Category: Reviews

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The Last Samurai

I am not a big fan of Tom Cruise.  In fact, I passively try to avoid his movies. He is not a very good actor and there is something negative about the guy.  When I saw the trailer for the “The Last Samurai” in the movies back a few years ago, I didn’t like it, and missed the movie on purpose.  I though it would be some historical non-sense about an American getting into Japan, learning centuries of samurai traditions and skills in a couple of month and then showing them how real people fight.  Or something along those lines.

Today I rented the film because I was really bored, because there weren’t much else to rent, and because I thought the time has come to finally watch it.  Once again it seems I missed watching a really good movie on a big screen.  Boomer!

There are quite a few things that would have made the experience so much better for if I went to see it in the cinema.  First of all, the battle scenes and all the small fights.  Secondly, some really amazing scenery and photography.  The film was shot mostly in New Zealand, which has been proven many times to be one of the most beautiful countries.  At least, on the big screen.  Thirdly, this film has an excellent soundtrack and it would have been a bigger pleasure listening to it in something other than a pair of cheap headphones.

I also really liked the story in the film.  Not that it shows something that I haven’t seen or heard of before, but it rather reminds of quite a few subjects which are very good to be reminded of.  The film has its way around such topics as honor, discipline, loyalty and friendship.  These should be talked about more often in the movies for the sake of making the world a better place. (Yes, the whole world, including yours truly.)

Being a complete moron in history, cultures, and traditions, I can’t judge the historical truth of the film.  However, Wikipedia, as usual, has an excellent article which describes how the story is relevant to the things that took place in real life.

Overall: 9 out of 10.

The Hitcher

The Hitcher

Recently I watched “The Hitcher“.  This film had some potential, but it totally blew it.  It was interesting to see it now, because it reminded me so much of “Death Proof” which I saw just a few days ago, and which has a somewhat similar theme to it.

I think that Sean Bean did very well as a maniac.  He was exactly the type of the killer I like seeing in this type of films.  Sophia Bush provided quality female part.  And the rest of the guys weren’t all that bad.  However, the person who did blood control for this film was completely out of touch.  There was too much blood in a places where none was needed, and there wasn’t enough where it was needed the most.  A huge minus here, which sorts of ruins the movie, considering that it was mostly supposed to be about blood.  It was also supposed to be about roads, and it did have a few car chases and crashes.  Nothing special here though.

Overall, a 6 out of 10.  Watch it on a boring Saturday, if you have nothing else to do.

Carlito’s Way: Rise to Power

Carlito’s Way: Rise to Power

The other day I watched “Carlito’s Way: Rise to Power“. I was hoping it would be at least in some way comparable to the “Carlito’s Way“, but it was not. It is not a bad movie, but it ain’t a good one. It promotes some good values (friendship, loyalty) as well as some bad ones (crime, violence, drugs). It mixes things in such a way that made me wonder if the film makers have their priorities in order.

As to the technical part of the film, I haven’t seen any huge holes or mistakes, but I haven’t seen anything special either. A simple story, average acting, average soundtrack, average photography, although I have to say there were a few attempts of improving that last bit.

Overall, an average movie – 6 out of 10. Watch it only if you feel an uncontrollable urge to see every crime movie out there. Otherwise, you can easily avoid it and spend your time and money on something more worthy.

Syriana

Syriana

I rented “Syriana” when I saw George Clooney and Matt Damon on the cover. Not that they are a guarantee of a good film, but they are a pretty good sign of one.  And indeed they both did a nice job in this film, however it wasn’t enough for me.

This time though, my criticism (critinism?) is not of the film itself, but of that particular DVD that I rented.  It didn’t have English sub-titles (although I don’t know if it didn’t have them originally, or if this DVD was a pirated copy).  Half of the movie takes place in Middle East and there is a lot of non-English talk happening.   I couldn’t make much sense out of it, except for the general dramatic mood and some people over there not being very happy with some people over here and vice versa.

Other than that, the film looked to be very nice – it has a certain mood, there is some good photography, and there is also a lot of human appreciation, which is something I like seeing in the movies.  That is when people appreciate other people for just being people.  There aren’t enough films out there promoting appreciation.  It was nice to see this one did.

I’d rate it as a 6 out of 10, with reserving a lot of space on either end of this rating due to not understanding half of what was said.

Used Cars

Used cars

There are a few sure receipts to make a nice movie.  One of them is mix lots of cars with some boobs and a cool guy.  Of course, there are some film makers who will still be able to screw it up, but Robert Zemeckis is definitely one of them.  I just watched “Used Cars“, the movie he directed back in 1980, with Kurt Russel playing the main role, and this movie is still as good as it was back then. That’s a sign of good entertainment!

6 out of 10.