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Silent Hill
Oh man. What an experience. And I rarely say that for my movie experiences.

Okay, first thing's first - Ebert was wrong. So were most of the critics, actually. To be fair, I guess Ebert always had a bias against video games for some reason, so I'm not surprised he held up against this one. But if you're a fan of the Silent Hill series, you'd know that this is a well-produced love letter for the fans. The atmosphere, the cinematography, the set design, the creature design, the morality, the tone, the lore, and probably just about 80% of this movie is a faithful replica of the video game.

Granted, the villain is pretty generic.
WARNING: "plot" spoilers below
The whole 'witch trials'
plot isn't exactly the most original. That said, it's got an entertaining twist thrown in which I'm not gonna spoil, but if you've played the games before it should be obvious to you what the twist is. Again, not an amazing twist, but it gives the film the creepy atmosphere a Silent Hill movie should have. Fans of the game and psychological horror fans (who enjoy atmospheric horror) in general will have a blast.

And last but definitely not least, it must be said that Christopher Gans captured that disturbing human nature aspect of both the Silent Hill video games and good horror stories very well. Yes, there were lots of gore in this movie, but not only were they done with creative kills, they were merely a dressing to the much more satisfying insight into the dark side of humanity, of what ugliness people can sprout from the pits of their souls. It's essentially what the Silent Hill video game series is about, people at their ugliest, and Chris has done a good job in portraying that.

Haven't had such a fun time watching a horror movie for a while, and I'm more than satisfied to give this a solid 4/5.
(A solid horror flick worth your time)

Oh, and I forgot - Laurie Holden plays a hot, badass cop in this movie. Definitely one of the highlights of the film. Damn, she can kick some fine ass.




Rocky V (1990)



One of the few cases where not sticking to a formula makes me dislike a movie. Acting performances are either bad (Tommy Morrison) or over the top (Stallone), and the film as a whole seems to go against most of what Rocky originally stood for.



Care for some gopher?
Up (Pete Docter/Bob Petersen, 2009) -


The first 30 minutes are great but when Pixar decided the movie needs speaking, dinner-serving and plane-flying dogs, the movie went downhill pretty fast.
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I have to return some videotapes...
John Wick (2014) - Chad Stahelski and David Leitch



An ex-hitman (Keanu Reeves) comes out of retirement to track down the gangsters that took everything from him. What a hell of a ride this film is. The action in this film is great, but everything else is relatively lackluster. The story is also entertaining, but isn't something that hasn't been done before. The writing at times is good, but at others is kind of weak, it could just be the poor acting though. Keanu like always isn't great, but he's still always enjoyable to watch. A credit I can give this film is it's style for the most part is very cool and I enjoyed a lot of the choreography, which is one of the main selling points of the film. It also is very good at building a lore behind it with the mysterious Continental Hotel, which once you figure out what it is, is badass. The villain however is very weak and leaves much to be desired and I wish instead of the father, it was the son, who was much more interesting. There isn't much more I can say, other than it is a fun ride, but not to expect much depth from it.

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28 days...6 hours...42 minutes...12 seconds
I liked both John Wick and The Way Way Back.
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Suspect's Reviews



Silent Hill

Haven't had such a fun time watching a horror movie for a while, and I'm more than satisfied to give this a solid 4/5.
(A solid horror flick worth your time)
After first viewing I was blown away and gave it 10/10. But after rewatch I reduced rating to 8/10. Still awesome though.
Up (Pete Docter/Bob Petersen, 2009) -


The first 30 minutes are great but when Pixar decided the movie needs speaking, dinner-serving and plane-flying dogs, the movie went downhill pretty fast.
Spot on. It is not unusual action and excitement diminish what could have been great flick.



That's true, and your point is?
It's good but there are movies that operate on a higher level. I watched it in 2012, excellent Sci Fi film overall but not among the best ever. Avalon that I just watched recently for example is perhaps a better live action Sci Fi movie.



Empire of Passion (1978)



The scene where the man shaves the intimate region of his lover is oddly affectionate given how twisted the act and this romantic connection is supposed to be. Apparently Park Chan-wook's Thirst was heavily inspired by the Japanese ghost story tradition (kaidan) that is on display here.

http://boxd.it/8SAtj

Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)



A very old school Hollywood picture with the nasal and highly theatrics registers to boot. It's essentially a light, goofy rom com with a few of Busby Berkeley's epic music productions throughout. Trixie is the only character worth remembering.

http://boxd.it/8SesD
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10 Cloverfield Lane directed by Dan Trachtenberg -



I tread carefully on how brilliantly this film presents everything it does. Because I'm certain some will be disappointed about its relation to the previous Cloverfield film. But I think with time, the anthology brand of Cloverfield will become something stellar. This movie does almost everything right, and there's very little keeping this from being a five star review. While it doesn't quite have that perfection, the execution of the film itself is enthralling from the minute it starts to the way it ends. Every character has a great portion of realism and the acting and writing do amazing things to help them. The pacing is gripping, never letting things die down, but always letting you want more, coupled with a well designed story and cinematic style that creates an interesting atmosphere. I'm not going to spoil anything, because it's a film that's better left to experience than explanation, but when it starts to seem like things could get boring, all they do it get better. Also, the people behind me in the theater need to stop talking.
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Best of 2016 - 10 Cloverfield Lane -- Worst of 2016 - God's Not Dead 2
Best of 2015 - Mad Max: Fury Road -- Worst of 2015 - Jupiter Ascending
Best of 2014 - Nightcrawler -- Worst of 2014 - God's Not Dead



28 days...6 hours...42 minutes...12 seconds
10 Cloverfield Lane directed by Dan Trachtenberg -



I tread carefully on how brilliantly this film presents everything it does. Because I'm certain some will be disappointed about its relation to the previous Cloverfield film. But I think with time, the anthology brand of Cloverfield will become something stellar. This movie does almost everything right, and there's very little keeping this from being a five star review. While it doesn't quite have that perfection, the execution of the film itself is enthralling from the minute it starts to the way it ends. Every character has a great portion of realism and the acting and writing do amazing things to help them. The pacing is gripping, never letting things die down, but always letting you want more, coupled with a well designed story and cinematic style that creates an interesting atmosphere. I'm not going to spoil anything, because it's a film that's better left to experience than explanation, but when it starts to seem like things could get boring, all they do it get better. Also, the people behind me in the theater need to stop talking.
It's funny, I wrote a script 6 years ago about a young girl who gets into a car accident, is rescued by a strange man who lives in the middle of nowhere. He nurses her back to health, but keeps her locked up in his place. He tells her the world has been overrun by zombies and we are suppose to decide is he crazy or not.

10 cloverfield lane comes off as exactly that.


I should sue!!!!!



Master of My Domain
It's good but there are movies that operate on a higher level.
Yes, but in terms of how much I enjoyed it, nothing can top it except classics like 2001 and Star Wars.

Btw, 2012 is a horrible film.
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I have to return some videotapes...
Arbitrage (2012) - Nicholas Jarecki



A troubled hedge fund magnate (Richard Gere) desperate to complete the sale of his trading empire makes an error that forces him to turn to an unlikely person for help. The acting in this film is stellar, Gere reaches heights that I have never seen him go and Nate Parker is also excellent, this is my first time seeing him. The rest of the cast is also very good and Brit Marling in her limited screen time does a great job. The story for this film takes enough twists and turns for me to say it brings something fresh and the writing keeps it interesting as well. The score was good, but not remarkable and probably could have been handled a little bit better. The side story involving Parker was well handled and very compelling until the end where
WARNING: "major" spoilers below
everything ends up being okay, due to them somehow going through records. It felt like a very last minute save and kind of made the whole side story a little pointless.
Marling's side story lends to the film very well though because you see the pressure the family is putting on Gere to succeed. Jarecki does a great job of making you feel the stress that is being impressed on Gere by all of these people. The twist halfway through the movie kind of comes out of nowhere and the motivation for what is taking place didn't make much sense to me, but it was still intriguing. Another minor gripe is that Gere
WARNING: "major" spoilers below
shouldn't have gotten away with all that he did. I would have much rather prefered if he had done the four years for Parker because it would have given him a consequence larger than the contract at the end.
Toward the end it also started to feel more like a Lifetime movie than a heavy drama because it felt a little comical how much was getting thrown in Gere's face. Last thing I just wanted to remark on is that I really thought the cinematography was amazing in this film, some beautiful well lit shots. Overall, this film is gripping and shows off a very talented cast, but at times the drama feels a little forced.

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It's funny, I wrote a script 6 years ago about a young girl who gets into a car accident, is rescued by a strange man who lives in the middle of nowhere. He nurses her back to health, but keeps her locked up in his place. He tells her the world has been overrun by zombies and we are suppose to decide is he crazy or not.

10 cloverfield lane comes off as exactly that.


I should sue!!!!!
it's a great concept for low budget. 3 actors in 1 location.
did you do it that way on purpose?



Robin Hood (2010): Weak writing by Ridley Scott's standards, though perhaps not altogether terrible if you stop yourself from thinking of this as a movie by the man who brought you Gladiator, Blade Runner, and Alien. Think of it as a movie by Stephen Sommers, maybe.

I think the key missing ingredient to this concoction is a good villain. Without a good antagonist we could feel for, there's hardly any worth to root for our hero. Though to be fair, Ridley did a good job capturing the merriment of the famed archer and his band of brothers, giving the film a light-hearted tone I didn't come to expect.

(A mediocre and forgettable superhero origin story)