This movie had so much potential. As far as historical dramas go, there are few that have as many elements of love, anger, envy, and betrayal as that of the rise and fall of the second triumvirate. And then you think of the key historical players - in the shadows of Alexander the Great, comes an eager ruler in Julius Caesar caught in a love-triangle with his right-hand man Marc Antony and Egyptian Pharaoh Cleopatra; rising up to avenge the murder of his adoptive father, Augustus wins the favor of the Roman people and chases Antony and Cleopatra to their demise, becoming the first Emperor of the Roman Empire. With a set-up like that, how could it possible go wrong? Easily - the movie runs way too long and the dialogue, while cleverly written, comes off more as Shakespearan rather than film. However, the story is well-told, the costumes and the cinematography are phenomenal, and the acting lived up to the top-billed cast. If the movie were trimmed by an hour, it could have been the best film of the year.
Siena Miller's character is kind of a complete bitch in this movie. I wanted to feel for the military wife story line, but she was just such an unlikable character throughout the whole movie.
Pixar hit another homerun with Inside Out. It's such an ingenious way to introduce how our emotions work in harmony with our thoughts and behavior. Also, the music score for this film is probably the best for any Pixar film.
As someone who follows both college football and the NFL, I found the draft war room activities to be painfully unrealistic. Let's go move-by-move through this one:
1. A team that doesn't have QB listed as a primary need would never trade away the future to draft a QB with pick #1. No owner, general manager or coach would let that happen.
2. There is no way the general manager would be able to submit the #1 overall pick unilaterally from his personal office instead of the dedicated draft line while the owner of the team is sitting next to the commissioner in Radio City Music Hall.
3. The team with the #6 pick would not be completely flustered that five players in front of him were selected. They plan the draft strategy for months ahead of time, and that strategy goes more than one round into the draft. There is no way that Jacksonville should have been scratching their heads and have been desperate to move their #6 pick.
4. Seattle got away with highway robbery getting the first round draft picks for three years in a row for the #1 overall pick. No fan base would be protesting outside the gates. If anything, the Seahawk fans would be miffed if they traded all those picks (plus a player) back to the team for a worse draft pick.
As for the Costner-Garner romance, it was forced, and she looks young enough to be his daughter.
Perhaps it was because the movie was so hyped before I saw it, but I found Nebraska to only be average. I can appreciate the sincerity of the movie and the simplicity of its form, but I felt like it was a Hollywood comedy masquerading as an independent film behind a thin veil of black-and-white cinematography.
As someone who grew up reading the Hobbit and the LotR trilogy and then loving the LotR movies, I don't think the Hobbit series was a letdown. The Hobbit was meant to be a children's book, and despite the bloodshed and gore, I felt like the films kept it a bit more light-hearted than the LotR films. As a result, you don't get the same level of character development and it's not as dark and serious. Nonetheless, I found the movies, as a whole, to be entertaining, and if watched in the order of the storyline, I would think the Hobbit movies would be a good appetizer to the LotR main course (something that I cannot say for the Star Wars films). The one change that I would have made would have been...
with the Smaug scene at the opening of this film. This was the shortest of the middle-earth movies, and they could have added a bit to build the suspense. Or they could have added backstory at the beginning (perhaps about the dwarves prior to the arrival of Smaug and the relationship of the townsfolk back before the first attack by Smaug) -- something like how they added backstory to Gollum in the LotR series -- just so it didn't seem like they rushed to the dragon's demise. Or, if they wanted to keep it direct, they should have moved the death of Smaug to the previous movie so that there was a logical break in story line, and then they could have opened this film with the political tensions around the mountain gold.
The raccoon makes the movie flow with his sarcastic, almost breaking the fourth wall commentary. In some ways, its much of the same from Marvel. But in another, it mocks the Marvel formula, and it does a good job entertaining in doing so.
Ridley Scott tries to bring The Departed style to a Breaking Bad storyline. In theory, this seems like a great idea, but it falls way short in execution. I think a lot of this has to do with casting Fassbender as the lead, where his acting fails to induce any catharthis. Ultimately, the movie doesn't establish any connection with its audience, leading to complete disinterest in the resolution. Style over substance.
Comments 1 - 25 of 60
Movie comment on Despicable Me 3
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Randy Marsh vs. double-Gru.Movie comment on Doctor Strange
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Avengers: Groundhog DayMovie comment on Into the Wild
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Ron Franz was dope. He was the best part of the film.Movie comment on In Bruges
Unfortunate Synopsis
Fleur Delacour and the music from Metroid.Movie comment on Cleopatra
Unfortunate Synopsis
This movie had so much potential. As far as historical dramas go, there are few that have as many elements of love, anger, envy, and betrayal as that of the rise and fall of the second triumvirate. And then you think of the key historical players - in the shadows of Alexander the Great, comes an eager ruler in Julius Caesar caught in a love-triangle with his right-hand man Marc Antony and Egyptian Pharaoh Cleopatra; rising up to avenge the murder of his adoptive father, Augustus wins the favor of the Roman people and chases Antony and Cleopatra to their demise, becoming the first Emperor of the Roman Empire. With a set-up like that, how could it possible go wrong? Easily - the movie runs way too long and the dialogue, while cleverly written, comes off more as Shakespearan rather than film. However, the story is well-told, the costumes and the cinematography are phenomenal, and the acting lived up to the top-billed cast. If the movie were trimmed by an hour, it could have been the best film of the year.Movie comment on Spider-Man 3
Unfortunate Synopsis
Producer: Any thoughts on how we can kill this series?Writer: I've got an idea for a scene in a jazz club...
Movie comment on Cinderella
Unfortunate Synopsis
These live-action productions of animated classics lack the simplicity and charm that made the originals so endearing.Toplist comment on Superhero Movies (Live-Action, Theatrically Wide-Released)
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Love the list. I just wish it was organized by franchise and then chronologically within the franchise.Movie comment on Deadpool
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Entertaining film. It did seem like they just empowered Van Wilder with X-Men powers.Movie comment on Frankie and Johnny
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"Debussy... Clair de Lune"Movie comment on Waterworld
Unfortunate Synopsis
Meh. At least you get to see Jeanne Tripplehorn's butt.Movie comment on A Christmas Carol
Unfortunate Synopsis
Dialogue that children won't understand. Animation that will make adults nauseous.Movie comment on Ted 2
Unfortunate Synopsis
Surprisingly better than the first film.Movie comment on American Sniper
Unfortunate Synopsis
Siena Miller's character is kind of a complete bitch in this movie. I wanted to feel for the military wife story line, but she was just such an unlikable character throughout the whole movie.Movie comment on The Nun's Story
Unfortunate Synopsis
Classic, old-fashioned cinematography, but the story is a bit too slow and drawn out.Movie comment on Inside Out
Unfortunate Synopsis
Pixar hit another homerun with Inside Out. It's such an ingenious way to introduce how our emotions work in harmony with our thoughts and behavior. Also, the music score for this film is probably the best for any Pixar film.Movie comment on Draft Day
Unfortunate Synopsis
As someone who follows both college football and the NFL, I found the draft war room activities to be painfully unrealistic. Let's go move-by-move through this one:1. A team that doesn't have QB listed as a primary need would never trade away the future to draft a QB with pick #1. No owner, general manager or coach would let that happen.
2. There is no way the general manager would be able to submit the #1 overall pick unilaterally from his personal office instead of the dedicated draft line while the owner of the team is sitting next to the commissioner in Radio City Music Hall.
3. The team with the #6 pick would not be completely flustered that five players in front of him were selected. They plan the draft strategy for months ahead of time, and that strategy goes more than one round into the draft. There is no way that Jacksonville should have been scratching their heads and have been desperate to move their #6 pick.
4. Seattle got away with highway robbery getting the first round draft picks for three years in a row for the #1 overall pick. No fan base would be protesting outside the gates. If anything, the Seahawk fans would be miffed if they traded all those picks (plus a player) back to the team for a worse draft pick.
As for the Costner-Garner romance, it was forced, and she looks young enough to be his daughter.
Movie comment on Nebraska
Unfortunate Synopsis
Perhaps it was because the movie was so hyped before I saw it, but I found Nebraska to only be average. I can appreciate the sincerity of the movie and the simplicity of its form, but I felt like it was a Hollywood comedy masquerading as an independent film behind a thin veil of black-and-white cinematography.Movie comment on The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Unfortunate Synopsis
As someone who grew up reading the Hobbit and the LotR trilogy and then loving the LotR movies, I don't think the Hobbit series was a letdown. The Hobbit was meant to be a children's book, and despite the bloodshed and gore, I felt like the films kept it a bit more light-hearted than the LotR films. As a result, you don't get the same level of character development and it's not as dark and serious. Nonetheless, I found the movies, as a whole, to be entertaining, and if watched in the order of the storyline, I would think the Hobbit movies would be a good appetizer to the LotR main course (something that I cannot say for the Star Wars films). The one change that I would have made would have been...Movie comment on The Wolf of Wall Street
Unfortunate Synopsis
As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a broker...Movie comment on Guardians of the Galaxy
Unfortunate Synopsis
The raccoon makes the movie flow with his sarcastic, almost breaking the fourth wall commentary. In some ways, its much of the same from Marvel. But in another, it mocks the Marvel formula, and it does a good job entertaining in doing so.Movie comment on The Hills Have Eyes
Unfortunate Synopsis
I was surprised how much I liked it. I knew the basic premise before watching, but it still had some good twists.Movie comment on I Still Know What You Did Last Summer
Unfortunate Synopsis
The only thing that surprised me was that Jack Black was in the film.Movie comment on Hellbound: Hellraiser II
Unfortunate Synopsis
Surprisingly better than the first movie. Very 80s style gory though.Movie comment on The Counselor
Unfortunate Synopsis
Ridley Scott tries to bring The Departed style to a Breaking Bad storyline. In theory, this seems like a great idea, but it falls way short in execution. I think a lot of this has to do with casting Fassbender as the lead, where his acting fails to induce any catharthis. Ultimately, the movie doesn't establish any connection with its audience, leading to complete disinterest in the resolution. Style over substance.Showing items 1 – 25 of 60