Wednesday 28 December 2011

Movie review of We bought a zoo


We bought a zoo - 6/10
Directed by Cameron Crowe
Cast - Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, Thomas Hayden Church

Plot Summary
Set in Southern California, a father moves his young family to the countryside to renovate and re-open a struggling zoo.

Review
I was alittle apprehensive on watching the latest Cameron Crowe flick cause his last one, Elizabethtown featuring Kirsten Dunst and Orlando Bloom was fuckall.But this one has Matt Damon in it and so far he hasn't disappointed me yet on his choice of roles.Surprisingly, We bought a zoo was fun,touching and a feel good movie which is based on a true story.There is nothing great or fantastic about this movie but what I enjoyed was its simple approach to story telling.Nothing extravagant,no special effects and what not.
Casting was pretty good,I have to say. Matt Damon did a great job acting as a single father bringing up two kids whilst coping the loss of his wife.He was funny and convincingly touching in his scenes except for one scene where he attempts to cry while looking at pictures of his wife on a laptop.He looked like he was taking a shit instead of crying.That was bad man... Jason Bourne doesn't cry.haha. Well overall he did a great job and I don't think any other actor could have done it. Scarlett Johansson and Thomas Hayden Church were pretty much fillers for this movie.They weren't fucked up or anything.It was just that the focus of this movie was solely on Matt Damon's character and his two kids.Colin Ford and Mary Elizabeth Jones acted as Dylan and Rosie Mee.The kids acted very well and Mary Elizabeth Jones is a very cute kid who lights up the screen every time she is in it.
The editing was done well,I liked how some of the scenes were put together. Cinematography was simple and nice.Direction was good.I dare to say,Cameron Crowe is back and I hope he continues to do movies like this.

Worth watching with your family or loved ones on a weekend.

Best quotes
Benjamin Mee: You know, sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage. Just literally twenty seconds of just embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it.

Recommended movies done by the director
Jerry Maguire
Vanilla Sky
Almost Famous

Tuesday 20 December 2011

Movie review of Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol


Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol - 7.5/10
Directed by Brad Bird
Cast - Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner, Michael Nyqvist, Paul Patton,Anil Kapoor

Plot Summary
The IMF is shut down when it's implicated in the bombing of the Kremlin, causing Ethan Hunt and his new team to go rogue to clear their organization's name.

Review
I have to admit,for a movie franchise which is on its 4th movie.The Mission Impossible franchise seems to be getting better and better.Of the first three movies,I enjoyed the 3rd one alot because it was a great action film and its directed by J.J Abrams. I hated the 2nd one which was John Woo.And of course the first one is a classic spy movie done by De Palma.At first I was a little skeptical cause J.J Abrams wasn't directing this, he was only producing it.Brad Bird of The Incredibles fame was directing this fourth installment.But all my skepticism went through the door once the movie started.Ghost Protocol was definitely one of the best action films this year.From the get go,there is non stop excitement.I was so into the movie that I kept moving,dodging and wriggling through out all of the action scenes. Storyline was very interesting even though I felt it was alittle too long especially the Mumbai scenes. Some of the stunts were even performed by Tom Cruise as well.
Acting wise,I felt everyone did a pretty decent job.Cruise was cool as always.Simon Pegg was the comedian and he delivered his lines funnily.New guy Jeremy Renner of Hurt Locker fame was pretty cool.I guess he would be an apt replacement for Tom Cruise when he decides to stop as Ethan Hunt.The villain acted by Michael Nyqvist of the original Girl with the Dragon Tattoo fame was ok but just wasn't that villainous enough.The best villain of the entire Mission Impossible series would definitely go to Phillip Seymour Hoffman in MI3 without a doubt.Paul Patton was bad.That scene where she was trying to cry was very painful to watch.I was very happy to see Anil Kapoor being slapped and beaten by a woman.He was horrible.What the fuck is wrong with that fucktard? that whole scene where he was trying to act cute and woo Paul Patton was excruciating.I was embarrassed for being an Indian on that day.
Direction was brilliant.Kudos to Brad Bird for this.I also like the cinematography.Alot of shots were breathtakingly beautiful.
Overall,Ghost Protocol was well made and really fun to watch.

Definitely worth watching on a weekend.

Best Quotes
Benji Dunn: Now remember: "Blue is glue!".
Ethan Hunt: And red?
Benji Dunn: Dead.

Ethan Hunt: Mission accomplished!

Recommended movies done by the director
The Incredibles
The Iron Giant

Monday 12 December 2011

Movie review of Warrior


Warrior - 4.5/10
Directed by Gavin O'Connor
Cast - Tom hardy, Nick Nolte, Joel Edgerton

Plot Summary
The youngest son (Hardy) of an alcoholic former boxer (Nolte) returns home, where he's trained by his father for competition in a mixed martial arts tournament -- a path that puts the fighter on a collision corner with his older brother (Edgerton).

Review
This could have been a great movie.What could have been a good storyline was fucked up by too many cliches,plot holes,continuity and an inkling of an idea of what is Mixed martial Arts about.
First the competition,there is no fucking way a fighter fights so many matches in a space of few days.That is just stupid.If they had written like say one match per month,at least that is alittle more believable.They could have added training scenes and other family bonding or emotional scenes along.It would have been definitely better.The writers could have made more use of Hardy and Edgerton instead of just fighting.And both are pretty decent actors.
I really enjoyed how Hardy and Edgerton acted as brothers that were torn apart and all but unfortunately that was just in one scene which kinda came out of nowhere.They just both happened to be at a beach???
You also briefly see scenes about the history of both brothers.Younger brother joined the marines but went AWOL,He comes back and fights in a national televised fighting event.Apparently no one knows who and where he came from but at the finals,they knew him and he was gonna kenna charged from the marines but they allowed him to fight first.Really???
Since when did the military do shit like that? Elder brother on the other hand,is a Physics teacher in school and all but he has a family and house bills and shit to pay so he gets suspended from school because he fought in some underground fighting thingy and then decides to join the same national televised event to win 5 millions bucks.And their father is a recovering alcoholic who happened to beat their mother to death or some shit like that.That is just too much shit to take in a 140mins movie.I don't know why people are giving so much praise to Nolte's performance.It was no Mickey Rourke's The Wrestler nor was it a Christian Bale's The Fighter performance.It was shit.Nick Nolte is a lanjiao actor.He's either mumbling gibberish or he is barking like a junkyard dog filled with ticks.Fuck him. Even Kurt Angle(former WWE wrestler) who acts as a Russian fighter(and I don't think he spoke) did a better job acting.
I did like the fight choreography but sadly even that was ruined by shitty camera work and editing.Whats with the fucking split screens?
Like I said earlier, This could have been a great movie.

My advice to the director and writers of this movie is simple. Its either you go the Rocky approach or you go the Rocky 2,3,4 approach.You cant have both.Because if you do,it will suck just like Rocky 5.

Just wait for the DVD release to watch this.

Best Quotes
Brendan Conlon: I know this isn't a great time. And it's too bad about Marco. But what about me?
Frank Campana: You talking about Sparta? Brendan, please. You got a better chance of starting a boy band.

Tom Conlon: Not much of a woman's touch around here.
Paddy Conlon: No women for me anymore, Tommy.
Tom Conlon: Yeah. Must be tough to find a girl who could take a punch nowadays.

Tom Conlon: So you found God, huh? That's awesome. See, Mom kept calling out for him but he wasn't around. I guess Jesus was down at the mill forgiving all the drunks. Who knew?

Recommended movies done by the director
Pride and Glory
Miracle