Confidante77 Reviews

Spider-Man 3 (2007)

Does spider-man 3 live up to the hype or fall victim to the threequel curse?

[9/10 · 17 October 2007]

It seems almost an unwritten law that the final part of a trilogy often collapses into a clichéd, trite and hard to follow mess. Particularly with Suprhero movies ( *cough* Batman Forever *cough*).

After the literal waves of both critical and fan acclaim for Spider-man 2, this sequel immediately had a lot to live up to. However the announcement that this instalment would have three villains pushed concerns with some fans.

ever since the movie's release, a mass of negative reviews have surrounded it, with IMDb users split on either side.

But despite the harsher critical response than to its predecessors, and the vast amount of controversy surrounding the film amongst fans, Spider-man 3 is a hugely enjoyable, engaging and breath-taking spectacle.

Where previous instalments have eased us into the action with smaller, and in the long-run unnecessary set-pieces, Spider-man 3 begins with a fabulously kinetic battle between Peter and his revenge-obsessed old friend Harry. Moving at a faster speed than any of the franchise's previous fight scenes could muster, it also has a powerful emotional edge.

Admittedly, this first action sequence is never quite trumped, but several other set pieces come close.

However the Spider-man films have never been simply about the action scenes, but also about character progression. the film serves as a great bookend to the character of Peter,as with each film he goes through a different stage on the struggle caused by his abilities- First the struggle to emerge, Second the struggle to be accepted and in this film the struggle with arrogance and one's own darkness.

Tobey Maguire once again captures the essence of Peter Parker flawlessly, and in a highly unique, Saturday-Night Fever inspired sequence, puts an entirely new spin on the character.

As eve Sam Raimi proves himself one of the great modern directors, skillfully mixing jaw-dropping special effects with moving human story lines- take for a example an extremely profound scene showing the birth of Sandman- literally like a newborn he struggles to stand up but keeps falling, eventually succeeding through sheer determination. Though the scene is entirely computer-generated it is a heartfelt portrayal of the character's birth.

This time round, Raimi's direction of the more emotionally engaging scenes has a far defter and much more accomplished touched and as per usual he mixes plenty of humour in- Bruce Campbell's cameo in this one absolutely blows away his small roles in the previous two, and once again J.K. Simmons makes maximum impact out of a small role.

However there are many points where Spider-man 3 come dangerously close to falling. The appearance of the symbiote is dealt with clumsily and at times the screen feels cluttered with villains. Also an otherwise excellent final showdown is marred by a ridiculous reporter and a young girl selling Jameson a camera.

But the main point of the film is to entertain, and it does so superbly while still keeping an emotional integrity that never goes over the top or outstays its welcome. Raimi and his cast walk a thin line but keep balance most of the time, with many inspired and refreshing scenes (The previously mentioned Saturday night fever scene and a surprisingly light cooking scene) more than making up for most of the shortcomings.

Again an excellent cast, with James France shining in particular along with great villain performances from Topher Grace and Haden-Church, this Spider-man is, at least in my opinion, the strongest of the three, for the first time making clear its highly important theme and moral message- "To err is human. To forgive is divine" Spider-man 3 - 9/10

JFK (1991)

excellent

[10/10 · 12 February 2007]

Films like this really come along rarely, the type of film which is both engaging, well- paced and based on historical fact. Though the introduction may seem too slow a start for some people, I cannot find a single flaw in this film. The cinematography was excellent, earning the film one of its two Oscars and the acting was brilliant. Kevin Costner is very much on form and so is his support cast most notably, for me at least, Gary Oldman as Lee Harvey Oswald who really excels at showing the different aspects of the character as the film develops.

With the director's cut coming in at 3 hrs 18 mins, it may be slightly too long, but with a powerful story line this is not noticed as much as one might expect. Another frequent criticism is that the theories brought forward in the film are unfeasible, however they did not diminish the viewing experience for me and the twist scene, including Donald Sutherland(Yay!) was particularly strong.

Perhaps what is most noticeable and memorable is the use of old footage of events and black and white flash backs, both used to great effect throughout the film. As the film draws to a close with Costner's searing monologue, chances are you'll find yourself believing in all that he says.

A great movie, worth seeing again and again. Just a shame that it didn't get onto the top 250 films.

Scarface (1983)

!

[10/10 · 31 January 2007]

It's clear right from the first second of the film that it is firmly set in the 80's, but why on earth is that bad? The entire style of the film is so in your face that it imprints itself in your memory and won't let you forget it.

The excellent, expletive- ridden script turns the conventional rags to riches story into a captivating and thrilling film, including several classic scenes- the Rebenga hit, the chainsaw scene and the finale. Some people reproach the film for being too long, but it is not uninteresting for a second and there is one clear advantage of having such a long movie- the audience begins to assosciate and sympathise with the characters ultimately making what happens to them far more interesting.

Dark, thrilling, funny and packed with brilliant performances including the great Al Pacino (where was his Oscar for this?. It cannot be overrated. Exceptional

Epic Movie (2007)

Why?

[2/10 · 31 January 2007]

Sorry but why would you do this? Why would you make a film mocking some of the most popular, loved, critically acclaimed and money- making films in this p1ss- soaked cesspit of time- wasting cr ap- the fact that it even dares to call itself a movie is astounding.

I honestly don't know what they were thinking, perhaps they were high at the time because this is neither funny nor worthwhile, just forget it and pretend it never existed- it's the first movie I've ever seen where half the people left before the end.

(p.s. why does Kal Penn, who was great in 24 season 6, Harold and Kumar, and Van Wilder sign himself up for such rubbish as this and Van Wilder 2?)

Mission: Impossible III (2006)

Not only does the series redeems itself, it betters itself

[9/10 · 31 January 2007]

Thousands of long time fans of the Mission: Impossible TV series hated the first movie, calling it "blasphemous" and "awful", however as a stand alone film, I was impressed by it, the acting was up to scratch, the story was good and so was the action.

However in the second movie, the series fell flat on its face- an overload of action and an unengaging plot.

I am glad to say that this movie is far better than both the first and second Mission. The acting is at its best, poignant when necessary and funny when necessary. The film is also very clever in its plot- the real focus of the film is Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his fiancée Julia (Michelle Monaghan), not the Rabbit's foot, Phillip Seymour Hoffman's psychotic arms dealer is hellbent on getting. By focusing on the characters rather than the technology and weaponry, the film is far more engaging and intense.

The support cast is great, particularly Ving Rhames and Jonathan Rhys Meyers.

Finally, the film does something neither of the previous 2 could do- have the right amount of action- the first had too little and the second too much. Here it is brilliantly paced and spread.

Great action movie, the best of last year. (You wouldn't believe this was the first movie J.J. Abrams directed)

The Game (1997)

An extremely underrated movie

[8/10 · 28 January 2007]

After the great success, both with critics and with the public, of "Seven", Director David Fincher turned to this film. It has often been said that this movie was one he'd wanted to make for a long time and upon viewing you can really see his belief in both characters and the story- overall an excellently directed movie.

Although several people argued that "Seven" was gory, in my opinion it wasn't, for example, there is a total lack of blood in the Lust scene, something which I particularly admired- the fact that a director could make a chilling and shocking movie without resorting to piling tons of blood onto the screen. Fincher continues this streak in "The Game" by drawing the tension and shocks of the film by using psychological terror.

Unfortunately, the movie could not parallel the success of "seven" upon its release and also received mixed critical reviews, however since then it has become somewhat of a cult movie with far more success on DVD than in the box office.

Perhaps most notable about the film is the fact that (apparently) Fincher himself often seems to direct his actors in a detached way, the way one might move around chess pieces in a game. Whether this is 100% true or not his direction, the acting and just about everything else is superb.

American Pie (1999)

a masterclass in film making...kind of

[10/10 · 21 January 2007]

O.k. my summary sounds pretty far-fetched but how many other teen movies have come out that have "defined a generation", launched the career of one of the biggest selling modern rock bands (blink 182), been voted the seventh funniest movie of all time and managed to strike a balance between hilarious and sincere? The answer is not many.

American Pie really is one of the best teen movies out there. It has tons of laughs- e.g. the webcam- and features the definitive embarrassing dad- Eugene Levy who, in this movie, is one of the funniest people I have ever seen.

Part of the reason it works is that it centres around four central characters, all of which have extremely entertaining stories. Also there's Stifler. Nowadays seann william Scott is pretty well known and the pie movies really helped launch him. Some say Stifler is one dimensional, but who cares, he's hilarious.

Part cringe, part laugh, part empathy overall it really works. OK it's not really a 10 star film, but come one guys, it deserves a higher user rating than 6.8!

24 (2001–2010)

If i could, I'd give this 11

[10/10 · 21 January 2007]

seriously it's that good. 24 is without doubt the best show to ever grace our TV screens, some will argue against this because certain story lines seem unfeasible- it's TV, dammit it's bad enough we have to put up with the boundaries of reality in real life, now what we watch has to be realistic? For those who have seen it you should know what I'm talking about, for those who haven't, do the following- 1) Go and borrow/buy season 1 and watch all the seasons chronologically otherwise some moments in the more recent seasons will have no impact on you whatsoever 2) Go watch it now, stop going on about "oh, Lost is so great, it's all about these people who are lost and they don't know where they are cos they're lost, it's great cos it goes on for ages but never really gets anywhere" because quite frankly Lost is not good enough to kiss Kiefer Sutherland's backside.

Firefly (2002–2003)

why..why?

[10/10 · 21 January 2007]

why would such a stunning show get cancelled, please explain.

Maybe its too realistic, maybe the characters are too developed so the studio decided to replace it with some brainless, gunfight-a-minute forgettable TV show.

This is clearly the best, most gritty, engaging sci fi TV series ever made. For all those people sorely missing the presence of Han Solo in the Star Wars prequels, look no further because Captain Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) is your man.

The stories are good, the characters endearing and the script writing striking a deft balance between humorous and intriguing. 10 stars for all aspects, and, as I said before, Nathan Fillion is really good.

Thankfully they managed to get serenity made, but apparently that was a flop too... what's wrong with the world?

The Usual Suspects (1995)

Perhaps the greatest movie ever

[10/10 · 21 January 2007]

I'm not denying the brilliance of classics such as "Casablanca" or "the Godfather" but this is probably my favoutrite film of all time, here, quite simply, is why:

1) Stunning story line, although the start is a bit slow 2) superb acting all round. Don't like Steven Baldwin? Neither did I till I saw this 3) Some parts are bloody hilarious. Kevin Pollak as a crazy, trigger happy crminal? Yay! 4) Brilliant script and direction, kudos to Singer and McQuarrie!!! 5) One of the best delivered climaxes in recent memory

Don't miss this.

Freddy vs. Jason (2003)

funny

[3/10 · 21 January 2007]

You know how at the MTV movie awards they make those little stints they show at the beginning, a spoof of say spiderman in which they introduce the two hosts? well this film was about as scary as one of those.

The bit where freddy goes "got your nose" made me laugh uncontrollably and so did virtually every other line in the film (particularly the way freddy said "b**ch" every 3 seconds). The script is really quite appalling and was just a cheap excuse to make some money, as a horror movie it really is s**t.

Wanna know how bad it really is? I saw this with 4 friends when I was 13. I laughed until I nearly p****d myself.

Saw (2004)

Finally!

[7/10 · 21 January 2007]

If you don't find the premise for this one intriguing, then there's something wrong with you. Brilliant not only for its gore but its excellent story telling, this movie is genuinely immersing.

Also, there are fine performances all round, most notably Cary Elwes and Leigh Whannell, the two men in the room and with a stunning twist its really compelling viewing.

In my opinion I don't know what the fuss is about gore wise, you don't really see that much sick stuff, but I don't know maybe I've just got used to this. Nevertheless this is for me the best horror film ever made simply because it feels real, has great acting and really gets to you psychologically.

Before all the gore of Saw 3 there was this, and damn was it good!

Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj (2006)

Oh my god

[2/10 · 21 January 2007]

After making a great supporting role in Van Wilder and being pretty damn funny in Harold and Kumar, I had kind of high hopes for Kal Penn, but Oh God does this movie suck.

Short of changing the actor who plays the lead character for a sequel, the worst thing you can do when making a sequel is get rid of the main character who is in this case also the title character (how can it be called Van wilder 2 if Van Wilder isn't freaking in it?).

A brief synopsis of the story is that Taj goes to England and starts trying to do Van's thing in a posh college, he also somehow gets involved in a dog show. Sounds pretty lame, doesn't it? Well, yeah it is. Not only is it not funny at all, but again there's the completely stupid British stereotypes flying around as if people even found them funny the first time round.

Don't waste your time

Stormbreaker (2006)

hmmm... maybe you guys haven't read the book.

[3/10 · 21 January 2007]

Stormbreaker is based on the first part of a six part (at the moment) series by successful teenage fiction author, Anthony Horowitz. Apparently the studio was hoping this would be the next Harry Potter.

Why then, did they put all the parts from the later books into this first one?! This movie is an absolute joke, at least for anyone who's read the book (I have so I can't comment on what it's like if you haven't), and crams in so many stupid jokes and action sequences at the cost of completely deforming the story.

In the book Alex Rider's uncle Ian is killed (trust me this isn't a spoiler it happens about 2 minutes in) by machine gun fire. Here there's some ridiculous motorbike chase and then suddenly Ian dives under a canoe and reappears in his car which, oh god the cliché, has the registration plate "RID3R". Which international spy would have his surname on his bloody registration plate?! Anyway next up, while driving away, a helicopter appears out of nowhere and Ian doesn't realize it until its right next to him. How, you may ask, Is it an invisible helicopter? No, its just that the spy is blasting out some rubbishy poprock music on his radio. Wow for an agent he really displays subtlety. Next up a man is suspended upside down from the helicopter and looks at Ian. Ian notices him and looks back. The hit-man takes out two guns and the 2 stare at each other for about 30 seconds, then the assassin fires.

O.k. so this guys a spy, then why the hell didn't he break!!??? If he'd done that the helicopter would have just gone zooming on and he wouldn't have got shot! That's basically the opening and it sums up the rest of the film, the names of characters are changed so that they can be played by famous actors, most notably Mickey Rourke who seems to think that its enough that he just shows up in the films and reads out his lines.

Some fans of this film may not have read the book so its understandable if they don't think it pales in comparison but if you liked the book but prefer the film, there's something seriously wrong with you. One of the taglines of this film was "Rule the school, save the world". Hmmm sounds like Agent fecking cody banks 3 to me.

Secret Window (2004)

why such a low rating?

[8/10 · 21 January 2007]

This film really took me by surprise, it was really captivating interesting and, of course had some great twists. It really is worth seeing. O.k. it won't be remembered as a landmark film, not even as a johnny depp landmark film, not with pirates still standing strong, but his performance is great. The same can be said for Turturro and Maria Bello.

Overall the cast work really well together and with the intriguing storyline, tension and psychological scare factor I still find it far more appealing than the overrated gore fest that is "Saw 3".

see it.

Spider-Man (2002)

great

[9/10 · 21 January 2007]

I have to say that this used to be one of my favourite movies of all time.

Some may have criticized it for being too slow in starting but its the opening scenes which really help the audience build an emotional link with Peter Parker (played to perfection by the excellent Tobey Maguire) and help us feel his feelings- you kind of began to get a crush on MJ yourself.

After the poignant and funny opening the film presents us with some thrilling and intense action scenes, such as Peter chasing down the carjacker- we genuinely feel the elation he feels when first webslinging.

Best of all the movie proceeds at a great pace and is never boring. Also worth mentioning is Willem Dafoe who suits the role of Norman Osborne down to a "T", his performance is sublime, particularly in the scene which he talks to himself in the mirror- incidentally they filmed this scene all in one take.

Definitely worth seeing more than once. PS I also want to say, how can IMDb users say that Spiderman 2 is better than this one?! It's clearly not. While 2 has more glamorous action scenes this one has far more emotional depth and far stronger performances (by the way i'm not saying the 2nd one was bad,just that the first was better)

Signs (2002)

Good... but not in the way you might expect

[6/10 · 21 January 2007]

The first M. Night Shyamalan picture I saw was "the sixth sense", it was excellently directed and managed to be scary using both strong visual images, psychological horror and of course, a great twist.

when it came to watching this, I was hoping for more of the same, however I must say that this is a league away from the Sixth sense, but not necessarily in a bad way. The film kind of feels like a mainstream scary movie, and as a result of this isn't actually scary at all (the part with the alien holding the kid was just laughable), however Shyamalan makes the story compelling and there are several moments of tension, for example when Mel Gibson is in the crop field or when the family are arguing at dinner.

It's although worth mentioning that the movie is quite funny at times, for example Joaquin Phoenix explaining (his delivery of this line is great) that "crop circles are made by a bunch of geeky guys with no girlfriends and too much spare time".

Overall, it's relatively entertaining and probably worth seeing, just don't expect anything earth shattering

Rush Hour 2 (2001)

Quite pointless but fun

[7/10 · 21 January 2007]

For quite a while now, I've been having recollections of first seeing this film. as a ten year old I though it was the best movie ever made, however I knew that couldn't still be the case so decided to check it out a few weeks ago.

Yeah, of course it was nowhere near as good as I had remembered it, but as a buddy comedy its satisifes, with Tucker being just as funny as before and Chan excelling at his trademark stunts (although he has been on better form before).

If you can forget that the plot isn't bullet proof and just sit back, stop being cynical and watch in the way a kid would- purely for enjoyment- you'll realize that it's actually quite good.

The Girl Next Door (2004)

Immersing

[10/10 · 21 January 2007]

Sure its got a pretty weird story that may seem like a re hash of Risky Business but don't let that put you off, it's ****ing great! When i first watched it, I was blown away, it had much more depth than I would have expected from a teen movie and you get so immersed and involved with the characters that its unbelievable.

Emile Hirsch is great as the nervous nerdy, unsure of himself guy and, I don't really think I need to say this, Elisha Cuthbert is great. Doubtless a lot of guys went to see this just because of her being hot, but her performance is really great- can you imagine how hard it would be to play a cute, lovable, confused aspiring porn star? anyway, its definitely worth seeing, and don't worry if you get the so-called "Elisha Fever" which several guys have mentioned in their posts, its pretty normal I think. If you think its sad that some guys watch this film every day, see it for yourself and it might have the same effect on you.

Wedding Crashers (2005)

Two friends crash weddings

[8/10 · 18 January 2007]

Hilarious Wedding crashers is probably one of the best recent comedies. The opening montage is a particularly engaging introduction, flying by to the tune of "shout".

As the story develops it might seem that the intro is a bit misguiding as the film develops into a sort of ROM- com, but nevertheless is great to watch with many laughs and a cross between funny situations and one- liners.

What really makes the film work is Wilson and Vaughn, extremely believable and funny as hell, both are equally funny in different ways and make characters that could so easily have been clichéd and boring absolutely hilarious.

The film does have its shortcomings- the swearing granny is far from original and, yes it does drag on a bit too much, but both of these are minor things as overall the movie captures a great balance between romantic, sensitive moments and laugh out loud humour.Really enjoyable, worthy of 2 hours of anyone's time.