svetiev_b Reviews

Skyfall (2012)

Not the best Bond film...

[7/10 · 24 November 2012]

Quite frankly it was rather dull. I even felt like getting up and walking out of the theater, but thought to my self - I paid money to watch this in our brand new Cineplex theater and I'm gonna last through it. It didn't help much as I felt wanting to hit the fast forward button on an imaginary remote controller for the cinema ... wouldn't that be great - having a cinema theater all for your self with a remote and everything? :))

Now back to the movie. It's short comings weren't the fact that it didn't have any gadgets in a digital era or that it was going for a retro style, I was quite psyched up about that actually.

It was the story. Something about it felt ... uninteresting. Maybe the fact that we've seen it all before in other movies, lots of clichés; I know, Bond movies are all about clichés, but these clichés were just out of character for a bond movie ... at least to me. Like having a bisexual villain resembling the Jackal, Havier's character even looks like him with his dyed blond hair. Although Havier's performance is one of the best in the movie.

Then there are the unexplained parts of the story which bothered me, like how did Bond survive after being shot in the beginning.

Secondly, (spoiler ahead) Bond has a clean shot of Silas in the underground tunnels just before the train drops down, but no he actually has to chat with him and let him detonate a bomb. There was no reason to delay shooting him, they had already contained the situation with the compromised data!? Not to mention that Silas has a point blank shot at M at the hearing and misses just because he delays his shot, come on, you'd think a trained ex agent should be able to make such a shot blind folded while taking a whiz.

And lastly the movie took almost an hour before it got started, Bond movies are supposed to take your breath away, leave you breathless, not leave you yawing in the middle of it.

A trade mark of this movie have to be washed up secret agents which are quite (I mean considerably) down on their game.

On the up note, the music was quite nice. I really liked the brass rendering of one the Bond motives, actually the music is what kept what little was left of my attention and at moments I caught my self just listening to some of the music rather than watching the movie.

The Hangover Part II (2011)

The same thing again ... only with a pointless and utterly unbelievable ending

[1/10 · 25 October 2011]

I have never given a movie a rating of 1 before, but this one deserves it for more than one reason. First of all, as others have stated this movie is just a copy/paste screen job from the original most brilliant piece of comedy I've seen in a while. But that doesn't bother me as much as the total lack of common sense that the protagonists seem to have in this installment.

SPOILERS ahead ...

All right, they wake up bricked up once again not knowing where they are and how they got there, only this time they find a cut off finger that belongs to Stu's future brother in law who is both an excellent musician and studying to be surgeon and off course he is missing. The characters express general concern for the fact that he is nowhere to be found and after discovering his cut off finger they do what??? THEY GIVE IT TO A LITTLE DRUG DEALING MONKEY!!!!! After which the finger is to be seen no more.

Now what kind of a retard do you have to be not to put the finger on ice and preserve it (as it was already done - they found it in a glass of melted ice water) so when they actually find the kid he can at least have the chance of getting some proper medical care.

The most idiotic thing about it all is that the father in law who is being an asshole to Stu all along and totally disrespectful as well suddenly develops a new found respect for his future son in law after he brings his "pride and joy of his life" son back mutilated after a night of "Hangover" style partying all over Bangkok.

And yeah they actually go through with the wedding once again. All right it was fun and believable the first time, but this one was simply over the top.

One more thing about the finger. If you are a musician, none the less a wannabe surgeon, than you sure as hell will care about what happens to your fingers. That's just bellow than average script writing.

Apart from all of the above mentioned anomalies, the beginning and middle part of this movie are quite great, as a matter of fact as great as the first one, but the ending just ruins it all.

The Honeymoon Machine (1961)

A wonderful comedy !

[10/10 · 23 May 2010]

This is a true comedy with all the necessary components: good humor, great actors, well thought out jokes, excellent scenography and gorgeous actresses.

The dialog is witty and entertaining, as well as the delivery. Steve McQueen does a great job acting out his character (contrary to popular opinion on this board). The form of the movie is well balanced and brings about a swift, dramatic and overall satisfying conclusion along with a small "coda" as a part of a series of comic relief moments ongoing through the entire movie.

As others have said on this review board - Do waste your time with this one - it will be a time filled with laughter and good humor and you'll be happier for it.

The Time Traveler's Wife (2009)

A romance that transcends the boundaries of time :)

[10/10 · 15 February 2010]

This movie is all about the human side of the characters, their emotions and their lives together. Without any time paradoxes and alternate time lines the movie focuses on the love story and the impact that involuntary time travel has on the lives of the two protagonists of this movie.

A real human sided story that will make you fall in love with the characters and if you haven't read the book (as me) it will tempt you to find it and read it (as will I :) People who've read the book claim that they still enjoyed the movie even though not everything from the book had made it to the film screen. Personally I feel that watching the movie and then reading the book would be the right way to go, as knowing the book I hope would only add more detail and coloring to this otherwise wonderful story.

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (2009)

Hmmmmm ... completely brainless, but... judge for your selves

[6/10 · 11 October 2009]

The plot and the dialogs are idiotic and I can not stress this enough, they are really moronic. However the action sequences are entertaining and the lead actresses are good looking.

So if you are able to completely switch off your brain for an hour and a half, you just might get some mild entertainment from this action flick.

Other than that, there isn't much else to say about this movie, they fight, but the fights have no meaning for the story, some of the characters don't develop at all and others develop in an irrational way. The movie has no real point other than to obviously jump start a series, but honestly with such a lame start I can't see how it would do that.

It's sort of like "Knight Rider" the start of the new series, only much worse.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

Heartbraking and excellent

[8/10 · 15 May 2009]

I read some of the reviews made by fans of the comic book complaining about the perversion of Wolverine's story line prior to his loss of memory. They are probably right to be disappointed. I my self do not have enough background knowledge of the characters from the comic books and as others have pointed out, due to these circumstances this movie appeals to audiences that are not acquainted with the source material. And boy does it appeal.

The story line is energetic, full with action scenes worthy of an X-men prequel. But as I mention in the title it is also a heartbreaking love story (apart from one or two clichés) it does make it worth your while if you can make it past all the twists and turns.

I give it a 9 only because of what happens to Ryan Reynolds character. It's a real shame not to be able to see more of his witty remarks, when you see the movie you'll know what I mean.

So all in all I my self, walked away a satisfied man from the theater tonight and I encourage you to give it a try and watch it. And, oh yeah, apart from some other opinions here, Hugh Jackman is extraordinary as Wolverine once again, as well as heartbreaking.

The Holiday (2006)

Refreshingly witty and wonderful !!!

[10/10 · 12 September 2008]

This is a movie with genuinely good acting. The delivery is wonderful, the acting is sincere and the emotion seems genuine. And the writing is so refreshing that it had me laughing like crazy at all the little "interludes" incorporated into this movie.

The story progresses at a near perfect pace. It has it's twists and turns and it's wonderful. This movie is like a movie text book. It tells you how it's made in the movies (literally) and then they do it in the movie or you realize it's just been done.

This is definitely a most creative way of delivering a story to the big screen, I mean watching this movie is like hearing your self commenting about it while you're watching it. So here you don't need to do it because as soon as you think it there it is actually being said in the movie. It's truly amazing and you'll understand what I'm saying when you see it for your self.

And I know I've said it several times before but I'll say it again – The acting is really good! I honestly didn't know that Cameron Diaz cold act a totally different role than her usual stereotype blonde characters, but she is so natural at this that it's amazing. I never liked her before and this movie made me change my opinion of her.

Kate Winslet is up to her par as well, as for the male leads, all of them play their role with so much tact that it makes you wonder how many times did they shoot the scenes over and over till they got the feeling just perfect.

So it's two thumbs up for the writer/director, she knew exactly what to write and exactly how to get it on screen. Bravo!!! I must say it caught me completely by surprise. It really is a wonderful movie and it's definitely a must see!!!

Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! (2004)

A nice and not completely brainless chick flick

[7/10 · 16 May 2008]

One thing that makes this movie different than all the others of this genre is the fact that it does not have a negative character and even the stereotype, movie star Ted Hamilton's character is driven by morally and ethically righteous motives. So the main plot of this movie (as unbelievable as it may sound) revolves around the characters struggle with their self and they strive to overcome their own boundaries and limitations.

As I said in the beginning there is no bad guy in this movie. Everybody does the right and noble thing at their given time.

Now all this philosophy aside, this is a nice easy going movie with overly idealized moral values, which is kind of rare now a days and makes it quite refreshing and unexpected.

Stardust (2007)

Stars shine, .... brilliantly !!!

[10/10 · 9 April 2008]

This being my first comment and review ever, it's an honor to write for a movie such as this. It has all the elements of a grand fairy tale - princes, princesses, witches and ordinary common human beings aspiring and dreaming of something better and of course the everlasting quest for unconditional love.

The story is excellently paced; it warms your soul and takes it to a magical journey through a magical land where stars come to life literally. If you ever have chance to watch this movie don't hesitate and take it. It would be a perfect gift for someone you care for.

As you can see I am tiptoeing carefully not reveal anything from this wonderful story, the magic presented is powerful and dismisses your disbelief right out the door. Besides who needs suspension of disbelief - it's a fairy tale! Plus the magical feats are not complete nonsense and are a just representation of many different spiritual cultures of the real world. Anyway it doesn't matter how much you know about magic, the story is wonderful and compelling and it won't let you go till the end.

There is also a sufficient amount of good humor too. The camera and fictional landscapes as well as the special effects are so well put together that you will hardly even notice that they are special effects.

The cast is perfect, starting from Michelle Pheipher, along with the two lead characters and ending with a "notorious" captain Robert DeNiro.

To end this I'll just say this review in it self is completely obsolete and the only thing that I can say to you dear reader is to stop reading this review and go watch the movie.