The Cell was cool and visually spectacular. Plus Vince Vaughn in a straight role, Vincent D'onofrio is a decidedly not straight role ...
Bizarre, stylish and oddly engaging. Sort of Silence of the Lambs on acid.
Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)
Rating: 7/10
Fun: 7.5/10
We all know the fairy tale of Snow White.
When I saw the trailer for the movie I was kind of surprised that it was Snow White because they made it look really cool. I actually really enjoyed the movie because it was a dark and artistic twist on the story just about everyone knows. The artistic aspect of the movie was awesome, the effects were all very cool and in an interesting dark fantasy kind of way. What I thought was awesome was how they personified the evil queen in regard to the art design. Wearing black, very evil looking attire, and even Charlize Theron did an awesome job of simply "acting evil". On the other hand, they did a pretty poor job at personifying good. I have never watched a Kristen Stewart movie, so I never really understood why people said she was such a terrible actress. After seeing this movie, I can definitely understand why people complain about her, her acting was really dry and bland. In regard to the art direction with the good side, I feel like they did a poor job with casting Kristen Stewart just because she just didn't strike me as someone who was supposed to represent good. But at the same time, she isn't the worst actress, just not someone I would nominate for any type of award (as of now at least). I personally find Nicholas Cage to be a FAR worse actor than Kristen Stewart, even though they both have that same dry style of acting. Regardless, the acting was decent overall, some good performances, some bad performances. I loved the beginning of the movie, I was really into it, but then the middle part of the movie got very boring and repetitive. It was basically Snow White being chased so she escapes to a new location, a little bit of the story is revealed/developed, she is chased again and escapes to a new location, blah blah blah and it just repeats itself like that for a good hour or so. My interest was slipping throughout that part, but it picked up again at the end. Basically if it weren't for the new dark fantasy twist on it, it would be a newer version of a Snow White movie. The art and the dark fantasy makes the movie worth watching alone. Nothing super memorable, but I really enjoyed it. This is coming from someone who finds it very difficult to enjoy fantasy movies by the way (can't get into Harry Potter, Star Wars, etc...Lord of the Rings took me awhile but it grew on me).
During the prohibition era, three brothers run an illegal moonshine operation with the protection of the local law until a new deputy is assigned to the county and placed in charge of the anti-bootlegging operation.
First thing I have to comment on, the movie did a ridiculously good job of making it feel authentic to the location and the era. The atmosphere really pulls you in, and they did an awesome job of selecting the locations, setting up the scenes, and even the props looked authentic. Along with that, also making it feel authentic, the acting was excellent. At first it was a little difficult to buy into but that is partially because they didn't really introduce the characters at all, and you sort of figured them out throughout the movie. I don't have anything against Shia Lebeouf, but just for some reason he doesn't always strike me as a memorable or "good" actor. At first his performance was a little weak, but as the movie went on, he did an excellent job. Tom Hardy played a more simple role, but he did an awesome job of capturing the personality of his character. Unfortunately the first 45 minutes or so of the movie really felt really strange because you really had no idea what the point of anything was. It felt like a bunch of random scenes which were being used to explain the characters, but later on, after the movie ends, you can sit back and understand the purpose of everything. During that time though, I thought everything was great and it was really cool and everything, but I just didn't understand what was the overall point of the movie. So the story telling was a bit choppy, but in the end it was good. I also found the action to be excellent, because it really felt realistic. That being said, the movie was very brutal, so the combination of brutal with realistic made it very similar to older mafia movies like Casino or Goodfellas. I absolutely loved the movie, and I would highly recommend it to everyone, especially if you're a fan of crime movies.
Based on the true story of England's most costly and most notorious prisoner, Charles Bronson.
This movie was really bizarre. A few people recommended it to me after I said how awesome Tom Hardy was in Lawless. I found out that Bronson was directed by the guy who directed the recent movie Drive, if you've seen that and understand how strange the setup and directing of the director's movies are, you'll understand what the expect here. The movie isn't a comedy, but it is presented in this really strange and light-hearted way. The movie uses narration throughout some transitional times, which is basically the main character with a black background talking about his life, and presenting it in this really happy way. The other transitions are when the main character is imagining (I think?) himself being a performer on a stage in front of a crowd, and he talks about what was going on in his life like a stand-up comedian. Very bizarre way to present the movie for sure. I understand it was based on a true story, but the movie felt very pointless. I knew it didn't have a real plot or anything, and it was really just based on a lot of the controversy that he has caused over the years, but once the movie ended I really felt like nothing happened throughout the last 90 minutes. But this cannot be unsaid, Tom Hardy was an incredible actor to the point where I really do believe that if this movie were to have become more popular, he would have won several awards. Lawless made me view Tom Hardy as this badass actor, Bronson made me view him as an actor with incredible amounts of potential. The way he narrated the movie, his intentionally awkward presence in the movie, how he flipped emotions on the drop of a dime, his performance was one that you will not forget. But like I said, the movie is weird, and definitely abstract. Its not really the most deep story or anything, but it really sparked interest in how many ridiculous altercations Charles Bronson has gotten into, and is currently getting into today. Just go into the movie knowing its not like anything you see ever year, just the directing and the purpose of the movie is very abstract. Decent movie, Tom Hardy's acting was phenomenal, but unfortunately its not one of those movies that I think I will revisit, at least not anytime soon.
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