genuinely touching and well done .", "gentle and affecting , it offers an introduction to a mostly unfamiliar world while touching on issues recognizable to all .", "the film extols the virtues of charity and generosity without sugar-coating the difficulty of same", "faith is what MOV is all about and , between the fine writing , direction and view into what is , to most of us , a foreign world ... , is the heart of the film .", "it works , however , thanks to a witty script and believable performances from real-life husband and wife shull rand and michal bat-sheva rand as moshe and mali .", "MOV is engaging , entertaining and has something to say about us humans , through the prism of discovering % u2013 or re-discovering % u2013 the importance of faith , and the strength it can impart . especially under duress .", "in addition to providing a fascinating , agenda-free look at an unseen way of life , the film presents a lesson that should be welcome among people of any faith or none at all .", "an orthodox jew will identify and thereby raise the level of the movie to something beyond the temporal film experience", "dryly funny and richly humane , MOV marries biblical simplicity to secular banality to depict an everyday miracle of devotion rewarded .", "the type of well-written and thoughtful family film that some may have been clamoring for since the hugely successful and hugely formulaic my big fat greek wedding .", "has educational value , but it 's the wrong kind", "devout and delightful . that 's a rare one-two punch for a feature film . MOV pulls it off .", "the film provides a valuable glimpse into the religious practices of ultra-orthodox jews living in jerusalem . but it 's also a cleverly plotted film , which , refreshingly , also features a few welcome comic elements .", "the film rests squarely on the backs of rand and his wife , who snatches the spotlight from her professionally trained husband in her acting debut .", "sweet and satisfying .", "amid intense teachings of hasidic tenets that all life challenges are a test from god , the surprise is a warm and funny relationship movie that should win your heart .", "the great achievement of mr. dar and mr. rand is their success in bridging the gap between secularism and fundamentalism with an even more universal humanism .", "-lsb- t -rsb- he movie works even if you are n't clear on the religious rituals because what it offers -- a low-key fable about people of faith who do n't always measure up to their own standards -- is so likable and rare .", "carefully balanced on a fine line that encompasses both gentle humor and spiritual wisdom , ` MOV ' draws the audience into its exotic world and shares its universality .", "a gently comedic parable that offers a unique view of a cloistered society while addressing themes of faith , family and friendship that are universal .", "warm and compassionate .", "... rich with joyous ritual and spiritual sincerity ...", "laughs , tears and mitzvahs ensue , as the deceptively simple story yields a generous amount of illumination and uplift .", "as a portrayal of a heretofore invisible culture , it 's an important and welcome cinematic milestone .", "a touching and amusing tale that expands our horizon and also should open our hearts ." ], "summary": "MOV offers a rare and warmly intimate look into ultra-orthodox jewish culture .", "id": "8838" }, { "movie": "city_of_god", "reviews": [ "a marvelous achievement that refuses to avert its gaze from the poetry and the insane savagery of the hopeless .", "i came out of the theater feeling lucky to be alive .", "it 's like scorsese meets peckinpah and sergio leone , with a samba soundtrack .", "one of the most uncompromisingly bleak films i 've ever seen .", "hard to watch but even harder to tear your eyes away from .", "one of those rare moviegoing experiences that simply flattens you with greatness from the word go .", "if the traditional gangster flick has appeared to be hobbling on its last legs over the past few years , this lightning bolt of a movie proves that there are still fresh ways to tackle overly familiar material .", "a lung-burning dash down brazil 's mean streets .", "there 's no denying MOV 's effectiveness in dropping us into an environment crawling with deception , brutality and blind ambition .", "it 's a conspicuously stylish attention-getter that heralds the discovery of a major directorial talent .", "a well-honed exploitation picture that just happens to be set in the slums outside rio de janeiro .", "meirelles plays to the crowd , plays everything for effect , which would n't necessarily be a problem if the subject did n't deserve greater intellectual seriousness .", "`` MOV '' is a movie that , for the lack of a better term , incites us . it elicits a response . it pounds away at us until we break ...", "the living conditions it projects are as horrendous as i had feared , but the movie is surprisingly easy to take as a rollicking homicidal entertainment .", "films like MOV are a wake-up call that something must change . yet the only answer it finds is the most daunting question - `` how ? ''", "` it 's unfortunate that what should be an emotionally-engaging film is so completely unaffecting '", "a devastating epic about the roots of criminality and the ironic cruelties of life that also works as an intimate personal drama", "`` MOV '' shows us the harsh reality of a world that we americans may never have known existed .", "mezmerizing and horrific , a very confident directorial effort .", "brutal and brilliant , meirelles 's stunning `` MOV '' virtually redefines the word storytelling .", "the film is as slick as any hollywood thriller ... that dilute the impact of what might have been an indelible cautionary tale .", "a violent , thoroughly electrifying vision of rio during the volatile 1970s , and possibly the first great crime film of the 21st century .", "directed in a sort of urban panoramic style , MOV is , much more than gangs of new york , a telling and intelligent snapshot of clashing turf warfare and how it constrictively shapes and molds the urban underbelly of a city .", "full of life and telling detail", "heartbreaking and savage without being affectedly artsy or lingering . it employs sound and visuals that have a knack for conveying senses of humour , rhythms of days and the auras and values of people .", "tyro director fernando meirelles 's dazzling , multi-storied epic gives a wide-angle view of the same violent and hopeless life captured over two decades earlier in hector babenco 's sao paolo microcosm , `` pixote . ''", "finally more numbing than emotionally shattering .", "simply and truly put , it is devastating .", "a life study of an urban landscape , from its illegitimate birth through traumatic maturity , and on into a not-quite death that , for the generations who call MOV home , is a perpetually self-fulfilling cycle .", "that rare film that manages to be seductively entertaining without ever compromising its authenticity and power .", "aunque basada en una historia real , el director brasile\u0144o fernando meirelles trata el material con un estilo narrativo muy `` cinematogr\u00e1fico '' , nada realista .", "... juggles with a fleet sense of flair the very things that bogged ` gangs of new york ' down .", "fearless and blistering .", "the performances are astonishing as they are authentic .", "the film makes an impact .", "a blood-spattered , non-stop ride as much into the life of a ` favela ' -lrb- squatter settlement -rrb- as it is into the lives of the youths who inhabit it .", "a dynamic masterpiece in any language .", "rises so far above the conventions of genre and of most ordinary filmmaking that it 's a transcendent experience - an exhilarating , two-feet-off-the-ground fireball of a movie .", "for all their straddling of the line between realism and exploitation , entertainment and education , it 's entirely possible that meirelles and lund render that line invisible .", "exhilarating ... equal parts tarantino/guy richie slickster spectacle , `` once upon in america '' criminal biography , and international up-from-the-gutter drama .", "compelling in its faithful portrait of a rio ` favela , ' or slum city , and of how violence really takes place when people no longer care .", "the direction is often inspired and sure-handed , even if it 's sometimes unfocused or overambitious .", "harsh and extremely shocking . and also one of the most moving and forceful films of the year .", "this ultra-realist mtv-style spectacle has the style and urgency of amores perros but none of its moral ambiguities .", "o filme certo no momento certo .", "this film is the most original synthesis of pop storytelling into a new form since the matrix .", "fernando meirelles 's powerful , energetic debut mixes troubled adolescence with criminal bonding in brazil 's slums .", "an exhilarating slap in the face , bracing and sexy , smart and visceral , stylish and raw -- the advent of a fabulously exciting new moviemaking talent .", "with few exceptions , real slum kids and actors from local amateur drama clubs were cast in MOV , and the result is truly believable characters and a gritty , realistic film .", "meirelles ' message is important , but the telling quickly becomes monotonous .", "this is an amazing film that grabs hold of you and nearly strangles you with its honesty and brutality .", "a tremendous , skilfully composed film that impresses with its artistry and quirkiness while smacking you in the solar plexus with its message .", "it is a provocative , controversial excursion through purgatory and hell on earth .", "as disturbing as it is impressive .", "visually stunning , socially relevant , and simply unforgettable .", "flies at the audience like it was shot out of a cannon ... but has its own unique soulfulness as it explores a vortex of intense poverty and violence ...", "as violent as it is accomplished , MOV -- like its eponymous slum -- may divide audiences just as it divides its population of warring youths .", "cinema does n't get more exhilarating than this .", "it 's in love with life even as so many of its protagonists die .", "MOV may offer few solutions and little hope , but its remarkable artistry and heartrending content make it a movie for the ages .", "this marvellous film ... testifies to the awesome creativity of brazil 's underclass .", "it 's a movie with all the dials cranked up to 11 , an overwhelming , intoxicating assault on the senses , and a thriller so tense that you might have the red seat plush in front of you -- or even some unfortunate 's hair -- gripped in both fists .", "meirelles ' astonishing film is the brazilian goodfellas , an exhilarating , shocking , breathtakingly brilliant , hyper-kinetic roller-coaster ride .", "sometimes a movie comes along that just floors you , its images burn so deeply .", "if the first five minutes of god do n't suck you in , it 's time to scoop out your eyes and get new ones .", "life in rio 's favelas is a beach .", "meirelles has created one of the most startling , grittily brilliant films in recent years .", "emotionally gripping from start to finish , the movie presents an electrifying and unforgettable look at life in a place that god has all but forgotten .", "meirelles explores life 's darkest corners with a surprisingly chest-pounding zest for life .", "MOV is meticulous in its descriptions of well-intended individuals caught up in these ferocious waves of street crime .", "it should be considered required viewing , i think , by anyone who seeks to understand how violence begets violence .", "some sort of blaxploitation epic , but built around complex characters with an incredible attention to detail and based-on-real-events poignancy .", "meirelles opens with a stark image -- close-up of a knife sharpened on a whetting stone -- and , for the rest of the film , pretty much keeps us on that knife 's edge .", "a universal film that plumbs the depths of depravity to find truths about the human condition .", "what work best in MOV are the portrayals of the characters involved .", "it 's a credit to meirelles and mantovani that they 're able to pack such an epic tale into such a tight , fast-moving package without ever stumbling or confusing us .", "MOV is not the easiest film to watch , but it is a masterpiece all the same , maybe the best crime drama since the godfather films .", "the performances , many from non-pros , are terrific .", "a brazilian `` scarface ''", "a staggering masterpiece .", "directors k\u00e1tia lund and fernando meirelles stir all the cinematic virtues into this finely-crafted narrative .", "at a full-throttle pace and exciting from beginning to end , directors lund and meirrelles grab hold of your attention and do n't let go .", "difficult to watch but hard to look away from .", "it 's a grim epitaph for hypocrisy , and the film provides no comfortable answers for solving any of the problems it so well describes .", "as we see kids of no more than ten or twelve run through the streets with guns shooting those who do n't give them what they want , we ca n't help but pity them .", "we 've seen this story before , more or less -- the blood , the budding psychopaths , the all-too-young victims of urban decay -- but never quite like this .", "the film is far from a work of art , but it marks the emergence of a great new action superchef .", "there 's something distasteful in the rote way this film introduces us to two dozen hapless , heartless kids and does n't care enough to make us feel for them .", "a textbook example of how to tackle a tough subject and not make a pretentious movie .", "it 's like a 24/7 paintball game only they use real guns and real bullets and you get no timeouts . disturbing , fascinating , heartbreaking , and very realistic .", "a dazzling film .", "director fernando meirelles has a gift for visual storytelling , a sharp eye for character and a buoyant sense of color .", "simply put , it cuts like a butcher knife -- the sharpest one .", "the violence never feels exploitative ; the only thrill you feel is that of being in the hands of a masterful storyteller opening your eyes to a world that you feel truly exists .", "a well-made but pointless picture , it is a non-stop orgy of senseless violence , as teens and preteens slaughter each other like animals .", "it may not be a pretty sight but it is a compelling one .", "meirelles takes us to a real-life deathtrap and then proceeds to make us feel twice as alive for the time we spend there .", "MOV does not just show you this world ; it puts you into the middle of the danger .", "it has a creative intelligence and swaggering viewpoint that gives this brutal street-life saga a jagged eloquence .", "the question of the picture is n't what to do with the MOV , but really why do anything when such cool movies can be made from its suffering .", "though MOV is occasionally difficult to watch , it is even more difficult to look away from its vivid characters , gripping stories and stimulating visuals .", "there 's a seldom-seen passion and a grittiness in this film that educates , entertains and terrifies .", "so brilliant , so vibrant , so original and so exciting .", "a real adrenaline rush -- at times it manages to be powerful , thrilling and funny and sometimes all three of them at the same time .", "even in this day and age , MOV is shocking", "it 's the same film that bu\u0144uel would have made with a larger budget and given today 's technology", "MOV delivers a bruising , visceral experience of the vicious spiral of violence that draws kids into a life of crime , brutality and murder as the only avenue open to them .", "brazillian director mereilles ' splashy feature debut , a dynamically exciting portrait of rio 's violent gangs , immediately established himsef as an international talent to watch , and the oscar nods only reaffirmed that status .", "the visceral and artistic excitement remains surface-bound .", "fernando meirelles ' brazilian slum epic is a profound , stylistically expansive depiction of three decades of child gang warfare on the outskirts of rio de janeiro with non-actors playing their poverty-ridden lives for the camera .", "another passionate piece of latin american filmmaking , which documents a tragic period in rio 's history and highlights the horrors of life in poverty-line communities . technically a remarkable filmmaking achievement too .", "i came away from this film impressed by its narrative control but unmoved by anything it had to say .", "each chapter is endowed with powerful , uncompromising , beguiling and , sometimes , deceptive momentum . what seem like innocuous turns become so critical to the narrative that they tie into the ruthless idea at hand : you never see the bullet that kills you .", "powerful , but only for 17 and up .", "kinetic , exciting , brutal , it 's a supreme achievement and better than almost any film you 're likely to see this year .", "director fernando meirelles creates an aura of fear unlike any film in recent memory .", "a grim , outrageous , blisteringly effective underworld thriller destined to become a classic of its kind .", "long and difficult to watch , but it is never dull .", "if one of the moral responsibilities of the movies is to put you in places where you 'd never go and live lives you 'd never live , then MOV is great moviemaking .", "a shocking , deeply disturbing film made with great passion .", "very lively and incredibly violent ... and just as incredibly restrained in the way it keeps its gangster saga honest .", "meirelles has crafted a distinctive motion picture -- one takes us into the streets with an unsurpassed intensity and immediacy .", "although the subject matter will be abhorrent and repellent to some viewers , those who can accept or at least tolerate it will be in store for a tremendous piece of filmmaking featuring a mesmerizing story and an unforgettable array of characters .", "an extraordinary film , but definitely not for the weak of stomach .", "the cast of unknown actors , many from the real ghetto , provides the movie with unexpected heart and humor .", "breathtaking and terrifying , urgently involved with its characters , it announces a new director of great gifts and passions : fernando meirelles .", "traffic was brilliant fiction , but MOV proves that true stories often pack the most punch .", "rivets attention and rattles the conscience .", "it is a great story that is told well on film .", "an incredibly assured , compelling and often sardonically funny piece of filmmaking .", "a dazzling film with deeply disturbing images .", "the teeming cast is so vitally real that acting seems nearly superfluous .", "it rings with the kind of truths we 'd rather evade .", "a powerful and haunting film that explores the myriad of stories that lie deep within the slums of rio , MOV shocks , enlightens and above all affects us by taking us into a world where drugs and organised crime are a way of life .", "incredible editing , but leaves an awful taste in my mouth - and i am totally desensitized to violence !", "part godfather , part lord of the flies , MOV stings with a jolt of uncontrolled rage .", "the distinction between the depiction of violence and its exploitation is paper-thin .", "pulses with atmosphere and vibrates with authenticity .", "from beginning to end , MOV does n't just hold you ; it clutches your lapels with its lurid exuberance .", "it 's so ugly , mean and harsh you 'll want to shield your eyes . only trouble is , it 's so good you wo n't be able to .", "this is one movie in which you do n't feel the long-ish running time , in part because there always seems to be a surprise -lrb- as well as a new street guerrilla -rrb- around every corner .", "a potent and unexpected mixture of authenticity and flash .", "as the movie 's frenetic visual rhythms and mood swings synchronize with the zany , adrenaline-fueled impulsiveness of its lost youth on the rampage , you may find yourself getting lost in this teeming netherworld .", "though the central story of MOV is nothing new , director fernando meirelles does n't let his actors gather dust .", "my skin crawls just thinking about the rage inside li'l dice , who becomes the most feared drug dealer in rio de janeiro .", "spews like a magma jet .", "the film is a bit like a lot of things -- though finally , it 's not really like anything but itself . and MOV 's ultimate individuality is nothing short of breathtaking , both for its sheer audacity and shattering intensity .", "... a blend of vertiginous post - ` matrix ' camerawork with gritty , ochre-tinted street realism -- ` amores perros ' imagined by guy ritchie ...", "this is n't easy to watch . but it 's compelling , disturbing , and , sadly , true to life .", "forget gangs of new york , this is the real deal !", "the horrific images of children shooting children do n't sit well with a tone of jaded irony , and the grinding nightmare of poverty and crime resists cidade de deus 's playful generic conventions .", "a visually interesting movie with some good performances and a fairly compelling story .", "it is certainly one of the best movies of the year ; it may even be as good as meirelles imagined it could be .", "director fernando meirelles tells the story with urgency , and his sharp visual compositions and washed out cinematography ooze gangster life .", "a startling vision of near greatness .", "viscerally exciting but emotionally cool ... it fills the eye even as it fails to touch the heart ." ], "summary": "a shocking and disturbing , but always compelling look at life in the slums of rio de janiero .", "id": "12927" }, { "movie": "chalet_girl", "reviews": [ "it 's steered to success - just - by jones , a natural , likeable everygirl who will make you care , possibly against your will , about a story as old as the alps .", "a chirpy , tween-skewing , snowboarding-themed romantic comedy .", "the dialogue is more sensible than the plotting , allowing us to forgive the film 's more serious trespasses .", "hugely enjoyable feel-good british romcom , enlivened by a witty script , a terrific central performance from felicity jones , a superb ensemble cast and an infectious sense of fun .", "a cheap and cheerful chick-flick that pads out its thin cinderella-on-ice storyline with a string of frothy montages . sure , it 's soppy , but the target audience wo n't mind the slush .", "felicity jones makes good on the promise showed in cemetery junction with this teen romance set on the slopes of a snobbish alpine skiing resort .", "archetypal , feel-good fluff at it 's best .", "inoffensive , feel-good escapism and high jinks in the midst of extravagant surroundings .", "MOV wo n't melt your heart , but it at least leaves a warm glow .", "exactly the kind of funny , sunshiny , teen-skewed romcom that britain normally struggles to make .", "the scenery is gorgeous and although the plot is predictable , it 's a pleasant interlude with some laughs and surprising observations", "with its down to earth heroine ... the film underplays the triumph of the spirit theme , while delivering a satisfying , textured experience", "this is a very benign comedy that is elevated by the completely natural performance of felicity jones .", "sure , it 's predictable , implausible and clearly skewed toward a young female demographic , but it 's also enjoyable escapist fun .", "the humour is aimed at teens but jones ' likeable presence make this a pleasant watch .", "a sort of goofy celebration of female self-empowerment , one in which the standard romcom goal of scoring a dreamy boyfriend takes a back seat to finding yourself through being good at something exciting .", "it 's all very third division \u00e9cole de richard curtis .", "MOV comes as a breath of fresh , alpine air in that it 's a very british , no-nonsense story of a working class girl who falls for her posh employer .", "pursues its way to its feelgood conclusion with just a little wit and a goodly lump of sentiment .", "felicity jones confirms her reputation as one of our brightest talents in this comedy about a young woman 's struggle to vanquish her inner demons .", "it 's an unassuming film but a surprisingly beguiling one .", "MOV is a pedestrian affair that limply modernises the cinderella fairytale for fun and profit .", "undemanding , forgettable , formulaic teen rom-com .", "MOV is what it says on the label - feel-good , unpretentious , snowbound fun .", "hot dog ... the movie and its disreputable ski-comedy ilk might have been a low point in cinema history , but at least their unbridled crassness had energy ; MOV embraces similar '80s tropes for a lethargic you-go-girl fairy tale .", "jones may be a charismatic comedian , but no amount of her skilled mugging , britpop tunes or help from supporting stars can transform this derivative ugly duckling into a comic anglophile swan .", "pleasant if timid ...", "there 's just not enough to hold attention , eventually succumbing entirely to convention in a particularly insipid finale . who knows , maybe even teenage girls will be rolling their eyes at the predictability of it all .", "unashamedly aiming at a teenage audience , the film 's lack of pretension is oddly refreshing", "it 's hard not to instantly forgive all the script 's occasional faults and just be swept up in the feel-good nature of such a charming , easily-likable release .", "MOV is possibly the first british rom com since working title 's heyday that wo n't make you want to stick pins in your eyes , will actually make you laugh , and was n't made by working title .", "another ` modern twist ' on the rom-com ? really ?", "a sharp cast , a gorgeous setting and lively filmmaking make up for the thin plot .", "see it for jones , nighy and the snow , but do n't expect many laughs or any surprises .", "a smart comic performance from felicity jones is the film 's saving grace .", "behold ! it 's a romantic comedy about a young woman who 's not looking for a boyfriend ! a rom-com about a human female whose life is not consumed by the terror that she will be alone forever !", "somehow , it ends up slaloming along just fine , and tamsin egerton continues to corner the market in sloaney hauteur with extra hot sauce .", "the picture stays just about upright thanks to the toothsome loveliness of felicity jones , who 's 28 but looks about 15 . her fresh charm and pert line-readings brighten the routine comedy of pitfalls and pratfalls .", "a fluffy little romcom that could have been better , but will do nicely until something more daring comes along .", "this movie 's resemblances to pretty woman are a bit worrying .", "snow , snowboarders , apres ski , hot chocolate mit schlag - what 's not to like ?", "MOV feels engagingly old-fashioned in the great comedy traditions of the ealing comedy ." ], "summary": "MOV is light comedic fun geared for teenage girls , featuring a charming performance from felicity jones .", "id": "771201465" }, { "movie": "my_own_private_idaho", "reviews": [ "cracked and beautiful , stranger than strange , yet in some assuring way so pulsing with life that it embraces you as warmly as father knows best .", "although river phoenix has distinguished himself as an actor ever since his second film , stand by me , nothing he has ever done before prepares you for his performance in private idaho as the motherless , homeless , loveless piece of human driftwood .", "holding all these elements together is van sant 's sensibility , such an elusive thing it instinctively squirms away from any attempt to pigeonhole it .", "a simultaneously heartbreaking and exhilarating road movie .", "one of the most original cinematic talents at work in this country , van sant has a knack for pulling disparate elements together and twisting them into wildly funny lyrical odysseys of the mind and heart .", "-lsb- van sant -rsb- disdain -lsb- s -rsb- narrative . he got away with drugstore cowboy because its band of drugged-out dodoes were engaged in a petty crime spree that almost passed for a plot . but MOV is a different story . or rather nonstory .", "this is a very rich , very sympathetic piece of work .", "van sant proves again that he is masterful at charting the hearts and minds of young people adrift .", "american indie god gus van sant 's most iconic moment was this giddily rich revisionist road movie-cum-western .", "audacious , controversial , directional , important and totally unique , you 'll either love it or hate it . but see it !", "works as a brilliant piece of art , and entertainment .", "a unique , poetic work of great intimacy and sadness", "one of those ambitious , over-reaching disappointments that is more interesting than some more conservative successes .", "one of gus van sant 's most personal visions .", "MOV lacks the dramatic punchiness of drugstore cowboy , yet it 's a rich , audacious experience .", "MOV is a far cry from seamless , but i would gladly trade a dozen well-made studio movies for one of its vital parts .", "a quite stark , poetic rumination on the unyielding desire for home .", "gus van sant 's best movie .", "one of van sant 's best films , a richly dense , poetic evocation of friendhsip that retells shakespeare 's henry iv in an original and intriguing way ; river phoenix gives his most riveting performance .", "the film 's uniqueness lies in its remarkable emotional open-heartedness .", "van sant 's tale of street hustlers is so barren that even the magnetic river phoenix ca n't do much to help .", "apparently van sant believed the reviews anointing him as a genius , and this time he has cheekily dared comparisons with the bard of stratford .", "an essential testament to the beauty and chops of the late river phoenix ...", "-lsb- van sant -rsb- lays claim to being one of the most adventurous filmmakers at work in the u.s. today .", "even though it falters toward the end , it soars above the fray .", "van sant 's sensibility is wholly original , wholly fresh . MOV adds a new ingredient : a kind of boho sweetness . i loved it .", "the achievement of this film is that is wants to evoke that state of drifting need , and it does .", "if played straight , this would have had depth , but been an awful cinematic experience .", "back when gus van sant actually was a filmmaker ...", "i think this movie gave me narcolepsy", "inventive depiction of the universal quest for home .", "van sant casts a gently hypnotic spell that is not easily forgotten .", "the performances , especially by the two young stars , are as surprising as they are sure .", "a provocative , quiet little psychological gem with an indescribable odd charm", "a high-water mark in '90s independent film", "homosexual road movie that espouses the family values of a disney feature and the pop art sensibilities of a warhol piece - with a dose of shakespeare added for good measure .", "bittersweet , considering the fate of phoenix .", "provocative and engaging", "MOV might be the perfect cinematic time capsule for '90s aimlessness , universal in its details .", "... gets off to a gangbusters start . and then shakespeare butts in .", "it 's a very poetic film . that is , it includes images that may mean more to the director than the spectator , but the film is an interesting one .", "the movie weakens every time mike 's story is interrupted by the leaden allusions to shakespeare .", "van sant takes a lot of chances , and , visually , the movie is so imaginative , so fiercely alive , that it carries us along . but when the over-all design of the picture becomes clear , we feel cheated rather than enlightened .", "director-writer gus van sant sets up disturbing -- and , often , oddly comic -- situations and then gives his characters -lrb- and actors -rrb- the freedom to explore them .", "written and directed by gus van sant , who mingles tremendous visual imagination with a leaning toward off-the-wall situations and sometimes raunchy images .", "the two actors create vivid characters , but they 're so unsympathetic and van sant drags them through so many tiresome , pretentious scenes that it begins to look as if phoenix 's narcolepsy is n't part of the plot .", "MOV is a seminal movie for many people . it certainly has been for me .", "van sant photographs the story in his trademark dreamy-surreal style , fusing elements of warhol with the classic american road movie , and interpreting the western as the refuge of society 's maligned fringe ." ], "summary": "a tantalizing glimpse of a talented director and his stars all at the top of their respective games , gus van sant 's loose reworking of henry iv is smart , sad and audacious .", "id": "13214" }, { "movie": "the_man_on_the_train", "reviews": [ "bleak , blue lighting and washed out colours emphasise the wintriness of the tale ; but there is n't nearly enough dramatic conflict to sustain this to feature length .", "it 's nice to see a film about the regrets of old age that does n't resort to grumpy old men-style humor or cheap action sequences .", "laconte 's direction is calculative all the way , but his telling fails to register very much .", "a bizarre yet touching tale of gangster and recluse finding in each other something they lack , the film definitely warrants a look .", "you get the feeling you are watching the adaptation of a classic novel , when in fact the script is an original work of impressive poetry and unpredictable dialogue ...", "an exceptionally crafted western dream .", "thought-provoking , tender and funny , far better than your average ` one last score ' film .", "although leconte leads his characters to a baffling conclusion , he creates a satisfying portrayal of two old would-be cowboys heading for what could be the last roundup", "it 's a poetic and keenly observed story .", "lacking the sweep of the widow of st. pierre and the audacity of the girl on the bridge , here leconte seems to be working on a character sketch ...", "might not be the manliest way to make a buddy movie , but it makes for a great movie about being a man .", "an elegant , amusing odd-couple divertissement ... made not only tolerable but pleasurable by leconte 's austerely patrician style , rochefort 's roguish charm and hallyday 's deadpan authority .", "a beautifully rendered character piece that 's so precisely and complexly engineered to convey its simplicity .", "so static and predictably schematic as to lull viewers into a comfortable slumber .", "-lsb- a -rsb- beautiful and quirky fable that 's part spaghetti western , part french poem . it 's an unlikely but lovely combination .", "could the globalization of cinema be responsible for the diminishing emotional impact of patrice leconte 's man on the train ?", "two magnetic male presences command the screen in man on the train , but patrice leconte finds a friendship between weathered frenchmen more difficult to forge than the far more asymmetrical relationships of previous films .", "french rock 'n' roll icon -lrb- yes , there is such a thing -rrb- johnny hallyday and veteran actor jean rochefort deliver a pair of exquisite performances in this charming , ultimately haunting tale .", "in the end , because he refuses to compromise their fates , director patrice leconte manages a kind of sweet tragedy rarely attempted in american films .", "MOV is a marvelously acted french film about two men past their prime who cross each other 's paths and yearn for something completely different in their lives .", "piquant and poignantly humorous .", "piquant , thoroughly engaging character drama .", "real depth here is short-circuited by florid editing and a general hokiness that undermine the unlikely rapport hallyday and the lovely rochefort forge .", "one of -lsb- leconte 's -rsb- most elegant films .", "in the context of french filmmaker patrice leconte 's canon , man on the train qualifies as an anecdote . but it may stay with some viewers longer than an epic poem .", "a boldly conceived , impeccably crafted and wonderfully enigmatic two-character study that turns out to be a most powerful showcase for its two stars .", "a tiny jewel box of a film .", "sometimes you get tired of ` splaining and you just want to say : hey , this one 's really very good .", "the movie -- simple , pure and powerful -- makes us feel the intensity of both life in transit and life lived , if only for a moment , in another 's skin .", "when you exit the theater , you 'll leave with a bittersweet and very satisfied smile .", "a simple tale , albeit one of rich detail , of fate and friendship", "the movie is as contemplative , gentle , and subdued as it is understatedly funny .", "... a warm , endearing tale of the unlikely friendship between two very different men from very different walks of life .", "... a worthy alternative to most of the generic fluff that tends to populate cinemas .", "while the set-up ... is as old as the grade-b western , we 're willing to forgive many of the contrivances because rochefort and hallyday are such wonderful personalities .", "a beautifully deft , witty character study .", "there are wonderful moments of conversational communion between the two men and fascinating scenes in which they try on one another 's skin in relation to outsiders .", "i ca n't recall a single other film occasion where a simple smile from one of the protagonists carries such emotional weight .", "both rochefort and hallyday put in subtle , lovely performances .", "man on the train is a contemplative ride through a province that expands with age -- the sad-eyed land of might-have-been .", "taps into the same emotional current that sustains the entire ` buddy picture ' genre , but does so with feeling and unmistakable insight .", "charming , wistful , poignant , funny -- most of the things i prize in a film .", "for me anyway , it just seemed to disappear .", "no one mixes graceful melancholy and bittersweet comedy better than leconte .", "-lsb- leconte -rsb- directs as if he were enjoying the story bit by bit , and he is splendidly aided by his two principals .", "for the most part , -lsb- leconte -rsb- pulls back and lets the two stars do their thing . and they do it marvelously .", "quintessentially -lrb- in places , ludicrously -rrb- french yet is suffused with a tender yank envy .", "a tiny little movie with epic , messy emotions hidden up its sleeves , it 's a laugh-out-loud comedy that keeps you on the verge of tears .", "we come to like these two men and look forward to their interaction with a quiet anticipation .", "the film ultimately seems more like an idea than a complete story , bereft of any narrative spine on which to hang the ideas .", "it offers more substance and subtlety than most summer blockbusters", "the whole thing fairly begs to be taken for serious art , but old-fashioned star power is what really makes it worth watching .", "directed with impeccable taste and feeling by leconte .", "the performances are subtle and haunting .", "it gives us two of the most interesting men to show up in recent movies . so delightful are they both that you hate to have to leave them at the end of the film .", "a blue mood on celluloid , capturing the myth of the american western in dual implosions of quiet regret .", "it is a perfected fable flashing across a screen .", "the actors could n't be more perfect .", "the movie has the kind of texture and depth that will make true movie-lovers sigh with the pure cinematic , human grace of it all .", "immensely satisfying , and if it 's also puzzling and frustrating at times , so is life .", "under leconte 's artful direction , a believable bond develops between the men , each envious of the direction the other 's life has taken .", "your typical buddy film that 's been executed in an entirely atypical way .", "leconte ... concentrates less on the destination of his movies than in the journey his characters take getting there .", "an existentialist feature that 's part social comedy , part character drama and part thriller . all of it memorable , and refreshingly so .", "this one 's a keeper .", "leconte suggests the natural yearning for a broader experience , for breaking out of the patterns into which a life tends to fall .", "fascinating at times , but too stodgy and stagy to be considered transcendent .", "watching hallyday 's lee van cleef-esque mien , one longs for the return of the spaghetti western ...", "it has real actors , a real story , a real point , and is the work of a real filmmaker , patrice leconte .", "it all seemed so forgettable like one of those dreams you might have on a suburban train .", "it 's a slight premise given substance by the thoughtful dialogue and performances .", "a triumph of moviemaking , where simplicity rules and emotions get expressed through humor , pathos and moments of surprisingly tenderness .", "leconte directs with style and colour , drawing us in with humour and a spark of suspense .", "it appears to be about how people get trapped by the personas they create . but unfortunately , laconte reveals nothing truly riveting behind their masks .", "it 's interesting stuff and rochefort , as the chatty one , keeps the audience involved . it just does n't have the clarity of leconte 's best work .", "this is a film that delivers in layers . the top , and most easily accessed , is that of an enjoyable human drama . but peel back the second skin and you 'll finds scads of unanswered questions and possibilities .", "a movie that 's slow , reflective , full of resignation toward death and small ironies about life .", "a collision of cultures -- a movie in love with movies , literature , poetry and music , but not to the point of worship or distraction .", "combine the elegiac sam peckinpah of the wild bunch and the fatalistic jean-pierre melville of le samourai or le flic and the result might well be MOV , director patrice leconte 's 20th film .", "each actor comes to perfectly embody his character .", "the film , in a curious way , gives them a sort of second chance at things , and i enjoyed watching it happen .", "one life to live ; the tracks less traveled in ` man on the train '", "a delightfully droll personality comedy .", "richly imagined and quirky .", "patrice leconte 's fanciful odd-couple drama oozes flavorful , provincial atmosphere .", "the contrast between old-fogeyish manesquier and dangerous ` man with no name ' milan , between loquacious , actorly rochefort and silent ` natural ' hallyday , is initially droll , although it wears thin after a while .", "this is an actor 's picture , with hallyday 's craggy menace chiming perfectly with rochefort 's rueful charm .", "the premise , the structure , and the men-at-twilight conversation in patrice leconte 's ingratiating drama feel cloyingly predetermined at times , but the sight of hallyday and rochefort luxuriating in their contrasting manly personas is a kick .", "collapses in a heap of affirmational outbursts and metaphysical goop .", "it 's nice to know some filmmakers still have a foot firmly planted in old-fashioned humanistic storytelling .", "an elegantly polished little film .", "witty and wistful , often tragic and tense , this is an impeccable example of the value of small-scale cinema .", "lovingly realizes the theme ` the grass is always greener on the other side of the yard . '", "leconte manages to stretch this very simple story into a very watchable film .", "the chemistry between the two leads is remarkable .", "it speaks to the quixotic desire to know what it feels like to be someone else , someone utterly different from ourselves -- the reason we talk to strangers , the reason we go to the movies .", "as a filmmaker , -lsb- leconte -rsb- does n't have anything profound to say but does say his something with craft , visual flair and professionalism .", "with wit , dignity and utterly different approaches , the two leads lure us well inside their characters and bring real zest to their mutually enriching relationship .", "a literate story that relies on a thoughtful script and the work of two exceptional performers .", "milan and manesquier are unforgettable characters in a film that unfolds with power and grace .", "fans of the subtitled , the offbeat and the intimate should n't miss this train .", "mr. leconte gives this meeting of opposites in claude klotz 's script a lovely , sportive \u00e9lan , instead of making it register as lumpy , obvious polemics .", "the two main characters become friends that fit comfortably together like a pair of worn slippers . they share a few laughs , a few drinks , and a few dreams - and take us along for the ride .", "the movie 's slow pace and gentle humor pay off in a pounding cross-cutting between the heist and the surgery , as well as a transcendent ending that is as rewarding as it is ambiguous .", "there 's a special pleasure in watching rochefort and hallyday ." ], "summary": "a lovely , contemplative character study with two wonderful performances at its center .", "id": "15361" }, { "movie": "10008760-what_happens_in_vegas", "reviews": [ "none of this is anything we have n't seen countless times before in rom-com land , of course , and it would be giving the filmmakers way too much credit to say they have entertainingly tweaked a winning but cob-webbed formula .", "it 's a testament to how good casting can help a film and bad writing can hurt it even more .", "ashton kutcher and cameron diaz almost pull off vegas despite everything . and there 's quite a bit of everything .", "the outcome of MOV is obvious , but the journey there is fun .", "the latest uptight chick/slacker dude romantic comedy is so formulaic , you could win big if you placed bets on what 's going to happen next .", "MOV is about as bubbly as flat champagne . while aiming for an intoxicating blend of high-energy comedy , the romantic comedy 's predictable story , and the lack of chemistry between stars diaz and kutcher , do n't leave it withmuch of a kick .", "a pg-13 sitcom rom-com that desperately wants to be a judd apatow movie when it grows up , tom vaughan 's flat film mixes screwball comedy with self-help clich\u00e9s to tired effect .", "MOV feels oddly stilted yet desperate , as though its principals felt the need to overcompensate for the too-neat symmetry of opening scenes with over-the-top violence and bright orange tans .", "it was inevitable that an annoying catchphrase would one day become the title for an annoying movie . MOV is not only annoying , it 's also incompetent -- a bad mix .", "who knew the title was n't simply clever -lrb- inviting the rejoiner ` stays in vegas ' -rrb- but a dire warning of a bad movie ahead ?", "you can take MOV , keep it in vegas , and keep the rest of the us out of it .", "the stars , despite having only a fraction of the charm and talent of classic sparring-but-meant-for-each-other duos , know how to mug for the camera and well up on cue , and somehow that turns out to be enough to carry this trifle .", "MOV is about as silly and pleasant as it needs to be , no more , no less .", "the film gives a transparent spin to the saying that whatever happens in vegas stays in vegas , but diaz and kutcher bring a surprising sweetness to their generic roles and the story 's contrived situations .", "MOV , one of those junky time-wasters that routinely pop up in movie theaters , wo n't make you laugh much or at all .", "i am so tired of these miserable things that pass for romantic comedies these days , thoughtless assembly-line products that recycle the same components in ever-dumber packaging over and over again .", "the overall sour tone and worn-out feel of the movie overwhelm any positive aspects .", "complain all you want about the affable slobs in judd apatow comedies ; at least they 're not tools .", "though a notch above made of honor on the tolerability scale , vegas takes a shot at love with all the romantic know-how of tila tequila .", "so many things , small and large , erode any sense of fun here . the movie looks like crud -- like it , too , stayed up and drank all night .", "during the screening , i tried to come up with as many synonyms for the word `` excruciating '' as i could .", "attempts nothing novel in its retelling of the couple who do n't realize that they are perfect for each other , aside from positing an unsavory new popcorn topping", "-lrb- vegas -rrb- is n't a horrible film but it is not worth spending your money on to see in theatres .", "it happened one drunken night", "... one of those bird-brained contrivances that would be over in no time if any of the characters had a lick of sense ...", "pleasantly forgettable .", "it 's a sure bet you 'll realize `` MOV '' is a by-the-numbers romantice comedy within the first 15 minutes .", "like many vegas weddings , this mean-spirited `` romantic comedy '' only makes sense if you 're drunk .", "ena tzak pot sta klise poy paradoksos leitoyrgei anapanteha apotelesmatika , kyrios hari stin yperballoysa karikatoyristiki apeikonisi ton haraktiron poy se stigmes ftanei to anegkefala ksekardistiko kai sti himeia toy zeygoys ton ermineyton", "hardly a massive gamble , cameron diaz and ashton kutcher play a safe romcom hand you can tolerate .", "ashton kutcher and cameron diaz hate on each other with dynamite verve in MOV .", "raunchy romantic comedy has a softer side , too .", "ashton kutcher has his first real hit movie -- even with the predictable ending .", "while watching insipid romantic comedies , i often cling to the comic supporting characters as my life preserver .", "MOV ... should have stayed in vegas . or in new york , where most of this predictable , uninspired film takes place . or in hollywood , where such lamebrained ideas are hatched .", "MOV is evidence that putting two attractive stars together onscreen is not enough to make a good , or even passable , 90 minutes of entertainment .", "full-contact marital warfare connects with every body part save the funny bone .", "while diaz and kutcher work through their stock repertoire of winsomeness , the second bananas steal the show .", "with a script that only barely hangs together by the skin of its teeth , this romantic comedy survives on the considerable charm of its terrific cast .", "the plot is both feeble and ridiculous , but this still delivers more than its fair share of laughs , thanks to terrific comic performances from kutcher , diaz and supporting players rob corddry and lake bell .", "the film delivers what it promises as a freewheeling , bitchy-mouthed romantic comedy , so it 's a good date movie . perhaps newlyweds , too", "this tone-deaf flick from hack screenwriter dana fox , is an example of a hollywood formula romantic comedy where the author never properly learned the recipe .", "there are no big surprises , and only a handful of unexpected developments . but kutcher and diaz are undeniably appealing ... nd the scene-stealing supporting players ... go about their petty larceny with amusing adroitness .", "though utterly contrived , predictable , and disposable , this counter-proragmming date flick has a certain charm , due to cameron diaz 's sex appeal and ease with slapstick and her onscreen chemistry with lead man ashton kutcher .", "like mr. and mrs. smith without the action or the break-up with less depth -- if that 's even possible ...", "sadly , about the nicest thing i can say about MOV is that i did n't hate it -- although i suppose that 's something .", "this breezy confection should work well corralling it 's target demo to come up triple 7s for fox if the marketplace can handle yet another rom com .", "... has nothing to recommend it but the sight of ashton kutcher in a pink boa wearing a yard long glass in a cocktail sling ... this one shouldclearly have stayed in vegas .", "despite the presence of some likable , funny people , it 's a painfully unfunny romantic comedy that makes you dislike those same people intensely .", "as tepid romantic comedies go , they forgot to pack the fun . this one should have stayed in vegas .", "the battle for the human heart has official morphed from witty , sophisticated banter between star-crossed lovers to something akin to mixed martial arts .", "` MOV ' has a similar structure to ` knocked up , ' only it has neither the unplanned pregnancy , nor the laughs .", "so moronic it almost makes the recent mediocre made of honor seem sophisticated by comparison .", "if i had anything kind to say about ashton kutcher and cameron diaz before this film , i 'm ready to take every word back ... a shrill monstrosity of a romantic comedy .", "MOV can be forwarded directly to the nominating committee of the golden raspberry foundation .", "a first - or second-date flick , after which there can be some cheesecake factory and maybe a peck on the cheek , no harm done . MOV is pleasant enough for all of that .", "not that MOV is any kind of great movie , but it 's an exceedingly bright comedy that never makes you feel stupid for enjoying its brisk pacing , smart lines , sound construction and superb comic acting .", "wants to be liked so badly it 's afraid to do anything that might actually make you respect it in the morning . in that sense , it works . it 's a 99-minute pg-13 airplane movie good for a few chuckles and another notch on rob corddry 's widening comedy belt .", "kutcher and diaz both make good with what they have , but they deserve better .", "lucky for viewers , it 's easy to laugh while watching this romantic comedy , mostly because of the comic skills kutcher and diaz bring to their performances .", "not the sin some claim it to be .", "the colorful second bananas ' bawdy badinage turns out to be a lot funnier than that of the co-stars who have little more to offer than their looks and sexual chemistry going for them .", "a movie that just seems to be going through the motions , a thoroughly uninspired rehash of a formula done far better elsewhere .", "i ca n't recommend it as a must-see date night getaway , neither will i discourage audiences looking for a little bit of mindless rom-com fun . and given the likable nature of the film 's two stars , this trip to `` vegas '' coasts by on just enough charm to make", "what should have stayed in vegas is this movie .", "the formula is too contrived and the chemistry not enough for any genuine sparks to fly", "kutcher has talent and potential . it has been his misfortune to attach his star to people who are n't up to the quality of his talent . he has time to correct this , but the clock is ticking .", "a distinctly awful cover version of ` i want a new drug ' plays on the soundtrack and is a direct thought to the audience who is going to need something a lot stronger to make it through this unrelentless excuse for a romantic comedy .", "i did n't laugh much , and i never felt even an inkling of ` aw , cute ! ' romance -- but i did n't want to claw my eyes out , either . if that counts as a success , then i guess it 's a hit .", "amid the bright lights , cameron diaz and ashton kutcher fail to generate even the faintest of erotic sparks .", "MOV should damn well have stayed in vegas . instead , the thing has leaked out as a movie that , one grey morning this week , swiped 100 minutes from my life .", "bland enough to make millions as culture edges closer to oblivion .", "MOV ... boasts the not inconsiderable appeal of good-looking people having a good time -- even while having a bad time .", "i just do n't know what to make of a scene in which a judge sentences two selfish jerks to `` six months hard ... marriage , '' but i 'm simply too old and too smart for material this insipid .", "are you laughing yet ? are you moved by these incredible insights ? are you , most likely , looking for the exits ?", "the end result is easily the worst romantic comedy that you will find in theaters this weekend -lrb- or possibly this year -rrb- and yes , i am fully aware that `` made of honor '' is still playing .", "not a complete lost cause , but no one tries to emerge from the icky goo known as mediocrity", "the screenplay is awful , the direction is bland and the performances are beyond redemption .", "middling and forgettable .", "it 's less obnoxious than fool 's gold , less forced than made of honor and less formulaic -lrb- well , by a sliver , anyway -rrb- than 27 dresses .", "what happens in this seriously flawed would-be romantic comedy is nothing much .", "ultimately , MOV resembles a drunken night in sin city ; when it 's over , you do n't really remember what happened except that it was n't good .", "MOV is a sorrow attempt at a romantic comedy . so let the saying stand MOV , should stay in vegas .", "this film is not the equivalent of brain surgery , but it is entertaining .", "diaz and kutcher restore the original , ebullient meaning of ` sex comedy ' . they 're fun to watch , which is a rare thing in this zellweger , clooney , kidman , gosling , apatow world .", "two fresh stars elevate the material into solid entertainment", "if you can ignore some rather silly moments and focus on the credible relationship between jack and joy , this will be reasonably entertaining .", "should have stayed , not in vegas , but elsewhere in the state of nevada . how about those mountains where they are supposed to store the radioactive waste ?", "both kutcher and diaz are in full-on desperation mode , straining in each scene to prove they can still be relevant , showing flashes of the charm that made them famous in the first place .", "i only wish they 'd have spent more time drunk and in vegas in the whole movie . alas ...", "from seeing this movie and talking to several moviegoers , i discovered that there are two kinds of people : people who like ashton kutcher , and people who do n't .", "this derivative rom-com works best when the leads are exacting revenge on each other .", "the combined verve diaz and kutcher bring to the table saves a routine time-killer from being entirely forgettable .", "another predictable romantic comedy , one that insists that spending time locked into an unhappy marriage does n't breed contempt , but sows love . -lsb- blu-ray -rsb-", "as far fetched as the idea of guy disgust as the ultimate aphrodisiac may seem , cameron and ashton as the designated lovebirds keep the kinky marriage shocks and surprises coming . move over knocked up . a sex and the sin city vegas jackpot .", "a funny movie about the sexes that does n't diminish either gender in its execution -- a tougher task , obviously , than one would presume .", "MOV has mediocre direction and a strained screenplay , so how can it be any good ? what carries the film is its two stars . if ashton kutcher bothers you , you 'll probably hate MOV . if cameron diaz leaves you", "while diaz and kutcher make their clich\u00e9d characters as likable as possible , you can bet on this : any movie named after an already-stale ad campaign is n't likely to gamble on the unexpected .", "by being a smidge smarter than the average date movie , it makes the first-time meeting , the battle of the sexes and the bumpy course of true love entertaining despite overfamiliarity .", "screenwriter dana fox -lrb- the dreadful wedding date was hers -rrb- and director tom vaughan ca n't find much fun or romance in this . MOV ... offers none of the surprises that screen comedy so desperately needs .", "you know how some movies feel like they were made by a committee ? MOV feels like it was made by checklist .", "it 's called MOV , but it should have been called what happens in hollywood as it pretty much defines contrived studio comedy .", "for an idea of the level of wit , several gags are built around the name ` dick banger ' .", "considering that the title of the movie was conceived by the las vegas convention and visitors authority , it 's not a huge surprise that MOV is stocked with product placement .", "you 'd think the combination of diaz , kutcher and vegas would be good for at least a little sexy , silly fun . but do n't bet on it .", "at least they party harder than the 21 kids .", "directed by tom vaughan and written by dana fox , who also wrote the excruciating the wedding date , this film often seems improvised , and not in a good way . some setups go nowhere , and some jokes never get set up at all .", "we all know MOV -- and we know , without having to watch it , what happens in this movie .", "MOV is nobody has much fun .", "why do we have to suffer through movies like MOV , which is the worst-in-breed not only for this year , but very likely in living memory .", "here 's a romantic comedy that is goofy , highly implausible , sometimes over the top , often in bad taste , and resolutely empty-headed . in short , it 's the best example of its genre to appear on the screen this year .", "when a movie depends on supporting characters to tell the audience just how good the romantic leads are together , you know you 're in trouble deep .", "MOV refuses to take a gamble . like a bleary-eyed gambler repeatedly tossing a pair of dice , it tiredly goes through the motions .", "MOV ... should have stayed in development -- forever . this ramshackle -- and occasionally repulsive -- farce does n't even deliver on the minimal promise of its title ; most of it takes place in manhattan .", "MOV contains enough unbridled silliness to salvage its lowbrow high concept .", "scream , scream , scream . when did writers get the idea that what audiences find really funny in comedies is screaming ? a full-out assault on your senses , the film is n't just bad . it 's painful .", "with likeable actors like ashton kutcher and cameron diaz who are n't afraid to go over the top for comedy , MOV turned into a pretty good film .", "i like to learn something every day . in this case i discovered a harsh truth . you can have slapstick without the comedy .", "MOV is a clever concept lamely executed .", "when it was over i felt vaguely embarrassed . i was n't just leaving a movie theater . i was taking a walk of shame .", "MOV is the kind of terrible mistake performers as big as cameron diaz and ashton kutcher usually make at the beginning of their careers , when they 're anxious to break into the movies , or at the end , when they 're struggling for a comeback", "though likely not a film you 'll remember a month after seeing it , it does hit most of the right notes for a good date flick .", "the felicitous pairing of cameron diaz and ashton kutcher overcomes the mechanical setup of this amiable screwball comedy about mismatched manhattanites who wed in las vegas following a drunken first date .", "the supporting players save MOV from rom-com infamy .", "... one ca n't help but wonder if there 's anything of interest left to say within this increasingly stale genre .", "MOV is exactly what you would expect : it 's formulaic , slapsticky , silly and loud , until it goes all gooey in the end .", "joy and jack are fated to fall in lazy-movie-love ." ], "summary": "MOV has a few laughs , but mostly settles for derivative romantic comedy conventions and receives little help from a pair of unlikable leads .", "id": "770682015" }, { "movie": "paranoid_park", "reviews": [ "MOV has the slightly glum insularity of minimalist fiction , but it 's the first of van sant 's blitzed-generation films in which a young man wakes up instead of shutting down .", "yet another accomplished , stylistically courageous work from a filmmaker whose willingness to take chances and pull them off is his finest attribute .", "beautiful and slow and never boring -- just a gentle , hazy sleepwalk through a time in life that never really feels fully settled or awake .", "MOV confirms that gus van sant is so far up his own artistic anus , it 's impossible to take anything he makes seriously anymore ... a crisp , white hanky doused with cinematic chloroform pressed tightly across the face .", "a vivid , powerful attempt to get close to one boy 's tortured soul .", "like elephant , it 's a triumph of style and mood over story .", "stands at the midway point in its auteur 's recent filmography , displaying both the strengths and weaknesses of his recent stylistic choices .", "van sant 's teens are angels slowly sullied by a demonic world .", "van sant has made his best film in many years . i did n't realize it until a second viewing . these things sometimes happen , especially if the first encounter was in the middle of a film festival .", "MOV is graced with those peculiar van sant touches of discovery and absurdity , delightful because they 're at once so right and so inscrutable .", "in the space of 78 minutes , mr. van sant and his cinematographer , the peerless christopher doyle , manage to suffuse that state with haunting sadness , ubiquitous danger , pulsing power and flickers of hope .", "MOV , the new gus van sant movie , is slight but fascinating .", "yet another movie about misunderstood teenage skateboarders .", "there 's not enough story here ... and the moodiness is of a type that does n't speak to me ...", "hardly a walk in the park , this powerful journey is one of van sant 's darkest . grips the viewer in a vice of guilt that gets tighter to the point of strangulation . a dark and gripping masterpiece .", "the film is told in bursts of flashback , flash forward and even flash sideways all framed in a dream-world sense . the slow-motion theatrics of skater tricks are particularly beautiful and almost a flight from the reality of the cruel teen years .", "for some of the way , it seems like a kind of skateboard whodunit . soon enough , we understand it 's much more than that . and by then , we know we 're in for a ride to remember .", "this is n't mallrat crime and punishment ; it 's accident and inertia , structured by alex 's attempt to capture his feelings in a journal . -lrb- he 's more verbose than introspective . -rrb-", "it 's always exciting when a film that plays with cinematic language can squeeze in among the flotsam and jetsam of repetitive mediocrity .", "youth and death meet again in gus van sant 's MOV , a gorgeously stark , mesmerizingly elliptical story told in the same lyrical-prosaic style that has characterized his latest films .", "i embraced what van sant achieved with his earlier three films , i just ca n't feel quite that same enthusiasm for this one , even though it 's an extremely well-made film .", "yup , van sant is in trance mode again , and he has n't adapted blake nelson 's novel so much as shattered it into a hypnotic drift of alienation and reverie . the movie haunts .", "elephant said much more about teenagers and said it better .", "for those able to tune in to its peculiar wavelength this deceptively simple film will prove another strangely profound -lsb- van sant -rsb- experience .", "even something as modest as MOV manages to reflect van sant 's greatest strengths as an artist : his seemingly limitless fluency with his chosen medium and his willingness to tell even the oldest stories in bold new ways .", "MOV , while still off the beaten path , is less self-absorbed and pretentious than anything van sant has crafted since finding forrester .", "the film closes with still more images of skaters , these reflected in wide-angly convex mirrors , beautiful and frightening and seductive .", "intriguing and obliquely involving .", "there are certain times in a filmmaker 's career when everything comes together in a kind of perfect storm ... for gus van sant , MOV is that film .", "alex goes to school , has a girlfriend , eats junk food ... and is almost as much of a zombie as anything george a. romero has ever conjured up . only less appealing .", "it may be time for van sant to remove his head from -- well , let 's call it the underground -- and re-find his inner forrester .", "MOV becomes a portrait of the skate punk as repressed personality . the movie does n't really go anywhere as a story , it simply unfolds .", "regarding MOV as an elongated short rather than a feature helps a bit , because it 's a miniature in spirit -- a small-format portrait of psychic malaise that just happens to last 84 minutes .", "MOV will be catnip for van sant fans -lrb- the music and cinematography are complicated and chewy -rrb- but potentially tough sledding for everybody else .", "speaking generically , MOV is the 12th feature film from portland director gus van sant and his fourth in a row that might be called , for want of a better term , arty .", "MOV is only 84 minutes , a long , slow 84 minutes , with delusions of grandeur .", "gus van sant 's capper to a trilogy of experiments in elliptical narrative and lyrical structure is a masterful triumph of art , craft and empathy for the complicatedness of being a real teenager .", "-lsb- the narrative is -rsb- as speedy and graceful as the skateboarders it lingers over in MOV , where their daredevil moves are often shot in dreamily beautiful slow motion .", "the impressionistic skating scenes are absolutely the best part of the film .", "if you are planning to shoot a visual poem , there is no one better to have on hand than cinematographer christopher doyle . doyle knows how to find seduction and romance anywhere .", "i do n't know what 's more surprising : that director gus van sant has made yet another movie about the lives of disaffected portland teenagers , or that he 's pulled it off one more time with `` MOV . ''", "van sant 's ... adoration of uncommunicative kids with limited vocabularies and awesome hair is beginning to wear a little thin .", "in MOV , not much actually happens and yet one teenager 's mind is filled with far more than enough to ponder for a long time .", "the teenager 's impressionistic headspace is his canvas , layered like a keats poem and scored like an ipod", "it 's breathtaking , heartbreaking , tragic , gorgeous , and true all at the same time .", "it 's a movie worth seeing .", "-lsb- an -rsb- intriguing , mind-altering skateboard elegy .", "i would say that there is a really good 50 minute movie tucked away inside here , but van sant insists on padding it with material that does n't belong .", "in a film where dialogue comes at a premium , van sant allows his camera to do the talking , and when it rests too long on one subject , the commentary feels like overstatement . elsewhere , ` MOV ' is eloquent in its terseness .", "MOV proves that growing up is often very hard to do -- but it 's also a potent reminder that these teens deserve our respect and sympathy for their often imperfect efforts to do just that .", "this less-than-involving , skateboarding-culture thriller is still not likely to go over well with any audiences outside of the already receptive , art-house crowd .", "van sant has composed an emotional mosaic that brings you inside alex.", "the third , most technically accomplished panel in a youth trilogy that began with elephant and continued with last days , finds van sant , american cinema 's most dedicated chronicler of disaffected youths , in top form .", "the ugly fact is that van sant 's recent modus operandi has crossed the line from ` groove ' to ` rut . '", "through immaculate use of picture , sound and time , the director adds another panel to his series of pictures about disaffected , disconnected youth .", "an original and even memorable addition to van sant 's filmography .", "bears some similarities with elephant . a similarly photogenic teen milieu is shot with fluid , graceful camerawork ; a non-linear structure slots together like a puzzle to reveal the panicked mindset of a boy under agreat deal of stress .", "van sant wants his brief , deadpan , underpopulated scenes to feel more like real teen existence than the clich\u00e9s of mainstream cinema . it 's a worthy goal , but i 'm afraid the actual effect is the opposite .", "van sant carries his ongoing experiments with image and sound design to new levels of sophistication .", "one of -lsb- van sant 's -rsb- most razor-sharp films , with an involving plot , solidly realistic characters and exquisite cinematography .", "MOV 's triumph ... is its aesthetic design .", "`` MOV '' may be the best of the director 's last four films , but that is n't saying much .", "as fragmented and disordered as the writings in alex 's notebook , MOV is a moody , somewhat otherworldly study of the confusion , alienation and furtive secrecy of adolescence", "a bunch of confused skaters trapped in an existentialist nouvelle vague film", "there 's nothing going on beneath the artful surface , and the kid 's dilemma generates yawns instead of heat .", "... few concessions have been made for neophytes to his particular brand of filmmaking .", "a fully subjective probe into the consciousness of a young man and a generous display of artistic empathy .", "a troubling and sad portrait of a teenager who refuses to take moral responsibility for his actions .", "shows typical insight into the awkward years .", "van sant 's belief that all teenagers at that age are ` acting to a certain extent ' lends the film its edge of raw authenticity .", "all this will be way too arty for most viewers . but those willing to take a chance will find unexpected if hard-to-describe pleasures .", "van sant opens a window onto the teen life ... , but the insights have less depth than a skateboard wheel 's imprint .", "that there 's nothing definitive to wrap your arms around is frustrating . and intriguing .", "MOV is different , in that it also has a narrative -- a mystery , in fact -- that gives it a dramatic tension van sant 's recent films have lacked .", "very stylish .", "it may not score with a mass audience , but in museums and art centers around the world , it will always be in rotation .", "the disaffected kids who shuffle through its universe have nothing to say , nothing to tell us . i 'm not sure the movie has a whole lot more .", "MOV , gus van sant 's mesmerizing new movie , melds the dreamy languor of his last few films with a page-turner of a plot .", "at times the movie approaches a purely cinematic form as the simple narrative hitches and winds around itself and the soundtrack ... hums along", "it felt like van sant was imagining a nonexistent depth in order to justify his own fascination with alex and his companions .", "if this film really epitomizes the way that teens talk and act ... then i seriously fear for the future of this country .", "MOV is a supernaturally perfect fusion of van sant 's current conceptual-art-project head-trip aesthetic and blake nelson 's finely tuned first-person ` young adult ' novel .", "gus van sant 's interest in teenage angst continues here -lrb- for more , see last days and elephant -rrb- , but with an even greater sense of artistic abandon . he 's no david lynch , though , and the result of the abandon just seems silly", "the result , a defiant slap at slick hollywood formula , is mesmerizing .", "the film is an illustration of van sant 's virtuosity , as well as a textbook example of cinema 's potential to place us squarely in the emotional landscape of another human being .", "a study in isolation and , yes , paranoia ... the mesmerizingly beautiful images -- often in slo-mo -- glide to evoke alex 's primary pursuit of skating .", "good writing and editing serves the episodic tragedy concept with rather strong gripping power .", "van sant manages to make a small elegy about adolescence out of a film which in other hands might have become a slightly grisly thriller .", "filming in his characteristically dreamy , dislocated fashion , van sant seems as interested in the innocently beautiful face of his young star as he is in the docu-style story-telling .", "transposed from a novel by blake nelson , the boy is played by newcomer gabe nevins with all the complexity and three-dimensionality of a magazine centrefold .", "artily composed , highly subjective and light on plot - it 's still a long way from the mainstream , but well-built suspense and an instinctive feel for teen and skate life keep things ticking over until the paranoia peters out .", "van sant 's low-key , experimental high-school drama is an affecting rites-of-passage tale , told with bold style and quiet integrity .", "the story is fragmented into flashforwards and flashbacks as alex 's narration skirts around the traumatic event , but culminates in a low-key but meaningful realization of sorts for the quiet teen .", "a teenage art-flick , MOV proves the most fluent and coherent of gus van sant 's recent experiments . part crime mystery , part coming-of-age story , it 's positively overflowing with burnished imagery and adolescent turmoil .", "beautifully shot , superbly acted and thoroughly engaging , this is quite simply gus van sant 's masterpiece .", "a build-up of secrecy and anxiety are well-served by van sant 's chopped-up narrative of the slow reveal , and again the director shows a keen eye for the rituals and worries of teenage life .", "the movie does n't narrate what happened so much as immerse itself in alex 's numb state of alienation and denial , which i did n't find quite as rewarding as i guess i was supposed to .", "van sant 's film is almost calculatedly minor , but it gets at something about adolescence as a wobbly and transitional business , not the semi-permanent grunge idyll he 's sometimes guilty of loving a little too much .", "a formally daring attempt to capture the rhythms of adolescence wrapped around a murder mystery , MOV continues van sant 's fascination with american youth .", "dreary with a capital d.", "the story 's fractured structure -- and christopher doyle 's dreamlike cinematography -- make for a striking mood piece .", "the real reason to see MOV is to check out how van sant 's visual style is evolving , as he 's one of the few big directors willing to try something unusual , often with tremendous results .", "it 's all confusing , woozy and slightly stoned , and feels very much like adolescence .", "-lsb- gus van sant is -rsb- an incredible visual artist who can use the camera to capture seemingly languorous interludes that are , in fact , riveting to the eye and mind .", "through simple observation , van sant quietly lets viewers understand nevins and feel the full force of his distress .", "MOV is a haunting , voluptuously beautiful portrait of a teenage boy who , after being suddenly caught in midflight , falls to earth .", "... this fourth entry in -lsb- van sant 's -rsb- impressionistic reveries on death -lsb- is -rsb- the purest artistic achievement in his experimental mode of filmmaking...multi-layered and mesmerizing .", "the one facet that separates MOV from the director 's previous work is the way van sant uses all the talents in his arsenal to create something that few films have ever attempted to portray : the manic assemblage of teenage life .", "just when it looked like van sant was finally ready to present a movie real people might want to watch , MOV abandons universality and fetishizes the generality of skater boys .", "passes by in a haze of amateurish acting and skateboarding montages . just one more wearisome representation of aimless teenage life ." ], "summary": "director gus van sant once again superbly captures the ins and outs of teenage life in MOV , a quietly devastating portrait of a young man living with guilt and anxiety .", "id": "770673426" }, { "movie": "confessions_of_a_teenage_drama_queen", "reviews": [ "a juvenile ` i love lucy ' episode ... that 's more irritating than charming .", "smug , sanitized fantasy , in which the hysterical blonde attention-seeker , in a succession of sparkly outfits , is uprooted from new york to the boring suburbs and learns boring suburban values like telling the truth .", "what a teenage girl really wants at the movies is what grown-ups want , and not to be talked down to like her kid sister .", "i confess to a deep uncertainty about whether this can be rightly called a movie . a bunch of scenes , maybe .", "for the most part the material is stubbornly inert , and the actors at times appear to be flailing .", "a creative no man 's land : nothing ventured , nothing gained , nothing worth watching .", "an energetic cast and random lines of snappy dialog almost elevate this insipid comedy into something entertaining . but not quite .", "-lsb- `` MOV '' should appeal to very young teenage girls or people who are easily amused watching shiny things .", "the gimmicks and goofy daydream sequences mount up until the film collapses under their weight .", ". . shrill , numbing and painful to sit through . maybe this movie will find an audience in children young enough to be entertained by bright colors .", "enjoyable movie about the trials of being a teen .", "though lohan and fox are fun to look at , and allison pill is adorable , the film is pure mindless , ridiculous fluff .", "only the 13-and-under set will buy into the confessions vision of teen-hood . most actual teens have already noted the lack of opportunities for air-guitar montages .", "mind-numbingly juvenile .", "... a perfectly bland , homogenized , milquetoast piece of inconsequential would-be comedy fluff .", "sleep all day , party all night , never grow old , never die : it 's fun to be a disney starlet", "... unapologetically geared towards the tween crowd , all other audiences be damned .", "a self-absorbed sugar rush of a movie , this might please small girls but will leave a sour taste in everyone else 's mouth .", "` hate ' is not a word i use loosely to describe my feelings about a movie , but i hated every second of MOV .", "would that this film were as pulled together as lola 's fabulous outfits .", "a movie that -- even by disney 's formulaic standards -- is about as cut and dried as the phone book .", "not a winner , but it 's at least passable entertainment for kids whose parents want their idols to preach against drunkenness and learn that lying is n't a good thing .", "the whole enterprise feels desperately thrown together for a teen/mall profit and rather cheap .", "sugarman directs this cheerful movie as if it were a bunch of memories pasted haphazardly into a scrapbook .", "i ca n't think of a teen who would enjoy watching confessions", "clothes , friends , makeup , popularity , high school : all this , and lindsay lohan , too .", "akin to a feather -- weightless .", "a word to the wise : if you find the title tantalizing , you 'll probably love the film .", "... nothing if not fluffy -- but oddly , egregiously offensive in ways far more insidious and damaging than merely wasting our time .", "implausabilities aside , confessions is a light lark that 's colorful , spirited , and chock full of clothes .", "gives -lsb- lohan -rsb- ample time to act starry-eyed and show off her dancing and singing , but little chance to prove she can hold her own among the hilary duffs of the world .", "mixes the brady bunch , britney , saved by the bell , hilary duff and anything else that disney thinks kids are still watching today .", "even for a dizzying tweenage flick , we confess , there 's too much going on here .", "if you 're the parent of a kid that wants to see this , drop them off and go do something else .", "much like the o.c. has taken the place of beverly hills 90210 , this latest lindsay lohan disney comedy tries to mine the territory vacated by hilary duff .", "this bit of fluff is unlikely to appeal to anyone outside of its obvious , intended target audience .", "more of a concept than a story , the plot serves basically as an extended segue between music videos .", "lindsay lohan stars in this modest , mildly engaging film as a proudly bohemian resident of greenwich village who is transplanted to a prosperous suburb in new jersey .", "if you 're smart , you 'll skip `` concessions of an teenage drama queen '' and buy $ 10 of stock in comcast instead .", "lohan is a firecracker on the screen . she has personality , presence and potential to grow into an accomplished actress .", "at a time when crassness and dumbing down pervade popular entertainment , especially movies aimed at youthful audiences , MOV dares to be smart .", "lacking the humor and sophistication of freaky friday , confessions has some growing up to do .", "lindsay lohan pulls out all the stops in her performance as a talented teenager whose unbridled enthusiasm sets her apart from her peers .", "it is a pleasure and a delight to welcome director sara sugarman and her fine inventiveness into the machine .", "for preteen girls only ... my feelings : ` gag me with a spoon ! '", "what confessions does , it does pretty well .", "i was not prepared for the moment when the tween who cried wolf became the lindsay lohan movie .", "a reductive bit of female self-empowerment couched in risible ideas of validating yourself through others .", "the film 's essential soullessness bangs back against its cheer , reminding us of the wrinkled businessmen 's hands reaching for our dollars from behind the sunny smiles .", "parents may be more willing to put up with the movie 's logical loopholes than its casual treatment of behavior they would not want their children to imitate .", "a shlocky , sloppy and crass adolescent comedy .", "talk about drama - oh ! the horror .", "bland , warmed over genre cliches masquerading as a movie .", "a star vehicle with three flat tires and sugar in the gas tank .", "i hope kids see through this film 's slick production value and realize lindsay lohan 's character is only a shade above contemptible much less worth their admiration .", "the movie 's lame , but i 'm inclined to agree with the kids on the internet movie database message boards that lohan could beat the crap out of hillary duff in a grudge match .", "dear diary : the truth is that there 's nothing much to confess in the made-for-tweens comedy MOV .", "... film pimps to is core demographic and gives nothing substantial in return .", "somehow the film gets through its entire running time without ever having a plot .", "why is this chiffon doodle essentially offensive ? because it is about nothing , and it turns the dreams of girls into piffle .", "both the actress and the character she 's playing are stranded in a vapid film about vapid teens .", "if disney pictures is looking to pander to the lowest urges of emerging girlhood , they have succeeded in this tacky and boring after-school special .", "it 's a pubescent fantasia without soul or purpose beyond positioning star lindsay lohan as the successor to hilary duff 's throne .", "the superficial sweetness masks something rotten .", "sugarman 's muddled comedy serves only to drive home the clich\u00e9 that the teenage female mind is a roiling mass of contradictions and petty concerns .", "a string of unrelated scenes about the high-school musical ... the band 's final concert , some random moments in which some standard-issue popular girls are mean to lola , and lola 's active fantasy life .", "much of confessions seems clueless and -- even worse for moviegoers of any age -- listless .", "supported by lindsay lohan 's effervescent performance , drama queen has a fun flair for the dramatics but ultimately is a piece of fluff targeted to a limited audience .", "like a stream-of-consciousness riff on girl movie notions -- minus the consciousness part .", "MOV is for those old enough to aspire to be high school juniors and seniors , but still too young to do more than dream .", "teenage drama queen confesses : ` i 'm guilty of making a bad movie ' .", "bubble-brained comedy for the olsen twins demographic .", "truly awful ...", "lohan , overcoming her character 's occasional obnoxiousness , has enough spunky charm to make this one work for the target audience of 11-year-old girls .", "even at less than an hour and a half , it still feels absurdly padded .", "riddled with contradictions , preachiness , implausibilities , false starts and wrong turns , it tells a choppy , incoherent tale without an ounce of charm or wit .", "what teenage girl would enjoy watching this ? i 'm glad disney addresses this oft-ignored demographic , but if these girls are pandered to so obviously , wo n't they feel insulted ?", "this light , brisk , candy-colored comedy is rescued from cookie-cutter teen-movie status by some quirky moments and the efforts of its bright young cast ." ], "summary": "sloppily assembled fluff that wo n't have much of interest for anyone who is n't a preteen girl .", "id": "10634" }, { "movie": "hollywoodland", "reviews": [ "like ben from bennifer , george reeves aspired to be a great actor , but was weighed down by audience expectations . affleck does a terrific job with this role .", "tentando evocar a mesma atmosfera sufocante de los angeles % u2013 cidade proibida , surge como p\u0431lida -lrb- literalmente -rrb- imita\u0437\u0433o do excepcional trabalho de curtis hanson .", "middle-aged angst - and not the mystery of reeves ' unsolved death - lies at the heart of MOV .", "it 's affleck 's ghost of film future . watch his hurt-glazed eyes as he sits in the screening of from here to eternity while all around him people laugh at ` superman ' pretending to be someone else .", "it 's worth seeing for affleck alone , deftly communicating the distance between the put-on cardboard debonairness of this hunk-about-town and the gnawing uncertainties beneath his superman outfit .", "outside of the novelty of seeing ben affleck assaying a dramatic role , there is n't much in MOV to keep us hooked .", "it is not just that people die in the film , its the way their souls get mauled while they are still alive .", "stark , probing and beautifully crafted , MOV is a slow-burning mystery/thriller that intriguingly jumps along with each suspenseful frame .", "despite a stellar cast , coulter and screenwriter paul bernbaum ca n't decide whether to plumb the depths of ` noir ' or tug at the heartstrings of failed ambition .", "starts with artful delusions before dribbling into nothingness", "frustratingly ambiguous as a thriller , coulter 's strong debut should be approached as a disturbing parable on the nature of fame .", "but dreams of fame evolve . and where once it would have just been enough to be recognized , it becomes apparent only later that this is not quite enough .", "may not have all the answers about the death of one of the icons behind the big red 's , ' but by gathering one of the better ensembles of the year , it makes the legend interesting again .", "every bit as ambitious , if never as flawed , as the characters it portrays .", "strong ensemble performances , tight direction , and a stand out from affleck make this an excellent revisiting of an old hollywood case ...", "tells this tale with energy and panache .", "un atractivo y bien logrado ejemplo de cine negro donde se mezclan glamour y misterio , con estupendo elenco y excelente recreaci\u0443n de \u0439poca y atm\u0443sfera .", "from a character point of view , adrien brodey 's emotional journey as a broken down investigator and a broken down father from a broken marriage , is the film 's incomplete centrepiece , ben affleck 's superb portrayal of george reeves notwithstanding .", "a well-meaning mediocrity .", "worthwhile for the amusement of the escape to a bygone era alone . but when you factor in an absorbing pulp fiction plotline , you 've got all you can ask of a cinematic experience ." ], "summary": "more than a movie star murder mystery , MOV takes it slow in order to reveal the intriguing details of the rise and fall of superstar fame .", "id": "287865038" }, { "movie": "1159618-superhero", "reviews": [ "the good news about `` MOV movie '' is that it is better than either of the `` fantastic four '' movies . the bad news is that it is n't that much better .", "MOV movie would make a decent long-form short on the `` funny or die '' website , but at 85 minutes -- 15 of which are outtake-heavy end credits -- its powers of amiability wear off fast .", "the gags are consistently weak .", "note to screenwriters : it 's clear you think that jokes ending in the words `` myspace , '' `` youtube , '' or `` wikipedia '' are automatically funny , but it just ai n't so .", "what 's supposed to be a spoof of all the comic-book movies clogging theaters turns out to be an unfunny retread of the first spider-man .", "puerile and idiotic it may be , but MOV movie is nonetheless smarter than most of its lowbrow brethren in the hollywood sub-sub-category known as the spoof movie .", "the very act of writing critically about MOV inspires something of an existential crisis -- no one likely to turn out for it is reading this review , and anybody reading this review is probably not inclined to see it under any circumstances .", "it looks for all the world as if writer/director craig mazin took the screenplay for spider-man , propped it up next to his macbook , and just went through it , inserting fart gags , pratfalls and the lamest of jokes .", "despite a few amusing moments , this underwhelming spoof is strictly direct-to-video material .", "by-the-numbers screen parody fails to resurrect an increasingly tired genre .", "to call MOV movie a satire , or even a parody , of the genre specified in its title would be misleading , since those terms imply at least an attempt at wit . but no real mockery is intended by this mindless grab bag of slightly used gags .", "writer-director and scary movie vet craig mazin 's script is so devoid of anything even remotely funny that the movie is more a cheap rip-off of sam raimi 's spider-man franchise than a spoof .", "two laughs does not a decent comedy make .", "it 's a movie for the inner 9 year old in us all . that 's the age that most people move on from flatulence jokes , and sniggering whenever they hear the 's ' or ` f ' words .", "pamela anderson appears for 15 seconds as the invisible woman ... and if anderson is invisible she 's pretty much completely useless .", "super ? no . but it 's not bad .", "MOV movie deserves a special place in the burning fires of hell , where lazy writing , insipid direction , and an unforgivable eagerness towards bottom-feeding stupidity can roast along with the rest of the spoof genre 's recent offerings .", "prefers physical comedy over idiotic references to other movies , so it 's consistently , harmlessly stupid rather than soul-crushingly annoying .", "if you enjoyed movies like mystery men , my super x-girlfriend or even orgazmo back in the day , then you just might crack a smile at the dragonfly 's spandex wedgie .", "essentially a retread of every bad grade-school joke you 're happy to have forgotten .", "with jokes packed as tightly together as sliced cheese , the flick 's comedy axiom seems to be : never give the audience a pause to second-guess their laughter", "there are a few lively bits , and one joke with an edge : a slap at stephen hawking and his computer-drone voice . mostly , though , this is super-lame .", "MOV movie is the living definition of `` hit or miss . '' parts of it admittedly made me laugh out loud , but for every joke that scored , there were two that did n't .", "this year 's MOV movie is n't as epically bad as last year 's epic movie , but it does provide more evidence that the spoof genre is tapped out .", "MOV movie should be taken as a well-meaning but ultimately uneven lesson in how to handle future parodies .", "... plays like a mad magazine spoof that was written on the toilet", "... the gags just lie there and die ...", "70 minutes of good if unmemorable fun sure beats 80 or 90 minutes of excruciating parodies for dummies , a la date movie and epic movie .", "predictable , flat , full of name-dropping , tragically unhip , and likely to make a decent amount of cash .", "there 's honestly not a single laugh in the film , unless the mere mention or sight of shit , piss and puke is hilarious to you .", "all the most hilarious scenes from ` MOV movie ' show up in the film 's trailer , but there 's still a lot to laugh about in this silly parody .", "it 's rather benign , actually -- never very funny , and never amusing for more than a few moments at a time , but not grating or clownish , either .", "it 's cinematic junk food ; i sat , i laughed , i left , i forgot all about it . -lrb- but at least i laughed . -rrb-", "a joke that 's underdeveloped and overextended ... not one of the worst examples of this tired genre , but far from the best .", "it 's a bit late in the game for MOV movie , which was never going to fly , and barely crawls .", "while by no means a masterpiece , when craig mazin riffs on the `` spider-man '' trilogy , `` MOV movie '' is cause for some occasional chuckles ...", "contrary to popular belief , it does take a level of talent to tell puke and fart jokes well , and that seems to be one of craig mazin 's talent , for whatever it 's worth .", "about five good laughs stretched over a 70-minute running time -lrb- not counting the ludicrously padded 15-minute end credits -rrb- .", "unfortunately , the film has nothing remotely interesting or satirical to say about the genre it is spoofing , so there is little to hold your attention between the gags , which do not arrive at the rapid-fire clip necessary to sustain the laughter ...", "even though the movie made me laugh hard during some scenes , it 's wildly uneven !", "this parody film plagiarizes spider-man to virtually laughless effect .", "the stench is still thick on the corpse of meet the spartans , but apparently filmgoers ca n't get enough of lame-duck lampoons from scary movie alumni .", "tiresome , generic spoof is all about crude humor .", "n\u0441o t\u0441o desastroso quanto outras imita\u0443\u0448es baratas das produ\u0443\u0448es do zaz , mas ainda assim apelativo e irregular .", "nothing in MOV movie could be described as magical , but for comic-book fans in a forgiving mood , this lowbrow outing has its moments . -lsb- blu-ray -rsb-", "... boasts an actual storyline and a few genuinely hilarious jokes and gags .", "the film 's weakest moments are also its timeliest .", "a slap in the face with a smirk . this is n't the fun it ought to be .", "this super-powered spoof just does n't fly ." ], "summary": "MOV movie is not the worst of the spoof genre , but relies on tired gags and lame pop culture references all the same .", "id": "770684073" }, { "movie": "starsky_and_hutch", "reviews": [ "it 's probably a hoot for fans of the show . it definitely captures the atmosphere , but it does n't work as a great cop-buddy picture . i laughed , but lost interest in the story .", "seriously short on laughs .", "that scraping sound you hear is postmodernism hitting the bottom of the barrel .", "mildly amusing and true to the spirit of both the show and its host decade .", "though there are a few chuckles to be had - mostly thanks to vaughn 's hilariously over-the-top performance - the film is curiously lacking in the guffaws department .", "stiller and wilson , it seems , took the script ... and tore it into confetti .", "-lsb- m -rsb- ight as well be called owen wilson and ben stiller do their schtick in funny 70s clothes ...", "all things being equal , MOV still manages to be an enjoyable ride , even though it lacks the energy , urgency , and consistency needed to make it great .", "stiller and wilson provide plenty of laughs , but do i really need another reminder of just how lame the '70s really were ?", "it 's a good thing they 're the man , too . because they 're working with such a creaky , inconsistently funny script", "todd phillips strikes nostalgic gold , squeezing just enough comedy out of the buddy cop formula to keep it afloat during its brisk 95-minute runtime .", "had the script actually had a direction it would 've helped .", "the film is as clever as it is silly , more warmhearted than sentimental and just as irreverent as it is nostalgic .", "cartoonish but clever , with the bulk of the fun coming when wilson 's wry wit meets stiller 's impatient officiousness head-on . sophomoric , yet probably the best of the recent tv retreads .", "not exactly politically correct , but you 'd be hard pushed to find a single mean frame .", "too amiable to cook up anything truly memorable ...", "silly , but lots of fun for older teens .", "it 's basically a time killer with a lot of forgettable jokes that go on way too long many times ...", "stiller and wilson are far less serious than their television role models -lrb- paul michael glaser and david soul -rrb- but still drive the hell out of the souped-up ford gran torino muscle car that boosted the show 's visual appeal .", "a buddy cop movie filled with genuine laughs .", "for what it is , starsky & hutch is a big success", "more tolerable than most movies based on past tv shows .", "ben stiller and owen wilson were a hilarious duo .", "i 'm not sure that it would make me want to go back and re-watch old episodes of the show , but that 's all right . the show was then , the movie is now . and the movie is good .", "the laughs keep coming -- thanks to three clever comic performances by will ferrell , owen wilson and snoop dogg .", "a three-decade-old waste of time .", "... captures the quirky spirit of its original televised counterpart ... spunky and spry ... a groovy escapist piece of entertainment that hits more than it misses", "never quite as good as you 'd wish it would be , although there are a couple of scenes that are real gems", "thanks to its able cast and better-than-expected writing , starsky & hutch ends up being a pretty fun ride .", "more about humor and hero worship than plot , which is fine , and the movie ambles along mostly at a moderate pace , both a laid-back blessing and its too-lazy curse .", "... the movie does n't take any of its material seriously-a big plus-and the alertness of the characters usually results in some scenes of hilarious comic value ...", "a sterling supporting cast -- down to the tiniest bit parts -- provides enough astringent intelligence to make the slobbering sentimentality go down with ease .", "any resemblance between the original -- and fun ! -- 1970 's tv series and this in-name-only todd phillips 's dud is entirely accidental .", "if you 're a fan from back in the day , seeing that red and white-striped gran torino in action once again will have you leaving the theater with a grin on your face .", "big on potential , short on really big laughs , it 's a buddy cop comedy which coasts on the charisma and chemistry of its stars .", "stiller and wilson are perfectly cast and work beautifully together ...", "many of the gags here are hit or miss , but wilson and stiller 's unflappable charm and the obvious fun they 're having translates into precious little witlessness .", "part of the reason this film succeeds is because it manages to be both an affectionate mickey-take of the television show as well as glorifying everything that was cool about the era .", "moves slowly and without much grace ; it tries to jiggle laughs out of us instead of letting them flow freely .", "more a wasted franchise opportunity than a movie .", "hollywood 's latest mcmovie -- name-brand recognition as raison d'\u0119tre or , if you will , creative bankruptcy on a very large scale .", "more of a spoof than a stand-alone comedy , film barely moves beyond the 70s hair and clothes , delivering a flat and not particularly funny picture . shame .", "it 's an easy , breezy romp of a movie .", "the filmic equivalent of a roofie : you 're sure that something happened while you were out , but damned if you know what it was .", "you wo n't go more than a minute or two without a laugh", "it 's fun , and that 's all it really wants to be .", "stiller and wilson 's flirty , crackerjack rapport has grown to resemble something like a pan-sexual , thc-enhanced abbott and costello .", "ben stiller has fallen into a terrible rut as an insufferable prat .", "i 'm not saying never , ever , mine television for feature films , but i am saying that maybe it 's time we all chipped in to buy hollywood a clue", "phillips , who started out making creepy -lrb- and funny -rrb- documentaries , has become a canny repackager of yesterday 's schlock -- a mall-friendly purveyor of arrested comedy for an arrested world .", "hiding under the permed hair and muscle cars are a few strong chuckles ...", "this is a gentle nod to the television series .", "there is a comic-book devouring , playboy-stashing adolescent male heart thumping rather sweetly at the core of this homage-spoof .", "phillips pushes for laughs more than the show did , but still manages a weird mix of comedy , serious crime fighting and irony inside the scariest fashion decade of all time .", "MOV '' did what it set out to do - make me laugh .", "the tag line says it all : ` they 're the man . '", "something we seldom expect -lrb- or get -rrb- in the creatively bankrupt trend of adapting moldy old tv shows for the big screen : funny .", "it 's a tribute to the actors ' dedication that MOV plays so well .", "`` the movie 's chronically flaccid humor is exceedingly tame and pointedly inoffensive . ''", "le film offre de nombreux moments amusants .", "is n't worth doing , and here is not well done .", "if you like stiller and wilson , you 'll find enough to like about this film . if you do n't , you can always just gawk at that awesome car .", "... director todd phillips -lrb- road trip , old school -rrb- proves once again that he has a hand for feel-good comedies .", "stiller e wilson certamente j\u00e1 provaram ser capazes de originarem uma franquia baseada n\u0103o em personagens , mas em suas pr\u00f3prias personalidades .", "comedy is difficult . good comedies are rare . `` starsky & hutch '' has three noteworthy moments , one of which involves a horse mistakenly gunned down at a bat mitzvah . hilarious .", "an amiable comedy , boosted by some good jokes , solid performances and plenty of charm .", "if you never saw the tv show , you 'll still laugh .", "the idea of it , including the attention to seventies detail and the music , is funnier than most of the film .", "would the producers please just get out of the way and let todd phillips direct the darn movie ?", "the film takes a bad but beloved 1970s tv series and transforms it into an experience of almost transcendent silliness .", "genuine affection for the original and just the right touch of snarky post-modernism .", "even though his role is small , will ferrell alone makes it worth a viewing .", "the key to the film 's success is that it uses the burned out premise as the springboard for a comedy , not an action flick .", "-lsb- a -rsb- lot of fun from start to finish .", "s&h 's chief pleasure is the spontaneous , sometimes quite touching rapport between the two stars .", "... the film 's willingness to laugh at itself . this is not fine art , but pop culture fun , and for once the filmmakers seem in on the joke .", "the casting is pure genius .", "overcomes its played '70s spoof material , just one notch above undercover brother-flaccid , to become the first genuinely funny comedy of 2004 .", "reeks of mediocrity ... the show was hardly a classic , but even so this insipid remolding does n't do it justice .", "if you 've seen its trailers , there 's no reason to see the movie .", "not your mother 's cop show , but if you agree that owen wilson and ben stiller are a great comedy duo , then you 're probably going to enjoy it .", "while the gags in MOV are more hit-and-miss than nonstop inspiration , the movie does get a fair share of laughs .", "a humorous but ultimately unsatisfying comedy .", "this movie does n't even deserve to stand next to the crummiest of MOV tv episodes .", "has a few bright , wiseass moments , but is generally pretty lame .", "stiller and wilson look bewildered .", "who could have anticipated that snoop would be the saving grace of a major studio buddy flick ?", "people were laughing at my screening , but i could n't understand what it was they were laughing at .", "a pleasant diversion that vanishes from your mind right after you watch it .", "though the gags are n't always funny , i usually had a smile on my face .", "... inoffensive , sometimes charming , and often irritatingly dull . its satirical jabs are aimed at easy targets , its jokes repetitious or redundant , its pacing a little slow .", "this is sure to be one of the best comedies of the year .", "considering how flimsy starsky & hutch is , it manages to deliver some big laughs and some excellent slapstick mayhem .", "although starsky & hutch is a movie without a sincere moment , somehow it never seems cynical .", "for every solid rib tickler , there are about three bits that make the film 's brief running time seem a lot longer .", "there are about three good laughs in starsky & hutch .", "i like stiller and wilson , but they need better material than these witless mainstream flicks .", "starsky & hutch , the movie , has no weight or purpose . but it takes its triviality seriously enough to make it feel fresh .", "the humour does n't flow naturally from either the plot or the setting -- the best gags are the ones that are just tossed into the picture and would be at home anywhere .", "the worst thing about starsky & hutch is how devoid of actual jokes the movie is . it 's all premise , no substance .", "probably the most enjoyable hollywood update of a decades-old tv series since the first brady bunch movie .", "this s&h is only as funny as you can imagine stiller and wilson being . for me , that 's pretty funny .", "... stiller and wilson 's opposing approaches to comedy are perfectly paralleled in their casting here and the 70 's come alive again via fondue , amc pacers and barry manilow .", "diverting retread .", "starsky & hutch performs the miracle of making fun from -- rather than of -- one of its most popular cop shows .", "serious fans of the old show may rightly feel one of their favorite childhood dreams has been violated . those with no emotional investment , however , will probably find it an enjoyably absurd , if instantly forgettable , satire of '70s tv-cop extravagances .", "works in large part due to the chemistry between stiller and wilson .", "much like the big-screen adaptation of charlie 's angels , starksy & hutch manages to play its cheeseball aspects with a perfect balance of sincerity and irony , cleverness and idiocy .", "starsky & hutch might seem funnier if the naked gun movies had n't already parodied cop show cliches or if the writers had bothered to go beyond the hey-wouldn ` t - it-be - funny-if conversation and invented some things that actually are funny .", "though stiller and wilson may be today 's most overexposed actors , they have infectious chemistry here .", "the big-screen adaptation of the 1970 's television cop show starsky & hutch has a crafty , can-you-dig-it ? spirit .", "being a period piece hardly excuses starsky & hutch from being a cliche-ridden , uncharming and tiresome exercise in recycled humor .", "forget mel gibson , this is the year 's biggest bummer for the jews : that their biggest box-office champ , apart from jesus , is the image of angry impotence .", "yet another based-on - a-tv-hit , oh-those - crazy - '70s dud .", "what do you get when you add four screenwriters , five producers , and two leads who ca n't work outside of their own material ? starsky & hutch", "apart from wardrobe and hair , the two heroes completely miss the spirit that made the original spark .", "viewing starsky & hutch is embarrassing , like watching hollywood eat a cadaver in order to stay alive .", "starsky & hutch is funny throughout , but with a handful of really hilarious moments of a kind that most comedies just do n't deliver .", "MOV is a rarity : a big-screen parody of an old television series that 's actually pretty good .", "all in all , the film has a certain authenticity , capturing the spirit of the series .", "the stars give -lsb- the movie -rsb- so many knee-slapper moments you 'll want to wear long thick pants to save your thighs .", "starsky & hutch is n't conceptually clever or well-designed , but on the other hand it 's well-stocked with comedy talent .", "an affectionate satire of the late - '70s action series , it retains an agreeable small-screen modesty .", "this ` why bother ? ' spinoff of the '70s undercover cop show is little more than a 99-minute shtickfest built around something resembling a plot .", "it will warm your funny bone if given half a chance .", "although fans of the original might enjoy watching the characters return , the movie often goes for cheap laughs with little payoff .", "fun but forgettable , it 's stiller and wilson that make starsky & hutch worth a trip to the cineplex .", "if a movie rises and falls solely on the basis of its laughs , it better have a lot of them . starsky & hutch does n't .", "... has more funny actors than actual laughs .", "wilson-stiller comedy revamps a 1970s tv show for a few laughs -- but just a few .", "keeps you laughing or winking enough to keep from thinking about the thin story .", "satirically , there 's really nothing here that ca n't be found in spike jonze 's video for the beastie boys ' sabotage , but that does n't mean it 's not a fun ride .", "the actors are at the top of their comedic game , and their chemistry is undeniable .", "one the best '70s tube lampoons since 1995 's the brady bunch movie .", "stiller and wilson are becoming the most memorable comedic duo since walter matthau and jack lemmon .", "capably accomplishes precisely what it set out to do in the first place ... which is to deliver good , goofy laughs in a light and amiable setting .", "just stay home and wait for the beastie boys ' `` sabotage '' to play on mtv2 .", "starsky & hutch has moments of hilarity a little greater than you might expect of a movie that is just out for a lazy good time .", "like countless other flabby , winking studio comedies out there , this movie plays like a series of sketches begging for commercial breaks .", "i wish that director/co-writer todd phillips ... could have come up with something a little smarter than this nonsense .", "intermittently amusing .", "the closest thing i see to being a revival of the two-man comedy team is the pairing of stiller and wilson .", "starsky & hutch is guilty pleasure fun that just rolls along having a grand old time .", "it 's often diverting , and if you 're nostalgic for the '70s you 'll probably have a good time .", "todd phillips is the succubus of filmmakers . i can only assume that 's how he keeps getting jobs . by giving them .", "the laughs are spotty and feel like a stitched-together series of sketches , but the highs outweigh the flatfooted lows , and the duo definitely works the comedic beat .", "as tremendously stupid as it is unavoidably funny , MOV is one of those slop-job , slapstick movies you ca n't help but laugh at .", "no one involved with starsky & hutch actually seems to care about the movie .", "a moderately amusing diversion .", "a scattershot cop comedy that aims its parodistic firepower not at any single target -- least of all its namesake -- but at an entire decade .", "a really good not-great movie , the kind that would be classified as a guilty pleasure were it not executed with guilt-free honesty and good nature .", "while it 's never plain bad , the film is not really plain good , and very seldom plain funny . -lrb- mildly amusing fits . -rrb-", "the film is fitfully amusing but never quite reaches the heights it ought to .", "i can honestly say it 's the funniest movie i 've seen this year , and a great reminder of what dumb , fun movies are supposed to really be about .", "starsky & hutch is super-sized hilarity - stiller and wilson style ! vince vaughn reeks of aqua velva and polyester , yet is still eveil sexy ...", "the result is an action film that is also a scrumptious slice of a much-maligned era .", "director phillips may have set out to update the classic tv show , but what he ended up with is a 21st-century remake of ` dragnet ' , the tom hanks-dan aykroyd two-star flick .", "everything about this cineplex variation feels rinky-dink , like some extended variety-show skit that became a network pilot that accidentally morphed into a feature film when no one was paying attention .", "hey , carmen electra looks worried - at least she would look worried if her forehead did n't contain enough botox to put down ryan seacrest .", "a surprisingly funny movie .", "the ceaseless hollywood plundering of '70s television definitely tests one 's patience , and starsky & hutch could have been more compact . in all , though , the movie makes for a funky good time .", "amusing enough to please those looking for something silly , goofy and fun .", "a movie that manages to capture the swinging '70s vibe while effectively satirizing it .", "starsky & hutch will remind you just how bad '70s cop shows could be , but its stellar comic cast will keep you laughing in spite of it .", "an enjoyably stupid night at the movies .", "it 's a kitschy confluence of references and nostalgic in-jokes all but guaranteed to make faithful fans simply cackle with delight .", "a mixture of half-hearted action scenes and anything-goes hijinks .", "the screenplay could have used at least a couple of more rewrites to be truly funny .", "as crammed with cheese as a fondue pot on new year 's eve . you need not be familiar with the original ` starsky ' to figure out what phillips and company are lampooning here .", "too much of the script relies on smug , lazy strip-mining of second-rate pop-culture sources for no better reason that to give hipsters an opportunity to snicker at disco fashions .", "the majority of the humor falls flat , the pacing holds no true momentum , and passing entertainment value turns to frustration before the first hour is up .", "the zany buddy-picture chemistry of ben stiller and owen wilson works wonderfully ...", "this sucks . i 'm sorry there 's no other way to put it .", "it 's a sloppy batch of seen-it-before setups and spotty punchlines that never settles on whether to be a parody or an homage .", "... anyone can see the only thing -lrb- the film -rrb- has to do with `` starsky & hutch '' is the car -lrb- and the car should have had top billing , too -rrb- .", "starsky knows exactly what it is and has fun with it .", "MOV is a bit of amusing 70 's nostalgia that is a good vehicle for its stars .", "the director does n't even pretend to introduce a romantic subplot . why should he , when the central ` love story ' is that of MOV ?", "stiller and wilson use the detectives as springboards for their quirky brand of humor . think `` zoolander '' only with guns and the ubiquitous red tomato .", "this film benefits from a cool and breezy style , forcing some of the jokes but succeeding more often than not ." ], "summary": "it 's uneven and occasionally somewhat aimless , but starsky & hutch benefits from stiller and wilson 's chemistry and a surprisingly warm-hearted script .", "id": "11462" }, { "movie": "saw_ii", "reviews": [ "unable to deliver the single novel concept or unexpected surprise that might justify its existence .", "it 's an unpleasant film with grotesque imagery , but nine inch nails ' `` closer '' video is more unsettling than this mostly predictable bloodbath .", "the slaughter in MOV is pretty much non-stop , but you always see it coming . the movie 's not really that scary , just gross in what by now is a fairly routine way .", "in every way superior to its predecessor in terms of performances , story , characterization , gore , and climax .", "the film does n't take the direction most sequels do and manages to adequately follow up the original .", "a reloaded style one-up in which more people are trapped in bigger places and forced to perform scarier tasks with nastier results . wow .", "like the story , hate the directing", "the ornate sadism is n't enough to carry our interest this time around .", "quite hideous .", "ultimately uninteresting .", "by no means a masterpiece of the genre , but it 's a slickly made picture that more than delivers on the promise made on its poster -- oh yes , there will be blood .", "bousman a su trafiquer la facture originale pour en accentuer l'impact et la rendre , aussi \u00e9trange que cela puisse paraitre , un peu plus cr\u00e9dible .", "it 's not slick , it 's not empowering , and it 's not pretty . but what it does -- efficiently exploiting our primal fears -- it does pretty well .", "MOV is pure schlock , which was clearly the intention : grimy grainy photography , flashbacks that strike like lightning bolts , plot holes galore and no jokes to speak of .", "veni vidi vomit . that 's latin for : i came , i saw , i saw ` MOV . '", "the raucous results : MOV is a shameless spectacle of squirming and squealing without maintaining much solid suspense in its warped , blood-clotting heart", "jigsaw returns , this time as self-styled family counselor .", "an utterly sadistic horror picture that exists for no other reason and has no discernible point apart from getting horror fans to shell out a few bucks .", "if you saw the first `` saw , '' you 'll want to see `` MOV , '' too .", "it was like finding the peanut butter cup in a sea of mounds bars .", "one of those rare sequels that surpass the foundation it was built on .", "in ` MOV , ' both the cops and the victims are so dim the whole elaborate exercise hardly seems worthwhile .", "MOV is bound to give fans of the original a real buzz .", "needlessly revolting", "... the bad news is that there 's less -lrb- jigsaw -rrb- innovation ... the good news is there 's no crying cary elwes .", "-lsb- t -rsb- he earnest message-ification ... vies with the meaningless and sadistic violence as the most stomach-turning aspect of the flick .", "... is supposed to jar you , but here 's the funny thing about 90 minutes of bludgeoning and bloodletting : it usually just leaves me numb .", "ainda que relativamente engenhoso , o roteiro depende excessivamente de coincid\u0119ncias e revela-se pouco original , al\u00e9m de n\u0103o conseguir criar um \u00fanico personagem com quem o p\u00fablico possa se identificar .", "-lsb- jigsaw -rsb- is like john keating from dead poet 's society , if keating used hypodermic needles and hacksaws instead of walt whitman .", "the rare sequel that improves upon its predecessor , MOV is an exploitation flick with style and skill to go along with its stream of red stuff .", "an ugly , joyless horror movie that deserves to be tossed into the business end of 1988 's `` woodchipper massacre . ''", "this macabre follow-up to 2004 's low-budget horror smash ca n't rival its predecessor 's fiendish ingenuity . but it makes up for it with a deliciously devious plot and enough gory shocks for a dozen halloweens .", "... a sequel that shows some of the same boldness and intellect of the first one .", "to enjoy MOV , one must have enjoyed saw . this is a given . as to which is better , this is a fairly pointless question given how bad both of these movies are .", "in a fun house like this the elaborate tortures seem to leave behind the real world of pain and suffering for the realm of slapstick ; they 're the kind of horrors that make you scream and laugh at the same time .", "a grimy and relentless portrayal of high-tension cruelty that 's excruciating to watch but as riveting as a nail gun to the nut sack .", "saw 2 gives talented , creepy-looking character actor tobin bell the chance to shine again as the cancer-ridden serial killer .", "MOV is a nasty piece of work ...", "MOV feels like an episode of fear factor or big brother with rob zombie at the helm , and if that does n't scare you away from this ridiculous movie , well , feel free to indulge your questionable tastes .", "by referencing horror masters dario argento and wes craven , the film invites comparison to much better movies , -lsb- with -rsb- none of argento 's style or craven 's savagely sardonic of sense of humor ." ], "summary": "MOV is likely to please the gore-happy fans of the original , though it may be too gruesome for those not familiar with first film 's premise .", "id": "8918" }, { "movie": "colour-me-kubrick", "reviews": [ "-lsb- a -rsb- loopy lark ... the sheer goofiness of the premise , together with its gossipy ` insider ' nature -lsb- and -rsb- the take-no-prisoners performance of john malkovich ... carry it along .", "malkovich 's playing to the rafters is certainly amusing , but the film ca n't shake off its borscht belt by way of britain lineage and its failure to dig beneath the surface .", "the film , with its relentlessly tight focus on its main character , winds down to nothingness .", "the movie is endless even at less than 90 minutes .", "it 's a truffle of a movie that may leave you feeling like you ate one too many purple chocolates , but secondary performances by honor blackman -lrb- remember the original `` avengers '' -rrb- and the ever-kooky ken russell add texture to the comic motif .", "the script evinces no interest in the psychology of its main character .", "-lsb- kubrick -rsb- might dismiss as trite the message that proximity to celebrity is so intoxicating , it stupefies . but one hopes he 'd relish the cheerful audacity of the caper and its telling .", "malkovich relishes the character quirks in a performance that pulls out all the stops and pushes every button .", "malkovich pulls out all the gaudy stops .", "malkovich 's performance , and the irresistible concept of an anonymous man dining out on a false identity , carries the film along giddily , and cook wisely keeps color me kubrick short and deliciously tart .", "MOV is a somewhat fictionalized accounting of this amazing but true story . the filmmakers have wisely turned it into a comedy , and a wickedly entertaining one at that .", "director and co-writer brian cook was kubrick 's assistant director on the shining and eyes wide shut and he fills the film with subtle touches and sly in-jokes .", "great fun for the first 20 minutes but seems long at 86 .", "relentlessly sordid , but john malkovich 's imaginatively outlandish performance is worth watching .", "one problem is that malkovich gets free rein to be malkovich , the often showy actor , rather than conway , a humble london travel agent . it 's a grandstanding performance that 's more about hamminess than substance .", "MOV earns a place on the shelf where all the oddballs reside , defying us to come up with reasons to justify their idiosyncratic existences -- and perhaps not caring whether we do .", "a mean-spirited , trashy and intermittently funny film .", "but cleverness aside , the film is so slight it practically vanishes before your eyes .", "a ludicrous , but entertaining look at a real-life kubrick impersonator , played with over-the-top glee by malkovich .", "you can almost see the invective splattering all over the storyline . and malkovich 's camping and vamping , however perversely entertaining it is to behold , can neutralize the venom only so much .", "john malkovich gets to have a field day as the slovenly , unappealing conway ...", "there is a giddy pleasure in watching people , great and small , most who should know much better , fall over themselves to be film-flammed", "john malkovich has one of the roles of his life , and he acts it up like a haughty gourmet who 's just picked up a succulent treat .", "color me kubrick is like a nice , deep , clear cocktail of ammonia on the rocks : bracing , comic , astonishing , all of which hide its poison center .", "the film reveals , rather delectably , how potent the power of suggestion can be in a world gone madly groupie .", "a shapeless , low-grade comedy of flamboyance , giggling at conway 's histrionics and fishnet gloving .", "if you 're a fan of stanley kubrick or just a die-hard film buff , you may find this weird , semi-documentary an absolute hoot . i did .", "the filmmakers opted for a more episodic structure -lrb- with the occasional flashback -rrb- and i do have to say that by the end of the 90 minutes , i was growing weary of the shtick .", "writer anthony frewin and director brian cook uses conway 's unlikely saga to mount an appreciative send-up of a certain style of gay extravagance , with john malkovich having a field day as conway .", "not only is there nothing there , the nothingness is a complete bore . when a film 's highpoint is a soundtrack that relies heavily on other soundtracks , you 've got problems .", "conway looked and sounded nothing like kubrick and did n't even research his supposed identity . he 's clearly a fascinating character who deserves a better movie .", "a little bit like a coloring book -- flip the pages and each is pretty much like the one before , escalating variations on the same scam , with malkovich filling in the cartoonish shadings , and occasionally going way outside the lines .", "the irony of color me kubrick is that the visual tricks merely serve as a backdrop for malkovich 's inspired high-wire performance .", "it 's simply not a movie , not as it stands . it 's a five-minute demo reel stretched to feature length .", "MOV is a marginal curiosity that survives on a whiff of appropriation .", "malkovich captures not only the nuttiness of conway , with his smorgasbord of foreign-sounding accents , but also his pathos .", "any picture featuring a sped-up version of the `` william tell overture '' is so drunk on its own whimsy that it most likely sucks with a dedicated vigour .", "it literally only has one idea in its head , and when that idea runs dry , it 's as lost as conway is without his plethora of kubrick masks .", "this is a kicky little movie .", "best appreciated as a rather amusing farce called the john malkovich show , the movie 's every scene is anchored , then stolen , by the commanding thespian 's alan act .", "it 's an impressive moving wax museum , certainly , but even metatextual follies eventually need a pulse .", "at best a kitschy catch me if you can and at worst a tedious comedy .", "fans of john malkovich will most appreciate MOV . for the rest , this is an amusing little blip on the movie radar screen .", "director brian w. cook should know that hopes are seldom high for movies that debut on dvd the same day they hit the multiplex .", "john malkovich has a blast , so will you !", "even if the film is essentially a one-man show , a one-man show starring john malkovich is bound to be really damn good .", "it 's no ` six degrees of separation ' but malkovich charms the audience as much as his marks , making this solid sit-com entertainment", "without much insight into the self-dramatizing enigma of conway , nor any representation of the solitary auteur he impersonated , the film becomes a repetitive series of small-scale con games played on cabdrivers , bar owners and wannabe stars .", "put forth with ... an unapologetic sense of depraved fun ...", "a doomed effort in satirizing society 's obsession with celebrity , the film insists on a glib comedic tone that bars emotional investment in the tale ; malkovich gives a gutsy but ineffective performance as the travel agent who tried to pass as the director", "droll , entertaining and often outright funny , this offbeat story has instant appeal .", "the movie never convinces us there 's anyone there to expose , though , and malkovich flits from scene to scene without ever anchoring conway in a lasting reality .", "... entertaining if not exactly enlightening .", "a playground for madman malkovich to be set loose in .", "after its promising , hilarious setup , cook 's initial kubrick-like smoothness quickly gives way to a ramshackle presentation with few follow-up ideas or jokes .", "scarcely an insightful biographical portrait , color me kubrick is still interesting , perhaps even intimidating , as a study of the way fandom can so readily be turned against itself .", "kubrick stumbles around with eyes wide shut .", "the decision to execute the story as a kind of extended meta-sitcom -- a series of set-ups without the tidy resolution -- feels like a cheat .", "once the movie gets started , it does n't know where to go or how to end . it more or less repeats itself ." ], "summary": "MOV has a fascinating premise , but provides little insight into kubrick and the man who impersonated him .", "id": "265868862" }, { "movie": "fistful_of_dollars", "reviews": [ "what leone does with this movie is boil the western down to its very essence , removing all the extraneous parts .", "a deliciously ripe spaghetti western", "very much an act of sardonic disrespect toward the genre , yet it 's also a legitimate passion play", "this is a hard-hitting item , ably directed , splendidly lensed , neatly acted , which has all the ingredients wanted by action fans and then some .", "westerns were never the same after sergio leone .", "the moment where sergio leone , anonymous costume drama hack turned into sergio leone , keen stylist and poet of cruelty .", "once in a great while a western comes along that breaks new ground and becomes a classic of the genre .", "guns galore in intro `` spaghetti western '' serving .", "a MOV may lack the mournful intensity and shakespearian comedy of the later leone classics , but as an action film it holds up brilliantly .", "a clever film , shot with sophistication , which ... propelled eastwood to international stardom .", "the one that started it all . a classic western !", "the first and one of the best of the spaghetti westerns", "egregiously synthetic but engrossingly morbid , violent film .", "a wonderful cinematic experience .", "from clint eastwood 's iconic performance to ennio morricone 's unforgettable -lrb- and much-parodied -rrb- musical score , a MOV -lrb- **** -rrb- took the western down trails it had never explored .", "though far less operatic and satisfying than leone 's later work , his first spaghetti western with eastwood still looks stylish , if a little rough at the edges .", "it 's leone 's shortest and simplest film , but all of his hallmarks -- a masterly use of space within the widescreen frame , ennio morricone 's unusual soundtrack music , plenty of silence -- are already in place .", "leone 's pulpy , trend-setting parody -- a rip-off of kurosawa 's yojimbo -- hog-tied the western and dragged it into the modern age , branding it with baroquely big close-ups and ennio morricone 's famously eclectic score .", "awesome .", "though far from perfected in this film , leone 's style would mature through his next two films .", "call me a heathen , but this has never been one of my favorite spaghetti westerns .", "really little more than a series of loosely connected shoot-outs -- but , as sergio leone proved , there can be a lot of fun in that .", "if eastwood gives you a buzz , by all means lap this up . it 's a lot of fun , without a lot of thought required .", "a classic of cinema , and is somtimes underrated when people refer to westerns .", "eastwood absolutely defines the sullen spaghetti western anti-hero in sergio leone 's slick and sleepy shoot 'em up saga that kicks up the right amont of dramatic dust .", "what more could a body want ?", "the film that made eastwood eastwood is a fantastic western classic .", "... does n't quite live up to its reputation .", "very entertaining .", "the film is a no message one , but where violence is glorified by the hero who is as amoral as the villains .", "sergio leone turns the western on its ear with this iconic updating of the samurai classic yojimbo .", "the first -lrb- and nearly the best -rrb- of eastwood & leone 's spaghetti westerns ." ], "summary": "with akira kurosawa 's yojimbo as his template , sergio leone 's a MOV helped define a new era for the western and usher in its most iconic star , clint eastwood .", "id": "13370" }, { "movie": "1194949-wolfman", "reviews": [ "you know a horror film 's in trouble when the morning-after scene is more satisfying than the ` night before . '", "unfortunately , the gore is now the most exciting part ; the other stuff somehow just lies there , without ever inviting us in .", "... a surprisingly effective update that respects the gothic tradition yet jolts with restrained gore and surrealistic drug-induced nightmares .", "`` the MOV '' is not only a roller coaster ride of horror but a fitting and worthy tribute to the original .", "a film that begins in an eerie gothic mist of suggestion-and turns into a toothless exercise in the obvious .", "equal parts gorefest and borefest , the MOV is not the unmitigated disaster that many were expecting % u2026 or even , let 's admit it , hoping for .", "werewolves have perennially taken something of a back seat to vampires , ghosts , aliens , and , recently , zombies in the imaginations of horror filmmakers and fans , and this dreary effort will do nothing to change that .", "a well-acted horror story with a sophisticated screenplay that , unfortunately , waters the seeds of violence , prejudice , and speciesism within us .", "the title character in the MOV suffers from a vexing identity crisis , and so does the movie .", "the MOV bites , but not -- i think -- in the way the filmmakers intended .", "when the beast is finally revealed , he 's fearsome . too bad the story 's not .", "the actual MOV makeup looks great and you can see the actor through it . his movement as a biped is fantastic . then they blend it to a silly animated running blur because that 's how we roll in modern day visual effects .", "the 2010 version is a creature of its time , unfortunately . it has little idea how to create tension , a liability that director joe johnston conceals with a high gross-out factor .", "there is more than a hint of the house of hammer in a gothic yarn that favours florid melodrama , thunderous music and frantic pacing .", "the magic appears to have deserted mr baker , because at the appearance of the hirsute fiend what i heard in the stalls was n't gasps of horror but giggles of mirth .", "digital delirium makes up for lack of plot novelty .", "the movie just ca n't decide what it is . it 's part horror and part navel-gazing romance .", "johnston 's `` MOV '' a gory examination of repression .", "despite massive production troubles including key personnel changes , elaborate cgi and substantial reshoots , this long-delayed update of a classic 1940s monster movie finally hits screens with an exuberant roar .", "like wuthering heights meets chewbacca with a migraine .", "the problem with this modern version of the old tale , however , is that it 's basically a load of codswallop we can no longer swallow without choking .", "in any event , the MOV makes a satisfactory date movie for valentine 's day , which is more than can be said for valentine 's day .", "the finale is like watching mexican pro wrestling , except instead of wearing colorful masks , they 're covered with fur ... it does n't suck , but it does n't have much bite , either .", "johnston 's direction sidesteps suspense to deliver a surplus of tactless , out-of-nowhere jump scares that are more irritating than frightening .", "the MOV constitutes a pleasant surprise , if `` pleasant '' can be used to describe a brooding $ 100 million-plus diversion with this many beheadings and eviscerations .", "victorian clothing , things that go bump in the night , and anthony hopkins in a tiger-skin robe rattling around an oversized mansion , chewing the scenery . what 's not to love ?", "this been-there-mauled-that monster movie gets points for being loud and rather bloody , but it still has n't found a way to make werewolves interesting .", "when all you can deliver is an expensive , effect-heavy horror flick that 's just plain boring , it 's time to rethink things a bit .", "scary and fun and thrilling , the MOV brings the universal monsters back to the screen in a way that 's fitting and modern and still respectful .", "... a welcome return to the classic universal monster movie .", "compared to van helsing , this is fairly satisfying .", "if you 're going to remake a classic movie , the MOV is an excellent example of how to do it right .", "a more emotionally expressive actor might have given us a more visceral connection to the legend than what the superbly mounted production provides .", "neither as bad as you 've probably heard , nor is it anywhere near as good as i might have hoped .", "gloriously , exuberantly awful .", "horror fans wo n't be impressed by the MOV 's crude editing ; romance fans will feel unfulfilled .", "special effects and location shots can only get you so far when your cast looks like they 're telegraphing their performances in .", "it 's not insultingly dumb . that 's refreshing in a 2010 horror pic .", "many hands labored on the MOV ... yet nobody seems to have figured out just how to approach the material .", "an adequately respectful but fairly forgettable film , which earns brownie points for the werewolf mayhem , good intentions and simply for not being van helsing .", "this is the rare blockbuster that offers its characters - and its audience - no shelter .", "... pleasant surprise simply by virtue of not being as thoroughly awful as you expected . and yes , that 's qualified praise . it means , nostalgic horror buffs give it a whirl and all others beware .", "gallingly leaden remake of the 1941 lon chaney jr. classic both lives and dies by its transformations .", "neither scary enough to be exciting nor campy enough to be amusing .", "this is n't the utter disaster the misguided van helsing was , but neither is it the stealthy , hammer-esque dark night of the soulless that it was clearly intended to be .", "after a troubled production , the remake of the horror classic finally arrives in theatres decidedly worse for the wear .", "everything is bad -- the awful script , joe johnston 's un-atmospheric direction , and the acting , which contains enough ham to meet the protein needs of an entire pack of wolfmen .", "there 's a dispiritingly rote and uninvolving air about the MOV that keeps the movie from being the slightest bit frightening for anyone old enough to see it .", "the MOV boasts a solid principal cast from del toro to hopkins and up-and-comer emily blunt , but del toro especially seems to be going through the motions at half speed , as if waiting for the beast and the stuntmen to take it from there . only h", "it believes what it 's peddling regarding silver bullets , ivory fangs , full moons , and peat-mossed british moors soaked in crimson blood . but it 's faithful at the expense of any fun .", "victorian melodrama and outrageous gore make horrific bedfellows in this ill-conceived homage to the classic monster movies of yore .", "there 's a lot to appreciate in the shaggy , imperfect but still fun new version of the wolf man .", "nothing can prepare you for the unrelenting awfulness of the MOV .", "utterly uninvolving and never remotely scary .", "dark and drab this movie looks like something made more than forty years ago . somewhere lon chaney is howling .", "an entertaining and surprisingly bloodthirsty creature feature with a superb performance from del toro .", "a good film , well produced with great sound and guaranteed shocks .", "nothing to howl home about - practically a lesson in pointless film-making .", "this b-movie made on an epic budget is so over-the-top that the earlier you start giggling the better . even though it 's played dead straight , it 's an old-style monster romp that could n't be any more camp if it tried .", "the MOV is uninspired , barely coherent and often remarkably boring ; it is a mongrel of a film , and the scars of its troubled production are all too visible .", "a bad idea from the start .", "an uneven tone and the feeling of too many cooks mars the finished product , but there are moments of beauty and real terror .", "del toro should have been perfect for the MOV , and it is his involvement in the project that attracted most critics to it , but his performance is mostly disappointing .", "a brooding but dramatically muted reboot of the classic monster-movie franchise , director joe johnston 's action-horror film oozes gothic atmosphere without supplying any character to fill it .", "the MOV ends up a disappointment , then , somewhat interesting in places , but nothing to howl about .", "snore , snore , fur , snore , snore , blood .", "not so much howlingly bad as it is disappointingly lifeless .", "feels like a filmmaker more concerned with making this grand-looking epic and less concerned with keeping modern horror lovers as riveted to the screen as the original did back in its day .", "would that joe johnston 's the MOV were spectacularly awful , then it would have been at least a fun time at the movies .", "the action scenes are pure kinetic motion , which is what johnston is best at ; he fares less well when he goes for mood or suspense .", "`` an american werewolf in london '' still retains its title as the best werewolf movie ever made .", "`` why so serious ? '' would be an excellent question to direct at the makers of the MOV , a high-toned , bloody but otherwise bloodless effort .", "by pandering to the avatar market 's debased taste and indifference to storytelling details , this technically polished , emotionally crude remake sets back the advances that once had been made in horror movies .", "if you like your horror with a bit of b-goodness and nostalgia added for flavour , then the MOV is right up your alley .", "johnston sacrifices originality for computer graphics and stop-motion camera tricks , and the script , by andrew kevin walker and david self , bulges with real howlers : `` i did n't know you hunted monsters . '' `` sometimes monsters hunt you ! ''", "written and crafted with great sensitivity , this is high class gothic horror", "the poor pacing , blatantly obvious narrative signposting and over-reliance on false scares generated by sudden sounds and movements , removes any chance of the MOV actually being frightening .", "baker 's fantastic make-up effects together with great performances from del toro and hopkins make this a fun experience . do n't expect an even plot and character development .", "the MOV more closely resembles a slasher flick with an a-list cast than the universal horror cycle that it derives from .", "decent production values and makeup ca n't compensate for the dramatically inert text , made worse by banal dialogue even gifted del toro ca n't help , and helmer 's little understanding of the genre , the anxiety , fear , fun it has offered viewers for decades .", "lycanthropic lore , and lots of gore .", "i 'd rather watch ` teen wolf ' on repeat than yawn through ` the MOV ' again . it 's the type of movie where you can fall asleep for 20 minutes , wake up and realize you did n't miss a thing .", "MOV ... is all bark and very little bite .", "stuffy and old-fashioned , taking itself way too seriously even at its silliest moments . - nerve.com", "what does it say about the MOV that its token cleric is vastly less interesting than his broadly comic counterpart in wallace & gromit : curse of the were-rabbit ?", "as talbot , del toro proves to be inspired casting ... but as the brooding victim of `` lycanthrophy , '' who fears and hates what it turns him into , he 's perfect .", "an embarrassment to universal 's horror legacy .", "a mangled , short-sheeted stab at reanimating a horror icon , MOV is a mess ; it 's a poorly-stitched , overthought , ear-splitting bungle of a picture , dragging a few normally trustworthy filmmaking professionals down with it .", "it 's exactly what it 's supposed to be : an upscale goth b-movie with dark humor and buckets of blood .", "... suffers from an egregiously deliberate pace that slowly but surely renders its overtly positive attributes moot ...", "a torpid retelling of the classic lycanthropy story , both bloated and constricted , mostly glum but punctuated with nasty , intrusive humor , and more interested in decor and makep than genuine style .", "you couldve recast the whole film with a row of totem poles and i 'm not 100 % sure anyone would 've noticed the difference .", "the clumsy and ineffectual story does n't do anything but stand in place , whirring .", "benecio del toro is suitably brooding in this well-intentioned , credibly gothic and gory update that still feels only half right .", "a lack of focus plagues the entire film . the director , writers and actor himself have conspired to render the title character blank , lifeless .", "hopkins is clearly hopkins here , and the extension of his role in the story kept me asking why .", "the action is fine . the casting is a bit of a disappointment . paul chambers , cnn .", "there 's more emotion in the monster 's howls , which were created by a baritone opera singer , than in del toro 's monotone mutterings .", "an over-edited mess that tries to sell energy without having any -- it 's listless and bland .", "what fun . lighten up and enjoy . the universal monster film is back !", "del toro gives his least mumbly performance in years , blunt provides the film with a little heart and hopkins delivers the laughs .", "congratulations universal - you made van helsing 2 .", "a rambling , pseudo-freudian house of horrors , with lots of things to jump out of us and look creepy but virtually nothing that 's truly scary .", "a barely coherent , often inconsistent film that fails to generate any of the emotions it so desperately wants to evoke", "that universal 's visually sanguine yet emotionally bloodless revival of their most ferocious and most tragic movie monster is a complete stiff is beyond debate .", "i never would have guessed that i would say this , but the MOV could have benefited from less del toro and more cgi .", "nothing wrong here that a silver bullet could n't fix .", "while the MOV has some really proud moments , ultimately it feels like a franken-film ... in short , when the wolf man was n't ripping off people 's heads -- it was unbearably boring .", "at times it is a visually sumptuous , updated love letter to the classic film which inspired it ; at others it seems a muddled mess .", "to say there is nothing new about the MOV is to miss the fact that this is its charm .", "hearkens back with great hope and poor follow-through to universal 's classic horror films", "the script has some very nice touches but goes over the top in the final act . in many ways it is much more a work of art than the original film , but the original will be remembered when this film is forgotten .", "rick baker 's fantastic werewolf creation , amazing production design and unexpectedly gory special effects save the film from the wolfsbane combination of wildly uneven acting and a rickety , middling script", "the legend of the MOV has always been a premise in search of somewhere to go .", "i 'll give it a star and a half -- but only because i 'm too professional to give it a full moon .", "i don `` t know whether to scream or to drop a fun-size 3 musketeers into benicio 's pillow case .", "just like the duality of the MOV himself , there is a wild and crazy fun part to this movie and a serious , dull , lifeless partition as well .", "consider the MOV a pedigreed genre yarn , mindful of its precedents but nimble enough to have a good time in the here and now .", "just in time for valentine 's day . apparently , nothing says `` i love you '' more than a big hairy werewolf biting somebody 's head off .", "benicio del toro pulls off a nifty trick in the MOV : he makes turning into a werewolf look as dull as doing your taxes .", "anthony hopkins portrays sir john talbot . benicio del toro is prodigal son lawrence . that 's a great deal of acting sinew for an oddly anemic outing .", "an ill-considered , utterly unnecessary remake .", "the MOV , hokey and uneven though it is , -lsb- has -rsb- the kind of authentic emotional hook that too many horror movies today do n't have .", "benicio del toro stars in this lushly art-designed 19th-century period film , but his beefcake-gone-bad magnetism is not enough to justify sitting through a movie that 's full of sound , fury and unintentional camp -- and is still bafflingly inert .", "actors fulminate and masticate , spit , scowl and sob ; what a gas it is to watch them overact with joy and conviction .", "sadly lacking in snarl .", "hopkins , del toro and blunt do the best they can with the material . thanks in large part to their performances , the movie never slips into full-on cheese territory .", "splattered with the blood of authenticity , this is an impressively executed genre film spiked with scares , tension and pathos as we enter the surreal world of the tortured werewolf", "the MOV reframes the werewolf legend -- so weighty with communal perversity and collective guilt -- so that it 's all about a very bad dad .", "bite worse than bark bulletproof beasts without benefit of steroids , species profiling , paw to paw beatdown staged like a world wrestling federation bout with fur , and the manimal who came to dinner .", "not scary , hardly compelling , and ultimately pretty silly . lovely to look at , though .", "journeyman director joe johnston has crafted a generally effective if inconsequential monster movie , highlighted by rick baker 's beautifully rendered makeup effects and designs .", "despite the hairy production process , universal pictures has managed to rescue a half decent chiller in this remake of the 1941 classic b-grade MOV that starred lon chaney as the man turned beast .", "works hard to honor the b-movie legacy on whose shoulders it stands while also elaborating and expanding the mythology", "love anthony hopkins , and benicio is the right choice for the part , but the director blows it anyway .", "um protagonista sem qualquer ind\u043dcio de personalidade , uma atua\u0437\u0433o sem qualquer envolvimento de hopkins e um roteiro sem qualquer sinal de intelig\u043ancia .", "to mix monsters -- the MOV is one of those films that was put together like frankenstein . with all the bloody musical chairs , the MOV should collapse . but the MOV has enough camp and verve to grab you by the throat . and maybe the funny bone .", "the new benicio del toro movie , `` hirsute and hatin ' it '' -lrb- okay , `` the MOV '' -rrb- , is so ripe with the stink of fouled fromage , it should have taken place in france instead of victorian england .", "despite the a classic pedigree and a cast full of oscar winners and nominees , the script credited to andrew kevin walker and david self never develops the characters into the first or second dimension , much less the third .", "those pining for an olde tyme monster movie will find a solid balance between past traditions and modern sensibilities here .", "what 's missing from the MOV is what 's hard to put on paper -- tension , suspense , emotion -- the elements needed to make this rather simple story go from more of a mild entertainment to something truly memorable .", "wisually stylish and initially suspenseful , but too unevenly paced while deficient in surprises , imagination and palpable thrills .", "as for hopkins , he 's clearly indifferent to the whole project , and one suspects his eyes kept darting back and forth between the dopey script in one hand and the hefty paycheck in the other as he mulled over whether to accept the part .", "there 's never a silver bullet around when you need to put a lame monster reboot out of its misery .", "... a worthy romp through full moon nights . the original , 1941 version is still preferred , but ` the MOV 's ' director joe johnston pays grand homage while playing to the 2010 crowd .", "the fundamental problem with the film is that it does n't know whether it wants to be old-fashioned or cutting edge .", "the new film is consummately made , with superb make-up and effects , again by rick baker .", "unfortunately , there is too much `` man , '' and not enough `` wolf . ''", "features oscar winners benicio del toro and anthony hopkins at their most take-the-money-and-run uninspired . that the film is set in the 1890s did n't prevent these two from phoning in their performances .", "it does n't know whether it wants to be dark and moodily glamorous or ridiculous and gory -- it 's a creature feature suffering from extreme class consciousness .", "in place of legitimate tension and suspense , the MOV features more cheap jump scares and loud scary noises than every j-horror film ever made put together .", "one of those incredibly frustrating works that has so many things going for it that it becomes almost painful to watch as it falls far short of what it might have achieved if it possessed a better screenplay as well .", "MOV is more a slasher flick than a monster movie . he moves like a locomotive and kills like jason voorhees , slashing throats , de-limbing , beheading and gutting with repulsive efficiency .", "the violence is horrific , but it 's not scary .", "it feels rushed , meddled with ; like a film whose ambitions were crushed in the editing room .", "snarling and savage , yet ultimately silly . where are those silver bullets when you need them ?", "the MOV is a tiresome film . it derives all its scares from sudden sounds and startling movements . furry , fanged fiends leap at the camera from just offscreen so many times that it becomes positively monotonous .", "might have been more crudely entertaining if so many people involved did n't try so hard to make it about more than werewolves running free .", "loved the production design , the cinematography , costumes , and rick baker 's fantastic furry make-up , but the MOV overall did n't leave me howling with joy .", "the root problem with the MOV is that it 's a hybrid . it tries to fuse the gothic storytelling of the original with the violence and gore associated with modern horror .", "this MOV is a howler but not in a good way .", "it makes for a weird mishmash of macabre comedy , goopy romance , grisly violence , psychodrama and a movie in which individual scenes work , even if they do not work together .", "outstanding production design and heavy doses of gore render this a gleefully gothic tale , though the story could have used a bit more attention .", "parental content review", "glacial in tone , sluggish in pace , and lifeless in performance , the film is a dreary , uninteresting dullard .", "while it 's sleeker and more sophisticated than the chaney version , this new MOV is n't any scarier .", "like buffalo meat , the MOV is a little too lean for its own good .", "there is a better movie in here , lost in the edit and screaming to get out , but unfortunately , this MOV is howling at a moon that 's only half-full .", "who would have thought that only six weeks into 2010 we would have a contender for worst film of the year ?", "it truly is a modern spin on a classic , in almost all of the worst ways .", "the movie keeps the traditional look of the MOV and uses a mixture of practical effects and digital wizardry .", "i was dumbly entertained in spite of -lrb- or maybe because of -rrb- all that .", "given its troubled path to the big screen , the MOV -lrb- 2010 -rrb- is far better than it has any right to be .", "joe johnston turns a classic monster into an anaemic bore .", "what 's missing in this MOV is something timeless : the human cost that gives tragic meaning to the metamorphosis and potential cure .", "i enjoyed it as a companion piece to the superior original ...", "the only thing scary about joe johnston 's the MOV is that it exists . the fact that people , nay professionals , spent several years working on this picture genuinely upsets me .", "while this MOV redo certainly does n't live up to its 1941 predecessor , it serves its purpose . that is , if you like a somewhat dull , gothic story that only gets exciting once the guy grows hair and big teeth .", "the metallic tang of blood is all over the elegant facade of this mysteriously disappointing , dispassionately underpowered story ...", "gledatelje % u010deka dobar % u017eanrovski proizvod kojeg krasi iskusna gluma % u010dka ekipa , vrlo dobro predo % u010dena atmosfera goti % u010dkog horora te dobri specijalni efekti", "this moody and violent remake has several terrific moments .", "a glossy , good-looking production that never fully delivers on its promise of resurrecting one of the great movie monsters for a modern audience .", "it ca n't be a coincidence that all of the characters constantly talk about obligation . and emily blunt has the most telling line , `` this place is impossible to escape . '' this was no doubt a professional edict for those on the set .", "lawrence 's transformation is scary because he 's a sympathetic character . ... his sophistication ca n't save him from reckless impulses . i risk making a fool of myself if i say this is timely and relevant .", "like most of director joe johnston 's work , solidly gets the job done as a brisk , bloody entertainment .", "while the MOV often veers towards the realm of camp , no irony is to be found herein .", "a slick update of the monster movie classic , the MOV features strong imagery and performances , yet is lacking in animal instinct .", "flounders in its stabs at epic action-horror grandeur .", "in the end , the MOV reminded me of a couple of people i have dated - achingly beautiful but emotionally barren , and just a tiny little bit scary .", "hopkins is in his element and , as usual , incredibly fun to watch . he 's a bit heftier than hannibal lecter , but the dangerous twinkle is still there .", "a lavish coffee table book of a horror film , the MOV features visuals so beautifully planned and executed that each frame begs to be lingered over and savored .", "there 's not much to recommend this dull , cheerless and not very scary re-imagining of the classic 1941 film .", "the studio definitely was n't sitting on a hidden gem . MOV is predictably gory but distressingly low on scares and style .", "del toro 's lawrence is n't that interesting or that sympathetic , and the estranged father-son dynamic that 's introduced does n't work .", "the MOV is hardly o'neill , but it always had subtexts of alpha-male dominance , sexual repression , compulsive behavior and father-son feuds . johnston runs so fast away from all of it you 'd think it was wolfsbane .", "it 's more good than bad , and when it really gets its wolf on , it does so with a shaggy , deranged glee that left me laughing .", "the MOV is not a teen , thank the hollywood god in charge of movie icons , but del toro 's god-awful wig was scarier than the gorefest !", "a few stray livers and severed heads aside , this is a monster too polite for its own good .", "a misty , moody saturday-matinee monster-chiller-horror special that hits the same sweet spot for moviegoers of a certain age -lrb- cough -rrb- as those snap-together frankenstein model kits from the late 1960s .", "an enjoyably bloody homage to universal 's classic hair 'em , scare 'em monster . there 's plenty of gore and guts to cheer ; it just needed more of everything else : heart , horror , affection and artistry .", "a pleasing return to the studio 's much-loved gothic tradition .", "with its mist-shrouded sets , gruesome slaughter and copious cgi , this is a surprisingly respectful updating of the 1941 universal original .", "the MOV is a shaggy dog story that 's oddly easy to enjoy , for all that there are clearly manifest flaws to chew over . ignore them and savour for what it is - meaty chunks of gothic silliness in a marrow-chilling jelly .", "del toro looks about as dangerous as an urban fox snoozing in a compost bin and blunt seems to be suffering from some residual victorian queenliness . looking in the mirror afterwards , i seemed pale from weariness .", "for the most part , a ripping good time -- literally .", "the pace is ponderous , the plot a confusion of secrets and lycanthropes , and the violence and gore excessive .", "the MOV delivers plenty of scares and an abundance of eviscerations , but director joe johnston does n't take the film anywhere unexpected .", "while the special effects and occasional chase scenes might be enough to pacify the younger crowd , grown-ups will find it curiously bloodless .", "it looks good , jolts often , and moves at a fair lick . and it certainly puts a silver bullet into the puffed-up were-wusses of twilight ." ], "summary": "suitably grand and special effects-laden , the MOV suffers from a suspense-deficient script and a surprising lack of genuine chills .", "id": "770768653" }, { "movie": "saw_4", "reviews": [ "there 's the obligatory twist at the end , which hardly makes up for the excruciating boredom viewers are forced to endure . but , hey , if you 're paying for torture , expect to suffer .", "the first thing you see in saw iv is jigsaw 's balls . a sign of things to come ? most definitely .", "jigsaw is an interesting character with an interesting worldview and an interesting way of carrying out his will . it 's too bad the movies themselves are n't worthy of him .", "we now find ourselves in the downward slope of the saw series as saw iv stretches credibility to the breaking point .", "i do wish that these movies were well made , because i actually think the premises are quite clever , but unless a veteran who is more confident in his abilities takes over , we are left with what could have been ...", "this gruesomely efficient horror sequel shows noticeable wear and tear .", "... any serious consideration of the killer 's fascination with violence is superseded by the director 's -lrb- and the returning viewers ' -rrb- own sadistic pleasures .", "poor jigsaw . the architect of the most deadly traps ever committed to celluloid has endured inoperable cancer , a debilitating car crash and even the premature death of his son , but nothing as painful or degrading as ` saw iv . '", "whereas the first saw and the third met the right balance , the second film and now the fourth push things a little too far and end up being less effective as a result .", "outro t\u00edpico exemplar da s\u00e9rie : o final , como de h\u00e1bito , \u00e9 at\u00e9 engenhoso , mas a f\u00f3rmula cada vez mais desgastada exige paci\u0119ncia at\u00e9 que cheguemos a ele .", "if it ever had a prime , the saw franchise is well past it ... a mess ... and an ugly mess at that .", "as cheap and cheesy as its brethren , but oddly boring for long stretches", "for devotees of the series , the gore is still there and the traps are just as weird as they were in the other entries but for the rest of us , your mind will forget it the second the end credits roll .", "this is hard core pain and suffering territory ... the film wastes no time getting down to nasty business , ripping , slicing , gouging , piercing , smashing and tearing every part of the human body", "saw iv is no saw iii . just as saw iii is no saw ii . but neither lionsgate , the saw distributor , nor the north american box office seems to care .", "after two solid entries and an ok one , the franchise is getting long in the tooth : this one is saw it be-iv .", "a film as edgy as a rubber knife .", "if the gore quotient has been upped in this chapter -lrb- really , after a certain threshold has been reached , who can tell ? -rrb- , the style has , too .", "as far as fourth installments in a series , saw iv is quite impressive .", "boasting more posthumous recordings than tupac , jigsaw should have spent time devising clever new traps instead of buying radio shack 's entire inventory of tape recorders .", "easily the worst entry in the series , and the first one that undeniably feels like a sloppily thrown-together rush job .", "by far the best installment of this cringingly moronic odyssey of pain . there 's something to be said about leaving a theater with only a mild cultural headache instead of a knee-buckling case of cinematic depression .", "the need to incorporate familiar characters and icons from the earlier films , together with flashbacks that flesh out jigsaw 's pre - ` puppet master ' past , simply leads to an irritating series of creative dead ends . truly , a hack-saw .", "it is impossible to take a movie seriously when the movie obviously does n't care if you do or not .", "if we must get a new saw movie every halloween , at least the franchise is evolving and not just regurgitating the exact same formula .", "over the course of -lsb- its -rsb- sequels , the saw franchise took a novel , if distasteful , idea and basically tortured it to death .", "the reports of torture porn 's demise may have been greatly exaggerated , but this fourth entry in the mutilate-yourself-or-die series joins what may be the worst genre of the decade : the lamely `` sympathetic '' serial-killer backstory .", "even by the not exactly high standards of the saw movies , this one 's scraping the bottom of the entrails pail .", "it 's deeply unsettling ; just like a horror movie should be .", "the absurdity reaches new highs in saw iv , which asks us to swallow developments that simply are n't logistically possible , never mind realistic .", "the law of diminishing returns is in full effect here .", "the games , the traps , are still the thing and as long as jigsaw 's flunkies continue to build 'em , we will come .", "perfunctory and confusing and needlessly over-plotty ... but somewhat better-constructed and significantly less morally outrageous than at the very least saw iii .", "despite the clucking disapproval of the cinematic intelligentsia , the saw films are n't successful by accident .", "the syriana of slasher films , so complicated and circuitous that your only hope of understanding everything is to eat lots of fish the night before and then watch each of the previous films , in order , right before you enter the theater .", "this death trap may be rusty , but as long as it keeps generating fresh blood , it 's unlikely to slam shut anytime soon .", "just as jigsaw tests his victims , the franchise 's own test will be whether such suspension can be maintained , or if matters lapse into a torture chamber of self-parody .", "... parts of it are good , and the rest really feels like cynical photocopying .", "two of the more degrading and debasing hours of big-screen `` entertainment '' that you are likely to endure in this lifetime .", "with saw iv , the pieces have all come together and -lsb- it 's -rsb- the best of the lot .", "a commercially savvy though ultimately empty combination of warped morality tale , mystery , gore-fest , and torture porn .", "easily the worst and most pointless episode of the gore-saturated quadrology .", "saw iv almost makes you believe there are hundreds of rooms out there at this very minute with puppets , tricycles , and audio tapes just waiting for the next game .", "the appeal , i suppose , is that some really awful stuff is unfolding up there on the screen and not to us .", "like the movie 's mysterious jigsaw doppelg\u00e4nger , saw iv is itself a poor substitute for the original -lrb- or even the first two sequels -rrb- .", "the puzzles in this movie and the infinite number of sequels which have already been queued behind it have been designed to tear the dead presidents from your wallet like a sobriety chip from the shaky palm of lindsay lohan .", "`` saw iv '' should be tossed into the business end of 1988 's `` woodchipper massacre . ''", "an excessively convoluted rehash of its predecessors .", "previously , jigsaw and the filmmakers played fair , but too much about this latest instalment seems simply arbitrary .", "might be the best since the first , but still a task to watch . a painful , meaningless task .", "there 's more gore in store . now here 's `` saw iv . ''", "stultifying in its pseudo-sensationalistic schlock , this numbingly and nightmarish narrative has no legitimate creepy conviction beyond flexing its meaningless , morose muscles", "torture , you may recall , used to be an unparsable , unpardonable sin . now it 's porn .", "were it not for the saving grace of tobin bell 's mere presence , there 's little doubt that saw iv would come off about as well as a typical straight-to-video horror sequel .", "opens with the clinically graphic dissection of the deceased jigsaw , who finally lives up to -lrb- dies down to ? -rrb- his name by being separated into pieces ...", "like many villains before him , john turns out to have been wronged rather randomly , an act of terrible violence that he absorbs into his worldview .", "the original saw was crafted with thought and precision . saw iv is an orgy of blood .", "the famously inventive torture sequences here seem depleted of imagination .", "fortunately , amid all the slavishly photographed grotesquery , there 's comic relief . it 's called the script .", "it 's somewhat better put together than saw ii or iii , though there is n't a scare in it .", "even fans of good , old-fashioned , onscreen torture will find themselves rolling their eyes at the twists and turns in this impossibly convoluted story .", "saw iv is a fluid film , as neatly constructed as the deadly puzzles jigsaw creates to snare his victims .", "an incomprehensible cacophony of screams , shock cuts , dour pseudo-philosophizing , heavy metal mutilation and low-rent tv-standard performances .", "those of us who quickly tired of the grisly fun and games midway through saw ii will resent the unnecessarily convoluted plotting and storylines that require a master 's degree in saw studies to make any sense .", "it 's a been-there , done-that sort of sequel , but it 's still more creative than most of what passes for hollywood horror these days .", "the dullest saw in the shed .", "the series has essentially become a shell game , entertaining for a while if you can stomach the gore , and then the credits roll and you 're pretty sure you 've been cheated somehow .", "i can think of five things that are more torturous than what the victims endure in saw iv ...", "if the original saw was the kernel of a potential terror universe , saw iv is , by this time , a series of satellites and lesser celestial bodies bound together by some of the best bloodletting in modern macabre ." ], "summary": "saw iv is more disturbing than compelling , with material already seen in the prior installments .", "id": "577164571" }, { "movie": "in_and_out", "reviews": [ "the clever screenwriter paul rudnick cooks up a solid script that 's both wildly funny and gently satirical .", "actually , the funniest parts of the movie are excerpts from the film that cameron is originally nominated for .", "a plain ol' enjoyable time at the movies .", "in & out is the screwball philadelphia , a movie that contorts itself in order to indulge and then whitewash the core audience 's perceived homophobia .", "forget the inevitable carping and give credit where credit is due .", "... an often painfully broad comedy that 's rarely as entertaining -lrb- or as funny -rrb- as one might 've anticipated .", "fast-moving and very funny .", "if only it was gay in the old sense of the word .", "paul rudnick has written scenes that will go down as classics .", "basically a one-joke farce that plays around with a once-delicate subject that by now is a mainstay even on tv .", "rudnick , best known to hundreds of thousands of readers of premiere magazine for his monthly pseudonymous column , is that rare writer who can work with an overused concept and make it work heartily .", "never amounts to more than a thin sketch .", "my advice : go ; see ; laugh yourself silly . repeat .", "the script itself is the real star of the show . it manages to elicit huge laughs without resorting to slapstick , and it finds humor in unlikely spots .", "it 's tough to be too hard on in & out , because rudnick 's script is so often so sharp .", "a truly funny , sophisticated , compassionate , mainstream hollywood comedy about very modern homosexuality .", "for the most part , this hilarious caper 's gay characters are knee-deep in the american mainstream .", "in a year when good comedies seem as hard to make as ever , MOV is one of the best .", "the cast is perfect , with kline dominating in a charming and funny performance . but cusack also stands out , making her humiliated character funny , sweet and a bit loopy .", "a paean to diversity that proudly shows its colors .", "rudnick has an knack for striding the line between having fun with -lrb- not making fun of -rrb- homosexual stereotypes and homophobic attitudes .", "the ending , a hilarious spoof on the films of frank capra , is further proof of how funny this film can be , walking right on the edge between parody and preachiness .", "it 's light as a feather , and i probably wo n't remember much about it a year from now , but in & out did make me laugh while i watched it .", "like a senior citizen with a nose-ring , ` in & out ' wears its hipness rather uncomfortably .", "every piece of casting is perfection .", "gosh darn it , but i liked MOV .", "a man questioning his own sexuality does not seem like the ideal topic for a comedy . but with a good script , and plenty of humor , in & out tackles this touchy subject matter with aplomb .", "MOV is one comedy that truly deserves respect .", "lackluster and highly overrated .", "oz wants it both ways , though , and ca n't resist hammering home the message with a prolonged spartacus-style climax quite as ludicrous as the oscar winning film-within-the-film .", "the hollywood stuff at the beginning with glenn close as an oscar presenter and matt dillon as a puffed-up star on the rise is as funny and as nasty as anything in libby gelman-waxner 's columns .", "a benign spoof on the bias people have against gays .", "we could use more movie comedies like in & out .", "oh , what a swell movie we have with in & out .", "overall , it is n't bad , but it is disappointing .", "kline delivers an intriguing , fence-straddling performance .", "the film was directed by frank oz , who 's not the edgiest of filmmakers but still put together a fine little film , well made and entertaining .", "n\u0103o \u00e9 um filme excepcional , mas consegue fazer rir .", "there 's not a lot of plot momentum and the denouement is a bit simplistic and patronizing , but this light-hearted fare has enough fun moments and witty social-commentary barbs to make it worthwhile .", "-lsb- delivers -rsb- laughs and skewer a few stereotypes , thanks to extremely sly wit and a fine cast .", "from the very first scene , you know that MOV has struck a rich satirical vein .", "one coming-out party that aims to please nearly everyone .", "sets the comic richter scale jumping .", "what a pleasure it is to watch two comic pros getting a real workout .", "in & out does n't take itself seriously for a moment , which is why the halcyon-happy schmaltz that floats through the movie and floods the last reel is forgivable ." ], "summary": "it does n't always find comfortable ground between broad comedy and social commentary , but lively performances -- especially from kevin kline and joan cusack -- enrich in & out 's mixture of laughs and sexual tolerance .", "id": "10460" }, { "movie": "hubble_3d", "reviews": [ "not only deposits you in outer space , but for the first time ever makes the old star trek gimmick of `` warp speed '' a reality .", "the newly resurgent 3d format gets an out-of-this-world showcase in MOV .", "if you want an eye-popping cosmic epic , rent star trek . if you want interactivity , take the kids to the planetarium .", "it 's a short film , but a fascinating one that contains breathtaking imagery . it 's as simple as that .", "the imax screen is the ultimate planetarium in the awesome documentary MOV .", "audiences expecting a blissout of swirling galaxies will wonder why so much time is spent on astronauts sweating over screws and bolts .", "... a truly amazing trip ...", "what sent me over the boohooing edge was an overpoweringly beautiful shot of the astronauts at work with hawaii 325 miles behind them , shimmering in the blue , blue pacific .", "a zero-gravity repair job does n't sound like a thrilling cinematic spectacle , but this 43-minute film is utterly gripping .", "a movie like this can get you thinking .", "this , then , is how a star is born .", "i 've been to two launches , apollo 11 and apollo 12 , and MOV is the first film i 've seen -- and felt -- that does more than hint at the skeleton-rattling power of those stupendous rockets .", "follows seven astronauts on a mission to repair hubble telescope , and if you do n't find the ride absolutely thrilling , you lack imagination !", "hubble is a wonderful machine , and this is a phenomenal movie .", "in the end , hubble is exactly what we watch imax for .", "... there are sights here to awe adult as well as child .", "star gazing with leonardo dicaprio is an awesome out of this world experience . on the giant imax screen in breathtaking 3d , this is probably the closest you or i will ever come to space travel", "MOV does n't weigh in heavily on theories of big bangs , evolution , or creation . instead , it lets the visual data speak for itself .", "space lands on earth in 3-d glory in this kid-friendly docu .", "after becoming blas\u00e9 about cgi effects in movies that pretend to take us into other galaxies far far away , we know this is for real", "this is so jaw-dropping in terms of both content and quality that you wo n't want to miss a single second by blinking .", "awesome spectacle in outer space ; pity about leo 's narration .", "too brief an exposure to the accomplishments of hubble-enabled astronomy -- but everyone should see it , nonetheless .", "a wonderful film for anyone who still has a passion for watching the skies and wondering what 's out there .", "a uniquely thrilling virtual trip that one is unlikely to get to experience first hand -- in this lifetime , at least .", "hubble provides a vivid , breathtaking look at our solar system like never before . and it leaves us pondering not just science , but faith .", "although most of the film is about repairing the telescope , there are some eye-popping shots of the universe .", "what does it say about me that when i see a state of the art 45-minute propaganda piece for nasa , i come away convinced i 've had a deeply personal philosophical experience ?", "it 's an out-of-this-world , real-life adventure for kids of all ages , budding neil armstrongs and ray bradburys alike .", "dazzling to look at of course . but such ponderous , clich\u00e9-heavy narration .", "the daring mission by astronauts to repair and upgrade the hubble space telescope in may 2009 is the perfect subject for a brilliant , thrilling 3-d imax movie . such a movie , alas , has yet to be made .", "contains some of the most spectacular 3-d footage i 've ever seen ...", "it 's a movie that not only puts you in space but lets you travel through it with a speed and wonder that would make james t. kirk go a little weak in the knees .", "it is not hubris or hyperbole to say that MOV has to be seen to be believed . in its scant 43 minutes , the film reveals some of the most astonishing images your eyes will ever see . and every single one of them is real .", "leonardo dicaprio , as narrator , sounds very nearly reverent , and not without reason .", "a typical imax spectacle of enormous proportions , the film is both a fantastic summary of the knowledge we 've gained through hubble and an often edge-of-your-seat documentary about some of the specialists who 've serviced the telescope five times ." ], "summary": "offering a stunning , expansive viewing experience , MOV takes advantage of imax and 3-d technology like no other film .", "id": "770860109" }, { "movie": "the_conjuring", "reviews": [ "old-style filmmaking makes this movie scarier than other recent horror films , simply because director wan -lrb- saw/insidious -rrb- takes the time to actually develop suspense . by not using cheap trickery , he continually sends chills up our spine .", "a better than average horror movie sparked by excellent performances by the four leads .", "MOV is like the horror equivalent of a ` long island iced tea ' ; mixing stiff belts of haunted house , poltergeist and exorcism into a near perfect and potent cocktail .", "wan , a director with an extensive resume in cinematic scare tactics , operates in his element here , opting not to push the horror envelope , but merely to refine it .", "MOV will have you shuddering with every creepy moment .", "i 'm uh-scared , i 'm uh-scared !", "there 's very little in MOV that could n't have been achieved on film 40 years ago , which lends it a very authentic feel .", "it 's really not much more frightening than , say , the flintstones meet rockula and frankenstone or scooby-doo on zombie island , but it 's modestly elevated by james wan 's relatively restrained direction .", "what director james wan does in `` MOV '' is employ old-fashioned shocks - things that bump in the night , insinuations of nefarious spirits , even a furniture-banging exorcism - in creative and ultimately terrifying ways .", "... there were moments where it seemed the entire theater was holding its breath . we were united in one feeling : terror .", "... it is confident , it is beautifully acted , and when it gets serious about being scary , it is remarkably tense and terrifying .", "the seen-it-all-before elements of this supernatural thriller directed by the filmmaker who gave us saw , however , are more hoary than horrific . it might as well be retitled the amityville exorcist .", "it 's generic and lazy as storytelling , but this time there 's almost enough playful camerawork to distract from the feeble conception .", "wan has gotten very good at crafting those creepy moments ; now he just needs to apply them to a more interesting story .", "solid horror film that pays hommage to the great character-driven horror classics of the sixties and seventies .", "with its forked tongue planted loosely in cheek , this haunted-house flick is enjoyably retro in both style and substance .", "it 's a terrific throwback to more psychologically based horror .", "it never met a haunted house cliche it did n't like , but wan mercilessly piles on the uncanny events , gradually escalating the pitch from creepy to freaky to utterly bananas .", "MOV finds director james wan improving on his previous haunted-house yarn insidious in just about every way possible .", "again favoring tension over bedlam , wan issues a similar but successful follow-up to insidious , finding proper beats of fright and family to play in this throwback endeavor .", "mainstream horror at its best , james wan continues to impress", "james wan 's 2004 breakthrough , saw , was the definition of torture porn . his latest , on the other hand , is simply torture .", "sometimes a good horror film makes you chuckle .", "the drip-feed of old tricks and a slow-drifting camera combine to stoke our expectation .", "i would happily watch it again , which is something i rarely say about horror films .", "what more you could expect or want from a ghost story : it creeps , it crawls , it sneaks up on you and goes ` boo ! ' , all without missing a beat or running out of steam .", "a skillful , well-crafted movie that nicely melds the horror material with strong characterization and a deeper-than-expected story . MOV represents the horror genre at its best and most substantive .", "this is a successful film thanks to wan 's unique vision and characters you can care about . easily one of the best horror films i 've seen in quite a while .", "the film does n't require belief in demonic possession or the supernatural to be effective . it reveals secrets only as needed , and gets under the collective skin of moviegoers by cleverly exploiting old-fashioned fear of the unknown .", "it 's glorious and a reminder that the scares of a haunted house are visceral and , like chucky , live on the cusp of childhood , frivolous and frightening .", "the horror movie is artfully crafted from the first scares to the closing credits , with a bold retro vibe .", "full of atmosphere and ghostly goodness , the only thing that does n't seem to make any sense is the title .", "though it frequently lapses into clich\u00e9 , the real-life roots make it extra spine-tingling .", "here , if the plumbing clangs and rattles , it 's because the pipe is not a pipe , as wan defamiliarises everything in the domestic life of the perron family ... and conjures a creepy spirit to fill otherwise inanimate objects -lrb- and a lifeless screen -rrb- .", "despite having a story lacking in depth , MOV almost feels like a master class in conventional horror movie making , as though this is the archetype of the genre .", "wan ... builds the many bumps in the night into a small hitchcockian symphony of terror by way of long , eerie tracking shots , dramatic silences , and sudden scares that are frighteningly immersive .", "it 's not just the furniture that creaks , but there are still some effective jolts .", "terrific and scary-as-hell horror movie more in the spirit of psychological classics like the innocents or the original 1963 the haunting .", "... 2013 's horror film to beat . -lrb- video review -rrb-", "wan builds mounting dread with silence and suspense , lingering the camera unsettlingly long here , creaking a door there .", "slick , scary and with a sequel already on the way , MOV does n't reinvent the horror wheel but is still a frightener that 's worth your time .", "... a truly creepy exercise . you may not believe in haunted houses , but you will while watching the movie .", "as an exercise in classical scare tactics , delivered through an escalating series of primo setpieces , MOV is often supremely effective .", "the damned thing works you so well that you may even consider leaving halfway through , for fear you 'll have a heart attack .", "a well made horror film that ca n't be taken seriously . oddly , while it 's a much better effort than the director 's last , `` insidious '' was more genuinely eerie .", "a trim , effective haunted-house spook show , `` MOV '' is both a throwback to early - '70s real estate shriekers like `` the amityville horror '' and a big-studio response to the `` paranormal activity '' found-footage genre .", "creepily effective ... the cinematic equivalent of a well-constructed spooky carnival attraction .", "horror buffs will find -lsb- it -rsb- a highly satisfying , well-crafted film in a classical mode , with plenty of scares and very little gore .", "the poster for MOV boasts `` from the director of saw and insidious '' , which was a much wiser choice than `` from the writers of the reaping '' .", "like a game of spot the cliche .", "james wan 's haunted-house saga is well-crafted , convincingly acted , surprisingly restrained and scary as hell .", "it takes a retro-fashioned winner like MOV to remind us that if the creaky , old house ai n't broke , do n't fix it .", "hugely enjoyable , genuinely scary horror flick that provides a welcome throwback to classic 1970s chillers ...", "a tense and exciting haunted house movie , MOV relies on atmosphere rather than gore to serve up an entertaining slice of ghostie shenanigans with the simple ambition of scaring the bejesus out of viewers .", "here is a humdrum hunk of am-dram gothic , lent prestige by a few specious avowals of its basis in a true exorcism case .", "conjures up expertly timed scares and very little else .", "the film may flaunt its true-story credentials for the sake of lurid immediacy but , like the best of its variety , it has a healthy understanding of its own silliness .", "wan 's shocks are predictable but - yikes ! - are they scary .", "stirs up some seriously scary , supremely creep-ifying mojo . there 's something about this movie that you 'll swear is following you home .", "there are some top-notch creepy moments and the picture is crafted with real care but the denouement is underwhelming and my palms never really sweated .", "it stretches the truth far beyond the breaking point , but it is also creepy , scary and well-constructed .", "wan 's film is a sturdily built supernatural chiller , with next-to-no digital effects or gore , and it delivers its scares with a breezy lack of urgency .", "it will scare your underpants off .", "working with cinematographer john r. leonetti and editor kirk morri , wan carefully crafts each setpiece so that each visual punch has maximum impact to a nerve-shredding musical soundtrack from composer joseph bihara .", "this is an extremely effective , consistently creepy , and occasionally unnerving experience .", "unexpectedly fresh , alive , and vibrant - and wonderfully traumatizing .", "`` MOV '' depends more on its excellent cast and atmospheric direction than cheap gimmicks to raise hairs on the back of your neck . which it does , quite frequently .", "it is n't particularly deep , but it 's a grab-your-seatmate good time at the haunted house .", "MOV does n't have the big special effects of its summer competition , but it is an old-fashioned scary movie that uses every dark corner as a source of scream-inducing frights . do n't see this movie by yourself .", "-lsb- wan -rsb- cuts MOV into two halves -- an exhilarating haunted-house thriller and a grueling post-exorcist horror film -- but they do n't come back together in a living , breathing whole .", "as `` MOV '' progresses , the scares do n't register beyond standard issue horror gotchas . they 're as telegraphed as the musical cues alerting you something spooky is about to happen .", "with a sure-footed elegiac pace and a keen understanding that anticipation and what we do n't see is sometimes more affecting than the payoff , `` MOV '' plays like a loving throwback to cinema of the '70s .", "MOV establishes a thick , rich , and terrifying atmosphere that is sure to leave audiences biting their nails and choking back screams . james wan has delivered another horror film that is sure to leave one hell of an impact on its viewers .", "the impact is in the suggested and the unseen , rather than the gory and grotesque - just as it is like the best classic horror films .", "the polish belies the fact that MOV 's a sausage made from the ground-up leftovers of other movies . said offcuts are fact based of course .", "it 's scare-to-medium stuff with the usual ghoulies , ghosties , long-leggedy beasties and things that go bump in the night .", "wan is super-talented at delivering frissons and jumps , he just needs to take himself a bit more seriously .", "the sound effects are the aural equivalent of a 21st century form of digital diarrhoea , guaranteed to leave the hairs on the back of your neck suffering from erectile dysfunction .", "as a solid spook show , MOV works , though the ending does n't strike me as big enough for the story leading up to it .", "america 's stealth auteur , james wan , directs unpretentious , inexpensive , stylistically consistent horror movies that spook audiences and scare up enormous profits ; he embraces the genre 's tropes and demonstrates why they continue to unnerve .", "i was not expecting to be scared out of my wits by this creepily crafted and sublimely superior supernatural horror , but i was . before the end , my cinema seat had worked itself through the three demonic stages of infestation , oppression and possession .", "MOV suffers from a lack of momentum that proves impossible to overlook ...", "a meticulously and ingeniously crafted scare machine .", "smart , stylish horror flick , though a standout more for its elegant performances than any original scares .", "what saves the movie is a surprisingly fine cast and deft direction from james wan , the horror veteran who gave us `` saw . ''", "the leads all perform with perfectly straight faces no matter how often the talk turns to witches and `` inhuman spirits , '' which helps sell MOV 's fundamentally silly story . but wan 's direction seals the deal .", "a classic , one of the best traditional horror movies ever made", "wan builds suspense until it 's almost unbearable , then adds a little more , just to make sure the audience is as terrified as the characters .", "treads familiar territory , but with style .", "MOV feels like someone chucked poltergeist , paranormal activity , the orphanage , insidious and especially the amityville horror into a blender , then added a bit with a doll .", "this is a director inspired by grand , gothic horror , more interested in long silences and swooping camera movements than torture porn or gruesome decapitations . the guy wants to wring you out .", "this saga of demonic possession deploys the full audio firepower of modern multiplexes , and does so with brain-battering frequency , like a ghostbusting version of a japanese taiko drum ensemble .", "one of the scarier haunted house/demon possession movies in recent years , it brings to mind '70s supernatural horror films such as the exorcist with its stillness , steady build of suspense and handsome cinematography .", "the dread gathers and surges while the blood scarcely trickles in `` MOV , '' a fantastically effective haunted-house movie .", "even in the dark , it 's clear where this is going -- but wan does know his way around a haunted house .", "with any luck , MOV will lead potential future horror filmmakers raised on a diet of torture porn and slasher films to rethink their approach . one can hope , at least .", "MOV uses every stock scare in the horror movie playbook for a dumb , yet charmingly traditional haunted house picture that manages to feel more retro than rehashed .", "wan takes some unpromising ingredients and cooks it with style , tension and heart-stopping surprise moments .", "a carefully , masterfully crafted and ever-so-crescendoing exercise in atmospheric dread .", "these things run on faith , not reason , like the silly amateur exorcism that will have to be intoned when a priest is too far away and the silly scientific paraphernalia carted around .", "MOV is the ultimate fighting champion of haunting movies . it is all of the movies . every single one .", "a very effectively mounted frightfest , played extremely straight , with very good performances .", "a pastiche of every horror movie you 've ever seen but one that is enlivened by the screenplay written by the twin brothers who wrote the superlative 2006 remake of `` house of wax '' .", "none of it is particularly bloody or violent , but young wan and twin screenwriters chad and carey hayes , up to now mostly unheralded in the horror genre , fashion a harrowing montage of thrills from beginning to end .", "the most spine-tingling exorcist flick since , well , since the exorcist !", "`` MOV '' backs up its creaking floor and slamming door tropes with episodes of all-out terror to send its audience to bed with a worrisome feeling in the pit of their stomachs .", "damned if director james wan , the auteur of saw 's rusted-edge cruelty , is n't an ace with enjoyable spookhouse trap-springing .", "boasting a stellar cast , a robust story and consistently energetic direction , MOV is a true old fashioned ghost story , and a damn fine one at that .", "thoughtful where its competition is glib , featuring substantive and relatable characters , and steadily-paced where most feel lackadaisical , wan has made a truly great movie . and i 'm only talking about the parts that i saw from between my fingers .", "all the contorting girls and pea-soup vomit in the world can hardly compete with a blood-stained sheet and a well-placed doll .", "australian-trained director james wan ... continues to exhibit growth as a filmmaker with a keen eye for genre scares ; if he can hone his ear to weeding out tinny dialogue , he will likely make a great film one day .", "though MOV claims to be based on a true story , in truth it 's based on every horror film that 's come before it .", "taut and effective edge-of-the-seat horror , delivered with style and an especially haunting performance by vera farmiga .", "you 've seen it before , you 'll see it again .", "james wan conjures up a truly paralyzing tale of supernatural terror with his retelling of ed and lorraine warren 's most disturbing case , creating scares through detailed and properly crafted horror storytelling - not a body count .", "wan -- who made his reputation with the first saw movie -- has a real understanding of the genre , and much of MOV is well done .", "this is a horror film where a pair of suddenly clapping hands gives you the heebie-jeebies , and wan does n't cheat with his jump scares .", "a solid , dependably scary ghost tale .", "how about that ? someone conjured up a good ghost story !", "rather than gore , wan goes for a more old-fashioned , character-based movie here , and , as a result , a treasure trove of typical haunting tricks seems fresh and terrifying once again .", "an uncommonly intense and frightening experience .", "simply put : with simple , creative and very effective scare sequences , MOV is the scariest movie of 2013 -lrb- so far -rrb- .", "without recourse to the gruesome s&m excesses of his `` saw '' franchise , wan conjures the chill of a demon breathing down your neck .", "this is n't an instant classic , but it definitely reaffirms that wan can do some interesting things within the horror genre .", "-lsb- wan -rsb- combines the ambiance of horror 's leisure-suit heyday with the more recent brand of well-timed what 's - that-in-the-mirror scares .", "there 's nothing new or original about it , but it 's entertaining enough , and one ca n't help but respect the craft that went into making something catchy out of component parts stolen from others .", "a strong cast and an atmosphere of real dread mean that despite a catalogue of immediately recognisable ghost devices , MOV amounts to more than the sum of its scary parts .", "it is scary , and it conveys something even rarer in horror films -- the ring of truth .", "in MOV , the scary casts out the spirit of the silly , permanently , and with a vengeance .", "better-than-average demon movie goes bump in the night", "director james wan , best known for creating the saw franchise , delivers his finest work to date . instead of relying on the graphic , slasher-style techniques that made saw a hit , wan turns to old-fashioned suspense , and the payoff is big .", "it 's atmospheric , terrifying , and brilliant in its intricately placed bouts of horror and suspense .", "MOV does n't try to reinvent the tropes of horror movies , whether it 's ghosts or demons or exorcisms , but fred astaire did n't invent tap-dancing , either .", "-lsb- MOV -rsb- will have the hair on your arms standing straight up , and your brain screaming in excitement !", "easily one of the best horror films i 've seen in years .", "MOV is a well-crafted throwback to old school horror films , and the scares are unrelenting , but fans of the genre may find themselves guessing what is coming next .", "while MOV is incredibly well made there 's little we have n't seen before .", "just a good old-fashioned scare , if you get scared by that sort of thing .", "a sensationally entertaining old-school freakout and one of the smartest , most viscerally effective thrillers in recent memory .", "MOV is a masterclass in absolute terror that 's destined to become a classic within the genre .", "the viewer is completely absorbed in a story peppered with genuine , unexpected , bump in the night scares that will keep you on the edge of your seat .", "the trailer for MOV is scarier than most horror features of recent vintage , and the feature makes good on the promise .", "wan uses every horror cliche with blithe confidence . he knows no one is immune if the effects are sturdily built , and not too literal .", "sometimes it all comes down to craftsmanship . there 's probably nothing you have n't seen before in director james wan 's MOV , but rarely have you seen it done so well .", "MOV simply takes a standard story comprised of the usual components , and with warmth and commitment makes them not just palatable , but successful .", "it 's solidly effective at bringing the scares , which is all it really sets out to do , right ?", "by all means , feel free to initially underrate this finely crafted and genuinely scary production . making such a mistake will only serve to leave you more impressed -lrb- and slightly rattled -rrb- than you might have been .", "an old-fashioned haunted house horror story made by people who love them . classy , creepy , fun .", "the sound design of the movie is oppressive beyond belief -- this damn thing is louder than `` pacific rim . ''", "MOV 's use of tension , atmosphere , and suggestion prove that the scariest thing to an audience has nothing to do with what you see , but what you do n't .", "-lsb- wan 's -rsb- entire film is possessed - by other films .", "an extremely well-crafted piece of mainstream horror that offers a number of genuine scares .", "thank god i live in newish construction .", "director james wan does it again . first , it was the unexpected hit horror movie , `` insidious . '' now , `` MOV '' delivers the same scary bump-in-the-night thrills .", "in a summer of convoluted action films , the simplicity of a haunted house movie is actually kind of refreshing . sometimes you want processed cheese , and this cheese is nicely processed .", "... it surpasses the hallmarks of its genre with an actually dramatic storyline and all-around solid acting . just do n't think you can go see it alone .", "it scared the living crap out of me . only at the movies is that a compliment . so kudos to MOV for putting fresh fire into the overworked haunted-house genre .", "watching `` MOV '' is like getting a tour of a haunted house attraction from someone that pushes , and pulls you through every room .", "director wan takes a new pass at the creaky genre and comes up with exactly what you 'd expect .", "while nothing new and playing up and off the various tricks previous horror films have used over the years , ` MOV ' still delivers enough effective scares and spooky material . -lrb- full parental review also available -rrb-", "advance word that this would be the scariest horror since amityville proves well wide of the mark .", "despite having a fairly standard haunted house horror plot , james wan has created a fun , scary and beautiful looking movie .", "every hand that reaches into a wardrobe , every nervous trip into that basement just gets on your nerves . satan needs to get over himself .", "director james wan delivers effective scares , showing more interest in sinewy camera moves and building a slow creep than in mindless gore , but the performances are a mixed bag , and the script repeatedly seeks refuge in the familiar .", "an overlook hotel-sized creepshow that is genuinely frightening .", "leaving slashers behind for the murky uncertainties of the supernatural , james wan has found a way to expand his talents while driving yet another modern genre shift .", "wan is basically just remaking his own insidious with a few modest tweaks and a polyester wardrobe , and , just like that movie , MOV gets progressively less scary as it goes along .", "this one never really takes hold and goes horribly wrong about 20 minutes before the end .", "fans of old-school scary movies and j-horror , rejoice . james wan 's MOV is going to scare the bejeezus out of you .", "mainly , the movie wants to scare us , and it succeeds .", "wan 's hair raising methodical pace steers us through a supernatural thriller drenched in tension , and featuring scenes of horror that will sear itself in the mind and come back to haunt you in your nightmares .", "it 's not one of these one-note horror flicks hoping to make you jump ; this knows how scary it is and will get you by the end .", "it calls to mind films that understood that the less you saw , the spooker it got . . it 's as scary a film as i 've seen in a long time .", "wan masterfully tightens the vise on the audience 's nerves , using mood and sound effects for shocks that never feel cheap -lrb- the harmless kids ' game of hide-and-clap has never been so bloodcurdling -rrb- .", "if i was to use a single word to describe MOV , it would be `` intense . ''", "`` MOV '' wants dan and lorraine to seem like indiana jones-style hunters of the supernatural , but in this basic jolt-provider , they 're as fascinating as the jersey devil .", "MOV gets under your skin , where the goosebumps are .", "could it be director james wan was just a little too reverential ? because just when we could n't need a chill down the spine more , this carefully made horror story delivers way too late in the game .", "delivers a steady stream of fist-clenching suspense and well-choreographed surprises .", "MOV is an unusually sturdy piece of haunted-house genre filmmaking .", "james wan proves himself to be moving quickly up the ranks of terror auteurs . the timing , pacing and character movement are outstanding . and it 's scary as hell .", "a horror thriller that 's silly yet scary enough to give you second thoughts if anyone suggests playing hide 'n' clap .", "any hints of a smarter agenda serve to cloud the main one : `` MOV '' has been engineered to freak you out .", "like a prequel to every horror movie since `` the exorcist , '' fun , but more stolid and solid than scary .", "an `` amityville horror '' for a new century -lrb- and a far better movie than that 1979 hit -rrb- , yet firmly rooted , without being slavish or self-conscious , in the visual language of 1970s filmmaking .", "i 'm not the horror lover in schmoes know , but `` MOV '' is n't just a great horror film , it 's a great time at the movies .", "dress warmly and take a friend - MOV is a chilly and unnerving experience . based on a true story , saw director james wan 's slick horror film has all the elements to make your skin crawl", "the list of imagery `` borrowed '' from other films is lengthy . director james wan specializes in this sort of fare and his talented cast elevates the material above the dregs of the genre , which is an admittedly big and crowded basement .", "a character declares , ` god brought us together for a reason ! ' too bad it was for this movie , another over-hyped horror flick rehashing a four-decade old storyline .", "as resistant as i am to spooky movies of all kinds , i do admire wan 's direction ... . he realises all the potential in the drama , in the images and in the editing , managing to give us frequent chills", "its climax reminds one of the exorcist .", "the cast puts their all into the film , turning what could have been a clich\u00e9 'd filled blood-fest into a modern horror gem .", "wan 's latest exercise in jump-scare theatre ... better to call it `` the startling '' .", "... an old-school spookfest , a surprisingly restrained , moody picture ...", "so it could be a better horror movie . big deal . scary movies do n't get much better than this .", "haunted-house tales do n't come more imitative than MOV , which does n't emulate demonic-infestation and possession tales like the amityville horror and the exorcist so much as operate as a veritable compendium of their myriad tropes .", "it 's not rated ` r ' because of gore , sex or foul language - the usual suspects . no , ` MOV ' is rated ` r ' because its paranormal-based violence is so ... creepy .", "rattling the nerves while drawing out its palpable sense of dread , `` MOV '' is a proudly old-fashioned horror movie that tells its story with sophistication and care ." ], "summary": "well-crafted and gleefully creepy , MOV ratchets up dread through a series of effective old-school scares .", "id": "771312656" }, { "movie": "election", "reviews": [ "MOV is smart and often funny .", "too smart for mass appeal . one of this year 's best .", "MOV is a bracingly intelligent adult comedy that shrewdly captures adolescence .", "reese witherspoon is proving to be one of the most versatile actresses of her generation .", "so precise , so hilarious , so biting , so smart , so perfect , in every one of its minute details that it comes as a sort of godsend .", "if satire is simply a witty exaggeration of ordinary events , then this is satire at its brightest .", "it 's an interesting enough premise and it 's executed with a ` rushmore lite ' kind of feel to it .", "a satirical scalpel that refuses to let you know exactly when or whom it 's going to cut .", "a satirical joy , due mainly to the performances of reese witherspoon as tracy , matthew broderick as mcallister , chris klein as paul and , especially , jessica campbell as tammy .", "reese witherspoon may well find that this is a defining role in her early career .", "this clever , biting high-school satire is arguably alexander payne 's most original and accomplished film -lrb- and so far he has made only good pictures -rrb- .", "payne and taylor are equal opportunity satirists and their sly wit dismantles everything from high school culture to suburban complacency .", "surprise ! an intelligent , well-written high school story that offers some real ideas to chew on , rather than simply wallowing in nubile flesh .", "dark high school comedy is best for older teens .", "an instant classic , alexander payne 's 1999 high school comedy seems even more scathing now that we 're losing control of our own MOV machinery .", "the treatment of this touchy material is impressive , neither gratuitous nor mincing , but this 1999 satirical comedy does n't really go anywhere .", "took the sleaze of the teen comedy and spun it into something that 's both hugely entertaining and extremely insightful .", "MOV at first has the feel of a simple work . but do n't let that fool you ; it 's a complex , deep tale .", "maybe its only real fault is that it 's a little too close to the truth to be as funny as it could be .", "a funny and horrifying allegory of american politics and adult society , as seen through the prism -- or shall we say `` prison '' ? -- that is secondary education . -lsb- blu-ray -rsb-", "payne understands satire and possesses an innate ability to go for the jugular but sometimes his deft and subcutaneous touch is too uncomfortable .", "exposes the dullards who praise it as the very suckers who promote the divisions among people under the pretense of virtuous , moral insight .", "as tracy flick , witherspoon perfectly tows the line between cute and irritating .", "i felt uncomfortable for nearly the duration of this tremendously well put together piece .", "this is one MOV that could have used fixing .", "the film never finds a confident tone .", "the story rarely elicits laughter .", "production , set , costume and photography all help give the film a crisp look , capturing the inherent mid-western feel provided by the omaha , nebraska locale .", "beuller ? ... beuller ? where 's ferris ? oh , there he is on the floor . brought to his knees and he still has n't learned anything .", "kudos to payne and taylor for their courage , balance , and humor .", "... a surprisingly compelling piece of work . .", "this remarkable film may be set in high school , but its satiric take on moral corruption , political chicanery , adultery and seduction is anything but juvenile .", "a dark , insidiously funny satire on the self-involved ways otherwise rational people can allow narrow personal agendas to lead them astray to the point of self-destruction .", "you 've got to laugh at witherspoon 's tightly wound little miss perfect , rising at dawn to do her hair and encase herself in a preppy look before baking cupcakes to pass out at school as vote-getters in her campaign for student council president .", "-lsb- a -rsb- wicked , carnal comedy .", "alarmingly insightful .", "the script , based on a tom perrotta novel , is tight and elegant .", "a deliriously sardonic and underhanded satire of politics and high school culture .", "clever , somewhat predictable , stylish film features reese witherspoon 's greatest performance to date .", "one of the funniest comedies in years , and the best teen flick in nearly a decade !", "a much-needed breath of fresh cinematic air !", "highly recommended .", "what is it about high-school overachievers that gets the goat of movie directors these days ?", "appealingly eccentric .", "the filmmakers have a great deal of fun at the expense of the pointlessness of high school elections , which are n't just popularity contests but overt wastes of time .", "a black comedy that takes off in unexpected directions .", "one of MOV 's many beauties is the graininess that gives the classrooms and corridors the homemade quality . !", "filled with all sorts of offbeat and witty humor !", "the satire of the season , a hilarious , razor-sharp indictment of the american dream !", "the cleverest teen-themed movie i 've seen in years !", "volatile and hilarious !", "a high school comedy with an unusual perspective and much to offer people who like to think while they laugh .", "terrific !", "MOV is a darkly funny , often twisted , and thoroughly enjoyable film .", "so blackly funny it hurts !", "crisply written and ingeniously plotted !", "witherspoon has the most expressive pair of nostrils in the business .", "this is democracy run amok .", "wickedly funny !", "if there were an academy award for body language , witherspoon would win it hands down for this performance .", "MOV is director alexander payne 's -lrb- citizen ruth -rrb- cynical satire of the american schools and the electoral process .", "of all the teen films flooding the multiplexes these days , this is the one worth the wait in line .", "cool !", "one of the funniest , shrewdest , smartest movies in recent memory !", "it showed promise and considerable competence .", "reese witherspoon hits her full stride in MOV !", "with narration from all four of the principles and a script that keeps piling on the moral dilemmas , this never settles for easy moralities .", "a dark , wickedly entertaining romp that wears its cynicism on its sleeve and sees no reason wash any of it off .", "witherspoon is hilariously uptight as tracy , the over-achiever . she is so cute and perky , you want to love her . sort of .", "wonderfully subversive !", "it 's a winner !", "tracy flick is a character you 'll never forget .", "the students are all a treat .", "fresh , fast , funny and full of insight !", "deliciously malevolent", "reese witherspoon in a performance that could become legendary !", "a fine , near-seamless film that finally suffers slightly from an inability to wrap up its tale .", "the movie hits its keenest edge as a portrait of self-delusion .", "an extremely sharp , multi-layered and inspired satire .", "payne could emerge as a mark twain of the cinema , gleefully pricking america 's complacent sense of morality .", "one of the best-made comedies this year .", "those who watch this film now are going to experience it as a more powerful socio-political commentary than the audiences in 1999 .", "a sordid and savory dark comedy . broderick is the flipside of his ferris beuller persona . reese witherspoon captures so perky you could strangle her to perfection .", "fun and funny , but a bit rude at times .", "blends deft human observation , solidly realized characters and a few slightly domesticated moments of shock humor -lsb- to create -rsb- a comedy as rich and winning as it is offbeat .", "a subversive , wickedly funny film .", "MOV features a career-best performance from witherspoon .", "the screenplay , by payne and jim taylor , delights !", "this is a very funny film , one of the best of the year .", "everything about MOV is as mediocre , middle-of-the-road , and bland as its topic .", "a subtle and complex satire , not only about high school , but about our national character and the current state of democracy .", "MOV is a funny , smart movie ... i do n't think i can do a movie justice without you , readers , taking that leap of faith & checking it out yourself .", "it dragged me , kicking and screaming , back to high school .", "a full-fledged critique of the moral emptiness of the archetypal ugly american - those driven , self-righteous go-getters who hurt other people .", "the humour may be vicious , but there 's also a strong vein of pathos running through the film .", "a tart study in teacher-student relations , adolescent pecking orders and the nasty vicissitudes of living in a world of haves and have-nots .", "a quartet of solid performances only adds to the movie 's strength ." ], "summary": "MOV successfully combines dark humor and intelligent writing in this very witty and enjoyable film .", "id": "16574" }, { "movie": "rivers_and_tides_andy_goldsworthy_working_with_time", "reviews": [ "beautiful photographt contextualizes his ephemeral artwork ; but shows us little of the `` crazy like an ocd fox '' stirrings that take him there .", "the greatest triumph of the film is riedelsheimer 's ability to offer the audience the artist 's perspective .", "even after seeing rivers and tides , there 's still a lot we do n't know about how he works .", "riedelsheimer constructs staunch compositions using a photographer 's eye as good as goldsworthy 's , of which truly focus on the art and the artist 's persistence and creativity .", "a memorable account of an artist 's life , achievements and sacrifices .", "assumes a meditative , zen-like quality that sends the viewer floating away , like a leaf .", "andy cuts an eccentric but likeable figure genuinely at a loss to explain where his inspiration comes from .", "like goldsworthy 's art , it is primal , transcendent and truthful .", "goldsworthy 's art is magical , and the cinematography is outstanding", "the sort of film that sounds completely kooky until you see it . at which point it 's still pretty kooky , but you realize just how cool kooky can still be .", "we grab at beauty while simultaneously realizing it never can be possessed , a feeling brilliantly captured in this thoughtful and rewarding movie .", "a mesmerizing movie that is so incredibly tranquil and uniquely lovely that it is an artistic creation itself .", "it 's a plaintive , poetic and beautiful explanation of an artist at work .", "goldsworthy is mostly fascinating , occasionally exasperating , and so is riedelsheimer 's film .", "it made me smile a lot .", "very few art documentaries are as deeply in tune with the spirit of their subjects , and the implications are enormous , since goldsworthy is the rare contemporary art star whose work -lrb- what a radical notion -rrb- is actually about something .", "intoxicating and meditative by turns , helped by fred frith 's minimalist score , this film opens a portal into a singular creative mind .", "may have been more effective if the film had focused more on the stunning visuals and less on the weird new age stuff flying out of goldsworthy 's mouth .", "an occasionally enthralling documentary .", "if you 're going to see rivers and tides , do n't think of it as going to the movies . think of it as a visit to an art gallery .", "a cinematic tone poem that asks viewers to reexamine their relationship with both the word ` art ' and the forms that we 've sanctioned for its exploration and expression .", "i know of no documentary on a contemporary artist that conveys so much about the artist 's work so lyrically and directly .", "watching this movie is like daydreaming .", "a truly beautiful , insightful movie that captures the nature of this artist who forms art out of nature .", "it 's a beautiful , meditative piece that allows the viewer his or her own time to think and discover .", "when it 's at its most self-aware , rivers and tides precociously tweaks the pessimist 's view of art as an exercise in futility .", "most of goldsworthy 's work is impermanent , but rivers and tides captures , permanently , both the art and the artist , showing us a creative , productive life in the process of being well-lived .", "hypnotic .", "a beautiful , probing art documentary .", "rivers and tides : andy goldsworthy working with time is an extraordinarily spiritually literate documentary about one of the world 's greatest nature artists .", "a wondrous look at an artist and his work with lots of joyous surprises .", "an absorbing portrait of a unique artist 's professional and personal communion with nature .", "his work reminds us of an artist 's true focus : a meditative commitment to discovery , creativity , and the enhancement of god 's own invention .", "andy goldworthy 's work deserves to be profiled in this breathtaking , beautiful , and fascinating look in to nature , the creative process , and of an unassuming artist ...", "if the film lets goldsworthy overexplain what 's happening , it also affords ample to time to languidly take in the imagery and let its beauty and simplicity speak for itself .", "an engaging introduction to the sculptor 's work .", "-lsb- it 's -rsb- not only a tribute to goldsworthy 's work but also a kind of animated gallery -- a showcase for a uniquely elusive art .", "sensitive and stimulating documentary .", "the artistry of thomas riedelsheimer 's film perfectly compliments goldsworthy 's art .", "watch this film . you may never look at nature indifferently again .", "goldsworthy 's approach to his art speaks volumes to me ... -lsb- his -rsb- works find their value in the changing moments of their existence .", "a mesmerizing and curiously satisfying idyll that gradually , slyly maneuvers us into a whole new way of looking at the delicate relationship between man , art and mother nature .", "the trouble with this art movie is that it 's more a movie than it 's art .", "... a spellbinding study of andy goldsworthy , a scottish land-sculptor who creates location-specific work using only the organic vegetation and minerals found in his `` studio . ''", "a calm and lovely film that audiences hungry for beauty will likely devour with their eyes .", "i often found myself catching my breath during rivers and tides , partly because of the jengalike delicacy of goldsworthy 's work .", "watching goldsworthy painstakingly piece together his artwork , we come to realize that his artistry lies as much in the act of creation as in the fleeting final product .", "it 's a film for those who want to see an artist unobtrusively seeking enlightenment .", "riedelsheimer captures this aspect of goldsworthy 's work and holds up a many-faceted mirror to its beauty . that is what ultimately makes the film so seductive .", "the film does n't just explain goldsworthy 's vision -- it brings us closer to seeing the world through his eyes .", "rivers and tides is subtle and meditative almost to a fault ... so it 's fortunate that the film is relatively short and that its subject -- andy goldsworthy , a scottish sculptor known for working with nature -- is so fascinating .", "a documentary that introduces us to an artist whose work is full of contradictions -- contradictions that spill over into the act of watching the movie .", "you will want someone to talk to about the film and acknowledge the marvels you saw .", "as the film 's images accumulate , the movie becomes a sustained and ultimately refreshing meditation on surrender to the idea of temporality .", "a lovely , curiously inspiring appreciation of goldsworthy 's unusual artistic vision .", "it is impossible to be unmoved by both the beauty of artist andy goldsworthy 's work and his undying commitment to it .", "goldsworthy is meticulous , eccentric , and very talented . who knows ? this may just inspire you to lie down in the road and make ` rain angels ' .", "-lsb- goldsworthy 's -rsb- art is meant to be evanescent , like the nature he reveres . we are privileged to see it documented by the filmmaker 's camera .", "mr. goldsworthy 's work is meant to be photographed -- ` photography is the way that i talk about my sculptures , ' he says -- and mr. riedelsheimer rises to the occasion .", "thoughtful and entertaining documentary .", "german filmmaker thomas riedelsheimer 's breathtakingly beautiful profile of scottish earthworks-artist andy goldsworthy forgoes the conventional biographical approach but captures something far more elusive .", "a tranquil experience .", "rivers and tides extols andy goldsworthy 's vision of creating art from and in nature and does it with painstaking care .", "andy goldsworthy lives and breaths art with a genius for reflecting nature back upon itself . riedelsheimer 's stunningly beautiful document of the purity of an artist reflects his own artistry .", "you can easily lose yourself in goldsworthy 's absolutely gorgeous compositions ." ], "summary": "andy goldsworthy and his art are beautifully captured in this engaging documentary .", "id": "155563735" }, { "movie": "chris_and_don", "reviews": [ "chris & don : a love story does what a good documentary should . it informs the mind and broadens the horizon while never losing its entertainment value .", "by examining this older/younger couple for differences of social circumstance , individual ego and personal desire that pertain to any love relationship , santi and mascara present a complex testament of gay experience . it 's remarkable because it 's rare .", "affecting and beautifully realized documentary .", "what could have been sordid emerges instead as fiercely funny and touching . even the animated sequences featuring the lovers the way they imagined themselves - chris as a horse , don as a cat - resonate with feeling and blunt truth .", "visually-rich documentary", "though a bit too conventional to perfectly reflect the unique affair at its center , chris & don is likely to inspire romantics of all kinds .", "while they might have had their ups and downs , the subjects of chris & don are a testament to fidelity .", "one of the most positive , affecting portrayals of queer romance in recent memory .", "a real-life romance to put all those rom-com fairy tales to shame .", "a celebration of love and art , whatever the stripe or medium .", "there 's a bit of pygmalion meets the portrait of dorian gray to it , and yet part of the documentary 's slyness involves probing those aspects while never losing sight of the pain and glories of any emotional relationship that lasts as long as", "a charming , loving portrait electrified by the inclusion of lots of terrific home movie footage . these relics of gay history are worth the rest of the movie .", "surprisingly , this 2007 documentary about their 34-year relationship becomes more engrossing as its focus shifts from isherwood to bachardy ...", "it 's a sentimental and loving picture , playing out as a leisurely cocktail-hour stroll through an enchanting life .", "isherwood was the far more interesting subject , but chris & don is all about bachardy -- an observation that feels like opportunism more than love story .", "despite an age difference of 30 years , their connection was immediately electric ; their first kiss , the story goes , broke a window .", "the documentary , made after isherwood 's death and with bachardy 's enthusiastic participation , is as much a love story as a chronicle of bachardy 's maturation into a man and an artist .", "long before anyone was talking about gay marriage , that 's what christopher isherwood and don bachardy had", "a wonderfully crafted documentary about a most unusual long-term relationship", "a great , revealing documentary ; one of the best films released in 2008", "primed as we are by a culture rich in both homophobia and dirty old men , we can be forgiven for anticipating a sordid cautionary tale . it 's a shock -- a happy shock -- when chris & don recounts a love that approaches the transcendental .", "a love unique in every respect -- nothing to sniff at and forever to be treasured .", "with delectable-looking home movies of the couple 's travels in california and europe , MOV offers an intimate portrayal of a passionate , enduring association , as well as a social history of postwar life .", "regardless of whether you recognize the names of christopher isherwood or don bachardy , this masterful documentary draws you into the men 's lives like a star-studded bedtime tale .", "santi and mascara are right to call their film a love story , because this is the portrait of a marriage as full and enviable as the greatest unions in literature .", "it 's an extraordinary film that gay audiences will find particularly salient , no doubt , yet audiences with an affinity for the writings of isherwood or nostalgia for the golden age of hollywood may find it intriguing as well .", "a charming , illuminating portrait of the complex and storied queer romance between isherwood and bachardy .", "the subtitle of the film is ` a love story . ' the picture makes the worn term fresh , moving .", "isherwood and bachardy 's story features cameos by a galaxy of literary and cinema stars , but few are as impressive as the protagonists , who defied the conventions of their times by living openly as a happy , well-adjusted couple .", "the work is a reflective hodgepodge of unnervingly ` cute ' animation , reenactments , archival footage , and bachardy 's own reminiscences , spoken in the singular british accent he invented just as he invented his own unorthodox life .", "chris & don : a love story examines a complicated and enduring relationship that raised eyebrows even in hollywood .", "-lsb- a -rsb- much-celebrated documentary from the festival circuit ." ], "summary": "MOV paints an affecting , enlightening portrait of a one-of-a-kind love affair .", "id": "770770039" }, { "movie": "sinbad_legend_of_the_seven_seas", "reviews": [ "excellent animation , non-stop action , interesting characters , more adult-friendly themes , and eris kicks *** !", "a swashbuckling adventure with gorgeous computer animation that mimics a hand-drawn style . pity the script is so bad .", "small parts of ` sinbad : legend of the seven seas ' show promise , but as a whole , the film never seems able to completely fill its sails .", "ancient mariner 's tale gets a modernized animated kids ' flick , travels the seven seas -- and lingers in your mind for maybe seven seconds .", "basically , the film does ` the job , ' but not much more than that .", "sinbad is a movie that suffers from a glaring lack of inspiration .", "it 's less the story of sinbad than a compilation of greatest hits from mythland .", "more nuanced in its depiction of ` good guys ' and ` bad guys ' than most adult action films ...", "... offers a literal illustration of the idea that broad gestures and mugging facial expressions can be annoying even when the romantic leads are only drawings ...", "aside from the staggeringly slick animation designs , sinbad offers meager returns on your box office investment .", "combining atmospheric cgi backgrounds with superbly hand-drawn figures , the animation in this arabian nights-meets-damon & pythius tale is breath-taking . it 's a free-wheeling , fun-filled , eye-popping summer adventure .", "that ever-present line in the film 's promotional materials -lrb- `` who 's bad ? sinbad ! '' -rrb- essentially says it all .", "... entertains and fully exploits all the accomplishments dreamworks ' animation department has made to this point ... `` sinbad '' stands as an accomplishment all on its own .", "for all of its freedom of movement , the film lacks real personality , and in parts , it 's oddly serious-minded .", "while younger kids will enjoy the magic and adventure , the real mystery is whether older audiences will respond as well .", "handily outdoes -lsb- treasure planet -rsb- , with bravura action set pieces , a surprisingly complex romantic triangle , and thoughtful exploration of moral issues and character .", "it 's a decent summer distraction for restless little ones , but not much more .", "even the voices of brad pitt , michelle pfeiffer and catherine zeta-jones ca n't save this movie from just feeling `` blah ... ''", "despite its flaws , this is a fun well-acted piece of escapist fare with action , romance , adventure , and monsters galore .", "fun , if standard , animated adventure with battles , innuendo .", "as routine as many live-action adventure films , right down to the competent but fairly undistinguished art and animation .", "a visually exhilarating mix of hand-drawn and computer-generated images that sets sail with a rather mediocre and clich\u00e9d script .", "a perfectly serviceable , if not especially inspired rendition of the oft-told sinbad tale .", "in many ways , sinbad is good summer fun , if a bit too dark and moralistic for the littlest ones in the family .", "sinbad : legend of the seven seas is one of those animations so exquisitely designed to resemble a live-action feature that you have to wonder why its creative team simply did n't make a movie with real people and the usual special effects .", "this is n't sin-bad . it is just sin - mediocre .", "the effects are competent , the action has exciting moments and the story is interesting enough , but the parts do n't add up to a compelling sum .", "a movie carefully engineered for an audience of exactly nobody .", "an efficiently amusing and unsurprisingly polished blend of traditional hand-drawn and computer-generated animation techniques .", "the jokey -lrb- and occasionally lewd -rrb- hipster dialogue is at odds with the period setting and subject matter , and the film 's mix of computer and hand-drawn images is awkward .", "you could take all the fun bits from treasure planet and sinbad , put them in the same movie , and you still would n't have anything worth loading up the minivan for .", "from the cheerfully anachronistic dialogue by gladiator scribe john logan to the spirited voice work by michelle pfeiffer , brad pitt and catherine zeta-jones , the non-visual elements of the film are great , swashbuckling fun .", "apparently dreamworks would rather put no muscle behind its finest traditional animation outing yet , a film with beautiful animation and a robust spirit .", "goes down easily without a hint of tedium ... still , this short length contributes to an overall feeling that it 's not as earth-shatteringly fabulous as some other cartoon features of the last several years .", "dreamworks ' best animated feature since the 1998 double-shot of antz and the prince of egypt .", "an entertaining though modest cartoon adventure .", "it 's bad news when a six-year-old walks out on a movie , which is exactly what happened during a recent showing of sinbad .", "bland music , marquee-friendly casting and crassly contemporary dialogue give this film the mechanical feel of a marketing exercise , not a movie .", "ray harryhausen 's original stop-motion sinbad classics are a hard act to follow , but tim johnson and patrick gilmore 's update , couched in a gorgeous palette of indigo and dark rose , is a big , beautiful thrill all its own .", "business-as-usual movie that is n't trying to make anything more than a medium-size splash .", "this dreamworks animated outing eventually surrenders to the paralyzing goop and arthritic formula that haunt 90 percent of the features churned out by arch-rival the mouse house - but somehow fills its sails with enough wit and wonder to stay afloat .", "the terminator kicked the daylights out of sinbad . i saw it with my own eyes .", "the voice talent here is so good that you ca n't help but long for a new live-action take on this jaunty and crafty hero .", "-lsb- a -rsb- sharp and thrilling adventure combining 21st century animation technology with a refreshingly retro story of heroes and villains , and giant creatures that haunt the skies and seas .", "an entertaining , energetic variant of the blueprint , but it is disappointing that the elaborate set pieces and charismatic characters are ultimately in service of nothing more than the same old story .", "though touted as ` traditional ' animation , a good chunk of the film is computer-crafted . it 's jarring to see the distinctly different styles clash in the same scenes .", "sinbad feels more like a stopgap than an actual production : something to make a little money while they finish their next real picture .", "unfortunately , if the new animated sinbad were among the stories she told , poor sahrazad would n't have lasted five minutes .", "unmemorable and mostly generic .", "an ok film .", "undeniably enjoyable .", "undistinguished but mildly entertaining .", "it wo n't bore the kids much , but there 's something about the film that keeps it away from greatness .", "the disappointment is less that it butchers the actual story of sinbad , but that , with a little more foundation and characterization , it could have been very good indeed .", "what 's bad ? sinbad : legend of the seven seas .", "this animated adventure pops off the screen , flaunting state-of - the-art technology . but the story is straight out of the 1940s b-movie library .", "there 's almost nothing in it that could n't have been done -- in less time , for about the same money and probably better -- as a live-action picture .", "clever banter and eye-popping set pieces raise it above most other dreamworks ' non-shrek fare . still , it 's pretty standard-issue .", "a passably entertaining animated entry from dreamworks that 's closer to the road to el dorado than to shrek .", "with its uneasy mish-mash of computer and hand-drawn animation , sinbad does not look good , its characters are underdeveloped , there 's no humor and the storytelling is slapdash .", "the film is adept and generally enjoyable .", "but with a bag of popcorn and an open mind , this flick will provide a fine summer getaway on the open seas .", "having great vocal talent breathes life into an animated story and makes it more than just a 2-dimensional cartoon . ` who 's bad ? ' - brad 's ` bad ' , so is catherine , michelle , joseph , and dennis .", "too cute for older kids , too bland for younger kids and too cute and too bland for the rest of us .", "a dazzling animated action feature with a solid story and interesting characters , aimed at a more sophisticated audience .", "os personagens s\u0103o terrivelmente caricaturais - e n\u0103o estou me referindo ao visual , e sim \u0155s suas personalidades .", "this is not the kind of movie that keeps our hopes alive for a successful return of the standard animated feature .", "dreamworks animation has a lot to live up to after shrek , but this wacky and high-spirited version of the sinbad legend really is n't too bad .", "there 's much to like here -- a gag-filled script , impressive visuals and michelle pfeiffer 's classy villainess .", "if you drag a gang along to this one , be prepared to make amends with a trip to pirates of the caribbean .", "the kids will like its simplicity and manic motion , but if you want more than that , you wo n't find it here .", "feature length films should no longer be hand drawn if the studios want the public to shell out fifty bucks to take the family to see them on the big screen .", "the story of sinbad is a classic . if you 're going to tackle a classic , make it an enduring tribute to the original .", "a lot of fun and a thoroughly enjoyable family adventure which , though not on the level of the disney classics , is nonetheless worth watching . recommended .", "pitt 's mumblings result in sinbad 's inexpressive face , which gives us a movie hero who leaps from ship to ship , swings from the yard arm and battles fierce monsters without conveying a thimble 's worth of emotion .", "`` sinbad '' is a roller coaster ride as the able sailor -lsb- of the title -rsb- guides his trusty ship , the chimera , across the danger-ridden seas . it 's fun but not particularly satisfying .", "no matter how the stars slack their duties , the animators do n't neglect theirs . they 've wed the lustrous colors of ` flat ' animation to the exciting ` realism ' of 3-d , computer-generated work .", "there 's little here that is n't overly familiar and formulaic , nothing that 's even in the same arena with the eye candy of those vivid adventures .", "the dialogue is n't up to the promising animation ; at times , it is unforgivable .", "sinbad : legend of the seven seas lacks symmetry . but never is it remotely ho-hum .", "for decades swashbucklers have buckled under at the box office , and sinbad lacks the magic to reverse their fortune .", "neither sinful nor particularly bad , the movie nonetheless diverts us when it should transport us .", "thoroughly mediocre kiddie flick .", "passably entertaining ... some eye-popping effects ... pfeiffer 's catwoman purr -- soothing yet savage -- is exactly right for such lines as ` enough talking -- time for some screaming '", "its not that the film was particularly sinbad , but it could have been much sin-better .", "there 's plenty of action -- so much so , in fact , that i often felt like i was watching a video game without the interactive qualities that make such a diversion enjoyable and addictive .", "acartoon that does what matinee moviemakers of old never had the resources to do : allow their imagination to run amok in an ancient world that never existed -- but should have .", "dreamworks ' animated division continues its mediocre streak of family-centered adventures with the visually stimulating but substandard sinbad .", "an entertaining , colorful romp that will please kids while gifting parents with ` nudge-nudge , wink-wink ' jokes", "rivals showtime soft-porn in the quantity of drawn swords and frustrated penetration .", "sinbad is both square and as flat as sinbad and his sailors imagine the earth to be .", "this is one of the more tepid , unmemorable animated offerings of late , with no real energy or cleverness .", "it looks pretty good , features some nice voice work , has a couple of killer action sequences and generates a few solid laughs . but mostly dreamworks ' new animated sinbad feels under-inspired .", "-lsb- lacks -rsb- the sparkle and inventiveness of the stories that inspired it .", "the movie makes serious waves -- and looks its best -- when the swashbuckler faces off with gothic , gigantic , grossly malformed sea monsters . but other than that , kids might not care to soak in this one .", "lacking in wit , originality and spectacle , it is passable at best .", "derivative , flat and uninspired , the film attempts to bring the mythical hero of the arabian nights and all those wonderful ray harryhausen stop-action movies into the realm of animation without adding much to his aura or his stature .", "the old sinbad movies gave that sailor the narrative respect he deserved . this version is formulaic and crass , hardly the stuff of grand adventure .", "fantastic images aside , sinbad is n't much more than the tale of a ` bad ' guy getting in touch with his good side , as well as a love story that makes monster-loving little boys go ` yuck ! ' and that 's what 's too bad about sinbad .", "in the , um , grand tradition of treasure planet , sinbad : legend of the seven seas sets tall , animated ships a ` sail on a voyage to nowhere particularly engaging .", "on behalf of all grownups everywhere , i 'd like to say this : ewww .", "enough sleek cartooning and swashbuckling action to satisfy young and old audiences alike .", "although sinbad : legend of the seven seas may not necessarily have that certain pixar cleverness for adults , it provides more than enough good old-fashioned entertainment for the family .", "all sinbad has got to do is keep the thrills and chills coming , and it does so with boundless energy .", "even better than the similarly themed treasure planet . kids will enjoy it .", "directors tim johnson and patrick gilmore fail to deliver anything close to harryhausen 's awe and wonder in dreamworks ' take on the sinbad adventure .", "on average , the animation is as flat as the script .", "it only takes one big miscalculation to sink a movie . sinbad : legend of the seven seas has two .", "sinbad is rich with ideas and images .", "the story may be too slow and complicated for the youngest moviegoers .", "... the film was lackluster in its presentation .", "i would have liked the characters to resemble their famous voice actors , but a sinbad who looks as good as brad pitt might be too cute for his own legend !", "to understand how completely , contemptibly and cavalierly dreamworks has gutted the arabian legend of sinbad ... all you need is one line of dialogue : ` who 's baaad ? ... sinbad ! '", "the hero 's boat makes it back to port after a multitude of near-disasters , but the movie sinks ... though visually pretty , it 's bland , and though filled with action , it 's curiously enervated .", "nice try mr. katzenberg , but not a winner this round .", "the film plods inexcusably , and even the hero 's traditional non-bipedal buddy is utterly without charm .", "the script is a lifeless blend of comedy , action , and romance clearly based on a 21st century mouse house template .", "passable family entertainment that could have been easily turned into a more noteworthy animated epic .", "sinbad is harmlessly inoffensive enough to be enjoyed by the kind of pre-teen kids who love a good swashbuckling adventure full of all those cartoon cliches , but anyone hoping for more will have to set sail on another adventure .", "visually , it 's a winner , but , script-wise , it is sorely uninspired ." ], "summary": "competent , but not magical .", "id": "10918" }, { "movie": "fighting", "reviews": [ "this story of a country boy who goes to the big city and uses his brawn to make his way is so slow it 's almost inert .", "rock musician-turned-director dito montiel fails to make much of a fist with his second feature , MOV , though he deserves points for trying to add some contemporary new york city grit .", "b movie w / a strong right hook . other strong hooks include terrance howard and luis guzman . subtle , channing tatum delievers a solid performance as well -lrb- dancer to figher -rrb- .", "they should have thrown in the towel before it even began .", "a film that could only possibly entertain two very specific groups of people -- those who want to watch channing tatum and those who want to watch channing tatum get punched in the face repeatedly", "replacing a dance off with bloody knuckles is just bad movie making .", "the first rule of MOV is : you do n't talk about MOV . so please just pretend you can hear me giggling derisively instead .", "parental content review", "i think the screenplay is punchdrunk .", "i am trying to pinpoint just when i realized how terrible this film really was . it could have been the fact that it hit a dead end around twenty minutes in .", "why does it feel like there 's a good half-hour missing from the final product ? specifically , the 30 minutes where the characters and motivations are explained ?", "the director plays a visual game of three card monte on us for this silly , weakly acted and yet sometimes entertaining variation on the ` big fight ' movie formula .", "what montiel found on the streets of his native queens in a guide to recognizing your saints , which he adapted from his own memoir , eludes him in his sophomore go-round . he 's still a legitimate contender in my book , but in MOV he 's shadow boxing .", "too dumb to be taken seriously and too slow to be a fun and mindless b flick , MOV ends up being not much of anything .", "`` MOV '' seems like a no-brainer project for dito montiel that he needed to get out of his system before he can move back into an emotionally rarefied world as complex as that of his first film .", "... MOV is destined to disappoint viewers hoping for an enthralling bit of brawl-centric entertainment ...", "it 's like an exploitation movie that thinks it 's an art movie , only there 's no art to be found .", "too bad the boxing blueprint does n't provide montiel the profound insight of walter hill 's hard times and undisputed which perfectly combined class , ethnicity and existentialism into the two best boxing movies ever made .", "it 's all footnotes , hardly any main story , and overcompensates by jacking up the violence .", "still , the biggest problem with ighting is that fight club -lrb- which was released 10 years ago -rrb- got there first . on almost every level -- pacing , humor , originality , the choreography of the fight scenes -- MOV ca n't touch it .", "the first rule of fight flicks ? for god 's sake , do n't be boring .", "the ladies in the crowd will be demanding a refund when it takes far too long for tatum to show off those abs of steel .", "-lsb- tatum is -rsb- believably tough and appealing , but the long stretches of nothing between the fights make this a chore to sit through -- without a fast-forward button .", "stuck between the aggressively dumb and violent and movie its audience might be expecting and the subtle , tender movie montiel seems to be aiming for , MOV never quite finds its groove .", "you might expect a movie called MOV to be a blunt , literal affair , and in the case of dito montiel 's new film , you would not be wrong .", "when it 's not throwing punches , MOV moves at a glacial pace . for a film about MOV there sure is a lot of talking .", "the weirdest thing about MOV is how it seems to be MOV itself , as if there were a much longer movie left on the cutting room floor", "has stylish editing and moderately exciting action sequences , but that does n't come close to compensating for a contrived , bland screenplay that ultimately lacks palpable thrills and fails to pack any real punches when it comes to drama and romance .", "there are no surprises here - this is a story that has been told before , many times . but tatum gives us a glimpse of the charisma that could make him a star .", "like a poor man 's fight club , MOV is hardly a heavyweight . but with an enjoyable performance from terrence howard , the film is no disaster .", "the tell-it-as-it-is title hardly indicates anything out of the ordinary , but this bare-knuckle boxing flick is put together with more love than you 'd expect .", "the problem is that , even with some very strong acting , we 're never quite convinced to believe either the relationships or situations .", "quite how that will go down with his testosterone-fuelled , spotty audience , i have no idea .", "while everything is highly predictable , the film is well designed and bone-crushingly violent fights are ably staged in brooklyn .", "all of this , however , is plainly just a veneer on a solidly generic punch-up movie , and it thus becomes a drag . a more cartoonish approach would probably have been more fun .", "MOV is a testosterone-driven movie full of blood , beautiful women , big muscles and enough plot to be a good movie .", "montiel 's film lands on its feet with a gripping , will-he-or-won ` t-he third act - it 's worth the wait .", "you could n't call MOV great - at its core it is simply too cruddy - but montiel has managed to inject it with the smell and feel of the streets that he clearly once knew well .", "MOV evocatively captures the texture of new york city", "i like the way the personalities are allowed to upstage the plot in MOV , a routine three-act fight story that creates uncommonly interesting characters .", "white-knuckle action and bruisingly bad dialogue make for an uneven but wildly entertaining fight flick .", "though its rough-around-the-edges style occasionally veers into outright sloppiness , the film is an antidote to slick studio product like 2008 's mma advertisement never back down , and it infuses even its clich\u00e9s with the poetry of the everyday .", "as painful as the movie 's bloody bare-knuckle brawls can be to watch , they do n't hold a candle to the frightening spectacle of tatum brooding or , yikes , terrence howard doing whatever it is terrence howard 's doing in this movie .", "a film that is , itself , MOV to break free of its own contrivances and conventions", "the movie courses with the crazy energy and urban life that usually get sapped out of these tales of men beating the life out of each other . this one feels almost electrically authentic .", "montiel 's debut indicated that he had something real to say about working-class life , but none of that passion comes through here .", "a purpose-free , self-serious yawner that is just dreary , uninspired and hopelessly forgettable .", "a better title might have been talking as MOV plays second fiddle , maybe even third fiddle , in this gritty tale set in the world of new york street MOV .", "the protagonist happens to be played by an actor who looks more like a fashion model than tough street fighter", "channing tatum -lrb- gi joe : rise of the cobra -rrb- is crazy beautiful , and perfectly cast as a slow , troubled young man .", "call a movie MOV , you expect action . only include shots of channing tatum shirtless in the trailer , you expect to see half-naked tatum . MOV does n't deliver either .", "yes , both channing tatum and zulay henao ... have careers for their looks alone , and they 'd have better careers delivering pizza than delivering dialogue .", "the only thing you 'll be ` MOV ' is your lagging attention span .", "despite the formulaic script and cringe worthy moments , the performances from the leads and creation of the subculture are well executed by director montiel .", "there 's something interesting in this film and that 's the reality it brings to its subject matter . scenes seem real . and that 's a lot to do with the performances . they 're all terrific . but there 's the reality of new york too , there 's grit here .", "MOV consistently feels like a patchwork of better movies without their excitement or rooting interest in character .", "entertaining and engaging , MOV has action , romance and a buddy element in a tight , professional package", "montiel and his collaborators can pat themselves on the back for elevating empty material just a bit , but this is disposable cinema , designed to hit and run after an opening weekend . -lsb- blu-ray -rsb-", "if you want to see a shirtless hunk knocking the shit out of fierce fighters , who better to do it than gorgeous hottie channing tatum .", "shot with pace , energy and gusto , the rucks are worthy of the title . featherweight , but not without scrappy charm .", "the film is lifted slightly by the performances of howard and tatum , even though the latter 's mumbling delivery is more stallone than de niro . but even rocky 's narrative had a redemptive arc .", "MOV has nothing to say about men willing to pummel each other senseless . montiel 's second feature is a facile , unchallenging watch , floating like a butterfly but stinging a bit like one , too .", "while there are punch-ups aplenty , it 's less concerned with bruised knuckles and more interested in the bruised personalities of its protagonists , making for a thoughtful , if rarely electrifying , movie .", "there 's the expected amount of fist-play and bloodletting , this is also a nicelymade movie that ably confirms suitably muscular channing tatum as a young talent to keep an eye on .", "despite its dog-eared underpinnings , MOV delivers some heady testoster-tainment . but it 's channing tatum who gives it a bruising grace .", "the talented cast deserved better than turgid direction and a cliched script .", "the bone-crunching punch-ups will knock you out , but if you want surprises you need to watch a real match .", "it 's lively , relentlessly clich\u00e9-ridden and , for no good reason - this certainly does n't contribute to an air of authenticity - presented in a succession of apparently and often uncomfortably semi-improvised scenes .", "strangely , perhaps because tatum is so likable , a sympathetic attraction is maintained well enough for you to leave the theater not complaining .", "murderously dull stretches of dialogue suck most of the fun out of this sloppy drama about a country boy trying to make a buck in the big city by moonlighting as an underground prizefighter .", "for all the utter phoniness of MOV ... -lsb- it 's -rsb- not so bad .", "there 's a lot of honest effort and investment here in character and emotion , which feels refreshing .", "director dito montiel 's jump from indie to studio film is mostly a successful one .", "tatum 's limited acting abilities and montiel 's lack of a consistent vision for his film keeps it from ever delivering on a promising central premise .", "may not score a knockout , but it sure wins on points .", "as innocuous as its title , this modest indie about underground street MOV boasts a gritty tongue-in-cheek attitude but -lrb- sorry -rrb- packs little punch .", "the film 's a watchable and forgettable clich\u00e9 stack , with a cherry on top .", "the rest of the narrative is a smear of gangster clich\u00e9s , head-slapping collisions of coincidence , and shirtless tatum scowling . one has to wonder how a homeless street fighter has the time and tools to shave his entire upper body on a daily basis .", "for all its attention to local `` color '' , MOV focuses on the white boy 's progress .", "it 's not a great film , or even a particularly good one , but every so often you catch glimpses of a better movie behind the simplistic structure and formulaic plot .", "this is watchable enough , but there is n't really much more to MOV than , well , the MOV .", "both howard and tatum do strong , measured work , imbuing some of the film 's terrible dialogue with a soulfulness that almost carries it through . but this is no midnight cowboy - it 's not even rocky .", "pretty much everything you need to know about this by-the-numbers clunker is summarized in the one-word title", "as predictable as picking the winner in a wwe wrestling match .", "MOV is n't a dreadful film , just one where it 's best not to expect any great surprises .", "the brawls have a brutal energy , and howard 's performance is magnetic , but one gains little sense of character from the improvised dialogue or tatum 's sub-brando mumbling .", "this should be a fun ride but it 's a kind of pointless movie that beggars belief it was made in the first place let alone given a big screen cinema release . go rent rocky instead .", "the audience are left with something in the middle-not enough brains , not enough brawn , and , most importantly , not enough ruddy MOV .", "the movie is n't that great but channing tatum and terrence howard are .", "while the characters are interesting , their situation is banal , and the MOV footage is absolutely terrible .", "its generic and lazy title notwithstanding , MOV is almost a good movie .", "this is rocky for the ufc generation ... but what dito montiel 's film lacks in subtlety it makes up for with heartfeltness , though not quite artfulness .", "if you need an actor to look good in an underground street fight , hire channing tatum .", "the fights may not be very convincing , but the story 's underdog structure is satisfying in a happy-clich\u00e9 sort of way . MOV is rocky without the bombast , fight club without the daft metaphysical pretensions .", "... shapeless and sloppy ...", "a sad-solid tko .", "filmed ... with a colorful , grimy intimacy that unabashedly showcases all of the oozing pores that the filmmakers can find , but never makes its settings seem unpleasant or unlivable .", "most damaging to the film is perhaps its futile insistence that it 's somehow more than a bargain-basement b picture .", "there 's only so much you can do with a clich\u00e9 .", "it 's all well-enough acted , but an audience young enough to find this dramatically fresh will be disappointed that MOV is n't the non-stop head-smacking bloodbath they are promised going in .", "it 's like in all this drama , they forgot to have a scene .", "grainy photography , unexpected wit , action , and some earthy realism elevate it above its cliches .", "there 's an effective , unstylized authenticity to those fights . a life or death mania , which enhanced the film 's credibility .", "this is a story we 've seen dozens of times before .", "by making good use of its new york setting , montiel does bring a certain indie grit to the generic story .", "there 's a better movie inside it struggling to get out .", "MOV arrives fully charged by the charisma of its star , channing tatum .", "the movie dito montiel actually wanted to make might be less marketable than one prominently featuring tatum rumbling with ethnic stereotypes , but it 'd be more interesting .", "it is tatum 's performance that leads us to praise men of brute innocence .", "at every turn , MOV is alive and unexpected .", "surprisingly this turns out to be the real deal , full of ferocious , red-hot , action-packed dynamite .", "disarmingly entertaining .", "wait for dvd or , better yet , cable television , where you can change the channel every time tatum stops MOV and starts talking .", "though by no means original or especially ambitious , MOV turns out to be a surprisingly watchable b-movie .", "the screenplay about a hunky street vendor turned underground fighter -lrb- channing tatum of stop-loss -rrb- is sloppy and false .", "MOV may find an audience on home video , where the flaws become easier to tune out and the things that are good - and that are , on occasion , legitimately great - are easier to focus on .", "in a genre where too many films are all brawn and no brain , MOV is a contender .", "the atmosphere of MOV feels grittily real , even when the story does not ." ], "summary": "though MOV has a likable lead performer , and the fight scenes are impressive , the paper-thin plot ultimately unravels .", "id": "770728101" }, { "movie": "project_nim", "reviews": [ "gripping , heart-wrenching , powerful and a sad indictment of scientific practice , which shows that ` human ' and ` humane ' are all-too-often mutually exclusive .", "gives us jolt of clarity into our ` playing god ' actions , one filled initially with both hope then despair that ultimately makes you ashamed to be human .", "you 're left with the impression that , despite not being able to grasp basic human grammar , perhaps nim was unwittingly conditioned into understanding the concept of love .", "nim 's journey is profoundly moving ...", "intriguing yet ineffably sad , what emerges is not the story of an ape who failed to be human , but a story of human failings .", "the saddest part is seeing him being given to a family with no expertise with animals or sign language and then having to adapt to too many different and increasingly restrictive types of lifestyles as he 's moved from one place to another .", "a documentary , stunningly watchable , about the 1970s american research team that explored the `` educability '' of a chimpanzee .", "one of the best documentaries of the year .", "as a cinema experience , MOV was never likely to reach the heights of marsh 's man on wire , but the eccentricities of his story made it well worth telling .", "in MOV marsh is much less concerned with the scientific results of the study than he is with the behavior of the human beings involved , particularly dr. terrace whose behavior was , to put it mildly , not a credit to his species .", "'70s hippie scientists were messed up .", "very quickly it becomes clear that the life of nim chimpsky is foremost a story about the human animal , and human behavior .", "a very absorbing film .", "easily positions -lsb- james -rsb- marsh at the forefront of contemporary non-fiction filmmaking .", "`` MOV '' is practically irresistible . the story keeps getting odder and richer and more complicated .", "if there 's one thing marsh knows , it 's how to reach your deepest emotions . he did it with ` man on wire , ' and he does it again here .", "james marsh 's film is more than a cautionary tale - it 's a horror story ... nim is a victim of human caprice in the name of science .", "marsh 's film remains a deeply haunting portrait of the unbridgeable gap between kindred species .", "the good news is that the film 's stylistic excesses do n't negate the many fascinating aspects of nim 's story .", "though marsh 's errol morris-like style can get glib , it never gets boring .", "the film as a whole maintains a precarious but rewarding balance between multi-generational soap opera and simplistic animal-rights agitprop .", "fascinating characters ... inescapably provokes consideration of the human animal 's primal nature .", "after watching `` MOV , '' a distressing portrait of a misguided 1970s language experiment , you 'll be glad you 're not a chimp in a cage . but you might want to revoke your membership in the human race .", "if movies about talking cars or warlike robots do n't interest you , MOV is the latest documentary -lrb- following buck -rrb- to offer a satisfying , adult alternative . it tells a story that is both stranger and more thought-provoking than ...", "a probing exploration -- at times painfully so -- of humankind 's arrogance as well as of the moral superiority some other species unwittingly possess . one of the five best documentaries of 2011 .", "at times hilarious but ultimately heartbreaking , `` MOV '' is a great chronicle of the 1970s and all the nutty ideas that implies ; academia in particular comes in for a hard reckoning .", "affecting chimpanzee docu is more than monkey business .", "what makes this film especially engrossing is that what happened between that chimp and the humans with whom he spent his life in intimate contact turns out to be only half the story that marsh , who directed the electrifying `` man on wire , '' has to tell .", "marsh tells this story clearly and sympathetically , and he has the backlog of film and the witnesses to do so .", "as in `` man on wire , '' marsh shows smooth craft and a sharp eye , and `` MOV '' is at once astounding and infuriating .", "enough irony here to power a half dozen relationship dramas , skillfully directed by marsh .", "like the experiment itself , `` MOV '' morphs from something inspiring and often humorous to a pointed and disturbing portrait of arrogance run amok . greed and glory end up overriding decency and altruism , and it 's heartbreaking to watch .", "nim is as unforgettable as the treatment of him is unspeakable .", "a stellar documentary ...", "it 's an astonishing story , and one of the year 's best documentaries .", "as nim 's story turns from scientifically compelling to tragic , marsh is able to craft a drama that appeals even to those who are n't exactly card-carrying members of peta .", "marsh ... masterfully spins a harrowing tale of human arrogance that eventually gives way to cruelty bordering on the pathological .", "fascinating and exquisitely executed .", "very strong and takes more than a few pages out of the errol morris playbook .", "nim 's story is so fascinating and telling ... that it would probably be impossible for even the very worst of filmmakers to screw it up , and marsh is not the worst of filmmakers .", "writer-director james marsh mines yet another long-forgotten slice of '70s madness .", "it is the sad story of an animal whose fate is left in the hands of people -- some well-meaning , some not so much -- who are error-prone , unprepared for dealing with a chimpanzee , and often uncaring .", "in a way , nim 's life journey mirrors our own , particularly if we end up alone , no longer having much control over what happens to us .", "tales of the attacks nim inflicted on his many carers are horrific , but there is a pervasive sense there was nothing else they could have expected .", "MOV nimbly serves up a profoundly sad tale that raises as many thought-provoking questions as it answers .", "this tale of a hard done by chip places a light on when unethical scientific research and the post 1960s counterculture combine to create an experiment done wrong in MOV .", "... succeeds as theater , as entertainment , but it does n't really attempt what terrace tried , in his admittedly morally clumsy way . what is the light in those feral eyes and what does it mean ? can we ever hope to know ?", "the film teases us with a paradox : arguably nim 's keepers were wrong to try to endow their protege with human attributes , but can we empathise with his suffering without making the same mistake ?", "funny at times , but also deeply sad , it 's a truly fascinating and well made documentary .", "an astonishing documentary about a chimp raised as a human and the calamitous consequences .", "sexual politics , family dynamics , the debate over heredity versus environment , and the dubious ethics of scientific research on animals are rigorously explored in this ambitious , bittersweet work .", "if only this were a media-fueled tall tale and not one poor creature 's lifelong nightmare .", "a darkly hilarious social portrait of the bizarre alternate universe of 1970s academia and an extraordinary biography of a non-human individual , on whom all sorts of human desires and ideologies were projected .", "brilliant , provocative , clear of eye and heavy of heart ...", "forget the chimp nature vs. nurture angle , someone should study the humans .", "another singular case exploited and expanded to look ordinary", "` MOV , ' an enthralling and appalling documentary by james marsh , chronicles the collision of two species .", "mr. marsh , by allowing those closest to nim plenty of room to explain themselves , examines the moral complexity of this story without didacticism .", "animal activists should push for public awareness of ` MOV ' and its sourcebook , elizabeth hess ' ` nim chimpsky : the chimp who would be human . '", "james marsh spins another gripping , if occasionally superficial , true-life yarn in his follow-up to the oscar-winning doc man on wire .", "MOV will be considered amongst the best docs of the year and another brilliant piece of work from marsh .", "this haunting life story is an exquisite example of non-fiction filmmaking as full-bodied , emotionally complex drama .", "there is no question nim was exploited for human gain , yet there are important aspects which marsh leaves unexplored .", "one of the 10 best films of 2011 .", "this is one of those great documentaries which could be transposed almost without change into a heartbreaking hollywood tearjerker .", "a tragic chronicle of animal abuse .", "like an orphan out of dickens , nim is a sorrowful figure buffeted by the winds of the greedy , selfish and more powerful ...", "MOV borrows a page or nine from the errol morris handbook , crafting its extraordinary story out of an operatic mix of crisply framed interviews , archival footage , and well-staged recreations .", "a fascinating , unflinching and tragic documentary about the chimpanzee we tried to make human .", "i was rooting for the film to end with a shot of the statue of liberty on a beach .", "this smart doc should prove the perfect summer antidote to most of summer 's films that require you to turn your brain off to enjoy them .", "a documentary detailing man 's inhumanity to beast , `` MOV '' ends up going past that to ask a deeper , disturbing question : just who is the man , and who is the beast ?", "yet another captivating , heartfelt , provocative and stylishly edited documentary from the brilliant james marsh .", "as he did in man on wire , marsh seamlessly integrates dramatized shots and scenes with authentic home-movie and news footage of nim and his human companions . i 've never been a fan of recreations in documentaries , but marsh uses them better than ...", "the ` nature vs. nurture ' debate rarely explores each side so literally and so closely .", "extraordinarily evolved documentary , proving it 's ethically and emotionally devastating to monkey with nature .", "director james marsh smartly , slyly suggests through cinematic style that MOV was far from an authentic scientific experiment .", "a focused , very good documentary instead of the great one that could have been crafted from this bizarre true tale with a bit more scope .", "it 's a gripping , unsentimental , at times unbearably sad real-life drama about an animal torn from his own world and stranded in the human one .", "marsh never speaks on or off camera , but his editing of the testimony makes clear his belief that in trying to make nim more human , his teachers made themselves less so .", "for a film where so many people seem , in varying degrees , culpable , marsh indulges in very little finger-pointing . he does n't need to . the indignities are hiding in plain sight .", "like many other good docs , this one leaves the audience thinking about the validity of the experiments .", "-lsb- video -rsb- more than just a brilliant documentary , `` MOV '' is a unique cinematic experience .", "british filmmaker james marsh recreates this tale of an ambitious primate language study through traditional face-the-camera interviews , clever graphics and dramatic recreations . a powerful musical score adds gravitas .", "filmmaker marsh follows up the amazing man on wire with another thoroughly gripping narrative documentary , this time telling the life story of a chimpanzee that was raised as a human .", "marsh 's documentaries are inspired fusions of content and style , and here , the artistry intensifies the pain .", "it 's dispiriting to see james marsh deploy a rhetorical strategy of simply assuming human/chimp equivalence in order to stoke outrage at nim 's post-experiment treatment .", "full of twists and turns like a thriller , james marsh 's compelling docu deals with provocative and timely issues , such as biological versus cultural determinism .", "an impressively directed , superbly edited and utterly riveting tale with an endlessly fascinating collection of twists and turns and some intriguing points to make about both animal and human behaviour .", "MOV , a fascinating and in many ways tragic documentary , takes us back to one of the high-water marks of the apes-are-people-too era .", "james marsh 's MOV ruminates on ideas of ` nature versus nurture ' but these are by no means the only contentious issues raised in this complex , heartbreaking work .", "you end up fearing for the humans who contact him . at the same time , you feel his rage .", "the chimp comes out of it well . homo sapiens , of course , is found wanting .", "a corrective to all those family films and documentaries , many of them by disney , that sentimentalise - and patronise - wild animals by trying to turn them into quirky , mentally subnormal humans .", "marsh 's poignant film showcases the best and worst instincts of human nature and tells an extraordinary tale .", "this many-faceted time capsule sheds little light , but buried inside it are vexing questions and the still-beating heart of a special creature .", "marsh , who made the multi-awarded man on a wire , takes no sides but lets the humans speak for themselves , rum lot that they are .", "despite some heartbreak in the last half , this film brims with humanity and some priceless humour , too .", "the release of this documentary by james marsh in the same week as rise of the planet of the apes is wittily timed . it too speaks of caged primates , though its judgement on their captors is far more disturbing .", "about as far as you can get from cin\u00e9ma v\u00e9rit\u00e9 in its artful combination of archive material , existing documentary footage , newly filmed interviews and dramatic reconstruction , to trace nim 's strange progress .", "i was very moved by this film .", "it 's the scab of decades-old tension between those involved in the experiment and its aftermath that marsh wants to pick at ; and it does n't take much prodding before the conflicts and petty human jealousies rise to the top .", "the result is as scarring and engrossing as it is fascinating , infuriating and profound .", "marsh 's sensitive doc is a light look at some dark clues to the kind of creatures we really are .", "this non-fiction animal biography deserves recognition for a brilliant editing job in condensing the running time to 93 minutes .", "for the second film in a row , marsh has created a movie we ca n't keep our eyes off .", "MOV provides the much needed backstory to modern scientific achievement unavoidably earned on the backs of innocent apes .", "we are uncomfortably reminded throughout the film that all living creatures have worth . including man-made hybrids . correction : especially man-made hybrids .", "MOV introduces quite an extraordinary tale of woe from a puzzling subject , but its aim is slightly off , diluting the final summation of a wholly troubling existence .", "what appears to be a slyly amusing film about an experiment that sounds mostly just goofy turns into a reasonably serious indictment of those conducting the experiment .", "director james marsh -lrb- an oscar winner for man on wire -rrb- charts the heartbreaking and often incredible events without ever veering towards mawkish sentimentality .", "a gripping animal biopic that takes audiences on a journey that begins with laugher , amusement and bemusement and ends , in the case of several viewers around me , with tears .", "MOV certainly tugs on the heartstrings but the movie earns it because the story is so unique .", "the first great documentary of 2011 ... james marsh has done it again .", "the film takes pleasure in revealing the dysfunctional nature of its human characters , who are shown to be hugely fallible , much to the detriment of nim 's well being .", "here 's a documentary so slick , novel , touching and outrageous that your first thought might be `` this has to be fake . ''", "a story both infuriating and complex as revealed by director james marsh , who won an oscar for his last film , the brilliant man on wire ...", "this portrait of nim probably tells us a lot more about human behavior than it does about the chimp at its center , also offering sociological perspectives over the changing times .", "this sad , informative film is a high-quality documentary and another feather in the cap of james marsh .", "a thorough and provocative portrait , which shies away from anthropomorphising nim as much as possible - accentuating his animal nature as well as what might be considered more `` human '' attributes .", "a provocative and surprisingly emotional saga that ranges from wrenching to downright hilarious as it spans more than a quarter-century of unpredictable twists .", "after watching this eye-opening documentary , one almost hopes for a rebellion of the chimpanzees like the one seen in the latest installment in the planet of the apes franchise .", "marsh is too content framing the entire film around the narrative spun by its subjects , rather than stamping his own authorship on the film , and as a result it lacks the power and depth of his previous work .", "MOV tells a sweet , strange and sad story of an incredible creature that will touch even the hardest of hearts .", "marsh 's film is as much a study of how we behave as a species as it is of what happens to nim . and we do n't come off particularly well .", "driven by james marsh 's measured storytelling style , this ethically unsettling and emotionally compelling documentary is the equal of any cinematic epic .", "a bizarre , captivating and somewhat sad new documentary .", "marsh knows this material is explosive , so he presents it simply and with little sentiment -lrb- against all odds , `` nim '' is frequently very funny -rrb- .", "a thought-proving and entirely moving portrait of human arrogance -- in general and with some very , very specific examples .", "MOV does n't try to reconcile its different understandings of nim -- as an experiment , a child , a projection of various selves , and a complex , independent being .", "for a movie about an ape , it sheds an interesting light on humanity . animals may be wild , but only humans are cruel ." ], "summary": "equal parts hilarious , poignant , and heartbreaking , MOV not only tells a compelling story masterfully , but also raises the flag on the darker side of human nature .", "id": "771224201" }, { "movie": "transamerica", "reviews": [ "it 's not satirical irony when you do it with such overwrought vinegar that it becomes ugly and mean-spirited .", "not neat , nor tidy ; a road trip-redemption movie you 've never seen before . * it 's really beautiful , - i hope it gives people a reason to love and tolerate where they never might have before .", "the result of huffman 's and zegers ' fine performances , and tucker 's excellent work , is one of the most thought-provoking and best films of the year .", "if you can get past the transsexual element , you 'll see an often-humorous road trip movie that turns into a story about relationships and the bond that ties family together .", "an abrupt but unforgettable movie with rough edges that lend it even more resonance .", "it sometimes suggests a john waters drag farce trying to go mainstream and sentimental .", "in MOV , felicity huffman out-victor/victorias julie andrews in victor/victoria .", "the movie works , and it does work , because felicity huffman brings great empathy and tact to her performance as bree .", "huffman is on delicate ground throughout the film but she infuses the role with fragility , strength and grace .", "the film 's triumph is that it 's ultimately much more than a stunt -- despite occasional missteps , it 's mostly a sweet , penetrating , funny and intensely human story .", "the emmy-winning desperate housewives actress is sympathetic and quietly believable as a pre-op transsexual .", "with a tough-minded performance from felicity huffman and a script from writer and director duncan tucker that keeps its eyes on the road , MOV goes in for neither broad laughs nor ` we 're all the same ' speechifying .", "huffman makes it a must-see .", "as bree , who started her unhappy life as stanley , the angular huffman , a fine comedic actress who carried home an emmy this fall , is a compelling portrait of wounded dignity . she is wholly fascinating and heartbreaking .", "it 's all a little too cute and pat to be believable , and tucker ca n't resist showing us everything he has learned about transsexuals in between the embarrassing moments and odd encounters .", "a generally fun movie that offers a different perspective on , well , a different perspective .", "felicity huffman 's performance as bree is striking in much the way charlize theron 's was in monster .", "tucker never allows transsexualism to degenerate into a gimmick , although the movie sometimes seems to be having difficulty extending its admiration to anyone but bree and toby .", "everything about the movie feels gimmicky , including huffman 's mannered performance .", "the key to huffman 's performance ... is the way she plays the role with dignity . she likes this man , and so do we .", "maybe the hype had my expectations too high , but i expected more from huffman .", "a perfect example of an ordinary movie made unique by the powerhouse performance of its lead .", "cheap laughs lead to surefire tears , running together like a messy paint-by-numbers project .", "it 's a farce with heart , a meditation on identity , family and gender politics that has real faith in its characters -- even when the characters themselves lack it .", "there 's a terrific performance here by huffman , and an interesting premise . but for me , the script did n't ring true .", "huffman 's performance in MOV , as a pre-op male-to-female transsexual coping with the sudden emergence of a long-lost son , is much better than the movie it 's in ; indeed , she singlehandedly takes MOV to a higher plane .", "huffman ... elevates a film that otherwise is too comfortable coasting on the waves of too many simple-minded movies before it .", "a touching portrait of a world where everyone 's a little bit born again and a little bit lost ... re-examines our uneasy expectations about identity , family , and gender .", "the challenge of huffman 's role is n't just in physical terms , but also in bree 's conflicted state of serving at once as toby 's father , mother and friend .", "circumvents treacly lessons in tolerance and rewards itself with the resonance of re-birth and second chances .", "pleasant even without reaching much of a destination .", "while MOV occasionally feels strangely conventional , of all things , first-time writer-director duncan tucker unflinchingly tackles subject matter that most of america would rather not even acknowledge exists .", "huffman gives a rivetting oscar-caliber perfromance , but the tv-like film is more interested in parent-child melodrama that in the sociobiological issues of transsexuals", "issues of gender differrence are employed only to reinforce less original dilemmas -- family dysfunction , dating woes and -lrb- eek -rrb- meeting the grandparents .", "it 's mildly disappointing .", "i was watching the real felicity huffman , but had no idea .", "impressively realized on all levels , this transgender spin on the road trip boasts an extraordinary central performance .", "MOV : what 's your daddy 's bra size ?", "crudely directed by duncan tucker , MOV is part road movie , part comedy , part heartbreaker and part self-indulgent sexual sideshow .", "there 's a reason felicity huffman 's lead performance is the only element of MOV that 's getting any awards play : nothing else about the film is especially noteworthy .", "tucker toes the line between indie raggedness and studio-produced sheen . his script and tone carry the jagged edges of a personal story , with characters that seem to possess a free will beyond studio formula .", "a studio could have made the same movie if huffman had been playing a mother rather than a father ; writer-director duncan tucker has begun with a new idea and then made it as old-hat as possible .", "a ` b - ' film with an ` a + ' leading performance ...", "MOV is a routine road-trip comedy-drama with a twist .", "tucker 's patchy road movie takes the dysfunctional family to the outer limits of the twilight zone .", "the film succeeds on the goodwill of the performances and the message , which make up for the relatively simplistic story .", "not very exciting , but unexpected humor adds a couple of nice touches to this dysfunctional family/gender-bender/road trip movie .", "begins as a cult ` transgender ' film , then undergoes emergency reassignment surgery to become a mainstream adventure in parent-child ` closure . '", "if you think huffman seems desperate in desperate housewives , think again .", "huffman 's performance redeems parts of the movie but , until the final 30 minutes , MOV too often feels like a journey to nowhere .", "this is a surprisingly heartwarming movie and one of those rare films that leaves you wanting more .", "the acting can be so-so , the story implausible , the camerawork stolid -- none of that really matters if you care about what happens to the characters .", "huffman and zegers make `` MOV '' a road trip worth taking .", "writer-director duncan tucker does little to develop his narrative setup beyond the basic and obvious , and his film begins to feel more like an exercise than a fully realized story .", "defies expectations on nearly every level .", "the film itself is never quite as complex or daring a work of the imagination as -lsb- huffman 's -rsb- performance .", "it 's funny in spots , touching in others and uniformly life-affirming .", "you could call her desperate . she might even agree .", "it 's rare to encounter a performance so complete that you forget about the actor playing the role , but that 's what happens with felicity huffman in MOV .", "-lsb- felicity huffman -rsb- turns this small , resonant film into a cry from the heart .", "the strongest american debut since alexander payne 's citizen ruth .", "emmy-winning felicity huffman leaves the desperate housewives behind to create a memorable bigscreen presence in duncan tucker 's MOV .", "this road trip veers off the road violently at a certain point , and that 's too bad because it 's a really well made film that loses most of its punch in that one ill-advised scene . wait to rent it .", "the delightfully off-centered MOV is one those juicy little character pieces that allows felicity huffman to turn in an unbelievably gutsy , oscar-worthy performance .", "felicity huffman is such a wonder , at once funny and brave , playing a pre-op male-to-female transsexual in the uneven comedy MOV that she sustains several lapses that might otherwise have sunk it .", "before she was a desperate housewife , -lsb- felicity -rsb- huffman turned in this tour de force in what turns out to be a funny , charming , heartfelt road movie about a most unlikely pair .", "there has n't been this much gender confusion since victor/victoria -- and we 're loving it .", "you can sense -lsb- director -rsb- tucker and -lsb- felicity -rsb- huffman trying too hard to get it right , and strain is never convincing on screen .", "MOV is a road movie with a transexual twist , but it pretty much leaves it at that .", "an unnerving honestly infuses this film , from its near-documentary visual style to the gritty truthfulness of the performances .", "... in a constant state of terror at being unmasked as a mixed gender mama , huffman is phenomenal .", "sensitively written and directed by duncan tucker , it 's a moving , funny and involving story that takes us into the life of a transsexual who discovers that happiness is more than a nip and a tuck .", "... that rare film that ... takes us into the life of someone who might seem somewhat odd at first , but in the end turns out to be just a fellow human being .", "it 's a shame bree and huffman 's performance are trapped in a movie unworthy of their energy and courage .", "here 's one of the reasons that 2005 will be considered the year that changed motion pictures .", "by turns funny , touching and blessed with a generosity of spirit .", "huffman makes MOV worth seeing .", "despite the dullness of the main character , there are enough other interesting characters and plot developments to make the story compelling .", "it 's full of enough contrived and ludicrous soap opera-type plotting to make huffman 's tv series , desperate housewives , seem restrained and realistic .", "by turns hysterically funny and heartbreaking , MOV is a film of tremendous warmth , charm and perception anchored to a central performance of unique power .", "too clumsily handled to mean much .", "huffman gives it her all , transforming her physicality and her voice and revealing a character whose lifetime of pain and heartache is present in every gesture .", "lifetime through sundance", "huffman 's performance is the reason to see this sensitive , and sometimes touching drama . paul chambers , cnn .", "comfort food for a comfortable audience , with the tv-familiar huffman reassuring viewers that she 's really a real woman underneath that unflattering make-up .", "tucker 's screenplay is sharp but also sensitive , so the ample good humour never drifts into high camp -lrb- apart from the scenes with bree 's mother - and she is straight -rrb- .", "a well-tuned vehicle .", "a big part of the movie 's success is huffman 's irresistible and remarkable performance as bree , a character we identify with rather than feel alienated by .", "-lrb- huffman 's -rrb- performance is one of those rare pieces of acting that actually deserves to be labeled a tour de force .", "la sorprendente composici\u00f3n de felicity huffman es el principal atractivo de esta road movie agridulce .", "what keeps huffman 's turn from being mere spectacle is the actor 's perceptive compassion for her character .", "a collision of adult sexual contradictions and teenage sexual survival filled with sensitivity , respect and , above all , humor .", "the best , and perhaps the only , reason to see duncan tucker 's MOV is for felicity huffman 's touching , shape-shifting performance as bree , a transgendered man on the verge of surgery to become a woman .", "an awkward yet engrossing first feature from writer-director duncan tucker .", "-lsb- felicity -rsb- huffman is on my long list for award note come the end of the year .", "... may not be a revolutionary film in the vein of `` the crying game '' or `` boys do n't cry , '' but it works as a road trip dramedy with a twist ...", "-lsb- felicity huffman 's -rsb- complex portrayal sometimes does n't fit the film 's broad , sitcom-style humor and thinly drawn supporting characters .", "MOV , starring felicity huffman as a pre-operative transsexual , is touching and sometimes funny , despite its overall air of indie earnestness .", "a crushingly dull film which practically hides huffman 's breakthrough performance behind a wall of indie screenwriting 101 clich\u00e9s .", "MOV , the feature debut of writer-director duncan tucker , never lets us forget that it 's a nonmainstream story about a nonmainstream subject , when ideally , it should simply be a story about a person .", "this unlikely director-writer has managed to show us something many of his hollywood peers ca n't -- how truth hurts , and that once confronted it ultimately builds a better sense of self-dignity .", "surprisingly centered and calm , neither exploiting the story 's sensational aspects nor ignoring them . it finds comedy and drama in the same places , often at the same time .", "if tucker 's road map often feels a little too confining and the screwball comedy too contrived , he can take credit for introducing viewers to a character they have almost certainly never met before .", "the delightful balancing of whimsy and deadly seriousness , light-hearted humor and cutting parody ... underscore the transgender message .", "huffman goes all out ... but writer/director duncan tucker plunks her down in the middle of a fairly average and ultimately routine road picture .", "MOV travels miles beyond road-movie cliches , chiefly through huffman 's oscar-worthy acting , but also through the realization that we are all freaks beneath our masks of gender differences and social conventions .", "MOV is a strange and wonderful film about becoming one 's true self , whatever that may entail .", "MOV provides the frame and the occasion for one of the year 's best performances , felicity huffman 's as a woman trapped in a man 's body who 's passing for female while awaiting a sex-change operation .", "a love story about two outsiders and their journey across america in search of self-respect and love .", "huffman ... -lsb- is -rsb- no more convincingly feminine than tony curtis or jack lemmon in some like it hot , and i 'm not sure whether that 's a compliment to her performance or a criticism .", "huffman 's biggest achievement comes from maintaining her character 's dignity and finding the necessary emotional tone that prevents MOV from sinking", "this is a very human story and not nearly as pat as it might have been .", "my congratulations to huffman for the best damned sex-change operation * result * in medical history !", "felicity huffman truly shines in a role that makes you forget she 's a man ... er ... woman .", "laugh-out-loud funny , tartly off-color and ultimately touching .", "duncan tucker has created a touching , nonjudgmental human drama about a protagonist who feels out of sorts with her body .", "with so much stereotypical melodrama , MOV is not a great film , but huffman 's performance transcends that : the movie may be nothing special , but she is .", "it yanks at the heartstrings too much to qualify as an edgy comedy-drama , but it 's far too bawdy to make it to the hallmark channel .", "for artistry and degree of technical difficulty , this judge awards felicity huffman a 10 for her performance in MOV . but as with so many elaborate olympic sports , this judge asks for clarification : what is the point of the exercise ?", "MOV is to wong foo but with a pre-op tranny protagonist and a strained parent-child dynamic .", "the most original american movie comedy this year .", "felicity huffman 's face is what holds you in duncan tucker 's delightful MOV .", "ms. huffman 's greatest acting achievement as bree is her ultimate unleashing of an intelligence and level-headedness that is truly beyond gender .", "wo n't be winning any awards for originality or visionary achievement , but in its own small , sweet way , the film -- and felicity huffman -- win you over .", "boosted by plenty of choice dialogue , including a queer analysis of the return of the king that sidesteps post-tarantino cuteness .", "it 's got a lot of humanity and a lot of heart . it 's smart .", "felicity huffman astonishes with her skill , her dignity , her bravura style and her knockout performance ." ], "summary": "a terrific performance by felicity huffman carries this unconventional but touching transgender road movie .", "id": "50374652" }, { "movie": "captivity", "reviews": [ "a spirit-sapping exercise in female degradation fantasy .", "does exactly what it says on the tin , grabbing viewers unawares and keeping them in its thrall for an hour and a half of non-stop , heart-pounding exploitation kicks .", "the film 's clunky point-of-view shift and obviously re-shot climax are likely to have you choking in disbelief .", "torture junkies should remember it 's only four months to saw iv -- so you can afford to avoid MOV .", "a film of two halves , while the first is original , bleak and psychologically disturbing , the second could n't be more conventional if it tried . by the end , we 're the ones feeling like we 've been drugged and duped - into watching this nonsense .", "joffe and his screenwriter larry cohen deserve a little credit for pointing up the psychological horrors where they can , but MOV is still a grubby , exploitative film with an extremely guessable twist and universally dull performances .", "the film itself is a very sorry and unthrilling piece of nastiness , peddling some pretty crass nonsense about what it imagines to be female psychology .", "roland joff\u00e9 's feeble attempt to swing with the latest horror-flick fashion for gratuitous sensation is embarrassing", "the film itself is sordid , unpleasant viewing , as promised , yet more tedious than terrifying .", "some inventive individual moments aside , MOV is off-puttingly derivative and clumsily written .", "there 's no deeper significance , no clever mind game played on the audience , no commentary on violence . frankly , it 's kinda dull .", "... sitting through it is a form of torture that far outstrips anything seen on the screen .", "one has to worry about a world where there is a constant appetite for films like this one .", "lands with a resounding splat somewhere between the realm of the truly repellent and the unintentionally funny .", "i never thought i 'd say this , but this movie gives torture porn a bad name .", "rarely have i found myself so uncomfortable viewing anything over such an extended period of time . there 's nothing redeemable here . it 's not tense or scary ; it 's just demented .", "the worst , stupidest , and most pointless movie i 've seen in a very long time .", "this is n't filmmaking it 's shock treatment .", "MOV is the kind of film that gives torture porn a bad name . it 's disturbing in the most unpleasant ways possible outside of abu ghraib or battlefield snuff films .", "screw the culture cops who freaked out over MOV 's graphic poster and always cry ` torture porn ' -- this is a gleefully nasty piece of red meat for horror hounds that delivers as promised .", "even in the fetid swamp of the torture porn genre , it stands out as a particularly awful movie .", "plunges the viewer almost directly into its nightmarish scenario .", "what could have at least been a halfway decent house-of-horrors scary movie digresses into a puddle of fake blood in this stale little thriller that peaks when its resident baddie mixes a batch of eyeballs in an electric blender .", "the picture is n't scary , or even disgusting , really ; it 's oppressive -- dark and unpleasant in a depressingly unimaginative way .", "even worse than the movie 's being torture-porn junk is the fact that it 's also incredibly boring ... as predictable as it is ugly and tedious .", "a well-trotted mess", "it sure beats hearing you have cancer .", "it 's just the same old same old repackaged as the new worst offender .", "no acting , no pulse-pounding suspense , no humor or vicarious visceral thrills . there 's a story , here , and not on the screen . it 's about what happened to a once-fine filmmaker that brought him this low .", "as a horror/thriller trying to add another dimension to what has gone before in countless low budget american incarnations , MOV feels like a cop out given its promising beginnings .", "this saw wannabe fails on many levels , including forgetting to do what it 's supposed to do : deliver potentially delicious gory moments .", "MOV the movie has been thoroughly eclipsed by MOV the marketing .", "... so ineptly conceived and staged it could be the first torture-porn comedy", "MOV is an abomination , and perhaps a new low in the torture-porn genre : a film i liked even less than hostel .", "like black snake moan , this is a film where poster campaign proves more provocative than content .", "if critics offended by the rise of the horror-movie sub-genre they 've derisively tagged ` torture porn ' ever needed a prime suspect to haul before any moral court , the first 20 minutes of this brutal kidnapping thriller from roland joffe would work .", "a badly written , poorly directed and appallingly acted mess .", "no real setup , minimal explanation as to why it 's happening .", "chillingly enjoyable .", "polished and atmospheric , but utterly vacuous .", "veteran writer larry cohen has shown a knack for claustrophobic thrillers -lrb- phone booth -rrb- , but this tawdry effort is almost entirely lacking in stealth and suspense .", "larry cohen , an experienced horror hand , wrote this , and joff\u00e9 does his best to keep the tension boiling up to a ridiculous climax . even so , everybody involved should be ashamed of this nasty farrago .", "it flunks because it 's one of the daftest , dullest films i 've seen in an absolute age .", "with only hunky daniel gillies on hand to offer help and essential hair products , the question is can her career survive such a lame script ? in a word , no .", "if the filmmakers want to shock us , fine , but at least do it with some style and wit .", "courtney solomon tried to polish the turd by adding some torture scenes , but all he did was make the turd turdier .", "once in a while , mainstream america is exposed to a movie for which there is no earthly purpose .", "it 's a saw rip-off with less smarts . -lrb- take a moment , please , to allow that sentence to sink in . -rrb-", "slick , sick sleaze .", "MOV has the compulsory quality of a straight-to-dvd movie -- and considering the fast-fading torture-porn movement , that 's no doubt the destiny of similar offerings to follow .", "a poseur grand guignol , artistically indefensible and rank without purpose .", "the controversy may have piqued the curiosity of horror fans but the film is undeserving of any further attention , managing to be both nastily unpleasant and laughably ludicrous .", "only about twelve people you know are likely to ever see the film . eleven will hate it . avoid hanging out with the twelfth .", "destined to be better remembered for its grisly billboard imagery than for its relatively tame torture-porn tropes .", "what made the esteemed director of the killing fields and the mission stoop to this is anybody 's guess .", "it feels desperate from beginning to end , and is only offensive in that it presumes to be better than we think ...", "more dull than upsetting -- repetitive than worth condemnation .", "when , in the last few minutes , cuthbert finally slipped her bonds and began looking for her tormentors , i knew exactly how she felt .", "although shot with a modicum of style by a seriously slumming roland joffe ... nothing terribly thrilling happens in this ` thriller . '", "inexplic\u0431vel , como o director de a miss\u0433o pode ser tamb\u0439m o respons\u0431vel por este filme vazio , est\u044apido e repleto de momentos acidentalmente hil\u0431rios em fun\u0437\u0433o de sua imbecilidade .", "you can afford to avoid MOV .", "with the exception of ramming my head into a brick wall , then backing up and repeating the exercise , i ca n't think of anything i 'd rather not be doing on a friday afternoon .", "it 's not scary because not one second is believable .", "joff\u0439 's interest clearly lies in society 's obsession with celebrity rather than the nuances of the genre , but cohen 's precision script succeeds in keeping him on the terror track .", "there 's something about MOV that 'll keep you watching ; it could be your morbid curiosity , perhaps it 's a sick bloodlust , or maybe , just maybe , it 's because elisha cuthbert is clad in a low-cut dress at all times . my money 's on all three .", "little more than a grungy-looking tv movie of the week with some pointless gore tossed in .", "what a loathsome , reckless and sickening glimpse into madness this is .", "-lsb- joffe -rsb- makes us almost willing to overlook the unspeakable sadism of the first half -- but no , it 's asking too much .", "without even calling into question the morals of a film which seems to exist only to depict the suffering of multiple women through hideous tortures , the film is still an empty mess , offering only a minor afterthought of an explanation to who is doing the", "the only smart move made by the filmmakers was casting pruitt taylor vince as the torturer . too bad you only get to see his face for a coupla minutes . man , that 's one freaky-lookin ' dude .", "a film so ill-conceived and woeful that it effectively serves as a device of torture itself device -- on the viewer .", "the real horror here is how anyone , especially a two-time oscar nominated director , could be this hard up for work .", "i never , ever imagined the experience of spending 80 minutes watching elisha cuthbert could be so punishing and vile .", "if this is cuthbert 's idea of being , as she claims , choosy about the horror offers she accepts , heaven help us from the ones she 's turned down .", "the first audience member stood up when battery acid was about to be poured on a young girl 's face ...", "-lsb- joffe -rsb- brings an artful video-grunge look , and not much else , to this saw clone .", "the irony is that MOV is about the things it 's hated for - a culture that views women as objects , fascination with death and mutilation , turning to the misery of others for our entertainment ." ], "summary": "lacking scares or psychological insight , MOV is a distasteful entry in the ` torture porn ' subgenre .", "id": "535227372" }, { "movie": "sideways", "reviews": [ "` la fortaleza del filme se encuentra en el enorme respeto que payne muestra por sus personajes , as\u044c como en un estupendo elenco como el que pocas veces se puede juntar '", "the movie has an abundance of high energy and good spirits and seldom takes itself too seriously ...", "payne and taylor excel at getting underneath these tough exteriors and portray these people for what they are , warts and all .", "built upon its characters and would have been ordinary if it had n't been for the excellent casting .", "was `` MOV '' worth the price of admission ? yes , but the overt sexual references make it hard for me to recommend it to anyone i might have to face later .", "the underdevelopment of some characters can be attributed to an overriding decision to caricaturize the subjects of the film .", "intelligent , funny and moving .", "maintains a deft balance between breezy joviality and understated poignancy .", "this is more fun than most art films and should be a legitimate oscar contender .", "i really , really liked this movie , but i have to admit that i think it is a tad overrated .", "MOV is bound to end up the single funniest movie of the year , although rarely in a laugh-out-loud way .", "captures the unflattering male psyche like no film since roger dodger .", "this is n't the sort of road comedy we 're used to seeing . its humor is more likely to provoke smiles and light chuckles than guffaws .", "the film 's cassavetes-style aimlessness -lrb- think of it as a west coast husbands -rrb- gets a jolt when each of the guys pairs up with a willing woman .", "pull the cork on MOV and savor .", "much like altman , hal ashby and billy wilder -- three filmmakers whose movies are celebrated for their naturalism , their humanism and their wicked , often merciless satire -- payne makes films about ordinary people with their rumples and flaws left intact ,", "intoxicating ... but the bittersweet truth about the rare , high-spirited MOV is that its last few miles are all uphill .", "payne 's beautiful command of his content diverts your attention away from the fact it 's a typical road movie .", "alexander payne is becoming one of the greatest american directors of modern cinema and again , MOV is on its way to being one of the best films of the year .", "MOV is such a giddy pleasure that it 's hard to talk about without wanting to share every little secret you discover along the way .", "raise a glass in celebration .", "always a resourceful , thoughtful performer , madsen almost offsets MOV ' overriding , occasionally prosaic interest in the boys ' journey .", "the people seem real , the restaurants feel as if you could just walk right in ... and the homes are messy and lived-in . payne captures his locations with honesty .", "a perfect film without a wrong note .", "it truly is a testament to payne 's skill that MOV has come out a deeply entertaining and intensely honest motion picture .", "it moves off course into areas you would n't anticipate .", "much of MOV is top-notch , with witty banter reminiscent of excellent films like diner and wonder boys .", "this is a building-block movie : its stand-out excellence becomes apparent only gradually .", "a film like MOV is the fulfillment of many hopes and desires , an audience 's not least of all .", "this is a lovely film-agreeably rambling .", "californians will want to see this for the familiar scenery , but anyone who has ever loved , lost or wished for a better glass of wine would be well advised to take it in as well .", "it 's a joy to watch comedy unfold so naturally , the laughs gently teased out from our growing knowledge of the characters , their imperfections , doubts and , yes , emotional pain .", "MOV is the best comedy of 2004 . in fact , it 's so far the best movie of the year .", "this is easily payne 's funniest film to date , yet the comedy never undercuts the difficult emotions with which the characters are dealing .", "like a perfect pinot noir , payne 's latest film is an intoxicating mix of adult bitterness , lush santa barbara vineyards and the year 's early standout male performance .", "one of the year 's best , this is vintage payne .", "clearly the year 's best comedy . the year 's best romance , too .", "the sweetest , funniest , most humane movie i 've seen all year .", "one of the best films of the year .", "a wonderful ode to the value of friendship and of the grape .", "alexander payne has done it again , making a comedy that rings so true to real life that most people in a certain age bracket should be able to relate with some aspect of the characters .", "payne has an eye for making the mundane remarkable through specificity of details", "the year 's second best movie about broken and lonely people -lrb- after eternal sunshine of the spotless mind -rrb- .", "with the skillfully framed , beautifully written , delicately acted MOV , alexander payne may just have found his golden ticket to oscar glory .", "this is a genuine slice of life .", "-lsb- w -rsb- onderfully , beautifully realized , with a wise , literate bent ...", "MOV is a better film as you actively engage it , examine the characters , ... and think about what each one is going through .", "it could turn out to be the best english-language picture of the year .", "both charming and sexy , uproariously funny and touchingly human .", "doubters may hedge about calling it a classic and might insist on checking back in a few years to see how it has aged . fair enough . but it 's not too early to call it pure movie bliss .", "if MOV were a wine , its foretaste would be a flutter of nuttiness , its middle would have spicy nuances , and its aftertaste would be lingering and sweet .", "by far the year 's best american movie .", "never betrays the longing for love and friendship that makes it both painful and painfully funny .", "payne does know how to capture two kinds of male menopause . but i ca n't say he ever surprised me .", "like a fine novel , it has threads that tangle , bits that tingle , sections that make you laugh out loud and moments that reach deep down and touch you in the gut .", "the film is impressively directed throughout with payne conveying miles 's drunken state through effective use of wobbly camerawork .", "as in payne 's other films , when the laughs die down there remains a residue of sadness , desolation and self-loathing , leaving the impression of something far more darkly insightful than your average light comedy .", "yo me servir\u044ca otra copa y tratar\u044ca de volver a disfrutar de los mismos sabores . seguro que surgir\u044can otras vetas que estaban esperando para sorprendernos .", "a funny , heartfelt coming-of-middle-age story by , for , and about snobs .", "payne leva o espectador a se envolver com figuras que , em produ\u0443\u0448es menos ambiciosas , seriam retratadas como seres desagrad\u0440veis e repulsivos .", "neither a bang nor a whimper , but a warm , engaging dialogue about things that matter , in words that must be said .", "it succeeds thanks to a screenplay steeped in humanity and a director with a gift for making ordinary joes into extraordinary movie heroes .", "a knowingly-clever and downright-insulting movie that does little more than talk down to its audience .", "un brindis completo por el amor , por la vida , por la madurez anhelada .", "although lacking the complexities of election -- still payne 's best work -- the picture does exude an intelligent craftsmanship that 's hard to resist .", "it is just so good , a fine , fresh wine that still jumps out of the bottle fully aged and wonderfully complex , as tasty as a rare bordeaux after a decade in the cellar .", "sublime .", "with four fine films under his belt , payne should be regarded as an american treasure .", "emerges as a full-fledged film , with a brilliant use of cinematic language and pacing , but also has a novelistic breadth without spilling much over the two-hour mark", "giamatti and church gloriously suggest brainier versions of beavis and butt-head .", "i thus heartily recommend the movie to all men between the ages of 30 and 55 -- if they can take it . MOV offers few consolations besides the bitter , healing laughter of the morning after .", "at the end of the movie we feel like seeing it again .", "a dramedy , the film broaches some important issues such as depression and fidelity , honesty , integrity , but never forgets its comedy . a modernized `` odd couple ? ''", "` MOV ' is one of those rare films where every single element and detail , no matter how small or seemingly insignificant , feels absolutely right .", "MOV cements alexander payne 's status as one of our best directors", "payne 's most emotionally intelligent film to date", "a quality film with near-perfect writing , marvelous acting and quite a few laughs thrown in .", "this is a perfect movie . there are absolutely no false moments in any scene in this picture .", "... there is an underlying honesty ... that manages to transcend a critic-friendly film and strike a chord about life .", "more of a character study than anything else , but with characters as good as these , you really do n't need much of a plot .", "i 've long been a fan of thomas haden church ... it 's great to see him finally get his due , even as paul giamatti sucks up all the attention", "like a $ 3.00 bottle of wine -- it may taste fruity going down , but when it comes back up you 'll realize it was n't worth the technicolor yawn -lrb- or the horrible migraine -rrb- .", "... humor is alloyed with pathos , and all the queasy-making muddled emotions that complicate the human heart .", "very funny and very sad , MOV is smashing .", "payne 's characters might have become caricatures , but he has too much affection for them -- and too much respect for his audience -- to allow them to be anything less than real .", "it 's a deceptively simple -lrb- at first -rrb- , deep and thoughtful film .", "an alternately rollicking and mournful road comedy .", "every performance here is wonderful , and the movie abounds in moments so true as to be cringe-worthy .", "MOV is sublime .", "there 's not a false note here , and the entire supporting cast -- madsen , oh , church and marylouise burke as miles 's mother -- is uniformly excellent .", "a wine-country bachelor trip for two lifelong friends goes more than a little sour in one of the best movies of the year .", "a brilliant exploration of life , longing and second chances .", "giamatti ... mostly resembles a walking ulcer , especially when he 's inflamed .", "easily one of the year 's best films -- both funny and sad , charming and poignant ... an intoxicating treat .", "giamatti is a comedic gem .", "the lack of a-list talent is one of the many subtle charms of MOV , a movie that finds universal appeal in the various urges and dilemmas of its characters while avoiding most road-movie cliches .", "-lsb- director alexander payne -rsb- is fascinated by flawed - which is to say , human - characters ...", "as distinct and earthy as a sangiovese and as light and fickle as a sauvignon blanc .", "a successful small picture dealing with the crossroads of one 's life as an adult , with lots of interesting conversations , funny moments , solid characters and lovely things to see .", "frankly , i do n't know how payne does it , but his formula of bringing out popularly hailed qualities in an apparent loser has worked again .", "` but the star here is paul giamatti ... giamatti is miles . it 's almost as if the other characters had wandered into a film called `` miles '' and just blended in . '", "richer , headier , and more complex , just like a fine wine . among multiplexes filled with the movie equivalent of generic brand cola , this is a rare movie for grown-ups .", "quirky , perceptive and strangely moving ...", "alternately moving and funny depiction of the games boys play ... even when the boys in question are nearing 40 !", "the unforced humor arises from payne 's honest treatment of the characters .", "the comprehensive experience is full-bodied and satisfying .", "MOV is a movie that knows us a little too well , which has always been payne 's specialty .", "a hell of a movie , wonderful and sad , not quite real life but parallel to it , treating its characters with respect and something bordering on love .", "in spite of the slow beginning , the movie ages into a sweet , lively story with a delicate sense of humor - something to savor like a fine wine .", "wise , entertaining and often very funny .", "payne and taylor continue to skewer american society with this brilliant comedy about ambitions and expectations .", "with MOV , the director of election and about schmidt has cobbled together his most mature , complete effort to date , a film that utilizes his off-kilter sense of humor and his ability to construct believable characters .", "as character study , as exercise in american ambiance or , simply as an entertaining movie , MOV triumphs .", "a deeply human comedy about people fumbling their way toward love .", "like a good wine , this movie has clarity , subtlety and a pleasant aftertaste .", "this bittersweet yarn about two la bottom feeders who tackle personal issues , bottle by bottle , through wine country , renders their episodes of anguish intoxicating .", "provocatively sharp in its charm and thorough wit . MOV is articulate and vibrantly realized ... beautifully written with emotional insight and intoxicating flair", "the acting is superb , from the free-spirited oh to the compassionate madsen to the irresponsible church . the standout is giamatti .", "a genuinely touching ode to the foibles of masculinity gone middle-age crazy", "every so often , a movie comes along that just about seems perfect . MOV is one of those movies .", "while containing the standard elements of the buddy road trip comedy formula , it adds layers of dramatic complexity to balance out the ongoing shenanigans .", "takes great pleasure in finding absurdity in the routine and picking apart the foibles of human nature , both of which are the cornerstone of that great comedy that is life .", "finding wicked humor in those unguarded and awkward moments is payne 's specialty .", "shame on the academy if giamatti is n't on the ballot this year", "MOV , forward , back - wherever these four characters go i will follow", "MOV is a deeply pleasurable indie diversion in which nothing really happens and yet a lot is said , much of it about wine .", "the most honest and human story yet from a filmmaker building a career on honesty and humanity .", "while admiring the content and the intent of the movie , i could never quite get past the feeling that it was all built on an insubstantial foundation .", "... a comedy of deep yet sparkling complexity . ... much more than quaffable , MOV proves downright transcendent .", "the film itself should be approached like a fine wine : uncork it , give it time to breathe , and then luxuriate in its rich , heady flavor .", "the characters in MOV are better developed than those in the earlier films , the poignancy is just as forceful as it was in about schmidt , and the comedy is slightly better integrated .", "MOV is a simple but richly told and created story that works on all levels .", "MOV is a buddy movie that is a delight from start to finish : it offers a round-trip ticket to the rewards of friendship and the follies and frustrations of middle-age .", "this excellent adventure affords a hilarious and excruciating bout of bachelor bonding .", "a sure bet to age like a classic", "makes you feel like you 're trapped at dinner with a wiseass who 's trying to convince you what a sensitive guy he is .", "if you can hang in there and do n't mind listening to two hours of talk , this is a fairly interesting story about two amoral , selfish , inconsiderate losers .", "in vino veritas ... payne has supplanted the coen brothers as a reliable purveyor of smart comedy", "wildly funny and surprisingly edgy .", "more than anything , MOV furthers the impression that alexander payne is a great structuralist filmmaker .", "payne and screenwriter partner jim taylor are n't afraid to let their characters look and act foolish , which is one of the reasons they feel so real .", "payne has made a movie for the same sorts of people , one with body and ` nose ' and character that movie lovers will savor long after the credits have rolled .", "pot-bellied , squat and hairy-backed , paul giamatti is nobody 's idea of a conventional screen idol , yet he may be the most watchable leading man in movies today ...", "a quartet of extraordinary actors , united by an intelligent and funny script , and a director who can highlight the little details of character and performance .", "the sweet pain it affords arises not from watching other people flail at life ; it comes from recognizing their struggles as our own .", "from its first minutes , maybe even from the credits , you know you are seeing something very special .", "they do stupid , mean , embarrassing , and/or unintentionally hilarious things , and yet are portrayed so lovingly that we love them in spite of it . giamatti : genius as always .", "here 's the richest , funniest and perhaps most moving film of the year , featuring a performance from paul giamatti that should win him the oscar .", "with each new film , payne and taylor plane the edges of their wit . yet this growing maturity merely buffs their work ; it 's not dulled one bit .", "modern american comedy does n't get any better than MOV . the film delivers great humor to open up something deeper -- a heartfelt portrait of a life in crisis .", "MOV is one of those films that 's a bit too good to review : it strikes a unique tone , blends a bit of tall-tale fun with everyday life , and pretty much hits every note in your psyche .", "MOV is neither effete nor snooty . it 's a knowing , often-tender comedy about the plight of middle-aged men who are n't exactly living fast-track lives .", "the wine metaphors flow like , er ... wine in this bold , boisterous , and eminently quaffable road movie/buddy movie hybrid from director alexander payne .", "madsen is also great in a well written role that she makes even better through a sort of earnest stillness .", "payne always charts the terrain of the human heart , and he 's among the wisest of mapmakers .", "alexander payne 's unforgiving drama takes the initiative of observing adult sexuality unsanctimoniously .", "a beautifully realized but , nevertheless , all too familiar story about a pained man .", "make sure you savor this one - vintages of this quality do n't happen every season .", "i did n't like it , then i liked it .", "plodding , standoffish and seriously overrated .", "we 're a couple of misfits . no , this is n't a review of `` rudolph , the red-nosed reindeer . ''", "payne abandons his biting eye for satire with this uninspired and mean road picture . makes one long for a car drive with mr. mcallister and warren schmidt .", "the most overrated movie of the year .", "the perfect blend of kooky comedy , fantastic dialogue and inner struggle .", "payne shares with the great billy wilder the knack for heightening scene after scene with the addition of a few little details that most directors might overlook ...", "click to read article -lsb- greek -rsb-", "in payne 's overarching triumph , MOV is a sensitive , to the point of disturbing , expose of love ... love that can blossom with that high school hallway sweetness even in the withered garden of midlife .", "refreshing , unpretentious and genuinely affecting .", "this one 's like to appeal greatly to the 30-40 somethings that are getting more and more into bourgeois sports such as yachting , polo or wine tasting .", "MOV is non-mainstream pretentiousness done right", "... a leisurely paced film about introspection , neurosis and finding tranquility .", "a study of friendship , disappointment and self-deception , MOV , directed by alexander payne , has at its centre the most leisurely of bachelor parties : it 's a road movie that stops off at vineyards .", "brilliantly observed characters are becoming second nature to payne and taylor , and the performances here are uniformly terrific . this is wonderful , original stuff .", "a relentless and painfully funny critique of masculine pretense and selfishness , of which wine fetishism is the apotheosis .", "MOV is a darkly comical and courageous journey of two ordinary middle-aged men whose only aspirations are to move forward in life .", "-lsb- paul -rsb- giamatti 's never been better ...", "if film critics employed a 0 to 100 rating scale such as some wine critics do , then MOV would rate about a 98 .", "a lot of wine floats around in alexander payne 's MOV , in which drinking and talking about wine are not just routine activities but an existential way of life .", "it is , in almost every way , less than it could or should be .", "a wonderful film , so accomplished that it looks effortless .", "finds the absolute perfect note to end on , stripping away all the double-talk and simply finding a way to just open up and enjoy every ounce of flavor that life offers .", "its often low-key study of human interactions and bonding is quietly truthful and erudite .", "payne once again does an incredible job creating deeply flawed but extremely likable characters . portrayed in shockingly real performances .", "-lsb- t -rsb- he irony and realism inform each other in an ongoing way new for -lsb- payne and taylor -rsb- .", "thrives on adult conversation so curvy and rich , we swear we can taste it .", "no one understands the plight of the middle-aged white guy like alexander payne .", "miles raymond is a character so tragic that even the ancient greeks would be envious . especially bacchus .", "now that alexander payne has made four films and all of them have been excellent , we can officially declare him one of the best directors currently working .", "the miles character is a glorious , multifaceted diamond prism of painful humanity , filled out by giamatti 's immersive acting and the unflashy , close-cutting writing .", "as refreshing as the best pinot grigio and as full-bodied as a perfectly-aged cabernet , MOV fully engages your emotional and intellectual palates . drink it in .", "i propose a toast to one of the best , and possibly most courageous , movies of 2004 .", "it 's clear that the filmmakers -- alexander payne , the director and screenwriter , and jim taylor , his co-writer -- know what they are up to .", "a smart and delightful romantic comedy .", "payne is the only young filmmaker tackling the gloom of modern mediocrity , and his MOV is the richest and most rewarding american comedy since wonder boys .", "alexander payne 's intelligence , biting humour and good ear for dialogue , combined with paul giamatti 's outstanding acting , make MOV a success .", "as MOV progressed to its near-perfect final scene , i found myself genuinely loving it .", "not quite perfect , but full bodied with lots of subtle overtones", "no one does quivering-on-the-edge-of-depression quite like paul giamatti .", "MOV is the first of payne 's films in which we have the chance to really care for the characters ; he reins in his harsh satire better than before .", "MOV stays resolutely life-size . and that , in this age of hype and hyperventilation , may be the most radical thing about it .", "this wonderfully satisfying study in human nature is funny and sad and profoundly entertaining from start to finish .", "a very memorable slice of life .", "giamatti handily raises what could 've been a pedestrian road trip romance into the stratosphere of a world-class character study", "`` MOV '' is about wine aged to perfection sipped by men who 've aged to mediocrity - softer , hornier versions of walter and the dude . but miles 's brutal honesty is its soul . he 's annoyingly , depressingly out there , but never fraudulent .", "excellent but explicit movie is not for kids .", "somehow director payne makes us care , a lot , about these two misfits who seem headed towards their own self-inflicted destructions .", "payne 's most enjoyable movie since election", "it 's an intoxicating feeling when a movie excites and enlivens us like this -- and there 's a particular giddiness to be had in thinking about what movies can -lrb- but do n't often -rrb- do for one 's soul after imbibing such a fine vintage .", "really just a likable romantic comedy of personality as two buddies learn about each other on a road trip . the film will be of particular interest to wine lovers .", "MOV , based on a fine novel by rex pickett , is at once a literate comedy , a subtle examination of grown-up romance and a touching study of friendship .", "director payne takes fewer risks than he normally does , coming up with a soft-edged but thoroughly satisfying film .", "it feels churlish to complain that MOV is merely a good film when , in fact , it has little , observant details and big , earned laughs", "it 's not payne 's best work , but even a lesser piece by alexander payne far exceeds just about anything else out there .", "a trenchant american satirist in his previous films , payne moves in a different direction with MOV -- one less mordant but just as pointedly observant .", "definitely one of the year 's most entertaining movies .", "MOV may fetch paul giamatti that best actor oscar of which he was robbed -lrb- or so many thought -rrb- for american splendor .", "alexander payne 's heart-piercing new film about a writer on the verge of disappointment is a reason to maintain hope in the film industry ." ], "summary": "charming , thoughtful , and often funny , MOV is a decidedly mature road trip comedy full of excellent performances .", "id": "12851" }, { "movie": "10004662-last_holiday", "reviews": [ "the real radiance in this sumptuous , likable fantasy-fulfillment comedy comes from queen latifah .", "MOV is n't much more than a fantasy , but it 's a sweet one , and it 's far more worthy of attention than such hideous garbage as rumor has it ...", "the queen never lets us down .", "MOV is a thoroughly mediocre dramedy .", "track down the old movie if you crave a real meal .", "move over julia roberts ... there 's a new queen in town .", "the pace drags , the stunt double work is obvious and the slapstick , especially a ski-hill scene , is contrived and extended .", "a mild , fangless , forgettable thing that entertains some and offends little , barring one obnoxious subcontinental stereotype and a cloying urge to make everybody chipper at the end .", "queen latifah 's film career has been marked by a series of big , brassy , bold performances , which is one of the reasons MOV proves to be such a frustrating experience .", "wayne wang directs the film as if he gets an extra commission for each latifah reaction shot .", "while nowhere near the quality of the alec guinness/j . b. priestley original , this is n't an outright travesty .", "latifah is warm and winning but her movie is predictable from beginning to end .", "you can wait to see the MOV during the ` off-season ' rates .", "MOV is the kind of film perfectly suited for those in the mood for something that does n't require much more than a willingness to settle in for some warmhearted silliness . on that level , it 's delicious .", "... an admittedly inconsequential yet undeniably uplifting piece of work ...", "queen latifah has such an engaging on-screen persona that she 's able to make gem out of what would have otherwise been a lump of coal of a movie .", "-lsb- latifah -rsb- makes you easily sympathize with her character , even as you 're aware of the plot 's utter contrivance .", "note to queen latifah : i have almost forgiven you for the inexcusable `` taxi '' now .", "the most surprisingly satisfying hollywood comedy in ages .", "MOV is one of those perfect fantasy movies that somehow works in spite of itself ... sometimes pat , sometimes a feel great movie , even when occasionally it trips over its own skis .", "... strictly by the numbers , but , as with beauty shop , the oscar-nominated queen latifah has the talent to give sub-par material a likability factor .", "this is the queen latifah performance i 've been waiting for ever since she broke into movies .", "latifah ensures that MOV is often very charming and never less than pleasant .", "filmmaker wayne wang follows maid in manhattan and because of winn dixie with another dollop of harmless entertainment .", "... and while the terrific cast has managed to wrestle a less-than-average script to the ground , it 's still rather rank .", "georgia is a lovable character we ca n't help but root for .", "latifah is as charming and sassy as always . ... someday , she 'll find a script that can match her magnificent personality .", "MOV is another anemic female empowerment fable that never really sustains its clunky momentum ... feels misplaced in its aimless adventurous skin .", "queen latifah turns this less-than-regal dish into the cinematic equivalent of comfort food .", "though the movie is n't the ` holiday ' from hell , it 's not one you should be anxious to go off on .", "if we are to live in a world of movies in which women are comically diagnosed with brain diseases and discover their moxie through base jumping in the czech republic , let us at least have queen latifah 's brass to add a bass note to the treacle .", "it may not be much -- it 's a remake of a 1950 alec guinness film -- but it is as bright as a christmas bauble .", "one wishes director wayne wang , who depends far too much on madcap action to keep his movie moving , had as much confidence in latifah herself .", "... overlong -lrb- it 's almost two hours -rrb- and unfocused , but thanks to latifah , at least you 're in amiable company .", "an appealing morality play in which queen latifah demonstrates a warm embrace of life with humor and humanity .", "there are some funny gags interspersed among the undistinguished ones , but wang 's direction has little snap or wit , and the movie overall is too fixated on the laborious task of massaging our universal self-esteem .", "georgia saves the world one abramoff at a time .", "the frothy MOV serves its purpose : amusing escapism .", "at times it feels like an extended trailer for itself with silly set-pieces -lrb- georgia base-jumps ! georgia cooks with the chef ! -rrb- , but we are on her side all the way and when the happily-ever-ending arrives , we 're as happy as she is .", "it 's far from a five-hanky snifflefest , even for softies , but thanks to latifah 's talent , you 'll say ` awwww , that was sweet ' when the credits roll .", "this story of a gentle soul -lrb- queen latifah -rrb- who learns to live only after learning of her imminent death is as witless as it is formulaic .", "while there is something undeniably enjoyable about watching someone likable enjoy themselves , it 's not enough to make a good movie .", "latifah proves once again the weird parallels between rap stardom and movie stardom . both formats seem to be about a magical something called presence , and latifah , even in a dialed-down , quiet role like this one , has it .", "one might gladly exercise the film 's carpe-diem moral by concluding that life is too short for movies like MOV .", "the film proffers both a fantasy of wealth and the reassurance that money is n't what really matters .", "really what holiday is about is latifah .", "this remake of a 1950 alec guinness vehicle is n't a great flick , but latifah 's exuberant performance and a live your dream message compensate greatly .", "a happy surprise ... latifah shines under the direction of wayne wang , who turns her into a classic screwball comedy heroine .", "for a movie about overcoming fear and living out loud , MOV 's too-tidy conclusion is n't a sign of hope so much as a lack of nerve .", "MOV , in its feathery , good-hearted way , is enough to give you pause .", "the film quite misses the point of casting ll cool j as romantic object : he 's only visible some 20 minutes total .", "MOV floats along on the broad shoulders of one of our most able dramatic comedians . without her , it would sag like a punctured souffle .", "admirably avoiding the burlesque fish-out-of-water / makeover movie one might fear , MOV is as joyful and winsome as georgia turns out to be .", "if MOV were a song , it 'd be one of earth , wind and fire 's brassier anthems of uplift and self-realization .", "MOV plays like a hug . when a movie can do that , a strange transformation takes place .", "the MOV would be predictable even if it were n't a remake , but that is n't necessarily a drawback . on the contrary , it actually adds a boost to the movie 's feel-good format .", "this is n't the sort of movie that 's meant to surprise , but it is a movie that gets better as it goes .", "the most fatal pitfall is a purely hollywood ending that would be enraging if it was n't such an obvious foregone conclusion .", "one of the most likable performers in the business , queen latifah finally gets a vehicle that gives her formidable talents and expansive spirit plenty of blooming room .", "almost makes you want to cash in your ira and live it up .", "the queen is in fine form , but this particular throne is a bit rickety .", "she 's -lrb- queen latifa -rrb- the unexpected and hugely effective star of MOV , a pleasant trifle made far better than it should be by her effortless charm and expansive spirit .", "we may know exactly where we 're going , but the journey is so much fun , all but the most peevish audience members will find it impossible to complain .", "set in a luxurious locale and awash in generosity for its characters , even the mean ones , MOV delivers the glamour and sentimentality associated with classic movies .", "`` MOV '' is more than a story that lets us escape . it 's a story we 'd like to believe could actually happen .", "this is a terrific story with lots of wonderful ideas swirling around inside it , and a few genuinely wonderful sequences . but the film suffers from a complete lack of attitude or style .", "-lsb- latifah -rsb- shows both comedic and dramatic range , and garners sympathy despite the script 's lack of depth .", "at best it 's a bumpy ride through predictable territory .", "it 's clear that queen latifah is a proper , old school movie star - the camera loves her and her constantly upbeat screen persona is extremely likeable . it 's just a shame that studios do n't seem able to find a decent vehicle for her talents .", "money can buy you happiness in this inferior remake - although its makeover storyline may please fans of the princess diaries et al. .", "is wayne wang going to keep remaking maid in manhattan until he gets it right ? well , keep trying wayne .", "latifah is the risk-taking spark in a film that takes few chances of its own .", "wayne wang keeps things on an even keel , with good supporting performances from ll cool j as latifah 's romantic interest , timothy hutton as a corporate villain and alicia witt as hutton 's secretary/mistress .", "not a horrible movie , but it often lacks the spark and magical inspiration it aspires to impart on the audience", "holiday certainly is harmless entertainment , but considering the pedigree of the talent here , the final product is more than a little disappointing .", "somehow the conviction that queen latifah brings to the project makes some of the film 's dopier choices easier to forgive .", "without queen latifah , MOV would have been a somewhat tedious vacation , despite its beautiful setting .", "... more of an \u00e9clair than a hearty meal ... for those seeking light diversion ...", "holiday belongs with those formulaic comedies that bug critics as they please crowds .", "the movie completely falls apart . it does n't make any sense , any of it .", "finally , a heartfelt comedy that goes down easy .", "traps a nice character and a lovely performance in a morass of stupid contrivances and useless complications .", "a better way to seize the day would be to do something other than sitting through the sitcomedic MOV .", "if you really want to live life to the fullest , step one is to avoid wasting an hour and a half of your life in a theater showing MOV .", "queen latifah 's performance saves what might have been an otherwise ordinary romantic comedy from just being another toss-away effort .", "the movie as a whole acquits itself with grace and charm that if not enough to overcome its flaws , is enough to make it mildly palatable .", "a chaste and tepid remake .", "whether performing a thrilling , impromptu church spiritual or making a grand entrance in a shimmering red chiffon gown , queen latifah fills every frame of the film with her uncorked generosity of spirit .", "everything that sounds wrong about this project is .", "... a slight film , sometimes droll , sometimes whimsical , and usually sharp .", "there may be a workable middle ground between the milieus of robin leach and dr. phil , but this film sure is n't it .", "vacillates between laughless humor and cheap social commentary .", "the gifted and charming latifah deserves a better role than the bunch of cliche 's she 's asked to propogate about the wonders of american consumerism in this fluffy and inconsequential remake of the far superior 1950 alec guinness comedy .", "this is a movie with lots of great cuisine , and precious little flava .", "latifah 's carpe diem spirit sustains the picture , even when the script is carpe dumb .", "the film 's larger arc and plot twists leave quite a bit to be desired . but wang 's overall delicate touch makes MOV tolerable .", "a sweetly comic film that gives queen latifah her most satisfying role to date .", "MOV is not a movie that will tax anyone 's brain cells . but as diversions go , it is pleasant , a nice escape from winter 's doldrums .", "the movie , which is directed by wayne wang -lrb- the joy luck club , smoke -rrb- leads to a predictable but smile-worthy conclusion .", "in its corny , cartoonish way , it even suggests a generosity of spirit that 's faithful to the 1950 original .", "an awful lot makes no sense in jeffrey price and peter seaman 's script , starting with its basic premise .", "instead of deft comedy with a depth charge of feeling , we have now a contraption festooned with cute sparkles and tiny heart grabs .", "MOV remake returns to the era of the original 56 years ago , when films made all sorts of leaps to sell their concepts .", "a wish fulfilment fantasy dressed up with a shopping spree , a gorgeous mountain resort in europe , a world class chef creating new menus every day , champagne , exotic massage and health spa , snow capped scenery and linen to die for", "not the worst movie ever made -- no thanks to latifah .", "it 's obvious where `` MOV '' goes and at times it takes too long to get there , but watching latifah work her style and spirit when she gets to the grandhotel pupp is pure enjoyment .", "it 's not exactly distinguished , but pleasantly warm-hearted , and the sort of thing you might enjoy on afternoon tv when laid up with the flu .", "if you had three weeks left to live , i would n't recommend you spend your precious time watching this .", "here at least , latifah has only two modes : heavily constipated and sass-tastic .", "a nice little romantic comedy which also packs an emotional punch .", "queen latifah remains here an utterly imperturbable , warm and human presence .", "formulaic but sometimes winning comedy .", "might not be in the first tier of holiday classics , but its winning cast led by its captivating star make this one you 'll want to keep in your christmas viewing rotation ." ], "summary": "although queen latifah 's bountiful life-affirming spirit permeates the film , director wayne wang is unable to revive this remake with any real flair .", "id": "2864425" }, { "movie": "1003625-carrie", "reviews": [ "an exercise in high style that even the most unredeemably rational among moviegoers should find enormously enjoyable .", "i might be the only person in the world who thinks brian de palma 's 1976 classic thriller MOV -lrb- now out on dvd -rrb- is one of the most overrated , disappointing horror films of all time , but i stand behind my review , and i swear i can knock down just about a", "... -lsb- o -rsb- ne of the best horror films of the 1970s .", "MOV is a modest but effective shock-suspense drama about a pubescent girl , her evangelical mother and cruel schoolmates .", "the reason MOV is still held in such high regard as a horror classic is very simple : it 's all in the sheer directorial bravado . de palma at the top of his game .", "the first big hit directed by brian de palma .", "the film has a strikingly unsettling mood that enhances its power and gives it an impact that the story would otherwise lack . much of the credit , though , must go to spacek , who so convincingly portrays MOV 's pain and her longing for acceptance .", "MOV rivals the shining for the title of greatest ever stephen king adaptation .", "this horror classic might be the ultimate teen angst flick .", "this 1976 thriller , about a high school outcast -lrb- sissy spacek -rrb- who uses her telekinetic powers to massacre the graduating class , contains a number of interesting ideas . but as with most of his films , de palma ca n't keep track of them .", "here -- as in perhaps no other film -- de palma 's non-stop stylistic flourishes completely complement and enhance the proceedings .", "de palma 's classic creep show has dark undertones about the nastiness of teen spirit , emergent female sexuality , and rabid christianity .", "the story of a butt-of-all-jokes high-school teenager , MOV is a revenge-of-the-nerds tale , made all the more eloquent by its binary oppositions of light and shade , gothic imagery and , thanks to lawrence d. cohen 's script , intricate characterisation .", "king 's pulp-gothic imagination was perfectly realized on-screen in de palma 's hitchcock-influenced manipulative camerawork", "horror in the classic sense , horror that builds rather than constantly shocking , horror that works so well we do n't need a guts and gore booster-shot every two minutes .", "... suspenseful , scary , and humorously cunning by turns , it boasts superb acting , excellent pacing , good production values , and ... a thought-provoking premise .", "it 's a simple tale , told briskly and effectively by director brian depalma .", "it 's a gripping and rousing perusal of our human souls -- an opportunity to become aware of our dark sides and meet them head on .", "unlike other examples of the horror genre , there are classic elements of tragedy that lend this gruesome tale a compelling edge .", "there is little suspense or dramatic tension ; everything plays out like bad melodrama or cheap exploitation .", "it 's high time for the young generation of filmgoers to stop throwing their money -lsb- away -rsb- and see what a real horror movie is .", "pure squeamish horror !", "de palma 's masterpiece of pure cinema is the unsung great american film of the 1970s .", "MOV might be a film about high school , but it was perhaps brian de palma 's first completely mature film .", "de palma 's gothic thriller is at once trashy and lyrical , a nasty revenge story in which its misfit-cinederella-like heroine -lrb- an exquisite sissy spacek -rrb- discovers her sexuality under the most terrifying conditions .", "the fierce sympathy it extends to its unfashionable central character puts the film a million miles above the contemporary line in sick exploitation .", "a total knockout . piper laurie gives a bravura performance as MOV 's religious fanatic mother , one of the creepiest movie characters ever .", "it is sometimes funny in a puzzling kind of way , it is generally overwrought in an irritating kind of way , and once in a while it is inappropriately touching .", "a nearly perfect film . the combination of pathos , shocks , and grand guignol excess is orchestrated with jaw-dropping precision by young depalma , whose later films would pale by comparison .", "young director brian depalma is fast making his reputation in the genre of the suspense-horror film .", "brian de palma 's MOV is an absolutely spellbinding horror movie , with a shock at the end that 's the best thing along those lines since the shark leaped aboard in jaws .", "brian de palma 's modern gothic fairy tale , based on stephen king 's bestseller , offers a tense and lyrical web of emotions .", "the bulk of `` MOV '' is not a gore-fest , but a prescient tone poem about the mental torture of social outcasts in high school halls in the pre-columbine era .", "brian de palma transcends the pulpy horror feel by emphasising the awakening-sexuality metaphor , and using some glorious trickery .", "MOV is one of the most heart-breaking and cringe-worthy high school dramas ever made , and that 's before she even gets to her apocalyptic revenge .", "stephen king 's book outlines a world ringed with abuse , brian de palma visualizes it with vast amounts of pervy humor and ominous effulgence", "MOV wo n't add much to your life -- but it will scare you , not least about your friends and neighbours .", "a terrifying and awe inspiring revenge film ...", "... a cautionary tale that suggests that fear of the unusual justifies any action to displace the potential danger ... my , how times have changed .", "a voluptuously shot horror movie .", "stephen king 's disturbing prom horror classic .", "more superpowers from brian de palma , this time in high school , in a screen version of a stephen king novel that 's become a horror classic ." ], "summary": "MOV is a horrifying look at supernatural powers , high school cruelty , and teen angst -- and it brings us one of the most memorable and disturbing prom scenes in history .", "id": "15878" }, { "movie": "1011623-king_of_comedy", "reviews": [ "the uncenteredness of the film is irritating , though it 's irritating in an ambitious , risk-taking way .", "to be sure , robert de niro turns in another virtuoso performance for martin scorsese , just as in their four previous efforts . but once again -- and even more so -- they come up with a character that it 's hard to spend time with .", "... remains a high-water mark in terms of de niro 's onscreen work ...", "this jet-black comedy is a symphony of unease .", "a disturbing picture of a world in which television is taken for a `` reality '' higher than everyday life , it 's also darkly funny .", "i 'm going to side with the dissenters this time . i can see where it might be perceived as a dark comedy , but that label does n't absolve it from an overarching sense that scorsese did n't push this one far enough .", "creepy , frighteningly funny and brilliant as cultural satire .", "it is frustrating to watch , unpleasant to remember , and , in its own way , quite effective .", "neither funny enough to be an effective black comedy nor scary enough to capitalise on its thriller/horror elements .", "worlds away from the bravura flash of other deniro-scorsese collaborations , this underrated , claustrophobic , chilling satire is particularly prescient of today 's celebrity-fixated society . a modern classic .", "when compiling a top ten films of 1983 , i did n't think twice about putting it at the top . it is certainly a film that grows on you .", "um filme que fica cada vez mais dolorosos de se ver \u0155 medida em que compreendemos a profundidade e a fragilidade dos personagens principais , e nos identificamos com eles .", "`` twisted , scary satire that was far ahead of its time ''", "... a little bizarre , somewhat unsettling , sometimes funny , sometimes not , but mostly on target .", "scorsese 's magnum opus 'til kundun came along .", "a wholly original and entirely offbeat , dark comedy about fame , obsessive fandom , and the medium from which they both feed : television .", "it 's a classic for fans of dark satire .", "probably martin scorsese 's most overlooked movie , this eerie parody of celebrity culture features what may be jerry lewis ' best performance .", "it 's very funny , and it ends on a high note that was , for me , both a total surprise and completely satisfying . yet it 's also bristly , sometimes manic to the edge of lunacy and , along the way , terrifying .", "a chilling black comedy .", "creepiest movie of the year in every sense , and one of the best .", "beautifully dark and original .", "fascinating drama with deniro as psycho , talk show wannabe , and jerry lewis giving great performance .", "misunderstood by critics in 1983 , this is one of the most incisive -lrb- and scary -rrb- movies about the desperate desire to achieve fame in american society , and the shallow nature of pop culture ; de niro and jerry lewis are terrific", "this bizarre work is one of martin scorsese 's greatest and most underrated films .", "excellent", "one of the most disturbing , thought-provoking and funniest films of the 1980s . this underappreciated scorsese great is more relevant today than ever .", "one of scorsese 's very best", "reveals the trivialization of culture when celebrity reigns .", "takes an equally harsh look at the dark side of comedy , society 's value of success driving people to desperate acts , and the press ' bloodthirsty desire to sensationalize .", "it 's still a great film , just not as absolutely amazing as it could have been .", "it 's not a pleasant film , but it 's one that needed making .", "it 's martin scorsese 's second least popular movie , after the last temptation of christ . which is a shame , because it 's scorsese 's second greatest film , after taxi driver ." ], "summary": "largely misunderstood upon its release , the MOV today looks eerily prescient , and features a fine performance by robert deniro as a strangely sympathetic psychopath .", "id": "10861" }, { "movie": "american_werewolf_in_london", "reviews": [ "a fresh look at getting at the werewolf fable .", "a strong black comedy that 's still good 20-some years later .", "howlingly fun and frightening . 1980 's state-of-the-art gore effects .", "seems curiously unfinished , as if director john landis spent all his energy on spectacular set pieces and then did n't want to bother with things like transitions , character development , or an ending .", "this movie presented a radical melange of genuine horror and self-aware comic touches , not to mention the fabulous rick baker special effects .", "awesome horror movie , great use of music for comedic effect , and the transformation still rules .", "okay werewolf flick that 's overproduced and tries too hard .", "um filme que se mant\u00e9m engra\u00e7ado e assustador - e a maquiagem de rick baker ainda impressiona .", "when the movie backfires , which it finally does , it 's because too much grisly footage has been used too lightly .", "when somebody says `` stay off the moors , '' you should listen .", "spare and clean , with an uncluttered look rare for a horror film .", "still scary , violent and very , very funny .", "some of the special effects are a little creaky now , but the snap of landis 's editing and the razor 's - edge balance of horror and comedy are still fresh .", "it might not belong on anyone 's all-time greats list , but it definitely rates right up there among the most entertaining films of its era .", "the best movie ever written by a teenager -- landis was 19 when he penned the first draft - and a constant comic delight .", "but in a `` comedy horror '' picture , the `` horror '' bits are n't supposed to be this scary . he would have been better off dispensing with the comedy altogether .", "scary-funny is an acquired taste . for me , it tends to be a recipe in which you ca n't taste either of the constituent ingredients . the big man-to-wolf transformation scene is still a marvel .", "the metamorphoses into the werewolf scenes are spectacular and the beast 's rampage through piccadilly circus is marvellous . splendid gory fun .", "landis maintains the delicate balance between horror and humor until the final scene 's gratuitous series of car crashes .", "director john landis here pulls off the difficult trick of revitalising the horror genre while parodying it at the same time .", "one of the few horror films that explore the psychological effects of lycanthropy alongside the physical and the fallout ...", "not just gory but actually frightening , not just funny but clever , ` american werewolf ... ' has its flaws , but these are outweighed by the film 's many , mighty strengths .", "few movies had mixed comedy and horror with such utter aplomb", "what it does is take the old melodramatic horror films and kinda mocks them with great black comedy .", "considering its often campy competition , it 's hard to argue that , if your in the mood for lycanthropy , london is the place to go .", "director john landis brings humor to this offbeat reworking of the familiar tale for which rick baker received a well deserved oscar for his makeup -lrb- in the first year of that category -rrb- .", "you 've got to give john landis credit for taking the well-worn werewolf tale and injecting it with new life , so to speak .", "it 's a failure , less because the odd stylistic mix does n't take -lrb- it does from time to time , and to striking effect -rrb- than because landis has n't bothered to put his story into any kind of satisfying shape .", "one of the all-time great horror movies , a pitch-perfect mix of belly laughs and genuine scares .", "carnivorous lunar activities rarely come any more entertaining than this .", "a clever mixture of comedy and horror which succeeds in being both funny and scary , an MOV possesses an overriding eagerness to please that prevents it from becoming off-putting .", "an MOV , like a fine wine , just keeps getting more and more vintage .", "undeniably delivers a good share of scares and dark laughs . and for all its lack of discipline , it 's a model of directorial clarity when compared with landis 's subsequent work , which inexorably descended into indulgence and foolishness .", "a horror classic . it 's ten times better than its follow-up , an american werewolf in paris , and about fifty times better than halloween .", "by the time the credits roll , landis has given us the goods , but more importantly , he 's given us a good story .", "darkly funny , suspenseful and unforgettable .", "brilliant - funny and scary at the same time .", "... a really visceral movie ..." ], "summary": "terrifying and funny in almost equal measure , john landis ' horror-comedy crosses genres while introducing rick baker 's astounding make-up effects .", "id": "16412" }, { "movie": "claim", "reviews": [ "like a collegiate literature class in thomas hardy", "mature viewers only ; kids wo n't be interested .", "the emotions of the piece are as palpable as the neverending snowfall .", "if the story was as crisp as the snow , and the plot advanced faster than a glacier , this might have been a better film .", "while we wait , characters tromp through the snow a lot .", "broody and beautiful , the MOV is guaranteed to give you the chills .", "one of the year 's most visually stylistic films .", "the MOV works best as an antitraditional western epic that presents an allegorical drama of fate , retribution and redemption .", "the audience is simply left with the task of fitting together the allegory 's easy pieces .", "at the center are the impeccable performances of all five leads .", "not likely to please anyone .", "it may not be the most surprising film of the year -- the story quickly slips into a predictable , tragic slide -- but it 's certainly one of the more haunting .", "feels even more remote than its location .", "the performances are shining and the setting is stunning .", "beautifully acted and conceived .", "it 's all there , visually speaking , yet not quite there dramatically .", "both exhilarating and exhausting .", "moves too slowly and dispassionately to resonate as it should .", "it is beautiful , interesting for its moral complexity and exceptionally well-acted by a varied cast of americans , canadians , germans and britons .", "takes place against a frigid canvas gorgeously captured by alwin kuchler .", "winterbottom vividly captures a pioneer-era world of immigrants struggling to create new lives .", "it had to happen . the MOV is a movie whose web site is far more involving than the movie itself .", "invites comparison to the structural denseness and poetic leanings of altman 's all-time masterpiece mccabe and mrs. miller .", "a haunting thinking-person 's western and a powerful reminder of the true price of greed .", "if you enjoy character studies , personalities over action , the MOV may be a sure bet .", "the emotional possibilities pretty well freeze to death in the snowbound landscapes .", "a mournful , poetic , epic movie that lodges in the memory .", "a rich emotional experience , ranging in degree from fire to ice .", "with its elegance and brutality , the MOV perfectly captures that tenuous state when wildness is being tamed and much is lost in the process .", "easily the most compelling western to hit our screens since unforgiven .", "the mixture of realism and melodrama fails to click .", "solidly told but ultimately rather mundane to watch .", "a big , brawny lumberyard .", "a fine film that holds you at arm 's length .", "a film of startling imagery .", "though director michael winterbottom has impressively created a believable 19th century prospecting town , he is unable to bring the people who live in it to life .", "scenario lacks the moral significance of hardy 's novel , and considering how dillon 's actions have little to do with his fate , it all seems somewhat irrelevant anyway .", "in returning again to the work of hardy , the director has chosen the perfect visual metaphor , placing the story in the breathtaking winterscape of the sierra nevadas -lrb- actually alberta 's rockies , standing in -rrb- . .", "-lsb- winterbottom -rsb- fails to infuse the small moments of people 's lives with emotion of any kind .", "a decent film .", "it suffers from a slim and fractured narrative , unengaging mode of storytelling and yet another irritating performance from milla jovovich .", "fails to generate identification with the players and their various plights .", "the power of the tale , and the visuals , exert a hold .", "the characters ' predetermined fates never evoke pity .", "i liked the MOV -- as much for its stark visual beauty and impassioned performances as its intelligent script and willingness to probe the tragic side of life .", "a tender masterwork .", "a little like enjoying the work of the best student of a great painter . all in all , you would probably like to go back to seeing the previous work .", "the gorgeously photographed winter backdrops that frame the action of the MOV are as much a character as any of the protagonists .", "seems suffocated by its sources .", "a movie like this rides on its cinematography , and alwin h. kuchler evokes the cold darkness so convincingly that kingdom come seems built on an abyss .", "like fool 's gold , the MOV is something pretty to look at but ultimately worthless .", "amidst all this debauchery , the plot gets muddied and ultimately lost", "despite the dramatic collision of the characters ' interests , screenwriter frank cottrell boyce does n't give them much to say .", "an old-fashioned cowboy romance with a touch of the artsy .", "reveals the emptiness of wealth when measured against the bounty and the beauty of the human heart .", "sadly the film is so elusive , so distant , that it never seems more than half-alive .", "moves so freely , evolves so naturally , that it 's easy to overlook just how dicey an undertaking it is .", "none of the characters are properly developed .", "the handheld camerawork and performers flailing about as the trudge through drifts and blizzards give you the sense that it 's impossible to keep up -- either with the drama or the action . and this is exactly right for this saga .", "in all other respects , this is fine , fine filmmaking , it 's just hard to feel very involved .", "a numb , oddly dispassionate trudge toward predestined doom , inevitable in all the wrong ways .", "if we 're not allowed to understand these people , how can we be expected to care how things turn out for them ?", "a quirky epic that deserves to be a classic .", "eye-catching moments ... ca n't make up for the general shapelessness of the narrative and winterbottom 's failure to make the characters truly come alive .", "the cast is individually intelligent , refined , and understated .", "a well-intentioned but enervating misfire .", "a reasonably good meshing of a personal story with a chapter of america at a time that rugged individualism , and not paper shuffling in office cubicles , was the order of the day .", "a raw tale , told with passion and conviction .", "the narrative does n't track very well , the character 's emotions are muted .", "with this wide , beautiful canvas , winterbottom may well have produced his masterpiece .", "a languorously muted , occasionally magnificent film .", "a thoughtful , unexpectedly moving survey of the emotional and spiritual fall-out of greed , impetuousness and love sold cheap .", "a moody , mesmerizing tale of attempted redemption , bursting with unexpected images .", "like much of hardy , its drama is forced and manipulative ... but -- thanks to luminous frames from cinematographer alwin kuchler -- it 's as rich as some of the author 's most sensuous passages .", "it 's supposed to be about greed , revenge , forgiveness and love , but it 's really just a muttering mess .", "true to its source , finding the seed of all great epics in the divisions of the heart .", "the performances from the ensemble cast are extremely strong , especially from bentley and jovovich , but somehow their feelings end up being muffled ." ], "summary": "though it sometimes feels cold and detached , the MOV is evocative , beautifully shot , and full of understated performances .", "id": "16067" }, { "movie": "you_dont_mess_with_the_zohan", "reviews": [ "he film might be rated pg-13 , but with this sort of verbal wit , it appears to be aimed at first-graders .", "adam sandler takes on terrorism as israeli agent-turned-hair stylist in raunchy shock comedy .", "you do n't mess with the zohan is cacophonous and competitive comedy , more exhausting than fun .", "judd apatow continues his quest to kill comedy with coarse , low class , low-intellect rubbish like this , which can turn you mind to porridge if you sit through it .", "zohan might have made a relatively entertaining series of regular sketches on snl but ca n't sustain a nearly two-hour running time", "a silky smooth , subversively silly political satire .", "hopes are dashed for the screenwriting contribution of judd apatow to elevate adam sandler as a poor man 's groucho marx ...", "` i just want to make people silky smooth , ' cried adam in the kind of israeli accent which suggests that israel borders france .", "director dennis dugan knows his way around shin-whacking slapstick , and sandler is mesmerizing .", "were there laughs to be had ? sure , but even a `` dorf on golf '' videotape has its moments .", "... nearly two hours of mind numbing junk .", "sandler works so hard at this , and so shamelessly , that he battered down my resistance .", "though a bunch of the jokes are milked too thin , there are some absurdly goofy sight gags , and a lineup of fun , silly cameos by guests from chris rock to mariah carey .", "the zohan could have worked significantly better if it was delivered in smaller doses , like say a reoccurring skit on `` saturday night live , '' but at 113 minutes the movie wears out its welcome long before the closing credits hit the screen .", "zohan coasts on its premise far more often than it fulfills it . but these days , you take your laughs where you find them . it 's a pretty good scattershot comedy .", "at 113 minutes , the movie bloats , and the humor wears thin , but it 's still one of adam sandler 's sturdier vehicles . that 's consumer guidance for sandler fans -- not high praise .", "any positive messages are practically drowned out by the film 's relentless crude humor , much of which is too dumb to be all that funny .", "true sandler fans will want to know only where zohan stands on the a.s. scale , with happy gilmore at the top and little nicky at the bottom . i 'd put it closer to the latter than the former .", "if you do n't mess with the zohan is n't the bravest movie ever made about current arab-israeli relations , it 's at least the bravest movie ever made about current arab-israeli relations featuring a former mossad agent who shags lainie kazan .", "there 's just enough chutzpah to zohan to keep it amusing and sporadically uproarious . it 's a decent comedy construct : a film one unforgiving editorial pass away from greatness .", "it 's painfully unfunny and cumbersome for extended stretches , necessitating bizarre story detours to jumpstart jokes that , though funny , often seem completely misplaced .", "after playing it relatively straight in his recent movies , adam sandler goofs off big time here , laying on a thick israeli accent and proving real men blow dry . there are funny highpoints , but the grab-bag approach never quite gels .", "while the premise may not stand up to scrutiny , sandler 's performance - relatively restrained and nicely judged - makes you almost warm to the man who dumbly shrugged his way through years of neo-com tat .", "slightly better than most .", "an army hero wearing mariah carey t-shirts ? yes . yes . yes .", "sandler prefers to fall back on cartoonish stunt action , sleazy innuendo and bodily fluid gags . these things may satisfy his core fan-base , but everyone else will leave the cinema feeling a bit cheated .", "the worst thing about the film is not that but the constant , feeble sexual innuendos with which sandler saddles himself .", "images of a thrusting male pelvis haunt the sensitive critic yet .", "the ongoing conflict between israel and palestine is n't exactly the obvious choice of topic for a comedy - which is perhaps why this film is about as funny as a suicide bombing .", "the central character may be a spin on borat , and many of the jokes a touch familiar , but the whole package is so unbelievably silly , you 'll find yourself laughing for at least half the running time .", "by the end , i felt as though i had been carpet-bombed by comedy 's answer to vladimir putin . but , on second thoughts , putin is funnier .", "it is simultaneously a little bit vulgar and a little bit sentimental and comes out as a virtually bullet-proof blend for the mass , summertime audience .", "the movie may not win sandler many new fans , but it 's a baby step toward making comedies with a bit more substance than , say , the waterboy .", "what might have been an ambitious effort becomes another lousy sandler movie , endless and tiresome with a handful of funny moments .", "you can tsk-tsk sandler 's penchant for dumb , crass humor all you want , but there 's some meaning behind his madness . is there nothing more human , more humbling , than the idea of smelly feet ?", "though , as a broad comedy concerned with israeli-palestinian relations , zohan in some ways distinguishes itself as original , it ultimately plays as just another silly sandler comedy .", "the result is another flabby comedy that gets its biggest laughs from thinly-covered penises and bare buttocks .", "sandler and his crew -- judd apatow was a credited writer -- ca n't take this movie marriage of ambition and apathy down the aisle .", "you do n't mess with the zohan might actually be the stupidest movie with good intentions that i 've ever seen .", "the direction by dennis dugan is flabby and dull -- like most of the hacks-for-hire who end up bringing a sandler opus to the screen , and whose chief qualification seems to be the ability to shout ` great , adam ! great ! '", "zohan may have an apatow label , but it 's got sandler guts .", "you do n't mess with the zohan contains an important , if simplified , argument that is totally lost beneath a dozen hummus jokes too many .", "unless you find words like ` baba ghannouj ' inherently hilarious , the nearly two-hour running time proves to be a punishing length .", "a movie that de-glorifies sex into a tool used for career advancement , altruistic joy and in lieu of `` thank-you '' note ? sign me up !", "the notion that both sides are equally responsible for the intentional killing of civilians requires total ignorance of what 's actually transpiring in the region .", "a goofy satire of arab-israeli relations , and already there 's been earnest media whining about this % u2014 the playing of such a combustible subject for laughs . too bad for the whiners that the picture is so funny .", "as one character says : `` can we do this another time ? i think i have a real chance of keeping my food down tonight . ''", "you have to give adam sandler some credit : he is trying new things and working to expand his particular brand of juvenile comedy , albeit not always successfully .", "i cracked up during a lot of this movie .", "warts and all , zohan adds to a beautiful vision", "... the latest in a long line of underwhelming adam sandler comedies ...", "i know someone out there must like these things , because sandler keeps getting the money to make what is turning out to be the same movie over and over again , but i must not be tuned into his comedy wavelength .", "the idea that the unholy trinity of sandler , regular cohort rob schneider , and director dennis dugan could re-unite after ... chuck and larry begs the question : just how much did these guys sell their souls to get another film green lit ?", "it 's perhaps not much of a schtick , but it 's a cohesive schtick , with the sub-schticks of the entire cast well integrated in support and counterpoint .", "how much you like this will depend upon your appreciation for repeated jokes about hummus , gays , zohan 's crotch and his fondness for older women .", "the ideas and some of the individual bits in zohan work , but the crudeness of the execution undermines the results .", "this counter-terrorism satire is its own worst enemy . especially whenever sandler 's whining geek turned combo swaggering assassin hair stylist 's too-much-information bulging prosthetic crotch pops up .", "in the relatively anemic anthology of recent adam sandler flops , you do n't mess with the zohan hangs above with comedic charm and a nonsensically amusing plotline . sandler is the white version of the legendary tim meadows character the ladies man .", "zohan 's a shallow character even by sandler 's standards , a bunch of crotch thrusts in search of a laugh .", "the best mossad agent turned hair stylist movie ever made . seriously , it 's actually really good and fun .", "cutting to celeb cameos as often as locks of hair fall to the floor of a supercuts does n't create comedy -- no more than sticking a person 's head in a salon sink means it can wash/cut/style itself.el = 1010828 & title = screen savor movie review : you do n't", "if one-note jokes that drag on too long or are worked into the ground are n't enough to trigger comic nausea , then perhaps the myriad uses of hummus will do the trick in you do n't mess with the zohan .", "you do n't mess with the zohan is as messy as comedies come . much of it , though , is an inspired , hilarious mess .", "three cheers for a crazy wisdom hero who wants to make the world a kinder , gentler place !", "a 2-hour opus of sex , sex , sex , sex , sex and more sex . even drunken frat boys will be screaming , `` enough already , we get it ! ''", "from the wholly insular and yet perfectly realized fantasy world it creates to the nonstop barrage of ethnic slams , you do n't mess with the zohan is a comedy of contradictions . .", "methinks the kids to whom this superhero movie will most appeal wo n't be able to separate the stereotypes from the political wishful thinking .", "there 's a lot to be said for consumerism as a salve for historic wounds . of course , there 's also a drawback to our free market ways -- we get shoes made in china and movies like you do n't mess with the zohan .", "zoolander and the austin powers films are essentially one-joke comedies , but the basic joke is funny . within the first minute -- even before sandler catches a fish in his ass crack -- it 's clear that zohan 's only joke is n't .", "let 's not mince words here , or hem and haw and add caveats about a few laughs or good intentions : you do n't mess with the zohan is astonishingly , impressively , depressingly bad .", "any hopes of it actually transforming into a dark and corrosive satire are pretty much dissipated in the first few minutes when we get inexplicable close-ups of our hero catching both a hacky sack and an entire barbecued fish between his butt cheeks .", "i really wanted to hate this movie so much based on the trailers and sandler 's past couple of films but his outrageous performance won me over and made me chuckle throughout the entire film .", "like too many comedies these days , the humor is based more on the concept than execution ... and the scripting is lazy . but there is a weird mixed message behind the jokes .", "sandler 's best in a long time", "as stupid as ever , but surprisingly clever .", "occasionally the film is so bad it 's almost funny , if you think a scene in which a cat is used as a football is funny .", "why does adam sandler continue to make these comedies that are n't funny ? because your neighbor 's 13-year old kid keeps going to see them .", "zohan is both exponentially stranger than larry and about twice as amusing .", "you do n't mess with the zohan has bumped ` click ' from the top of sandler 's list as his worst movie ever .", "a comedy built around the belief that people speaking in foreign accents is endlessly funny , you do n't mess with the zohan is - how you say ? - not good .", "this should have a big label that reads ' 20 % above average humor , 80 % below the belt crass . '", "as a remedy for the mideast 's woes , american pluralism might be slightly impractical ; but as a premise for a summer comedy , it 's real enough to be funny", "there are a handful of legitimately funny jokes , even though -- though it frightens me to say so -- i do n't get as excited as i got when i was fifteen .", "the script has a couple of actually funny gags , but hack director dennis dugan messes up the delivery in service to sandler 's titanic ego .", "just when you think they 're on to something , the film reverts to the usual sandler and co. laziness", "there are almost enough insightful left-field throwaways to make you forgive all the old-lady gross-out sex , oversized penis jokes and sandler company regular dennis dugan 's typically abysmal , inattentive direction .", "let me be blunt : you do n't mess with the zohan is the finest post-zionist action-hairdressing sex comedy i have ever seen .", "no matter what you think about zohan 's humor or its politics , in no universe should it have been longer than 85 minutes . 112 is punishment .", "you do n't mess with the zohan is like a hellacious bad-hair day -- unkempt , unsightly and mildly embarrassing at best .", "someone needs to tell adam sandler enough is enough .", "you do n't laugh with the zohan , either .", "with the talented eye of an experienced editor from outside the happy madison circle , `` you do n't mess with the zohan '' might have actually been good .", "if silliness equaled greatness , you do n't mess with the zohan would instantly join citizen kane and it 's a wonderful life high atop the pantheon of great american films .", "somewhere inside this adam sandler slacker silliness there is a fierce and provocative little satire trying to get out .", "this is a silly , crass comedy about a badass israeli commando who secretly longs to be a hairdresser specialising in 1980s stylings .", "but it 's sandler who is pivotal to its amiable success . less precious , less power-tripping than the likes of ben stiller , jim carrey or mike myers , he never looks down on his material . he makes us laugh by willpower as much as technique .", "there 's a broad theory that no matter how funny the comedy , 90 minutes is the point at which audiences have had enough . you do n't mess with the zohan trundles on for 113 minutes , none of them funny .", "you do n't mess with the zohan is a rude and routine adam sandler farce with some exceedingly sharp lines .", "a strange , mostly enjoyable mix of big political questions and crude comedy , zohan overcomes its skeletal plotting and uneven gag ratio through sandler 's sheer commitment to nonsense .", "another sloppily concocted and naggingly non-controversial pretext for sandler to pelvic thrust his way though a succession of increasingly wacky fish-out-of-water situations .", "amusing adam sandler comedy with a bonkers premise , a surprisingly likeable central character and a handful of decent gags .", "o pior filme da carreira de adam sandler ... e se considerarmos que estamos falando do g\u043anio por tr\u0431s de o paiz\u0433o e little nicky , esta constata\u0437\u0433o se torna mais do que deprimente ; torna-se apavorante .", "you should have known : you do n't expect much from the zohan .", "just when you think civilisation may be moving forward a bit -lrb- ok , i 'm an optimist -rrb- , another adam sandler movie comes along .", "happily , you do n't mess with the zohan , sandler 's first collaboration with co-writer and current hollywood comedy godhead judd apatow , is a crazed , delightfully bizarre return to form for sandler .", "it says something generally about the acting when mariah carey , playing herself , is as good or better than just about everyone else .", "the movie is n't exactly a breakthrough for sandler , but is a nice reminder of his expansive talents and kinder instincts that only occasionally win out in his films .", "recommended for the drunken college guy in all of us ... the funniest adam sandler movie since big daddy .", "crude , idiotic , ridiculous -- in other words , flat-out hilarious , and sandler 's funniest film in years .", "in the end , the movie feels as if it exists only to display the sandler 's biceps .", "while zohan purveys the familiar sandler mix of jewvenile humor and geriatric love , it 's less about a manic manchild than it is a raunchily wholesome message movie that deploys stereotypes in order to smash them .", "sandler has shown some spark in more dramatic roles , so it 's disappointing to see him return to his one-note ` form . '", "eventually falls apart in a heap of pointless celebrity cameos and repetitive jokes about hummus .", "more annoying than the crassness , really , is the directorial sloppiness -- which results in a virtually mirthless first half-hour .", "there are really only four jokes in the movie , and each of them goes from being pleasantly goofy to positively leaden as the film 's needlessly protracted running time unspools .", "`` zohan 's '' first hour may well be the strongest stretch of any sandler comedy . but , in its second half , the film 's humor takes a backseat in favor of a heavy-handed plea for mideast peace . a noble goal , of course , but not a very funny one .", "is n't all that different from any number of old adam sandler pictures . that 's to say that it 's not very good , and you probably wo n't find it terribly funny .", "you do n't mess with the zohan tries to mix high-brow satire with low-brow gross-out humor . the combination kills the story 's pacing .", "for all its flaws , zohan remains a tolerable if inane piece of entertainment that scores points for trying ...", "sandler can still do it when it comes to silly .", "despite all of the film 's problems , there are still plenty of very funny moments and zohan is one of sandler 's more enjoyable characters .", "when i think of movies that have a locker-room mentality i think of movies like this one , another sleazy , dirty-minded offering from adam sandler .", "the movie has surprisingly little energy . sandler seems to think all he needs to do is talk in a phony middle-eastern accent to generate laughs , but what he 's saying should also be funny too , right ?", "the zohan is a mess", "when i watched `` zohan , '' i felt like i was watching two different films ... both of them not very good .", "for all its perceived shock value , all the concern that a comedy about conflict in the middle east would offend just about everyone imaginable , you do n't mess with the zohan is really rather conventional and familiar .", "a genial , hit-and-miss return to the ridiculous for adam sandler .", "finally , a funny sandler movie . it 's his franchise . he 's sexy too ! but why all the mel gibson slams ?", "it 's as if sandler took a trip to israel and came back with 6,000 jokes about hummus -lrb- the 6,000 penis jokes he did n't have to go anywhere to find -rrb- .", "the whole style of humor seems dated .", "in zohan , sandler , his co-writers and director dennis dugan keep tossing away jokes and throwing away significance .", "lots of lewd sandler stuff , but also some laughs .", "forget monty python , you do n't mess with the zohan is a circus that never really flies .", "zohan is a mess and then some .", "it goes on too long , but i enjoyed much of the crazy , off-the-wall nature of this political satire and the sandler-apatow brand of humour .", "i 'm all for politically incorrect humor , but there has to be humor in the political incorrectness , and i did n't get it here .", "this moviegoer has no trouble with lowbrow comedy . the problem with zohan , however , is that it 's like a kid who tells you a silly joke , gets a laugh , and immediately tells the same joke again .", "director duggan serves up a scattershot satire that is about as funny as a palestinian landmine at an israeli kiddie birthday party . broad , offensive and thinly veiled ...", "sandler 's unflappable jewish gigolo superhero hairdresser act is an overconceptualized drag .", "if only the zohan had n't messed with us . worse than his excruciating chuck and larry , sandler seems determined to refine the unfunny comedy . please , mr sandler , stop it . please . it hurts .", "things work out , of course , to everyone 's satisfaction : there are a few political gags that have a veneer of audacity , but in essence , the movie takes risks only with its audience 's gag reflex .", "if `` munich '' is the disease , the zohan is the cure . some hard little grains of truth make this sandler 's funniest movie since `` the waterboy . ''", "when it 's funny , it 's very , very funny , but when it 's bad , it 's downright awful .", "lame hair comedy riddled with greasy dandruff .", "given the missed opportunities for sharpening silliness with satire , it 's impossible not to mess with the zohan .", "you do n't have to be a sandler fan : if vulgarity mixed with a little sentiment is your thing , you 've come to the right place .", "if sight gags , genital jokes , and crazy caricatures are your thing , you do n't mess with the zohan pulls it off better than any movie since austin powers .", "since the comedy is co-written by three scribes , my guess would be that the bathroom humor and childish goofiness are product of sandler and company , whereas the more sexual and raunchy elements reflect the sensibility of judd apatow and his factory .", "i like sandler 's trademark combination of shock tactics and sweetness . there 's a crazed good-heartedness to zohan .", "but really -- 113 minutes ? some judicious trimming might have made the jokes ' hit-to-miss ratio way more tolerable .", "zohan is , against all odds , sandler 's funniest effort in close to a decade . not exactly a monumental feat given the junk he 's recently made a mint foisting on the american public , but still .", "another in the string of exercises in coarse infantilism that represent the studios ' idea of farce nowadays .", "it 's too long , with too many plot threads , too many penis jokes -lrb- and hummus jokes -rrb- , and too many `` unexpected '' celebrity cameos .", "a desperate , miserable experience .", "mess with the zohan if you like , but be prepared for the consequences . this picture is to comedy what carpet bombing is to aerial warfare : the onslaught is so relentless that occasional direct hits on the funny bone are a statistical guarantee .", "opens with a close-up of -lsb- zohan 's -rsb- bulging crotch and remains in that territory , in every sense , for the 113 minutes that it violates the screen", "so i smelled it , smelled it , smelled it and took it - and you know , i thought it was pretty good .", "the racial stereotypes that emerge in this film are as over the top and potentially offensive as eli wallach 's tuco in the good , the bad and the ugly . but what redeems the film to some degree is its general good naturedness ...", "amid the silliness , the boorishness and the vulgarity is a certain warmness and sweetness .", "for as stupid as it is , part of its problem is that it really is n't stupid enough .", "it 's a difficult feat to manage irony without antecedent , so rather than opt for knowing caricature -- like , say , adam goldberg 's the hebrew hammer -- zohan mostly opts for empty farce : topical humor for people unfamiliar with the topic .", "although this film could 've been hilarious , almost every scene ends up as crude or just plain silly . but adam sandler looks terrific as zohan !", "do n't mess with audiences , sandler . yet another bum movie from the actor that so steeped in stereotypes , it 's nauseating .", "-lsb- a -rsb- voids that pitfall that brings down this genre of nutty comedy far more often than not : there 's nothing meanspirited about it . it 's crude in many ways ... but it 's never vulgar , and in fact it 's often strikingly sweet .", "this is one of those movie ideas that leaves you wondering what other ideas , exactly , were rejected in favor of this one , on the grounds of being too lame .", "harold and kumar escape from guantanamo removed the do not open band from the jar of terror jokes , and zohan reaches in with greedy hands , adding arab-israeli jokes as well .", "you do n't mess with the zohan is the best adam sandler comedy in ages - but for only the film 's first 20 minutes .", "his humor works best when it 's throw-away , but zohan throws everything up to get a yuck . it 's a shock to see how many ` yuck ! ' moments sandler settles for .", "essentially , you do n't mess with the zohan is n't all that different in tone and sensibility from sandler 's previous films , but he 's really trying in this one , and the effort pays off .", "zohan tries for a message of social relevance with a nod to america as the land of multicultural coexistence , but its real value is in air-fluffing our cares away for a couple of hours .", "it 's at its best when adam sandler is catching fish with his buttocks , just like most of his movies .", "zohan skirts any real issues , but maybe crass and messy is more reflective of the times and situation .", "not that you do n't mess with the zohan is meant to be taken seriously , nor is it meant to be an intelligent discussion of world politics . but even as a zany comedy whose backdrop kinda-sorta happens to have some heft to it , it falters .", "this collision of sensibilities may be funnier than much of sandler 's recent repertoire , but it 's also a clumsy , scattershot fiasco that 's more likely to offend those with astute comedic taste than anyone on either side of the israeli-palestine equation .", "you mess with the zohan at the risk of your own iq . but anyone who realizes or cares about such hazards has likely crossed the movie off the to-see list already .", "evidently there 's something even harder to pull off than middle eastern peace : a steady run of jokes that deserve our laughter -- if you do n't mess with the zohan is an indicator .", "the movie paints crude and insulting portraits of israelis and palestinians , going in for the basest stereotypes that would only bring a smile to the face of a klansman ." ], "summary": "you do n't mess with the zohan features intermittent laughs , and will please sandler diehards , but after awhile the leaky premise wears thin .", "id": "770671938" }, { "movie": "queen_of_the_damned", "reviews": [ "for a horror film that is supposed to have thrills and lots of gore , one is left feeling they went to see a comedy for all the nonsense there is .", "vapid , disjointed drivel .", "aaliyah steals the show as a villainous vampiric vixen in an otherwise ludicrous waste of a story .", "this film should have stayed in its coffin and never seen the light of day .", "... the film 's disjointed narrative makes it near impossible to ever become completely engrossed .", "anne rice goes heavy metal in hollywood 's latest installment of bloodsucker cinema .", "overall this horror picture , based on rice 's novel , is no good , but lead stuart townsend gives a far more compelling -lrb- and properly campy -rrb- performance than tom cruise did as lestat in the high-profile companion piece , interview with the vampire .", "rice 's complex , sprawling novel is rendered virtually incomprehensible by a combination of lacklustre direction , risible dialogue and shoddy effects .", "MOV is not a good film , but it 's definitely a watchable one .", "tom cruise had the good sense to stay away from reprising his role of lestat in this film .", "MOV degenerates into a lot of dull declaiming and attitudinizing , despite a sly tongue - in-cheek quality brought by a preening stuart townsend to the lestat role he inherited from the utterly humorless tom cruise .", "totally brainless , a laboriously florid attempt to fashion the sort of instant camp that arises only by accident .", "-lsb- t -rsb- he script is n't up to the level of the direction , nor are the uneven performances by the cast members , who seem bound and determined to duplicate bela lugosi 's now-cliched vampire accent .", "... the story does n't make a whole lot of sense ...", "-lsb- e -rsb- even if you can swallow the silly plot about a vampire turned rock star , the humorless script turns things sour , eliciting unintentional laughs instead of blood-curdling frights .", "the movie does n't reach the level of camp goofiness attained by films like the mummy returns and lara croft : tomb raider , perhaps because the filmmakers labor under the impression that anne rice 's works must be treated respectfully .", "-lsb- a -rsb- soulless , stupid sequel ...", "... any episode of tv 's buffy the vampire slayer is better .", "all the sensuality , all the eroticism of a good vampire tale has been , pardon the pun , sucked out and replaced by goth goofiness .", "-lrb- aaliyah -rrb- absolutely transcends the screen and fills the whole theater with her presence ... she dominates this incongruous vampire flick with her chilling allure .", "... a visually seductive , unrepentantly trashy take on rice 's second installment of her vampire chronicles .", "there 's a bit of thematic meat on the bones of MOV , as its origins in an anne rice novel dictate , but generally , it 's a movie that emphasizes style over character and substance .", "when MOV knows it 's ridiculous , it 's moderately entertaining fun ; when it tries to be serious , it 's truly ridiculous .", "while the story is better-focused than the incomprehensible anne rice novel it 's based upon , MOV is a pointless , meandering celebration of the goth-vampire , tortured woe-is-me lifestyle .", "it 's not just the vampires that are damned in MOV -- the viewers will feel they suffer the same fate .", "... the kind of mess that never should have made it to theaters .", "aaliyah rarely dampens her diva persona enough to spark genuine chemistry with townsend . when she speaks , her creepy egyptian demigod voice is as computer processed and overproduced as it was in her music .", "MOV would n't be so bad if it were n't so boring .", "none of it makes the least bit of sense , and it 's all utterly ridiculous .", "-lsb- t -rsb- here 's only so much anyone can do with a florid , overplotted , anne rice rock 'n' roll vampire novel before the built-in silliness of the whole affair defeats them .", "... there 's not a moment of fright or a modicum of suspense in any of its 101 minutes .", "it 's loud , garish , very stupid ... and thoroughly enjoyable rubbish .", "although there was hardly a clamoring among the filmgoing public for a sequel ... the popularity of rice 's series seemed reason enough to resurrect the characters .", "its look with haunt you .", "muddled , trashy and incompetent", "making 100 minutes seem like an eternity , michael rymer 's film is deathly tedious .", "MOV leaves us puzzled as to why the term ` damned ' applies at all , when vampirism is depicted as so cool , fashion-savvy and glamorous .", "in a 102-minute film , aaliyah gets at most 20 minutes of screen time . ... most viewers will wish there had been more of the `` queen '' and less of the `` damned . ''", "sums up all that 's wrong with contemporary cinema : unsubtle to the point of obviousness , it reeks of mtv and relies on volume to get its point across .", "it all looks very weak , and my heart went out to the excellent paul mcgann , who has to play a occult researcher looking permanently appalled at what is happening . as well he might .", "it 's only aaliyah that makes it watchable . for vampire lovers and goth rockers only .", "the three lead actors turn in worthy performances .", "basically , the film did n't make much sense to me , it did n't introduce me to any characters that i cared or knew much about .", "all flash and no substance .", "wait for this movie to come out on video , where you can witness the sucking in the privacy of your own home .", "ranks as an epic waste of time for fans of anne rice .", "... pretends the events happening are really as earth-shaking as the plot suggests , all the while reveling in bits of cheese ... make sure you take your sunglasses in with you since the sun will be shining when you leave the matinee .", "screenwriters scott abbott and michael petroni have turned rice 's complex akasha into a cartoon monster .", "the relentlessly tacky movie that the '80s left behind", "it 's a soundtrack in search of a movie .", "... does n't necessary punch a stake through its heart as far as cohesive plotlines and decent character development are concerned . slickly manufactured ... the intrusive gory antics coupled with a ludicrous premise makes for a mawkish mixture of mediocrity", "it 's striving to be cool to the core ... but it ultimately has more in common with beetlejuice than a black mass .", "a hideous , confusing spectacle , one that may well put the nail in the coffin of any future rice adaptations .", "aaliyah sings not a note , and is left only with 3 or 4 scenes in which she must utter silly , exclamation-pointed dialogue through her big false teeth .", "what was probably impressive in the books looks overwrought on the screen .", "aaliyah fans , as well as fans of charisma , sex , and violence , will be sorely disappointed .", "fate made the mistake of taking aaliyah instead of the film .", "rymer does n't trust laughs -- and does n't conjure proper respect for followers of the whole dead-undead genre , who deserve more from a vampire pic than a few shrieky special effects .", "it looks good , but it is essentially empty .", "wanker goths are on the loose ! run for your lives !", "it 's fun to watch and yet its soul is vacuous and empty .", "anne rice 's novels use vampirism to tell a story about the preciousness and fragility of life , but there 's no deeper meaning in this movie ...", "if legendary shlockmeister ed wood had ever made a movie about a vampire , it probably would look a lot like this alarming production , adapted from anne rice 's novel the vampire chronicles .", "neither scary nor smart , or even completely campy enough to be fun ...", "... just a big mess of a movie , full of images and events , but no tension or surprise .", "undemanding cheesy fun .", "MOV is too long with too little going on .", "... manages to deliver a fair bit of vampire fun .", "... with every element drained of blood , this queen is damned .", "the late r&b star aaliyah haunts an anne rice adaptation that feels like a vampire 's life : it goes on forever .", "this adaptation of famous author , anne rice , is going to have her legions of fans up in arms and weilding wooden stakes .", "a darkly satisfying night out for the post-cure crowd .", "rymer is n't too concerned with the plot ; he 's more interested in striking stylish , sometimes campy , poses .", "unexpectedly audacious , even daring .", "none of the characters is particularly likable , and the dialogue too often sounds like an endless string of overly dramatic churchillian one-liners , most delivered in that gaudy thick accent .", "a forgettable funhouse for aaliyah to play in .", "the performances are so leaden , michael rymer 's direction is so bloodless and the dialogue is so corny that the audience laughs out loud .", "the casting here is really what lifts the film above the normal run of bloody fangoria .", "... too gory to be a comedy and too silly to be an effective horror film .", "MOV 's target audiences are those younger moviegoers who attend raves and an appreciate the heavy metal and goth sensibilities . all others will probably find it alien terrain .", "despite blood-slurping , a goth rock score and even the chilling resurrection of aaliyah as the title character , this third installment of anne rice 's vampire chronicles seems curiously torpid .", "at its best when the music creeps up decibel by decibel , distorted power chords , mutant mortals spinning in slow-mo . and ... aaliyah is brilliantly visually stunning .", "even the ear-bleeding heavy-rock soundtrack ca n't cover up the sucking sound of a toothless vampire flick that never should 've seen the light of day .", "... a gloppy miasma of goo , blood and annoying sound effects .", "half-way into the film , we begin to wish akasha would finish us off .", "a muddled limp biscuit of a movie , a vampire soap opera that does n't make much sense even on its own terms .", "the only entertainment you 'll derive from this choppy and sloppy affair will be from unintentional giggles -- several of them .", "... the movie is just a plain old monster .", "here 's yet another studio horror franchise mucking up its storyline with glitches casual fans could correct in their sleep . but taken as a stylish and energetic one-shot , the MOV can not be said to suck .", "avoid this heavy metal hell at all costs .", "the movie frequently feels lethargic , with moody characters gliding hither and yon .", "at its best , queen is campy fun like the vincent price horror classics of the '60s . at its worst , it implodes in a series of very bad special effects .", "it screams ` video ' in every scene .", "... the real special effects here are townsend and perez , who are decidedly unconventional and whose lively scenes together come with a homoerotic campiness that seems straight out of the rocky horror picture show .", "for any of those die-hards still shunning daylight while anxiously awaiting the release of MOV , i have two words for you : sunblock , matinee . or , try this pair : dollar theater .", "directed by australian filmmaker michael rymer , who showed promise in the low-key angel baby , MOV is self-serious , pointless and silly .", "... looks luscious but feels as though a whole lot of story got lost between the page and the screen .", "-lsb- a -rsb- boldly stroked , luridly coloured , uni-dimensional nonsense machine that strokes the eyeballs while it evaporates like so much crypt mist in the brain .", "MOV as you might have guessed , makes sorry use of aaliyah in her one and only starring role -- she does little here but point at things that explode into flame .", "... a great dose of vamp camp .", "a vampire flick for the mtv generation , -lsb- it 's -rsb- slow , plodding , pretentious and pseudo-serious .", "aaliyah still manages to suggest a new kind of soul sister whose talk-to-the-hand becomes a ferocious talk-to-the-flame .", "an ill-conceived jumble that 's not scary , not smart and not engaging .", "though the overall film is surprisingly decent , i can say , without question , that buffy the vampire slayer 's joss whedon could have made a much better film with this kind of budget .", "directed with goth pizzazz and brains by michael rymer .", "the good news is that MOV is n't as bad as you might expect . the bad news is that it is n't nearly as good as its predecessor , interview with the vampire .", "i did n't expect it to be a great movie , but how about down and dirty fun ?", "perhaps the sole reason to see this film is to pay final tribute to aaliyah . too bad it is n't a better movie .", "wishy-washy and hampered by cliche , sitting through this is like enduring a vampire life : it 's one long wait for the end .", "michael rymer stages high-tech sequences combining gore , romance , and gothy music , and he has enough conviction to make what could have been very silly strangely provocative .", "aaliyah is gorgeous , but that does n't save the film 's tedious pacing , and cheesy atmosphere in the end .", "it 's mainly an excuse for director michael rymer to unleash his arsenal of flashy , mtv-type visuals and moulin rouge costume designer angus strathie to play dress-up .", "it 's difficult to make a truly boring vampire picture , but the folks behind this draggy adaptation of anne rice 's bestsellers the vampire lestat and the MOV have done just that .", "whatever life there is to the movie is what -lsb- aaliyah -rsb- brings to it .", "the film is vampire roadkill .", "it is n't great entertainment or camp , but pic sets its ambitions so low , it ca n't help partially delivering on them .", "aaliyah makes a brief but memorable posthumous appearance about an hour into the nearly incoherent proceedings , which are riddled with unintentional guffaws .", "-lsb- s -rsb- o dull that you may be tempted to slip the projectionist 50 bucks to turn on the house lights and see what happens to the vampire cast .", "plays out rather drearily .", "the picture keeps the action and gore moving at a nice clip , invents a few interesting and funny new moments , and keeps it all very sexy .", "... aaliyah makes both a triumphant and eerie final curtain call .", "... works on some levels and is certainly worth seeing at least once .", "aaliyah 's performance is n't much -- her hips and the costume do most of the work -- but there is a definite movie-star presence there .", "stands as a rare , satisfying diversion into the world of vampires .", "whole stretches of the film may be incomprehensible to moviegoers not already clad in basic black .", "devoid of even mtv-caliber originality .", "it 's not so much an archetypical romantic irony as a manic-depressive fancy brought on by a hormonal imbalance ." ], "summary": "a muddled and campy mtv-styled vampire movie with lots of eye candy and bad accents .", "id": "13541" }, { "movie": "playing_by_heart", "reviews": [ "the film works well as a whole and is lively from start to finish .", "in fact , it could have benefited from having one or two plot threads snipped . but it 's hard to argue with any film that boasts a cast of this caliber .", "an always-entertaining and fairly thoughtful film on the subject of love , and how everyone hopes for it in one way or another .", "mushy yet funny and intelligent , the beautifully executed new film MOV is an ideal romantic comedy-drama for a winter afternoon .", "carroll is satisfied to just give us a feel for the personality of the characters . the veteran actors know how to make the most of their time .", "it will come as no surprise to fans of elvis costello that his beautifully expressed observation that `` writing about music is like dancing about architecture '' has served as inspiration for a motion picture .", "just like love itself , this movie is distinct and appreciated by all on many different levels .", "the dozen or so lead characters of MOV fear silence the way biblical people feared locusts .", "an underrated , dreamy drama about love , lust and infidelity amongst inter-connected los angeleans . jolie rises to the challenge .", "MOV tries hard and sometimes succeeds -- and jolie is terrific .", "nothing more than merely watchable film .", "all of these characters are more interesting when things are going badly for them than when the tide has turned , and carroll 's determination to make the final reel an extended bout of audience tummy tickling is disappointingly conventional .", "the brightest spot belongs to angelina jolie , who is so compelling to watch she has chemistry with the furniture .", "this charming romantic comedy with a los angeles setting cuts between seemingly unconnected miniplots the way some robert altman movies do .", "a very slight and inoffensive movie . it 's a lot like l.a. itself , all surface , soothing and warm .", "carroll 's milieu is resolutely middle class and the crises encountered all too predictable .", "carroll 's characters spend so much time talking , albeit intelligently , that the connections they make seem peculiarly synthetic .", "the lack of time gives the last reel a fakey , tied-up-with-a-bow feeling , but good performances and a good script make this an enjoyable little romance .", "an intriguing patchwork of relationships converges into a portrait of modern love in MOV , a wry , satisfying emotional saga .", "a heavily mixed bag ; high points come with jon stewart 's sweet courtship of gillian anderson and a brilliant turn from a young unknown named angelina jolie .", "the script 's overall artifice , combined with a convenient burst of `` i love yous '' and an all-too-obvious surprise ending , work to undermine an otherwise interesting concept .", "willard carroll 's cleverly interconnected -lrb- sometimes annoyingly so -rrb- tale of six different relationships is populated by a horde of big-name stars ...", "a well-scripted ensemble drama about eleven people in los angeles searching for love .", "if MOV is the kind of film that used to be known as a `` woman 's picture , '' it certainly provides more emotional nourishment than most other mainstream movies generate these days .", "despite its first rate cast and some very well-crafted segments , MOV too often comes off like an ungainly , land-locked love boat episode with a glandular disorder .", "as a puzzle , MOV is fairly simple . luckily , observing the artwork of the individual pieces is more than enough reward .", "unfortunately as bland as its forgettable title ,", "it 's much more enjoyable than this sort of date-movie thing normally is , and that success can mostly be credited to the big names populating the film .", "everyone has his or her moment , although it is the older folks -lrb- connery and rowlands -rrb- and the youngsters -lrb- jolie and phillippe -rrb- who come off best , giving affecting performances in roles that serve as generational bookends in the film .", "jolie 's spunky , heartfelt , oscar-nod-worthy performance is easily the film 's best -- which is no small feat , considering the caliber of the actors surrounding her .", "gena rowlands and sean connery head the cast as a mature couple approaching their 40th wedding anniversary , and they 're so superb together that it 's a wonder no one ever thought of teaming them before .", "there was a lot for me to like in this film , but i felt it did n't really add up to much ...", "as a young scenemaker who keeps landing in one bad relationship after another , jolie does n't exactly avoid the pitfalls of the material she 's given . but her performance is flabbergasting .", "-lsb- it 's -rsb- n tune with the current trend toward movies that coddle the audience with reassuring sentiments .", "the performers have charm even when their material gets hollow or silly , cinematographer vilmos zsigmond gives los anegeles a bright , colourful look , and plenty of snappy dialogue and good tunes are on offer .", "eventually and predictably , the movie , written and directed by willard carroll , brings all of the disparate pieces together like a jigsaw puzzle that is solved , miraculously , by dropping all of the pieces on the floor .", "what a cast ! what a waste !", "i like this film a lot , a genuine grown up movie that will hurt , amuse and amaze its target audience , and maybe surprise you if you are not it .", "the dialogue makes the episodes diverting a fair amount of the time ; it also disguises a script that has virtually nothing interesting or new to say about relationships .", "a strong , though sometimes trite , script and good direction keep all the threads going until the tales intertwine .", "f you 're willing to go with the warmed-over sentimentality and unoriginal situations , you 'll be grandly entertained by some of hollywood 's accomplished performers .", "for all its artificiality , MOV percolates with an earnest charm .", "the movie is consistently well-acted and features a gallery of characters so affable that it 's difficult to actively dislike any of them , or , for that matter , the film as a whole ." ], "summary": "it 's overly talky , but MOV benefits from witty insights into modern relationships and strong performances from an esteemed cast .", "id": "13071" }, { "movie": "1153987-nanny_mcphee", "reviews": [ "MOV may well delight kids -- if not eternally -- but their adult chaperones , hoping for pleasures of their own from the thompson-firth contingent , are bound to find it a bit lacking .", "... an appealing tale of youthful empowerment and whimsy .", "both very odd and very straightforward .", "what could have been just a middling kids ' movie turns out to be sweet and humorous , the first truly joyful film of 2006 .", "emma thompson has provided an amazing script that is smart and wholesome -lrb- what a charming change from the usual -rrb-", "it 's about time somebody put some enchantment back into the profession , and mcphee is the appealing and visually vibrant family film diversion that provides the spark .", "the comparisons to mary poppins may be inevitable , but MOV has more in common with willy wonka and the chocolate factory -lrb- the gene wilder , not the johnny depp -rrb- than it does with anything chim chim cheree ...", "likely to fascinate children , even if it may leave adults bored at times .", "a thoroughly charming story that has enough magic and slapstick to please the youngsters , and enough heart to make mom and dad happy", "the film delivers the kind of humor and excitement that is expected from the genre , with an extra helping of deviance and sharp wit .", "under the surface , the movie has a streak of roald dahl-style darkness which dilutes the sugar .", "unfortunately , colin firth seems as though he 's on auto-pilot and the relationship between his character and evangeline is unconvincing , if not borderline inappropriate .", "emma thompson is a treat as the eponymous childminder .", "thompson is impossible to dislike , but her ineffable grace and sympathy are not as evident as usual .", "como toda boa f\u00e1bula , pode servir como um bom impulso para que pais e filhos discutam temas importantes para o desenvolvimento emocional e psicol\u00f3gico das crian\u00e7as .", "parents may find more to enjoy in it than kids , since the little buggers are probably only there for the magic , of which there 's not nearly enough .", "the young ` uns could certainly do worse than MOV as they await the next instalment of potter .", "there 's no spoon of sugar given by this nanny , but like mary poppins , MOV knows how to sort out needy children as well as their needy father .", "this whimsical and wonderfully nasty children 's tale is thoroughly enjoyable , if not hugely notable .", "there is something deeply satisfying about a fable that ... pays strict attention to the serious moral lesson to be learned from it while also strictly adhering to a loopy , almost anarchic sense of fun .", "i do n't like movies about bratty children , but ` MOV ' won me over completely .", "whimsical MOV is the most magical child minder to come along since mary poppins .", "`` MOV '' is an irreverent tale that somehow becomes endearing by making discipline diverting .", "MOV ? nanny mcphooey is more like it .", "its appeal likely will be for the youngest in the household . all others might wish that this nanny had recalled a bit of bette davis ' nanny in 1965 's `` the nanny . ''", "the wildly colorful costumes and the jubilant defiance of the film 's terrorizing tykes simply is not enough for MOV to get its hapless house in order .", "emma thompson as MOV has just enough magic to make this movie work .", "chariming , colorful , funny and silly enought that only a grinch would object .", "there 's nothing offhand or spontaneous-feeling about MOV ; it 's a highly mechanical piece of work , and its potentially delightful details are wasted .", "even those of us not pining nostalgically for mary poppins can feel the slump of a long , downward trajectory . MOV plops .", "the saccharine production design and nasty pink-and-red buxom costumes are as fabulous as the full palette of hysterical performances .", "thank you , MOV , for restoring my faith in the family movie", "the script 's wry humor survives even the hambone directing of kirk jones , who amps up the performances and the color scheme to cartoony extremes .", "despite the heavy makeup and prosthetics , emma thompson shapes a touching and mysterious character . MOV is a fine film for the whole family .", "a spoonful of sugar would be just the start to make this unappetizing family film properly go down ...", "... worth it if your kids are enjoying the movie . otherwise , a little of MOV can go a long way .", "you ca n't confuse `` MOV '' with `` mary poppins '' although `` nanny '' does bear a resemblance to the original , non-disney writings of the heroine of p.l. travers ' beloved books .", "... just the type of fun , thoughtful escapism that should enjoy a long shelf life on dvd . in one of the most dismal cinematic januarys ever , ` MOV ' is a sly little gem .", "its striking combination of day-glo psychedelic colors and a rich streak of morbidity is enough to keep it afloat most of the time .", "not your father 's mary poppins , and all the better for it", "with one tap of her cane , MOV will charm children and adults alike .", "do n't expect to leave the theater singing -- MOV is n't a musical -- but you 'll be grinning . you may not even care if your snaggletooth is showing .", "although such elements lend the film an edge most american children 's films would n't dare , MOV is actually quite conventional in virtually every other regard .", "working as both a fantasy of wish fulfillment for parents and a raucous , broad live-action cartoon for kids , MOV is an above-average family film .", "MOV is n't a bad film , just a disappointing one .", "the kiddie komedy of MOV shows that mary poppins plus charles dickens can add up to less than even cheaper by the dozen .", "much like MOV herself , the movie is n't pretty , but hiding underneath its gaudy exterior are a few worthwhile lessons , a gleefully morbid sense of humor and , best of all , an actual beating heart .", "to those of you who always wanted to refer to mary poppins as ` the hot one , ' your hour has come !", "as i watched , however , i realized MOV was n't a child 's fantasy at all . it was my fantasy .", "MOV , though it drags a bit in its middle acts , finishes with such gusto that neither you nor your kids will need a spoonful of anything to make this movie medicine go down .", "this bracing adaptation of the nurse matilda books by christianna brand is the acidic antidote to mary poppins sweetness .", "it 's no mary poppins , to be sure . whatever could be ? but even that magical movie icon would be excessively diverted by MOV 's antics .", "the result is quite wonderful , a funny and affecting family confection . only time will tell , but it may even be a classic . it 's that good .", "lack of visual dazzle , combined with barely sympathetic child characters , keeps the film from enchanting as fully as it might have .", "mcphee is a composite of margaret hamilton , mrs. piggle-wiggle and the grunting karl from sling blade .", "except for a few nice , honest moments that manage to sneak in , watching MOV is like being beaten over the head with a toy mallet : harmless , yet awfully irritating .", "naughty -lrb- and nice -rrb- children of all ages , particularly little girls , should gobble this one up , and rightly so .", "in a seemingly blithe way , the movie captures an aspect of child consciousness not usually explored onscreen -- that zone between innocence and knowledge .", "based on the series of nurse matilda stories for young adults written by the late christianna brand , this quirky , uncommonly intelligent adaptation is a strange delight .", "MOV has its own enduring charm , a mix of witty dialogue , pie-throwing slapstick and eccentric family portrait .", "en every way an exemplary children 's film , but it 's much more than that : at its best , it resembles the gently whimsical ealing comedies of the '50s .", "MOV is one of those raucous , hyperactive kiddie flicks that knocks you upside the head from its opening frame .", "at its most enjoyable the film feels like roald dahl 's idea of mary poppins -- and on occasion , the sound of music .", "as far as movies about enchanting nannies go , mary poppins is certainly the classic favorite . but the delightfully quirky and heartwarming MOV could be a close second .", "for a movie that aspires to capture the magic of a classic fairy tale , MOV has all the warmth and charm of the assembly instructions for an ikea bookshelf .", "if some of the movie 's effects are distractingly shoddy -lrb- see : the unconvincing dancing donkey -rrb- , thompson is rather divine .", "wow ! what a delightful , colorful , magical little gem of a movie .", "the only group of people that might not fully enjoy ` MOV ' is dentists who may shudder at the sight of the title character 's one elongated tooth . for everyone else , sit back and enjoy .", "thompson ca n't or wo n't diverge much from standard fairy-tale plotting , but enlivens the familiar situation comedy with some pleasingly tart lines .", "a delightfully odd tale ... -lrb- thompson -rrb- fills her story with amusing situations and an appealingly whimsical atmosphere .", "MOV should work for the kids , but it 's the unusual adult who will find these proceedings charming .", "thompson 's the title caregiver in this witty , rollicking kids ' movie that adults will enjoy , too .", "everything about emma thompson 's MOV is pleasant . it 's pleasantly amusing , pleasantly enchanting and just pleasant enough to take the kids to a matinee .", "a winning tale of naughty children in need of love and the mysterious governess who comes to their aid .", "this charmless comic fantasy is a major disappointment .", "MOV is clever enough , but it never feels like it 's hitting quite the right notes .", "MOV offers solid family entertainment in the face of it all . mary poppins , eat your heart out .", "thompson 's script is clever and , despite that monstrous makeup , her performance is deliciously balanced by the standards of what is , after all , a children 's fable .", "a howling headache-inducer that features bratty urchins prone to torturing people and a color scheme resplendent with hot-pink bustiers and peeling lime paint .", "kudos to all : this is sophisticated children 's fare .", "a fugly mary poppins meets nanny 911 in this family comedy whose overly familiar elements still go down easily as if with a spoonful of sugar .", "with yours , mine and ours and cheaper by the dozen 2 lately cluttering up the multiplexes with teeming masses of onscreen children in search of a better agent , MOV arrives as a jolly improvement .", "what initially feels like a knockoff of `` mary poppins '' blossoms into something else entirely -- an assured , spunky story with such a resonant feel that it seems to have been pulled from an ancient fairy tale .", "MOV is perfect for little girls .", "thompson and firth are fun ... but for the story to work , we have to sympathize with the kids at least a little bit , and that 's quite difficult here .", "imaginative and funny , MOV resembles a julie andrews film festival -- without andrews .", "thompson never allows MOV to become cute or cuddly , but manages to make the children -- and us -- love her , warts and all .", "occasionally sparkles with a promise of becoming something more than it ever really is .", "the movie is a little too self-consciously charming and some of the humor seems forced or even creepy . but it is highly entertaining to see the children misbehave and the happy ending , if unsurprising , is welcome and satisfying .", "based on christianna brand 's nurse matilda kid 's book series , one can see how the material might have had potential , if the cast were not pressing so much for laughs .", "as entertainment for anyone over 10 , MOV is a supercalifragilisticexpialadisappointment .", "and while those classics , like julie andrews ' incandescent maria and poppins , were practically perfect in every way , MOV is quite deserving of its own special place in the magical universe .", "MOV casts a captivating spell .", "if you have someone under 10 to take to the movies , this one is charming and painless .", "a delightful surprise , visually witty and almost unfailingly charming , perhaps the best film of its kind since ` babe . ' this should become a family perennial .", "... off-putting in a garish way .", "the movie is hampered by production designer michael howell 's garish neon color palate contrasted against clownish costumes by nic ede ...", "this is so deliciously over the top on so many levels ... from beastly behavior to gross and excessive destruction to gross and excessive excesses ... with the simple direct lessons woven in well ... brilliant , funny , uplifting for adults as well as children .", "emma thompson 's smart script and the uncanny dignity she brings to her mary poppins-esque children 's nurse make up for a lot of flaws .", "i found myself tearing up right on cue , -lrb- patrick doyle knows all my buttons -rrb- but sincerely , enjoying the magical tale as much as if i were a small child .", "should play well with the small fry , though adults may be more bothered by the clumsy shifts in tone .", "mary poppins as imagined by lon chaney .", "frothy and fun yet deliciously dark ...", "the intermittent pleasures -lsb- MOV -rsb- affords , provided chiefly by a standout cast in high camp mode , make it a passable destination for a family outing .", "any time thompson curls that prosthetic snaggletooth over her lower lip and murmurs a nearly inaudible harrumph is a comic moment to be treasured .", "it relies on a good story and interesting characters a lot more than it does on eye candy .", "the kids will love the candy-box sets and costumes like confectionery-shop windows , the whimsy and farcical grotesqueness of it all .", "pleasantly diverting .", "think of it edward gorey meets mary poppins .", "a bizarrely colorful , over-the-top mash-up of roald dahl-esque edwardian dramedy and the cover of the rolling stones ' their satanic majesties request .", "... a very adult revel in all things childish and a comical expression of dramatic themes . while not quite a classic , it is nonetheless a magically constructed children 's film .", "MOV is a rare family film that manages to be funny without being gross , and heartwarming without being cloying .", "... -lsb- thompson -rsb- gives mcphee a gravitas that provides the movie with a deep core of feeling .", "... a colorful and exuberant but by-the-numbers and fairly charm-free concoction that seems overly calculated to pander to the currently hot movie-market for kids ' movies with magical british characters .", "... a movie whose twisted visual imagination is more forceful than its wobbly , zigzagging narrative .", "-lsb- an -rsb- utterly predictable , yet garishly charming children 's tale ,", "a delightful and macabre family film that celebrates the naughtiness of kids as a cover for their playful creativity .", "will kids like the movie ? i suspect they will . kids like to see other kids learning the rules even if they do n't much want to learn them themselves .", "the fun is doled out in small portions and the film is so passive that younger kids will probably fidget in their seats .", "it 's more of a kids ' film than a grown-up 's movie , with a good message at its heart .", "the kind of movie that i would have loved to seen as a kid . magical stuff . i look forward to the sequel . paul chambers , cnn .", "MOV really works ... despite all of its common plots and ideas , because it stays true to storybook conventions that have never and will never get old .", "an exquisitely designed fable that will delight adults as well as their offspring through its beguiling innocence and hushed , low-key charm .", "MOV falls back on the nickelodeon principle `` if all else fails , hit 'em with a retina-searing overload of visual and aural information . ''", "there are many different kinds of children 's movies , and this one tries to be all of them at once -- including one of those in which the children are smarter than the adults .", "often as garish and shrill as it is magical and enchanting .", "... pleasing but ultimately unsatisfying .", "frays in the second half ... fancy darcy as a limp romantic lead !", "its redeeming virtues are thompson , firth and kelly macdonald as firth 's adoring housemaid ; they manage to give genuine , affecting performances in the midst of all the outlandish , obnoxious goings-on ." ], "summary": "a bit alarming at first , MOV has a hard edge to counter mary poppins-style sweetness , but it still charms us and teaches some valuable lessons .", "id": "2864439" }, { "movie": "wreck_it_ralph", "reviews": [ "witty , inventive , beautifully animated and , most importantly , heartfelt .", "this is an engaging adventure with likeable characters and some nice ideas , though the pacing flags in the second half and there 's a nagging sense of unexplored potential .", "it 's arguably the best pixar-style feature from disney that has n't actually been made directly by its acquired , multi-oscar winning arm .", "put a coin in the slot and sit back and enjoy ; it 's the best pixar movie the studio did n't make , and there can be no higher praise .", "it 's a cgi time-machine for those who misspent their youth developing rsis on bleeping 8-bit arcade consoles .", "i found the idea of teens laying down their coins to play arcade games in this present day a strange , semi-intentional archaism - nostalgic wish-fulfilment on the part of the middle-aged people creating the movie .", "the chubby 3d animation , smart-alecky product placement and potty humour all capped my enthusiasm about halfway to total delight .", "play an actual videogame instead .", "disney have struck gold outside of their partnership with pixar , delivering a riotous , sharp and stirring rollercoaster ride of an animated film , reinforced by clever , sentimental video game references and saccharine delight .", "disney 's found a lot to play with here , but you may find yourself itching to take the controls .", "it 's a lovely pretext for dazzling visuals , yet the production is diminished by the clumsiness of an 8-bit script .", "like a video game , rich moore 's 3-d film is colorful , noisy , and pixel-deep .", "the witty and vibrant worlds are gorgeously imagined -lrb- and of course now available in game form themselves -rrb- , with a satisfying balance of heart and humor .", "wreck-it ralph is an absolutely wonderful film , nothing short of a glorious , full-blown rebirth for disney animation studios .", "`` wreck-it ralph '' is a lot like video games and candy : light entertainment but fun while it lasts .", "wreck-it ralph is the latest in a rash of recent movies fired up with imaginative risk . director moore brings a video junkie 's passion to the movie game , and it 's hilariously infectious .", "delightfully off the rails , offering a grown-up-friendly tone and merging of visual styles that are reminiscent of the studio 's 1988 animated homage to film noir , `` who framed roger rabbit . ''", "probably wo n't endure like the best of disney 's animated canon , but it 's a slight , well-meaning entertainment all the same .", "if ever a movie deserved the tag line ` get ready to root for the bad guy , ' it 's this .", "a witty , imaginative romp that should please some viewers with its nostalgic references to the pastimes they affectionately remember and everybody else with its explosion of sheer exuberance and warmth .", "wreck-it ralph is a major advancement for walt disney animation studios in all regards .", "while not quite the 80s gaming throwback it implies , this is a sweet , clever animated adventure .", "easily the best animated film in a year full of crushing disappointments , wreck-it ralph is a heart-warming ode to retro gaming that will enrapture gamers and pretty much everyone else along the way .", "there 's a bonus level of enjoyment for video-game aficionados who might never look at classic arcade games quite the same way again .", "do n't worry . you wo n't be the only grownup seeing ` wreck-it ralph . ' and if you want to take your family , you will be laughing just as hard as the younger viewers .", "funny , heartwarming , interesting characters , but just a little bit overlong .", "wreck-it ralph , under the keen executive producer eye of pixar titan john lasseter , is what would happen if toy story & shrek had a video game lovechild .", "the world created in the movie is so utterly fascinating that i desperately want to see what other kind of amazing , creative tales can be told within it .", "not a wreck but the movie does have some problems .", "ralph and his new friends offer much action and adventure , but the movie scores most of all with its poignant scenes and the relationships among its characters .", "visually ambitious and packed with inside jokes for arcade gamers , this colourful animated adventure is an enjoyable romp but is probably too energetic for its own good .", "`` wreck-it ralph '' blends poignancy and a piston-powered plot that revels in both visual inventiveness and a vaudevillian sense of timing .", "`` wreck-it ralph '' does n't just wreck 'em . it darn near kills 'em .", "the farcical story is cute , the dialogue witty and the players charming .", "it 's pure plastic product from plot line to the pro forma 3-d to the tidy moral lessons - ersatz family entertainment as disposable as it is diverting .", "the movie invites a measure of cynicism - which it proceeds to obliterate with a 93-minute blast of color , noise , ingenuity and fun .", "wreck-it ralph is pop nirvana , a headlong rush through classic arcade games and nintendo standards that 's not too busy playing spot-the-reference to keep from paying off in laughs and heart .", "`` wreck-it ralph '' builds on a wonderful premise that explores whether folks are condemned to be victims of their own circumstances .", "think `` tron '' with belly laughs . or `` night at the museum '' with any laughs .", "call it tron for little kids . or toy story for their arcade generation parents .", "powered by a standout concept delivered upon in winning fashion , this fun film serves as the most natural and effortlessly readymade animated feature for future franchise exploration since shrek .", "an even more enriching experience than i had anticipated .", "it 's a superbly rendered , supremely creative effort that lovingly pays tribute to 1980s arcade games .", "disney hits all its demographic targets from those whose first gaming experience is angry birds to those who know their asteroids from their defender .", "anyone who grew up within a controller cable length of a gaming console will need to see this film .", "-lsb- it earns -rsb- an emotional final payoff , when it could have easily coasted on the nostalgia of parents , and the undiscerning tastes of infants . that it also injects a number of thrilling action sequences and witty asides is just icing on the delectable cake .", "as a new father you can fully trust me when i say things like ` wreck-it ralph ' is fun for the whole family , even though my family wo n't find that out for another five years .", "wreck-it-ralph is one of the year 's best animated features -lrb- if not the best -rrb- and it 's the attention to detail in the tightly-written script that gives it such an edge .", "with its inventive premise , clever script and wacky characters , this family friendly film tells the story of the video game 's bad guy , whose colourful adventures and life affirming journey allow him to realise his true worth", "this witty and brilliantly executed disney production is looser and less insistent on your emotional acquiescence than its pixar counterparts ...", "this movie - much like toy story before it - imagines what might happen if toys ' designated functions face challenges , if characters have ideas that take them beyond expectations .", "it 's fun for awhile , but it 's not a video game you 'll come back to once you set down the controller .", "the film flies off in all sorts of directions , all of them rewarding . but the best trick is how screenwriters phil johnston and jennifer lee bring everything back together , even the seemingly least-related elements .", "rings a few welcome changes on the disney-princess mythos , but it still feels like a game you 've played before .", "i do not care one bit about video games . even if i did , i suspect i would n't be a fan of the loud and frenzied `` wreck-it ralph . ''", "the most inventive and entertaining family movie i 've seen this year , packed with wickedly smart humor and joyful animation .", "starts out as a funny high scorer but limps into a second half as flat as those quarters we once pumped into arcade machines long ago .", "wreck-it ralph feels like so many modern aaa gaming titles-a promising starting point for an inevitable , improved sequel .", "built for fun ... in its dazzlingly elaborate production design and kinetic 3d action ... perfect casting ... who framed roger rabbit-esque video-game-character cameos , and a cramming of clever comic touches ...", "sweet enough but in the end a bit of a corny-syrupy wipeout , this is middling family-night fare , but it never even comes close to the emotional or technical wizardry of pixar 's finest moments .", "a gorgeously rendered story that will play just as well to children as to their parents , albeit for different reasons . playstation and xbox junkies will be equally pleased .", "what makes this work is not only the in-jokes for video game fans , but the rich characterization .", "the imagery is amazing - and always witty . this is a disney cartoon - but it 's got the imagination and brains of a pixar feature .", "a bouncy , boingy ball of candy-colored fun , wreck-it ralph is intended as pure entertainment for wee boys and girls . and i bet most adults will find it a hoot to boot .", "disney animation takes a page out of pixar 's well-worn playbook for this , a screwball farce with a novel setting and more edge than your average disney ` toon .", "a sweet , colorful 3-d animated feature that finds disney passing its stuck-in-a-rut partners at pixar .", "more than another standard cutesy reference-fest with some exciting chases and an eventual upbeat message .", "bursting with candy-bright colors and zoomy action , pixar 's `` wreck-it ralph '' should prove as entertaining as a sugar rush for its young target audience .", "the story often feels jumbled and unfocused . but the details of the video-game world are intricate and wonderfully realized .", "the art design and color palette of `` wreck-it ralph '' permit unlimited sets , costumes and rules , giving the movie tireless originality and different behavior in every different cyber word .", "wreck-it ralph never does anything groundbreaking with this idea , but it 's cute and clever and evokes nostalgia for gamers of the '80s and '90s .", "if only the konami code could fix this script .", "amid all the boring crashing and chasing and slapstick , there are some brilliant flashes of wit -lrb- particularly a reference to the guards in the wizard of oz -rrb- .", "it was such a great time at the cinema ; i was expecting to like it and i ended up falling in love .", "it does n't quite carry the heft of toy story , but there 's a lot of heart packed into these zeroes and ones .", "it 's a fine piece of moviemaking that has a little something for kids who do n't remember when games were played in arcades and adults who will delight in the tweaking of a bygone era .", "it 's a great dynamic and it works but my favorite character isn the whole thing was alan tudyck as king candy , such a hilarious throwback to the mad hatter from alice in wonderland .", "a delightful contrast to moore 's frenetic adventure is offered by an accompanying short subject paper man ... the reason for the `` plus '' in my grade , and a likely oscar nominee in the animated short film category .", "consider it a force in the best animated film oscar race", "wreck-it ralph makes you think that an animated comedy this humorous , original , and entertaining has to be unhealthy .", "the metaphor is clever , injecting real-life risk and reward into these beautifully artificial vistas , scored to composer henry jackman 's nintendo-worthy beeps and bloops .", "the story pushes a heartfelt message , but the humorous antics are pitched at a strictly juvenile level that will have parents yawning while their children roar in approval .", "for anyone with a grade-schooler and a free saturday , it 's a pretty safe and painless bet . and a great excuse to go up to the attic later and see if you can dig out your old atari 2600 .", "the breakout star here is silverman , who channels her caustic kewpie doll stand-up personality into the impish vanellope to give her some bite and a lot of heart .", "wreck-it ralph is like the happy hallucination a 14 year old kid in 1986 might have had after ingesting a dozen or so pixie sticks and a liter of jolt cola", "the most fun i 've had in a theater for quite a long time .", "wreck-it ralph is n't great but it 's not a total train wreck either .", "wreck-it ralph knows that it can only play at its inside jokes for so long before the shtick gets old .", "wreck-it ralph is consistently inventive , displaying a sturdy story structure that makes it more than just a simplistic romp for the gen-x crowd .", "this is a hugely enjoyable entry in the walt disney animation studios catalogue . it sits well alongside the likes of tangled , balancing both anarchic humour and classic disney sentimentality very well .", "an adorable winner ...", "a colourfully cute romp for kids .", "the film is nicely animated but confusing enough to be almost impenetrable at times .", "warm , witty , wacky and wonderful , wreck-it ralph deserves to stand alongside the best of disney , while also feeling like it would n't be out of place at pixar 's table .", "this certainly is n't the best disney film to come along , but it 's a decent outing for families .", "the prospect of inevitable sequels is more than bearable .", "for some , ralph 's spell in sugar rush 's candy-coloured world may induce hyperglycaemia ... but hard-core gamers will have a blast picking up all the gaming in-jokes and references that fly over everyone else 's heads .", "just like the camera gave us the heads of frankenstein and hellboy , so we always get ralph 's giant hands first here .", "it 's a little frantic at times but great fun , clever and well-crafted .", "like most any game , wreck-it ralph is most fun when it 's messing around without a particular goal .", "life lessons about being true to yourself are learned along the way , delivered with all the subtlety of felix 's hammer , but wreck-it ralph actually makes us care about these videogame characters and their dreams .", "while only the first forty minutes are super , on the whole wreck-it ralph is a whole lot of fun .", "there are a staggering number of rules governing the gameplay in wreck-it ralph , and one of the toon 's greatest pleasures comes in how intuitively audiences discover those parameters as the story unfolds .", "with a mix of retro eye-candy for grown-ups and a thrilling , approachable storyline for the tykes , the film casts a wide and beguiling net .", "nothing but broad , pandering indexes tailored to appeal to the arcade wistfulness it never even bothers to convincingly evoke .", "beneath the pixelated gags , the stakes are relatively familiar . however , much of the humor in `` wreck-it ralph '' riffs on the nostalgia associated with real games .", "the filmmakers deserve credit for creating different worlds , each with distinctive look , but like most road films , the tale is overly episodic , lacking the unified vision that has marked the genre 's best works .", "a cleverly conceived , coin operated machine .", "` wreck-it ralph ' is a clutter of noise , eye-wearying animation , frenetic action and two-dimensional characters .", "a brilliant concept in search of a movie . starts off really strong with sly humor and wit that devolves into cheap kiddie jokes .", "yeah , i said it . wreck-it ralph compares with the toy story movies . it 's the equal to those films in terms of joy , character , sweetness and , most of all , heart .", "the creators , more than most , understand that a good setting and fun sight gags are secondary to a story with heart .", "wreck-it ralph is colorful and harmless . it 's also harmless and colorful . that just about covers it .", "has no apparent goal other than being the biggest , most colorful film it can be , with a warm and fuzzy message that is n't aiming to be sophisticated , and it does what it sets out to do .", "that disney 's in-house effort mostly plays like an actual pixar film is a fine compliment .", "a manic children 's film about the souls of video game avatars .", "best videogame movie ever ! ... -lsb- a -rsb- mong the immense pleasures of this thoroughly enjoyable film are the many ingenious touches that bind it into a cohesive world ...", "inventively wired , it 's a video-game adventure that explores visually dazzling , distinctively retro worlds .", "may be set in the world of video games , but its conceit is set firmly in ... the hero 's journey . the mythic realms are made of bits and bytes , but are just as magical , and the tasks nothing short of herculean . not that any of this is stuffy or pedantic .", "wreck-it ralph is witty , ingenious and entertaining , a technical and creative breakthrough on a par with who framed roger rabbit ? , 25 years ago .", "those who 've played and programmed the games over the decades will find some fun with in-jokes involving the likes of pac-man and q * bert but anyone else over the age of ten will likely be bored .", "game-themed movie mixes potty humor with strong messages .", "wreck-it ralph may ostensibly be for kids , but the viewers who will probably enjoy it most are those who were children thirty years ago .", "you might wish you could insert another quarter when it finally reaches ` game over . ' -lrb- full content review for parents also available -rrb-", "through it all , the animators fill wreck-it ralph with playful sight gags and smart video-game references that will delight savvy viewers , but are n't so inclusive that they ca n't be enjoyed by non-gamers .", "the film gets a lot of credit for being clever and original while sticking to tried-and-true family movie themes like believing in yourself and accepting everyone 's differences .", "one of the best animated movies of a year full of them . sweet , silly , nostalgic , and very geeky fun .", "` wreck-it ralph ' is a serious contender for the title of best animated film of the year .", "a few power-ups shy of a classic , but its winking look at the world of video games is fun , even if it does n't reach its full potential .", "a sort of toy story as seen through an 8-bit lens .", "sarah silverman puts in one of the greatest voice acting performances you will ever see or hear in your life .", "` wreck-it ralph ' combines a fresh idea with a true love for retro pop culture . it 's hard not to love this movie .", "despite being a perfectly entertaining disney picture , wreck-it ralph leaves that nagging taste in the mouth that it could have been so much more .", "this a-grade animated disney charmer hits the nail on the head ... director rich moore has enormous faith in the ability of young audiences to absorb multiple story strands at once , a belief aided no end by the exquisite quality of the animation .", "wreck-it ralph is a dazzling show of sound and colour , tipping its hat to the 8-bit era and modern-day touchstones .", "a disney flick that feels like on-form pixar , blending knowing humour and sophistication with a large helping of heart . you 'll want another go .", "mostly it 's a charming , funny , beautifully animated little kick ...", "a who framed roger rabbit for the joystick generation that , despite a mid-act dip into generic disney territory , high-scores on laughs , invention and 8-bit affection .", "it 's a cool game , to be sure , but watching someone else play it gets old after a while .", "... a passable yet disappointing effort from the so-called mouse house ...", "this cleverly-targeted family romp marks a step up both commercially and artistically for the non-pixar side of disney 's animation offering .", "you 'll either love it or you 'll admire it , while wishing it would calm down and , i do n't know , maybe pick up a book for a while .", "once again disney has created an immersive world that 's rich with detail , populated by characters who have problems humans can identify with and characteristics that make them likable . `` wreck-it ralph '' is a winner .", "a very clever , delightfully funny and visually stunning disney film . and yet we end up watching it having already seen its potential to be something much more enticing .", "an affectionate love note to computer games past", "a bubbly , buoyant treat with near-pixar levels of heart .", "not in my wildest dreams did i ever anticipate using the word `` thoughtful '' to describe a fairly recent animated film .", "as flawed and derivative it may be , `` MOV '' is still a very fine animated fantasy with a keen sense of creativity and wit ...", "wreck-it ralph is a highly original and exciting film that puts disney animation right up there with pixar in terms of providing a story full of emotion , heart and energy .", "hyperactive day-glo fizzy-pop family animation with a heartfelt message about staying true to yourself lurking underneath all the visual fireworks .", "ralph 's arms may be gorilla like , his fists gigantic hammers , but reilly imbues him with rue and courtliness .", "an excellent , inventive , anti-bullying adventure that may be a little too technologically advanced for older audiences .", "the giddiest cartoon comedy in years .", "the movie knows and loves gaming culture , but never uses that as an excuse to let the narrative slip .", "video game enthusiasts are sure to embrace the feature 's familiarity with arcade history , while the less enlightened will have to do with a splendidly animated picture populated with likable characters and explosive action set-pieces .", "the movie 's retro sensibilities will appeal to adults , while the colorful games and characters , as well as the simplicity of the story , will hold the attention of young viewers .", "unlike the pixar films toward which it aspires-which marry sophisticated conceits to straightforward storylines-wreck-it ralph consistently gets lost in its own intricate plot mechanics .", "amiable enough .", "abandons its initial , clever and fiendishly marketable conceit for a highly conventional tale about fatherhood ... worth a handful of quarters , but not much more than that .", "the biggest disappointment of all is that john lasseter is executive producer . unfortunately , `` ralph '' ca n't hold a candle to his prior creations .", "this is , without a doubt , the best animated film so far this year . it 's a video game geek 's paradise , featuring countless references to games from all eras .", "emphasizes action and eye-popping visuals over emotion .", "the first half of the film is a constant delight as clever , funny ideas are presented , one after another .", "disney can dress it up , take it out to the arcade and plug it full of quarters ... but at the end of the cord , the film 's a simple , 8-bit i-gotta-be-me story , with a dull plot and tepid characters . game over .", "it 's impossible not to feel a strong sense of nostalgic amusement , if not sheer delight , at the comings and goings of all these characters .", "the movie 's subversive sensibility and old-school/new-school feel are a total kick .", "wreck-it-ralph enjoys a smart ratio of accessible character drama and goofy gaming gags - resulting in an exceptionally entertaining , and heartfelt , animated adventure .", "`` wreck-it ralph '' is one of the best animated movies of 2012 ..." ], "summary": "equally entertaining for both kids and parents old enough to catch the references , wreck-it ralph is a clever , colorful adventure built on familiar themes and joyful nostalgia .", "id": "771221512" }, { "movie": "this_is_the_end", "reviews": [ "... a very savvy send up of the way we perceive celebrities as vapid and self-involved ciphers who are so often flattered and coddled that they come to accept applause as their due .", "enjoyable , time-killing piece of throwaway friday-night pap ... it 's broad , stupid fun that , against all odds , ends up coagulating into an actual story with a point .", "at its best it 's a film about people getting lost in the fiction of their own creations .", "if your tolerance for druggy banter and puerile sex gags is low then the idea of facing armageddon with rogen and his chums will probably strike you as hell .", "if fast and furious 6 was stupid in the bad way , MOV is stupid in the best and funniest way .", "if you 're familiar with their previous films , you 'll be laughing often and laughing loudly .", "it 's a giant hollywood in-joke , but one that invites you to share in the laughter .", "an elaborate in-joke and everyone 's in on the gag", "near-the-knuckle comedy that proves self-indulgent laughs , when done right , can be hilarious .", "one of the funniest films of the year so far .", "their big joke is to literalize the book of revelations , but snaking around this is a biting contempt for the entertainment business , their own bad movies , and the social privilege these confer .", "though MOV drags slightly here and there , the filmmakers keep it interesting by making the personal relationships dynamic , and the movie redeems all that is self-referential and self-congratulatory about it with a warmth of spirit .", "the movie is one grand in-joke that smartly lets us in on the gag . these guys do n't care if we laugh with them or at them - as long as they can keep us in stitches .", "i had a grand old time at this apocalypse , where 75-80 % of the jokes land and the cast 's eager-to-please energy , mostly carry you through the gags that fall short .", "in a summer where the world seems to be going up in flames over and over again at the movies , `` MOV '' shows you do n't need to take the death and destruction of every single thing you 've ever known or loved so darn seriously .", "the sublime brilliance of the script is that it plays on the audience 's perception of who we think these people are . objectively , it is indefensible as a movie , but it delivers gut busting laughs and is the funniest comedy of 2013 .", "michael cera 's coked out stud is insanely fun , but he 's gone too soon and most of the comedy goes with him .", "gut-wrenchingly funny ... a giant ball of flaming self-mockery .", "rude , crude and socially unacceptable , and in all of those ways , it is hilarious .", "the filmmaking itself is disarmingly amusing , hitting grace notes amid the grandiosity .", "the outrageous MOV takes an early lead in the summer movie comedy sweepstakes .", "... a freewheeling comedy that features enough scattered hilarious moments to compensate for its contrived one-joke premise .", "even with this film 's comedy strategy being the `` let 'em all fly and see what sticks '' approach , it 's amazing how adhesive so much of this is .", "uneven yet sporadically hilarious , the film does a spectacular job at toying with the public personas of its prolific stars , but frequently allows their riffing to go on far too long .", "the funniest end-of-the-world movie so far this year -- and that 's a crowded field .", "MOV plows through and laughs at unsavory doomsday scenarios , from playing soccer with a severed head to a `` rapey vibe '' when watson 's around ... . there are no boundaries in this movie , so deal with it or leave .", "they 've tapped into the inherent psychedelia of revelation and enhanced it with absurdity , scatology , ecstasy , weed and a contemporary secular ignorance informed by terminator movies .", "depicts the end of the world with such drug-addled , potty-mouthed , over-the-top and below-the-belt enthusiasm that it also might signal armageddon for a certain type of boys ' club comedy .", "MOV is masterful comedy filmmaking , all the more impressive for its loose-limbed apparent casualness .", "i love a movie where it feels as if you just worked out your abs because you laughed so hard .", "a perfect excuse for high levels of hysteria , mayhem , profanity .", "the dirty half dozen may find god at the last minute , but they 've all been disciples of judd apatow for years . so the absence of taste is balanced by an abundance of heart .", "adults-only , stoner comedy at its most hilarious extremes , straining hard to make sure every icky , grody , envelope-pushing `` ewww '' of its r rating is covered .", "... the movie definitely struck a chord with the crowd i saw it with ... -lrb- with -rrb- a climax that brings bromance back ...", "because its transplanted the egotistical and childish behavior normally reserved for team apatow 's lovable manchild characters onto the actors themselves , it feels dangerous . for awhile , it feels like anything can happen , and its thrilling .", "a funny but flawed film that would have benefited from a tighter edit .", "this gut-busting comedy is an intoxicating mix of `` write what you know '' and `` give the people what they want . ''", "how long would it take to count the idiocies in `` MOV '' ? fooled you ! trick question . numbers do n't go that high .", "it 's a hit-and-mostly-miss affair ...", "a meta-masterwork .", "MOV is crude , tasteless , bloody and , at its best , riotously funny , in the guiltiest of pleasures kind of way .", "seth rogen and evan goldberg 's script is scathing , while their directing debut is a revelation .", "for an anarchic , r-rated comedy , `` MOV '' exudes a kindness and generosity that 's quite touching .", "this is all performed with brio , by likable performers with expert timing , ace chemistry , and a directing team eager to let them tear loose . but it can wear you down .", "a story lurching moment-to-moment for inspiration , or full of ceaseless gags about every bodily fluid , or featuring rape jokes or the sight of franco spitting food into hill 's mouth , does n't pass as wit .", "in places it is genuinely , even sublimely hilarious . why should n't it be ?", "what really makes the movie fly is the choices that goldberg & rogen and all the stars made/agreed to play through the film .", "rogen and goldberg -lrb- making their directorial debuts -rrb- get the balance just right , with one gut-busting punchline and situation after another set against the escalating dread of the end of existence , taking place just outside of james franco 's house .", "when you 're watching a stoner/celebrity culture/end-of-the - world-as-we-know-it comedy like this one , it really comes down to `` how often did i laugh ? '' the answer is a lot .", "MOV is also , improbably , one of the sweetest films of the summer , and it lands with a resonance i did n't expect .", "it is intensely raunchy and silly and joyous and tapped right into my inner teenager in a glorious way .", "MOV is a vanity project that hopes that audiences will enjoy hanging out with seth and the gang as much as they like hanging out with each other .", "as with superbad , which was at its core a comedy about the anxiety of codependent male high school separation , MOV digs into the under-discussed drift of fraternal camaraderie .", "crass , flimsily plotted , and self-referential to the point of narcissistic personality disorder . for those willing to tolerate such defects , however , it is also very , very funny .", "basically a modern-day cheech & chong movie with a bigger budget and more focus , disguising itself as an event film", "MOV , true to its subject matter , is as funny as hell .", "if you think that being trapped with a bunch of guys telling dick jokes would the equivalent of hell on earth - well , according to MOV , you are more right than you think .", "... honesty , loyalty , and comedy will be tested as the world comes to a horrifying and dangling end ... and you 'll never look at michael cera the same way again .", "the moments of comic gold are sometimes diluted by considerable stretches of tedium , generally occurring when the filmmakers and their improvising actors refuse to end scenes and instead carry them past the point of comedic no-return .", "a revolting gross-out comedy , whose humor is witless , scatological and childish .", "armageddon never looked like so much fun !", "rogen and goldberg stunned me with their understanding of the horror genre , the beats , and how to scare the audience . it 's an insanely competent horror comedy ...", "feels a bit like a feature-length sketch , but it 's a really funny one , and funny is enough .", "this movie makes superbad and pineapple express look like child 's play . outrageous and undeniably hilarious , but how did it not get an ` nc 17 ' ?", "there 's a message to MOV . that message is ` do n't be a douche . ' well , at least it 's better than ` google is awesome . '", "the film is uneven and about 15 minutes too long . but when it 's funny , it 's hilarious .", "i enjoyed the hell out of it for a while , but it got irritating and self-congratulatory long before it was over and i desperately do not want to see it again .", "a slapdash amount of effort , modest effects and a modicum of talent are on display , but the imagination deployed is negligible .", "MOV is to rogen and his crew what grown-ups is to adam sandler and his buddies : an excuse to get paid to play with his friends , only this one is actually funny .", "-lsb- a -rsb- crass , patchy , occasionally hilarious farce ...", "MOV is surprisingly smart , poking fun at the rich and famous while providing biting social commentary .", "with lazy `` hangover '' sequels and adam sandler movies still passing for big-screen comedy , the anarchic debut feature from directors seth rogen and evan goldberg is fresher than anything this side of the funny or die website .", "with no outsiders to coddle , this tight-knit ensemble locks into a groove and reaches some truly giddy heights , turning even the weakest material -lrb- a spoof of `` the exorcist '' -rrb- into anarchic fun .", "-lsb- it -rsb- gets derailed by -lsb- rogen and goldberg 's -rsb- desire to keep upping the level of comedic absurdity and cheesy special effects . still , there are lots of low-brow laughs , especially in the first half .", "writers rogen and goldberg run out of ideas before the second act and just half a ** it until the end credits ...", "there 's wonder here that films with quadruple the effects budget would kill for .", "... runs on some delicious self-critique .", "the loose structure lazily rushes out plot points late in the game", "this movie is flat out crazy .", "`` MOV '' does not crack jokes at the expense of christianity . it does , however , consider both kicking a severed head around like a football and the prospect of raping emma watson to be hilarious .", "probably the most self-indulgent wank in movie history , yet on occasion it 's hilarious .", "the movie 's very self-amusement makes it go down easy .", "... occupies a frequently hilarious middle ground between their apatow-produced bromances , the giddy gruesomeness of the recent aftershock and the confined social abrasiveness of it 's a disaster .", "it 's hard to imagine that a funnier movie will come out this year .", "that rogen and goldberg make one of the backstreet boys ' more annoying yesteryear hit singles something you giddily sing along to is a measure of just how on point the satire is -- that , or that it truly * is * the end of the world .", "the best thing about MOV is playing `` spot-the-celebrity '' in the early frames . do this , and you 'll find everyone from jason segel to david krumholtz . if all that talent were put to better use , the film might have been worth watching .", "in-jokes about celebrity culture and what these stars might really be like pours gasoline onto every spark .", "both the jokes and the narrative flag long before the excessive running time is up .", "blithe , beautifully acted and refreshingly free of fancy sfx , MOV pokes fun at generic film-making , without ever seeming self-righteous .", "a cheerfully crass , enjoyably puerile entertainment that does n't scrape the bottom of the barrel as much as it blows the barrel to pieces with a sawn-off shotgun .", "just one great big goofy joke . some funny stuff , but a rental/download only .", "it 's a continuation of rogen and his co-stars ' established acts , with minimal tweaks to the formula . but why worry , while that formula still works ?", "in which a bunch of drugged or drunk superstars , played by themselves , use the end of the world as a pretext for projectile vomiting , bodily fluids and every kind of grossness .", "in daring to so aggressively shake up two formulas for the price of one - the apocalyptic epic and the frat-boy romp - this is a very special comedy indeed .", "the players flap , mug and pratfall . then they flap , mug and pratfall some more . the script is an open text : they can bring their own jokes . the audience is still waiting for one when the film closes .", "the story becomes as scattershot and repetitive as the scatalogical gags . best enjoyed under the influence .", "-lsb- it -rsb- has a gleeful sloppiness that seems to owe more to multiple rounds than multiple drafts .", "as both homage and send-up , it presents viewers with the ultra-meta image of a comedy genre eating its own tail .", "it 's funnier and more energetic than a lot of what 's out there in a movie season most would qualify as disappointing .", "you may have trouble at times deciding whether to laugh out loud or to avert your horrified gaze .", "imagine how funny it could have been if they had actually put some thought into the humor instead of trying to appeal to the basest levels of comedy , and then imagine if they had actually done something with this story .", "dies a slow , wheezing , woefully unfunny death .", "the thing really moves . even the grottiest bits have a way of hitting their marks and darting onward , the way they did in `` borat . ''", "a decent percentage of the insults hit their targets , but the extended improvisation does n't make for an especially disciplined film . the movie feels longer than it is ...", "MOV is quite unlike anything else out there .", "there is stuff in `` MOV '' that had me laughing so hard , i sensed new body parts joining in to help out - my pancreas was heaving , my bile ducts ripped .", "manages to maintain a surreal comic pace throughout the first half until things take a turn for the truly weird ... what baruchel witnesses when he walks in on cera in franco 's bathroom is priceless on its own", "most impressive effects , but pallid comedy", "the miami heat of stoner comedies . there are so many talented people involved it almost seems unfair to other comedies .", "even without james franco and danny mcbride threatening to ejaculate all over each other , MOV would be an aggressive , misguided demonstration of self-love .", "a beautiful collision of slacker comedy mixed with insightful skewering of a celebrity-obsessed culture .", "MOV is a surprising and audacious pleasure , big on certifiably insane laughs but fueled by genuine intelligence and heart .", "it 's totally juvenile and sophomoric , and the story is simply a humorous background ... but it 's just so damn funny . a total inside joke that i felt i was inside of .", "i was literally in pain from laughing so hard . the guys are just furthering a story so that we can get more laughs before the lights come back and we realize we may have just witnessed the end of the best comedy of 2013 competition .", "the seemingly exhausted gross-out comedy genre gets a strange temporary reprieve with MOV , an unlikable but weirdly compelling apocalyptic fantasy .", "it 's the wildest screen comedy in a long time , and also the smartest , the most fearlessly inspired , and the snort-out-loud funniest .", "MOV , in addition to being the funniest film of the year , is also the best buddies-versus-the-apocalypse film since simon pegg and nick frost battled zombie hordes to make it back to the winchester in 2004 's shaun of the dead .", "definitive , and unsurprising , proof that danny mcbride would be a total jackass during the apocalypse .", "with most of these performers now pursuing far more interesting projects in their own careers , maybe MOV for a group of comics whose shtick has started to feel rather tired .", "no comedy classic , then , but a good natured and engaging slice of goonish self-mockery .", "this is a vanity project full of crude humor . it may or may not appeal to broad audiences .", "a ribald frolic of a film that willfully , gleefully skewers both film conventions and the cult of celebrity", "entertaining , frequently hilarious comedy with a witty script , a superb comic cast and some surprisingly good special effects , though your enjoyment of the film will largely depend on how funny you find the relentless self-parody .", "loads funnier - and smarter - than it sounds on paper , and well worth watching for the unflinching hollywood satire , even if you 're sick of apatow-esque bromantic comedies .", "it could use a brutal edit to remove some weak material , but mostly this is a hell of a lot of fun .", "guffaw you will , but like a middling sketch show , it gives your sides too many opportunities to recover .", "subversive , self-deprecating and sexist , it 's a horror zonk-fest designed to blow a guy 's mind .", "banking successfully on the chemistry of its cast , it 's a thoroughly enjoyable tweak of stoner-dude grossout yukfests .", "it 's no minor accomplishment to make one of the most indulgent projects in hollywood history . but with `` MOV , '' seth rogen and his pals have indeed achieved this dubious goal .", "it 's apocalyptically dirty . and it 's hilarious .", "an enjoyable mainstream american comedy is already something approaching a miracle , so those with strong stomachs for shady humour should grab this with both hands .", "animal house meets the apocalypse . and it 's pretty damn funny .", "`` MOV '' is irreverent , fractured , uneven and even silly . but fortunately for moviegoers , it 's also hysterical !", "i 'm predicting a sequel of this movie to be entitled `` MOV , really '' .", "i wish the movie was tighter but i was never bored , i laughed more than most recent comedies , and found the originality of the piece refreshing . you guys are almost forgiven for `` your highness . '' almost .", "less sharp-edged satire than frat-boy goofiness .", "it 's disheartening that , despite some half-hearted overtures toward shifting the comedy paradigm , the filmmakers make little attempt to expand their comedic palette .", "MOV is a wildly inventive comedy that takes armageddon and centers it within a surreal , sensational take on the whole friends of apatow dynamic .", "its wild and hilarious elements do n't cancel out its smug and lazy ones .", "seth rogen and evan goldberg are connoisseurs of bad taste and their directorial debut has a good deal of fun with free-flowing gags about urine , semen and all-around `` rapey '' vibes .", "i died laughing ... and i 've found a new respect for a hollywood posse whose work i mostly have n't enjoyed before .", "`` MOV '' is a stunt-comedy filled with trashy throwaway comic bits . it 's a shotgun approach that works well enough to induce more laughs than you 'd get from a typical hollywood comedy .", "it offers plenty of chortles , chuckles and guffaws for those who appreciate rogen and company 's brand of hard-partying but soft-hearted storytelling", "you never know exactly what lunacy lurks around the corner , or just how far rogen and goldberg will push the r rating to its limit .", "unsurprisingly it 's really messy , and not every joke lands , but the script 's peppered with so many that it 's hard to find a scene where you 're not consistently laughing .", "you 'll never look at michael cera the same way again .", "the book of revelation comes to pass in rapturous fashion while some of its brightest young stars are partying in james franco 's l.a. mansion .", "... it 's ultimately clear that MOV could -lrb- and should -rrb- have topped out at a brisk 80 or 90 minutes -lrb- including credits -rrb- .", "a rapturously-riotous , celeb-skewering raunchfest .", "a funny self-aware critique of the actors ' indulgences - along with several violent deaths , demonic monsters and dick jokes . there are lots of dick jokes .", "MOV is one of the most fun movies i 've seen in ages . it 's a silly extravaganza , a huge bunch of nonsense , but , boy , it 's entertaining ... this film is one big in-joke , but it 's a very good one .", "never reaches the heights of earlier collaborations superbad and pineapple express . however , it has a belligerent , depraved , coked-up michael cera , and that is a treat unique to this film and this film only , so it 's certainly worth your time .", "while bewildering for those unfamiliar with the judd apatow clan , for fans , this raunchy , daring and gleeful comedy comes up trumps .", "the is the end feels throughout like a feature-length inside joke , but rogen and company are generous enough to let the audience in on the gag .", "the juvenile ribaldry flies fast and furious ... culminating in a finale as bizarre and whacked-out as i 've seen in a while . they 're swinging for the fences here .", "a crude , rowdy , self-indulgent buddy-movie mash-up travesty about the end of the world , in which smoking weed , ejaculation jokes , exorcism & a decapitated head kicked around like a soccer ball are par for the course", "rogen and goldberg make the jump to directing with this riotously self-referential apocalyptic comedy .", "this is fundamentally a narcissistic venture , undone by the fact that none of these guys are compelling enough to sustain an entire movie without a story .", "`` this is one of the most tasteless , ridiculous and funniest comedies of the 21st century . ''", "i 'll admit i laughed aloud quite a few times , be that from some of the spoofy material , other outrageous comedy and various self-deprecating bits about the stars themselves and their past work . -lrb- complete content details for parents are also available -rrb-", "one of the darkest , weirdest , and funniest cinematic armageddons you 'll ever experience .", "funny is funny , and it would be truly dishonest to deny the big laughs-the spikes of gut-busting inspiration-that the film sporadically delivers .", "as long as rogen and his buddies are just as self-involved , crude , obnoxious and hopefully exaggerated versions of themselves , things stay pretty funny .", "the funniest movie of the year .", "-lsb- the filmmakers -rsb- , and the cast , have a great deal of fun playing up or playing against their established screen personas - whether it 's hill as a teddy bear of positive affirmations or franco as a self-absorbed esthete .", "`` MOV '' finds a balanced tone most horror comedies fail to deliver . grossout humor melds easily with grossout horror , sometimes at the same moment .", "enough laughs for half-a-dozen movies . you 'll laugh so much it 'll hurt .", "it 's a thoroughly good time at the movies , from humble beginning to cosmic , surprise-cameo-featuring end .", "most of the celebrities playing things straight -lrb- michael cera is a notable exception , portrayed as a cokehead sex addict who likes blowing cocaine into people 's faces without warning -rrb- .", "it may be a sophomoric type of imagination , but it 's still better than the alternative .", "comedies do n't get much more self-referential than this film , in which a bunch of old friends get together and play themselves facing a biblical-style apocalypse .", "a bonkers idea executed with supreme confidence , MOV unleashes a bombardment of crowdpleasing hysteria and could be this summer 's biggest surprise .", "maybe it 's possible for a director to make demon raping and urine drinking side-achingly funny , but that was n't the case here .", "MOV is rogen , goldberg and co. bringing the funny , and the dick jokes like their lives depend on it .", "-lsb- a -rsb- bloated and only sporadically chucklesome vanity project from hollywood 's new generation of superannuated frat boys .", "the film is more guileful than it looks , even though the narrative is nuts ...", "befitting its title , it does feel rather like rogen et al are having one final blowout before moving on to other things .", "profane , shocking , and absolutely hysterical , ` MOV ' is one of the most creative comedies to come along in years .", "profane , shocking , and absolutely hysterical , ` MOV ' is one of the most creative comedies to come along in years .", "the end of the world turns out to be one prolonged exercise in mutual masturbation . it may end that way but would n't it be nice to get in on the action instead of observing from a seat stained with coke and who knows what else ?", "the movie 's hilarity hit rate is frequently determined by who is onscreen at that very second .", "this type of thing has already been diluted by ... funny or die ... the main difference-and it 's not to be underestimated-is that ... end is profane in the extreme , an r-rated stoner comedy gleefully grafted onto a `` splatstick '' horror picture ...", "MOV is like the walking dead meets the real world , cast with an entire generation of hot comic actors . an example of meta filmmaking at its finest .", "it 's the end of the world as we know it , and i feel high .", "a series of sketches that do n't quite come together as a movie .", "its psycho-analytical look at hollywood mostly feels imperceptible given the nonstop barrage of jokes that the ensemble launches at one another throughout the film , both in grand proportions and asides .", "MOV is the bust-out , badass comedy of the summer . and then some . it 's so good you 'll think you hallucinated it .", "a playful metaphor for acting and the hell-fire of public opinion . that or they 're comparing adulthood to armageddon , in which case it 's a little ironic to let -lsb- michael -rsb- cera die first .", "enough laughs and entertainment value you have to give them more than a little credit for what they 're able to pull off and get away with .", "the results are undeniably amusing , but hardly supply the bellylaughs one would expect from such sleepover atmosphere of pals making a hearty , weed-foggy doomsday commotion .", "it 's not profound , but hot-damn is it hysterical .", "if the world is coming to an end and armageddon is nigh , you can do worse than hanging with some of the funniest people on the planet ... and james franco .", "as a celebrity 's - eye-view apocalypse movie , MOV delivers huge guffaws and large-scale carnage with enough gusto to mask the indulgences .", "offsets its slightly smug premise with a clever sense of self-parody and near-cataclysmic levels of vulgarity .", "hollywood 's `` pot pack '' gives us a version of the rapture we can all get behind .", "witty and raunchy - alternately juvenile and sophisticated , drawing laughs from all parts of the comedy spectrum .", "six comedians stuck in a house together as the world is ending . what could be funnier than that ?", "it 's vile . vulgar . obscene . profane . shameful . and yet it has more spiritual density than 15 kirk cameron movies . and , it 's sinfully funny .", "out-of-control hilarious .", "one gets a sense that these guys really are friends and they made this for the same reason frank sinatra and the rat pack made the original ocean 's eleven .", "just when i thought i was getting tired of this comedy group , they surprise me with this refreshing , dark , gross , raunchy , brave , bold satire that made me laugh hard and often . it 's a little rough around the edges , but the laughs are definitely there .", "every time you think they 've stretched this as far as they can go , rogen and goldberg go farther .", "a smart and hilarious apocalyptic comedy .", "breezy enough that it 's not very hard to enjoy it for what it is ... -lsb- although -rsb- it 's stretched out and there frankly are n't enough jokes in it .", "-lsb- a -rsb- comedy extravaganza ... a remarkable mix of monsters , visual effects , vulgar humor , and feel-good optimism .", "MOV is an outrageously crude -lrb- and low-brow -rrb- raunch-com that lampoons an eclectic mixture and wide range of pop-culture targets , often to very funny effect .", "it 's part of the fun of MOV : movie stars horsing around and letting us watch . it 's a giddy experience , even if you do get the sneaking suspicion that they seem to be enjoying themselves even more .", "too bad this film comes across more like a reality tv show , ` big brother apocalypse ' , than a movie . actors , playing themselves , come across as awful people . you begin to wonder : how close is this to the way they really are ?", "actors , it appears , do not have to grow up . and if this is your thing , then neither do you .", "MOV makes for one absurd , fantastic end-of-days thriller stuffed with so many jaw-dropping scenes that you may not be able to chew food for a while ." ], "summary": "energetic , self-deprecating performances and enough guffaw-inducing humor make up for the flaws in MOV loosely written script .", "id": "771303549" }, { "movie": "bringing_down_the_house", "reviews": [ "latifah gives a sassy female twist to the old formula", "supposedly busts conventional ideas while relying on the audiences ' prejudices to make them laugh , and it in no way asks its audience to reconsider those prejudices , either .", "the movie 's not without moments of genuine humor -- no comedy starring steve martin could be -- but sad to say , his oscar-hosting gig two years ago was funnier .", "jason filardi 's script could have been written for bob hope and phyllis diller in the 1960s , with diller in blackface . yes , it 's that offensive", "not only is this a cinematic travesty , but it is a societal wrong .", "it 's depressingly tame stuff .", "this is possibly the most embarrassing thing steve martin has ever been associated with .", "while MOV is far from perfect , it is still guaranteed to get you laughing .", "it 's inspired comic casting with rare feel-good chemistry .", "it 's the kind of broad laugh fest whoopi goldberg was doing for the house of mouse a decade ago with her sister act flicks .", "twenty years ago it was funny to see white people trying to act black .", "it 's side-splitting , knee-slapping , and belly-aching fun the same way that a pounding headache has a good beat and you can dance to it .", "the equivalent of a fast-food meal -- everyone seems to love it , it slides down in a hurry , imparts few nutrients , and has us skipping back the next day hungry for more . rarely do we stop to ask why .", "the film dramatizes in a comic way a white upper-class fear of black underclass invasion ... and suggests that , yes , maybe we can all get along ...", "MOV is a hilarious comedy about a brassy and bold african-american who helps renovate the lackluster life of a workaholic tax lawyer .", "the film only truly stumbles as it enters into its plot-heavy third act , which wastes a lot of energy , but still ca n't manage to satisfy the audience 's desire to see latifah and martin fall in love .", "the material is thin and pandering and almost criminally negligent in bypassing opportunities for humor .", "... exceedingly derivative and graceless ... a lax affair that goes for the cheap gags . the architect of this particular house should deeply consider this property condemned", "it relies on stolen gags for humor , forced relationships for empathy , and racist jokes for shock value .", "it 's a sorry situation when actors as talented and funny as queen latifah and steve martin waste their efforts in an offensive exercise that feels like a bad sitcom .", "a tawdry waste all around .", "while it offers some occasional laughs , the film makes the fatal flaw of letting down its strongest asset , and that 's steve martin .", "the rare film that manages to be simultaneously bland and offensive .", "the movie delivers its very manufactured goods , but it lacks the guts to be a meaningful comedy .", "this is strictly formula stuff , made worse by an utterly careless depiction of the characters , whose road to friendship is neither believable nor remotely accounted for .", "it 's an odd mix of entertaining yet irresponsible filmmaking ... wait to rent it .", "shankman relies heavily on the terrific supporting cast for laughs , and he should be eternally grateful that they come through more often than they do n't .", "the heart of the movie is the perfect chemistry between latifah and martin .", "the laughs should roll like thunder , but instead they mew like kittens .", "the combination of steve martin and queen latifah is quirky genius .", "the material has been done before and there 's not much more one can do with it . thank god for queen latifah and the broad strokes she brings to it .", "the movie gets stuck in a seemingly never-ending cycle of pointless , recycled racial jokes and ethnic stereotypes .", "... intends to unite black and white audiences , and probably will -- by reinforcing the laziest images they have of each other .", "viewers may be more likely to ride with martin 's and latifah 's good vibes than to analyze the lunkheaded racial politics , but very little is fresh here .", "does little more than milk its one culture-clash joke and play up stereotypes .", "-lsb- latifah 's -rsb- got sass and smarts aplenty , powering the most interesting character here .", "i 'm ashamed that this movie exists , that people got paid for it and that someone out there will eventually add it to their dvd collection .", "equally insulting to both races , MOV is one of the most hateful and low-minded comedies i 've ever seen - and it absolutely earns a spot right next to the justifiably loathed amos & andrew .", "... `` MOV '' is certainly worth the ticket in .", "having actresses like the matriarchal joan plowright say `` homie '' is shaping up to be the most irritating comedic trend of 2003 .", "coarse , poorly tuned comedy .", "why has n't spike lee held a press conference about thing yet ?", "each performer charms the audience by presenting characters we like even when we should n't .", "you have somebody as smart as steve martin , and as smart and appealing as queen latifah in a movie like this . to have such an awful , offensive story is a real disappointment .", "despite everything being there that should make it work , something was missing .", "this is an early '80s whoopi goldberg movie .", "in a movie as obvious as this , we know exactly what is expected of people at specific intervals , and it 's never very funny .", "a comedy constructed from tapped-out ideas .", "`` MOV '' stars queen latifah as the wrecking ball , always a good bet these days , particularly since she knocked out pretty much everyone who saw her in her academy award-nominated performance in `` chicago . ''", "it deserves to be buried in obscurity -- if not burned beyond recognition -- along with other comedies of its ilk , including carbon copy , he 's my girl , soul man and chu-chu and the philly flash .", "i could never decide whether MOV was satirizing racial stereotypes or perpetuating them .", "the movie 's real spectacle is the sight of so many talented people slogging through such idiotic material .", "the kind of comedy whose best bits have already surfaced in the coming attractions trailer .", "the sitcom shtick wears thin after a while .", "an embarrassment for all concerned , this witless , odd-couple comedy slings separate but equal gibes at blacks and whites ... and still manages to ridicule gays and hispanics .", "the movie appears to have been made for an audience that considers the idea of black people terribly exotic .", "a comedy is not allowed to end with the couples incorrectly paired . it goes against the deeply traditional requirements of the audience .", "it 's rare that royalty gets together in a comedy , so when one-time king tut -lrb- aka steve martin -rrb- and queen latifah come together , they rule supreme .", "ignore the creaky story ; see it for the slapstick .", "-lsb- many -rsb- scenes carry a sort of contrived `` wackiness '' not seen since bewitched went into reruns .", "there 's no shortage of laughs , thanks to some sharp one-liners , two stars at the top of their game , and a solid supporting cast of veteran laugh-getters .", "diehard fans of any of these stars -lsb- martin , latifah , levy , plowright and white -rsb- may be amused -- the movie is , at times , an amusing diversion -- but most will probably find it wanting .", "although certainly not anyone 's idea of a cerebral comedy , ` house ' is n't stupid , either . if it were , it would n't be able to get away with as much as it does .", "first-time director adam shankman and first-time screenwriter jason filardi approach the concept with the clumsiness of people thinking about racial stereotypes for the very first time .", "high-school cafeteria soup has more flavor than this bland , tepid throwback .", "queen latifah 's wonderfully radiant star quality , steve martin 's comic grace and eugene levy 's masterful turn as peter 's besotted partner do bring down the house .", "jason filardi 's broad script is an uneven hodgepodge of culture clash , screwball romance , urban crime drama and sitcom .", "this is one high-concept , please-the-masses comedy that works .", "even the director 's flat-footed moves ca n't quell martin and latifah , whose combined energy is fearsome and sometimes most amusing .", "a movie that desperately wants -lsb- latifah 's -rsb- hip , her edge and mostly her blackness but does n't know what to do with the human being who comes with the package .", "a gut-busting , stereotype-busting slapstick comedy .", "` a rewrite - one that played more off the straight-laced vs. laid-back dynamic rather than racial stereotypes - would have helped . '", "queen latifah alone is worth the price of admission : the woman has enough screen presence for six movies .", "the film presumes white people talking like black people to be original , and they were talking jive as far back as `` airplane ! '' -lrb- and probably a lot earlier than that ! -rrb- .", "director shankman ruins a lot of gags with poor timing , brain-dead cuts and uninspired staging .", "it 's a rich-white-man - hangs-out-with-a - black-convict-in-order - to-channel-his - inner-blackness-needed - to-save-his-marriage - with-his-white-wife story .", "a film in which steve martin will appear in full hip-hop drag with appropriate slang for not less than six minutes .", "this movie failed to make me laugh out loud so it must be in material breach .", "over the last five years , the unfortunate but predictable upshot of a steve martin appearance in a project he did not write has been cynical high-concept comedies like ` MOV , ' a race relations-class war romp that 's as unfunny as it is o", "the script , like adam shankman 's whomping direction , is obvious and formulaic , and pretty shameless when it comes to scoring laughs -- but , luckily , the film is filled with bright comedians who milk every opportunity .", "with enough good nature and friendly humor to still be considered a family comedy , MOV also hits an edginess that will keep today 's audiences laughing .", "... martin does n't have his a-game here . MOV is a passable little comedy , but the white-haired funnyman is neither wild nor crazy .", "a movie where each scene seems to stand in a world of its own : funny ; tasteless ; stale ; very funny ; what on earth were they thinking ?", "this movie is not without problems , but when it 's on , it 's funny .", "short on laughs that do n't involve racist remarks , house decimates race relations and sets civil rights back to the stone age .", "the real star of `` MOV '' - queen latifah 's enormous breasts . latifah 's bosom not only symbolizes the non-threatening , black femininity that ultimately comforts white folks , but it also serves its main purpose of nurturing white folks in", "it 's a broad comedy , pure and simple , but in making us laugh , apparently it is also necessary to insult our intelligence .", "simple comedy , done right .", "thinks it is enlightened because it is down on white culture and down with black culture . it is not . along with national security , it represents a step backward for race relations , and for black characters in hollywood .", "even without the movie pushing our buttons with its racist antagonists , latifah would have won us over with her charm , attitude , and overwhelming self-confidence and assuredness .", "has so much going for it , it 's all the more jarring when the laughs stop coming . it 's a shame the movie could n't finish what it started .", "there are enough genuine laughs to keep things fun and undemanding ... queen latifah steals the film .", "questionably tasteful but often laugh-out-loud funny .", "MOV offers proof that there are times when superior performances can salvage a mediocre script .", "yet another film created for the lowest common denominator in all of us .", "and though the film 's white characters repeatedly make fools of themselves , they 're patted on the head as if they'e small children who 've just made a funny .", "struggling at the outset , the film actually stutters and sparks into some very funny sequences . never quite shaking itself out of the ridiculous , the picture nonetheless finds a way to almost become endearing .", "the latest film to make people laugh by taking an uptight cracker and forcing him to become malibu rapper brad gluckman from the jamie kennedy experiment .", "the film 's idea of being risqu\u00e9 is to make martin 's neighbors and law partners -- and most other white characters -- cartoonishly racist .", "keeps its audience giggling and occasionally shocked .", "jason filardi 's first screenplay is cobbled together from every unwanted guest/outsider helps kids over obstacles/adversaries bond together to fight common cause comedy that 's come before it with the added distasteful elements of not one , but two , offensi", "filled with crude stereotypes ... the odd couple pairing fizzles instead of sending off sparks .", "steve martin used to be a wild and crazy guy . now he 's as bland as his hair .", "... manages to remain entertaining in spite of the lackluster script .", "that martin even has a pink house-servant costume for latifah to wear suggests a dysfunction far more deeply embedded in the film 's -lrb- and our collective -rrb- psyche .", "borders on being as offensive and misguided as a slapstick version of roots .", "is n't slavery funny ? ugh !", "if you 've seen the commercials for MOV , you already know the movie 's best moments and most memorable lines ...", "it 's completely forgettable and unoriginal , but it might make a good rental on a slow family movie night .", "steve martin , queen latifah , and eugene levy manage to squeeze laughs out of a totally generic , manufactured script that 's drowning in odd couple formula .", "everything about this film is painfully familiar , except , perhaps , for the vicious-but-comic catfight between latifah and missi pyle , who plays a high-society gold digger .", "it 's a wheezing , rusted machine of cheap jokes , cartoon performances , and crummy plotting , using shock value and insensitivity to make its painfully unfunny points .", "you 're better off ignoring this junk and saving your time .", "martin and latifah rule in boundary-pushing pg-13 .", "charlene establishes herself early on as manipulative and untrustworthy , which could lead to wicked fun if the film stayed true to this side of her character . instead , like hollywood clockwork , charlene morphs into a good influence .", "just because larry king called this `` one of the funniest movies ever '' does n't mean the rest of us have to similarly lose control of our mental faculties . still , this is n't nearly as awful as its reputation , thanks mainly to its three central performances .", "kudos to steve martin for choosing this script . he 's laughing all the way to the bank . the audience is n't as lucky .", "qualquer filme que tente provocar risos atrav\u00e9s de animais vestidos com ` roupas engra\u00e7adas ' est\u00e1 claramente ciente de suas defici\u0119ncias .", "if the idea of actress betty white using the term ` negro ' sounds hilarious to you then maybe this is a your kind of shallow humor .", "i think it was after betty white told steve martin 's son not to `` wear his hair like a *** '' that i thought about walking out .", "the friction between -lsb- martin 's -rsb- button-down lawyer , peter sanderson , and ghetto-fabulous fugitive charlene morton -lrb- queen latifah -rrb- produces dazzling comic sparks in an otherwise stale set-up .", "a comedy that successfully plays with stereotypes , both racial and personal .", "are old white guys trying to act like young black girls still funny ? whoever keeps writing these kinds of scripts really needs to be hurt -lrb- or at least forced to stand naked holding up a sign in nyc with their script scrawled on the front -rrb- .", "at some point during MOV , i covered my face ... i have n't had that kind of reaction to a movie in a while .", "irreverent but perhaps not funny enough , `` MOV '' gives queen latifah the chance to shine opposite steve martin .", "the only way to make this project work would be to transplant its actors to an entirely different film .", "it 's silly and it 's got more heart , and better street sense in its culture mosaic , than you would expect from a hollywood laff-riot .", "like one of those overbearing relatives who bursts into the living room , invited or not , and shatters your domestic tranquility with a barrage of soggy platitudes and moldy jokes , both of which he 's sure you 've never heard before .", "this house is built on a shaky foundation .", "in this ill-conceived comedy of errors ... racial stereotypes and bottom-of-the-barrel humor abound .", "it 's obvious , formulaic , often very funny and oddly cheerful as it goes about debunking prejudice by playing into it .", "if nothing else , MOV reminds us that martin still is ... one wild and crazy guy .", "a gut-busting black-and-white culture clash comedy .", "... simply embarrassing .", "simplistic , sometimes funny but mostly stupid ." ], "summary": "though the cast shines , they ca n't save this comedy , which is overly contrived and filled with outdated and offensive racial jokes .", "id": "11496" }, { "movie": "lakeboat", "reviews": [ "joe mantegna ... brings just the right tone of easy gab and tossed-off tales to this actor 's showcase .", "` yeah . it 's alright . ' ` good enough for me . '", "mamet 's fixation on language is ... more effective onstage than onscreen , where the technical and visual requirements distract from the sounds of the words -- the heart of mamet 's work .", "mamet knows people so well that you can forgive his lack of actual story once in awhile .", "based on mamet 's experience as a freighter on the great lakes while a grad english lit student , mantegna 's screen version is so dramatically inert and artistically shapeless resulting in an uninvolving memory film .", "this plotless film is filled with a zillion little nostalgia stories that are both pointless and irritating , but some stories can also be devilishly charming .", "as drama , it 's not much ; as a meditation on language and storytelling , it 's a treat .", "viewers learn that these salty guys have salty imaginations and that mamet 's a master at capturing their thoughts in discursive detail .", "for the most part a lot of fun , with some fine performances from a mature cast .", "watching it , you come to understand what it is that mamet has been true to all these years .", "vivid performances by a first-rate cast will hold your interest .", "mantegna takes the episodic , almost skit-like structure of the play and turns it into snapshots of a vanishing way of life .", "i once taught a class on mamet 's films . i wish i could have opened it with this one , because for mamet , it all starts here .", "this early effort is more a curiosity piece than anything else .", "forster is the reason that even non-mamet-heads might consider giving MOV a shot .", "little more than a succession of acting exercises ... but who cares when the dialogue is so meaty and the performances so canny ?", "an elegiac and tartly amusing tribute to a group of guys trying to make the most of the hand life has dealt them .", "the film 's chief pleasure , a considerable one , is in hearing mr. mamet 's characteristic idiom ... so close to its real-world source .", "a top-notch troupe of actors deliver the propulsive dialogue of david mamet .", "MOV requires its audiences to embrace it as lovingly as mamet and mantegna embrace its men , but it 's a lot to ask .", "the magic is in the words , and there 's always laughter , anger and sadness to be found in david mamet 's poetry of inarticulateness .", "if you like david mamet 's men and their crazily profane arguments , you 'll be happy you came .", "if you 're an admirer of -lsb- mamet 's -rsb- work , or if you 're willing to be as patiently observant as dale , you will find much that is fascinating and illuminating .", "a first-rate movie made from one of david mamet 's lesser plays .", "where mantegna succeeds is in providing a forum for some great acting .", "an enjoyable trifle .", "the piece is a theatrical curio , but no less fascinating for that .", "if you love the way in which david mamet can turn language into music , then `` MOV '' is for you .", "the raw raunch and the latent yearning and pain -lsb- mamet -rsb- sets down here with such assurance yield a movie of special rewards .", "not as sharp on characterizations as -lsb- mamet 's -rsb- later work , but it 's essential viewing for admirers of his gutter-elegant dialogue .", "there 's enough there to make it of interest to more than mamet completists .", "movies about blue-collar workers are usually romanticized or artificial or ruined by slumming hollywood stars , but MOV is the real deal .", "more play than movie . but it 's unusual for either . it 's neither plot-driven like many plays nor action - and image-driven like most movies .", "as with any mamet script , the cast is all , and these old boys take his macho monologues and make them sound like homer .", "thanks to the likable , rough-hewn crew and forster , the film flows along gruffly and with eloquence .", "despite some uneven moments , MOV is brought to the screen with skill and sympathy .", "the same old mamet stuff , and not even top-drawer mamet .", "the script is so inherently stagy that setting the film on a real boat does n't pay off ." ], "summary": "though not much happens plot-wise , MOV still has a lot to offer for fans of mamet .", "id": "16128" }, { "movie": "in_the_house_2013", "reviews": [ "it 's amusing and unexpected , capturing the compulsive spirit of writing with wit and attention to mischief that keeps it unpredictable to the very end .", "`` MOV '' might well be called `` in the story '' because that 's where it plays out : the house in the story and the story MOV .", "-lsb- a -rsb- fluently made and brilliantly acted treatise on teaching , storytelling and the class divide .", "the expected punch line ... never materializes , so i guess this must be a drama after all .", "MOV is a structurally solid thriller that is both inventive and absolutely seductive in nature .", "inviting photography and a relentless pace complement claude 's unfolding narrative , but the big thrills are in the deftly drawn characters ... and the incisive satire ...", "savor MOV for its meta-exploration of adolescence , class resentment and suppressed desire , but do n't expect much more .", "the seductions of storytelling drive `` MOV , '' a cleverly structured comic thriller rich with narrative trickery and macabre humor .", "a slick psychological thriller that veers into dark comedy the more absurd it gets , `` MOV '' demonstrates the dangers of addiction -- not to sex or drugs , but to story .", "captures why we do what we do , and the extent to which stories reflect both the writer and the reader .", "it 's good , devious fun .", "it 's a little too wordy and under-plotted for my liking but stylishly done .", "the heat turns chilly before it ends , but for the most part , fran\u00e7ois ozon is back in the catbird seat with MOV .", "fact and fiction collide messily in a film that will be a treat for ozon fans , which boasts an impressive breakthrough performance from one-to-watch ernst umhauer .", "acrobatic wordplay only hides the vapidity so much .", "the director and the audience are drawn together as voyeurs imposing our narratives on what we see on the screen as we do when organising the world around us .", "a poignant and funny comedy of manners that follows the interaction of a frustrated high school french teacher and his prize student .", "ozon keeps sliding between genres -lrb- `` now we are in bad farce , '' scolds the teacher -rrb- to explore what really interests him - the creative process itself .", "with its complex look at storytelling , imagination and the teacher-student dynamic , MOV is an elaborate cinematic fresco .", "the dexterity of the actors and their director is not quite enough , and as `` MOV '' accelerates , it also starts to sputter , piling on incidents and revelations that cause its web of implications to unravel .", "a celebration of storytelling 's power .", "even though the buildup does n't yield the anticipated payoff , -lsb- MOV -rsb- remains a slick , artful and highly entertaining ride .", "the final scene is so open-ended that like germain , you wo n't want the story to end .", "` MOV '' promises to be a social satire with a flash of hitchcockian menace , but gradually it turns into a routine thumb-sucker on reality versus fiction .", "mostly , the film 's a confident , very sophisticated meditation on art - on why we need it , how we identify with it and what it gives our lives . and what it ca n't replace .", "with its wheels-within-wheels structure and ubiquitous jibber-jabber between neophyte and guide `` MOV '' is something of a lit major 's `` inception . ''", "less focused than most of -lrb- writer-director francois -rrb- ozon 's previous films . it is difficult to decide with which character we as viewers/pseudo-participants are supposed to empathize . more off-putting than fully satisfying in the end .", "an ambitious , beautiful looking movie with the underlying theme that if you want to get on in life sooner or later you have to start to experience it for good or bad .", "has the slow-pulsing vertigo of a psychological thriller & the twists of an elaborate melodrama , but to reduce it to these labels is glib . caustic & funny but never misanthropic . a study of the ways people actually live , rather than how we assume they do .", "these characters are messed up and yet there i was , sitting in the back row of the cinema , with a smile on my face .", "the result is one of those stories about storytelling that have become something of a post-modern specialty of elevated art . ozon manages a light touch , however , so that dans la maison never feels too self-referential .", "as a black comedy , this never quite catches fire , though there is some mild amusement to be found in its social satire .", "narrative issues hold MOV back from being as great as it should be .", "the convoluted yet familiar narrative games become somewhat tiresome . the movie works best as a straight suspense drama about a frustrated teacher and his devious star pupil ...", "satirizes the process of aesthetic creation and the damage it can inflict on the artist and those around him .", "MOV is sometimes ingenious , but all the main characters are cold , arrogant , and off-putting .", "MOV is a tour de force about two yarn-spinners -- claude and germain -- whose lives devolve into chaos .", "this is an impressive film , even though it seems like a kind of psychological-dramatic experiment . it combines fantasy and reality in interesting ways , depicting imaginary events and realistic events with equal conviction .", "ozon weaves another spellbinding tale that mingles the real and imaginery with terrific effect .", "utterly assured , breathtakingly executed and riotously funny , this is a delight .", "a sharp , enticing psychological cat-and-mouse game . its gleeful dark wit comes from manipulations , voyeurism , the idea that we all invade each other 's lives and thoughts .", "darkly funny and utterly compelling , it 's arguably the best teacher-student movie since 1999 's election .", "... joins a handful of clever films where fiction and reality merge , like `` adaptation '' or zoe kazan 's more recent `` ruby sparks . '' it 's thrilling , funny , smart and hugely entertaining , more satisfying than the director 's breakout film .", "fran\u00e7ois ozon 's slow-burn comic thriller is a sensitive observation of a global race-to-the-bottom that is devaluing culture in all of its varied forms .", "ozon is an artful provocateur and observer of human nature .", "to watch it is to be simultaneously seduced and interrogated .", "the result is endlessly playful , although the rules of the game , in ozon 's hands , could hardly be graver , and what can be at stake , in the act of storytelling , has seldom been more elegantly sketched .", "a little kinky , a little creepy , and quite clever and literary .", "one of ozon 's best .", "-lsb- a -rsb- slyly warped student-and-teacher yarn .", "a cinematic bouquet of surprising left turns and addictive story hooks . strongly recommended .", "provocative , playful , entertaining and audacious , MOV is a writer showing us the inner workings of writing , complete with its power to subvert , to imagine and to deceive", "occasionally too clever for its own good , the film may go one step too far , but ozon manages the hybrid of genres beautifully and ultimately it is his superb cast that sells the nuances and the concept", "the film treats imagination-and talent-in certain hands as an almost mystical force .", "a sly , stylish blend of melodrama and suspense that 's also a cunning commentary on the seductiveness and danger inherent in storytelling itself .", "director/scriptwriter francois ozon knows his hitchcock well . he employs him effectively , but the clutter is his own .", "ozon and the script move a little too far afield and hold on a bit too long as the film approaches its end . still , `` MOV '' has enough trippy truth to it to grab your interest and shake your mind .", "an almost perverse delight , an egghead thriller that slyly shell-games its truer purpose as an inquiry into the construction -- and deconstruction -- of fiction . scratch deconstruction : make that tear-the-house-down demolition .", "it 's fiction about life that becomes fiction that might be life - and the viewer happily dives in .", "it 's partly real and partly a fable , full of events that might have happened or could never have happened , with intrigues that defy us to take them seriously .", "ozon , for all the prettiness of his comic and visual grace notes , runs out of ideas .", "MOV creates something far more original than the same old heart-pounding exercise .", "a bold and refreshingly original french film about story , writing , imagination , creativity , sexuality , and breaking rules .", "with its exploration of voyeurism and manipulation , MOV covers similar territory to ozon 's earlier swimming pool , but is distinguished by its crafty sense of humour .", "it 's a mind-tickler of exquisite precision that saves some of its surprises for the finale .", "MOV bares the voyeurism inherent in all stories-and the class-consciousness inherent in voyeurism .", "a black-comic psychological drama with poise and self-possession . featuring fabrice luchini and kristin scott thomas , how could it have anything else ?", "almost perfect", "an elegant , sophisticated black comedy thriller with a lot to say about storytelling , control and manipulation of the truth .", "with ozon 's usual sharp writing and direction , this black comedy is a fabulous series of provocations , challenging us to explore how we see , or perhaps imagine , the people in our lives .", "a witty , naughty , insight-packed provocation which never takes its seriousness too seriously .", "francois ozon 's interplay between narrative and meta-narrative girds this smart if occasionally too-precious drama .", "it 's buoyant and titillates , striking that distinctly ozonian balance between the beautiful and the sinister , but it does n't resonate .", "luchini 's dependable deadpan goes a long way toward making the puzzle pieces snap pleasingly into place , but as with most such endeavors , MOV is about its own construction and nothing more .", "impressively directed and darkly funny , this is a hugely enjoyable french black comedy with a clever , thought-provoking script and terrific performances from a note-perfect cast .", "a script with razor sharp wit , effective and unobtrusive direction and fine performances from the key leads all help ensure this is one of , if not the finest of ozon 's films to date .", "neither claude nor ozon comes up with a satisfying finish to this intriguing setup . but because they 're both so committed to seducing their audience , it 's a lot of fun watching them try .", "delicious , intriguing and addictive expos\u00e9 of the creative-writing process and middle-class dysfunction . wry humor and mystery also bring alive what might be acclaimed filmmaker fran\u00e7ois ozon 's most accomplished and unpredictable work to date .", "effortlessly shifts between genres , tones and styles , thus becoming an inquiry into this gifted if erratic filmmaker 's whole career .", "it 's a scintillating intellectual tease , rigorously controlled , but terrific fun at the same time .", "one of french cinema 's foremost enfants terribles here finally grows up : this elegant and eloquent film weighs its words and images with commendably mature precision ." ], "summary": "dark , tense , and wryly funny , MOV is brilliantly directed by fran\u00e7ois ozon and features fine performances from its talented cast .", "id": "771313143" }, { "movie": "return_to_me", "reviews": [ "every shot is squarely predictable , and you 'd never guess that cinematographer laszlo kovacs has done major work like paper moon .", "this is a melodrama wrapped in a sitcom inside a hallmark card .", "why does the film have to be two hours ? does no one hire an editor anymore ?", "driver seems plagued with an onscreen self-consciousness that ruins her time in the limelight .", "this film is energized by excellent performances .", "ultimately too bland and safe .", "as if aware they are imprisoned in the subplot of a terrible movie , actors carroll o'connor , robert loggia , eddie jones , william bronder and marianne muellerleile have a near mutiny on screen .", "not a horrible movie , but not a good one either .", "although quite realistic at first , all conflicts suffer from unrealistic resolutions and from the lack of subtlety .", "the alluringly deadpan duchovny can make no headway with driver .", "wholly predictable .", "duchovny is surprisingly out-of-joint with the romantic atmosphere .", "i could almost recommend MOV to the more saccharine of my acquaintances were it not for a sugary denouement .", "renders a bland , mall-bought local flavor .", "delightful !", "MOV is n't as well-executed as it could have been .", "sweet , funny and touching romantic comedy .", "charming , entertaining and highly enjoyable .", "david duchovny and minnie driver star in a movie that almost seems like a godsend in this age of romantic-comedy schmaltz .", "so innocent , so naive , so sweet and sincere , that you must leave your cynicism at the door or choose another movie .", "driver is radiantly winsome .", "the film is largely entertaining , often sweet , occasionally even moving .", "despite that and some odd pacing , it hits the right marks .", "MOV is a story for all ages .", "a delightful surprise .", "predictable , sporadically engaging fable .", "i found the film utterly charming .", "an entirely formulaic piece of comedy-melodrama with scarcely a moment of real drama and featuring repartee engaged in by codgers without a genuine dab of wit .", "-lsb- hunt -rsb- chooses early emotional depth to fulfill later parts of the movie -- a master stroke , as it turns out .", "return to sender . except for david duchovny .", "90 minutes of complicated , sometimes hokey and occasionally hilarious episodic moments defining the human condition .", "contrivances abound , no doubt , but the picture refuses any disingenuous pollutant access to the mix , instead leading with heartfelt , lived-in emotions , enjoying a deliciously homey mood of friendly flirtation and old-world wisdom .", "driver and duchovny shine in romance with heart .", "an unbelievable premise , but sweet and romantic .", "touches the audience 's heart without being sappy .", "see this wonderful film and let it teach you about the warmth , the richness , and the renewal of life .", "have a heart .", "every time i see this it is better and better . bonnie hunt is an amazing writer .", "characters you can enjoy watching and will care about , places you will enjoy spending time , and a charming , hopeful look at love amid the vagaries of life .", "it delivers the emotional goods as it should while also providing its share of well earned laughs .", "you actually can care about the lovers , there 's a fine sense of balance between humor and pathos in their story .", "a brutally rocky romantic comedy of choppy technique , dubious plotting .", "the real problem is the lack of heat generated by driver and duchovny .", "a charming romantic comedy tragically bogged down by the uncomfortable avoidance of its central plot point .", "heart-warming .", "the grisly weight of that central premise hangs over the proceedings like a bloody pi\u0144ata .", "MOV should be returned to sender .", "a highly entertaining romantic comedy that is so sweet , funny and charming .", "driver and duchovney have a real chemistry .", "an exceedingly pleasant , wistful romantic romp .", "a warm , funny film that depicts a deep-dish slice of life a la sweet home chicago , and we eat it up . you may even want seconds .", "you 've got a romantic comedy that ai n't much of either .", "return to sender .", "it 's a genuine attempt at a genuine movie .", "bonnie hunt 's directorial debut is a flyweight heartwarmer brimming with winning characters .", "there is a satisfying , old-fashioned moonstruck sensibility at work .", "easily the most sane and encouraging romantic comedy since the far more polished , but equally expansive and ethnically flavored moonstruck .", "MOV may win your heart , but it will probably try to stick it in somebody else 's body .", "while MOV plays out , you are not bored , but you also are not as satisfied as you could be .", "writers have kids of their own .", "intelligently co-written and ably directed .", "old-fashioned as all get-out , MOV is swathed in an unabashed feel-good tone .", "this pg-rated trifle is the perfect movie to take your parents to see without fear of embarrassment .", "a sweetly amusing tale about the human heart .", "a sweet love story , far more affecting than the average romantic drivel because it 's so much less phony .", "the movie suffers from a surfeit of affection .", "david duchovny is not well-matched with minnie driver .", "if you like your sentiment layered on thick and creamy as a slab of mascarpone cheese , MOV is one to go back for .", "MOV manages to disarm with its charm and delight with its bite .", "it 's the little things that make MOV worth a look . the small , sweet-funny touches and the offhanded , all-too-human moments are really the heart of this film .", "as light and fluffy as it is , MOV still proves surprisingly inviting , thanks to some canny direction by actress bonnie hunt in her filmmaking debut .", "what it has is heart .", "first-time director bonnie hunt has taken what could have been an incredibly sappy story and used her sense of comedic timing to fashion a date flick that even the guys might enjoy .", "were this a student film , you 'd expect to see it returned with a middling grade , covered with red-inked criticisms .", "duchovny gives a relaxed , quietly comic performance that suggests he should have been doing this sort of thing all along .", "the film builds an implausible scenario into a credible and utterly charming romantic comedy ." ], "summary": "david duchovny and minnie driver provide heart-warming romance and comedy in this solid debut by director bonnie hunt .", "id": "10368" }, { "movie": "harold_and_kumar_go_to_white_castle", "reviews": [ "smart , goofy and endearing , cho and penn make a terrific team , and the fact that they 're starring in their own movie suggests that , in the hollywood comedy frat house , there 's finally room for everyone .", "it is n't just another dumb druggie flick that suggests the world begins and ends with getting high .", "the script goes to acceptable lengths to make the duo more than the idiotic , giggling stoners we 'd usually see .", "there is a key to good 'n' stupid lowbrow comedy : ... be proudly , shamelessly , flippantly stupid ...", "... an instant stoner classic .", "-lsb- s -rsb- tarts out gross ... and descends into the utterly moronic .", "this buddy pot comedy 's blunted charm lacks the clarity to make it soar as high as its protagonists .", "just when we thought the stoner comedy was a hazy relic of the past , along comes a new farce that has every hallmark of having been written while under the influence .", "a distinct entry in the pantheon of stoner comedies ; the `` what the hell ? '' moments are so insanely conceived that they 're often really funny .", "its unforced mixture of the crass with the sweet may not be the likeliest of combinations , but it is a decidedly beguiling one , all the same .", "goes for cheap and easy laughs way too frequently .", "its very unambitiousness gives the film moments that almost approach charm . that said , it 's still mostly just extremely dumb and vulgar .", "a movie that is funny far more often than it flops , and one that - more importantly - challenges the myth of the american melting pot .", "a blissfully silly , character-driven road movie with impressive laugh-per-minute performance specs .", "the pacing is clunky , with the flat feel of a sitcom .", "that the movie is dumb goes without saying . but is it funny ? you betcha .", "an empowering idea is woven with great subtlety into a series of poop jokes , sex jokes , and pot jokes . maybe some people will miss it . i did n't .", "once every summer season , the holy grail appears on screen . in 2004 , it came as a steaming sack of tiny square burgers , the good end to a long , superb stoner road revue .", "a raft of guest stars -lrb- neil patrick harris , christopher meloni , anthony anderson , bobby lee of `` mad tv '' -rrb- -- at their absolute wackiest -- flesh out this stoners ' banquet .", "... all of which add up to nothing in terms of plot , but plenty in terms of entertainment value , laughs and fun .", "harold and kumar discover that the american dream is not to be doogie howser ; it 's to be neil patrick harris .", "pulls off the nearly impossible in subverting racial stereotypes by constantly evoking them", "features quite possibly the worst , most unfunny scene of the 2004 film year .", "as far as stoner comedies go , this is a surprisingly well-done affair", "at road 's end , harold and kumar smells very similar to the shrine of its title , which is great before you bite in and way less appetizing after you 've sobered up .", "a laugh-out-loud if not-exactly-good stoner comedy .", "there are at least three very funny things in MOV , and the stuff in between is n't bad .", "in their formidable quest for junk food , harold and kumar end up redefining what the all-american protagonists of hollywood movies should look like -- and prove this comedy is not quite as brain-dead as it originally appeared .", "a celebration of the rights of all people from all races , creeds and beliefs to have equal access to the best-damned burger americans can fry up !", "`` harold & kumar go to white castle '' may have a better grasp of modern race relations than so-called `` serious '' films .", "harold and maude go to white castle might have been a better bet , but this is nevertheless a gross-out comedy with a difference .", "this movie has instances of absolute hilarity ... but unlike the burgers , it has a lot of unnecessary fillers . dude , where 's my hamburger ?", "while not as outlandishly contrived as director danny leiner 's dude , where 's my car ? h&k is about as barely funny and just as hard to believe .", "what 's engaging about all this is that penn and cho are smart actors doing very dumb humor . somehow the combination proves amusing .", "perfect summertime munchies for the drive-in . lewd , raunchy and likely to spawn a sequel or two . it 's also fearless , well-acted and smarter than it lets on .", "danny leiner has n't matured as a filmmaker . and that 's a very nice thing indeed .", "cho and penn pull off the fast-food humor with a laid-back style that gets them through even when the movie lags .", "this may not be the funniest film of the summer nor even the stoniest , but it is still an enjoyable chunk of resin-soaked celluloid .", "if you 're among those who giggled at the trailer before calling your buds to say dude . harold kumar . looks funny. , you 'll probably find a solid case of chuckles here .", "-lrb- this -rrb- is n't your typical lowbrow comedy about dopes smoking dope . deep down , under the buns and fun , lurks a heapin ' helping of heart .", "stretches the boundaries of offensiveness in ways that both make us laugh and make us think .", "director danny leiner has now elevated the stoner comedy to its highest peak ...", "click to read the article .", "a thin setup followed by thinner jokes .", "there is a lot of imagination in this wacky ride of a film that would make ` the dude ' from the big lebowski very happy .", "harold & kumar go to white castle is the latest multicultural variant of the lowbrow buddy comedy in which the heroes just want to get high and laid .", "it 's what a stoner comedy should be . it 's what a buddy comedy should be . two for the price of one sure as hell ai n't bad ... the funniest thing i 've seen in months .", "amid the insane goofiness there 's some serious stuff happening that actually speaks to us .", "so disreputable in its premise and so fly-by-night in its technique that it 's easy to enjoy . it 's unburdened by aspirations", "nearly every gut-wrenching turn is somehow derived from an ethnic slur , juvenile sight gag , or the glorification of an illegal substance and its side effects .", "a simple , brain-dead chuckler that might as well have been called dude , where 's my burger ?", "will seem a classic if you 're stoned , and only slightly less funny if you 're straight .", "this is one more ` youth movie ' that 'll put years on anyone over 25 .", "the outlandish premise and greasy title may be a little hard to swallow , but danny leiner 's proudly moronic film embraces its boneheadedness so cheerfully that its lowbrow charms are nearly irresistible .", "if it 's possible for a movie to be sly and full-on raunchy at the same time , danny leiner 's p.o.v.-shifting stoner-buddy comedy is it .", "the funniest road trip comedy since todd phillips 's ` road trip . '", "repeatedly , as per road-movie formula , harold and kumar come to expect sex and/or druggy delirium , only to be disappointed .", "often , the boys ' misadventures attain a farcical perpetual motion that 's as funny as anything playing out on today 's movie screens .", "a peppy , satisfying comedy that could soon become a minor classic .", "the rare funny scenes are dominated by predictable sex or drug jokes .", "it 's a delightful surprise that MOV is so hilarious for pretty much all the reasons it should be so predictably brainless .", "you 're going to think i 'm insane , or kidding , but honest-to-god this is one of the year 's best films", "what grounds the film , always , is the likableness of leads cho and penn. .", "instantly forgettable but fun .", "a well-paced and extremely funny yuk-fest that never takes itself too seriously -- and neither should you .", "a nasty , cynical , and outrageously funny look at racism and xenophobia framed around a pot-driven food run .", "a stoner comedy with a clear-headed sense of wit ...", "harold and kumar give brain-dead comedies a good name", "this new comedy offers `` american pie '' type teen humor with john cho and kal penn playing the leads .", "what 's impressive about the jokes is how smart so many of them are", "a funny stoner buddy movie , with nods to those original multicultural high times guys , cheech and chong , and flashes of the kind of party-on comedy that saturday night live slackers wayne and garth made most excellent .", "if you want to laugh loud and long , go see it . but for heaven 's sake , check your tender sensibilities at the door .", "... the movie has delivery that often overshadows the punch lines , and it 's not very accessible .", "silliness is the movie 's only ambition , but there 's something mind-blowing about seeing a fratty comedy through two pairs of asian-american eyes , particularly when those eyes belong to actors who were token minorities in other dumb comedies .", "winds up a sweetly nonchalant and excellently unwhiny allegory of seeking and gaining entry to the caucasian fortress that is present-day america , or at least nocturnal new jersey .", "i will tell you without compunction that i laughed many times during the film , and i will add that 90 percent of those laughs were at things i can not repeat here .", "this is a hilarious , fever-dream of a road-trip movie .", "as unsatisfying as its titular fast food chain 's repulsive mini-burgers , leiner 's film shoots only for scatological silliness .", "the sad reality is that the picture exists in this dimension where it will , for the space of far too many weeks , torment and agonize average , innocent americans by its very existence .", "made me laugh loud and often as much if not more than any other movie i 've seen this year .", "that cho and penn are such likable actors and are so funny in their roles earns the movie more slack than it probably deserves and prevents it from being just another gross-out comedy .", "what could have just pushed the usual youth comedy buttons is instead a crafty spoof on issues from racial politics to american highway monoculture that belies its cover -lrb- and marketing -rrb- as only a dumb gross-out laffer .", "... fares a whole lot better than the majority of its stoner-comedy brethren ...", "an over-the-top romp which rehashes lots of dumb drug jokes but breaks far enough away from the tried-and-true teen formula to earn a high mark even from this jaded critic .", "... for all its juvenile shortcomings , there 's a sweet and beguiling charm to the film .", "a deserving modern classic , even if only for being so bold as to describe katie holmes ' breasts as being `` the exact opposite '' of the holocaust .", "you 'll laugh , you 'll laugh , and you 'll laugh % u2014especially if you see the movie in the cannabis enhanced glaze that the filmmakers intend .", "` this night is about the american dream , ' kumar promises , and you know what ? it sort of is . -lsb- blu-ray -rsb-", "one of the funniest films i 've seen in a years .", "extremely dumb and vulgar comedy ; not for kids .", "a multilayered goof on ethnic stereotypes ...", "a whacky , racially refreshing breather in hollywood 's white-dominated , politically over-correct bummer of a mainstream culture", "it always takes an unexpected route . often unexpectedly stupid , yes . but there 's also something weirdly original about jon hurwitz and hayden schlossberg 's script .", "the jokes are n't exactly smokin ' , but there are enough high points to make this a gratifying pot comedy .", "h&k has a lot to say about smoking pot and the silliness of its illegality ... a `` marijuana kills '' public service commercial ... is a stroke of satiric genius .", "harold and kumar just need to go , period !", "the multicultural cast gives a shred of substance to what 's otherwise a standard adolescent gross-out flick .", "in those rare instances when it 's not being a dumb comedy , harold and kumar is a rather crafty satire of racial stereotypes -lrb- which , it must be said , traffics in a few stereotypes of its own -rrb- .", "it does have one thing on its side : it 's freakin ' hilarious , man .", "an epic pothead movie with laughs and smarts", "sweetly silly .", "attacks of hunger and indigestion , comic hallucinations and episodes of flat-out insensibility are scrambled together on this goofy roller coaster ride of dope .", "one of those silly , rude , crude , buddy adventure movies that hits the right spot .", "h&kgtwc is a smart person 's fart movie ! it 's like a american road pie trip for the intelligente - the partying intelligente", "one secret of fiction is the creation of unique characters who are precisely defined . the secret of comedy is the same , with the difference being that the characters must be obsessed with unwholesome but understandable human desires .", "when the 90 minutes are up , you 'll likely wonder why you laughed so hard and so often at something so silly .", "this gonzo ganja comedy is propelled more by sly charm , sharp wit and stinging social satire than by mere smoke jokes .", "whoever thought that one of the best times at the movies this year would feature a shot of doogie howser snorting cocaine out of the small of a woman 's back ?", "what makes harold and kumar so good is their demented selves -- you 'll love the characters .", "perfectly paired , john cho and kal penn take the stereotypes of the brilliant asian and the genius indian for a joyride .", "it 's enthusiastically vulgar , yet it adroitly takes on the topic of racial stereotyping , a surprisingly effective combination for a comedy .", "plays it a little too safe and hackneyed with the comedy , but the characters and the talented actors who play them are a refreshing change of pace that make the movie feel like a minor buddy-comedy revolution .", "it panders and aims way too low way too frequently .", "will never become a teen classic , to be remembered lovingly as the film that shaped your teenage years but one thing 's for sure : it 's very funny and wonderfully dumb .", "there 's an audience that will appreciate this , but they may struggle to see it through the smoke .", "go ahead , it 's what you crave .", "while unabashedly unsophisticated , this flick is subtly smarter , more audacious and more finely tuned than other movies of its ilk ...", "warm , crazily inventive and sometimes hysterical ...", "behind all the farrelly-esque gross-out humour and cheech & chong-isms lies a sensitive little picture with a deftly handled anti-racism slant .", "it 's all as serious as a white castle slider .", "... this film is dreadful ! horrible ! terrible ! aaaarrggghhh !", "funny and brave ; it 's tradition with a refreshing new twist .", "frankly , if there is n't already another harold and kumar movie in the works , then there should be .", "if told as a story by a guest at a party , `` MOV '' would undoubtedly end with the phrase : `` i guess you had to be there . ''", "-lsb- cho and penn -rsb- form an immediately likeable twosome with enough chemistry to carry this comedy ... past some obvious faults .", "it does n't make any sense , but damn if it does n't pull it off in style .", "while harold & kumar is n't quite a low-brow revelation on the scale of clerks , it is one of film history 's more inspired examples of off-color jerseyana .", "-lsb- harold and kumar -rsb- share a quality the overgrown adolescents in films like this are never allowed to possess : they 're witty , focused , and highly aware .", "i do n't know if it 's a revolution , but it 's a step in the right direction . funny , too .", "the laugh ratio in this run-on of skits is pretty low , at least to the unaltered mind of one who 's seen enough of these films and eaten enough white castle burgers to last a lifetime .", "the most gut-bustingly funny movie so far this year .", "though too scattershot and uneven to be recommended without reservation , it has a loose , goofball charm that makes it a pleasant surprise and may earn it cult status .", "has the coarse exterior of a typical ` stoner classic , ' but also a prominent undercurrent that is sweet , clever , and even a little thoughtful .", "all too often , the movie piles on ` shock ' comedy without the hidden art that makes shock palatable as comedy .", "crude , tasteless , sophomoric and crass . it is also , sometimes , funny .", "a slacker tale that balances the gross-out gags and idiotic drug humor with some sublimely silly nonsense .", "just as mike judge 's office space has become an anthem for all us gen x cubicle slaves , harold and kumar will resonate deeply with anyone who attended high school in the 1990s and at least saw a joint .", "this is dude , where 's my script ?", "has enough laughs and misadventures to satisfy its built-in audience , but it wo n't win any converts .", "a little more disturbing than it intends to be , and in the amateurish hands of director danny leiner -lrb- dude , where 's my car -rrb- not as funny as it might have been .", "it leaves you hungry -- for a better movie ." ], "summary": "the likable leads and subversion of racial stereotypes elevate harold and kumar above the typical stoner comedy .", "id": "16982" }, { "movie": "scary_movie_3", "reviews": [ "just middling funny , with no truly memorable high points and a sum impact that goes poof ! before you 've left the parking garage .", "be afraid , be very afraid .", "it 's better than the second film ...", "this pg-13 has r-rated stuff .", "fun , stupid stuff with no sense of a narrative arc or plot structure ... but hey , it made me laugh anyway .", "as with scary movie parts one and two , you pays your money , you gets your laughs , and you wo n't remember a thing in a few months .", "zucker 's slapstick may have the satiric delicacy of a chainsaw lobotomy , but it has n't harmed the franchise .", "basically , any movie that suffers from a lack of charlie sheen has got problems .", "if you 're looking for anything other than a parody clipshow , you wo n't find it .", "this is just a stab in the dark , the wildest of guesses on my part , but i do n't think michael jackson would recommend `` MOV . ''", "delivers plenty of decent laughs in its short running time .", "often in spectacular bad taste , but like its predecessors it made me laugh hard and often .", "algumas gags funcionam , mas numa raz\u0433o de cerca de 30 % , eu diria . portanto , talvez esta produ\u0437\u0433o valha o pre\u0437o do ingresso - isto \u0439 , caso voc\u043a consiga 70 % de desconto .", "leave your brain in the foyer , and your taste in the toilets .", "the only thing more worn than the humour is a tired-looking nielsen .", "the film 's comic philosophy might best be summed up this way : if you think it 's funny seeing sheen bang his head against a lamp once , then it 's twice as funny to see him do it twice .", "this is not one of those occasions when you feel like giving zucker an even break .", "MOV turns out to be an odd combination of the old-fashioned and the hip . i found it too awkward a combination to be entirely successful .", "it 's time to stop , i 'm afraid .", "the latest in this popular spoof franchise is funnier than scary movie 2 -lrb- which means i came close to laughing at least once . -rrb-" ], "summary": "though an improvement over the second scary movie , the laughs are still inconsistent .", "id": "11195" }, { "movie": "1110288-count_of_monte_cristo", "reviews": [ "-lrb- rises -rrb- above its oh-so-hollywood rejiggering and its conventional direction to give the film a soul and an unabashed sense of good old-fashioned escapism .", "if well-made escapist entertainment is what you 're after and the nonstop cgi orgies have grown wearisome , give this one a shot .", "caviezel embodies the transformation of his character completely .", "the best revenge may just be living well because this film , unlike other dumas adaptations , is far more likened to a treasure than a lengthy jail sentence .", "a film so short on style and verve it feels lifeless ; audiences might feel imprisoned in the ch\u00e2teau d'if , praying for escape or quick death . thankfully , one need not tunnel out of a movie theater .", "the film excels at the small touches .", "provides caviezel with a star-making turn , and he picks up the gauntlet with two gloved hands .", "it ai n't art , by a long shot , but unlike last year 's lame musketeer , this dumas adaptation entertains .", "fine escapism -lrb- sometimes literally -rrb- .", "just like the deli sandwich : lots of ham , lots of cheese , with a sickly sweet coating to disguise its excrescence until just after -lrb- or during -rrb- consumption of its second half .", "overall , the film is n't anything spectacular , but it 's moderately enjoyable and should please fans of the old saying about revenge being a dish best served cold .", "this new movie version of the alexandre dumas classic is the stuff of high romance , brought off with considerable wit .", "plum and peachy entertainment .", "betrays the author 's intent and makes wholesale changes in the well-known plot .", "-lsb- a -rsb- pleasant diversion .", "a little more action a little earlier on would n't have hurt . but overall this is solid entertainment .", "-lsb- an -rsb- above average piece of junk .", "frequently entertaining and sometimes lovely to look at .", "there 's a certain cheese factor at play , but count remains utterly thrilling and enthralling .", "it 's a count for our times .", "definitely worth a matinee .", "neither among the best nor the worst of the lot , it falls somewhere inconspicuously in between , serving up both lively and ill-fitting performances as well as lush backdrops and the requisite derring-do .", "it 's a fine , old-fashioned-movie movie , which is to say it 's unburdened by pretensions to great artistic significance .", "the latest movie reincarnation of alexandre dumas ' the MOV is swashbuckling fun . it is not , however , a great movie .", "solid , matinee-style entertainment that 's fun while it lasts .", "what really makes it special is that it pulls us into its world , gives us a hero whose suffering and triumphs we can share , surrounds him with interesting characters and sends us out of the theater feeling we 've shared a great adventure .", "a fresh and largely enjoyable film .", "you can count on snoozing .", "enough weight to keep your intellect engaged in between all the period fun .", "it 's quite entertaining .", "the story taps into a primal emotion , the lust for revenge against those who have wronged us .", "its lack of quality earns it a place alongside those other two recent dumas botch-jobs , the man in the iron mask and the musketeer .", "inspiration and originality may be in short supply , but the movie gets the job done .", "soon to be bottled and sold , luis guzman is a fish out of the soderbergh pond but a potent scene-stealer no less .", "it 's another retelling of alexandre dumas ' classic . why ? who knows , but it works under the direction of kevin reynolds .", "a good story with solid acting .", "slapped a smile on my face and less stress on my mind ...", "reynolds is a deft and vivid visual storyteller whose flair for action pyrotechnics never devolves into incoherence .", "the filmmakers focus more on personalities and emotions than on tumult and mayhem , and the results amount to old-fashioned fun .", "this is middling dumas all the way .", "the MOV gets a disneyfied treatment that would have played better had they digitized the actors", "without something more stirring to finish things off , the MOV wastes 100 minutes of decent buildup .", "old-form moviemaking at its best .", "a surprisingly effective throwback to the heyday of swashbuckling movie adventures and the pleasures of pulp-fiction-masquerading-as-great-literature", "the new version takes liberties with the story but uses them wisely to add excitement .", "literary purists may not be pleased , but as far as mainstream matinee-style entertainment goes , it does a bang-up job of pleasing the crowds .", "there 's a thin line between likably old-fashioned and fuddy-duddy , and the MOV ... never quite settles on either side .", "a disappointing enactment of a fine story , and it feels far longer than it is .", "the modern remake of dumas 's story is long on narrative and -lrb- too -rrb- short on action .", "turns out to be a rather romantic swashbuckling romp back in time .", "all in all , the MOV is okay , but it is surely no classic , like the novel upon which it is based .", "a meatier deeper beginning and/or ending would have easily tipped this film into the `` a '' range , as is , it 's a very very strong `` b + . '' i love the robust middle of this picture .", "a rousingly old-fashioned swashbuckler with an abundance of vigorous action and nary a trace of wink-wink irony .", "-lsb- reynolds -rsb- takes a classic story , casts attractive and talented actors and uses a magnificent landscape to create a feature film that is wickedly fun to watch .", "the film will dazzle you with stunning camera work , superb acting and swordplay -- plus best of all -- a sublime script .", "does better by alexandre dumas than last fall 's on-the-cheap the musketeer did .", "refreshingly well-done , with plenty of action and romance to thrill younger audiences , and a nice mix of old and new dramatic -- as well as historic -- elements to interest the older folk who 've seen it all before .", "i hope dumas is plotting his revenge against hollywood from beyond the grave . i 'd pay good money to see that .", "like an amateur entertainer who thinks his material works when , really , there is nothing remotely special about it .", "who would have thought that kevin reynolds would finally get the formula right ?", "you know you 're in for a good ol' popcorn-munching time when the movie 's tagline is a bad pun on the title of a piece of fine literature .", "strong supporting performances , from harris in particular , help make up for the uneven performances of the two leads ...", "dumas lite : less filling , still tastes pretty good", "while many would rightfully question why there is need for another take on alexander dumas ' treasure , reynolds has made a decent job of it .", "this is visually stunning and a masterpiece .", "a thoroughly enjoyable movie for older kids .", "where gladiator failed to give an adequate sense of how its hero grew and what he learned during his trials . ... monte cristo , on the other hand , takes its time .", "a preposterous , expansive and self-conscious attempt to resurrect the historical spectacular .", "... a straightforward and beautifully accoutered period piece , rife with technical authenticity and eye-pleasing production values .", "apesar de algumas altera\u0443\u0448es lament\u0440veis com rela\u0443\u0441o ao livro de alexandre dumas , o filme \u0436 interessante e se beneficia das atua\u0443\u0448es de caviezel e pearce .", "the week 's guilty pleasure ... a gorgeously photographed , sumptuously designed adaptation of the dumas swashbuckler boasting the most ludicrous dialogue since director kevin reynolds 's waterworld .", "waterworld 's kevin reynolds is simply the wrong director to attempt yet another adaptation of alexandre dumas 's classic tale ... his rendition is lifeless and flat .", "it 's not bad , but it 's just flawed enough for us to wonder about its purposelessness .", "a piece of overripe cheese ... with some of the most unintentionally funny dialogue in recent memory and featuring one of the blandest , dumbest heroes you can imagine .", "jay wolpert unwisely tries to spice up his screenplay with lines dumas somehow forgot to write , such as when mondego cracks to his wife , `` well , are n't you a piece of work ? ''", "the conclusion is just too rushed to produce a satisfying internal evolution for a character that could have been great .", "no es una cinta impecable ; pose\u00e9 errores de direcci\u00f3n art\u00edstica , gui\u00f3n y est\u00e1 desapegada a la novela original ; pero entretiene .", "the best swashbuckler since the mask of zorro .", "dumas 's classic tale is such a rattling good yarn , there 's nothing you can do to derail it as it hurtles down the track .", "solid entertainment , but lacks a certain gusto", "reynolds ' remake brings nothing new to the table , but it 's still an enjoyable throwback to the swashbucklers of old .", "all in all , it 's a pretty good execution of a story that 's a lot richer than the ones hollywood action screenwriters usually come up with on their own .", "the bottom line is that this movie is well worth a $ 3.00 video rental but not necessarily a $ 7.00 ticket price .", "count on count putting a smile on your face .", "a playful adaptation of the book ...", "ahhhh ... revenge is sweet !", "it trusts the story it sets out to tell .", "i was , literally , at the edge of my seat , or pounding my thighs with my fist in delight .", "this movie has everything -- swashbucklers , swords fights , masked festivals , hot air balloons , and whips .", "of over a dozen film versions of this story , it is one of the best , with solid performances and lavish production values .", "the best swashbuckler for most of the family since the mask of zorro .", "a handsome production in search of some energy .", "the classic book had a lot of complex , smart things to say about revenge . the movie does n't .", "aside from its sheer spectacle -- shot by andrew dunn , it is a sumptuous , if slow-moving , business .", "what 's not to like about a rousing saga of injustice , betrayal , revenge and righteousness , played out over decades , in exotic locations , by elegantly costumed characters who frequently cross swords ?", "at more than two hours , some of the slower moments might have you counting the minutes until the lights come up , but this popcorn flick will hardly leave you feeling robbed .", "monte cristo smartly emphasizes the well-wrought story and omits needless chase scenes and swordfights as the revenge unfolds .", "this is the kind of movie that used to be right at home at the saturday matinee , and it still is .", "a rewarding throwback to adventure movies of the 1930s and '40s .", "an unexpectedly entertaining slice of old-fashioned swashbuckle , the kind of sweeping , periodically absurd picture that was cranked out on an assembly line in the 1940s .", "this most resilient of stories has been made into another thoroughly enjoyable movie .", "a mediocre production that nevertheless will strike a deep and resonant chord with viewers .", "audiences and readers began cheering alexandre dumas ' the MOV in 1846 , and goodwill likely will continue through the tale 's latest movie reincarnation .", "when wolpert 's thudding dialogue is combined with reynolds ' tendency to direct things in the most bald-faced way , the results are not good .", "mark twain once defined a `` classic '' as `` a book which people praise and do n't read . '' this adaptation is doomed to `` classic '' status as well .", "this swashbuckler , in which buckles are swashed too perfunctorily , is a middling entertainment .", "its swashes are effectively buckled in all the right places .", "i figure you 'll eat it if you 're hungry enough .", "a dull and depressing dodo of a movie , nicely appointed but lethargic and lackluster .", "a classic tale of revenge that comes with a bit of action , humor , and romance .", "as a revenge thriller , the movie is serviceable , but it does n't really deliver the delicious guilty pleasure of the better film versions .", "director kevin reynolds handles action scenes beautifully , but he is unsure with the actors .", "if the MOV does n't transform caviezel into a movie star , then the game is even more rigged than it was two centuries ago .", "the MOV is the cinematic equivalent of comfort food : familiar and satisfying .", "if the count shows its age at all , it 's the way the revenge parable is framed -- not as a moral or ethical matter , but a spiritual one .", "this delicious adventure of crude betrayal and elegant revenge is yummy even when reheated by director kevin reynolds .", "solid , unpretentious , thoroughly competent film ...", "has all the earmarks of a grand to-do , including attractive stars , lavish costumes and gorgeous vistas . yet it still lacks a certain zip .", "... in a marketplace littered with films that studios have unloaded to make a buck or two ... `` the MOV '' stands out like a treasure chest half-buried in the sand .", "dumas would feel insulted that the characters he breathed life into were no more than charicatures prancing across the screen in a period action film .", "this feature is about as necessary as a hole in the head", "will not top anyone 's list of great literary adaptations , but it qualifies nonetheless as a swashbuckling guilty pleasure .", "kevin reynolds 's telling of the alexandre dumas classic delightfully evokes the halcyon days of screen swashbucklers .", "... everything a good , old-fashioned adventure story should be : daring , flamboyant , exciting , heroic , and supremely romantic .", "a big , vacuous , sometimes exciting glamour-puss of a movie .", "it 's extremely well-made , even though all the guts have been sucked out in an attempt to make it politically correct .", "ofrece una buena oportunidad de cultura -lrb- aunque sea condensada -rrb- que bien vale la pena aprovechar .", "opulent parisian mansions , gorgeous napoleonic era costumes , and artistic cinematography wowed me almost as much as those dynamic performances by jim caviezel and guy pearce ." ], "summary": "though it may not reach for any new artistic heights , the MOV is an old-fashioned yet enjoyable swashbuckler .", "id": "10118" }, { "movie": "the_counterfeiters_2007", "reviews": [ "-lsb- director ruzowitzky -rsb- moves MOV along at a fast clip that covers a lot of ground in an hour and a half .", "this rarely happens , but i ca n't find a single negative thing to say about this intriguing , beautifully mounted slice of cinema .", "indeed , what 's clear about MOV is that it is intended to be a holocaust film where the archetypal facets associated with the era ... are reduced to a filmic footnote .", "MOV , written and directed by stefan ruzowitzky , is a morally challenging twist on the long and honorable tradition of forgery movies .", "much of `` counterfeiters '' is actually pretty thrilling , as sorowitsch , a classic taciturn anti-hero in the humphrey bogart or william holden mold , struggles with whether to go along with the nazi plan or figure out some way of undoing it from within .", "the real ` trick ' or feat that 's successfully performed by MOV is making us care about a character who , on the surface at least , is n't particularly likable or sympathetic .", "... the film 's hermetic feel often isolates what should be moments of greater emotional wallop .", "-lsb- it -rsb- manages the difficult task of illuminating the size of the nazis ' horror while still focusing on a few men in the middle of it .", "it survives its melodramatic excesses because of the inherent fascination of its subject and an outstanding lead performance .", "a work of entertainment that 's also an honest-to-god work of art .", "MOV is an accurate procedural , just not a very engrossing or moving film .", "a bold study of unbearable moral ambiguity .", "el resultado es notable , tanto como inquietante y hasta quiz\u00e1s inc\u00f3moda reflexi\u00f3n sobre el instinto de supervivencia del ser humano , y tambi\u00e9n como pieza cinematogr\u00e1fica .", "what would you do if your only chance of survival involved aiding the nazi regime ?", "markovics expertly projects every craven instinct and heartfelt yearning of the complex protagonist , making MOV an experience as satisfying emotionally as intellectually . -lsb- blu-ray -rsb-", "ruzowitzky does a fine job of capturing the claustrophia of the setting , as well as conveying the moral complexity of these characters ' choices", "2008 's oscar-winning foreign film is unquestionably good , a wholly absorbing and taut drama that is as engaging as it is powerful . but oscar-worthy ? there 's room for debate .", "sally sorowitsch is the little gangster who outsmarts the big gangsters . what could be more gratifying than that ?", "as writer-director stefan ruzowitzky shows , powerfully , affectingly , in MOV , the privileges experienced by this small team of jews and criminals came at a price .", "it 's a true story of the human condition , the holocaust and history .", "-lsb- director -rsb- ruzowitzky wisely knows he does n't have to be overly emphatic in orchestrating the tension of both the moral conundrum and the always uncertain fate of the inmates .", "at its best -- and queasiest -- MOV asks disturbing questions more commonly found in the survivor literature of primo levi or bruno bettelheim than at the movies .", "MOV joins that class of films like tsotsi and the sea inside that are just good enough to look like they matter", "the fresh perspective and challenging moral questions make for a historical drama with vital relevance to contemporary audiences .", "the moral dilemmas posed by this operation are dramatically rendered , and without once resorting to cant .", "a psychological prison drama in line with midnight express , but the holocaust is front and center in the viewer 's mind , as well as the film 's", "demonstrates that no matter how many holocaust stories the movies tell , there are always new and unexpected ones waiting to be revealed .", "-lsb- director -rsb- ruzowitzky refreshingly keeps the movie free from any pat answers , letting the audience members imagine what course of action they might take in similar circumstances .", "MOV is not quite a great film . it is , however , close enough to being great that it 's appropriately flawed , like a near-perfect forgery .", "the fascinating , unsentimental true story of a group of concentration camp prisoners forced to help the nazis perpetrate the largest counterfeiting operation in history .", "depicts the efforts of a russian jew to survive a nazi concentration camp with his creativity and chutzpah .", "ruzowitzky 's faux-doc shaky-cam zooms are less about the banality of evil than the inappropriateness of style .", "-lsb- director -rsb- ruzowitzky 's straightforward approach to this unusual story and cinematographer benedict neunfels 's documentary-style immediacy transcend the now well-worn holocaust genre , bringing another side of the tragedy into unflinching focus .", "ruzowitzky depicts the care and attention to detail that went into the operation .", "mainly interesting for its premise and noteworthy for the main performance . -lsb- not -rsb- nearly as deserving of accolades as many of the foreign language films that were ignored by the academy .", "it is a must-see , especially in this dreary movie season .", "this is a gripping account of psychological turmoil that 's also intellectually challenging .", "based on actual events , this is a dramatic war movie that shows the inner conflict at work in a group of prisoners stuck in an ethical quandary over how the cost of their survival might cause the deaths of many others .", "though similar to schindler 's list , this riveting holocaust drama , also based on a true story , features actors who throw themselves wholly into the violence of a brutal concentration camp as they practice a trade that could keep them alive .", "a story of high risk and equally high principles in which life and death balances on the scale of usefulness to the cause of barbaric madmen .", "rarely has a film set the starkest of basic moral questions in such sharp-edged yet subtle relief ... . like one of the master forger 's brazenly passed-off copies -- so bold , unflinching and brilliant that , to any eye , it 's flawless .", "this dark arty film also has some entertainment value due to austrian actor markovics and his ability to inhabit his complicated character in a convincing way .", "karl markovics is exceptionally well cast . he 's not wildly expressive , but his physicality -- a small frame , a nose that bends northwest due to events we can only imagine -- is enough to carry the film 's ambiguities .", "this richly layered allegorical clash between a criminal and a communist , pits the urge for survival despite one 's debasement , against defiance , collective rebellion and martyrdom - the very impulses that advance history , but at enormous cost .", "skilfully acted , written and directed , MOV is a powerful and provocative work .", "the winner of this year 's oscar for best foreign-language film puts devils , as well as angels , on the head of the pin .", "the heart of the story is the horrible choice of survival , while helping your oppressors , or fighting them with sabotage and risking your life and others .", "this oscar-winning film ranks as the most unnerving , disturbing , true-life account yet of endurance under nazi oppression .", "ruzowitzky has some fine performers in the three key roles but there is a hint of unsubtlety in some of the other characters and situations . the obvious is rammed home .", "gripping , but would have more impact if it had been staged -- like paul verhoeven 's ` black book ' -- in the straightforward manner of a classic hollywood suspense film .", "challenging and thought-provoking .", "this is a first-rate piece of film-making that should appeal to fans of last year 's the lives of others .", "an absorbing new perspective on the moral , physical and emotional adversity faced in the concentration camps , with one of the most unusual anti-heroes , of any genre , of recent years .", "MOV is anchored in markovics ' central turn as a chilly egotist forced , for the first time , to consider others ' needs .", "a sharp and compelling war drama that delivers on the promise of its astonishing true-life origins .", "sensibly , this never takes sides ... and it proves a chilling reminder of the dilemmas faced by those placed in an impossible situation .", "stefan ruzowitzky 's meshing of plot with debate is impressive . his film is compelling and clever .", "haunting , horrible , brilliant .", "the moral quandary of nazi complicity is revisited in taut drama MOV .", "only wwii junkies will find much of anything worth embracing here .", "it is a mark of the filmmaking and storytelling intelligence of MOV that ruzowitzky neither pours on the melodrama nor plays coy with the reality of things .", "without doing anything so divisive as taking sides , counterfeiters pays sympathetic attention to those who play their cards to win even when the rules are terrible , not least because the remarkable markovics is so riveting as an unsaintly survivor .", "skillful , absorbing .", "the trouble is that the storytelling and filmmaking are routine -lrb- surely faux-documentary handheld camerawork is the most overused cliche in modern movies -rrb- , even when the human drama is not .", "while MOV does indeed contain a good story , it is by no means a good film .", "curt wit and intermittent humor allow dialogue to be one of the strongest features of this drama and each actor delivers lines with a truth rarely seen in cinema .", "the moral conundrum at the heart of austrian director stefan ruzowitzky 's MOV is worthy of kafka or dostoevsky .", "austrian writer-director stefan ruzowitzky includes a lot of the peculiar challenges faced by the men of operation bernhard .", "the honesty with which the film looks at the inmates ' differing choices is really killing .", "a conventional mixture of thriller and moral drama , the film is unsettling in both intentional and unintentional ways .", "an impressively directed drama with a superb central performance from markovics and a gripping story to tell .", "far more than another holocaust drama ; it 's an examination of complex moral shadows that make us capable of cowardice and courage at the same time .", "ruzowitzky honors all the talent with his strong , beautifully structured and eloquent script . upscale audiences will embrace the fine results .", "the moral dilemmas marshalled by austrian director stefan ruzowitzky prove absolutely gripping , and the whole film is alive with style and intelligence .", "ruzowitsky 's film , austerely shot and scripted with terse wit , grants itself a licence to make art in exchange for entertaining us with a gripping story .", "a very thoughtful and imaginative effort .", "MOV is a story that had to be told , and german director stefan ruzowitzky tells it plainly but well .", "this parable of fakery and compromise asks the most difficult question : how much would you be willing to sacrifice in the interest of your own survival ? and how grateful do you feel that you will probably never have to answer it ?", "an awesomely powerful movie exploring not just the day-to-day hell of life in a death camp , but also the moral quandary of helping the third reich win the war .", "the moral implications of this scheme are so charged and turbulent that they defy neat resolution . if the film 's inhabitants are walking a tightrope , it occasionally seems that that its writer-director is too .", "full of the weird details that , though unsurprising on one level , are so jarringly wrong that they seem fresh .", "director stefan rukowitzky keeps his camera -- wisely -- inside the forgers ' separate barracks . they , and we , can only guess at what is going on in the rest of the camp . but it haunts them still .", "-lsb- star karl -rsb- markovics largely rescues the film with his mesmerizingly layered , steady performance as a man who solves the problem of compromise by refusing to admit that he 's compromising .", "like most films about the holocaust , MOV , a brisk , tough movie from the austrian director stefan ruzowitzky , is a survivor 's tale .", "writer-director stefan ruzowitzky tells -lsb- this story -rsb- with cool wit and subtle tension .", "full of chilling , ironic details .", "MOV moves slowly in the first half but improves markedly in the second . the latter is the meat of the film and is what makes it worthy of its oscar nomination for best foreign language film .", "as much a comment on peace as on war , criminals do the right thing in the wrong context for the murderous boss in the suburbs . dark comedy at its finest .", "MOV is a testament to guile . -lsb- director -rsb- ruzowitzky scored the picture with tangos , and the tangos are meant to be sally 's music -- seductive , insolent , triumphant .", "the story is mesmerizing . it 's too bad the movie is never as good . the characters are just too one-dimensional .", "making a film about the holocaust but using a very specific and personal story is what makes MOV stand out . it 's the specifics of sorowitsch 's story that rivet us .", "what makes this movie worthwhile is its depiction of a struggle of conscience . what would you do in such a situation ? would you sacrifice another life to extend your own ?", "based on a real-life nazi operation , the film is a tense drama with performances that elevate the movie to the front rank of films set in concentration camps .", "the story has moments of great humanity and terrible brutality but comes off as a strange hybrid of espionage caper and concentration-camp movie .", "writer-director stefan ruzowitzky creates an atmosphere devoid of color or light , in which the desperate need to survive is balanced against the guilt and shame for doing so . but it is the performances that are the most effective .", "the film establishes a complex , compressed moral universe , in which choices are severely limited .", "is this the last word on the holocaust ? no . but nothing is . and nothing ever should be .", "ruzowitzky likes to pose questions and clarify the contradictions around them , but he does n't pretend to have the answers .", "it 's impossible not to respond to MOV and the haunting questions it raises .", "deft and fascinating handling of a moral quandary in a nazi concentration camp .", "perhaps a tad too cerebral , the film is nevertheless a very well-mounted and acted production that treats its themes with considerable depth .", "the film does shed light an another facet of nazi history , and it does it with an attention to the complexity of human nature that makes it worthy of its oscar win .", "there are no simplistic morality lessons or tidy resolutions in MOV , but it asks provocative questions .", "plays the concentration camp drama to dynamic effect .", "the worst you could say is that it 's memorably diverting , but as worsts go , that 's a pretty damning indictment of a holocaust movie .", "slick , exciting , emotionally trenchant - well done all around .", "turns out to be just as challenging and effective a political drama as persepolis and 4 months .", "it 's an absorbing , humane winner .", "austrian director-writer stefan ruzowitzky does an extraordinary job of setting up this central moral dilemma : of making the situation both credible and not nearly as ethically cut and dry as it might sound .", "a drama based on true historical events that leaves no conscience unchallenged .", "... the powerful , gripping , yet multifaceted and largely true story of MOV is a film not to be missed .", "an especially impressive achievement .", "mia istoria synarpastika alliotiki , apallagmeni ap ' ta epanalambanomena enohika symplegmata tis pleiopsifias ton antistoihon taksidion stin epohi ton nazi , kai mpoliasmeni me enan aprosdokita skliro kai tairiasto synaisthimatiko realismo , anthropon poy ks", "it won the foreign language oscar and there is nothing fake or contrived about this astonishing true story about the men in a german concentration camp who fought their own little war for survival .", "the black and white blueprints of movies like schindler 's list have been tossed out , replaced with one that bleeds gray .", "ruzowitzky 's film is certainly a worthy one -- and an entertaining , intelligent one -- anchored to one of the most mesmerizing performances i 've seen in a while .", "films about moral issues are not uncommon . films that leave the questions open are considerably rarer . this film trusts the viewer to make his own moral judgements as well as dramatizing a nearly forgotten chapter of history .", "it does peer deeper into the complicated moral quandaries experienced by hitler 's victims than most films on this topic do .", "... an honest effort to sound painful human depths .", "this dark , absorbing thriller is not just a moral exercise in the awful choices faced by those determined to survive history 's worst genocide . it invites us to imagine ourselves in the shoes of a not-quite-lovable rogue .", "... -lsb- puts -rsb- a human face on the holocaust ..." ], "summary": "MOV is a gripping account of one prisoner 's moral dilemma , superbly portrayed by karl markovics .", "id": "770676882" }, { "movie": "10010658-orphan", "reviews": [ "MOV is as much a high-tension , frightening thriller as it is a straight-up horror flick , at least it is until it devolves into outright silliness in the final act .", "a carefully staged deconstruction of our assumptions about horrorshows about preternaturally manipulative and malevolent children", "a difficult child that horror-loving parents will find hard to adopt as one of their own .", "something is n't quite working in the intended way when the audience 's primary reaction for two-plus -lrb- ! -rrb- hours is raucous laughter .", "... more concerned with producing cheap thrills and melodramatic effects than creating any sense of mystery or suspense .", "david johnson 's script plays fair with red herrings before a devilish denouement with all the torque of a good twist . esther does n't just want to topple the colemans ' house of cards . she wants to torch it , and `` MOV '' is gruesome , gripping material .", "this is the rare fright flick that is actually grounded in some genuine human emotion .", "for the most part , esther is an entertaining and solid addition to the evil child canon .", "`` a superior entertainment . ''", "collet-serra 's film succeeds in being genuinely creepy , is commendably well acted by all concerned , and contains the best twist since the crying game .", "it feels too slow and moody for the halloween crowd and too absurd and silly for more discriminating horror fans .", "has enough kinky grand guignol moments and scenes of sheer terror to make a quick killing at the box office-even though it borrows from just about every other bad seed flick hollywood has ever unleashed .", "it 's a cut above most spooky-kid movies , with a twist that sets it apart .", "oh , how i wish it were true that MOV was a knowing parody , instead of an unwitting one ...", "the best thing about MOV , is the way it plays with the genre 's overused staples and its sophisticated audience 's expectations .", "as much fun as it is to follow MOV 's improbable developments , there is also a dark undercurrent that lingers with you afterward . it 's that troubling theme that takes the movie from good to almost great .", "occasionally sinks into ludicrousness , but has enough suspense , chills and surprises to keep avid horror fans viscerally compelled and ultimately satisfied .", "scary-kid movies just are n't what they used to be .", "the film rests on furhman 's shoulders , and she 's up to the task .", "although reasonably , cheesily suspenseful , the movie takes a long time to get going . its tagline , ` there 's something wrong with esther , ' turns out to be a masterpiece of understatement .", "it takes too long to get started , it pulls some key punches , its dialogue is deeply uninteresting , it relies way too heavily on endless jump-scares and its finale is pure slasher-flick formula .", "one of the best entries in the cute-as-a-button-psycho-demon-child-from-hell subgenre .", "director jaume collet-serra -lrb- 2005 's `` house of wax '' -rrb- serves up a hoot of a trashploitation flick that both follows preset patterns and upends them .", "director jaume collet-serra moves MOV along efficiently , doling out a ` boo ! ' shot every few minutes with mechanical professionalism .", "an unnerving psychological thriller with the atmospheric elegance of classics like rosemary 's baby , do n't look now and dressed to kill , masterful in its blends of style and substance , violence and mayhem .", "overlong and overwrought , MOV stays faithful to every clich\u00e9 of the genre .", "sets up a series of increasingly queasy taboo points and then proceeds to rocket-cycle over them .", "what could be an interesting horror film just turns ... horrible .", "surely writers david leslie johnson and alex mace deserve their own circle of hell for thinking up the story , which moves with breathtaking cynicism from disturbing to grotesque to perverse to ludicrous .", "fifty years ago viewers were both shocked and riveted by the bad seed , and thirty years ago they went for the ride with the omen , but to make such old-fashioned and trashy horror flick in 2009 is both courageous and bizarre , to say the least .", "if director jaume collet-serra set out to make a parody of horror-film clich\u00e9s , he succeeded brilliantly .", "the stomach-knotting is kept taut throughout , and the acting is first-rate -- none more than fuhrman , who seems to have the self-awareness and skill to be one of the best child actors around .", "the scares are often the generic , push-off-the-slide variety and MOV does n't add much to the genre except , disturbingly , a fetishistic bent that 's creepy in the wrong way .", "a decent horror flick with a great kid villain that is undone when it hits familiar chase movie territory and dead is n't really dead dead end .", "scared me . the twist works .", "it 's ... uh ... creepy in that other way .", "the inclusion of a twist ending that 's flat-out jaw-dropping in its audaciousness virtually justifies the entire movie 's existence by itself ...", "there 's a surprise ending , followed by several bonus endings , and we 're not giving anything away in noting that the film 's titular adoptee has more lives than chucky .", "i would have laughed if the movie had n't already sucked my soul from my body", "while the third-act surprise twist of MOV must have looked wicked-good on paper , on screen ... not so much .", "clocking in at more than two hours , the movie teeters between psychological horror and violent blood-letting and , as such , probably wo n't completely satisfy fans in either camp .", "house of wax director jaume collet-serra returns to the horror genre with MOV , a clumsy thriller that elicits far more laughs than genuine scares . like too many horror films these days , the movie is so rife with false scares or misleading", "solid lead performances and a moderately engaging premise make MOV a slightly above-average evil-child movie with an infusion of electra complex and a good , if half-hearted , narrative twist .", "here is a shamelessly effective horror film based on the most diabolical of movie malefactors , a child .", "pristine horror fodder had the script maintained some gumption and cheerfully waltzed into a wonderland of sleaze . instead , it pulls every last punch ... a seriously tasteless motion picture , but it 's equally as spineless .", "despite director jaume collet-serra 's apt use of running children 's laughter for jolt scares , the suspense generated from esther 's early lunatic behavior is of a mild , amusing variety .", "a thoroughly enjoyable demon-spawn movie in the tradition of the bad seed -lrb- 1956 -rrb- and the other -lrb- 1972 -rrb- .", "during a summer with the usual transforming robots and young wizards , this chilly flick is a bit of a break , and there are worse options than letting this MOV in the door .", "the problem with MOV is n't merely that the film is idiotic -- it 's that it 's also sleazy , formulaic and repellant .", "teasingly enjoyable rubbish through the first hour , MOV becomes genuine trash during its protracted second half .", "director jaume collet-serra , working from a devilishly clever script by david leslie johnson , maintains steady suspense while mercifully mixing in some moments of dark humor .", "filled with over the top gore and unnecessary plot twists better off left unseen . leave this one at the orphanage .", "uncomfortable and wrong", "it 's based on the scene that plays out every day in the checkout line at walmart .", "the most committed , downright unpleasant child-from-hell movie imaginable . it makes the good son play like pollyanna .", "its many outright depictions of children in jeopardy are scary , but its marital drama is even more unsettling .", "it 's bloody , you should be warned , but in the end it is worth it .", "painfully predictable .", "an entertaining addition to the evil child genre , simply for its over-the-top chills and nutty plot", "an idiotic anti-adoption movie that skates over thin ice in its silly but vicious story .", "do n't be afraid . horror movies about creepy kids can be frightening % u2013 just not in MOV .", "parental content review", "MOV is one of the weirdest major studio summer movies in a long time . it 's the kid at the summer movie school that no one wants to play with because he 's more than a little odd . i always liked kids like that .", "while laughter may not be the intended entertainment value , you have to admit MOV does entertain . is n't that what really counts ?", "MOV contains one of the most terrifying and intense horror endings i have seen in years but the rest of the film was just laughably bad .", "to really get under your skin , a bad-seed horror movie needs a demon child whose dastardliness sneaks up on you . there 's nothing too subtle , however , about esther .", "actors have to eat like the rest of us , but you still have to wonder how vera farmiga and peter sarsgaard ended up wading through MOV and not laughing .", "so sloppy , so lowdown , so shameless and so entertaining , MOV provides everything you might expect in a psycho-child thriller , but with such excess and exuberance that it still has the power to surprise .", "this is a poorly directed wannabe horror film that nevertheless contains more laughs than the proposal , the ugly truth , ghosts of girlfriends past and land of the lost combined . is that a compliment ? kind of .", "-lsb- MOV -rsb- never exploits the dramatic possibilities , despite the efforts of its excellent cast and gorgeous production values .", "it would be nice to think that MOV brought something new to the genre , but the only thing it adds is more running time .", "the movie is , as these things go , enjoyably trashy .", "decidedly amoral .", "as interesting as collet-serra 's story is , there 's simply nothing here that you wo n't find in other better evil children films in the library ...", "alas , in the end , it 's not nasty enough .", "directed crisply and with a palpable air of mid - '70s paranoia thriller .", "dump a murderous psycho brat with a corny russian accent into that troubled mix and you 've got a real horror show on your hands . but not a good one .", "weak adult characters and lame ending aside , MOV succeeds more often than not , mainly thanks to fuhrman 's performance and collet-serra 's direction . it 's not a fantastic thriller but it 's not bad and often far better than it probably should be .", "if we could all stop for a moment and think about how excellent and uplifting garbage can be , america would rally around this movie like the treasure it is .", "bad seed-style horror movie is gory and ludicrous .", "MOV is not very good . at 90 minutes , it might have been amazing . at nearly two hours , it 's tedious .", "i 'll give this much credit to the movie : i absolutely did not see the twist coming . this is because the twist ... is unconscionably f ----- g stupid", "as the poster says , ` there 's something wrong with esther . ' there certainly is -- she 's trapped in this terminally dull and dimwitted movie .", "it would be harder to find a more dark and joyless thriller on the market than this one .", "competently directed junk , with a script that abandons logic at every turn and dialogue that even some snarky teenage girls seated behind me could predict out loud .", "balancing well-rendered melodrama with some impressively ballsy genre moves , MOV is more enjoyable trash than it should be . call it john and kate plus hate .", "i really enjoyed MOV and enjoyed the fact that the film went to some pretty dark and twisted places .", "MOV delivers the goods and then some , but it 's the pretense of respectability that overshadows its often silly , superficial but satisfying scares .", "distinguished by a loony plot twist and by its sympathetic treatment of characters ...", "schlocky but scary with a weird plot twist that may leave you stunned .", "not too much gore , and just the right amount of terror make this a mind twisting horror movie in the tradition of `` carrie '' and `` the omen . ''", "a squall of improbabilities leads to a laughable late revelation , yet somehow the film keeps a clammy grip .", "after a slow-burning start MOV degenerates into an increasingly grisly , far-fetched affair with a jaw-dropping twist that has you chortling with disbelief .", "MOV is certainly scary enough for the story to haunt you after the film is over .", "that director jaume collet-serra made house of wax , the paris hilton remake , does not bode well . but stars vera farmiga and peter saarsgard , as mum and dad , find a few frail pegs of humanity to hang their characters on .", "it 's not a bad idea for a horror movie , that the seeming victims are not innocent and their complicated past weighs on their present .", "... an angry , bitter and abhorrent display of masochism masquerading around as a legitimate horror film .", "a welcome addition to the evil child sub-genre , thanks to great performances , strong direction , a delightfully over-the-top plot , some impressive gore effects and a terrific twist .", "if esther materialises silently and unexpectedly once at the edge of the camera , she does it a dozen times - but this is merely the film warming up its trash aesthetic before heading onwards to a memorably queasy finale .", "i think that , if someone really wanted to adopt -lrb- as my dear parents did -rrb- , it would take more than a single movie to dissuade them .", "an exceptional cast , including child actress isabelle fuhrman , make MOV a cut above .", "MOV works because it 's a film that knows exactly what it wants to be -- creepy as all get out -- and does everything possible to achieve that goal .", "a pretty interesting movie about the crack-up of an american family lies right under the filmmakers ' noses , but in their rush to deliver shock and gore they miss every opportunity to make a smart movie .", "MOV is nasty but enjoyable , and the whole film is so competently crafted and superbly acted , especially by the three central females , that i was gripped and entertained throughout .", "okay , so i saw the ending coming a mile off -lrb- and no , i 'm not going to spoil it for everyone by telling you what happens -rrb- but that did n't stop me actually enjoying this guilty pleasure .", "preposterous in all the right ways , MOV is this week 's true guilty pleasure .", "it 's not only the heavily-signposted `` secret '' that 's obvious , but every single scene , as square pegs fit joylessly into square holes for the full running time .", "there 's a lot of slow burn to endure in the first hour , but the payoff is one of the most batshit crazy finales in recent memory .", "collet-serra manages to sustain tension throughout , prudently deploying his jumps and jolts and pumping up the grue factor . so while it often prompts hoots of derision , they 're often choked off with a vice-tight wince .", "if you 're not easily offended or upset , there is much to enjoy in MOV . horror films this skilfully made do n't come along that often . you probably wo n't find a better one this year .", "a creepy premise is undermined by wilfully flashy direction as a fine cast struggle bravely to inject credibility into a tale of vanishing nuns and burning treehouses .", "directing with a wink and some style , jaume collet-serra -lrb- house of wax -rrb- knows that it 's possible to be totally absurd and witty with it -- he has that trash touch .", "some impressively committed work from farmiga -lrb- even when googling `` children who kill '' -rrb- and a humdinger of a twist make this a rather good bad seed .", "nerve-shredding creepy kid home invasion alert , and takeout foundling traumas galore . along with magnanimous curtsies , excessive doting on dad , stalking parental kitchen sex and , well , a tendency to bludgeon living things .", "i did n't mind wasting two hours watching the truly ferocious furhman teach max how to play russian roulette and snickering when kate thinks to google `` children who kill . ''", "i 'm almost offended that i 'm not offended .", "this MOV is an atmospheric and occasionally vicious little git and an above-average entry into the `` cuddly hellspawn '' genre , overlong at two-plus hours but nowhere near as excruciatingly overdone as others of its ilk .", "just because MOV is relentlessly bad does n't mean it 's not entertaining .", "... a persuasive addition to the subgenre of bad-seed-horror films like `` the omen '' where a creepy little kid wreaks havoc and murder on the lives of ill-equipped adults .", "it just never quite comes together , either as a horror movie or as a goofy campfest .", "this is galling , distasteful trash . i hope the children involved in making it are never permitted to watch it .", "the acting is richer than the story ... but this is a film designed to live or die on its twist . good luck with that .", "that 's quite a creepy premise for a horror story to live up to . that it does -- and more -- is a testament to the level of intensity in this tale of a troubled couple who adopt a 9-year-old russian girl .", "predictable and been-there , seen-that , but entertaining nevertheless at times .", "this wickedly entertaining , if slightly over-stretched , variation on the familiar ` evil child ' scenario displays an unusually complex grasp of twisted psychology .", "lifted above the average by a pretty nifty twist and some unnecessarily good acting .", "sticking closely to the conventions of the evil child movie genre , there are few surprises -lrb- or even scares -rrb- as we saunter towards that absurd ending . just about worth a punt on dvd .", "it has atmosphere and tension , and the performances are far better than usual for this sort of caper .", "preventing MOV from surpassing its `` solid '' status is the predictability of much of its plot . you 'll be able to guess esther 's next move well before she makes it , and some of her sinister shenanigans suffer from being too outlandish .", "nicely down horror flick with a great twist near the end . this is one evil child . well-directed , too .", "daring and fresh , ` MOV ' is easily one of the best horror movies of 2009 .", "there 's something wrong with esther says the marketing tagline to this film , which sums up my response to the film itself .", "check the return policy for this MOV .", "although slightly overlong , the film sustains the escalating horror and keeps up its sleeve a truly shocking revelation that 's carefully prepared for , though not signalled .", "much credit goes to director jaume collet-serra who shows off his skills to much better affect than in his ... ridiculous 2005 remake of house of wax .", "isabelle fuhrman as esther does her best with the material , but frankly the story lacks a strong central thesis about the nature of evil .", "a pretty good little b-movie thriller .", "the movie amps up the tension to a laughable degree , using every clich\u00e9 in the horror movie guidebook .", "director jaume collet-serra -lrb- house of wax -rrb- endows this ugly mess with a slew of unintentional laughs , but not enough to repay the 123-minute time suck .", "enough jump-out-of-your-seat moments to make this nonetheless trashy , implausible thirller watchable .", "one of the good things about MOV , which is directed by jaume collet-sera , is that it takes itself quite seriously and manages to bring a surprising level of originality to the potentially familiar material .", "strange and nasty esther is the consummate political player in a deadly game of unhappy families , in this fairly straightforward psychological thriller .", "audacious , silly fun ." ], "summary": "while it has moments of dark humor and the requisite scares , MOV fails to build on its interesting premise and degenerates into a formulaic , sleazy horror/thriller .", "id": "770801898" }, { "movie": "fourth_kind", "reviews": [ "there is a lot of half-baked soap opera wrapped around the hypnosis scenes .", "ultimately , the film 's narrative segments are far too glossy and over-stylized , larded with ponderous scoring , obvious melodrama and split-screen visuals that offset the `` reenactments '' with the `` real . ''", "a gimmicky , inordinately self-impressed attempt to cash in on the latest tabloid buzzwords . if this was made in the '70s , it 'd be narrated by leonard nimoy and chock-full of yetis and the devil 's triangle .", "i 'd love to be at a screening of `` the MOV '' in nome , where it 's sure to be greeted as a comedy .", "badly acted by everyone -lrb- including the director , olatunde osunsanmi , who appears onscreen -rrb- , this insipid jumble 's idea of fright is incessant screaming .", "in the end the film is more desultory than disturbing .", "mostly engaging with fleeting scares , stylish cinematography and an initially intriguing premise , but the suspense and chills wane as its script grows increasingly silly , unfocused and dull .", "the movie begins with what is probably the most laughable opening scene of the year .", "nothing more than a science fiction version of a michael moore movie . it makes wild claims that it 's the utter truth , and if you go in with blinders you might like it", "a cut-rate x-files rehash cleverly dressed up with the trappings of supposedly `` real '' footage a la the blair witch project or paranormal activity .", "it 's my policy to sit through every film that opens theatrically in atlanta . if i was going to violate that policy , it would be for this film . i hope i make my point . paul chambers , cnn .", "the MOV is more likely to elicit laughter than the suspense it promised in the opening monologue .", "something weird is going on in nome , alaska . unsolved murders . suicidal freak-outs . a bunch of people having eerie , similar nightmares . and a spooky white owl .", "it 's an interesting meta-textual experiment , but that does n't in itself make for an interesting movie , or a suspenseful one . there are things to like about it , but the whole does n't really seem equal to the sum of its parts .", "-lsb- the -rsb- ostensible archival footage proves so clunky and transparently phony that the entire gimmick collapses .", "if there were a low point of viral movie marketing last decade , consider `` the MOV '' the marianas trench . the title refers to four levels of alien interaction , and the pedestrian plotting on display proved steven spielberg stopped at the right one .", "when the director divides the screen into quadrants for his big finish , the effect is just laughable -- but then by that point , the movie is too .", "`` attempting shock value and extraterrestrial disturbance to generate a cult smash , kind will likely tire audiences before it ever has a chance to swindle them . ''", "click to read full review", "the arrogance and ignorance on display is truly amazing . arrogance of its superiority over the audience 's intellect and ignorance of filmmaking craft .", "... the MOV clearly would 've benefited from a more conventional approach ...", "there are three scenes in the film where i slowly brought my hand up to my mouth and became teary eyed because i was so frightened .", "the MOV , despite its periodic strengths , does its very best to take the viewer out of the material rather than immersing one in the story .", "the mission here is to demonstrate how , in this explosive age of dubious information , cynicism can be quickly trumped by gullibility .", "nothing more than an elaborate light show , smoke and mirrors designed to lull the audience into believing that not only what they are seeing is real but that the filmmaking is n't some of the most amateurish of the year .", "unintentionally , laughably bad .", "as truth , it 's bullshit , and as bullshit , it is n't remotely entertaining .", "the MOV has a clever gimmick and nothing more .", "going to great lengths to make us believe the events depicted in this movie are real , but it 's about as a real as the date i had with jennifer aniston in my dreams the other night .", "osunsanmi 's tricksy formal device simply reinforces our disbelief and invites ridicule .", "truth is stranger than fiction , and the MOV is neither strange nor fictional . it 's just plain silly .", "part disturbing documentary , part straight-ahead movie-making , the MOV is difficult to watch , difficult to understand and difficult to recommend .", "the release date is not the fault of the movie .", "the film does n't deliver any frights or creepiness . the so-called shocking parts are revealed in the trailer . the rest feels as if moments have been stitched together to make a whole .", "proves that a horror film does n't need splashy digital effects or pyrotechnics to be effective", "no , no , no , no .", "-lsb- a -rsb- dull , clumsy little movie .", "`` what you decide is up to you , '' jovovich permits us at the end , reducing cinema to an unsolved mysteries episode .", "unfortunately , none of the subsequent noise is all that scary , and the striving for paranormal activity 's buzz is shameless .", "... even if `` the MOV '' came out ten years ago it still would n't stand up to overrated `` blair witch project . ''", "has out-blair witch 'd the blair witch project .", "-lrb- director -rrb- olatunde osunsanmi , his cast and crew work so hard to make it all seem so real that you spend more time debating with yourself whether what you are watching is truth or fiction ...", "the `` the MOV '' poses as another successful documentary on the hot trail of `` paranormal activity '' . too bad this film is missing many ingredients to make it a blockbuster success .", "he apparently thinks white owls are a lot scarier than they are . -lrb- i mean , i guess because their heads swivel around , you ca n't sneak up on them from behind . but when would you need to sneak up on an owl ? -rrb-", "frankly , this movie is quite scary when it 's viewed with the idea that this is the film version of creepy disappearances that are really happening in nome , alaska . when it 's not that , it 's almost laughable .", "where is fox mulder when you need him ?", "the first line in the MOV has milla jovovich calling herself an ` actress , ' so we know right away the film is lying .", "the MOV delivers a handful of decent shocks but it 's ultimately let down by a weak plot , some patchy performances and the fact that the fictionalised reconstruction element does n't really work .", "purporting to be a true story of alien abduction , in reality it 's a clumsy attempt to update the hoax technique orson welles perfected seven decades ago .", "... a sophisticated hoax ...", "this is the same kind of put-on as the low-budget phenomenon paranormal activity . except it 's far more effective -lrb- at least at first -rrb- .", "if your mind is in the right place , the MOV is a chilling , creepy , unnerving and engaging experience . but i stress the idea that most of you probably will not like this ... buyer beware .", "osunsanmi 's action sequences resemble episodes of unsolved mysteries without the budget , where a spooktastic owl stands in for belligerent ets . honestly .", "there 's an intriguing idea here ... but the MOV is so clumsy and clunky and stiff it 's like watching someone attempt an intricate card trick while wearing oven mitts .", "this stiff paranormal thriller could stand a lot more activity .", "were this movie actually what it says it is , it 'd be a reprehensible piece of exploitation ; instead it 's just another lame thriller with a few cheap scares .", "why the aliens chose this community of 9,261 to abduct so many people is a mystery . also why owls stare into bedroom windows .", "the silliness is out of this world .", "too often , the MOV makes the paranormal look disappointingly normal .", "such originality as osunsanmi 's usually wins me over , but his artificial realism here leaves me cold -- like taking a stroll on a nome sidewalk , in winter , without a parka .", "olatunde osunsnmi has created something incredibly original that can be debated and discussed endlessly regardless of whether you accept everything in his film as real or faked or a little bit of both .", "the movie 's carnival-barker hard sell is that it 's after the truth . it 's really after an opening-weekend gross , of course . it 's sporadically clever and chilling , but i 'll be shocked if it endures as a blair witch-style horror v\u00e9rit\u00e9 phenomenon .", "not entirely uninteresting , but it suffers from some ill-advised decisions . in fact , the film 's `` hook '' may be its greatest detraction .", "mr. osunsanmi 's chutzpah exceeds his skill .", "writer-director olatunde osunsanmi attempts an orson welles-like confluence of `` real '' and imagined that might have worked had he gotten out of the way more , literally and figuratively .", "the MOV is legitimately scary enough to keep you in your seat . -lrb- just do n't google the flick before you see it . -rrb-", "a frustrating exercise in terror that relies too heavily on gimmicks to have any genuine impact .", "you do n't have to believe in far-fetched tales of mysterious beams of light and alien abductions to get caught up in the MOV .", "who knew alien abduction could be such a bore ?", "a mildly scary , totally meaningless excursion into the realms of psychological horror and alien-abduction conspiracies .", "nome has seen more than its share of missing and dead people , who deserve better than this kind of hucksterism .", "universal 's alien-abduction thriller none too cleverly bids to pass off mock-documentary footage of levitating psychological patients -- and , scarier still , ordinary talking heads -- as the real deal .", "if you 're gullible enough to accept the backstory given here , you 're probably the sort of person who 'll take criswell 's assurances that plan 9 from outer space is based on sworn testimony at face value .", "the MOV may have more unmotivated booms in its mix than any film i 've ever seen .", "in short , the MOV pisses on your leg , tells you it 's raining , and then tries to sell you a raincoat made of dog hair and corn chips .", "it 's patently hokey material , but then these are patently hokey times .", "alien abductees are back and they are still idiots .", "... a thriller that unravels easily even if it nevertheless occasionally qualifies as a scary good time .", "it 's a well crafted docu-drama-esque film that takes itself seriously , builds tension and scares the sh*t out of you through and through .", "there 's nothing in this glorified power point presentation that stands up to even the most cursory scrutiny .", "olatunde osunsanmi 's big formal innovation tunrs out to be the split-screen pairing of patently bogus `` archival '' black-and-white video that shows alleged abductees undergoing hypnosis and color `` reenactments '' of same .", "the MOV was one of the scariest things i 've seen in years . i 'm going out to see it again , which tells you how much i care whether or not it 's a hoax ... i enjoyed every thrilling minute of it .", "a more accurate title for the MOV would be close encounters of the worst kind .", "as the movie repeatedly insists , it 's only presenting this information ; it 's up to you to decide what to believe . well , i believe this was a waste of about an hour and a half .", "osunsanmi knows that everybody secretly wants to believe and when it comes to giving the people what they want , he does not disappoint .", "the MOV is terminally awkward in the way it meshes fake real footage with faker fake footage . it is n't required to be convincing as fact , but it does n't convince as fiction , either .", "a couple of modestly effective shocks lie in store , but none as frightening as the onscreen text informing us that some 11 million people claim to have seen a ufo .", "a lot of nothing happens in the MOV .", "musters all its strength to set up a purportedly true-life scenario about alien sightings , only to give itself away at every turn .", "when so many films are bad in lazy and ordinary ways , it 's refreshing to occasionally see one that fails interestingly .", "in two climactic scenes , the screen goes fuzzy . for over a minute what we 're watching is basically a television on the fritz . the only place that 's ever been frightening is in the privacy of your living room .", "parental content review", "if aliens from another world ever do come to earth and get a look at `` the MOV , '' they may decide that any species capable of creating anything this dumb is probably too stupid to probe and conquer in the first place .", "if you let it draw you in with its factual approach , the MOV will creep you out more than paranormal activity .", "what i want is to commission a remake of the MOV , this time by someone who is more concerned with storytelling than with showing off .", "the MOV may not be the most honest movie in the galaxy , but it 's got one thing right : with horror , what you do n't see is usually more terrifying than what you do .", "in a land of recycled ideas and remakes , the MOV is a valiant original , no matter how deceptive it may ultimately be .", "filmmaker olatunde osunsanmi ... does such a clumsy job of arguing that ancient sumerian aliens are causing havoc in nome that he spoils any chance he might have had to make a decent scary movie .", "a smart-ass slap in the face", "the flat-lining , alien-abduction thriller the MOV offers a close encounter that buries an interesting idea under a barrage of gimmicky , carnivallike hokum .", "the MOV aims to do for alien abduction what paranomal activity did for hauntings . and to a large degree , it succeeds .", "liable to disappear mysteriously from cinemas .", "frankly , without the `` based on true events '' framing and the video footage of the supposedly real incidents , there 's not much here .", "when the image on screen splits in half and and two actors ... are side-by-side competing to see who , under movie-hypnosis , can freak out the hardest and contort their face into horrifying mouth-shapes , it 's really effective .", "may be humorless , paranoid nonsense , but its biggest failure is its inability to scare .", "despite its claims of authenticity , this alien-abduction thriller feels like a cinematic con job .", "without the true-story conceit , the MOV would be just another formula horror flick with a couple of passable jolts trying to hold a flimsy story together .", "the olatunde osunsanmi who directed the MOV should have fired the olatunde osunsanmi who wrote it .", "at a recent preview screening , the most common audience response to this nonsense was laughter , not gasps of horror .", "you 'd do better downloading an old art bell show -- say , the one about the guy who put an alien in his freezer -- than investigating this evidence of subnormal activity ." ], "summary": "while it boasts a handful of shocks , the MOV is hokey and clumsy and makes its close encounters seem eerily mundane .", "id": "770814360" }, { "movie": "elling", "reviews": [ "that neither protagonist has a distinguishable condition hardly matters because both are just actory concoctions , defined by childlike dimness and a handful of quirks .", "believes so fervently in humanity that it feels almost anachronistic , and it is too cute by half . but arriving at a particularly dark moment in history , it offers flickering reminders of the ties that bind us .", "... hits every cliche we 've come to expect , including the assumption that `` crazy '' people are innocent , childlike and inherently funny .", "a plucky parable about mastering one 's fears , and making connections .", "it 's a hard film to resist .", "MOV builds gradually until you feel fully embraced by this gentle comedy .", "it 's thoroughly entertaining and nonpatronizing , and occasionally even insightful .", "a film of charm , freshness and bracingly generous humanity .", "rather than real figures , MOV and kjell bjarne become symbolic characters whose actions are supposed to relate something about the na\u010ff 's encounter with the world .", "heartwarming here relies less on forced air than on petter n\u0107ss ' delicate , clever direction ... and a wonderful , imaginative script by axel hellstenius .", "suffers from a case of too-easy digestion .", "there are n't too many films that can be as simultaneously funny , offbeat and heartwarming -lrb- without a thick shmear of the goo , at least -rrb- , but `` MOV '' manages to do all three quite well , making it one of the year 's most enjoyable releases .", "tthe tone of this tedious movie never works , being neither funny nor moving . i never laughed , and , although i know i was supposed to , i never cared about MOV and his supposed afflictions .", "the movie ultimately relies a bit too heavily on grandstanding , emotional , rocky-like moments ... but it 's such a warm and charming package that you 'll feel too happy to argue much .", "really is about a couple of crazy guys , and it 's therapeutic", "a pleasant surprise .", "just because the characters are crazy , that does n't mean they are not smart .", "the pleasing acting jobs by the two protagonists makes all this sugar easier to swallow , but not enough to find this film anything more than a mere diversion .", "by maintaining a modest stance and a gentle , affectionate tone it emerges as winning rather than wearying .", "tedious norwegian offering which somehow snagged an oscar nomination .", "a sweet film about two gentle souls - there is a genuine caring between them that feels like watching old friends .", "it 's affectionate and optimistic without being fuzzy .", "immanently worthy of its best foreign film oscar nomination", "it is a life-affirming tale devoid of sappiness or pretention .", "a witty and sophisticated sensibility brings individuality to the classic odd-couple comedy .", "beautifully observed , miraculously unsentimental comedy-drama .", "a charming but slight comedy .", "MOV , portrayed with quiet fastidiousness by per christian ellefsen , is a truly singular character , one whose frailties are only slightly magnified versions of the ones that vex nearly everyone .", "the moral is not too original , but the offbeat characters certainly are .", "the film 's brand of humor seems a bit too broad , and the quirks of its main characters are n't really all that endearing , instead coming off as irritating and tiresome .", "MOV is a light but self-sufficient comedy .", "the script is smart , not cloying .", "touches smartly and wistfully on a number of themes , not least the notion that the marginal members of society ... might benefit from a helping hand and a friendly kick in the pants .", "it is refreshingly undogmatic about its characters .", "the subtle strength of `` MOV '' is that it never loses touch with the reality of the grim situation .", "unpretentious , charming , quirky , original", "MOV offers a captivating glimpse into one of cinema 's most unlikely and touching friendships since midnight cowboy .", "charms because of its natural , non-magical attitude toward humanity .", "blessed with two fine , nuanced lead performances .", "there is one surefire way to get a nomination for a best-foreign-film oscar : make a movie about whimsical folk who learn a nonchallenging , life-affirming lesson while walking around a foreign city with stunning architecture .", "calls to mind the great screen pairings of dysfunctional buddy pictures of the past .", "cutsie but still fairly compelling .", "a singularly affecting and amusing fable .", "an enjoyable experience .", "-lsb- n\u0107s -rsb- directed the stage version of MOV , and gets fine performances from his two leads who originated the characters on stage .", "what ` dumb and dumber ' would have been without the vulgarity and with an intelligent , life-affirming script .", "this norwegian comedy celebrates an unusual friendship and the uncanny ways two eccentrics come into their own despite the great odds against their doing so .", "forages for audience sympathy like a temperamental child begging for attention , giving audiences no reason to truly care for its decrepit freaks beyond the promise of a reprieve from their incessant whining .", "the film is filled with humorous observations about the general absurdity of modern life as seen through the eyes outsiders , but deftly manages to avoid many of the condescending stereotypes that so often plague films dealing with the mentally ill .", "moviegoers love misfits . and thanks to this film , we now know that norwegians are not immune to the phenomenon .", "fortunately , MOV never gets too cloying thanks to the actors ' perfect comic timing and sweet , genuine chemistry .", "ellefsen and nordin originated their roles on an oslo stage , resulting in two lived-in character portrayals which lend this offbeat comedy a sweet sincerity ." ], "summary": "quirky without being overly cutesy , MOV is a gentle , warm comedy .", "id": "14058" }, { "movie": "10009458-defiance", "reviews": [ "zwick 's sedate storytelling tone does n't seem to be coming from the same source as his `` blood diamond '' or `` the last samurai . '' perhaps he thought he was making another `` schindler 's list . ''", "in trying to add a new chapter to the long history of films made about the holocaust , MOV can barely move a narrative muscle without bumping into another , better movie that covers some of the same ground .", "comes off as flat as latkes .", "MOV does n't go beyond the usual tales of valor and virtue , managing to make an amazing true story feel like yet another dry history lesson .", "a respectable shot at a holocaust story with uplifting qualities and plump moral questioning , MOV is a handsome production , just not an especially inspiring one .", "MOV is not so much a cohesive film as a series of interchangeable , broadstroked scenes -- a movie on loop .", "not an easy movie to criticize , but here goes .", "undercuts its own dramatic concerns by alternating heavy-handed moralism with the style of contemporary action franchises , dulling and smoothing out the horrifying edges of murder .", "whatever its shortcomings , the film should be seen as a testimony to the true story of jews who lived in a belarus forest for years during the holocaust .", "as solemn as a bell toll and nearly as dull .", "the story , in other words , is pure hollywood gold , full of opportunities for stirring speeches , ethical quandaries , lessons about tolerance and humanity , and violence against nazis .", "a compelling human drama", "what the bielski brothers did in the forests of belorussia deserves to be remembered and celebrated , but this glossy studio production robs them of life . it 's not just new holocaust stories that we need , but new ways of telling them .", "with the possible exception of valkyrie , no recent movie has gotten less out of a mind-boggling piece of history than MOV .", "zwick , intent on correcting the perception of jews as passive victims , lets the action set pieces overwhelm the more intimate scenes , several of which are already diminished by stilted dialogue .", "ed zwick has cornered the market on movies about nearly forgotten wartime battles between members of a minority and the dominant culture that 's oppressing them .", "what is puzzling is how edward zwick has taken an extraordinary real-life story about a handful of people who defied huge odds , and turned it into an utterly conventional war movie .", "the story is inspirational ; the movie is n't .", "powerful , gripping and quite remarkable . daniel craig gives the performance of his career .", "the minds behind `` MOV '' could n't ruin this remarkable true story . but oh , do they try at times .", "it 's an inspiring story , if one that does n't need quite as much poetic inspiration as ed zwick 's movie insists on giving it .", "recreating true events , this rousing , impeccably lensed world war ii drama depicts jewish partisans battling nazis in the woods of belarus , with daniel craig and liev schreiber outdoing themselves as heroic fighters .", "smacks every clich\u00e9d note with maximum gusto .", "just one long ridiculous string of moviemaking cliches that prevents the film from having any of the desired impact .", "for all the film 's flaws , this is a war story told with passion about a band of brothers that still has the power to inspire .", "the story of MOV has all the makings of a deep emotional experience , but i found myself oddly detached .", "edward zwick 's stiff , musclebound new movie tells the true story of the bielski partisans , who fought the nazis and rescued hundreds of jews through the darkest years of war and genocide .", "MOV resists bold , passionate storytelling and delivers something rather conventional .", "director edward zwick has his formula , and this is no different .", "craig and schreiber are terrific as the slightly thuggish bielskis , and they 're joined by an able supporting cast that includes jamie bell and the wonderful mia wasikowska .", "it is less tuvia 's and zus ' moral stances and more craig 's and schreiber 's magnetism that makes MOV a rousing ride .", "MOV is a wobbly stool , a seat propped up by the uneven legs of ethics debate , holocaust movie and action thriller . still , the fascination and novelty of nazi-killing jews who do n't perish in the death camps packs quite the wallop .", "zwick has once again brought together an intriguing premise and a strong and compelling group of actors and has somehow managed to transform the entire thing into something that is relentlessly flat and banal throughout .", "the audience will be moved by the characters ' efforts to embrace life and love in the face of such tragedy", "the natural world of the forest is for the escapees a sort of arden where many things are turned upside down .", "the resistance drama MOV just does n't seem to have anything to add to the swastika overload currently clogging the nation 's theaters .", "the few closing-credit title cards that give details about the real bielskis ' fate are more engaging than most of the film itself . now that 's sad .", "flat and dull , only mildly redeemed by two strong lead performances and the inherent power of its subject matter .", "-lcb- t -rsb- here was nothing that would have led anyone to predict the bielskis could accomplish what they did . that they did so may be the true miracle ...", "an admirable , lovingly crafted film that misses the dramatic depth and historical resonance to which it aspires .", "parental content review", "the script hokes up the tensions between the brothers played by craig and schreiber , and while they 're both fascinating , simmering-kettle performers , they consistently outshine their material .", "` MOV ' boasts absolutely stunning battle sequences , fascinating sets and flawless period details .", "gigglers may be excused with no prejudice from MOV , but if you share zwick 's unabashed wonder that such men as tuvia bielski -lrb- craig -rrb- and his brothers emerge in our species ' darkest hours , then you 'll find MOV as rousing and inspiring as t", "as well-intentioned and earnest as it is lifeless and plodding .", "zwick 's latest film , MOV , is based on an exceptional true story . regrettably , the movie is anything but exceptional , and represents zwick 's most disappointing work in more than a decade .", "MOV plods where it should soar , but it 's still the best of this month 's four -lrb- ! -rrb- holocaust movies -- if for no other reason than it confronts the common belief that european jews did n't actively resist the nazi onslaught .", "it 's an unusual and important story . which makes it even sadder that it 's not better told .", "MOV groans under the weight of its deadly earnestness : it 's handsomely mounted yet strangely inert .", "as in the siege , courage under fire , the last samurai and blood diamond , zwick compromises complexity with maudlin formula .", "a powerful tale , but one that 's done in so old-fashioned , heavy-handed a fashion that it already seems dated .", "despite zwick 's penchant for the obvious over subtle , vividly brings to life tough jewish resistance fighters against the nazis who saved jews in a jerusalem in the forest .", "a little sentimentality can fuel a lot of action , yet zwick buries his film in cloying guilt , in the end sinking `` MOV '' with the holocaust film 's bait .", "the story is made a little idealized , but this is a chapter of history that has rarely been explored before .", "zwick 's epics -lrb- glory , legends of the fall , the last samurai -rrb- have never lacked for propulsive power , but MOV is the first to constantly stumble over itself even as it tries to get its tale in gear .", "it 's an affecting production , which is as much a credit to zwick 's professionalism as to the freshness of his subject . ` MOV ' has the rare distinction of tackling the holocaust from an angle previously unexplored .", "MOV bogs down in a not very well-developed script . it 's a repetitive stop-and-start action film , and tuvia and zus do n't have enough layers . but they do kick ass charismatically .", "as corny and downright flirtatious as this ` holocaust drama ' gets , it 's still a vivid and heroic look at a side of that tragedy that we have n't seen before .", "skilled hiding is n't very exciting , so for the sake of the audience , zwick carefully incorporates some hyped-up action standoffs , the last being an unfortunately laughable stretch of credibility .", "the actors ' way of reveling in their stagey gestures , sooty makeup and silly accents becomes increasingly pitiable .", "zwick thrives on these sorts of historical action flicks , and he pumps the adrenal glands throughout .", "plays at times more like a soap opera than what it really is , a story that more of the world deserves to know .", "MOV is heavy-handed , but emotionally compelling , engaging and inspiring throughout .", "for all its pomp and ruminating , MOV is n't really interested in drama . it really just wants to entertain us . but it 's not any better at that .", "zwick does not deal in gratuitous grotesquery or far-fetched metaphor . `` operatic '' and `` surreal '' are not in his vocabulary .", "zwick wants to tell timeless stories on a grand scale . i know that 's not what people want anymore . i know it 's not breathtaking . but it 's not something many are doing now , and definitely not doing it this well .", "this is not an easy film to watch , as it describes the horrors of war with neither sympathetic nor maudlin touches .", "un drama b\u05d9lico eficaz que rescata la heroicidad de los hermanos bielski , protagonistas de un episodio poco conocido de la segunda guerra mundial .", "succumbing to hollywood cliches at the expense of historical truth", "director edward zwick does a fine job presenting the challenges of reality without falling into nostalgia or easy hollywood heroes .", "does n't quite live up to its great story . but this well-made , solidly conventional movie will almost certainly send you scurrying to find out more about its little-known heroes .", "in addition to blowing bunker-sized holes in the concept of jewish timidity during the holocaust , it 's also a darn good bit of period storytelling .", "MOV is n't afraid to stand apart .", "an interesting story , sporadically told in an interesting way .", "the problem is the screenplay , which has weak , unforceful dialogue and tends to substitute dramatic events for characterization .", "historian nechama tec 's factual book `` MOV : the story of the bielski partisans '' provides the basis for an underwhelming war film done in by miscalculated episodes of violence and inept dialogue .", "zwick is a terribly consistent filmmaker , and he 's done yet again exactly what he always does . MOV is technically accomplished , and fumbles its story right from the word go .", "schreiber and craig make a well-matched pair of bulls . schreiber 's volatility is a nice foil to the taciturn intelligence that makes craig such a great bond .", "ao tentar romantizar um incidente memor\u05d1vel , zwick transforma uma hist\u05e3ria poderosa em um \u05d1gua-com-a\u05d7\u05eacar repleto de clich\u05das .", "a story that ought to be heartbreaking and ennobling ... comes across as little more than ordinary .", "that edward zwick made such an honest film about the bielski brothers is a wonderful gift , even if it is likely to be underappreciated by audiences .", "good story , but loses its way dramatically long before the finish .", "an engaging and inspirational story about the spirit of survival , bravery and brotherhood .", "the tone is desaturated gravity , the action is smudged , the old testament parables subtle as anvils", "MOV is overly long and somewhat disjointed , dragging through an interminable second act that seriously impedes the film 's flow and hurts the inspired performances .", "pretty much the textbook example of a year-end prestige studio drama .", "it 's handsome looking , performances are strong and it really is fascinating to see this overlooked story .", "MOV is n't a bad film at all , it just is n't as good as it could have been .", "it 's finally happened : red dawn with russian jews . you could go your whole life without conjuring something so perverse .", "despite all the resources brought to bear -- strong cast , ambitious scale , impressive logistics , dense detail , fine cinematography -- the production seldom makes the leap from elaborate play-acting to authentic drama .", "of all the holocaust movies this season , this one 's worth seeing .", "it 's a pretty good movie -- a bold , uneasy mix of romance , political debate and vigorous action .", "enjoyable , well-acted and impressively shot wartime drama that reveals a remarkable true story , though it 's at least 20 minutes too long and outstays its welcome before the end .", "the story needed a new twist .", "-lsb- t -rsb- here is n't a lick of phony sentimentality , not a moment that rings false . it even manages to make us feel as if we have n't seen much of this before , even though we have .", "for daniel craig the world of bond could not be more far away : if his east european accent wobbles at times to liev schreiber 's more authentic vocal , he looks the part of a man who can both kill and care .", "an epic scope weakens what 's actually a gritty , intimate drama about survival . but it 's a terrific true story .", "emotionally robotic and superficially deliberate .", "the picture offers the most moving account we 've ever had of how an ordinary , rather disagreeable man , challenged and then electrified by catastrophe , grows into a great leader .", "brave brothers risk all in brutal , graphic wwii epic .", "frequently pulls viewers out of reality with rousing speeches , close-ups and sweeping camera moves , all distracting reminders that you 're watching a movie .", "if there 's one instance of the road to perdition paved with fat budgets and good intentions , it 's MOV , or , as i prefer to call it , custersky 's last stand in belarus .", "zwick 's limitations as an action director seem linked to a troubled conscience : he seems conscious of a need to entertain , but worried that his audience will take too much pleasure in the spectacle of vengeance .", "it 's as though the filmmakers have tried so hard to create an authentic world , it seems to be exactly that : a make believe world .", "MOV starts shakily but gets steadily more engrossing .", "zwick lets the amazing story of the bielskis ' achievement unfold in a conventional , even old-fashioned storytelling way , and even finds time for a spot of romance ...", "for all of its flaws , ` MOV ' presents a fresh and engaging view of world war ii that 's all the more startling because it 's based on the actions of a real belorussian family .", "does n't have nearly enough gunplay to qualify as a full-fledged action extravaganza , but thanks to quality acting and an engaging life-or-death story , there 's plenty here to keep audiences satisfied .", "o zwick trabaei parapano apo ektyflotika profaneis parallilismoys tis sygkekrimenis istorias me ekeini tis eksodoy , poy profanos den tis skeftike o zwick monos toy , o opoios to mono poy epideiknyei synehos , einai i apithanotita toy na epinoisei otidipote", "this holocaust epic deserves a commendation of merit for making us cognizant of an important and often overlooked event .", "MOV comes alive in its quieter scenes and smaller details .", "a harrowing story of bravery & survival , MOV tells it hollywood-style . still , somehow the true-story courage bleeds through the at-times hokey formula scripting .", "zwick 's weighty pacing moves forward in a monotone hum with no sense of highs or lows . and so it goes , with one misstep after another .", "an amazing true tale is somewhat diminished by second-hand storytelling : entirely admirable , largely entertaining , and yet curiously hollow .", "shot in the wilds of lithuania and strewn with dramatic battles of all kinds , this epic , band of brothers-meets-exodus adventure is solid stuff indeed .", "zwick 's films -lrb- glory , the last samurai , blood diamond -rrb- are always well-mounted , in their pedigreed and worthy way . but they nag away at us like pious busybodies , and this is no exception .", "craig , liev schrieber and jamie bell give moving performances but not amazing ones . and so it 's a case of better luck next time , mr craig .", "a solid film that rouses simply because the story is so incredible , while bond star craig is a charismatic presence throughout .", "it is n't all it might have been , but it 's still a gripping yarn , intelligently crafted , worth seeing . and schreiber is superb .", "`` jews do n't fight ! '' mutters a red army soldier . `` these jews do ! '' says another admiringly . great pitch , largely undone by stilted , solemn direction .", "craig and schreiber are two excellent actors , and both of them connect strongly with their roles as well as their fierce rivalry .", "MOV remains a fantastic story . no one could doubt the sincerity of its telling . what MOV lacks is simply an ability to make it come fully alive .", "a stirring story ends up being lost in a stir of clich\u00e9s and designer desultoriness .", "in the end it 's not the best of the sub-genre and it wo n't replace `` schindler 's list '' or `` uprising , '' but it 's a good enough film where craig and schreiber shine ...", "the way zwick force-feeds his audience emotion becomes laborious .", "an interesting story with handsome production values , but full of romantic contrivances and blockbuster conceits . this is the holocaust at its action-hero worst .", "a strangely unaffecting story about real heroism in world war ii", "MOV is without a doubt the best of the holocaust themed films from 2008 . unfortunately , that may be faint praise indeed .", "it 's an imperfect film - slow-moving and without much narrative momentum - but it tells an inspiring story , and when it gets going , it 's quite rousing .", "as a heroic drama , MOV has its clich\u00e9s and narrative hiccups , but as an examination of the cycle of violence it 's often harrowing .", "MOV is an extraordinary story and the production is admirable -- if you have the time and patience to trudge through .", "-lsb- MOV -rsb- stuffs everything into a tired formula , robs the story of its inherent drama , and makes it dull . -lsb- it 's -rsb- absent of any surprises or subtle characterization .", "MOV runs for 137 minutes , but that does n't make it an epic . it just makes it long . near the beginning , we are informed on screen that MOV is `` a true story . '' it may be a true story , but it is not truly told .", "simultaneously encourages us to cheer in the aisles while also recognizing the disquiet that must accompany any moment of violence , not matter how seemingly righteous", "i can understand why the film demands to be treated with the utmost respect . it is haunting , impressive and moving . but ultimately it looks , smells and feels too familiar .", "MOV makes a noise but leaves no echo . it feels progressively more bogus and less significant the further it recedes from view , and myths are meant to wax in the memory , not wane .", "occasionally schmaltzy , to be sure , but schreiber makes a surprisingly awesome rambo stand-in .", "much of it reminded me of those well-intentioned , ingenuously performed school holocaust programs like survivor and the wall where the actors emote like it 's a grand ole mitzvah .", "the words and characters look great on paper , but lose their authenticity on screen .", "the film ties itself in knots trying to be both historical account and ripping adventure - ` schindler 's list ' by way of ` the dirty dozen ' . in the end neither aspect satisfies , resulting in a drab if diverting sunday afternoon spectacle .", "manly virtues , melodrama , conflict and combat are all deployed to tell a fascinating , little-known story of remarkable wwii heroism .", "zwick 's compulsion to turn an important story into audience-friendly entertainment is much more effective than the strained seriousness of his last film .", "not just another holocaust story , this is a gritty , poetic film based on the true saga of jewish refugees who fight the nazis while living in the frigid woods of belarus .", "gets by with a solid traditional mounting and a healthy interest in the dynamics of a growing micro-community .", "is edward zwick the dullest filmmaker in america ?", "ultimately , the film works not just because of the character arc it provides for its main character but for its ultimate theme of the triumph over adversity .", "it 's too bad that zwick did n't feel secure enough about what 's best about MOV -- the action-packed scenes of armed resistance against nazis -- and found himself trapped in the archetype of the serious , self-aware , important holocaust drama .", "`` MOV '' sometimes is so subtle and well done , you admire zwick for his reserve and tact . unfortunately , at other times the movie is so heavy-handed , it can leach into parody .", "earnest yet stubbornly static .", "i felt like these characters were prototypes and not people .", "since nobody ever seems to be a villain in their own life story , personal accounts of historical events , as in MOV , may often be suspect , and laden with problematic content like biases , grudges , and extreme characters one way or the other .", "a belated tribute to some unsung heroes which turns out to be of considerably less entertainment than historical value .", "just like the winter in the movie , the film feels long . the story is amazing , but surprisingly , in the hands of zwick the film never felt that way .", "more than anything , `` MOV '' is a celebration of survival against overwhelming odds .", "does the story of the bielski partisans deserve to be told hollywood-style , with much melodrama and cliche-ridden dialogue ?", "the material is engrossing , but the execution is ponderous ...", "... ultimately does a disservice to the real-life figures that inspired this story .", "MOV plays more like an action movie than the award-worthy prestige film the studio is making it out to be .", "a potentially exceptional story is told in a flatly unexceptional manner in MOV .", "passionate if prosaically rendered .", "craig heads a good cast in a largely unknown wwii tale of siblings who created a commune of warriors that contested the myth of jews as passive victims , and while the subject is intriguing , zwick 's helming and film 's execution leave much to be desired .", "an action-oriented drama about members of a jewish resistance movement hiding from and fighting the nazis in belorusssia during world war ii .", "it 's earnest and intense but it 's a shame they did n't tell - as paul harvey would say - the rest of the story .", "it is , all in all , a film as square-shouldered as its leads -- tough-minded , forcibly acted and conventionally spun by zwick and co-writer clayton frohman .", "throughout , the people on-screen -- from the bielskis to the huddled masses they shelter -- feel less like flesh and blood people than stock characterizations designed to forward a specific ideological agenda or plot point of the movie .", "ultimately , the film celebrates and memorializes the survival of something unthinkable , and a group of people for whom MOV meant , at heart , that they would push against the growing darkness and carry on .", "a documentary would have been the best way to go with this material .", "it 's understandable and laudable that they desire not to sensationalize the bielskis , and they 've made a worthy film . but their understated approach makes the struggle seem less urgent than it must surely have been .", "as a piece of historical redress , a great service has been done in bringing this narrative to the screen .", "MOV may lack the sort of emotional punch that sticks , but its story of courage and responsibility is undeniably compelling .", "without neglecting the ultimate horror of those years , the film presents a tangible example of potential victims fighting against their oppressors and even achieving victory . and , better yet , it 's based on a true story .", "it 's difficult , perhaps impossible , to make a gripping 137-minute epic about people standing around under the trees .", "an absorbing family saga , a thrilling combat movie and a backwoods epic that conveys the feel of a frontier-community-under-duress with the vividness of a john ford classic ." ], "summary": "professionally made but artistically uninspired , ed zwick 's story of jews surviving wwii in the belarus forest lacks the emotional punch of the actual history .", "id": "770682436" }, { "movie": "no_mans_land", "reviews": [ "an intelligent and expertly-judged microcosm of the inanity of war .", "despite some missteps , no man 's land is a shrewd film that provides a persuasive picture of how small conflicts can escalate into all-out war .", "skimps on character development for such a politically-charged movie", "it 's less about battlefields and weaponry than it is about personality conflicts and the agonizing frustration that boils inside people who want to put positive changes into effect , but are too entangled in red tape to do much of anything .", "absurd situation creates lasting images that do n't diminish with time", "a brilliant and brilliantly disturbing film .", "tanovic adroitly indicts the entrenched hostilities between people and nations .", "savage whimsy", "no man 's land is the superior version of russell 's slightly overrated three kings .", "makes us laugh and frustrates us at the same time .", "a story told simply , with a dose of mordant humor that starkly puts its points across .", "one of the most remarkable films of the year .", "tanovic , himself a war veteran , expertly twists us within the dilemma while avoiding easy answers .", "the acting 's so strong and the dialogue so realistic , that it feels authentic .", "this tour of duty to the cineplex is worth enlisting for .", "an eloquent anti-war testimonial , it paints a bleak picture of how there is no simple answer to deeply-rooted hatred .", "tense and , ultimately , emotionally devastating , no man 's land uses the blackest of humor to create the most subtle of satires .", "equally deft at portraying the hateful madness of war and the infantile , venal feeble-mindedness of military bureaucracy .", "the bracing nature of the humor , the energy of the direction and the authenticity of the performances go far to mitigate its weaknesses .", "a balanced and devastatingly accurate look at the bosnian conflict", "no man 's land instantly lands on the short list of great films about the absurdity of war .", "an explosively suspenseful , deeply moving dark comedy and an astonishingly assured fiction debut from tanovic .", "it 's a great war farce because it 's confident enough in its emotions and convictions to focus on the laughs , knowing you 'll get the message anyway .", "absurdity reminiscent of camus is married to a modernist cynicism that is most disquieting", "-lsb- a -rsb- stunning farce ...", "part of what makes no man 's land so effective is a take-no-prisoners sense of humor that is characteristically balkan .", "reverberates with anger and intelligence , wit and despair .", "by film 's end i was impressed by the rich tapestry of characters , dark humor and violence , all carefully balanced and delivered with a modicum of rational thought .", "a very good film and should be seen .", "fierce , funny and finally devastating .", "tanovic gives us a mature , thoughtful story with sympathetic characters and a strong statement against war .", "seems ... deeply and painfully authentic .", "the writing is brisk and smart and this is one fine film .", "no man 's land does not carry the same impact as the heavyweight war torn social consciousness satires such as m * a * s * h , but it does sway in that direction as an ardently funny antiwar statement with a sense of chaotic artistry .", "tanovic is sometimes glib , but he makes his points with admirable visual restraint .", "despite the liberal sprinkling of humor , no man 's land ends with a very powerful and sure-to-haunt-you statement .", "this is a sound bite satire for a war fought through them .", "... provides a healthy dose of dark satiric drama , psychological gamesmanship , good performances , and valuable themes .", "ranks not far behind stanley kubrick 's dr. strangelove .", "while the audience has its laughs along the way , the violent tension of war often threatens to erupt , and slowly , subtly gathering force is the film 's emotional weight .", "no man 's land is the best war movie since saving private ryan .", "no es una cinta de guerra heroica , sino todo lo contrario , y esto de refleja perfectamente en la escena final , que es de una incredulidad indescriptible .", "a very good , award-worthy film .", "shows that the most effective antiwar statements are clothed in humor and irony .", "a bare-knuckled , absurdly comic and at times unbearably tense look back at the madness of the bosnian conflict .", "`` no man 's land '' makes it 's message go down with a laugh before it sucker punches you .", "a tightly constructed , chilling drama with welcome doses of gallows humor .", "no man 's land may end with an honest blip yet its history is remiss .", "this powerful film is often harrowing to watch , but it can also be shockingly entertaining as it deftly mixes macabre humor , pathos , and horror .", "an absorbing , deeply affecting , well-acted -- and remarkably evenhanded -- antiwar statement .", "a strange and disturbing film , but it is not without a stirringly humanist compassion even at its most outlandish and outrageous .", "tanovic makes land accessible and compelling enough for audiences everywhere to appreciate .", "extremely taut , brutally funny and achingly frank .", "the spirit of mash runs through this sharply observed , absurdly funny take on the folly of war .", "after the movie makes its one didactic point , it repeats it endlessly , hoping to beat it into out heads that war is fruitless and senseless .", "a nice and blistering portrait of war at its most absurd .", "an interesting foreign war movie featuring a nice balance between drama and humor .", "tanovic 's film is coil-sprung to explode on the unsuspecting .", "it 's undeniably riveting .", "a skillfully wrought , if somewhat predictable , farce involving belligerent opponents , blundering international peacekeepers and excitable journalists .", "the absurdity of it is diluted by the metaphorical sledgehammer used to smash the antiwar message home .", "from beginning to end , it bristles with ironies in classic eastern european absurdist style .", "a bleakly funny parable that could be titled between enemy lines .", "it 's not a pretty picture , but it is a funny one , if you agree with tanovic that all human behavior tends toward folly , cowardice , self-deception , corruption and hopelessness .", "a well-mounted ... seriocomedy with passing punchlines . and for about half the movie , it 's compelling stuff .", "its success is mainly because of the taut script , the good acting , and the effective directing .", "we learn absolutely nothing about the ideologies of these people or their reasons for fighting . they are virtually interchangeable ...", "` who 's on first ? ' in a corpse-riddled trench , with moral culpability for a genocidal civil war rather than the identity of a first baseman as the punchline . a staggering debut .", "a worthwhile little picture with a true sense of humanity running through it .", "a merciless and mirthlessly funny antiwar weapon from a filmmaker who has seen battle firsthand and has lived to make art from memories of hell .", "the film would have been a stunner under any circumstances , but with the situation in afghanistan and the middle east worsening on a daily basis , no man 's land feels even more relevant .", "scathingly tense , blackly funny and ultimately indelible .", "unlike most american dark comedies there is no soft edge to be found anywhere in this devastating indictment of war .", "the movie 's insights let the movie get away with its wartime irreverence .", "a vivid and unforgettable film about the insanity of war and the dreadful things it can do to those who drench themselves in hate and violence .", "el humor y el absurdo en un drama ligero que toca temas con fuerza .", "blazingly good anti-war sentiment .", "in this expertly calibrated debut , tanovic charts the ebb and flow of these events , which began in a fog and end in a pyrrhic tie , as a global ripple that is everyone 's business .", "... a gripping piece of combat theater .", "a waiting for godot for art-house movie buffs .", "no man 's land begins and ends quietly , like stirrings of thunder from a distant storm . in between comes a tragedy that rolls over us like a compact hurricane .", "it 's hard to believe this is writer-director danis tanovic 's first feature fiction film .", "no man 's land hurts when you laugh ." ], "summary": "bleak and darkly humorous , no man 's land vividly illustrates the absurdity of war .", "id": "13824" }, { "movie": "top_five", "reviews": [ "it paints with a broad brush ... but the journey is nonetheless entertaining , and at times wildly funny .", "rock is sharpest in observational mode , riffing on andre 's career , but the movie falters when the routine plot devices kick in .", "MOV is easily the `` avengers '' of comedians where the laugh meter never drops from its highest point .", "it 's much less savvy than his stand-up observations .", "what follows is part meet-cute , part examination of fame , and all rock .", "when it 's just andre and chelsea , wandering the streets of new york and getting to know each other , MOV is as good as rock has ever been on-screen .", "chris rock 's MOV is very funny -- no surprise there -- but it 's also unexpectedly romantic .", "-lsb- rock 's -rsb- conversations with dawson crackle with intelligence and sexual chemistry , and a parade of guest artists -- some playing characters , others as themselves -- is folded into the mix with a minimum of awkwardness .", "as a director , chris rock makes a fine stand-up comic .", "if you want to see one of the richest , most complex female characters in american film this year , go to the picture that 's being marketed as a dirty-talking ethnic comedy .", "when it feels loose and lived-in , it starts clicking into place . but when it pushes its characters toward unearned saccharine , it feels as fake as the industry it 's supposed to be satirizing .", "it 's superior fare and marks rock out - third time round - as a writer-director and actor to be reckoned with .", "chris rock wrote , directed , and stars in this genial , splendidly constructed , occasionally hilarious comic drama with a reflexive twist .", "while rock calls in a lot of friends for backup on `` MOV , '' his confidence as a leading man , writer and director had never been sharper .", "it 's a big leap forward for rock as both an actor and a filmmaker , written and directed with the nervous , live-wire energy that has eluded his on-screen work for so long .", "... rock proves here that his comic groove is stronger than ever .", "multi-hyphenate chris rock kills in the hilarious account of a stand-up comic turned movie star that wants to be taken seriously .", "i think i would still rather watch rock hold a press conference about `` MOV '' than actually act in it , but the movie is the nearest we 've come to hearing rock 's authentic comic voice on film .", "a clever , laff-a-minute adventure worth the investment for the hilarity , even if it telegraphs where the love story might be headed .", "chris rock has made an entertainment that is not only a wild and rich study of his lead character but the character of the filmmaker himself .", "chris rock keeps wanting to be a social commentator just when this movie really needs him to be a character .", "very funny , yes , but it also represents a clear statement from rock about his career . it 's his best film by a considerable margin .", "MOV is the film that bridges the gap between the creator 's on-screen and stage personas . skillfully dancing the line between harsh and hopeful , rock delivers his medicine with a delicious spoonful of honey .", "as a writer , rock sets up one volatile situation after another , no sweat , and as a director , he captures his performers at their most explosively spontaneous .", "the mess never coheres , but it sends off you on a high anyway .", "MOV is a film broad and filthy enough for multiplex appeal , but also sufficiently arch to satisfy those who fancy themselves a little more sophisticated .", "the writing is strong enough that when the humor gives way to drama in the second half , there 's enough at stake to keep us interested , although rock still has plenty of jokes in store for the finale .", "happily , at the ripe young age of 49 , rock has hit a career high with his new film MOV .", "it can be hard for a movie to dwell on the problems of the rich and famous without seeming a touch self-serving , but rock always keeps things in perspective .", "-lsb- MOV -rsb- is a charmingly tough-knuckled expression of an artist 's vision in a pure and classic mode . with MOV , chris rock has made his annie hall .", "could go toe-to-toe with the very best of rock 's standup . the movie he 's been working towards his entire career .", "rock 's third directorial effort proves to be his strongest and most similar to his rollicking standup routines .", "i stopped writing off rock as a filmmaker when he swerved left to remake an eric rohmer movie ...", "fresh , accessible , delightfully performed and downright hilarious .", "the tone is predominately blue , but never blue enough to obscure the heart of a surprisingly moving tale that will leave you debating whether those tears on your cheeks are from laughter or emotion .", "when it comes to comedy , funny always wins , and chris rock 's third directorial effort does run on engagingly amusing riffs . but MOV also steers hard into undisciplined storytelling ...", "MOV thoughts that crossed my mind as i watched MOV .", "rock is incisive in this new comedy but the film 's reliance on crude and unfunny set-ups really prevents it from reaching the heights it 's aiming for .", "the best comedy of the year .", "a seriously funny , semi-autobiographical film that might be the most accomplished work chris rock has ever done for the big screen .", "the settings for conversation are awfully contrived , but wow , are those conversations good .", "MOV is the funniest movie i 've seen this year , and the calendar 's running out .", "MOV is rock 's greatest accomplishment yet , mixing his signature brand of comedy with a hip and savvy filmmaking technique borrowed from some of cinema 's finest .", "the unadulterated chris rock turns out to be stardust memories meets do the right thing . raucous and scathing .", "in spite of its silly attitude , the movie asks real questions about the tension between show business and artistic desire .", "MOV is a reminder that as often as comedy fails us , sometimes it 's our best hope for resuscitation . seeing it at the end of a crap week , i suddenly felt i could breathe again .", "this is the movie we 've been waiting for chris rock to make .", "as a social satirist , chris rock adroitly balances bawdy abrasiveness with the awareness of a black man blindsided by his own success .", "-lsb- rock is -rsb- still not all the way there in `` MOV , '' his third effort as writer-director-star . but the movie has so many laughs it hardly matters .", "an innovative take on familiar material , MOV is an exquisitely paced , rich , idiosyncratic , satirical , yet deeply moving free-form comedy about a hollywood star who is shadowed for one day by a new york times reporter .", "it 's also smarter and richer and more mature than the `` romantic comedy '' needs to be , and seems to promise a whole new chris rock .", "for a movie trying so hard to challenge the notion of what we expect from celebrities , i was surprised how many times MOV followed the conventional hollywood formula .", "there are a fair number of decent -- if decidedly adult -- laughs to be had . -lrb- full content review -- sex , profanity , etc. -- for parents also available -rrb-", "here are the MOV reasons chris rock 's latest deserves little of the hype it 's receiving .", "among chris rock 's films , this is more than in the MOV . it is number one .", "welcome back , chris rock .", "ragged around the edges and haphazardly hilarious though it may be , `` MOV '' ultimately satisfies as an often raunchy ramble about celebrity , sobriety , selling out and sex , courtesy of the immensely talented but too-often subpar movie star chris rock .", "extremely enjoyable ...", "it 's fun to watch chris rock ; it 's just fun . and there are parts of this film where it 's fun to watch him in exactly the ways he wants it to be .", "the basic outline of rock 's script is standard romcom ... but rock uses it to examine show biz , celebrity , addiction , discrimination and family in painfully funny fashion . it 's rock 's hip hop homage to woody allen and his own stand up roots .", "MOV is filled with the kind of smart , lewd dialogue that has made rock a standup god . and for the first time in his career , rock has the authority , charisma and screen presence of a real movie star .", "-lsb- rock -rsb- has directed and starred in the finest movie of his career to date .", "rock is brilliant at finding common ground while mapping the boundaries between black and white realities , which is why MOV is a truly interesting -- and frequently very funny -- film .", "it does n't always hit its mark , but even its misses feel personal and unself-conscious - a genuine reflection of chris rock , auteur .", "for an ostensibly soul-deep movie like this to work , we need more than smirks and scowls .", "like rock 's best stand-up shows , MOV mixes the sweet with the salty , the naughty with the remarkably kind . it celebrates the darkly hilarious with the light of whip-smart observations .", "MOV finds rock in an elevated form , at 49 . things change , sometimes for the better .", "full of uneven drama but where is the comedy !", "if seeing cedric the entertainer naked in a threesome is amusing , then this is your kind of movie .", "`` MOV '' will be hailed as revolutionary by some -- but definitely not by david or me .", "chris rock never loses sight of the laughs for his most personal film yet .", "rock is quite inventive , jumping back and forth , in and out of conversations , to create a stream of consciousness feel without tying the story in knots .", "chris rock has essentially written and directed a film based on one of his own standup routines , and the result is as hilarious as we 'd expect ...", "writer , director , and star chris rock is so close to something great here , but he gives in too easily to the unchallenging and the very conventional .", "as a satirical attack on the inanities of the entertainment industry , rock 's flamethrower is set to no higher than gentle singeing .", "rock is no actor , but he rides a wave of funny , self-aware and outrageous situations , and this is always watchable .", "rock is working some stuff out through a loudhailer , essentially , but the film 's snap and energy make it well worth bending an ear .", "chris rock approaches directing with the same fizzing energy that he brings to his stand-up comedy .", "the film 's trump card is its rigorous honesty .", "top of the pack and chris rock 's best movie .", "rock 's scattershot film may not be for the ages , but at least developing a personal angle has allowed him to get his groove back .", "rock spins his familiarity with the industry to get goofy and hilarious results , but as the day progresses he surprises us with an overwhelming sense of vulnerability and pain - an aspect of the business often taken for granted .", "the movie marks the first time rock 's stand-up persona - cutting , vulnerable , afraid of no sacred cows - has survived intact on the way to the multiplex . that alone is reason for fans to celebrate .", "` MOV ' is a welcome transition for chris rock , who has always been funny ; here he artfully blurs the lines between real-life and fiction .", "combining the best of woody allen and his own particular urban perspective , rock has come up with one of the funniest films of 2014 .", "the movie , which alternates between hilariously vulgar gags and some electric improvs and riffs by rock and his cast of all-stars , has the crackle and pop of a live performance - it energizes you .", "a romantic comedy that 's also an extended riff on art , identity , authenticity and what it means to be a black entertainer ...", "it 's a slap-happy movie and often scurrilously funny - the sound of a gifted comic mind finally finding its onscreen voice .", "-lsb- t -rsb- he film has a lot to say about the nature and perils of fame , and it does so with rock 's observant and caustic humor .", "it is the funniest movie of the year , in part because it is so sharply observed .", "rock 's brilliant skewering of hollywood , celebrities and the fans obsessed with their every move results in one of the year 's smartest , insightful and terrifically funny films of the year .", "all of this is very funny , informed by rock 's insider 's view of big-time show business , made specific by his unique perspective on race and class , success and failure .", "this is the movie i 've been waiting for chris rock to make his entire career . it 's his stand-up sensibility , perfectly translated to film .", "it 's a comedy with a serious side - and yet it feels completely natural when it suddenly segues into over-the-top set pieces -lrb- including one fairly surreal stretch in houston involving cedric the entertainer you ca n't un-see -rrb- .", "rock 's frank , personal , semi-autobiographical , ferociously 21st-century comedy feels like its own special animal ... this sweet small crazy blunt bittersweet dirty ----- comedy vaults in every moment into a superior comic stratosphere .", "funny ... but unfortunate coincidences ? police brutality , a black man in a choke hold , a comic singing the praises of bill cosby , a man acting as if he does n't `` get '' rape , and the reminder that this might be the last time we see tracy morgan in a movie", "rock has said that he wanted to make a movie that captures the energy of his stand-up . MOV fits the bill .", "a relentlessly filthy and unbearably entertaining crowd-pleaser that actually needs to be seen in a theater with a lathered-up group .", "-lsb- MOV is -rsb- indeed funny in spots , but often thin and underdeveloped as well as improbable .", "on the surface , a lost-artist comedy in the vein of woody allen 's stardust memories , but more deeply , a referendum on the dead-end choices rock himself might be feeling .", "rock has said that he worked on the screenplay during his downtime while co-starring in `` grown ups 2 . '' if that 's the case , then we finally have a reason to be grateful for that atrocious adam sandler debacle .", "MOV is a fiercely honest and very funny passion project for chris rock that works best when it channels the comic actor 's brazen energy .", "there are some great sequences in this film - both comedic and dramatic .", "the overall vibe i get from `` MOV '' is that chris rock is a smashing talent . the film , and it 's very satisfying conclusion , come from a man with his fingers on the pulse of contemporary comedy .", "the banter between allen and dawson keeps things ticking over , it 's nicely shot and there are some amusing lines . but the rambling structure requires sharper visual gags and much tougher targets .", "MOV is chris rock 's latest slice of personal comedy , except new york is the stage and echoes of woody allen , louie c.k , adam sandler and jerry seinfeld abound .", "benefits from rock fully exploiting his own persona and his own conflicted experiences of being a famous , rich african american performer .", "it does n't always work , there are plenty of scenes you wish were better , but it 's out there .", "strikes a delicate balance between social commentary , show business satire , general vulgarity and legitimate sweetness .", "the time has arrived to finally come out and say that ... chris rock is a mediocre film director ... given how perceptive , confronting and challenging his stand up work is , it 's disappointing to see how tame rock becomes when he gets behind the camera .", "the incomparable chris rock is not known for impersonations , but he mimics woody allen , richard linklater , louis c.k. and even federico fellini in his directorial pet project MOV .", "the writing here feels like vintage rock : free-flowing , profane and absolutely hilarious .", "as an actor , rock does n't create much of a spark with dawson , and as a director , he tends to let scenes go on too long .", "rock still has n't figured out exactly what he wants you to think of him , but the way the film reflects that uncertainty may be the most interesting thing about it .", "just when it seemed like chris rock had already done plenty for the culture , along comes his latest work as a writer and director , `` MOV . '' and it 's one of the most vibrant , sly romantic comedies this year .", "even when it falls flat , MOV has ambition , which is more than you could say about the majority of rock 's previous film work .", "a disorganized , dawdling mess of a movie that is rarely anything less than charming .", "rock 's fast-talking rhythms are all over this movie , and they lift it up ; it 's like dropping in on a party full of funny people , and leaving before the evening fades .", "funnier than it is smart .", "when it 's funny , it works alarmingly well , capturing the coarseness of rock 's comedy and his ease with other comedians .", "the somewhat watchable vibe lasts up until the movie enters its hopelessly misguided third act ...", "you come away from it with the thrilling sensation that you 're seeing an artist you thought you knew reinvent himself .", "you 'll likely leave the theater smiling . and when 's the last time you cold say that about a chris rock movie ?", "there 's nuance in the performances and bite in the script , but it could have done with a stronger hand behind the camera to blend it all together .", "MOV is hardly in the same class as stardust memories but it is still manifestly cinema , rather than filmed comedy , and the gags are often visually sophisticated .", "rock has much to say about what it means to be a successful black entertainer in the us today . what , though , is he telling us when he makes the only significant white character in the movie the butt of a series of very dodgy homophobic jokes ?", "the chris rock movie we 've been waiting for , it 's boisterous , rude and genuinely romantic .", "a passion project that rock writes , directs and stars in , the film encapsulates the raw , edgy , provocative energy of the star 's stand-up routines , while providing plenty of food for thought in the process .", "rock 's ambitious passion project - he wrote , directed and stars in it - is a bawdy , uninhibited yet thoughtful social satire about fame vs. artistic fulfillment .", "`` MOV '' is a funny movie , but rock has his sights set higher than lowbrow , and for the most part , he succeeds .", "beneath the meta-fiction and the lulz lies a genuinely warm romance in the style of richard linklater 's before sunrise .", "chris rock squanders an interesting idea with an implausible premise in this comedy about a superstar stand-up -lrb- rock -rrb- who no longer values his comic instincts .", "an introspective look at stardom that happens to be the funniest movie of the year .", "MOV is packed full of zingers even if , at first glance , the familiar tale of a comic-turned - actor desperately seeking credibility promises to be an indulgent 102 minutes .", "rock 's crass reliance on misogynist hooker gags and hot-sauce-up-the-ass homophobia routines means that an adam sandler cameo hardly seems out of place .", "what lingers hours later are n't just the laughs but the people .", "rock is too nimble and original to fall back on hollywood conventions here . he uses this plot as a springboard for a manic ride through several days in andre 's nutty , combustible life .", "in `` MOV , '' you sense rock trying to load all these disparate talents onto a conventional romantic-comedy structure . it 's a close call , but it holds .", "`` MOV '' has the bright , high-gloss feel of the most delicious wish-fulfillment fantasies , but it derives its spiky , propulsive energy from the adamantly forthright figure at its center .", "`` MOV '' may be chris rock 's biggest and boldest film as a director and writer , but a sharper , smarter , realer script would have made it far more than just a lazy , lightweight laughfest .", "MOV is rock 's most accomplished work yet , a truly personal story whose comedic riffs on love , race , sex , and celebrity are carefully woven into a credible romantic plot .", "the sweetest surprise in this raunchy comic ride is how artfully rock lets down his guard . his confident , prowling wit as a stand-up has finally found its way to the screen , enhanced by a bracing vulnerability .", "mr. rock has made a pyrotechnic pinwheel of a personal comedy , and he 's had the wisdom to share it with a strong co-star . while he sends sparks flying every which way , rosario dawson keeps the story grounded in calm intelligence and classic romance .", "rock lets his humor play broadly , but he fills out the space between gags with smart writing and pointed social insights .", "MOV entertains more than any previous film in which rock was top-billed primarily because its content as well plays like an extension of rock 's stand-up act .", "rock is on a roll again .", "to the writing , rock brings the discipline of his stand-up . even with some improvisation , there is not one throwaway line in this fat-free script .", "it can be delightful , intelligent , crude , clumsy and culturally tone-deaf , depending on which scene is rolling by . one minute it 's a major letdown , the next minute a joy to watch .", "raunchy in extremis , often funny and at times touching , `` MOV '' is chris rock 's sincere attempt to craft a film career largely detached from his stand-up clowning .", "the semi-autobiographical nature of rock 's film makes MOV 's satiric points about black performers in the entertainment industry fall all the more precisely .", "with `` MOV , '' rock has finally made the transition to true movie stardom .", "rock 's best work yet .", "written and directed by rock , this meta-saturated comedy/drama may be the biggest surprise of this holiday film season .", "MOV is an arty and sincere hangout with an incredible cast of characters .", "the break seems to have allowed rock a welcome opportunity to freshen his material without softening his edge .", "while MOV is certainly rock 's best work as a filmmaker , it 's also proof that he should n't quit his day job yet .", "it has that rom-com formula framework , but rock turns it on its head for a snappy , contemporary and entertaining ride .", "it 's fast and real , funny and outrageous , cutting and poignant by its truthfulness", "MOV plays like a great stand-up routine : shambling , honest and packed with laughs - and laughs that stick .", "this is a funny , loud , profane , obscenity-laced film about the lives of entertainment celebrities , reality tv , alcoholism and show business . the film demonstrates chris rock 's sharp observations of society and show business .", "a talented comedian -lrb- nearly -rrb- hits his stride" ], "summary": "as smart , funny , and trenchant as writer-director-star chris rock 's best standup work , MOV is a career highlight for its creator -- and one of the comedy standouts of 2014 .", "id": "771387806" }, { "movie": "1105979-brothers", "reviews": [ "the MOV is basically a lifetime movie that somehow found its way into theaters .", "a politically incorrect but often hilarious jam session .", "a lively , affectionate and well-acted romantic comedy .", "hardwick 's boisterous film is enjoyably slapstick and uses laughter rather than psychological insights as therapy .", "although it 's funny at times and very well intentioned , the MOV has nothing new to say .", "one is left with warm memories of laughs , loves , and most of all likable characters with whom one would n't mind spending another two hours .", "a pleasant and enjoyable romantic comedy showcasing several talented performers", "an entertaining but too-familiar comedy about the romantic woes of african-americans .", "the MOV has a lot to offer .", "has all the emotional depth and honesty of a ford ad , only with worse production values .", "often entertaining , mostly unsurprising , but ultimately rewarding", "brothas and sistas make sure you see this movie !", "for all its coarse humor , the MOV has moments of tenderness and depth .", "feels kinda like a misguided after-school special for adults .", "the main drawback of the MOV is one of balance .", "looks good and is often easy to digest .", "it 's undeniable that director-writer gary hardwick 's the MOV has a target demographic . but the movie 's themes of family , love and friendship are universal .", "ultimately , the MOV ends on a very girlie note .", "smart , earthy and , in its own way , tender , the MOV packs a powerfully entertaining punch .", "for romantic comedy , it is not particularly romantic or funny .", "while philosophical at times , the approach is courageous in its honesty , with solid performances across the board to back it up .", "the movie 's a mixed bag , but worth seeing for the good stuff , which is a lesson in how productive it can be to allow characters to say what they might actually say .", "hughley and jones have an explosively comic chemistry together .", "once you accept the surfacey nature of the MOV , it 's pretty entertaining .", "as close as these men say they are , the film makes it very difficult to believe they are friends .", "if you want to take down waiting to exhale , you 'd better have a stronger grip on men and women and how they connect or fail to connect than this .", "it depicts all of its characters as fully rounded human beings without shying away from their less pleasant thoughts .", "it 's regurgitating pop psychology ideas that are unlikely to be surprising to anyone sitting in the audience .", "glossy fun , but it should have given us more ideas and energy .", "often funny , often wise and often raunchy .", "these `` MOV '' are full to the brim with heart , soul , and a solid sense of humor .", "the dialogue is witty and lively , and the characters are crafted with insight and care .", "digs more vibrantly into issues of trust , fear , pleasure , commitment , and camaraderie than any hollywood feature in recent memory .", "an amiable , engaging and personal film .", "it 's funny stuff .", "so we have a bunch of guys going about their lives and not doing anything that 's all that interesting .", "the egomaniacal thrust behind the MOV is the same drive that 's fueled dozens of other low-watt bar-talk flicks .", "this glossy romantic comedy gets off to a good start ... -lsb- but -rsb- some of the storylines are slack ...", "the MOV is carried by the warmth that both sexes pour into its sitcom soul .", "films such as the best man and the wood have gone over this terrain before , with considerably more style and humor .", "it seems as though the entire budget of this movie was spent on expensive set decoration .", "if the MOV falls far short of its prototype , waiting to exhale , it still conveys a warm-blooded affection for its characters .", "engaging entertainment .", "it 's time for filmmakers to take a deep breath ... and come up with a new approach .", "had the film taken more of an edgy and irreverent approach - along the lines of one character 's titular response , breathe , bitch to waiting to exhale -- it may have been more interesting and far more amusing and perhaps even insightful .", "hardwick is n't afraid to dog out these men for their disrespect and double standards even while sympathizing with their attempts to ` grow up . '", "like candy , this male answer to the 1995 film waiting to exhale is sweet , pleasing and goes down easy -- but it 's not very filling . still , it 's tasty while it lasts .", "it 's easier to laugh with the movie than take it seriously .", "airless and oddly fatiguing .", "the drama/comedy balance is not played out well .", "a shallow comedy with few insights and only sporadic laughs .", "stuffed with the most obvious points imaginable .", "a mixed-message piece of sexist propaganda masquerading as a movie about sensitive guys , masquerading in turn as a movie for guys .", "there are plenty of honest laughs .", "slick but superficial .", "it is n't much of a movie ." ], "summary": "often seen as a waiting to exhale with men , the MOV is amiable . however , it feels superficial and somewhat of a retread .", "id": "13373" }, { "movie": "v_for_vendetta", "reviews": [ "a killer action film with flaming political implications .", "the film is an intriguing thriller that asks questions likely to have a powerful effect on conscripts in the current war on terror .", "a visual feast for the eyes and an intelligent treat for the brain .", "when it chooses to be , MOV is a gangbusters and incisive indictment of the scary direction this big blue ball is headed in .", "what makes vendetta truly remarkable is that it refuses to back away from its strong convictions .", "... the first must-see movie of 2006 .", "volatile and vehement as a timely cautionary tale , it emerges as the first exciting , significant and , potentially , the most controversial film of 2006 .", "first-time director james mcteigue 's big , bold imagery , with slashing reds and blacks , is a close approximation of the novel 's look and feel .", "it works beautifully .", "MOV is a piece of pulp claptrap ; it has no insights whatsoever into totalitarian psychology and always settles for the cheesiest kinds of demagoguery and harangue as its emblems of evil .", "MOV wants to be a thoughtful political allegory , a chaste love story and a high-powered thriller all at the same time . it winds up being a big snooze .", "a welcome blast of pop subversion .", "v for still victorious .", "a futuristic london where the government uses fear to elicit cooperation from the people is smashed by a man in a mask . MOV is an allegory of modern america .", "it 's not sin city , but it 's probably the most acomplished blovkbuster we 'll see all summer", "for all its anti-establishment esprit , it 's more a case of z for zzzz .", "the less you think , the more you like it . which is n't always a bad thing .", "revenge is liberty . i ca n't recall hearing that particular idea from tolstoy , gandhi , martin luther king , vaclav havel , nelson mandela , the dalai lama or the makers of batman begins . but as the wachowski brothers would say , that 's another paradigm .", "... a somewhat old-fashioned adventure flick , filled with action , humor , romance , politics , and the kind of swashbuckling that audiences had n't seen in movies for many years .", "feels far too starched and clean to do its source material justice .", "much to admire and enjoy , but what could have been a meaningful parable about individual freedoms comes off as heavy-handed politicizing that does n't quite add up .", "although often visually striking and undercoated by a compelling sci-fi concept , graphic-novel adaptation MOV feels flat as a storyboard .", "it 's an amazing movie . not in exactly the way the matrix was -lrb- how tired would that be ? -rrb- , but in a new way . it 's a fascinating picture , dark and exciting , and it will almost certainly be an enormous hit .", "the most faithful and literal adaptation of an alan moore graphic novel ... a potent combination of action , emotion and wry political commentary .", "as vendetta winds up , the movie gets a little lazy , and a little wacky -lrb- it shows some of the lack of discipline that troubled the matrix sequels -rrb- .", "MOV engages in lots of speechifying about the importance of ideas and the freedom to question them . ironically , though , the movie does n't really seem to have any ideas of its own .", "keeps the source 's gnarly moral issues , amps up the explosions and thins out the subplots to delight audiences looking for two-plus hours of solid entertainment and willing to do some mental work to get there .", "... an endlessly ballsy comic book adaptation that is sly and smart -- something that more and more comic book films are becoming these days .", "the strongest , most exciting and most intelligent thrill ride since the matrix .", "director james mcteigue finds moments of pure brilliance amid a story that stumbles from one questionable choice to another .", "portman reminds one less of falconetti and more of a paris hilton-esque socialite who accidentally wandered into supercuts .", "for anyone looking for something totally different in this most overworked of hollywood genres -lrb- comic-book superheroes -rrb- , this is it .", "it is neither persuasive filmmaking nor political commentary .", "the movie 's a handsome piece of work , dramatically powerful even when it backs into silliness .", "we have here something that we rarely see in sf films these days ... a movie about ideas over action , character over special effects , and emotion over action .", "entertaining and solidly crafted .", "de certa forma , \u00e9 poss\u00edvel que v de vingan\u00e7a seja um dos filmes mais corajosos realizados por hollywood depois dos atentados de 11 de setembro .", "the settings are moody and evocative , the script is well crafted and thought-provoking and there are really cool action sequences with guns , knives and roses ... u for unexpectedly good .", "a political and symbolic thinking person 's action movie .", "do n't believe the hype . all this muddled movie has to offer is more numbly regurgitated , willfully cartoonish pop political commentary .", "though the dystopian elements here are pretty standard , MOV provocatively captures a society at the tipping point of rebellion .", "they 're working within a style that depends on exaggeration , sure -- i get that . however , aside from lacking the granularity that would make v a more intriguing and complex figure , he is by even his own admission little more than a reaction .", "with its delightful mix of action and thinking , MOV is in one sense escapism but on the other , depressing as hell .", "un film inc\u00f3modo y desafiante sobre cuestiones plenamente vigentes en el mundo de hoy , que dejar\u00e1 insatisfechos a quienes busquen s\u00f3lo entretenimiento .", "a mild triumph of hollywood filmmaking in that the film garners its thrills not from mindless action and special effects but from ideas .", "a smarter-than-usual action film .", "MOV should be seen less for the conspiracy theories discussion it inspires and more for its vicious storytelling", "it 's safe to say that v may be the most political movie released by a major studio since jfk -lrb- which was also distributed by warner brothers -rrb- .", "at this point , ' MOV ' seems more fashionable than radical .", "fear is just one of the powerful themes in the ka-pow , ka-boom pleasure that is MOV .", "the film 's screenplay is more compelling and coherent than the graphic novel .", "brilliant and angry .", "if they made a movie about overthrowing a government and did n't load it with political commentary , i 'd be disappointed ... jon stewart would be proud . the benny hill spoof is hilarious and catholics will be offended too .", "has no concerns of following any normal conventions of entertaining its audience and seems more occupied with the loftier goals of getting viewers to consider its ideas .", "it 's as paranoid and pompous a piece of brazen looniness as you 'll see this year .", "... it 's all here except for a contested plan to give control of britain 's ports to dubai .", "the hero/antihero of vendetta , ... is -- thrillingly -- batman and the joker all at once ; he 's luke skywalker and darth vader .", "it may go a little overboard in its desire to convince us of both its coolness and its insightfulness , but it 's fast-paced and smart enough to keep us onboard anyway .", "a daring and imaginative view of britain as a fascist state in the 2020s .", "the persuasive ideas found in the script prevail over the unavoidable comic-book clich\u00e9s and the director 's minimal learning curve", "MOV is a mesmerizing , action filled movie that appeals to the revolutionary in each of us", "f the fanboys out there take umbrage with something in it , i 'm sorry , i loved it , but we 've disagreed on comic adaptations before . i saw it twice opening weekend , if that 's any indication .", "i 'll let others debate all the political ramifications in MOV ; my problem is that as a movie it fails to engage", "an unbearably talkative affair with virtually nothing sane to say .", "deliberately blurs the line between heroism and terrorism .", "MOV 's strength beyond its substantial movie-movie value is not in how it pitches its ideas , but to whom .", "` v ' screams loudly and long , with visceral , kinetic fury and with style to burn . it 's so brazen , it 's kind of brilliant .", "yes , the movie is too long , and given to repetition , but who cares ? it 's exciting , unpredictable , and an inversion of the language of the powerful .", "violence can be used for various purposes , good , ill , and incoherent . this would be the primary observation made by MOV .", "the cleverest aspect of the film is the way it turns a terrorist into a crusading hero while remaining politically correct . what it does n't manage is to create a credible future or avoid pomposity .", "lo que realmente sacude y hace reflexionar , radica en el paralelismo de este supuesto mundo alternativo con los gobiernos actuales . buen ejercicio de los wachowski .", "the quarter-century-old disgruntled fantasies of two english comic-book artists , amplified by a powerful movie company , and ambushed by history , wind up yielding a disastrous muddle .", "MOV lands somewhere between the neo-noir freshness of the original the matrix and the indecipherable bombast of the two sequels .", "the idea of a terrorist-as-hero is bound to stir controversy and debate . for , as we have learned ... one man 's terrorist is another 's freedom fighter .", "tedious , boring and ill-conceived ... rather than being anti-fascist , MOV comes off as being pro-terrorist", "good , but not worth the $ 20 popcorn and cokes at the theater unless you know who alan moore is .", "remember , remember , the 5th of november ... whether you love it or hate it , you ca n't keep your eyes off of it , MOV grabs you and holds you . portman is mesmerizing , while weaving bores .", "MOV is a confounding exercise that has no trouble getting people to think , but it 's far less successful at getting them to feel .", "based on a cult graphic novel -lrb- r-rated comic book -rrb- of the same name , the movie is surprisingly thought provoking , and predictably violent .", "a refreshing piece of hollywood entertainment that is more interested in ideas than in just being ` cool ' .", "the wachowskis are back and rush limbaugh will not be amused .", "this future-shock story about a masked avenger at war with a totalitarian british regime sags when it should zip .", "awesome ! easily the best movie to come out so far this year ...", "there are some great , brilliant action scenes , but this is more thoughtful and darker and more in the vein of batman begins . and that 's a very good thing .", "MOV is a glorious piece of pop culture subversive cinema that operates on manifold levels .", "there are a lot of ideas here - and two impressive set-pieces - but while it may provoke thought , it rarely thrills or engages as a story .", "MOV , directed by james mcteigue , almost always has something going on that is actually interesting , inviting us to decode the character and plot and apply the message where we will .", "v packs an urgent filmmaking energy that pins you to your seat .", "setting out more to challenge us with its ideas than make us whoop at the action , vendetta can be clumsy , but there are enough impressive flourishes to make up for its stumblings .", "a poorly paced and spectacularly disjointed rehash of orwellian themes . it has a high production value and looks great , but suffers from a lack of narrative exposition that leads to sizable holes in the plot .", "explosively imaginative and colorfully conveyed , this velocity-driven vehicle dabbles in the right combination of cynicism and surrealism ... a sprawling thriller .", "... an astonishingly pertinent and thoroughly engaging piece of work .", "MOV is visually stunning , marvellously rich and possibly the first great alan moore adaptation .", "at last , there 's a movie that 's not afraid to look big brother in the eye and declare that fascism is totally uncool ... MOV is dumb with a capital d.", "what it has for certain , and what it has in spades , are some very real ideas . and , to paraphrase this v fellow , ideas are box-office-proof .", "solidly anchored by a masked hugo weaving and a few stunning action sequences . if only there had been more of them ...", "not unlike `` gattaca '' and `` dark city , '' MOV '' will assuredly bomb its way into a thinking man 's cult film status .", "this film is a funhouse of political ideas , some of them intentionally repugnant . you may not entirely agree with the politics , but the film is darkly colorful and fun .", "the cautionary new thriller ' MOV , ' finds director james mcteigue envisioning some rather difficult times ahead for the year 2020 .", "i just put `` MOV '' on my `` a '' list .", "the political anger of MOV , like that of 1984 , is timeless .", "to put it wachowski style : saying it should n't be read as a political film is to say that it does n't exist at all .", "recycled orwellian nightmares are not relevant , but portman and weaving are worth the price of admission .", "'m ' is for mediocre", "its ultimate message is that no one should be afraid of big-budget movies , no matter how daring they might seem .", "so gorgeously visual and thematically resonant that we do n't really mind if the characters are a bit shallow .", "under the guise of comic book entertainment , the movie asks ambitious questions and raises provocative issues . the end result is uniquely cool .", "it 's a sign of our times that fictional fluff like this has now taken the plunge into raging rhetoric -- a sign that entertainment may be becoming the new forum for a conversation that has no other place in today 's partisan political landscape .", "i relish a good politically charged action thriller -lrb- pcat -rrb- , and on one level MOV can claim fame as a non-pc example of a pcat -lrb- central character a terrorist ? -rrb- , but like a black hole , it sucks up anything else in its path .", "just when we were ready to give up mainstream movies as braindead , along comes the controversial and gleefully subversive MOV , a piece of corporate-sponsored art that will have audiences rooting for a bomb-throwing anarchist .", "the dark and stylized MOV is visually exhilarating , provocative and disturbing .", "this is just darkness played bright , a disposable object but hardly objectionable .", "speaking of love , things go blooey instead of gooey whenever heroine and hero come close enough to touch ; far from being sensual , let alone erotic , the movie proves to be not much fun at all .", "alan moore may be greatest victim of hollywood 's comic book adaptation craze .", "in adapting moore 's sprawling narrative into a workable screenplay , the wachowski brothers have come up with a balance of thoughtful philosophy and all-out action that feels more natural and organic than it did in their matrix films .", "in its ambition to weld a political message onto a comic-book movie it falls rather pitifully between two stools .", "whether you 're mindless or mensa , you 'll find stuff here to challenge and trouble you , the way a good piece of speculative fiction should .", "a brutally intelligent political thriller ...", "daredevil in agitator garb", "a sharp mix of substance and entertainment .", "after being burned in effigy for 400 years , you 'd think guy fawkes would appreciate a little rehabilitation , but he could hardly approve of the way the wachowskis have done it .", "MOV speaks in loud mainstream tones , yet sports an ideology that remains at odds with the current mainstream american ideal .", "t for terrible", "-lsb- hugo -rsb- weaving finds the right balance of flamboyant flourish and quietly subtle , effective mannerisms . in this actor 's hands , even the smallest **** of the head says so much .", "never lags for a second", "alan moore , director james mcteigue and the wachowski bros. may be using the equivalent of bombs to slam home the point , but occasionally it takes a loud noise to wake us up .", "it all unfolds to an apex of the triumph of the best of humanity that could even change the real world .", "silly ... v is not george washington , henry v or even patrick henry . he 's the ghost of the phantom of the opera accessorized with ginsu knives and kung fu .", "' MOV ' is an exciting , highly ambitious , and well-written cerebral thriller that i found hugely satisfying .", "it is worth the time and money if you 're looking for something a little different and edgy .", "admittedly , some of the allusions skewer more toward the nazi regime than the republican party -lrb- though many will persuasively argue that they 're one and the same -rrb- .", "m\u0119me si l'effort manque diablement de subtilit\u00e9 on ne pourra r\u00e9futer l'extraordinaire doigt\u00e9 caract\u00e9risant le sc\u00e9nario des fr\u010dres wachowski et la r\u00e9alisation de james mcteigue", "the most avowedly political movie in ages !", "unlike political thrillers that are content to wallow in their dissatisfaction with the state of the world , v demands that we take personal responsibility for it ...", "only when the script and visuals stray too far from the source does the film lose its way , getting bogged down in the mechanics of big-budget action filmmaking and ponderous dialogue as it works toward a way-too-tidy , sentimental finale .", "viewers who take the titular v as a literal ideal will be frustrated by his superficial positioning as a terrorist . it 's hard to be figurative in the land of the blind .", "`` v '' is a gay shakespeare-soliloquy spurting blowhard with a creepy , but well-groomed , hairdo . he 's also a dancing knife-wielding karate killer .", "MOV has a playful-demon vitality , but it 's designed to let political adolescents of every age congratulate themselves . it 's rage against the machine by the machine .", "while the action is happening , this movie works , but there 's just not enough of it .", "imprisoned , natalie finds a hidden diary of a jailed lesbian filmmaker . what is this , the rosie o'slammer ?", "if you do n't know the source , the movie may strike you as a radical studio film . see it before you read the comic , because if you do it the other way , there 's no going back .", "this is pure post-9 / 11 orwell , a great , angry screed against scapegoating and fearmongering in the seemingly endless war on terrorism .", "osama must be smiling in his cave !", "... what better way to promote an idea than to disguise it as entertainment , hmm ?", "v is not for vendetta . it 's a prison cell in a dystopian future civilization where experiments are conducted on live humans .", "' MOV ' stimulates by providing an idealistically profound political message accented by beauty-and-beast romanticism .", "... provocative and engrossing , and may be one of the most important ` entertainments ' released this year .", "this is a bold movie with a strong story and script and absolutely outstanding direction .", "l\u0155 o\u016f les 2 derniers volets de la matrice \u00e9taient pr\u00e9tentieux , souvent ridicules et g\u00e9n\u00e9ralement ennuyants , v pour vendetta est tout le contraire .", "MOV has something going for it that 's rare in mainstream films : it has ideas . it has questions . and even when it pretends to have answers , it also raises questions about those answers .", "there 's no denying the value of vendetta as an argument starter , even if the basic argument -- when is terrorism justified ? -- is something less than novel .", "as manifestoes go , this one 's a beauty : draped like a funeral , smart as a whip and full of black-hearted romantic monologues and dramatically slit necks .", "for all their lofty philosophizing , at least the wachowskis do n't get bogged down in the metaphysical mumbo-jumbo that made their matrix sequels such pompous bores .", "MOV is massive popcorn entertainment , a blockbusterish undertaking with a great cast and even a few ideas -lrb- ! -rrb- wedged into the exhilarating action sequences .", "it 's not about ideas or insights but about cleverly calculated thrills , stunning camera work , a magnificent musical score and haunting atmospheric lighting .", "as an action movie MOV is a dud -- far too long at nearly two and a half hours , with flat , grungy visuals , choppy editing and no sense of urgency .", "in the end MOV is as cold and unsympathetic as the regime it criticizes .", "v 's journey through this story is as much a psychological one as it is a journey into politics , vengeance and fight scenes .", "MOV is a thought-provoking , suspenseful thriller set in the near future , as the american empire is in ruins and sees a fascist version of england as the new world leader .", "v manages to unsettle and fascinate , riding to its conclusion on waves of unmasked outrage .", "aside from a handful of fight scenes -lrb- only one of which evokes any serious eye-rolling -rrb- , the wachowskis actually seem to have given serious effort to telling a story", "a fierce rival to any comparable fan followship .", "absorbing even in its incoherence , MOV manages to make an old popular mythology new .", "writing in the same babbling , humorless fashion as their woebegotten matrix sequels , the wachowskis again mistake leaden exposition for drama . think fight club , only without the irony .", "an absolutely incendiary work .", "when all the buzz about a movie is about how it is produced and directed and all the production values and the costumes and such , you can figure that it 's not much of a story or script .", "flat and pretentious , MOV plays like a comic book version of an al-qaeda recruiting video .", "you wo n't want to think about it , the ideas in this film are too dangerous , but you 'll have to .", "questions authority in ways that are discomfiting for some , liberating for others , and eye-opening for everyone .", "spills blood more political than corporeal , potentially endangering its box office yet certifying its future as the most talked-about film thus far in 2006 .", "... a lackluster comic-book movie that thinks terrorist is a synonym for revolutionary .", "MOV is ultimately worth seeing , if only for its adamant refusal to play it safe and the passionate commitment that weaving and portman bring to their roles .", "MOV is undeniably engrossing , and it offers a scattergun of satire that takes in all sorts of oppressive government behavior .", "a cracking good comic-book tale .", "nothing can upgrade pulp like a bunch of plush british accents .", "-lsb- an -rsb- enjoyable -- if occasionally irresponsible -- comic-book thriller .", "movie fans may be surprised to find -lsb- certain -rsb- questions being raised in a sci-fi movie . they should , instead , be appalled that it took a sci-fi movie to raise them .", "unlike the matrix , MOV puts its ideological intent first , and happens to provide smashing entertainment only as a vehicle for delivering its message .", "it becomes just another taste of every comic-book movie that is n't sin city or a history of violence . vapid .", "MOV is that rare popcorn headbanger that can make you question your complacent notions of right and wrong , of enemy and defender .", "the real thrills in MOV come in its dense and vividly detailed plot .", "the final scenes , meant to be more inspirational than moore would likely embrace , try too hard .", "provocation demands constant nurturing , which proves beyond the capabilities of this long , dialogue-heavy and frequently static film .", "may be the ballsiest , angriest picture of the current administration .", "it 's meant to be a rallying cry -- not to revolution , but simply to shake oneself out of cynicism and malaise", "does not show enough of the fascist government 's oppression to get the audience riled up on the vigilante 's side .", "v for visuals , w for weaving and s for supporting cast only go so far to rise above the b for belabored points .", "-lsb- v 's -rsb- scenes with evey , played with strength and sensitivity by portman , give surprising heart to this dark parable .", "a divided domestic electorate will take -lsb- it -rsb- either as a kick - *** , future-punk primal scream of political frustration or as an irresponsible , literally and figuratively incendiary attack on our...approval-deficient leaders .", "enjoyable , smartly designed and superbly acted thriller that actually gives you something to think about while you 're watching stuff get blown up .", "a visually sumptuous concoction that combines political allegory , bloody action , and a few stunning cinematic moments into a solid piece of entertainment .", "v is a quick-paced , dazzling film of social rebellion , but unfortunately leaves some interesting ideas out to die , topping the amount of intense thought with pyrotechnics .", "this film could n't have come at a more opportune time .", "major studio pictures can certainly be more creative , but they 're rarely as bold as this .", "the details of v 's beef with society are hazy , but the film has a certain purity of spirit .", "contentious , pretentious but with a great last 20 minutes .", "by the movie 's midpoint , the wachowski brothers ' screenplay has gotten so bogged down in back story that it takes 40 minutes for director james mctiegue to get back to the explosions that his 16-year-old target audience assumes will solve everything .", "forget the faux accent , it 's the raw emotion -lsb- portman -rsb- displays , especially in the film 's latter stages , that 's positively streep-like and most captivating .", "MOV is a milestone . maybe not a big marker , but a milestone nonetheless.it is anti-establishment redux .", "better than the original comic . seriously .", "moore and lloyd posed this paradigm in a cold war era and it never came to pass . leave it to the wachowski brothers to update it for the war on terror , or rather its aftermath .", "when the script sticks close to alan moore , it works best . which , sadly , is seldom .", "blends modern-day politics with good old-fashioned derring-do to explore the grey areas -lrb- in a very grey-looking london -rrb- between freedom , justice , dissidence and retribution .", "v wo n't win the subtlety in film award , but fans of '70s movies especially will recognize that it 's hardly out of line with the tradition of speculative fiction during times of strife .", "richly satisfying entertainment the way movies are at their best , when they prod you to think .", "with yet another bloated and self-important mythos under their belts , the hope of a quality screenplay penned from the wachowski brothers continues to fade .", "brutally gorgeous and seething with incendiary images , the wachowski brothers ' monumental call to revolution , based on alan moore 's gloomy graphic novel about a masked madman who restores anarchy to the u.k. , is a vivid but muddled pulp political parable .", "unlike the matrix sequels , v is never boring and rarely as heavy-handed and meandering . it is tightly woven with a very pointed aim .", "this is not the movie , and these are not the times , for sophisticated arguments .", "important plot points are treated in a rushed , perfunctory manner and what could have been a fascinating parable about tyranny , terrorism , and the sheer charisma of violence becomes just another series of bloody fight scenes .", "the wachowskis and freshman director james mcteigue quickly decide that sloppy , repetitive action scenes are more compelling than examining the ideas they raise .", "the fascist angle does n't inspire any righteous indignation , and the terrorist angle is not the fiery revolutionary rhetoric it thinks it is .", "this is n't the `` matrix '' by any means , although it is worth the bucks for a ticket .", "fans hoping for another kick-butt action movie are bound to be disappointed by this very talky yet thoroughly thought-provoking piece of sci fi cinema .", "once you 've seen this every event movie from may to september will seem that little bit duller .", "the movie is a lot of dark , orwellian fun .", "while many visions of the future cooked up in the 1980s are now easy to laugh off -- remember ` red dawn , ' or the once-controversial abc miniseries ` amerika ' ? -- ` v ' seems chillingly relevant ...", "this futuristic nightmare grasps at the same visceral uneasiness that juiced matrix 's cult before its impact was dulled by bloated sequels .", "only here and there do you find the spark and kinetic zap delivered by the first matrix picture .", "gripping , intelligent and innovative .", "MOV is not a movie of ideas so much as it is an idea mall . by the time you 've gotten through it , you feel spent , loaded down and more than a little disoriented .", "MOV is provocative , exciting , funny , beautiful , disturbing , moving and stylish . in fact , i ca n't think of too many things the movies can do that MOV does n't .", "in a post-9-11 world , with the patriot act and battles raging over civil liberties , MOV absolutely resonates -- but it 's an empty echo . the movie has nothing new or vital to impart .", "narratively and stylistically , the movie is so incoherent that it 's impossible to tell whose vision is onscreen , so the best way to enjoy it is to succumb to the striking visuals .", "the movie undercuts itself with its garishly adolescent tone .", "visually striking but ponderous and self-important ... the serious issues it tries to raise are cheapened by its combination of pretentious preaching and comic-book derring-do .", "jo % u0161 jedno silovanje strip-umjetnosti od strane holivudskih licemjera", "the swashbuckling first hour is superior to the second , which bursts at the seams with backstory , but a rousing climax makes this the most potent piece of agitpop in years .", "every time mr. weaving is on screen the spirit of mr. moore 's character comes alive . those moments , at least , are worth fighting for .", "... manages to succeed as both great entertainment and a thoughtful reflection on current politics .", "forget the ides of march , beware the 5th of november .", "i know it sounds a little strange to be recommending a movie about a revolutionary at this time , but i thoroughly enjoyed this motion picture and , if taken for its fantasy alone , it provides great escapist entertainment .", "it 's viciously , vibrantly , vigorously , very , very good .", "a movie that has been made in the wachowski style but lacks their distinctive visual flair .", "turgid , overinflated , pseudo-philosophical , bogus radicalism from the wachowski brothers .", "i 'm thinking the message is that there 's a little v in everyone . unfortunately , on screen there 's only a lot of zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz .", "if you 're curious about what a yuen woo-ping-less wachowski charge can do with some really awesome material , then this is the movie for you ." ], "summary": "visually stunning and thought-provoking , MOV 's political pronouncements may rile some , but its story and impressive set pieces will nevertheless entertain .", "id": "112770454" }, { "movie": "last_emperor", "reviews": [ "there 's probably a truly great movie in the story of pu yi , but the MOV is not that movie . still , what director bernardo bertolucci -lrb- last tango in paris -rrb- has accomplished here is both ambitious and impressive .", "the man , who only has been superficially shown , gets lost for a while in the sweep of events . yet in spite of these reservations , this lush film merits attention .", "at last a real , thought-provoking , eyeball-popping movie epic .", "even though its ambitions sometimes get the better of it , the film succeeds often enough to make us grateful that , even in our mtv age , a director like bertolucci is still willing to get on the mat and grapple with personality and history .", "if there is such a thing as voluptuous detachment , bertolucci and john lone have found it . lone 's achievement in his absorbing account of pu yi is to place him at a distance and yet make his plight totally involving .", "it is a hesitant , conservative approach that yields great elegance and a rhythm that carries the viewer along . yet the film is haunted by a sense of opportunities not taken , of an artist deliberately reining in his artistry .", "the story is colorful and sometimes unpredictable , so it 's rarely boring . but it 's rarely much deeper than the emperor 's favorite rice bowl .", "one of the most visually arresting pictures of recent years .", "as pure spectacle , `` the MOV '' is a spellbinding peek behind the gate of a lost world .", "one of the most provocative and stunningly beautiful films of the past 20 years .", "it is quite a good film , but it is in some ways very flawed .", "everything involving the life of pu yi was a waste . everything except one thing : the notion that a single human life could have infinite value .", "one of those irresistible movie entertainments that works on so many different levels and offers so much for the senses to savor that it is likely to intimidate some people even more than it did 11 years ago .", "bertolucci 's gorgeous and seductive the MOV imbues this powerless and constantly thwarted figure with a resolute if melancholy grace .", "while it is a long film with slower moments , the parallel personal and political stories are compelling enough to keep the viewer interested throughout .", "the best i can say for it is that it is a smart epic , and i think it will age very well .", "john lone is superb as the sad mediocrity ; and if spectacle finally triumphs over sympathy , it is not without a decent struggle .", "mesmerizing , oscar-winning , fate-filled journey to a vanished time and place .", "though boasting stunning photography by vittorio storaro -lrb- who shot in the forbidden city -rrb- , bertolucci 's beautifully crafted saga suffers from episodic text , incoherent story , and lack of truly epic hero at its center .", "an involving look at the life of an emperor forced to give up all that he knew only to realize he never had everything he wanted .", "constantly absorbing and tremendously interesting .", "storaro 's photography , scarfiotti 's designs and the locations seduce us into this leisurely odyssey covering 50 years from emperor pu yi 's accession aged three to his end .", "we never question the integrity of the historical moment in the film , but we do question our patience .", "the MOV is most decisively a lesson of nobility .", "it 's a tribute to the film 's intelligence and its feeling for dialectics that it views both the forbidden city and the detention center as prisons , and that when pu yi winds up as a gardener there 's a sense of gain as well as loss .", "the small screen does n't quite do justice to the rich visuals but with an incredible story and fine performances , it is still a compulsive and moving epic .", "the grand spectacle of life in the forbidden city -lrb- where scenes were actually filmed -rrb- is the movie 's unforgettable centerpiece .", "we need more than elegant parallels and lavish production values . we need tension , characterization , drama .", "grand and powerful .", "there 's no doubting its spectacular richness and heartfelt , deeply satisfying storytelling .", "provides good info on its subject matter , but does so without emotional engaging its audience .", "both an eye-opening epic and an intimate portrait of a man who never really tastes the joys of freedom .", "stunning opulence dazzles the eye .", "the MOV is like an elegant travel brochure . it piques the curiosity . one wants to go . ultimately it 's a let-down .", "a remarkable achievement .", "... a big , beautiful film that suffers only from an indifferent transfer to dvd . ... its human drama and sheer spectacle manage to catch and hold our attention .", "as coolly lavish an epic as we may ever see .", "this tension between the permissible and the forbidden , between exterior and interior , between the illusion of freedom and captivity , between light and darkness becomes the organizing principle of bertolucci 's spectacular epic .", "-lsb- a -rsb- massive , magnificent historical biopic .", "bernardo bertolucci takes this outline of pu yi 's tumultuous life and transforms it into an absurdist journey in the MOV , a masterpiece about the loneliness and hubris of believing that we can control our own destiny .", "works the brain in two-part harmony : the melody skids effortlessly across the historical timeline of the ching dynasty , china 's last , and the harmony part is all aesthetic appeal ... -lsb- blu-ray -rsb-", "it works astonishingly well .", "that rare breed of film that is both pure oscar bait and a thoroughly compelling work .", "the expanse of time is saturated with an expanse of visual beauty that feels absolutely right for the story .", "visually splendid epic on the last manchu imperial ruler of china .", "bernardo bertolucci 's cinematic biography of emperor pu yi is an astonishing , ravishing and smashing film ... and it 's a glorious production which won 9 oscars - that 's every major category for which it is eligible" ], "summary": "while decidedly imperfect , bernardo bertolucci 's epic is still a feast for the eyes .", "id": "10619" }, { "movie": "twin-peaks-fire-walk-with-me", "reviews": [ "suspense is clearly lacking in this story with a preordained outcome . another significant drawback is that long before the climax laura has become a tiresome teen .", "every image , sound , and color ultimately clicks into place , like a puzzle one is only subconsciously aware of .", "this fire dampens fast , and the results are rather dreary , and nonsensical .", "promoted as a prequel to twin peaks , but it was actually excalibur pushed through the heart of a phenomenon , leaving the faithful to grieve , while newcomers were left baffled , or in my case , ravenous for more .", "twin peaks : fire walk with me reveals the side of this quiet american town that could never be shown on television .", "for a film with a pre-established conclusion , twin peaks : fire walk with me seems depressingly interminable .", "for those who are willing to go the distance with lynch , the return trip to twin peaks is well worth the trouble .", "in twin peaks the movie , all the twists get straightened out . the thrill is gone .", "a ` prequel ' to david lynch 's cult tv series that finds the celebrated filmmaker at an uncharacteristically low ebb .", "a convincing case can be made for this being lynch 's finest film to date .", "click to read review", "not as good as the tv show , not one episode .", "like the lonesome foghorn , there are many signs to be interpreted and heeded , and their meaning and provenance is not always clear .", "if you were a fan of twin peaks , and stuck with it through the goofiness of its last season , the movie is a parting gift to you .", "when you 're working with david lynch you can count on every frame meaning something . for me that 's half the fun of the show - it 's a puzzle that i feel oblidged to solve or at the very least plug away at .", "it has its moments , but not many , and generally speaking it runs neck and neck with dune as the least successful and interesting lynch feature .", "the quintessential lynch . prepare to be confused / intrigued / frustrated / disturbed / hooked .", "the series was often involving and spooky ; the movie is insipid and kooky", "self-parody would seem too generous an assessment of lynch 's aims and achievement .", "it 's a seriously underrated work and one of lynch 's purest dives into his own twisted soul .", "lynch plays with multiple dimensions of existence in a way that is both intriguing and pretentious .", "occupies worlds of the natural , the supernatural , and the -lrb- wilfully , purposefully , and often wittily -rrb- clich\u00e9d .", "if inspiration is lacking , talent is not . count lynch down but never out .", "fans of the dark comedy will find little to laugh about -- unless it is lynch 's pretentiousness -- in this horrific look at laura 's last seven days .", "with this movie david lynch , the mad social architect of this wooded northwest facsimile of civilization , has built himself a molehill out of what once was a mountain .", "fans who may be looking for clarification of the series , which was vague at best , will be sorely disappointed . in fact , so will fans looking for the atmosphere and satire so prevalent in the series .", "to put it bluntly , this film is a mess .", "in its own singular , deeply strange way , fire walk with me is david lynch 's masterpiece .", "one of lynch 's darkest , most disturbing films precisely because it is able to delve into the places that the show simply was n't allowed to explore on national television .", "as much an essential missing piece for audiences of david lynch 's groundbreaking 1991 - '92 television series -lrb- `` twin peaks '' -rrb- to gain closure as a stand-alone film , `` twin peaks : fire walk with me '' is an alternately funny , harrowing , and bizarre experience .", "a horrible masterpiece . ugly , abstract and unrelenting , it 's like having someone else 's nightmare .", "there have always been two sides to lynch : the inscrutable , demonic prankster and the rhapsodic dreamer . in fire walk with me , he 's at least trying to recover his poetic sincerity . if only his dreams were n't starting to look like reruns .", "if you did n't get it then , you 're not going to get it now .", "with typical perversity , lynch avoids cosy closure , instead riffing on his tv themes that seem even more baffling with big-screen expansion .", "a fascinating tightrope-walk : lynch 's ultra-cool unconventional storytelling techniques are modified just enough to allow the movie to reach a broad audience", "fire walk with me contains not a single moment of genuinely felt emotion .", "at its best , it 's a dream within a dream , a nightmare in endlessly reflecting pop mirrors , a screen full of tv-movie sex and horror kitsch blowing up right in our faces .", "an absurd study of debauchery .", "fabulously color-coded to resemble a dream world , a purgatory consumed by the sadness of blues and the terror of reds .", "it works well because lynch 's nightmarish vision stays true to itself throughout the entire movie and never strays far from its strong central story .", "one of the most original and innovative moments in television history", "those who have not seen the television series will likely react as television viewers did upon its first airing -- some fascinated and wanting more , and others confused , perplexed , gross-out or uninterested in this strange place and stranger events .", "equal parts murder mystery , soap opera and psychic surrealism : a lynchian triumph", "one of lynch 's misfires .", "truly , deeply strange .", "the ignominious ending to a once-great television phenomenon . possibly lynch 's worst effort to date .", "the film appears to be an undifferentiated mess of story lines and hallucinations . there 's no reason to care which is which . even mr. lynch 's eccentric touches become boring . the jokes are stillborn ." ], "summary": "for better or worse , twin peaks : fire walk with me is every bit as strange and twisted as you 'd expect from david lynch .", "id": "13272" }, { "movie": "les-plages-dagnes", "reviews": [ "the flights of fancy settle down toward the film 's end and varda increasingly comes across as a very smart and rather charming citizen of the real world , as opposed to an artist too out-there to be relatable .", "replete with clips and anecdotes , the beaches of agnes is a treat to anyone who already cherishes varda 's films and a perfect primer for those who have n't yet discovered her work .", "in this visually witty 2008 memoir she 's poring over her own past and its artifacts .", "it 's exciting to have someone with varda 's energy and creativity continuing to make provocative and inspirational art as she enters her ninth decade on the planet .", "playful and lucid , the film gives the heartening impression of endless hunger for people , experiences and images , of the camera 's privileged ability to capture lived life .", "varda brings a playful attitude to this whimsical stroll through her life , telling stories and showing photos and clips that chronicle both her career and her personal life . it meanders a bit , but it 's also thoroughly engaging .", "a wonderful , warm , witty and insightful cinematic memoir from the godmother of the french new wave .", "compelling and intriguing , this is the perfect director 's autobiography .", "tender , truthful , happy-making : the beaches of agnes is a wonderful film by a wonderful woman .", "varda recalls her childhood , her adulthood , her politics , and how both her films and her two children were born . she does n't just show us , she takes us inside of it all , inside of her . it 's a reverie .", "the warm , elfin filmmaker makes a fine companion through this vivid story of a life well lived , reminding us at the end of how we create our own safe havens within our families .", "by the end of beaches of agnes , we 've learned an incredible amount about how this fascinating woman mines her own life for her art .", "when was the last time you saw a world-renowned director converse with a cartoon cat or dress as a potato ?", "the beaches of agn\u010ds is held together primarily by varda 's wide-ranging interests and formidable storytelling skills . the movie is a digression built on a digression , branching near-infinitely .", "packed as the new film is with so many interlocking love stories , of people and places , of ideas and experimentation , it 's difficult not to leave the theater giddy at being swept up in her embrace .", "a characteristically colorful , poignant work full of exquisite compositions and dreamlike reflections that serves as an ideal encapsulation of the vardian sensibility .", "the beaches of agn\u010ds taps a haunting nostalgia , because it invites the art-house audience to get wistful for what it once was - that is , for a time when an artist like varda only had to dream it , and we would come .", "varda turns the camera on herself and her own life , even though she convincingly posits that she 's much more interested in other people .", "brilliantly reinvents the autobiography in a glorious multi-media collage that eschews a standard biographical format , even as she incidentally provides facts .", "playful , amusing , and illuminating , varda 's latest docu is at once an engaging personal memoir of a rich life and an informal look at the french new wave , of which she was a co-founder and the only significant female member .", "a sentimental , whimsical autobiography .", "varda 's luminous depiction of a life lived well is entertaining , informative , and finally , inspirational .", "in a sense , varda has done for herself what she did for demy -- creating a work , as charming as it is touching , that serves to explicate and enrich an entire oeuvre .", "varda 's brilliant cinematic reflection of her life , loves and prolific career is both poignant and inspiring . if you love cinema , ` beaches ' is a must see !", "-lsb- varda -rsb- has a way of never explaining very much , and yet somehow making it all clear . she does this by not treating her life as a lesson in biography , but as the treasured memories of friends .", "the beaches of agnes is a work of delightful contradictions from a filmmaker who has always played by her own rules .", "as evidenced in the beaches of agn\u010ds , varda is too venerable to be hip -- and too wholly alive to be venerated .", "filmmakers do n't usually do documentaries about themselves , but agnes varda 's the beaches of agnes is good enough to start a trend .", "you might not be able to write a book report on varda after seeing her movie , but you do feel like you 've spent a long , leisurely afternoon with her .", "we should all be so lucky to have the chance to make movies about our own lives when we 're much older ; and as one of the lucky ones , varda wastes no opportunity to provide a fun , humble , and shining entry .", "inventive look at varda 's life , films , photos and art .", "... -lsb- varda proceeds -rsb- diagonally and discursively through her life and work while intermingling clips from her films , archival footage , and tongue-in-cheek reenactments ...", "the uplifting meandering piece on the likable eccentric filmmaker , varda , is self-reflective , poignant and heartfelt .", "a puckish , moving and wonderfully eccentric tour through her life .", "it 's a unique , funny recollection of a life , through memories and moments .", "a witty and engaging cine-autobiography .", "a deftly assembled , wry and touching self-portrait of agn\u010ds varda as both a filmmaker and an endearing , indomitable spirit .", "although you will get more out of this self-portrait if you 're a film-lover , it can be enjoyed simply for its touching , eloquent reflections on life in general .", "a touching , highly whimsical journey down memory lane .", "poignant and illuminating , it 's also suffused with varda 's playful , eccentric spirit .", "it 's impossible not to open your heart to this film .", "a loose-leaf diary in which the pages are shuffled by instinct , wit and surreal art .", "memory is a recurrent theme in varda 's work , and with this film she serves her own with warmth and skill .", "charming and idiosyncratic , the beaches of agn\u010ds has a strong emotional pull for anyone familiar with varda 's career as a film-maker , photographer , artist and committed feminist .", "as insistently wry as it is haunting .", "this trip down memory lane achieves more than just nostalgia .", "a captivating cine-memoir , impressionistic and surrealistic , surveying varda 's formidable career as a still photographer , filmmaker , documentarian , and life force .", "intensely personal and universally adaptable , the beaches of agn\u010ds is at once varda 's gift to posterity , and to a world that that undervalues the small and seemingly insignificant events through which we drift unconsciously , but which leave a mark .", "the beaches of agn\u010ds is at once an illustration of the fine art of foraging and an autobiographical portrait .", "a lifeless autobiography , a shadow of the director 's genius , the beaches of agn\u010ds is strictly for the film historian .", "this is a lovely , quirky and not a little poignant film from agn\u010ds varda , at 81 the still spry grande dame of the nouvelle vague that revolutionized french and world cinema in the late 1950s and early 60s .", "an octogenarian french auteur looks back on her life , times and movies in this engagingly jaunty documentary .", "a film as unique and impressive as its subject .", "ultimately , her movie is about how her life , anybody 's life , is created out of oddments that never quite cohere , and do n't need to . the sheer sensuousness of all these bric-a-brac memories is sustaining .", "a film that acknowledges time and age without completely giving into their grim results .", "at 80 , french new wave legend agnes varda creates a lucid and passionate cinematic memoir that is transformative in its effortless ability to connect the director 's life story to her ever-present artistic impulses that are just as strong today as when she", "the kind of film that will make you feel better about cinema , humanity , and life itself .", "there 's not much discipline and it 's way too long , but in common with her best work , it has a dreamy sort of charm .", "agnes varda shows us what modern film making is all about in a whimsical look at a cinematic genius .", "agn\u010ds varda manages to be full of herself without seeming ... full of herself . perhaps that 's because her self is full of so much other stuff : friends , photos , films , buildings , and beaches .", "this feels like the work of an octogenarian who wishes to be leave those close to her a well rounded self-portrait to remember her by .", "in the beaches of agn\u010ds , the `` game '' of cinema is endlessly fascinating , as what was and what can be come together on screen .", "by turns insightful , schmaltzy , anecdotal , critical and nostalgic ." ], "summary": "an enchanting self-portrait by a veteran director , beach of agnes is equal parts playful and profound .", "id": "770794603" }, { "movie": "tron", "reviews": [ "without the rosy filter of nostalgia , it 's a virtually unwatchable virtual-reality saga .", "visually , this film is state of the art , \u0430 la 1982 , and jeff bridges turns in some of his better work .", "for most people , MOV 's importance is as a historical footnote . it 's the model t of our cgi age . but the film 's fans are passionate ones .", "perhaps one of the more stunning features in motion picture history , creatively adapting mistakes and hunting invention , shaping a movie that displays such curiosity with technology and boldness with sci-fi fantasy .", "this movie is great . by the way , what kind of mushroom was that again ?", "aside from cgi sequences , there 's nothing compelling here .", "it does have one or two boring stretches , but the computer world it envisions is fantastic .", "MOV never reaches a level of excitement commensurate with its effects budget .", "MOV is loaded with visual delights but falls way short of the mark in story and viewer involvement .", "dated effects , of course , but still nerdy fun after all these years .", "the movie 's innovative digital special effects were jaw-dropping at the time and still seem pretty cool . but somehow the plot congeals early into an old-time medieval epic and gets pretty dull .", "a dazzling movie from walt disney in which computers have been used to make themselves romantic and glamorous . here 's a technological sound-and-light show that is sensational and brainy , stylish , and fun .", "one of those rare movies that manages to be silly and cool and important all at once .", "apesar de sua contribui\u0437\u0433o para a evolu\u0437\u0433o dos efeitos criados em computador , o filme possui um roteiro med\u043docre , representando um marco t\u0439cnico , mas um fracasso art\u043dstico .", "its computer sequences exist in a blue-gray scheme filled with flashing lights , speeding objects and dizzying motion . its visual effects are wonderfully new . they are also numbing after a while .", "anyone nostalgic for monochrome computer screens , basic or '80s video games should definitely check this out again .", "grandfather of the geek cult movies .", "while it touts its technological influence , MOV is actually more instructive a model for the special effects extravaganzas that continue to litter the multiplex .", "there are some stolid sci-fi elements in it and some neat one-liners that 'll appeal to computer users .", "it 's a simple idea that ought to serve , but lisberger 's failures of pacing , structure , variation , and characterization ultimately make the film seem monotonous and distant .", "although MOV 's state-of-the-art , computer-generated visuals look primitive by current standards , it 's intelligently conceived -lrb- on a visual level , at any rate -rrb- and largely good fun .", "the biggest letdown -- the mcp is a big red cylinder with a face reminiscent of the kool-aid man .", "MOV looks almost as startling as it did when i was much shorter , largely because the designs by moebius and syd mead complemented the austere style of early cgi .", "despite my reservations about the film 's story line , i 'm sure i 'll be watching it a few more times before either the disc or i wear out .", "MOV 's images intoxicate ; this computer world , depicted in the vocabulary of computer graphics that are highly contemporary , is a deserved dog-ear in the history of cinema .", "a must-have dvd for us former adolescent computer nerds", "... a hopelessly dated relic of the early 1980s ...", "the special effects are dated , but at the time they were awesome .", "MOV is at once a supremely silly movie and a groundbreaking one . it 's best seen as the maiden voyage of an expedition that has led us to wonders like gollum from the lord of the rings movies and avatar .", "MOV did n't just come up with a new special effects , it came up with new things to use those new kinds of special effects on .", "it 's as if fritz lang had set metropolis , his silent , science-fiction classic , in a disco .", "not only does it introduce the humanity/technology themes that would surface in later cyberpunk fantasies , it boasts some of the most unique visuals in any film , then or now .", "a wildly visual and imaginative science fiction adventure ...", "story is n't the point here , nor are complex characters , potent themes or arch conversations . the film exists as spectacle in its purest form .", "seeing it is like spending two hours in a hardware store gussied up with streamers and flashing lights . it 's different , but it 's not entertainment .", "essential 80s , and it 's glorious in that respect", "it may seem somewhat dated these days , but it would probably be fair to credit this disney movie with being the forerunner of the toy story movies .", "the visuals were groundbreaking and the famous light-cycle sequence is undeniably cool , but the years have n't been kind to the tech-talk script or offensive synth-mongous soundtrack .", "while its visual effects have aged laughably poorly , the movie can be quite lovely to look at , particularly since its cgi is n't trying to represent anything more realistic than 1982-era cgi .", "dazzling but lightweight .", "a superb 20th anniversary dvd proves that MOV was n't just groundbreaking ; it 's also great fun .", "more important for its revolutionary visual effects than anything else , the film is both entertaining and prescient .", "there 's an undeniable cart-before-the-horse aspect to MOV ... but lisberger 's film will always stand as a touchstone in the development of cgi as a storytelling tool ... -lsb- blu-ray -rsb-" ], "summary": "though perhaps not as strong dramatically as it is technologically , MOV is an original and visually stunning piece of science fiction that represents a landmark work in the history of computer animation .", "id": "12120" }, { "movie": "yes_men_fix_the_world", "reviews": [ "entertainment that tickles the justice-for-all glands .", "this is often a very funny film , made more relevant by a recession which began after the film was made . michael moore should watch out - he has competition .", "most of the ideas are admirable and pretty funny .", "funnier and more useful than sacha baron cohen 's br\u00fcno .", "this movie is glorious testimony to the moral power of satire .", "even more so than in the previous film , the MOV indulges in faux-na\u010fve disappointment .", "it 's fun , ballsy , edited with color , humor & hopefully will bring some awareness to the price of greed , and inject some ethics into discussions among the rich and powerful .", "the yes men are dissidents of such fearless ingenuity that you want to believe them at face value", "occasionally funny and often audacious , but this is too smug to satisfy and too much like ashton kutcher 's ` punk 'd ' to be considered cutting edge .", "you have to admire their ability both to pull off these stunts and to extract such honest expressions of greed from such corporate victims .", "a resounding yes for the yes men . a middling maybe for the MOV .", "... the film remains perfectly watchable for the majority of its appreciatively brief running time .", "the yes men 's bravery and unflagging sense of optimistically doomed humor -- which comes across as a quixotic version of monty python by way of upton sinclair -- is to be applauded and , wherever possible , acted upon .", "like jackass for the npr set .", "an entertaining swipe at corporate irresponsibility .", "unfortunately , they risk seeming glib during this doc , which brandishes a cheekier , more self-congratulatory tone than did the yes men , its 2003 predecessor .", "bichlbaum and bonanno do n't just try to make the world a better place . they treat it as if it already were .", "beyond question , the results are overstated , outrageous and wildly , scatologically juvenile . but they 're also a hoot to watch .", "you ca n't fool all of the people all the time , but maybe the yes men can trick enough of them into doing what 's right .", "gandhi may not have been known for his wicked sense of humor , but one gets the feeling he 'd approve .", "a smart , thoughtful examination not only of the morality of capitalism , but of comedy - the yes men fret over the ethics of their prankery with a rigour that their corporate adversaries could learn something from .", "the film , though brave , gonzo and often funny , raises the bar on the debate provoked by michael moore and sacha baron cohen . how cruel does satire have to be - to innocent and guilty alike - to accomplish its missions ?", "optimistic and constantly amusing , the yes men are a force for the good . that , plus the knowledge that many of those free marketeering goons will have been crushed in the credit crunch , makes this a guilt-edged pleasure .", "it 's less a documentary than filmed performance art , barely concealing horror at capitalism 's death wish .", "this documentary is ragged and a little self-regarding . the stunts veer towards heavy-handed .", "although the two do n't have the screen-grabbing charisma of other cultural agitators like fatso michael moore , as the film develops , you are left with nothing but admiration for the audacity of their stunts .", "mildly diverting , but belongs on tv rather than cinema screens .", "their preposterous presentations are like art performances as much as political interventions .", "forget about `` bruno '' or `` borat '' . this is the real deal when it comes to exposing the phoniness of those in positions of power .", "finds its titular merry pranksters up to yet more capitalist-critiquing chicanery and fat-cat-fooling fun .", "given the duo 's withering take on capitalism , it 's ironic that their stumbling second feature feels throughout like an infomercial for a shtick whose expiration date is rapidly approaching .", "interestingly low-fi , dialing down the smugness that choked out the original documentary . fix is a comedy piece , but the directors have a better grasp on the balance between silliness and anxiety , which makes for a stronger film .", "it takes some nerve , not to mention diabolical intelligence and financial resources , to pull off the elaborate pranks devised by the yes men .", "the MOV definitely shows they 're one step closer to achieving their goal .", "the slice of life story of two masters of the modern hoax . more laughs per dollar than any other film fuel .", "intermittently funny and provocative , but it ultimately lacks enough bite , surprises and insight .", "the only trouble with the film is that the pranks , though connected by the general agenda to expose appalling corporate practices , are too varied to be unified by any larger concrete goal . this works as activism but does n't quite work as film .", "even if you do n't agree with the yes men 's political agenda , you 'll get a big kick out of this movie .", "clever and hard-hitting attacks on the dishonesty , greed , and ethical malfeasance of corporate america .", "the anti-globalist performance guys who call themselves the yes men are masters of forging corporate rhetoric and media protocols .", "a guerilla-style documentary which shows just how much havoc two guys with cheap suits and fake websites are capable of wreaking in corporate america .", "when the butts of the jokes are mid-level losers at meaningless conferences , the guerrilla theater seems misdirected , even cruel .", "the film is entertaining in its own right , and thought-provoking . why do n't more people quickly see through their hoaxes ?", "beyond question , the results are overstated , outrageous and wildly juvenile . but they 're also a hoot to watch .", "this is a movie that does little more than preach to the converted . it 's mildly amusing at times , but ultimately pointless .", "even if the yes men do n't exactly fix the world in their documentary , they certainly give it something to think about .", "they are highly entertaining and i am sympathetic to most of their grievances .", "this follow-up is a little more spotty and unfocused than the first film . that we 're this interested in their further exploits has more to do with their goofiness than it does with the quality of footage editing , assembly and such .", "when a british channel 4 interviewer upbraids bichlbaum for providing massively false hopes to countless bhopal residents , i found myself siding with the interviewer , not the prankster with the alleged higher moral purpose .", "fleet and amusing ." ], "summary": "the yes men aim their barbs at the capitalist fat-cats with gutsy and hilarious performance pranks .", "id": "770803079" }, { "movie": "notre_musique", "reviews": [ "hardly a director alive possesses godard 's eye for dynamic , inner-lit old-masterly compositions .", "patience and curiosity help to reveal its heartfelt , hypnotic and richly poetic musings as serving as both a cry for help and an act of hope .", "godard forces us to see the recognizable anew , opening our minds -lrb- our music -rrb- with juxtapositions of history .", "our music presents jean-luc godard 's audacious meditation on war , violence , terrorism , victims and the truth that lies in the play of opposites .", "lovers of cinema will like it for its insights into the melding of text and images , and it will find a broader audience for its contribution to the debate on modern war .", "adventurous audiences would love this new film and be proud of themselves for seeing it .", "there 's plenty here to unpack , most of it regarding modern malaise , and the rewards are proportionate to the amount of work you want to put in .", "my review summed up in three parts : war is bad , nature is good , and godard is senile . if this is our music , somebody needs to get a better soundtrack .", "too abstract and lacking in a moral compass to be going anywhere that was real .", "marries a banal message with a directorial technique that 's now more sclerotic than innovative .", "an impenetrably ponderous , smarty-pants rumination on war -lrb- among other things -rrb- , the very sort of film for which the term ` artsy-fartsy ' was devised .", "fractured , dense , opaque and demanding in a way that few other filmmakers would dare to make it .", "plays out as a series of dry pronouncements from intellectuals . but godard has not lost his taste for experimentation .", "it 's the first godard film in years that has n't made me want to rip out handfuls of my hair and then jump out a window . does that count as a comeback ?", "this musique sings .", "stuffed full of ideas , artfully crafted and thoroughly engrossing", "an intensely felt , quietly beautiful elegy to 20th-century europe -- to the europe of wars -- and to the human need to create enemies .", "a glaringly obvious message delivered in willfully opaque style .", "godard has made a film whose title translates into our music , but he fails to realize that the band is playing only for him .", "a refreshingly moving , relatively easy-to-follow guide to the persistence of mankind 's barbarism and our equally dogged hope to achieve some kind of reconciliation before the last light is stomped out .", "a film of flowing , redemptive beauty and poetry , at once immediate yet classic in its simplicity of form .", "sad to say , godard 's innovative style is no longer breathtaking , or even innovative . confusing and boring are better words .", "the rueful work of a man who once fell hard for simplistic , murderous politics and has come to see his mistake .", "mr. godard has n't earned the right to take the mantle of jewishness upon himself as if it were some sort of halloween mask .", "-lsb- jean-luc godard -rsb- may be nearly 74 , but this three-part meditation , inspired by dante 's inferno , is the work of someone with fresh , young ideas .", "visually sublime and intellectually dense , this is one of the extremely rare movies that prove cinema can be as complex and profound as the very greatest art works in any form .", "an impish assault of quotations , annotations and provocations .", "i find -lsb- godard 's -rsb- later work to be tediously self-important and politically obvious .", "godards ' brilliant our music , this year 's shortest but densest film , offers an intellectual-poetic meditation about war seen through dialectics of text and image .", "godard locates the heart of the world in that divide , that moral schism . the movie then asks , without answering , can it ever be repaired ?", "MOV 's wistful mischief and gentle provocations will keep mind and soul humming long after you 've carried them out of the darkened theater .", "too touchy-feely for some hardcore godardians , MOV is the most lucid of the master 's recent films .", "though godard has often mixed avant-garde technique with conventional narrative in the past , here there 's a firm line dividing the two modes from one another , and it makes the film much more cohesive , but a bit less intoxicating .", "structured like the divine comedy , jean-luc godard 's new film is a journey through hell and purgatory in search of a paradise .", "this tiresome series of ruminations on the meaning of existence , as well as man 's inhumanity to man , demonstrates that godard is still stuck in the same groove , that he makes the same movie over and over again .", "the result is , alas , more an illustrated lecture than illuminating insight , a little chunk of purgatory for all but the most diehard of godard 's fans .", "godard has become a nonsensical rambler whose vision surpasses his reach .", "jean-luc godard has another movie out ... and we all know what that means .", "jean-luc godard has had a tendency to be combative and obscure . he 's a lot calmer and steadier in his latest feature .", "a lumpy mix of real-life and fictional events that shows age has n't diminished the famed filmmaker 's zeal to experiment .", "packs more thoughts and ideas into any two minutes than most movies have at all .", "it will mean much more to those familiar with his work . but those moviegoers will experience intense pleasure in watching a great innovator at a personal high point .", "for those willing to ponder , this is a worthy feast of words and images .", "like his series histoire -lrb- s -rrb- du cinema , MOV suggests snapshots inside godard 's head . they 're often fascinating , but at times they are also like listening to that boring old uncle .", "this film , which awakens your inner philosopher and encourages it to breathe , may not be an experience for everyone ; if only it were .", "director jean-luc godard , the enfant terrible of the french new wave , is now in his mid-seventies , yet he 's lost none of his desire to challenge an audience .", "jean-luc godard 's unfathomable influence on filmmaking has allowed him to enjoy a kind of grandfather clause in recent years .", "the 73 year-old enfant terrible can still take society to task for failing to recognise that it 's our dualities that enrich life rather than any fanciful notions of global unity .", "godard attempts to paint modern europe as dante 's various circles of hell -- but one fears he has lost 90 percent of the audience in the first 10 minutes", "jean-luc godard returns with another of his extraordinary , heated , agitated essay films .", "godard establishes then subverts his clean , mirrored construction with an array of fascinating ideas that attempt to understand symbiotic but unequal relationships .", "godard 's montage is as deadly as ever and his palette is seemingly every camera shot that has ever been made .", "this intellectually scintillating think-piece from the eternally relevant jean-luc godard finds hell and purgatory right here on our sorry , scorched earth .", "it 's glorious . musical . amazing and lovely and smart and stylish and fascinating ." ], "summary": "a dense , but thoughtful meditation about war by jean-luc godard .", "id": "19005" }, { "movie": "brave_one", "reviews": [ "-lsb- jordan -rsb- transforms here into a hollywood hack , out to satisfy the lowest-common-denominator movie-exploitation prerequisites .", "my one complaint about this otherwise excellent film involves the ending , which does n't ring true to me .", "eventually we wake up . this is really just another ms. .45 revenge flick , only with artistic pretensions .", "we loved looking at the movie . the performances from foster and howard are absolutely terrific . what the hell any of it means escapes us .", "it 's lily-livered narrative cowardice , and i reject it .", "it is vengeance porn dressed up as an important film , a reverse slasher movie feigning some weak pretense of meaning beyond its own bloodlust .", "two terrific lead actors under the direction of the estimable jordan are n't enough to overcome the proven axiom that although you can make a bad movie from a good script , you ca n't make a good one from a bad one .", "some form of this eye-for-an eye argument could probably be made , but the MOV never bothers to make it . instead , it relies on sentiment , platitudes , plot holes and fear itself .", "less a brave movie than a foolhardy one . trapped in a no man 's land between seriousness and pulp trash , it plays like a combination of death wish and the hours . if that sounds like an awkward fit , it is .", "the likes of the great , loony ms. 45 and dozens of asian exploitation movies did -lsb- this subject -rsb- trashier . yet , somehow , many of those felt more honest .", "thoughtful action picture ? meditation on grieving ? the MOV tries to be both but just misses its target , despite the presence of a magnetic jodie foster .", "the MOV is as bold a movie as we are likely to see this year , a movie that has more in common with 1970s provocations like straw dogs and taxi driver .", "dirty jodie", "kill 'em jodie .", "jodie foster 's commanding performance compensates for a film that ca n't decide whether it 's an updated version of 1970s vigilante actioners a la death wish or a more provocative chronicle in post-9 / 11 new york .", "led by jodie foster , the MOV is an adult hollywood thriller a notch above most vigilante movies . powerful and provocative , it will keep you thinking long after you 've left the cinema .", "foster 's moments of quality drive home how shaky and inconsistent this vigilante drama is . want something to avenge ? how about the way it fails to live up to the sum of its reputable talents . now that 's criminal ...", "neil jordan ought to be doing more challenging material than this overblown , overwrought thriller that has only obvious points to make about the moral swamp that is urban vigilantism .", "as you 'd expect , the talented foster and howard clearly relish sinking their teeth into a pair of well-rounded parts , their relationship teetering between cop and suspect , and the possibility of a romance .", "it wants to be a modern taxi driver ; it manages to be the new falling down , with foster as fierce as ever .", "foster is terrific and jordan 's direction is impressive , but the film does n't quite succeed , due to the strain of trying to be both angry revenge thriller and emotional , thought-provoking drama .", "beautifully played , the tantalising accretion of mutual understanding between foster and howard is one of the film 's strengths , yet the plot machinations required to lever it into position would overstretch credibility in the clunkiest action flick .", "foster convinces as the petrified victim turned vengeful killer and howard is superb as the world weary detective . together , they just about managed to save a frequently ham-fisted script .", "jordan 's most interesting film since the butcher boy .", "with a title that suggests the start of an epic poem or perhaps a fairy tale , the MOV is a startling achievement for stars jodie foster and terrance howard , and yet another notch in the growing artistic oeuvre of neil jordan .", "every slimeball erica encounters menaces her with remorseless , repulsive sadism -- there 's never anyone who just has a lewd comment , say ... everyone wants to bludgeon or shoot her , mutilate and molest her ...", "in the final reel , jordan and foster serve up violence and revenge as cynical button-pushing , which the audience eats up with a pavlovian response .", "almost tortuously high-tension and exciting , it switches gender with charles bronson 's `` death wish . ''", "ok , jodie , if you 're making comparisons to `` taxi driver '' : one 's a masterpiece about the penchant for emotionally apocalyptic violence . the other is manipulative junk tapping into its star 's success at kicking butt . guess which of those is `` the MOV . ''", "the moody tone and carefully balanced drama turn a grubby premise into something unexpectedly elegant .", "a true shocker that will shatter your nerves and get you talking .", "why is the MOV so much less satisfying than death wish ?", "one guesses this slick , decidedly mainstream project is little more than a paycheck -lsb- for director jordan -rsb- . unfortunately , it shows . the minutes pass quickly enough in watching the MOV , but it is a waste of time .", "the MOV celebrates its avenging angel as it pretends to examine her .", "you long for all this combined talent to be in the service of something more deserving than a retread of a story that has lost the edge it had 33 years ago .", "jodie foster and director neil jordan shift the genre to the murky left , where right and wrong are not so black and white .", "a violent action movie with a heart and soul . watching it is difficult ; forgetting it is more so .", "it 's a throwback girl-with-a-gun exploitation tale , as well as an evolved feminist fable ; and an impeccable dissection of gun control , as well as a wicked mockery of nra mentality .", "jordan 's ballsy and sometimes bonkers movie is more ambitious and alive -- more worth writing , talking and thinking about -- than anything that has tumbled off the hollywood assembly line in a good long while .", "foster is remarkably believable . she never seems to be ` acting ' .", "worth watching for foster 's fiercely arresting performance .", "clever , calculated , ` responsible ' filmmaking .", "suggests a real lack of imagination on the part of the filmmakers and a sad capitulation to the idea that violence is the only answer .", "it is foster and howard 's performances that really help this movie rise above just a revenge fantasy .", "alas , moral niceties are blown away in a frenzy of retribution , and a `` controversial '' ending undoes any plausibility .", "the film 's final unforgivable fault is its sheer , plodding dullness .", "it is tough and challenging and twists and turns in ways that are not expected or obvious or easy .", "powerful themes , intense emotions and a faultless performance from jodie foster are central to neil jordan 's film , yet i have a fundamental problem with the story 's morals , condoning violence , revenge and the protagonist taking the law into her own hands", "foster keeps us gripped with a convincing display of steely determination and moral ambiguity .", "what you ca n't deny is foster 's expertise at mixing vulnerability with an inner rage that half excuses what she is doing .", "as with all revenge movies , it simply provides its thrills by bumping off the bad guys .", "like foster 's character , erica bain , the movie makes a tortured show of conscience , then trades it in for a leather jacket and a semi-automatic .", "the MOV wins out , if nothing else , because it knows the power of the gun .", "everything about foster 's ocular intensity is riveting , but little in this hushed vigilante drama makes sense .", "a cheapjack vigilante potboiler .", "dreadful misfire casts jodie foster as a vengeance-fueled vigilante bent on cleaning up a new york that has n't existed for years .", "put a cowl on her and she 's batman ...", "the very fact that it 's so well-made actually makes the picture all the more morally dubious .", "riddled with illogical plot contrivances , pat irony , half-formed subplots , and a climax that stretches the boundaries of what can be swallowed .", "jodie foster creates a symphony of raw emotions . a huge crowd pleaser .", "the MOV seems to be implicitly saying that only men are capable of forceful action , only men are interesting at the centre of a moral quandary -- or at least , women who resemble men .", "foster 's subtle but gut-wrenching performance gives you a palpable sense of adrenaline and self-loathing at the same time", "a bold and powerful thriller", "both viewers and the characters onscreen must deal with the fact that we like when criminals get what 's coming to them , regardless of who 's pulling the trigger .", "the MOV has opened the fall movie season with a bang , indeed with a lot of bang , bang , bangs . do n't miss it .", "this one 's all about performance : ms. foster 's as a gun-toting angel of vengeance overcomes flaws in plot .", "the MOV thinks it has something to say about how we live in this real world today , and it wants to say it while hoping we 'll overlook one plot hole after another .", "with all the thematic false starts and missed opportunity , the MOV boils down to violence begets violence , and says it cures all the pain of loss .", "... one of the most compelling and flat-out exciting revenge thrillers to come along in quite some time .", "-lsb- despite some flaws , -rsb- i do recommend the movie - for foster 's stunning performance and for the story 's willingness to explore the honest-to-goodness implications of violence .", "i think the MOV could have been a better film with a different ending , but it 's still a well-crafted , thought-provoking story with outstanding performances .", "unfortunately , with each bullet she discharges , credibility takes a hit .", "jordan 's brave delves into a showy yet sluggish crime drama that incorporates all the cliched parts of a fatalistic fantasy audiences have seen over and over .", "foster and howard are outstanding actors and they play their roles very well in this film , keeping the empowerment-by-murder plot from sinking until the end .", "should have been a quickie revenge flick , but turns out to have a lot more meat on its bones thanks to foster 's strong performance and assured direction by neil jordan", "an ugly , nasty , self-deluding piece of sadistic trash .", "as polished as it may be on the surface , ` the MOV ' is never satisfying because the complexities of eloquent language or imagery are not present .", "unfortunately , the plotting in the MOV is rather pedestrian and often flawed , undermining this film 's potential for greatness .", "uncertainty helps keep the MOV on its toes .", "those going into this film expecting some kind of corollary to foster 's other film about random violence , the accused , will be disappointed for the simple reason that that was a serious film , and this is not .", "the thing that keeps one from totally sailing off the tracks terrence howard .", "an emotion-filled commentary on loss , revenge and redemption , the MOV is a smart , well-acted , engaging thriller ...", "as its blandly heroic title forecasts , `` the MOV '' is a revenge fantasy that floats like a narrative helium balloon waiting to find its ceiling .", "the performers , however , almost make us forget the problems with the script . foster and howard are a riveting pair .", "suggests something tailored for people who buy their cds at coffee shops and approve of how rudy giuliani pimped out times square to the disney company .", "what could impel jodie foster and director neil jordan to whisk us back to the bad old days of death wish and ms. 45 ? were their credit cards maxed out ?", "although it is bloody and at times brutal , it does n't revel in the violence . there 's more to the movie than initially meets the eye for an eye .", "by the time foster says ` i want my dog back ' , you might be saying you want your money back . but by then , it will be too late . you 'll have been seduced ...", "foster 's achievement is maintaining her humanity and keeping us on her side at all times .", "at its best , this high-toned vigilante picture depicts a woman almost literally transformed by violence , first as a victim , then as a participant ; she could be a cousin to one of the car-wreck victims in david cronenberg 's ` crash . '", "too unpleasantly stern to be exploitation , and too bloodthirsty to be drama .", "masterwork of craft , manipulating viewer emotions to elicit unthinking responses and unabashed bloodlust .", "jodie foster and terrence howard deliver unforgettable performances that elevate this movie to more than a revenge film .", "the fire goes out long before the film ends .", "be care of the bait and switch . the film flip-flops from start to finish between a heart film with a vigilante and a vigilante film with a heart .", "and that brings us the bad stuff , heretofore known as the script . the story keeps on putting erica in harm 's way , so much that you 're not sure why . i mean , would a woman alone really ride on the subway at night ?", "bravura performances ca n't save this '' ` one , '' a run-of-the-mill vigilante flick from director neil jordan -lrb- not known for his run-of-the-mill anything -rrb- .", "in jordan 's hands , the film becomes a tormented trip into a nightmarish world of murky darkness and neo-expressionist camera angles .", "works as exploitation but fails at anything more socially relevant .", "despite some quality performances , from both foster and her co-star , terrence howard , the MOV is every bit as ludicrous and every bit as wrong-headed and distasteful as those other -lsb- vigilante -rsb- films .", "the finale is bad enough to make you wish the actress were working more often , so that the blatantly commercial stuff was n't all she was letting us see .", "in the end it 's a film that does n't know what it wants to be - on the one hand it 's visceral entertainment -lrb- b-thriller ? -rrb- , and on the other hand it tries for some arch conservative , reaganesque view of conflict resolution .", "with a smart script , sure-handed direction and strongly internalised performances , this film astutely blends a personal drama with a revenge thriller .", "jodie foster has a good shot at awards recognition in this flawed but still disturbing vigilante drama .", "foster 's pistol-packing turn as an avenging dark angel nearly sustains director neil jordan 's grim vigilante drama through a string of implausibilities and occasionally trite psychological framing devices , with deft support from terrence howard .", "in exploring what fear has done to erica , jodie foster gives one of the best performances of her career .", "director neil jordan , usually a master at creating atmosphere , keeps us at a remote distance throughout .", "curtis the dog and erica bain review the MOV .", "the MOV is glossy trash masquerading as a meaningful and important drama , and that 's the biggest shame of all .", "you half expect the csi : new york characters played by gary sinise and mila karakanedes to show up at the first , second or third crime scenes .", "the MOV , though well cast and smoothly directed , is just as crude and ugly as you want it to be .", "foster is n't the only one abused in this film . viewers are , too .", "there 's a lot to admire in the MOV . it just does n't cut as deeply as it needs to .", "has neither the depth of character nor of theme to justify the condoning of her actions .", "jordan je , koriste % u0107i svoj nesumnjivi re % u017eijski talent , snimio film koji je istovremeno i staromodan i moderan", "the switch is flipped so quickly by erica that i did n't root for her vengeance , i felt sorry for her .", "deplorable urban-vengeance melodrama", "you know what would be brave ? making an unflinching film about a difficult-to-tackle topic and complex characters , and sticking to your message , damn the torpedoes .", "jodie foster and thoughtful irish international director neil jordan take us to places we 'd probably rather avoid .", "the MOV can at times be a brutal , violent and harrowing portrait of an over burdened system , where thugs rule the streets and the corrupt contaminate the upper echelon of society . it is also an un-original revenge/vigilante story .", "they 're trotting it around at all the festivals trying to distract everyone from how bad it is .", "-lsb- a -rsb- dopey action movie featuring the contributions of people too talented to waste their time on something this risible .", "the MOV is worth seeing for the scenes between terrence howard and jodie foster .", "the MOV is not merely the most morally repellent film of the year , but a contender for the stupidest .", "you may hate yourself for yielding to the expertise of the manipulation , but the vicarious thrill of the MOV is the sense of pulling your own trigger on pure evil and watching the bullet tear through .", "the MOV is death wish with a guilty conscience , and while it may be a bit of a hypocrite as vigilante thrillers go , the internal contradictions of the thing make for a very interesting picture .", "foster is so good , and the plight of an ordinary person destroyed by violence so compelling , that the movie is likely to be a hit .", "even the masterful jodie foster ca n't manage to raise this sluggish vigilante yarn above other movies of its ilk .", "foster and howard are both wonderful actors and they try very hard to make this soul stuff work . but the absurdity of the script does them in .", "fundamentally insane .", "erica finds herself in mortal danger so often you 'd think new york had reverted to pre-giuliani anarchy .", "where once -lsb- foster -rsb- made nell ... and , yes , silence of the lambs , now she makes commercial trash like this . she , and her fans , deserve better .", "an ugly , manipulative mess .", "psychological suspense is what makes the MOV spellbinding . the movie does n't dine out on action scenes , but regards with great curiosity how these two people will end up .", "what the screenwriters do n't achieve in dialogue , director jordan often delivers visually . he and his cinematographer employ a particularly powerful way to evoke erica 's resurfacing . it resembles a slow blink ; it suggest a brain grappling to make sense .", "the MOV is oppressively plot-driven . all the mood is snuffed out . the filmmakers so want erica 's actions to make sense to us that the movie usually seems illogical despite itself .", "what might have been a serious drama about coming to terms with violence and loss turns into a crowd-pleasing and increasingly far-fetched remake of death wish .", "regardless of the artistry involved , the MOV ultimately never really strays from the same moral low road as death wish .", "not unlike its heroine : conflicted and unsure of which way to go . ... -lrb- foster -rrb- emphasizes erica 's anguish and the shock that comes from realizing that you 're capable of doing things you once would have found abhorrent .", "it can never seem to decide if it 's escapist action or social commentary and , as a result , it never commits to either .", "foster does her best with a flawed story whose ending rings even less true than the rest of it .", "following her first vigilante act , the movie starts hemorhagging iq points and the faux hand wringing escalates . this movie never stops lying to itself", "the only thing that could have made this movie better is if it were revealed at the end that our leading lady was really a man . but we 've been down that path before .", "it 's entertaining but it 's certainly not the essay on violence it purports to be ... at least it 's not boring . whenever you see a scumbag , at least you know she 's going to shot him in the face .", "is there really a difference between full review | original score : c +", "somehow , foster and howard make it work .", "the MOV might have been honest , perceptive , and troubling . instead , it becomes aimless revenge porn .", "an unapologetic genre picture powered by a pair of honest performances that plucks our emotional strings and races our pulses .", "you will be rooting for her to off more bad guys , rather than understanding that she is disturbed and out of control .", "in this dreary , cockamamie valentine to new york city haters , concocted by the father/son team of roderick and bruce a. taylor -- a good argument for the government sterilization of a certain family 's genes -- radio personality erica bain -lrb- foster -rrb- is confront", "just a more superficially sober version of death wish .", "the profoundly discouraging ending does n't work .", "una pel\u00edcula mediocre , sensacionalista y manipuladora filmada por un buen director .", "the MOV feels like a superhero movie , charting the familiar story of an unsuspecting everywoman who discovers one day that a gun gives her special powers to right wrongs and uphold justice .", "audience identification with the movie really rests on whether you 're turned off by this freestyle , really pissed off judge and jury female assassin , or else in the mood to cut this loose cannon sexy sniper some slack .", "if nothing else , enjoy nicky katt 's hilariously smart-ass one-liners .", "the movie never seems entirely plausible . yet it makes no difference ; we still get involved with it .", "MOV is n't death wish , but there are moments where i could see jordan giving in to that impulse .", "hoorah for vigilantism ! who needs the rule of law when you 've got guns ?", "because it wants the applause both of the chatting classes and the blood crowd , the MOV does n't take a firm position about vigilantism .", "a seventies ' revenge movie with a woefully unconvincing patina of intellectual justification , the MOV is the sort of genre movie that gets more credit than it deserves .", "drama , action , humor and sex appeal . what more could you ask for ?", "forget about comparing this film to death wish , as many already have this is n't good enough to deserve comparison to death wish 4 : the crackdown .", "the MOV moves at a brisk pace and foster and howard do a fine pas de deux as the plot develops .", "did n't i just see this film two weeks ago with kevin bacon in death sentence ? terrance howard is strong , though . funny lines from nicky katt .", "it wants to be a moody , dark exploration of pain and revenge -lrb- the same feelings i experienced during and after the movie -rrb- .", "remind me not to piss jodie foster off !", "-lsb- jordan -rsb- presents the material with intelligence . unfortunately , intelligence is not what this movie needs .", "bull 's - eye .", "it 's as much about the unfocused feelings of vengeful rage many americans had after 9/11 as about a woman going on a killing spree .", "armed with good performances -- and contrivances .", "nyc as a dangerous metropolis where a gun-toting fem avenger indulging in a cerebral bloodsport has a close brush with death every five minutes or so .", "got the exploitation part right but could n't get much else right .", "decent revenge flicks allow some viewers to continually ask `` what if . ''", "in that moment , the movie changes too , from a subjective contemplation of her grief and loss to an erratic vigilante pic .", "... sullied by sludgy screenwriting , but jodie and jordan almost pull it out of the mire . it 's a misfire , but an interesting one ." ], "summary": "magnetic by between jodie foster and terrence howard ca n't quite compensate for the MOV 's problematic and unconvincing eye-for-an-eye moral .", "id": "770670843" }, { "movie": "lumumba", "reviews": [ "framed by the shameless burning of congo 's national hero with only a smidgen of kootchi-coo family sentimentality , MOV richly deserves its best picture award at the 2001 pan african film festival .", "utterly absorbing .", "a tellingly discouraging testament to the inherently complicated and manipulative workings of a formerly subjugated culture not fully freed from its oppressors .", "for better and worse , peck is no oliver stone nor even a spike lee , another director who can make a mountain of a film out of a molehill of suspicions .", "serves as a gut-wrenching requiem for the hope of peace and prosperity in post-colonial africa .", "the visceral force of MOV is a sober reminder that there 's nothing more incendiary than the reopening of a forgotten chapter of history .", "both compelling and occasionally bewildering .", "a powerfully rich and incredibly sorrowful portrait .", "peck 's subject and lead actor elevate his film above its mediocre production .", "eclipse any political film oliver stone has made in quite a while .", "gives a neglected giant of african independence his due .", "manages to give us , from the start , a comprehensible , if necessarily simplified , sense of an extremely complicated moment in history .", "ebouaney , as MOV , imbues the man with the fury and calm that complicates peck 's construction of him as a symbol with a legacy .", "a powerful portrait and provides more than enough material for someone like me who knew nothing .", "a biographical drama as fiery as the man whose brief existence it illuminates .", "a great film and a great performance .", "the tumultuous events surrounding the rise and fall of the congo 's first prime minister are rendered with passion and complexity .", "utterly enthralling even for viewers unfamiliar with the congo 's complicated political history .", "the trouble with the film is not canonization but , again , the recurrent defect in pictures about such people . the ideational data are so sketchy that it is as if we were riffling the pages of a complicated book .", "the term for this type of film is ` self-important . '", "as clich\u00e9-rich as it is compelling .", "raoul peck 's detailed telling of the machiavellian maneuverings proves gripping and haunting , with a resonant performance by eriq ebouaney as the charismatic leader .", "never much more than hagiography that lets the context of its hero 's death remain confused .", "MOV may not seem like the kind of film you 'll want to run out to see , but you wo n't regret it if you do .", "what director peck , who grew up in congo/zaire , fails to do is give us the proper background .", "a taut , well-drawn story .", "at the heart of the movie is ebouaney 's performance as MOV , every bit as intense as denzel washington 's as malcolm x.", "earnestly but amateurishly acted , the movie feels more like a play with the actors exaggerating their gestures so that even those in the cheap seats wo n't miss anything .", "one day , when ebouaney is a huge star , people will look back at this film and say ` that 's what did it . '", "peck , who assayed MOV 's life in a 1991 documentary , now paces the doomed man 's story like the genuine thriller it is .", "it 's a prime example of how a historical drama can be politically correct but thoroughly embalmed . the memory of patrice MOV deserves better .", "drawn from life or not , film people need some flaw , some depth , a facial betrayal of emotional struggle . if not , they are the stuff of action adventure , rooted for but at once forgotten .", "MOV overcomes some minor shortcomings and becomes an important and gripping feature .", "bites off way more than it can chew , it is often artlessly made , and it assumes that we know more than most of us do about the congolese nationalist movement .", "the story of the congo and its struggle for independence from belgium is a bloody and torrid one , but MOV does n't really imbue the tale with much spirit .", "-lsb- c -rsb- ompelling .", "strong , bloody and sad .", "packed with incident , the film also crackles with danger , simmers with hope .", "his story is told with admirable crispness and a surprising lack of bias .", "too many meetings and ` important ' events , not enough of MOV himself .", "captures the volatility and chaos of a nation struggling to find its identity and purpose .", "a solid , interesting , educational and honest docudrama", "complex , powerful , intensely dramatic .", "draws an indelible portrait of how a young nation can be turned into a civic basket case .", "seeing it should n't be taken as some sort of educational chore . though informative , it also happens to be smashing good drama .", "ebouaney is given the daunting task of carrying a heavy film , and rises to the challenge with denzel washington-esque conviction .", "as fluid and intellectually stimulating as the man himself .", "moving , poignant , and quietly angry .", "ebouaney is easily the best thing about this import .", "a tense drama told with style and ambition -- and with a remarkably steely , energized performance at its core .", "an engrossing film that attempts to unearth a dark period of african history and the short-lived tenure of MOV 's power .", "the vividness of the figures and situations whets the appetite ." ], "summary": "ebouaney 's fiery performance makes MOV compelling .", "id": "20910" }, { "movie": "barbershop_2_back_in_business", "reviews": [ "low-key to the point of being listless .", "like going out for a bad meal with a group of people you love being with . you 're happy to be in their company ; you just wish you did n't leave feeling hungry .", "an uplifting , and funny , film about real people .", "outside of being well-acted and funny , barbershop 2 is actually about something .", "twice the amount of cedric makes this twice as funny as the original !", "`` barbershop 2 '' shows a maturity over the original , making it a worthy sequel .", "some jokes hit and others miss , but the laughter , camaraderie and warmth will keep you smiling as much as it did the first time around .", "-lsb- fumbles -rsb- around with what had been a winning cast of characters , reducing their living , breathing relationships to a series of exchanges of cheap insults .", "it 's a warm , often funny reunion of the sassiest , chattiest characters ever to buzz a brother 's head .", "heartstrings will be tugged and ribs tickled , particularly thanks to cedric the entertainer .", "a more serious but equally entertaining comedy than its predecessor , film provides enough food for thought and laughs to satisfy diehard fans .", "it never strains , even though pulled muscles are a common sequel injury .", "grooves to its own drummer , yet remains dynamically true to its roots .", "the pointed , no-taboos banter that was the soul of barbershop gets the short shrift in this entertaining but too-cursory sequel .", "does n't overreach the original 's modest ambitions , does n't mess with the endearing , well-rounded characters and never forgets that the jokes are all in service of a sincere message about what it means to be a community .", "hysterically funny , historically aware , politically nuanced , culturally sophisticated and productively self-critical all at the same time -- and you 'll need a second viewing just to catch all the jokes .", "even when it falters , barbershop 2 is sharp and hilarious .", "the concept has eroded from pleasant surprise to charmless franchise , which is ironic , considering that the plot of the second film involves competition from cookie-cutter corporate invaders .", "takes the characters deeper than the first film , revealing new dimensions to all of them , and it balances its bright humor with a melancholy sense that the changes that come to a neighborhood are not always good ones .", "affectionate and deeply funny .", "warmhearted and surprisingly ambitious .", "as long as it is simply being a barbershop , the gab has a razor-cut charm .", "it 's still funny and warm and neighborly inside calvin 's barbershop ; it 's just a little predictable as soon as you step outside .", "as fragmented and heavy-handed as the first installment was smart , funny and , yes , at times unexpectedly sweet .", "the connection between the still-potent issues of the civil rights movement and the rich vs. poor economic disparities that continue today -- although ` the man ' could now be either black or white -- gives barbershop genuine potency .", "it 's the chemistry between all the characters , which has deepened since the first movie , that makes barbershop 2 worth watching despite its sluggish , sometimes sloppy pace .", "just as sharply funny and as heartwarming , yet unsentimental , as the first .", "a showcase for the loose , occasionally very funny , give-and-take between instantly recognizable characters .", "a dutiful mood -- call it sequelitis -- has descended on the place .", "easily the first film 's equal , if not an improvement .", "this smart , feisty comedy is still ghetto-fabulous enough to make you laugh until your short , back and sides ache .", "the banter is tighter and funnier , and calvin 's musings on the importance of community seem more heartfelt .", "it 's the kind of set-piece ensemble that has proven immensely successful as a sitcom formula but tends to struggle to meet the demands of a movie .", "provides enough solid , character-based amusement to put customers in the chairs and send them out content with services rendered .", "manages to throw away everything that made the first film so good .", "great message delivered in an edgy hip-hop movie .", "barbershop 2 is a weak , too rarely humorous , too long bore .", "it ai n't high art , but it is a fun flick .", "inane banter soon takes over and is not helped by an unlikely , flashback-heavy subplot about eddie -lrb- cedric the entertainer -rrb- and a lost love .", "schoolyard jokes about religious faiths , genetic traits , and sexuality which only work if you enjoy laughing at people because they are darker-skinned , or curlier-haired , or perverted , or have emigrated from another continent .", "a better , funnier , more closely cropped movie than its enjoyable predecessor .", "-lsb- eddie 's -rsb- irrepressible spirit remains the key to the movie .", "this one 's a winner by more than a hair .", "a movie that cares about its audience , cares about the concept of community and makes you laugh time after time after time .", "constantly engaged and intelligent while generally conscious of retaining the entertaining goods , barbershop 2 is anything but your business-as-usual sequel .", "these characters really are like old friends -- there 's something almost comforting about going back and hanging out with them again .", "what barbershop 2 : back in business lacks in stealth and surprise , it makes up for in style and confidence .", "as funny as the first movie , but it 's narratively scattered .", "funny and entertaining .", "barbershop 2 is that rare exception of a sequel that actually surpasses the original .", "the filmmakers clearly put considerable thought and imagination into making as a good a sequel as they could .", "picks up where the first film ended by celebrating community , exploring responsibility to one 's neighborhood and , most important , providing big , big laughs .", "the sequel is like year two of a once-promising sitcom -- when the characters are methodically stripped of the edges that made them interesting in the first place .", "although it lacks the freshness of the original film , barbershop 2 is still enjoyable and often laugh-out-loud funny .", "a sequel that sacrifices the chat for storytelling -- following exactly the wrong vein of raw materials .", "as in the original film , it 's the chemistry among the actors that really counts . and fortunately , the filmmakers have reassembled the terrific cast .", "what 's intact from the original is the premise 's big heart and the wonderful ensemble led by ice cube .", "it is n't a bad hair day , just a limp , uninspired one .", "the high-velocity comic additions provided by latifah and the flashbacks relating to eddie 's youth are enough to make this sequel one more sharp cut .", "there 's no question eddie was the chief asset of the first film , and sequels are required by law to exploit the original 's strengths . but the filmmakers have misread eddie 's appeal .", "still a nice place to hang out .", "sullivan clearly has his own ideas , but wisely uses the established characters to flesh them out instead of making them act out of character for his purposes .", "for all of the snappy verbal sparring and romantic complications that embellish the film , it is ultimately about community ...", "too often we 're locked out of the barbershop and stuck in a bad movie , our faces pressed up desperately against the window .", "improves on its predecessor", "the first film arrived with freshness and an unexpected zing , but this one seems too content to follow in its footsteps .", "a generous and infectious blending of the old school with the fresh .", "a warm and tasty second helping complete with smart visual flourishes , strong laughs and a willingness to take a few bittersweet cuts with its scissors .", "a movie featuring ice cube bellowing ` no more profanity ! ' and meaning it should produce a lot more laughs than this intermittently amusing sequel .", "ice cube sticks with the formula that made barbershop so successful , yet manages to keep the material feeling fresh .", "the seriousness with which barbershop ii treats its political conscience offers an unexpected weight to what 's essentially a big screen sitcom .", "barbershop 2 works best when its characters are being funny and fighting with each other or lambasting pop-culture blemishes ...", "yet another sleeper hit becomes a cynical franchise . i guess ` nappy-cutz ' wins after all .", "tries hard , but the routine feels a little too familiar . it 's like getting a trim when what you really need is a new style .", "they need to find the edgy magic that they had with the first blockbuster .", "this likable , lackadaisical comedy proves more focused than the first film yet lacks much of its comic bite .", "barbershop 2 achieves what most sequels can only wish for : it 's actually much better than the original film .", "the gist of this film can be summed in one short phrase : ` sorry . my bad . '", "both films are flawed and unfocused . both have thin plots that must rely on even thinner back-stories to flesh out a feature length film .", "a direct hit on jesse jackson .", "cube is still adorable , but the potentially poppin ' battle between the shop and big-box competitor nappy cuts gets obscured by sloppy chronology and flat , cartoonish politicos .", "ice cube warms up and cedric the entertainer lives up to his title in this unexpectedly rich and rewarding comedy sequel .", "-lsb- a -rsb- s funny as the original .", "it 's like going back home for a visit .", "this sequel is overstaffed with a cast that 's underserved by don d. scott 's schematic script and kevin rodney sullivan 's crude direction .", "barbershop 2 : back in business is the second episode of a big-screen sit-com . it may be three times longer , but it is also three times funnier .", "... succeeds adequately enough at the lower expectations it establishes .", "an appreciation of ritual and exchange , a generosity of spirit .", "funky good vibes permeate this soulful follow-up to ice cube 's 2002 surprise success .", "barbershop 2 , like most sequels , ca n't begin to capture the spirit , magic and charm of its predecessor .", "the dialogue is dumber , the plot is weak and it is more politically correct , but it still has those same loveable characters , curmudgeons all .", "there are some laughs in the movie , some nice moments between the characters , and some occasional glimmers of the old magic . however , there are not enough of them .", "a sorry little excuse of a film created to advertise pepsi products , queen latifah 's spin-off movie , and to exploit the success of the first barbershop .", "it is an ok sequel , but what it really demonstrates is that this would play much better as a tv series .", "the story gets bogged down in some pace-stopping scenes about community gentrification , some mildly confusing temporal transitions , and some exchanges that should be side-splittingly funny but are only mildly amusing .", "perhaps if the movie had been funnier , it would 've been easier to overlook the bizarre dramatic interludes ...", "successful only in sullying the memory of a superior movie that did n't warrant a sequel , particularly one so glaringly lacking in imagination and purpose .", "affords a feel of life in a big-city neighborhood .", "glossier and more focused than its scruffy predecessor", "what made the first film such a success -- the hilarious banter in the shop ; the moving but never sappy personal dramas ; a respect for history ; the true affection for the city ; and , of course , the brilliance of cedric the entertainer -- is still intact .", "overall , barbershop 2 is a sweet comedy minus the sap , hilarious yet devoid of crudity , and political without ever being preachy .", "the barbershop franchise is like cheers for people who are n't boring .", "the actors anchor the film with their live-on-the-spot rhythms .", "earns a visit , if only by a hair ... if the business is n't quite so brisk this time around , there 's an amiable familiarity that warrants your continued patronage .", "barbershop 2 is both entertaining and edifying with its funky portrait of the challenges facing many urban neighborhoods across the country .", "a sequel with all the humor , compassion , raunch and camaraderie of its predecessor .", "this time around , the razors are a little duller , the clicks not as slick , the patter not as snappy .", "the second cut goes a little deeper in this sequel to the feel-good ensemble comedy .", "climaxing with a politician-worthy podium speech , the film has too many creaks in its gears to earn a wholehearted recommendation .", "there is never a single moment where it manages to justify its existence as anything other than a soulless cash-in enterprise .", "... a surprisingly topical sequel that warmly embraces universal themes and values under its veil of comedy .", "thoughtful and humorous in equal measure , it 's a complete and satisfying package that manages that most elusive of cinematic tricks : it delivers on its promises .", "they 're a likeable bunch whose schtick grows on you . but their material is just a little too thin .", "the sequel does n't surprise us ... but that does n't make the visit any less pleasant .", "now that those hobbits are wrapped up , hollywood ought to turn its attention to making a `` barbershop '' trilogy .", "this return visit to calvin 's barbershop is like settling back in with old friends .", "still funny and warm , and blessed with wonderful characters , bright lines and far more perception of the human condition than you generally find in modern-american comedies .", "from the opening credits , which trace the history of black coiffure , it 's a tribute to african-american culture .", "you get the feeling the screenwriter is scraping around inside a mine that was n't meant to be visited more than once .", "taken as a pair , the ` barbershop ' movies are an exuberant lesson in how comedy is a better format for penetrating social commentary than drama .", "this series offers an inner-city equivalent of mayberry , where greed and cynicism do n't stand a chance against homespun truths , family values and just plain folks ." ], "summary": "the humor is less sharp and more warm-hearted this time around , and the characters are enjoyable to revisit .", "id": "10839" }, { "movie": "true_romance", "reviews": [ "the pacing is frantic , and the character interplay generally engaging . perhaps the problem is that when it 's all over , i 'm not quite sure whether there was a point beyond a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing .", "it 's tarantino 's gutter poetry that detonates MOV . this movie is dynamite .", "the movie may be stylistically visceral , but it 's aesthetically corrupt . it might as well have been called pump up the violence .", "too often the bloodbath mentality simply washes away the film 's more appealing elements .", "the movie has a kind of goofy charm .", "this film 's various outrages are committed unapologetically , and are very much in the service of its bizarre story .", "an instant cult classic . not only is it self-referential , stylish and exciting , it 's also better written than most genre films , with plenty of memorable dialogue , compelling characters and yes , MOV .", "MOV , despite not displaying tarantino at his best , is still a tarantino film and it delivers the goods to all those who expect some stylish entertainment .", "if you 're in the mood for this sort of absurd , violent nonsense ... MOV does deliver .", "made with such energy , such high spirits , such an enchanting goofiness , that it 's impossible to resist .", "insanely transcendent", "provides some amazing encounters , bravura acting turns and gruesome carnage . but it does n't add up to enough .", "... -lsb- a -rsb- violently funny genre mishmash that gave tony scott 's new life , and also transmitted quentin tarantino 's vision more credibly than the screenwriter and then-novice director could have done himself .", "if shoot - 'em - up , gobble - 'em - down movies like the fugitive and jurassic park are rated pg-13 these days , what does an r-rated action adventure look like ? like MOV : violent to a fault , glam to the max .", "the only thing that goes wrong with the movie is christian slater ... the failure of its central character ends up being an irritation , but not a film-crippling problem .", "... a pulpy good time that holds up remarkably well two decades after its theatrical release ...", "a hall of fame guy 's movie ... -lsb- with -rsb- a macho '90s ensemble eclipsed only by glengarry glen ross ... the monologues -- oh , the monologues ! -lsb- blu-ray -rsb-", "... a chase picture , a gangster picture , and a wacky , turbulent romance ... sort of a bonnie and clyde on speed .", "about as good as contemporary hollywood movies get .", "such a rush that it 's only towards the end that you realise the picture is less than the sum of its impressive parts .", "nothing if not consistently entertaining .", "the movie is exciting , thanks to the script , but when it comes to the bullet-ridden showdown , scott shows it in fast cuts , without giving us a perspective of the action or the space . it 's ruined .", "sifting through the bloody , pulpy trash of MOV -- should you care to -- you 'll find amusing , smart-alecky nuggets planted by screenwriter quentin tarantino .", "it plays out like candied noir , with a classic dialogue scene at least once every ten minutes .", "overrated , but still quite a bit of fun .", "bombards the audience with images of blazing guns , brutal beatings , and lots of gushing blood while telling a twisted and entertaining tale .", "despite tony scott 's occasional blundering , MOV is still a visceral roller coaster .", "god i wish i had written this movie .", "a hip , clever and irreverent high-voltage thriller with nary a dull moment .", "fast , fun and fantastically performed ... one hot little movie", "one of the most dynamic action films of the 1990s .", "my favorite movie of all time", "based on an early script from tarantino , tony scott 's wild movie is amour fou for youth of the 1990s , a gutsy , violent , often exciting picture likely to divide film critics .", "if the romance seldom seems ` true ' , the spiralling violence -lrb- script , quentin tarantino -rrb- does succeed , in a brutish , cod-jacobean kind of way .", "like always , walken owns the movie" ], "summary": "fueled by quentin tarantino 's savvy screenplay and a gallery of oddball performances , tony scott 's MOV is a funny and violent action jaunt in the best sense .", "id": "17105" }, { "movie": "hills_have_eyes_2", "reviews": [ "the mutants may or may not live to kill again , but at this point , these fussed-over grotesques are better suited to wax museums than movie theaters .", "the national guardsmen and - women are picked off one by one in scenes of birth , death , rape and other carnage that aim to be as grotesque as possible .", "it 's no better or worse than most films of its genre .", "this team 's descent is soon revealed as cockamamie : they 're no longer trained fighters with automatic guns but victims in a splatter movie .", "cheesy and yucky , it 's a guilty pleasure .", "pure genre-pic boredom .", "a nastily effective piece of action-horror , as reflective of its time and its war as the vietnam-era deliverance was of its time and war .", "a secret comedy lurks within this decidedly shoddy piece of corporate horror .", "an enjoyable sequel if you like this sort of thing .", "another depressing example of a cult 70s slasher being cynically retooled for mtv-reared thrill-seekers .", "gratuitous , slow-as-molasses and interminably dull-witted ; this is a horror movie for no one . dialogue runs the gambit from `` shitman the barbarian '' to `` smelling like shit '' in a crappy stinker where even the cameraman blows .", "the film 's defining emblematic moment comes when a man crawls out of a port-o-potty covered in feces , thereby providing an approximation of the audience 's experience .", "i ca n't even bring myself to say , drop in , turn your brain off and enjoy , as the material presented is just not anywhere near as entertaining as the first run .", "if you do n't walk out in the first few moments , you deserve every gut wrench , gag reflex and skin crawl you get for the rest of the film .", "it 's extremely grisly , brutal and scary . and not bad at all if you like this kind of thing .", "it 's all just far too wes craven for its own good . he gave aja free rein to innovate , but as he writes this sequel he rests on every single genre clich\u00e9 because he does n't understand that they 're still clich\u00e9s even if he did invent them .", "director martin weisz does an adequate job of maintaining the movie 's tension and momentum , but the lack of compelling characters and the unusual level of nastiness makes this an arduous mission for all involved .", "the film may not be as scary as its predecessor , but it will make you think twice before you use a porta potti again .", "reasonably effective , although the low budget frequently peers through in the uninspired set design and laughably obvious bluescreen work .", "the only folks jumping out of their seats are the ones going for a drink refill .", "feels like an exercise , not a real film .", "it is only another by-the-numbers , do n't - mess-with-the-formula screen filler aimed at the gore-hound fan boys who sustain all these franchises while bemoaning their sameness .", "the roman numeral in the title is the most sophisticated thing about the sequel . otherwise , this radioactive spawn of wes craven is abysmal , stupid and -- horror of all horrors ! -- incredibly boring .", "although series creator wes craven wrote this sequel 's script with his son jonathan , the film has little of that filmmaker 's usual sass .", "it never generates a real sense of dread or building pressure . instead , it uses its feeble set-up to string together one grisly shock after another .", "one man-versus-mutant dust-up ends with a sledgehammer to the groin . enough said .", "written , disappointingly , by wes craven and his son jonathan , this limp sequel to last year 's remake of wes ' 1977 original feels like the work of a guy who 's spent a few too many days lost in the desert .", "have n't our soliders suffered enough ?", "maybe it 's just time to put an end to this mutant circle of life , or at least send it straight to dvd from now on .", "another shining example of the sorry state of horror filmmaking these days", "this horror fanatic does n't have room for craven in his genre anymore . collect your cash and call it a day already , wes ...", "a film as bloodily pointless as the current conflict in iraq that it so unsubtly allegorises .", "weisz ' first feature was ` butterfly : a grimm love story ' , a banal study of a real-life cannibal killer . like this sorry sequel , it amounted to far less than the sum of its body parts .", "a retro horror-comedy featuring quick deaths and cheapo-looking gore , with a few dorky laughs and gross-outs but not so many scares .", "a sequel to a remake that 's surprisingly intelligent and original , and it proves to be a worthy successor to both alexandre aja 's 2006 hills and wes craven 's 1977 original .", "bears no relation to the old 1985 sequel , which hardly matters since the hills have eyes ii is perfectly capable of being a rancid crapfest on its own merits .", "despite having almost as much ick-content as the last film , the MOV has n't the skill to make it unnerving .", "fingers in brains , thumbs in eyes and sledgehammers in the balls are straight outta tom & jerry : this time the hills are alive with the sound of larfing .", "pretty solid gory horror .", "the new movie is a pre-combat nightmare , whereas the first -- alexandre aja 's effective 2006 remake of craven 's low-rent 1977 original -- was pure post-nuclear paranoia .", "you 'd like to think such bankruptcy of imagination means we 've seen the last of these subterranean creeps . but you know they 'll be back soon to collect their royalties from the gore hounds who apparently do n't care how dull -lsb- it is -rsb- .", "this hurry-up sequel delivers the same brand of paranoid , blood-covered , barely clinging-to-an-r-rating action as in ' 06 , featuring a similar pack of desert-dwelling super freaks who wreak murderous havoc on unsuspecting visitors .", "wes craven would like the audience to think they 're having a nightmarish good time , but i do n't recall repeated internal urgings to run screaming from the theater in unstoppable bad movie agony in the recipe for fun .", "though written by wes craven and his son , jonathan craven , this is pretty standard stuff .", "it 's not scary , not novel .", "after this disgrace , it 's time to shut the hills ' eyes for good .", "although the ads warn , ` the lucky ones die fast , ' the truth is , ` the smart ones walk out early . '", "if the hills have eyes ii is to gain notoriety for anything , it is the invention of one of the most laughable methods of murder ever captured on film : death by leather wallet .", "helmer martin weisz , whose background is largely in musicvideos , meets the challenge of creating dread in broad daylight , before the entire cast of soldiers and carnivores heads underground , into the warren of mines and tunnels where the mutants dwell .", "being gross and gory is one thing , but the problem with the hills have eyes ii is that those elements are literally all it has going for it .", "there is not any plot worth discussing : people go into a desert , some die . the end .", "in case you miss what 's happening , one soldier wails , ` oh , man , we 're gettin ' picked off one by one , here . '", "it sucks balls .", "... dull and interminable ...", "as far as stuff like mood , atmosphere , tone , and intensity is concerned , this sequel is a completely empty vessel .", "the only thing the lowly hills 2 has going for it is the grossness , ferocity , and superhuman strength of the rampaging mutants . i mean , these guys put the ugh in ugly ; they make the original 's michael berryman look like a hunk .", "... could have been more than a pale shadow of the original if the filmmakers had taken their time ...", "the MOV offers another round of dull , gory fright scenes that neither push the horror envelope nor exhibit any noticeable ingenuity .", "rote and crass .", "there 's gore galore , but not much more . and it 's a bore .", "well , no , they do n't . if they did and if they could see , they would have read the script , passed on it , and we all would have been better for it .", "for anyone other than hardcore gore-hounds , this flipbook of deliberately invoked global-unrest horrors , from friendly-fire killings to rape as a breeding weapon , is effectively mean and unrelenting -- and pretty far from fun .", "better made than most low budget and derivative movies of its genre , but it just does n't have enough to stand out as anything more than an improvement upon those dregs ." ], "summary": "the MOV is a completely unoriginal sequel offers plenty of gore and clich\u00e9s , but few scares .", "id": "493950127" }, { "movie": "diplomatie", "reviews": [ "we know where this is going , or rather where it is n't ; but the fun is in watching the negotiations unfold .", "its minor thrills come not from not knowing what will happen , but from watching the cagey choreography of two acrobatic minds .", "diplomacy will work for those who appreciate dialogue-based character films in which plot is of secondary importance .", "although we know what happens , diplomacy keeps up the suspense and pulls off surprises as choltitz 's decision reaches its inevitable ending .", "you know , after all , what the end result will be , but `` diplomacy '' is strong enough to keep the situation intense and important .", "a little supporting personality could have made the proceedings feel less like a smartly staged character study and more like a wartime drama .", "arestrup and dussollier are mesmerizing as they attack and parry , argue and counterargue . they reminisce about their lives before the war and wax poetic about their families - then engage in battle again .", "the drama is made interesting and more substantial as hidden facts about the german 's situation are revealed , and his soldier 's perspective honored .", "gripping little drama shows the fate of paris in the hands of two men", "diplomacy induces pins and needles from the get-go and does n't let up until the credits roll .", "benefits greatly from the razor-sharp , theater-honed skills of two formidable french actors , niels arestrup and andr\u00e9 dussollier , who created the roles on stage .", "has enough visual panache to compensate for the static , conversational nature of the work .", "schl\u00f6ndorff does the expected thing with handheld cameras , slowly circling the combatants , but he also finds interesting and exciting ways to use the space .", "it 's the subtle duel between these two men , in addition to the film 's evocation of a besieged paris at the crossroads , that gives such vigor to diplomacy .", "the film is n't really fooling anyone into feeling doom-laden suspense -lrb- paris , after all , is still standing -rrb- , but the principal performers sell the momentousness of the drama .", "the film 's a little too flashy and theatrical , with too-neat ironies . as a duel between acting talents , though , this is first-rate .", "the result is a gorgeously shot , finely composed , tremendously acted bit of historical melodrama ...", "based on the french play by cyril gely and directed by volker schl\u00f6ndorff 's diplomacy is so soundly engineered and acted that it does n't seem stagey at all .", "the principal suspense in this fascinating movie is generated by the polite , and then not so polite , ferocity of the arguments between the two men .", "poses important philosophical questions through essentially a two character staged play . not exactly historically accurate but a serious and thoughtful film not to be missed .", "expanded from cyril gely 's stage play , this film remains finely focussed on a history-changing dialogue between two men on the day paris changed hands from the nazis to the allies .", "the result is intriguing and intelligent , but ultimately uninspired .", "it is a beautifully written and expertly acted two-hander that takes dramatic licence with real historical events to create an urgent , compelling high-stakes drama .", "gert fr\u00f6be and orson welles played the same parts in ren\u00e9 cl\u00e9ment 's sprawling epic , is paris burning ? -lrb- 1966 -rrb- . but this is superior in every regard .", "a highly civilised piece of work .", "if you 've had your fill of tony world war ii dramas , this probably wo n't renew your interest in the genre , but the leads are fine as usual and schl\u00f6ndorff succeeds in making the stagebound material feel reasonably cinematic .", "a solid two-hander from a pair of veteran european actors , but one that plays a bit fast and loose with historical facts .", "it 's surprising how much more imagination this modest film has of the possibility of such wanton destruction than edge of tomorrow had ... and in that tom cruise movie , the aliens actually destroyed the city .", "diplomacy is a tiny film that hits a big target .", "tere 's a fair amount of talking in circles , even with the film 's brisk running time . the dialogue also reflects the material 's stage origins in ways that do n't always translate well .", "a mesmerizing , tense and deeply human battle of the mind and heart with note-perfect performances by niels arestrup and andr\u00e9 dussollier .", "well-orchestrated and superbly acted . though we know the outcome , the fate of paris seems anything but guaranteed .", "the leads carry the weight of the world on their shoulders , articulating the uniquely delicate struggle at the core of this superbly executed picture .", "a brilliantly-acted , wwii gem from veteran schlondorff .", "adapted from a stage production written by cyril gely , it feels more theatrical than cinematic , but its historic importance is adequate to hold viewers ' attention .", "it 's quite a triumph for diplomacy in general and schl\u00f6ndorff 's pinpoint filmmaking in particular to involve us as thoroughly as it does in the ebb and flow of their compelling conversation .", "promises to come down to issues of principles and ideals in conflict but does not", "arestrup , dussollier and schl\u00f6ndorff make us all believe in a battle for paris that never happened .", "how can it be suspenseful when we know paris survived ? because schl\u00f6ndorff 's opened-up play adaptation showcases two mesmerizing actors reliving how individuals make history .", "a friendly discussion of life and death passes the time as the allies storm the last nazi defenses of the city of lights .", "it 's arestrup who really steals the show , turning von cholitz into a man who bears the weight of several thousand soldiers , not to mention an entire civilian population , and who suffers under that burden until making a final , eleventh hour decision .", "to be sure , we are in that authorial fantasy by which historical figures become shrewder , sharper and wittier than they surely were in life ... but when the actors and the dialogue are this good , one scarcely objects .", "diplomacy 's origins as a play -lrb- written by cyril gely and starring the same actors -rrb- are always evident .", "the value of `` diplomacy '' is that it produces at least as much unsettlement as relief , compelling the viewer to remain haunted by nightmarish thoughts of what might have happened .", "what g\u00e9ly lacks in historical fidelity he gains in dramatic interplay between men who held power very differently ." ], "summary": "for filmgoers who value character development and smart dialogue over plot , diplomacy yields rich , powerfully acted rewards .", "id": "771374337" } ]