Appaloosa

Im a huge western genre addict. I'm glad this one went in the right direction. No fancy gun play or use of cgi. Just a plain badass ruthless take no names movie. Its very reminscent of tombstone, but of course falls short of that, not by much but it does. Viggo Mortensen from lord of the rings was by far the star of this film, Ed Harris was equally great. I loved his style of shooting this film, fast get to the point no stare offs, just shoot ask questions later. The plot is simple bringing justice to a town overrun by thugs. Renee Zellweger did pretty good in this film, although i find her annoying for some reason. Over all the film held true to the genre, and theat 8 gage shotgun...man amazing! 8/10

Taegukgi hwinalrimyeo

Think Saving Private Ryan! This film is extremely well produced and is showing the potential of the Korean film industry. I have seen several films now done through the same Korean film company that have left a very strong impression on me. The film follows two Korean brothers who unexpectedly get drafted into the war against the communist north. They are forced to join the Korean army and fight for their country by force. I have to say its almost a carbon copy of Saving Private Ryan, but a bit more sentimental, but only a small fraction more. The action scenes in this gave me the impression that they had a large budget behind them, equally as impressive as the scenes in saving private ryan. I gave this film a 10/10!


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Cidade de Deus(City of God)

It's been a few months seen I saw the film, but I can't believe I haven't blog it yet. It is by far one of best films ever made and a film which many people don't seem to know about, at least in my neck of the woods. The story is set in Brazil, the slums. It shows a little bit of the history behind them. We follow a boy name Rocket, who is a teenager who is taking an interest in journalism/photography. Around him chaos thrives and many of his close personal friends are in gangs and at war. His own brother is killed by people whom he associates with. He however is trying to focus his energy in other venues, but the forces around him are trying to suck him in. Simply a marvelous movie, from beginning to end you are drawn to it! It would take a hurricane or some sort of natural disaster to lose focus while watching this film. By far one of my favorite movies! 10/10
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Eagle Eye

I figure why the hell not. I typically write reviews for indie movies and the occasional good blockbuster. This movie wasn't the greatest movie in the world but does not fail to captivate the audience. Its very fast pace and filled with action. Shia Lebouf even though something about him screams d-bag to me, is amazing on screen...the kid has talent. He dominated in disturbia, a filmed which i feel with different actors would have been mediocre at best. The movie is set Chicago with a washed up Stanford undergrad who has long dropped out. He gets a call notifying him about his brothers death. The movie then trickles into a series of action filled events after receiving a phone call from a woman that forces him to outrun the authorities. The film shows off some of the latest air force technology, it again shows how the air force is dominating in hollywood films. I saw this at the imax in chicago, and have to say it was awesome! I have give this 7/10 due to the fact that at times some the events and parts of the plot were bit far fetched.

Snow Angels

Love the line up of actors in this, Kate Beckinsale, Sam Rockwell(Greenmile, The assassination of Jesse James, Choke), Michael Angarano(The Forbidden Kingdom), and Olivia Thirlby(Juno). The movie is about a small group of people who are intertwined in a tragic event in the distant future. The movie starts out a little slow with not much going on, but you feel a storm brewing in the distance. First I should mention we start in the present, but go back a few days to show what led up the opening scene. It confused me at first because they didn't really mention it. Kate Beckinsale plays a mother dealing with depressed/bitter husband. Who drinks heavily and has a jealousy issue. When their daughter disappears thing take a turn for the worse and they all have to deal with whats in store. The movie had a nice feel to it, but need a little work put in by the director. Some of the scenes felt like they were forced into the film and a little unnecessary. When you have that much acting talent you should take advantage of it and use it. Over all it was good, I rated it a 8 on imdb, but wanted to give a 7.5.


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The Fall

This movie is very reminiscent of Pans Labyrinth, but with a different touch. It's the story of a little girl and an actor who end up in the same hospital during the 1920s. They befriend each other, and the actor named Roy begins to tell Alexandria an epic story about 5 heroes. Alexandria who has a very vivid imagination yearns to find out what happens. Unknown to her Roy is using her to try to get his hands on morphine and commit suicide. Alexandria being a unsuspecting child proceeds to help in order to finish out the story. The story soon crosses into reality with the help if Alexandrias' imagination. This is by far one most beautifully shot films I've ever seen. It's alot like 300 and pans labyrinth, but much more romantic in the use of colors in shots. I was blown away by its beauty. The plot was at times a little odd and during the first half kinda of bland, but it was tied together very well at the end. I gave this a 9/10



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