Movie review of Hope Springs

Hope Springs - 6/10
Directed by  David Frankel
Cast - Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, Steve Carrell, Elizabeth Shue, Mimi Rogers

Plot Summary
After thirty years of marriage, a middle-aged couple attends an intense, week-long counseling session to work on their relationship.

Review
A heart warming movie about an old couple who were having a mundane and dull relationship and the wife, Kay played by academy award winning actress, Meryl Streep wants to rekindle the romance like it was before with her husband, Arnold played by another Academy award winning actor, Tommy Lee Jones. I have to say the chemistry between this two is brilliant even though I think pretty much Tommy Lee Jones stole the show in every scene, he was in.Meryl Streep was her usual acting best. The scenes they share together were really nice and touching. It was like as if they have been together and known each other for years. My favorite scenes are at the therapy sessions where they have to answer questions that is out of their comfort zone and the awkwardness portrayed by them is just so believable and great. I guess the most difficult scenes were the love scenes. Fortunately, they were decently and tastefully done. If not it would just be old farts boinking each other's hearts out.
As the primary focus was on the old couple, lesser screen time was given to Steve Carrell. He did act well but was obviously overshadowed by Streep and Jones. Even lesser screen time given were Elizabeth Shue and Mimi Rogers(both still looked great) who just had one scene each.
Camera works was decent and I liked how the editing was done. Simple yet good. Script was funny as well. Director David Frankel did a pretty good job. Another thing I liked was a song by Annie Lennox selected for one particular sad scene which kinda amplified the sorrow. That song was on repeat for a few days for me.

I would recommend watching this movie with a loved one especially with someone you have been for awhile now.You can even ask your parents to watch this. What I would NOT recommend is watching this with your parents cause the love scenes between Streep and Jones might just give you, instant horrifying images of your parents making out when you see it. hahaha.

Best Quotes
Kay: He is everything. But I'm... I'm really lonely. And to be with someone, when you're not really with him can... it's... I think I might be less lonely... alone.

Dr. Bernie Feld: Arnold, do you have fantasies?
Arnold Soames: em mm, threesome
Dr. Bernie Feld: With?
Arnold Soames: Carol
Kay Soames: Carol with the Corkies?

Dr. Feld: Kay and Arnold, I’m so glad you’re here.
Arnold: Well that makes one of us.

Arnold: I wonder if he talks to his wife like that. Mildred, I find it very interesting that you are naked.

Recommended movies done by the director
Devil Wears Prada
Marley and Me

Movie review of Resident Evil: Retribution

Resident Evil: Retribution - 1/10
Directed by Paul WS Anderson
Cast - Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Sienna Guillory, Kevin Durrand

Plot Summary
The Umbrella Corporation's deadly T-virus continues to ravage the Earth, transforming the global population into legions of the flesh eating Undead. The human race's last and only hope, Alice, awakens in the heart of Umbrella's most clandestine operations facility and unveils more of her mysterious past as she delves further into the complex.

Review
95 mins of my life has been utterly wasted by watching this. Resident Evil: Retribution is definitely one of the top worst movies for this year. What the fuck was Paul WS Anderson thinking? From the start, I knew this was gonna be a bad movie but 20 mins into the movie and I wanted to punch the screen.What these fucktards did was turn a video game based movie into a fucking video game. Thats the plot of RER. Acting was horrendous but that's okay cause the Resident Evil franchise doesn't require Oscar worthy acting, its action based and so minimal acting is required. Sadly even the action sequences were bad.Here are some of the reasons why I am pissed after watching this shit.
First and foremost, WHY THE FUCK ARE ZOMBIES RIDING BIKES,DOING WHEELIES??? AND SHOOTING GUNS AND RPGS??? That was the most stupidest thing to do. And for Paul WS Anderson to use a silly explanation that the zombies are "evolving" because of the virus is dumb. FUCK YOU Paul WS Anderson! viewers are not fucking idiots. George A. Romero will not approve of this.
If you ever happen to meet anyone who is a Resident Evil fan who says that even in the games, the zombies are riding bikes and shooting guns so its okay. I want you to slap the fucker repeatedly till he is unconscious.
Bringing back dead characters from the previous movies is a real douche bag move. Its lazy. And to make it even worse,you bring back pretty much all the characters that have been killed. What the fuck was Paul WS Anderson thinking? He must have been high on something when he wrote this. And this is perfect for Michelle Rodriguez cause she is dying half the fuck time in her movies and this time round she is coming back from the dead. Also bringing back a token black guy and then killing him again is a dick move as well.

Shit script, fuckall acting, lanjiao characters, stupid action sequences and a retarded plot is what Resident Evil: Retribution is all about. Do not pay money to watch this. In fact do not even download or watch this on television. Avoid at all cost and do something worthwhile instead.

Best Quotes
None. Its Shit.

Recommended movies done by the director
Event Horizon
Mortal Kombat
Soldier

Movie review of Total Recall

Total Recall - 4/10
Directed by Lens Wiseman
Cast - Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale, Jennifer Biel,Bryan Cranston

Plot Summary
A factory worker, Douglas Quaid, begins to suspect that he is a spy after visiting Rekall - a company that provides its clients with implanted fake memories of a life they would like to have led - goes wrong and he finds himself on the run.

Review
When I first found out that Hollywood was doing a remake on the cult classic, Total Recall which had Arnold Schwarzenegger in it, I knew it was gonna be a bad idea.Even after watching the trailers, I wasn't convinced and true enough the remake was disappointing. There were so many elements and key characters intentionally taken off from the original and to me those were the main reasons why Total Recall the remake failed. In the original you had four villains. Sharon Stone as the evil wife, Michael Ironside as the guy going after the hero. It did not make any sense to me when you morph two main characters into one character which is played by Kate Beckinsale. One moment, she does the Sharon Stone crazy psycho wife and then chasing Farrell's character like Michael Ironside. First, Beckinsale is horrible as a crazy psycho wife and second she does not have the menacing glare which Michael Ironside has. All she does is talk shit, kick and jump around and look at you angrily with her face down and she doesnt seem to fucking die which became a tad bit annoying. As much as I love Bryan Cranston in Breaking Bad, as Cohaagen, he was pretty normal.There wasn't anything interesting in his acting at all. And for the fourth villain, WHERE THE FUCK WAS BENNY? They totally ignored the character, Benny from the original and he played such a vital role. That was one of the things that pissed me off about the remake.Also no Quarto and no Johnny the cab driver. It's all these zany characters that made the original Total Recall a cult classic and when you take out all these elements,all you get is the same old Hollywood boring ass movie about someone being chased all over the fuck place.All the writers and director did was ripped the balls off the original and made a pussy version of it.
The only scene I liked in this movie was the small tribute they did at the airport immigration scene. Colin Farrell will use a disguise to sneak in and you will see the original lady as the disguise in the original version just before him and she will say the same lines she did before.That was nice. Oh yeah and the three tits woman bit was cool.
Apart from that,this was sadly a disappointing movie and I wouldn't recommend anyone watching this at the cinemas. Just wait for it to be on TV.

Best Quotes
Three-Breasted Woman: You're going to wish you had three hands.

Recommended movies done by the director
Underworld
Live free Die Hard

Movie review of Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Knight Rises - 7/10
Directed by Christopher Nolan
Cast - Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Gary Oldman,Marion Coutillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Plot Summary
Despite his tarnished reputation after the events of The Dark Knight, in which he took the rap for Dent's crimes, Batman feels compelled to intervene to assist the city and its police force which is struggling to cope with Bane's plans to destroy the city.

Review
Definitely one of the most highly anticipated movie to watch this year. The final part of Nolan's Batman trilogy. Was it up to exceeded expectations? Did it disappoint? Yes and Yes. Why? Cause there were good and bad points in this movie. I will start with the good ones first.
Production for TDR is simply amazing.The camera works was awesome even the footages shot in IMAX.The introduction of Bane scene was interestingly shot.Using stuntmen to do that scene was intense and exciting to watch. Direction was good.Nolan did a great job. I did like his take on Batman and this was a good end for the Dark Knight trilogy. From what I read, minimal CGI and effects were used. So all those scenes with tonnes of people (the wall street scene and the stadium) were actual extras and not CGI.Which I thought was pretty cool a la old school kinda way to film grand scale movies.
Casting for the movie was pretty good aside from the usual gang like Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and Gary Oldman. you have new actors like Joseph Gordon Levitt as Blake, Anne Hathaway as Catwoman and Tom Hardy as Bane. I've always enjoyed watching JGL's acting. He definitely has matured over the years from the kid in third rock from the sun to cobra commander in GI Joe to well... Blake in Dark Knight Rises. For awhile the only actress that could pull off catwoman was Michelle Pfeiffer in Burton's Batman 2.But Anne Hathaway did a fantastic job as Catwoman and I have to say, that ass!!! Tom Hardy was indeed perfect for Bane. This is one actor I have been looking out for ever since I watched Bronson and after this performance I will continue to look out for his next movie.The two actors that stood out for me in DKR was Tom Hardy and the ever wonderful Michael Caine.For Hardy it was his take on Bane. It was a different kind of evil he presented unlike Heath Ledger's Joker.This was pure brute evil.The training he did to get the physique was hardcore and that weird gypsy accent he did was fucking brilliant even though you cant hear some of the shit he says properly, it still was pretty awesome. Oh yeah and zero cardio, you never see Bane running. hahaha. My favourite Alfred scenes were the talk he and Bruce Wayne were having at the staircase and at the graveyard.Simply Michael Caine at his best.
Now for the bad points. One of the WORST editing ever done. Especially for the first hour alone, I was wondering who the fuck edited this movie? cuts were so abrupt and at all the wrong parts. If this was done to cut down the timing to 2 hours and 45mins, they did it all wrong. I sincerely hope that is the reason though. Also this movie should have a higher rating cause I don't get to see much blood despite shitloads of people dying and every fucking time Bane kills someone, the camera will zoom all the way out which pissed me off. You need to see him kill in close up cause thats how terrifying he is supposed to be.
The scene where Foley (Matthew Modine) is shooting a handheld gun then cuts away to Miranda (Marion Coutillard) going in the tumbler then you see Foley again with a machine gun??? cut to Miranda ordering the driver to kill everyone and then you see Foley lying down dead. What the fuck that was about? you may as well put BLAM! KAPOW! SMACK! like the Adam West's Batman series instead.Fucking stupid. And what the fuck is with the sparklers??? you will see it first when Bane has his first fight with Batman. Batman getting his shit kicked in, takes something out of his utility belt (which a friend of mine says is just there to hold his pants) and throws at Bane.Sparklers....Cause I cant figure out what else it was supposed to be other than sparklers and it didn't do jack shit either. You will get to see the sparklers again this time on the road when the policemen are rushing towards Bane's henchmen.Apparently that was supposed to be gunfire. It was cheap and stupid. You will also see a henchman spraying bullets at the policemen who are about 50 meters from him with a sub machine gun.And only ONE policeman falls down. I understand its not easy filming a scene which has a lot of extras but COME ON!!! that was fucking ridiculous! Last one was Bane getting a "Boba Fett death". For those who have never watched Star Wars ( I might have to slap you for that), Boba Fett dies without closure and has a sudden silly death. Hence a "Boba Fett death" means a character either died suddenly or in a silly way and without closure.And for such an awesome character like Bane to receive that is just sad.
Despite all these obvious mistakes, I still enjoyed the movie.Production wise it was brilliant and I did like the story and the final twist even the ending as well.Comic purists might not like it for sure.
I guess among the trilogy, Dark Knight Rises would be my second favorite after all. Still worth a weekend ticket to watch it.

Best quotes
Bruce Wayne: Why didn't you just... kill me?
Bane: You don't fear death... You welcome it. Your punishment must be more severe.
Bruce Wayne: Torture?
Bane: Yes. But not of your body... Of your soul.
Bruce Wayne: Where am I?
Bane: Home, where I learned the truth about despair, as will you. There's a reason why this prison is the worst hell on earth... Hope. Every man who has ventured here over the centuries has looked up to the light and imagined climbing to freedom. So easy... So simple... Many have died trying. I learned here that there can be no true despair without hope. So, as I terrorize Gotham, I will feed its people hope to poison their souls. I will let them believe they can survive so that you can watch them clamoring over each other to "stay in the sun." You can watch me torture an entire city and when you have truly understood the depth of your failure, we will fulfill Ra's al Ghul's destiny... We will destroy Gotham and then, when it is done and Gotham is ashes, then you have my permission to die

Bane: Not as serious as yours, I'm afraid... Mister Wayne.

Bane: You fight like a younger man, with nothing held back. Admirable... but mistaken.

Catwoman: About that whole no guns thing... Turns out I'm not as committed to it as you are.

Bane: [Listening to the national anthem before the Gotham Knights football game] What a lovely, lovely voice.
[Song ends and football game begins]
Bane: Let the games begin!
[hits detonator and bombs go off across Gotham and the football field crumbles]

Roland Daggett: I paid you a small fortune...
Bane: And you think this gives you power over me?

Batman: [on a rooftop, Batman turns away from Catwoman, then turns back and realises she has gone] So that's what that feels like.

Recommended movies done by the director
Dark Knight
Prestige
Inception
Memento
Batman Begins

Movie review of The Amazing Spiderman

Amazing Spiderman - 7/10
Directed by Marc Webb
Cast - Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifan, Martin Sheen, Sally Field

Plot Summary
Peter Parker finds a clue that might help him understand why his parents disappeared when he was young. His path puts him on a collision course with Dr. Curt Connors, his father's former partner.

Review
Though the movie was alittle too long, I did however enjoyed watching the new reboot of Spiderman. With a new cast and a new director, Sony Pictures (who signed 7 spidey movies from Marvel) took a risk. That risk, I have to say must have paid off. Pacing for the amazing spiderman was slow in the beginning but it got faster and more exciting midway through. Even though all the point of view web slinging scenes were pretty cool, I felt it was ripped off from this Xbox game called mirror's edge.At least the fight scenes were great and thrilling to watch especially the final fight scene at the tower.
The scene that annoyed me the most were the love scenes between Peter Parker(Andrew Garfield) and Emma Stone(Gwen Stacy). Half the fuck time they are stammering,smiling like idiots and muttering shit. I had the strong urge to slap them when that happens. Andrew Garfield, in my opinion did a good job acting as spidey and Parker.Just cut out the stammering part. And I read that he actually "studied" how spiders moved to "incorporate" it into his role.Bitch please... spiders have 8 legs,you have 2. How the fuck are you gonna "incorporate" that in your role.That's just a stupid thing to say.Shut the fuck up, you are not a method actor.
Don't get me wrong,I do like Emma Stone. She is a pretty decent actress and she chooses her roles well but every fucking time she laughs or smile,its just too fucking creepy. Her eyes are wide open and she does that thing with her mouth that you can see all her teeth when she is laughing.That I find creepy and a turn off.I don't know why but Rhys Ifan always seem to remind me of Liam Gallagher of Oasis.He's pretty cool and does a great job as The Lizard.Lucky he didn't say he "studied" lizards or shit like that. And what the fuck happened to Forest Gump's mom aka the award winning Sally Fields? She looked like she had cooking oil as botox and sadly she was completely under used for this movie.
Storyline was good, I just didn't quite like the ending.Comic fans would probably hate the ending as well.
Direction for the movie was good. Marc Webbs did a good job.Editing was decent and so was the cinematography. Script wasn't good,Spidey is a funny character and he needs more funny lines,the ones in the movie just weren't funny enough.
All in all, I enjoyed watching The Amazing Spiderman.Sony did the right thing firing Sam Raimi and Tobey Macguire and getting a new director and cast.They have 3 more Spidey movies to go so lets hope it wont fuck up like how Raimi fucked Spiderman 3.

Best Quotes
George Stacy: Thirty-eight of New York's finest, versus one guy in a unitard.

Dr. Curt Connors: Ready to play God?

Peter Parker: We all have secrets: the ones we keep... and the ones that are kept from us.

Recommended movies done by the director
500 days of summer