Fifty Shades of Grey is not a good movie, but I would be lying to you if I said it was horrible. Most of it coasts along on just being lifeless and dull, and relies on the actress at the center of the enterprise to provide the charm. This keeps the dialogue from being really boring, but overall most of the aesthetic of the film is. Dakota Johnson though is perfect. She has real talent, and frankly it has me wondering why she's in a film with such a shitty script? Then I realize that the film wouldn't be very interesting or compelling without her. Jamie Dornan's not going to be winning any awards. It is literally (or for the grammar Nazi's of the world figuratively) like an explosion of energy acting opposite of a piece of wood. Johnson is just so much better then him. Honestly I really can't talk to much about this movie because there's not a lot here. The set's are cold, the cinematography is good...but also pretty cold. I realize that since I'm a 15 year old boy some might expect me to mention the sexual content in the film, but it like every thing else in the film feels cold. I can think of multiple examples whenever I could have probably orchestrated scenes with much more effectiveness. The tone of certain scenes of the film is way off which just makes the entire thing seem even more uninteresting, and even worse cringe worthy. Sam Taylor Johnson made a good movie with her first film Nowhere Boy, and I'm actually a little sad to see that she did this. I don't really want to blame her though. I've heard the material that inspired this was bad in the first place, and here other then Johnson's performance the adaptation is just uninteresting. She's completely watchable,and one of the only reasons too. It just doesn't have any heat. I give Fifty Shades of Grey a 5 out of 10.
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Mad Max 2 is a really good movie because it keeps everything really simple. The characters don't go through a lot of development instead they are just really well drawn. The action scenes have simple actions going on, and there is nothing more invigorating then watching an actual car crash into an actual other wreckage. George Miller's direction is also simple going for an incredibly streamlined look that is better then most action movies today. This all helps the film because it's a really weird movie actually. The world is creative and eye-popping, but my gosh once you get Lord Humongous (yes that's his actual name) the villain in there it all should feel a little odd. But it doesn't feel that way. Instead the world is believable and entertaining to watch, and Gibson sells the charisma of the movie as Max. That's because it keeps it simple and fun, and what you're watching with the camerawork, and the humor (yes it's pretty funny), and the amazing car stunts make the entire movie. It is all a little bit shallow though. Overall though I'd give Mad Max 2 a 9.8 out of 10. It's got enough energy to run the movie through it's finish even if it's all a little shallow. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is one of the best biopic I have ever seen. Period. It's a 152 minute epic that seems to go by in the blink of an eye, and it bothers to be more thoughtful then confusing in those minutes. What I mean by that is most films of a length like that; especially biopics; find themselves being confusing and scattershot. The Assassination of Jesse James is not. On the surface it's scenes are simply put together action, and conversation scenes that all come together to tell a story. However there's also a narrator that narrates some other details into the story. These added points allow the audience to feel a rich history behind these characters and enjoy the story even more. I hesitate now thinking on whether I should call this film a drama because in all honesty it has more in common with a really well acted, and crafted documentary. The actors are there to guide us through a dramatization of the story as the narrator keeps it on track. The reason why I find this film to be so good is because they both mesh perfectly leading to the entire production being interesting. As far as the actual movie parts of the movie go I found them really incredible. If you took the narrator out, you would not have as interesting or as thoughtful as a movie, but you'd still have a nicely shot and impressive piece of work. The reason for this comes mainly in the acting and the writing. Brad Pitt puts on what may be his best performance as Jesse James; a man conflicted with the deeds of the past and how they come back for him. Pitt has always been good in roles that required silence and emotion to be projected leading him into full form here. In the quieter talking scenes there's a menace to him as well that is perfectly captured infusing tension into every single one of them. The other cast includes greats such as Sam Rockwell, Casey Affleck, and Jeremy Renner. They are all at top form especially Affleck as Robert Ford who goes slowly from playful to grim and tortured. It's a tour de force. The western setting is also realized beautifully with the period design and cinematography mimicking the look of an old photo. This infuses the film with a sense of longing for times past that ups it's effectiveness in the long run even if after a while the uniqueness wares off. The Assassination of Jesse James is a great historical film. It's narration combined with it's more cinematic moments make it thoughtful, and easy to follow; while the cinematography and the actors to the rest. The Assassination of Jesse James gets a 9.5 out of 10. Quick Review:Maggie: Directed by Henry Hobson, Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Abigail Breslin5/9/2015 Maggie has a pace that is dead crawling. This is a slow movie. Thank god. I was able to savor every moment of this lovingly made, and impeccably acted addition to the zombie genre. I really don't have a lot to say for it because the film is exactly what I expected, but my god it's good. Of course it's dour. That can be expected from a movie about a father who has to slowly watch his daughter become a zombie, but that dourness only suffocates a little bit of the movie. The rest of it comes at you in it's full emotional force; thanks in turn to some great acting, and writing. Before I say anything else I will say that Schwarzenegger is just as good as everybody is saying. It's not a revolutionary performance, but I have to give credit to where it's due. It's a deep, and quiet performance that combined with some surprisingly effective method acting creates a pretty great character. Abigail Bresin is the same. It's also very much a quiet performance which I haven't seen before from her, and it's nice to see both of these great actors play off of each other. Also impressive is the down to earth writing. It's simple, but it works with Breslin getting sometime to be built up, and that's really cool actually. The cinematography is also on par here with it building on the mood already established. It's really beautiful. So overall this is a great film. It definitely takes it's time, and is a little bit dour. But yeah it's awesome. The actors are very impressive, and if you have any interest see it. I really think you should. I give Maggie a 9 out of 10. |
AuthorI am a 17 year old film enthusiast that is happy to be sharing my opinions on this site. Archives
March 2016
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