Monday, September 27, 2010

Easy-A: Loser Review

EASY A: LOSER REVIEW
Starring Emma Stone (Zombieland), this is a film about a girl in high school who starts pretending to have sex with people for cash. Ugly rumors spread around school about her, and she easily dismisses them as false because she did not actually have sex with anyone. However, she eventually becomes bothered and hurt by all the rumors, and the way she solves her problems in the movies is done pretty well. I really gave the bare minimum of a description for the plot. I really enjoyed this movie a lot more than I thought it would, and it is definetly worth your money.

Emma Stone plays a likeable character named Olive who you are rooting for the entire movie, and while she is a cool character, you like her more mostly because her opposition are complete and utter assholes. The story is done in a really cool way. It starts off as "I'll only help you because you are my friend and only one time" thing but she soon starts faking sex/make outs for cash. Boys will give her an 100 dollar amazon gift card if she tells people they made out. At first she likes the attention, because before, no one ever paid attention to her, so just the fact that people know she exists makes her happy. However, some people figure out ways to make her miserable.
While this movie is not hilarious, it does have some great diolauge and a few good jokes, but it is funny in more in a clever way not in a laugh out loud funny way, yet there are some jokes that make you laugh out loud. The pacing for the movie is done well, and it is split into 4 parts. The whole movie is being narrated by Olive, and is supposed to be like a document of everything thats happened by her in her web video.
Funny and likeable characters make this movie. None of them are copy-paste characters, and a great script helps everything.

A really good film that most teenagers will like a lot and adults will appreciate.
I give it a 9.5 out of 10.

SEE IT!
SUPPORT GOOD MOVIES
-THE LOSER

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Predators: Review by The Loser


PREDATORS: REVIEW

Summary: Predators is a 2010 action movie directed by Nimrod Antal. It is the 4th movie he has directed. I won't really explain the plot, only because if you are seeing this movie it is most likely because you have seen the original 1987 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Basically a bunch of people all awake in an unknown jungle and are being hunted by something.

Pros: The cast works suprisingly better than I thought. Of course they can't replace Arnold from the first film, but Adrien Brody (The Pianist, King Kong) is great as the leading jar-headed character and I was really pleased with his performance in this film. Topher Grace (Spiderman 3) starts off likable, but soon becomes pretty annoying and his character seems like it has no other use other than to deliver useless filler dialogue. 
The action in this movie, however, is great! It's definetly the best part of the movie, and everything you would expect from the first movie is here. Remeber that scene in the first film where they fire ammunition blindly into the forest for a good 10 minutes? While not quite as entertaining or long, that scene is here. Not to mention that the Predator aliens look awesome with modern special effects, and I am REALLY happy that the predators in this movie are actually people in costumes and not crappy CGI. Their movements look as organic as ever, and they haven't made any stupid changes to the Predator's looks. The dialouge, while nothing special, is decent enough for this type of film. The film generally moves along at a good pace, and you won't get bored.  Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix) also makes an appearnce, though he doesn't have that much screen time, and has that stupid- really deep to the point where you can't understand him- voice that seems to be all the rage.


Cons: Though some people might disagree with me, I thought this movie was surprisingly tame when it came to blood and gore. Sure, the predator ripped out a guy's spine (once) and stabbed people in the back plenty of times, but it just didn't seem as gory as the first one. For some people, this might be a good thing, but for me, the movie didn't really seem like a Predator movie. I guess I liked it better when all the blood was practical effects and not CGI. Other than that it didn't really feel like a Predator movie, I can't find any major flaws with this.

Bottom Line: Cool action, good cast,  nice to see the predators back in 2010.  A nice summer action flick that will leave you satisfied, but mabye a little dissapointed.

Is it funny?  Yea, and none of the jokes really fall flat. 
Watch in theaters or at home?  I would say at home, as the movie isn't in (good) 3D or anything.

OVERALL RATING: 8/10

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Grindhouse: Review by The Loser



GRINDHOUSE
Before I begin the review, I would just like to clarify to those not farmilliar with Grindhouse, that it is 2 movies in 1. See, the movie is basically pretending to be an exploitation film shown in "Grindhouse" theaters during the 70's. These theaters basically were the lower class theaters that often showed cheap gory films or just downright porn. As with modern American movies, sex is considered worse than violence, so don't expect these movies to be fap-tastic or anything. Anyways, these movies were double features, which meant you got 2 movies for the price of one. As you can see above, the two movies in Grindhouse are Planet Terror, and  Death Proof.


This Review will consist of me just sharing my thoughts about both movies, instead of a formal template for the review.


PLANET TERROR:
The plot of this movie consists of some military bio-weapon gone wrong when the poisonous gas it uses is released into the air and starts mutating everyone. A group of survivors are humanities only hope.In the first ten minutes you see a man's testicles cut off and stepped on. This movie isn't for the faint of heart. Gorier than pretty much every movie I've ever seen (I might be wrong, and I have yet to see Dead-Alive) this movie really amps up the shock value and gore factor found in other films. Now, when I first saw the poster and trailer for this, I thought it looked really dumb. I remember that the lady with the gun as her leg made me think the movie was dumb, and that it would be terrible. I was really, really wrong. The trailers don't do this movie justice at all, because obviously they can't show everything that goes on in the movie.  Anyways, I really enjoyed this movie. Sure, the story doesn't make much sense, and the actors spew some REALLY dumb lines later (this is on purpose however), and some people might be turned off by the film-scratch effect. People, it's supposed to be like this! There is a reason the movie looks really low budget, it's because (as I explained at the beginning) it is almost-spoofing grindhouse films. I actually liked the whole look, and thought it brought some authenticity to the movie. This is a very, very minor nitpick, but i was wondering the whole movie why they had smartphones in this movie. To me it kind of clashed with the whole "70's movie" vibe but I didn't really mind it that much and it didn't subtract from the overall experience. I pretty much loved everything else in the movie though, and Rose McGowan and Freddy Rodriguez are AWESOME!!! Especially Rose McGowan. All in all, pure brutal gory action fun that is always entertaing and capapble of multiple re-watches.

DEATH PROOF
This is definitely a slower film, however, I like it just as much, maybe even better, than Planet Terror.  The story consists of an old, lone man, known as Stuntman Mike (excellently played by Kurt Russel.) He is a serial killer who takes teenage girls, charms them into taking a ride with him, and then brutally kills them in his "Death Proof" car. I won't spoil the rest, but basically, he messes with the wrong girls. Now, because this film's first action scene is about, like 20 or 30 minutes into the movie, some people may be turned off by all the chatter between the teenage girls. I myself, found the things they talked about somewhat funny, and also entertaining. But beware, people who don't like a lot of talking, this may be annoying for you. Even after the first action scene, there is still lots of talking to be had. Like I said before though, I liked it, and it really isn't that bad because Stuntman Mike (the bad guy) is in these scenes, and some of the things he says/does are really creepy. However, a good hour and a half into the movie (give or take) the real action starts. Oh my god, I really think this is my favorite car chase in any movie I've ever seen. Well, there really are two car chases, both just as gripping and intense. I'll just finish up by saying the ending is so awesome yet brutal at the same time, that it will make you wish the movie was longer.

All in all both these movies show off the director's key filming style's, and the fake trailers inbetween the two movies are awesome (you will see what I mean once you watch the film)

I give Grindhouse a 10/10

Planet Terror a 9.5/10
Death Proof a 9.8/10

Happy Summer
-The Loser

Friday, July 2, 2010

The First Three Saw Movies


THE FIRST THREE SAW MOVIES
Note: I know The Fail did a review on the first one
SAW 1: This is my favorite out of the first three. It didn't overdo it with the gore, while it is still bloody. But it is bloody in a more economical way than the others. The blood is only here for the story, not just for shock effect. I liked the story the most, and just when you think everything is solved, the movie throws a curveball at you. Awesome ending and cool characters. I also like the music.

SAW 2: While decent,  it definetly is not as good as the first one. It starts right off with one of Jigsaw's death traps, which seems somewhat primitive. If you're really in the mood for gore, just watch the trap scenes in this one online (they aren't even that good) and read the story online. However, if you want more than gore, the movie is still worth a watch, but the ending isin't very good, and didn't make much sense too me.

SAW 3: Better than the second, worse than the first. While it definitely amps up the gore factor, and the story is pretty good, I just did not like it as much as the first one. Pretty close to it though. Awesome ending also.  Definitely the most gruesome of the three.

SCORES


SAW: 9.5
SAW II: 8.0
SAW III: 8.7

The Karate Kid: Review by The Loser

THE KARATE KID
REVIEW BY THE LOSER




PLOT: 12 year old Dre (played by Jaden Smith) is a kid from Detroit who moves to China because of his mom's work. When he arrives, he receives massive culture shock and is bullied from a group of kids in school. He feels like he does not belong and says he hates living in China. One day, he gets back at the bullies by showering them with dirty water. They proceed to chase him through the streets and slums until they finally corner him. Finally, when Dre loses all hope, his apartment's maintenance man, Mr.Han, shows up and easily incapacitates all of the bullies. Dumbfounded that the maintenance worker is also a Kung-Fu master, Dre starts to train with the man for a Kung-Fu tournament coming up.


PROS: In the way this movie was made, I can't imagine anyone else playing Dre other than Jaden Smith. His cocky, conceited attitude is perfect for the role. I also liked how this movie was not an exact remake of the first film. Sure, the basic story template remains pretty much the same, but all the little details are different. Instead of taking place in the U.S, The Karate Kid was filmed completely in China, which I thought was great considering that a lot of movies that take place in other countries usually means being filmed in a random city in the U.S. 
The characters for the most part are likeable, though I felt that Dre's mom (Taraji P. Henson) has a little too much screentime for her own good. Jackie Chan is excellently cast as Mr. Han, and his talent shows. Dre's love interest Mei Ying, is likeable, albeit 1 dimensional. But of course, people see a movie called The Karate Kid for the fight scenes, not the characters or romances.  Those people will be pleased. Very pleased. Not only are the fight scenes in this extremely entertaining; you actually get the feeling that it is a real competition and you are rooting for someone. The sounds of punches and kicks are appropriately brutal, and the film includes some notable things form the original.


CONS: Parents bringing little kids to see this BE WARNED. The movie is surprisingly violent, especially in scenes where Dre is being punched in the gut by the bully. Children may be frightened. Other than that,  I can't think of any real bad things about the movie. 


BOTTOM LINE: A solid film from director  Harald Zwart. After seeing his other movies such as Agent Cody Banks and The Pink Panther 2, this movie seemed like it was from a completely different director. Fun movie that I recommend for everyone.


Is It Funny? Somewhat, though don't expect a laugh riot
Does it live up to the hype? Yes
Wait for DVD? No, watch it in theaters
OVERALL RATING: 9/10

Friday, June 18, 2010

SAW


this movie is about to guys that wake up in a room, completely confused how they got there. they each have no idea whats going on. they are both chained to poles across the room from eachother, larry, is much smarter then the other, adam. larry finds a tape in his pocket that tells him that if he doesn't kill adam by 6 o'clock they will both die. larry has a wife and a daughter. throughout the movie it shows flashbacks and explanations of how they got there. it also explains who jigsaw is, who is "supposedly" the man who has them locked up. they also find things in the room throughout the movie, such as ways to kill adam or things reveiling them selves to the other person, like photographs. the movie is very interesting
when i first heard about this movie, i thought it was just a load of blood and gore, with no real story. when i saw the movie, today, i was blown away at its amazing plot and excellent way of delivering information about the characters .although it had a lot of blood and gore in it it was very well made. i have all the sequels lined up on my queue for netflix. this is definetly a must- see movie.

rewatch value- 8.6
overall grade- 9.4

Toy Story 3 Review by The Loser

TOY STORY 3

Before I go into review, I just wanted to let out a quick comment.
You Will Enjoy This Movie Much More If You See The Prequels

Plot: The plot revolves around the toy's including Woody, Buzz, and the others. They desperatly try every day to get the attention of the kid who owns them, Andy. However, Andy does not play with them like he used to. He is 17 now and going off to college. Andy's mom walks into his room and tells him to sort out all his things. One group of things will go in the trash, the other group will go in the attic, and the other group will go with Andy to college. Andy gets put into the group that will go with Andy to college, and the other toys will go in the attic. However, Andy's mom thinks that Andy wants to throw away the other toy's so she puts the bag full of the toys at the curb for the garbage truck to pick up. Andy tries to get them out of the garbage bag, but the toys had already escaped and were in the trunk of the mom's car. Andy goes to the trunk and talks to them about how Andy didn't throw them away and the bags got mixed up, but the toys are still mad. Suddenly, the trunk closes and the mom takes all the toys to a daycare to donate them. The toys are the introduced to the other toys in the daycare, such as a giant bear who seems to be the leader and all his followers. At first the bear seems nice, but they later see his evil side. The rest of the movie revolves around the toys trying to get back home and escape from the daycare, where toddlers bite and chew on the toys.

PROS: Not one of those kid's movies full of burp jokes that cease to be funny once you grow a brain cell. Some of the humor in this movie is actually genuinely funny. Jokes never fall flat, (the theater I was in was full of laughing people, mostly adults) and the writing here is pretty good. Tom Hanks and Tim Allen deliver perfectly as their roles as Woody and Buzz Lightyear. One thing I have to say I really liked about this movie is that it is a good film for people of all ages. Parents going to see this with their children groaning because they think it will be another Shrek 3 will be proven wrong. For me, this movie had a great nostalgic factor (Toy Story and Toy Story 2  were among my favorite films when I was little). Scenes such as the one where Woody shows Andy's name on his shoe, just for some reason tapped my memory. Lots of little things like this just made the movie very enjoyable for me. Oh also I do not know how to stress this enough but I am so happy this movie has no burp/fart jokes.... those aren't funny in the least bit. Also, this movie seems to know how not to take jokes too far. For example, one of the jokes is that Buzz gets messed up and starts acting like an elegant Spanish speaking womanizer. The joke is done just enough that it is still funny, while not overdoing it. One last thing. This movie, actually can become pretty emotionally heavy, especially towards the end. If you cry during movies, you will during this one.

Cons: Hardly any cons. If I could nitpick one thing, it's that this movie just didn't seem to have that thing to it that the prequels did. That's probably only because I saw those when I was very little so they will always be special to me. Oh, and the scene at the landfill in this movie was a little, weird for a kids movie. ESPECIALLY when they are near the incinerator. I mean, it just seems silly quite frankly. I hated the scene with the incinerator. It was all dramatic and stuff and not just that but for little kids was probaly scary. I didn't like it at all. The movie took itself too seriously at this part.

BOTTOM LINE: A great film that will stay with you for a long time. People who have seen the first couple movies will enjoy this one a lot more. Watch it, definetly. It is proof that a movie does not need to have violence or blood or sex in it to be enjoyable.

Did it live up to the hype? Yes
Is it funny? Yes
OVERALL RATING: 10/10

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