Posts Tagged ‘movie review’

This summer, I watched Toy Story 3 and called it “an all-but-assured lock for Best Animated Picture of the Year.” At the time, I hadn’t watched How to Train Your Dragon on account that the previews made it look like an uninteresting, stupid, early-year animated kid’s film (the horrible Olympics advertisements didn’t help, either). Having finally watched the DreamWorks Animation hit, however, I recant my statement about Toy Story 3. It isn’t a lock. It may be the frontrunner, but How to Train Your Dragon is a rare, viable competitor to Pixar’s well-reviewed film. How to Train Your Dragon is an entertaining, exciting and imaginative movie that, dare I say it, is more fun to watch than Toy Story 3.

Read FilmJabber’s full How to Train Your Dragon movie review.

There are disturbing movies, and then there are really disturbing movies. The Human Centipede (First Sequence), as the title suggests, falls into the latter category. About a mad scientist who decides to sew three innocent people together (mouth to rectum, to be specific), The Human Centipede is strangely alluring – in a very screwed up kind of way.

Read FilmJabber’s full The Human Centipede movie review.

The low budget indie thriller The Disappearance of Alice Creed comes to DVD next Tuesday. The movie, which stars Gemma Arterton, Martin Compston Eddie Marsan and no one else, is about a young woman who is kidnapped by two masked men and locked in a small room for ransom. But as is often the case, things don’t go exactly as planned for the kidnappers.

Read FilmJabber’s full The Disappearance of Alice Creed movie review.

A well-executed film with a great British cast, Made in Dagenham tells the story of a group of female Ford factory workers who went on strike to gain equal pay for women and in the process brought England’s industry to its knees.  Sally Hawkins is excellent as the lead protester Rita O’Grady.  While I don’t always love the characters she plays, such as her often frustrating character in Happy Go Lucky, Hawkins is one of the most engaging actresses working today.  Possessing the quirky facial mannerisms of Audrey Tautou and the incredible range of fellow Mike Leigh favorite Imelda Staunton, Hawkins can make you feel both happy and devastated within a matter of seconds.

Read the full Made in Dagenham movie review at FilmJabber.com.

There was a [brief] time in American history where people would say it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter how bad the movie is. It had Megan Fox in it, and she plays a prostitute and wears a corset. It doesn’t matter how bad the movie is, it’s worth watching. That time in American history lasted for about a year, and no one truly believed it. Still, had Jonah Hex been released a couple years earlier, people would have cared. Instead, they shrugged off Jonah Hex for the piece of crap it is.

Read FilmJabber’s full Jonah Hex movie review.

Surely to be one of the more controversial movies of the year, especially in this Tea Party-led society we suddenly live in, Four Lions is about four British Muslims who, disillusioned with the western world, decide they’re going to wage jihad against their country. In other words, they’re going to blow some sh*t up. Oh, and it’s a comedy.

Read FilmJabber’s full Four Lions movie review.

From director Roger Michell (Venus, Notting Hill) and writer Aline Brosh McKenna (The Devil Wears Prada, 27 Dresses) comes Morning Glory, a funny, witty behind-the-scenes look into all the glory and ugliness of early morning TV.  Rachel McAdams stars as a rising TV producer, who, after being laid off from her job, begins work at Daybreak, the fourth-place ugly sister of the Today Show.  Faced with finding ways to raise the show’s failing ratings before it is cancelled, Becky (McAdams) decides to bring together two disparate co-anchors, Colleen Peck (Diane Keaton), a Kathie Lee Gifford-type, and Mike Pomeroy (Harrison Ford), a disgruntled hard news man, who has been waiting out his contract at the network after being fired from his last gig.  As Patrick Wilson, who plays Becky’s love interest, points out, Pomeroy is the third worst human being on the planet, which is a title he well deserves.  Becky must navigate these two tricky personalities to save the show and her career before it is too late.

Read FilmJabber’s full Morning Glory movie review.

Truly scary movies come along only once every several years. Or two years in a row, if you allowed last year’s surprise blockbuster Paranormal Activity to get under your skin. Given that the low-budget horror movie went on to become the most profitable movie of all time (and also appeared on numerous “scariest movies” lists), no one should be surprised that Paramount invested in a sequel (if $3 million is even considered an investment in Hollywood) – and fast-tracked it to come out only a year later. While Paranormal Activity 2 duplicates the formula of the first film, the good news is that the movie is nearly as scary as the first one.

Read FilmJabber’s full Paranormal Activity 2 movie review.

It’s a recipe for success. Todd Philips, director of Old School and The Hangover, reunites with star Zach Galifianakis for a road trip film that also features A-lister Robert Downey, Jr. Previews suggest Due Date is the next It-comedy, a sleeper hit to roll through the holiday season. But sometimes recipes end in disaster.

Read FilmJabber’s full Due Date movie review.

The Oscar race just got a little more crowded as Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours enters the mix. An energetic, beautifully shot and superbly acted film based on the harrowing true story of Aaron Ralston, a devil-may-care adventurer who finds himself alone and trapped in an isolated canyon in Utah. His hand pinned between a rock and the canyon wall (or, “Between a Rock and a Hard Place” as the book title suggests), Ralston spent more than five days facing certain death before making a crucial decision to survive. 127 Hours is one of the best movies of 2010.

Read FilmJabber’s full 127 Hours movie review.

Philip Seymour Hoffman makes his directorial debut with Jack Goes Boating and, fittingly, the movie gives the celebrated but frumpy actor the rare opportunity to star in a romantic comedy. The movie, while not perfect, is one of the most heartwarming and emotionally charged romances of the year.

Read FilmJabber’s full Jack Goes Boating movie review.

What’s better than one Edward Norton in a movie? Two of him! In the dark comedy/crime thriller Leaves of Grass, Edward Norton stars alongside Edward Norton in Leaves of Grass, about a collegiate professor and his white trash, drug dealing identical brother who get mixed up in some bad things. In addition to Norton, the movie also features Keri Russell, Susan Sarandon, Richard Dreyfuss and writer/director Tim Blake Nelson.

Read FilmJabber’s full Leaves of Grass movie review.

The Oscar-winning thriller The Third Man was recently released to Blu-Ray for the first time. It was also my first viewing of the classic, which won an Oscar for Best Cinematography, was nominated for Best Director and Best Editing and is currently ranked #57 on AFI’s Top 100 Movies and #75 on AFI’s Top Thrillers.

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Facebook. Love it or hate it, people are using it. The social networking website has 500 million users and counting, and for many it has become a way of life, a way to stay connected to friends and family across the country and around the world, especially the ones you don’t like enough to actually talk with on the phone. Facebook has redefined the way people interact, share and talk, and it’s the brainchild of one Mark Zuckerberg, who is now the youngest billionaire on the planet.

Read the full The Social Network movie review.

Belle, the Beast and the teapots are back as Disney’s Beauty and the Beast debuts on Blu-Ray on Tuesday, October 5, bringing with it not only the classic movie but loads of magical special features. A fitting set for any movie fan’s collection (especially one catering to children, of course), Beauty and the Beast: Diamond Edition is definitely worth buying.

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