Cinema Rapture

Real Steel movie review

Real Steel is the new Hugh Jackman film about a father and a son, who bond while traveling the country with their underdog boxing robot. Real Steel is one of those movies that in the trailers looks awful, but could be a little fun to watch. Well once you sit in the theater, you’ll realize that the actual movie is just like the trailer, awful.

The thing that irritates me about Real Steel the most, is the god-awful storyline and the way they depict the characters. It’s supposed to be this feel good film about a father re-connecting with the son he never really knew. They’ll want you to root for Hugh Jackman in the movie, but it’s just impossible to do that because he’s a really shitty person. He sells his kid for a hundred grand. He leaves him at a junkyard (which they actually brake into and steal) and he’s consistently stealing throughout the film. They want me to root for this guy? Only thing I’m rooting for is that he gets hit by a bus. He’s a horrible-horrible human being, I don’t care if he takes his kid across the world to box a robot, he should do that, ya’ know since he’s the kids father. That really ruined the film for me, but that’s not the only thing that makes it a terrible movie.

I walked into into Real Steel knowing it would be cliche. I mean come on, It’s a family drama with a “boxing” storyline, you’ll be able to predict pretty much everything. We knew the father and son would connect, we knew the robot would win matches and we knew that Jackman would get the girl in the end. However, they took it even further then that. The villains are a Korean guy and a Russian girl. Seriously? That’s just pure American propaganda. As soon as they introduced them I was ready to walk out, and began laughing. I’m really surprised they didn’t add in another one of the characters from Iraq or the middle east, since they already depict that all of those people are villains as well. This is just like those movies in the 40’s where a hero takes down a group of Germans, showing that America is the best. The best part though is the dancing the kid (Max) does with the robot before fights. I had one thing going through my head everytime that happened, “how did this movie get made?”

Product placement throughout the movie got really annoying, every two seconds they’d flash something new in your face. Nokia, Verizon, Pepsi, HP, and my favorite the XBOX 720. Get it, because it’s in the future?

The acting isn’t as awful as say, Green Lantern. It’s still pretty damn bad. The newcomer Dakota Goyo, is that normal child actor who doesn’t know what he’s doing, but he’s getting jobs because he’s got the “look”. I guess Jackman played a good asshole, because I generally hated him throughout. Anthony Mackie is too talented to lend his name to garbage like this, Luckily he was only in two scenes.

The good? A really tough question, considering everything about this film is garbage.In my opinion, the best part about this movie is Evangeline Lilly, it’s not like she’s a great in it or anything, but you just can’t help but love her. Then the graphics were good, but it’s nothing AMAZING.

Overall, Real Steel would be the worst movie of the year if it wasn’t for Green Lantern coming out. It’s horrible, from the cliche awful story to the terrible dialogue, and the dull performances, nothing is good about this movie. It’ll still make 200 million dollars in theaters and people will love it, and then Dreamworks will push out a sequel that i’m sure will be even shittier then the first. Do yourself a favor and don’t see this movie, children might like it, but I honestly think it would be bad for to see it since it’s full of so much propaganda.

                                                            2/10

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Moneyball review

Moneyball is the story of Billy Beane, the Oakland A’s general manager who puts his career on the line to try something different. He establishes a baseball team with a quarter of the budget as the great teams. Brad Pitt really got me excited to see this film, I haven’t seen everything with him, but what I have he’s always great in. I was hoping this would be this years Social Network, I was wrong on that aspect, but I thought it was still great.

I thought Moneyball was a great film, however I just don’t think the storyline was great. I was never enamored with it, because it wasn’t really a sports movie, it wasn’t an underdog story, it was just about a baseball team who did something new. Nothing spectacular there. Billy Beane said it all throughout the film, It doesn’t matter how you do, only thing that matters is the last game you win. Well in that case everything he did has amounted to nothing. Unlike the Social Network, where on paper it’s a movie on Facebook and underneath has greed and betrayal underneath it, this film is exactly what it is on paper, a story of a manager who tried something new, and that is it. I do have to give the director Bennett Miller and Sorkin credit though, I was never once bored with the film, even with a dull story. I was also hoping it’d be a bit more gut-wrenching rather then as light hearted as it was.

One reason I think Moneyball was great was the characters and acting. The dialogue was very good, it was very quick and very witty. While I don’t think any of the acting is fantastic, I still enjoyed it very much.  Jonah Hill was good and worked very well alongside Pitt. Speaking of, Pitt was great, (as usual) I don’t think it’s Oscar worthy, but it’s still very good. His character was very cool, and was actually interesting, I just don’t think his character ever changed throughout the whole film. He was on the verge of failing and desperate but nothing happens that shows that. Some of the scenes where he is just sitting in the field, thinking was where the film was probably the best, because those were the scenes where we felt how he did.

Overall, I do think Moneyball was a great film, with a great performance from Brad Pitt, good camera work, fantastic dialogue and a wonderful score. It was very interesting to watch, even though the actual storyline isn’t that interesting. It really just wasn’t anything moving, or necessary to be made into a movie. It likely won’t have any bids come award season. I think most people would enjoy it, but I don’t think many people truly care to see the story of a baseball manager, but if you do think that it would be interesting, then see Moneyball.

8/10

DRIVE Review

Drive is Nicholas Winding Refn’s instant cult classic, and first collaboration of many with Ryan Gosling. Refn say’s it best, “Drive is a violent but beautiful fairy tale”. Gosling is Driver, a stunt driver in the day, get away driver at night. Mulligan is Irene, Drivers love interest but has one problem, she’s married to a man who has a big debt. Driver ends up lending a hand and getting caught up with a lot of money, and a contract for his life. I’ve anticipated this movie ever since I seen Ryan Gosling was in it, he’s a fantastic actor and I’ll see anything with him. Because of the buzz Drive has gotten, I went in expecting this to be my favorite movie of the year. I walked out not only with it as my favorite movie of the year, but one of my favorite movies of all-time.

Drive has a very simple storyline that isn’t really that original, but it’s still an original film, if that makes any sense. This movie seems like it has been made a few times but in a larger big-budget scale with typical bad acting. Drive is the exact opposite of that. It’s very sweet in one scene, and then the next is so violent it makes you cringe. It never gets too complicating, and maintains being serious the entire time.

I rarely talk about Directors in my reviews, because this year nothing really has been that well directed, but Nicholas Winding Refn is an exception. He won the best director at Cannes, and it was extremely well deserved. Drive is absolutely gorgeous. The way Refn uses Los Angeles, it feels as if we’re driving around the city in the middle of the night with Driver, it’s hard to describe but LA is more then a setting it’s another character in the movie. Drive is a unique movie from a very unique film maker, and the loud 80’s pop music throughout the movie, instead of a more traditional score is what keeps Drive apart from the rest.

One of reasons why Refn won best Director at Cannes, was because he got the very best out of all of his actors. Very strong supporting performances from two of televisions absolute best actors Bryan Cranston, and Ron Perlman as  I was also really surprised by the no-name Oscar Isaac, I didn’t think I’d feel as much for his character Standard as much as I did. Albert Brooks is getting a lot of hype for this movie, and it’s because he’s great, which was a big surprise. Carey Mulligan was terrific and made me fall in love with her and her character. Through simple looks you could see the chemistry and her and Gosling, and only great actors can pull this off.

I’ve said it once, but I’ll say it again, Ryan Gosling is the best young working actor in Hollywood. He’s an amazing character actor, he gets into these characters that are just mesmerizing to watch on screen. As Driver, he’s goes from being charming to a complete sadistic psychopath. He won’t likely get any Oscar contention for Drive, but he sure deserves it. He’s brilliant. 

Overall, Drive is a perfect film. It hits on all cylinders (no pun intended) it’s got action, violence, and also a love story within it. What really gets better then that? Terrific performances throughout, and amazing direction. Drive will not be topped this year, and has landed in my top five favorite movies of all time. This movie isn’t for everyone, but for those who appreciate good film who can handle gore, see this movie.

10/10

Warrior Review

Warrior is the MMA family drama directed by Gavin O’ Connor, staring Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton and Nick Nolte. I’ve been anticipating this movie for a long time, mainly because of Tom Hardy. I love sports movies, and MMA hasn’t been captured in the right light so far, what is the best one? Fighting? This movie looked to cash in from the success of The Fighter, with superb acting, great storyline and an overall fantastic movie. Warrior did exactly that.

If you’ve seen the Warrior trailer, you already know that the two brothers fight each other in the end; It was obvious, but it makes the fights less fun to watch when you know who is going to win. Warrior in a broad spectrum, it’s a standard cliche sports movie. Two brothers with problems, one broke and one a war hero, and problems between the two, just so end up fighting in the end? Pretty cliche. However, Warrior has two layers it’s a hard hitting, inspirational family drama with amazing character development, fantastic acting, and a wonderful storyline. This is a two and a half hour long film, and both times I seen it, it never once felt too long. Everything flowed perfectly, the characters were all developed, and it doesn’t leave any loose ends. The ending is handled perfectly to where it avoids being Cliche.

All the fight scenes are top notch, Hardy and Edgerton worked their asses off to get into shape, and train to make these scenes 100% authentic, I’m not the biggest MMA fan but I know that fans of the sport won’t be let down.

As great as this storyline was, it wasn’t the best part in the film. Warrior is an acting showcase, with two up-and-coming actors and one seeking redemption. Joel Edgerton is fine actor, and he was great in this movie but will go overlooked. Nick Nolte completely showed that his career isn’t over, he was fantastic in this movie, especially the ending. I’ll truly be shocked if he’s not nominated for best supporting Actor. However, I walked out of this movie in love with Tom Hardy. This guy is absolutely fantastic, at one point in the movie he nearly brings me to tears, and the scenes with his Nolte and Edgerton are top notch.

Overall, Warrior was a fantastic movie and easily one of the best of the year. This is the Raging Bull of MMA, the bar has been set and will definitely be hard to top. The acting is superb, especially from Nolte and Hardy. Everyone needs to see this movie, don’t be turned off by it being an MMA movie, because it’s more then that, it’s a inspirational family drama.

                                                         9/10

Contagion Review

Contagion is the latest film from Academy Award winning director Steven Soderbergh. Soderbergh somehow brings together a slew of great actors and actresses for Contagion, most of whom have won Academy Awards: Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, Gweneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Laurence Fishburne, and John Hawkes. Contagion is the story of a fast-acting deadly virus, that quickly turn’s into a global pandemic. I’ve really anticipated this film for a while, because of the fantastic cast. Not to mention Soderbergh has directed some great films, and Contagion was no different.

How to do you start a good film? With a bang! They kill off Gweneth Paltrow in 5 minutes and quickly introduces this virus that is completely unknown. Which, instantly gets the viewer involved in the movie. It’s a mystery because this virus is killing millions of people in such a short amount of time, and is so damn realistic it’s incredibly scary. The entire time throughout the movie, you’ll want to move your seat if you’re sitting near anyone, and then go wash your hands. They bring the realism to this virus, and make it seem it could happen any single day! Soderberg shows the viewer, what he or she does in their everyday life, that would likely get them sick in this scenario. There are a few problems with Contagion though, it’s very scientific and aside from Matt Damon’s character, all the others are political figures, or scientists. I was hoping there would be more characters who are just average people, who are infected or the virus affected them. Also, this films climax was in the first 10 minutes of the movie, it never really peaks after that.

Matt Damon and Jude Law are the scene stealers in Contagion. Law play’s a blogger who see’s this virus as a way to get popular, but he also really gets the public aware of the virus. Matt Damon however is the character that 99% of the people who see this film, would relate too. He’s just an average person, who lost practically his entire family, he’s doing anything to keep his daughter safe. Kate Winslet was good in the movie, but she’s not KATE WINSLET and amazing. Cotillard was likely written in last minute when Soderbergh found out he could add another great actress into the movie, she was pretty useless. Believe it or not, but Laurence Fishburne might actually be the main character in this film. He’s surely in the film more then all the other actors. Soderbergh really got some great performances, but since it’s an ensemble film, nothing Oscar worthy, or truly amazing.

Contagion is a good film, but is just lacking to be anything great. It’s a very well directed film, with some good performances. This film is serious, realistic, and terrifying, and that’s why it succeeded, however the storyline just wasn’t perfect. It never fully got into the virus, it was more of a political film. I’d suggest everyone to see Contagion once, it will really get you thinking about an actual outbreak.

7.5/10

Ranking Adam Sandlers films, Part one.

Adam Sandler is easily one of the most popular actors working today. Anyone in the 14-30 age range, have seen numerous Sandler films and I’m sure they love atleast one. Well I’ve seen them all, and have established this list because when talking about Sandler it is always the same, everyone brings up their favorite Sandler movies. Then they follow it up with comments about his shitty movies, or make a dumb comment like “he’s awful now though”. I’m not saying I disagree, but I believe the Sand-man has a lot left in the tank, and the 2000’s have been fine. Here is my MY personal list and opinions on Adams’ films.

Can I start this film off with Jack and Jill?

• Obviously I haven’t seen Jack and Jill yet, but can this film really be good, or funny? MAYBE i’ll bump it up a spot or two when I see it in a few months, but it won’t move far.

• I’ve attempted to watch this movie 3 times, and hated it all 3 times. Just an awful film, with a overdone concept.

• Sadly this “dramedy” is neither Dramatic nor funny. Another awful film.

• I thought somethings in Zohan were funny, but nothing here that is remotely “good” Just like Jack and Jill, what was Sandler thinking? It sure wasn’t for money, he’s got enough of that.

• I’ve seen it, I remember it was awful, but I just don’t think it could be as bad as those films above it.

• Here’s the thing about Bulletproof, it’s actually pretty cool and funny, but nothing compared to his other films in the 90’s. Compared to the garbage above this is fantastic.

• I thought Just Go With It was too long, cliche, and rushed. However, I laughed a shit ton in this movie. It wasn’t good, but it wasn’t that awful

• Another film that I actually somewhat enjoyed, but I don’t think Sandler brought any of the laughs. I don’t think Grown Ups was as bad as some people say, I enjoyed this movie.

• Now it get’s harder, I really like Longest Yard, but it’s just not that great of a movie.

• I thought Bedtime Stories was adorable. If Sandler should do any types of kids movies, or family ones, this is what they should be like.

We’re pretty much in the middle of this list. More coming later.

Another Earth review

Another Earth is the independent drama/sci-fi film about Rhoda (Brit Marling) is driving home one night and is drinking and driving and hits a car, and kills a women and child. She’s sentenced to 4 years in prison, and when she gets out she starts working and connecting with the man (William Mapother), whose family she killed. Ohhh, and there is Another Earth with another you on that Earth. Just a fantastic concept, with fantastic trailers. I’ve been anticipating this film for a while.

I thought the film was a little slow, but that isn’t a bad thing at all. That just sets a great tone throughout the film, it has a cold feeling to the film just like the story. It’s a gorgeous film, with great CGI, and you always see Earth two in the scenes. A brilliant storyline I thought, and is one of the best stories of redemption I’ve ever seen. You know it has a good story when it gets you thinking about “what would you do if there was another you?”; This film asks questions, that really get into your head and get you thinking. The ending is perfect, and will get you asking questions.

Another Earth does a great job with the explanation of the other Earth. They don’t get too scientifically but explain it where it’s not confusing, and it’s believable. This isn’t a science fiction film at all, so don’t be confused expecting them to travel to this other earth and explore it or anything. 

As great as the Storyline was in the film, Another Earth wouldn’t have been the film it was without the acting in the movie. This is Britt Marling’s first real role, and her breakout role. She’s quiet, but fantastic in this movie. William Mapother was great as well, but couldn’t touch Marling.

Overall, Another Earth is a fantastic film. Excellent acting, with a terrific performance from new-comer Britt Marling. A very original idea for a film, and a terrific one that will get you thinking for days and days. Another Earth is one of the best films in 2011, thus far. I wish I could recommend this film to any movie goer, but most people will just think it was boring, but it’s a beautiful film that should be seen by everyone, but will only be seen by real fans of cinema.

                                                         9/10

The Devils Double Review

The Devils Double is the loosely based true story of Uday Hussein and Latiff Yahia. Yahia is forced to be the double of the powerful and sadistic Hussein. Dominic Cooper plays both the roles of Uday and Latiff. The Devils Double has been getting mixed reviews, but Cooper has garnered a lot of critical acclaim.

The film starts off at a very high level and is truly great, but then takes a sharp U-Turn. The beginning of the film starts off with Latiff being forced to be Uday’s body double, it shows the psychopath side of Uday, and how Latiff is forced to do this job to save his family. We see the pain Latiff is going through, and how crazy Uday really is and this is what makes the beginning of the film great.

However, 2/3rds into the film the film of do things that Uday doesn’t feel safe doing or wants to do, but they never really get into any of that. The storyline gets out of control at the very end, every reason that Latiff doesn’t want to do this job, is completely abandoned: Ex. Him falling in love, which was interesting, but that storyline completely falls apart; or him doing this for his family, another storyline that falls apart. It was touching greatness, until the very end.

Since The Devils Double is a dramatic semi-biographical film, that was looking for some kind of Oscar contention, this film is horribly inaccurate or ever receive that. It obviously takes place in Iraq, but I don’t think a single one of the characters is actually of any middle eastern descent, they’re all white. I can get passed the fact that the characters look nothing like the people they are portraying, because many of films are like that, however why can’t they hire actors who will speak the same language? This is a film trying to take itself seriously, so I’d like more then one or two lines of Arabic throughout the entire film, it’s not a foreign film so I get the why the entire movie isn’t Arabic, but only a few lines? These aren’t the biggest flaws to the film, just reasons why this film isn’t anything amazing.

What is amazing though, Dominic Cooper. I really didn’t know anything about Cooper except for him being in Captain America. He really brings the A-Game to this film and might be the best performance of the year so far. Since he’s portraying two separate people, there is never any confusion between the two characters because they’re so widely different. Each are fantastic in their own way, Latiff is great when he’s portraying Uday, and Uday is fantastic throughout the entire film.

Overall, I great movie, with a tremendous lead performance(s) by Dominic Cooper. The film really fell apart in the 3rd act, if it would have continued like the first part, it would have been an excellent film. It’s horribly I’d suggest this movie to anyone who is ready for a film with a tremendous lead performance, definitely not for any casual movie goer though.

                                                      7.5/10

Our Idiot Brother

Our Idiot Brother is the first official film lead only by Paul Rudd. Easily, one of the most under-appreciated men in Hollywood, he consistently churns out good films. With Our Idiot Brother, Rudd is followed by an all star cast of comedic favorites: Zooey Deschanel, Elizabeth Banks, Adam Scott, TJ Miller, Rashida Jones, and Steve Coogan. Our Idiot Brother is about a overly nice stoner, who spends time visiting with his sisters, while he’s on parole. Each of his sisters are affected by him, but it’s all for the best. Our Idiot Brother was really the last of the summer films, I truly anticipated. I love the cast, and the story looked great, but the only thing I didn’t expect was this film to be very funny. What I got was super surprising, a hilarious heartfelt film.

The storyline for Our Idiot Brother is very fun, but it’s not really the storyline that anyone cares about, it’s fully on the characters. It sounds stupid, but the storyline is for Ned, to work and raise some money for a room at a pot farm. It really works though, all because of the characters.

As stated before, Our Idiot Brother has an absolute all-star cast, and with all those cast members and only an hour and a half long movie you’re almost certain something is going to get the short end of the stick. Adam Scott seemed to be that victim in Our Idiot Brother, only being in a FEW scenes, and most were in the trailer. He’s still a good character, but he’s not in it enough. Aside from him, the rest get their share pretty well. I wished there was more Zooey Deschanel and Rashida Jones because of their storyline, but they seemed to be split evenly with Banks and Mortimer. All of the characters were good, storylines were rushed a bit towards the end, but it didn’t affect the film.

Ned played by Paul Rudd is the reason why this film works the way it does. Ned really is an Idiot but there is more to his character then that. He’s nice, innocent, caring and trusting, unlike most similar films there is layers to this character. Paul Rudd is fantastic as Ned, obviously not Oscar worthy but he played this character that you can’t help but fall in love with. He brings every bit of humor to this movie, and it’s not from jokes, or shocking humor, it’s casual dialoge or something Ned does. Easily one of the best characters in 2011, if not the best.

Our Idiot Brother is one of the best comedies of the year. It’s got a lot of heart, great characters, and is absolutely hilarious. Paul Rudd is fantastic in this film, and is the movie! It’s rated R but it’s not a standard R rated Comedy like The Hangover or the Change Up. I’d suggest this movie to any and everybody, it’s fantastic.

9/10

Fright Night Review

Fright Night is another remake to come out this year, but unlike the others I’ve never seen the original Fright Night. Not being the biggest fan of Horror films, I wasn’t too excited to see Fright Night originally. Fright Night stars Anton Yelchin and Colin Farrell, with McLovin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), and is about Charlie (Yelchin) who discovers his neighbor Jerry (Farrell) is a Vampire, and out to get him. Being a remake, a unoriginal storyline, this film really didn’t appeal to me, so I went in with very low expectations. However, It very well exceeded my expectations.

Fright Night starts off very fast, and we’re introduced to Jerry being a vampire very early on in the film. Unlike others they don’t mess around, and make us wait for him to be revealed as a vampire. They did a really great job at introducing all the characters aside from Jerry, from the first 5 minutes, we knew about all the characters in the movie, and the plot. Which gave the viewer more time to see Humans vs Vampires. I don’t think the film ever got dull, and flowed pretty well from start to finish. The film wasn’t scary though, which didn’t bother me, but some people who expect something scary won’t like that. The only probably I had with the storyline, was that a few scenes may have been a little dumb (like Jerry throwing a motorcycle an entire block down the street) and some were made just to look good in 3D.

The characters in Fright Night were probably the best part of the movie, each of them were really great in there own way. Anton Yelchin was really impressive, I thought originally he was going to be annoying, (like he was in Star Trek) but he was really far from that. It got me excited to see this kid in more in the future. McLovin wasn’t in the movie enough, but when he was, he was hilarious! I thought Kick-Ass was his peak, but he was great in Fright Night, one of his first scenes had me nearly rolling in the theater. The girls in the movie did there Job really well, which was look good. However, Colin Farrell was the man in this movie, every scene he was in made it great. This film had a lot of characters, and all of them were great, (Except James Francos’ Brother) and that’s when you know you have a great movie!

Fright Night is a really enjoyable and fun movie, and was a complete surprise to me. I don’t know how it compares to the original, but I have a hard time believing the original is better. It’s not a horror movie with a lot of scares, but there is some great tension built in the movie. Great characters, especially from Farrell as the villain of the movie! Obviously not a movie for everyone, but the younger crowd should really like this movie, Probably not for hardcore horror fans either. Fright Night is the best movie of August (thus far), with that being said I give it,

8/10