Reviews

Funny People

Just got back from the cinema, where I watched “Funny People“. When I saw the trailer, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to see this film or not. There were a funny scenes, but it looked like a cliché, more or less. But then I saw a 7.3/10 rating at IMDB and decided that I want to see that.

The film turned out to be quite good. It’s not really a comedy in the sense that you’d expect from the title, poster, and trailer. It’s more of a drama with a few funny bits in it. And while it does follow a sort of cliché story, it does it in an interesting way. The best to describe it I guess, is with a bad racing car analogy – you can see the track and you sort of know where the car will go, but it still surprises you with its dynamics and by getting off the track at a few turns. Except that the film is actually good. You sort of know how it will end and how you’ll get there, but there are a few things which come slower or faster than you’d expect.

All in all, it was a kind, thought provoking, and at times quite funny movie. Recommended, with 4 stars. And if you want to see the trailer, here it is:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24VVnvrjI8w]

Sleepers

A few days ago I watched “Sleepers“. I guess the title of the movie makes it sound like a horror film and that’s why I missed it for all these years. Somehow this time I decided to check the cast and was very surprised to find so many celebrities in – Kevin Bacon, Brad Pitt, Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, and a few others.

The film turned out be excellent. First of all, the story, which is fascinating. It is said to be based on a true story, however there are only so many people who can back it up. But it’s not really important if it is true or not. It’s realistic enough and has enough unexpected twists and turns.

Secondly, plenty of good acting. There was enough freedom given to each of the actors, and there was enough to explore and enough screen time to show the results.

Thirdly, the technical part. While the film didn’t need as much of special effects as any modern action film (which it is not), there were quite a few challenges, which were solved nicely. The back in time feeling, boys’ memories, and the atmosphere for each scene, varying from childish fun to adult sadness – all were done excellent.

Overall, a highly recommended movie with 5 stars from me.

Gamer

Went to see “Gamer” in the movies yesterday. As you might know, I actually expected this film.

It turned out to be quite a disappointment – silly story with a lot of non-sense, very shallow characters, horrible dialogues, extremely annoying shaky camera and fast cut editing, and overall feeling of pop. There were some good special effects, but they were practically lost to fast cuts and horrible rush through the movie.

Overall rating 2 stars.

Up

Last weekend we had our first whole family trip to the cinema – Olga, Maxim, and myself. The choice of the moving picture was simple – “Up“, the only family friendly movie in the cinema right now. Plus we all love animated films. Plus I’ve heard quite a few good words about this one.

The animation was excellent, as always from Pixar. But the story and the characters, I think, needed more work. There were a few funny scenes, a few quite serious and sad ones. It wasn’t just for the kids, but for the whole family.

Overall, while enjoyable, the film lacks something. Either a crazy creature running around and getting into silly situations (even though there was a candidate), or a character with a funny voice (even though there was a candidate), or something completely different.

3 stars.

Public Enemies

A couple of days ago I went to the cinema to watch “Public Enemies“, also known as “Johnny D”. I’ve been waiting for this film for a few month now, since the first time I saw its trailer.

Sadly, it turned out to be a disappointment. There were a few good moments, yes, but overall it was rather empty. The story wasn’t interesting or engaging. The characters were many and shallow. There was practically no drama. And there was very little of action. Relations between different characters were also very vague, partially because there is very little dialogue and nothing happens. So you can’t really make it out who thinks what of who and how they all are getting along.

It was also a disappointment technically. First of all, I am getting pretty irritated by the shaking camera these days. It wasn’t fun back in Blair witch times, and it isn’t fun today. Soft focus and purposeful mistakes which are aimed at creating an old film effect were destructing and annoying. Also, the choice of sound effects and music was strange at best. During the rare gun fights, the sound was quite crisp and surrounding. But during some other scenes it was either too distant or too quiet. Frequent moments of no music and no dialogue without dramatic pauses felt very much like an amateur cinema. And on top of that, the film runs for 2 hours 20 minutes. Way too much.

My overall rating – 3 stars. There was a lot of potential though.