Connor Macgregor Reviews Thread

Connor Macgregor Reviews... Inglourious Basterds

Quentin Tarantino has made some incredible films in his career. However, this one I am not so sure on.

In Nazi occupied France, young Jewish refugee Shosanna Dreyfus witnesses the slaughter of her family by Colonel Hans Landa. Narrowly escaping with her life, she plots her revenge several years later when German war hero Fredrick Zoller takes a rapid interest in her and arranges an illustrious movie premiere at the theater she now runs. With the promise of every major Nazi officer in attendance, the event catches the attention of the "Basterds", a group of Jewish-American guerilla soldiers led by the ruthless Lt. Aldo Raine. As the relentless executioners advance and the conspiring young girl's plans are set in motion, their paths will cross for a fateful evening that will shake the very annals of history.

This film to me was very disappointing. Firstly, the moments of dialogue were either too long or not very interesting at all. I never found Christoph Waltz performance at all intimidating, scary or awards worthy. A 2D character in my opinion with no edge and just witty lines to show for it. Brad Pitt's character was also not very interesting and was just there really for them to have an interesting or marketable hero to showcase for it. The only really interesting character was Melanie Laurent's character who was determined to get revenge on those who tried to kill her. Very interesting character played by a very talented and underrated actress.

All of it in the end was just not very interesting and it all came down to the plot and Tarantino trying in some way to be different. Overall, a disappointing flick with some good moments and some that just bored me to tears.

Rating - 61% - B

Connor Macgregor Reviews...Forgetting Sarah Marshall

I never intended to sit down and watch this film, but after seeing Get Him To The Greek, I thought I might as well compare.

Peter is a composer and a likable sad sack who's devastated when his girlfriend of five years, Sarah Marshall, the star of a cheesy CSI-style crime show, dumps him. He weeps, he rails, he mopes. Finally, his step-brother Brian suggests Hawaii, so Peter heads for a resort on Oahu where, as he's checking in, he sees Sarah and her new beau, Aldous, a polymorphously perverse English rocker. The weeping and moping start again, until Peter is rescued by Rachel, a thoughtful hotel clerk who invites him to a luau and to hang out. Although he constantly runs into Sarah and Aldous, Peter starts to come alive again. Will Sarah realize what she's lost, and what about Rachel?

This film took me by surprise. There are a lot of funny scenes as well as interesting characters in this film that made me engage with the film properly. Jason Segel is very good as the lead as is Kristen Bell who I've always felt is a very underrated actress in Hollywood who deserves more meaty roles. The story is easy to follow and really creates some interesting comedic situations. Russell Brand is good in his role, despite it being very similar to his personality. You also have good supporting performances by Mila Kunis, Jonah Hill and Paul Rudd who are also good in their own way.

The film's location gives a very romantic and exotic feel to the film. It works and it makes the film more appealing. The music is also good the way Jason Segel's character is connected to it in some way. Jason also wrote the film and is definitely talented in his own way.

Overall, A very underrated film and deserves to be seen by many who like Jason Segel.

Rating - 81% - A-

If I'm wanting people to look at my Movie Musings thread seems only fair that I keep up with the other reviewers. So started catching up with some of your reviews and amongst others I completely agree on The Muppets, Descendants, Rise of Planet of the Apes, There Will Be Blood and the wonderful little gem, Submarine.

__________________

Thanks very much. I've been reading yours too and I'm enjoying your reviews and musings very much.

Connor Macgregor Reviews...Avengers Assemble

Being hyped up since its conception in 2005, the groundwork being lead on the ground in 2008 and built up since. Now its out and this is my review.

Nick Fury is director of S.H.I.E.L.D, an international peace keeping agency. The agency is a who's who of Marvel Super Heroes, with Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow. When global security is threatened by Loki and his cohorts, Nick Fury and his team will need all their powers to save the world from disaster.

This was a film that really grew on me throughout the year. Also I haven't seen all of the Marvel Superhero films in this continuity (Just Thor & The Two Iron Man films), yet I understood all of what the characters were going through and the responsibility that was held on them. All of the superheroes have their own special ability that makes their role in the team worth while. The story is about the team working together and overcoming egos, feuds and traumas to take on a more terrifying ordeal.

There are many good performances in this film in particularly Robert Downey Jr who just completely embodies Tony Stark, physically and character wise. However to me the star of the show was Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow. For a brief moment of the film, we begin to see a vulnerable person who has emotions and feelings for other people and can be easily manipulated by the use of emotions. This is demonstrated by a scene with her and Loki, as well as Black Widow's battle with The Hulk. I am now hoping Marvel Studios are developing a Black Widow film.

Joss Whedon's direction is very good and combines the character arc, story arc and blockbuster element of the films and worlds and makes something really worth investing. The Special Effects are also well done and realistic enough for the story to work.

Overall, The Avengers is a fun film and will no doubt be a success. Summer 2012 has officially begun.

Rating - 94% - A

Oh really? Thanks. Nice to hear. Unless people leave comments or rep (hint hint ) I'm never really sure just how many people, and who, are checking in.

You sure about that? Here in Glasgow we had a high of 7° today, with extremely heavy hailstones on Tuesday. Where is this summer you speak of?

Didn't we have a summer spell not a few weeks back ? I also live in Glasgow or outside of it.

What I was really meaning Summer film season is beginning. Weather conditions are quite crap as it always the case with Scotland.

Yeah it's been really weird. We had like the warmest March on record, and now we've had the wettest and one of the coldest Aprils.

And yeah I knew what you were talking about, just messing around.

I thought Summer came really early with that nice sunny weather. Its been ok in my area, as it was nice and sunny today. So maybe its coming back. Who knows. We've always had crap weather.

As Billy Connolly says there is no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes.

Don't complain. That'd be the best summer n3wt's ever seen.

Connor Macgregor Reviews...Simple Simon

A film which is very close to my heart because it deals with a theme which affects me and many others around the world. A truely underrated gem of a film.

When Sam's girlfriend breaks up with him he becomes depressed. To cheer him up, and get things back to normal, his socially awkward brother Simon (Skarsgård) decides to set out on a quest to find Sam a new, perfect, girlfriend. Struggling with his own Asperger Syndrome, the quest is more difficult than Simon first expected.

Watching this film, I began to really relate to the character Simon because i also suffer from Aspergers Syndrome, which can be a tricky condition to live with. Yet the characters deal with it very well. The acting and atmosphere of the story really works together, as it blends between comedy and drama and does so by putting you into the world of a character who very much see things very differently from other people. Simon is someone going about his business, and then ends up causing a huge dilemma that he intends to fix. And throughout the film, many events that you wouldn't expect any character to do, he does them.

The Acting is well done especially from the actor who portrays Simon, the aspergers kid. As someone who has it, I can safely say he did an exceptional job highlighting the issue. He does certain things that can be funny, but also sad as well as the audience would always laugh at certain scenes that were funny, but also kind of tragic because he doesn't really know how to react to certain things. He is very insecure and spends time inside a dustbin and pretends its a spaceship. His imagination and attention to detail is another clever trait that works for the character and lures in the audience, as well as it being another thing that Aspergers people have.

Overall, Its a must see film. Its original, well acted, a well crafted story and a film that tackles a very good issue people known little about.

Rating - 100% - A+

Thanks for the review sounds like an interesting movie

__________________
Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.
Buddha

Connor Macgregor Reviews...Who Framed Roger Rabbit ?

An animated film which everyone loves and has high respect for, but my opinion is slightly different.

'Toon star Roger is worried that his wife Jessica is playing pattycake with someone else, so the studio hires detective Eddie Valiant to snoop on her. But the stakes are quickly raised when Marvin Acme is found dead and Roger is the prime suspect. Groundbreaking interaction between the live and animated characters, and lots of references to classic animation.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit is perhaps the only film to get Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny on the same film together at the same time. The film itself is an interesting take on a noir film with colour. You have a mystery and a situation in which two characters rely on each other to solve the mystery. It contains all the fun cliches you'd expect in a mystery film, with the additions of toons in the film. Its not in black and white, but you definitely feel the tone and mood on the screen despite it being colour.

Bob Hoskins is good in the role and really has a good history to invest in. The character of Roger Rabbit is goofy and Over the top, but likable and you do root for him throughout the film. The villain played by Christopher Lloyd is obviously a villain and it builds throughout the film with a very dark but funny climax.

My one problem though was that I was quite disappointing by the whole thing at the end. I think it was to do with overhype and how everyone I knew spoke with high praise for the film. But really, It felt flawed and at times slow.

Overall, Who Framed Roger Rabbit is funny and worth a watch. But in my eyes, its not as brilliant than everyone talks it up to.

Rating - 81% - A-

I This movie

Connor Macgregor Reviews...The Stepford Wives (2004)

I've always been fascinated with this story and so when I finally saw the film for this, I was quite excited.

Joanna Eberhart, a wildly succesful president of a TV Network, after a series of shocking events suffers a nervous breakdown and is moved by her milquetoast of a husband, Walter, from Manhattan to the chic, upper-class and very modern planned community of Stepford, Connecticut. Once there, she makes good friends with the ascerbic Bobbie Markowitz, a jewish writer who's also a recovering alcoholic. Together they find out, much to their growing stupor and-then horror, that all the housewives in town are strangely blissful, and somehow... doomed. What is going on behind the closed doors of the Stepford Men's Association and the Stepford Day Spa? Why is everything perfect here? Will it be too late for Joanna and Bobbie when they finally find out?

The film is good and tells a very unusual story about men controlling their wives and turning them into lifeless beings. In many ways, its men's secret fantasy. The film has its comedic moments, but the plot takes time to progress before it gets to the good bits, plus you sort of guess what is going to happen next, which doesn't excite me in anyway. However the performances are good, such as Nicole Kidman & Matthew Broderick, all bringing something to the table that makes the story that believeable.

Another problem is the ending. Its different from the book and original film which annoys me as it doesn't do the story any justice. But its new and interesting, just not as good as the original one.

Overall, The Stepford Wives remake is fun and quirky but does not have a long term impact or excitement.

Rating - 71% - B+

I found the same, fun, interesting concept, relatively well acted but felt shallow compared to the book.

Kind of like Spielberg with War Of The Worlds. They remade the original film, rather than making something that closer resembled the original source. It made Stepford Wives feel more of a hollow rewrite.

Nice review matey.

__________________

I haven't seen The original WOTW. I've read the book and its very creepy and i just love the ending to it.

Stick with the book mate, if you've read the book you'll hate the films.

The 1952 film, though it's closer to the book than Spielberg's, it's still as bad as Spielberg's abomination.
Many call the original film a classic but, simply being made in 1952 doesn't make it a classic if it's complete pap.

Spielberg simply made a CGI laden alien invasion movie and slapped the WOTW title on it, he even had cameo appearances from the cast of the original film, that's how far removed it is from the source.

I have seen the 2005 film.