The Grand Budapest Hotel

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Michael, Tyler

Write Up.

Good fun :)

The Lego Movie

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Ryan

Write Up.

This time in 2D. I noticed all these amazing texture details I never saw before. Great!

Transcendence

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes

Wally Pfister jumps from behind the camera to the director chair. He has made a damn fine looking film, got a great cast and has a script with some really interesting ideas, even if we have seen them all done before.

The film is just limp though. A nice sci-fi idea and good visuals do not an interesting film make. 

Captain America: The Winter Solider

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Michael

Write Up.

Fading Gigolo

IMDB

First time viewed: Yes

Current Release: Yes

John Turturro's latest film see him casting himself as a gigolo. Not a bad idea. And he's got himself an interesting supporting cast too lead by non other than Woody Allen in a rare onscreen performance that not one of his own films. 

I quite enjoyed this one, it's funny, it's got the romance stuff, I learnt about the Shomrim, some kind of Jewish Police that Liev Schreiber plays. It's a little long and I'm not sure I believe the main romantic thread but it was still enjoyable. 

Only Lovers Left Alive

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Beaumont

I've never really been able to get into Jim Jarmusch's films. Slow and ponderous and never really go anywhere. I love the cast and I do like the idea as well. The film certainly has a really indy hipster style. The style, the music, I don't really care for though. Which is not so great for this film because that's pretty much what it's relying on. The plot is an afterthought. So I really didn't get much out of this.

The Visitor

IMDB

First time viewed: Yes

Current Release: No

Watched With: Tyler, Jordan

Where the hell did this come from. I don't even know where to begin. I know there's an uncut version coming out soon too, which is why I heard of it in the first place. Apparently the uncut version is supposed to help make sense of some of the various strange goings on but even then, this is still pretty far out there. 

There's a cast that just doesn't quite make sense me. What an odd bunch of people. And they do their best to make the crazy material work, which just makes everything even better at how serious it all is. 

I do love a good evil child story. This one throws in diminutional alien beings with a whole universal good evil battle thing going on. And there's some cool visuals too.

But that's also coupled with a pretty slow moving story that was at times a little too esoteric for its own good. 

But I am glad I've seen it. There was some gold buried in there. Some truly ridiculous lines, line readings, great old school edits and fx. The music! My lord, the music. I might just have to give the uncut version a go around... 

The To Do List

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Tyler, Shane

Write Up.

Heh. Fun.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Jordan, Tyler

Write Up.

Muppets Most Wanted

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Jordan

Sequel. And the same humour and fun songs, silly shenanigans and abundance of celebrity cameos. There are many great lines and hilarious gags. For some reason this film isn't catching fire like the revamp film, so who knows if we'll get many more. It's a crowded market at the moment.

Well the story isn't as solid as the revamp but that's hardly the point. It's really just an excuse for the fun times and they are pretty good. I wasn't head over heels in love with the revamp and I felt pretty much the same about this one, so chances are you'll probably feel the same too.

The Hunt

IMDB

First time viewed: Yes

Current Release: Yes

Watched With: Jordan

This oscar nominated film has been on my watch list for a long time but I think the subject matter made me a little anxious. And rightly so it turns out. It's a slow calm beginning that just escalates in the worst possible way. Not exactly the most pleasant thing to watch but riveting nonetheless. 

Mads Mikkelsen, who's killing it (pun!) as Hannibal in the tv show of the same name, is great here, if not sometimes a little frustrating. And the young girl who plays Klara gives one of the most natural and convincing performances I've ever seen from any kid in any film. Amazing. 

Haunt

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Jordan

Jacki Weaver what are you doing in this? 

It's not great. It has some scares. And story that has a few twists. And the two leads are okay. Jacki Weaver is good and creepy.

Odd Thomas

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Jordan

Stephen Sommers has made another movie! Under the radar. He should have made G.I. Joe 2, instead he's making independent fare. Sad. But even on a budget he makes a very fun yarn. And manages to get some really creepy and beautiful VFX creatures in there. 

Anton Yelchin is an affable lead and it reminded me a little of Brick, in that there's a strange and wonderful mix of 40's noir detective dialect and modern high school kids. Throw in some fun supernatural goings on and a great sense of deed leading up to the climax and you got a great fun modern kids horror film, something that is really lacking in today's film landscape in my opinion. 

It's good fun and I hope it gets seen by someone who's also keen for that fun goofy supernatural tone. That's exactly what R.I.P.D. should have been. 

Snowpiercer

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Tyler, Jordan

Joon-ho Bong has made his (mostly) english language debut. An icy post-apocalyptic train confined allegory based on a french graphic novel. It's stylish and has some nice sci-fi conceits and big characters (Tilda Swinton you are crazy wonderful) but it also has some ideas that's we have seen before. The story is probably not the strongest point of the film. But they manage to fit quite a bit of action on that train. There are some delightfully kooky moments though and although I don't think the ending landed as well as it could have I really loved everything up until then. Definitely one to keep an eye out for.

The Other Woman

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Nathan

Okay, this was more fun than I thought it was going to be. But I did expect it to be absolutely horrible, so the bar wasn't high. But honestly it was nice to just see Leslie Mann get a comedic lead in a film because she's always been great in the small bit parts she usually gets and she absolutely kills it in this.

There are some fun shenanigans. And some really obvious ones where it seems like they are trying way too hard. But that in itself is hilarious to me, just how cliched it can be. You see the trailer, you know what you're getting. And it's certainly not the worst comedy I'll see this year.