Tag: leo

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Kazed Reviews: Kevin Smith's Red State (2011)

Synopsis: Set in Middle America, a group of teens receive an online invitation for sex, though they soon encounter fundamentalists with a much more sinister agenda. I've waited a long time to see this film, and I finally got a chance to see it. No no, I've waited a long time to see a Kevin Smith film, and I'm glad I got a chance to see it. This was undoubtedly much more different than his past exploits, and it didn't feel like a Kevin Smith film(If you've seen any of the pre-Zack and Miri films, you'll get it). The concept of the film is interesting enough, but I couldn't help but feel a slight bit let down. It contained elements to make the film as entertaining as it could be, like guns, action, preaching about the Bible, and gratuitous violence. Okay, maybe not the Bible part, but the inclusion of it gave it a sense of purpose. The reference to the folks over at the Westboro Baptist Church was a nice touch, and the differences between them and the Cooper Family in Red State are.. well, guns. Smith himself has stated that he drew inspiration about the infamous Kansas family, and the resemblance is uncanny. Anyway, John Goodman, Michael Parks and Melissa Leo all played their respective roles beautifully. Just them being on screen for a minute and you can tell they're all season veterans in this business. Michael Parks portrayed the sinister pastor with great aplomb; from the moment he was at the altar to the moment he was holding the firearm, every moment he was on screen it was clear to me that nobody could have played this part better than Parks himself. Likewise with Goodman, his role as ATF Agent Keenan was obviously a conflicted character, more so toward the end, but his monologue in the court room after the big scene between the government agents and the Cooper family was a beautifully scripted scene, and the emotion that Goodman delivered was phenomenal. Red State was a fast-paced, violent-but-beautiful addition to Smith's long legacy of cult classics, and a film which could possibly be his strongest, though not my favourite. Will I be buying the DVD/Blu-ray? Hell yes. Performances: 8/10 Plot: 8/10 Visuals: 7/10 Dialogue: 9/10 Overall: 8/10

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Kazed Reviews: The Fighter (2011)

So when I finally got round to watching The Fighter, I wasn't sure what to expect. Everyone had been saying how great it was, and it was getting Oscar nominations n shit, and was being generally favoured by critics. So, naturally, I had to see what the big fuss was about. The film was basically about "Irish" Micky (Mickey?) Ward and his half brother Dicky something, and their rise to fame n shit. Clearly, Mark Wahlberg had undergone plenty of training in order to play this part, which is why he got his ass handed to him a billion times when he was fighting these guys. Anyway, that aside, Christian Bale once again had shined in a film full of great talent. Melissa Leo and Amy Adams had done great jobs playing their roles as mother and girlfriend, respectively, and really added another dimension to the film. On one side you had the struggle of Wahlberg's character trying to get on top, then Bale trying to make his 'comeback', but the relationship with Ward's mother was something which was great, I mean, the emotion that Leo literally spewed onto the screen was nothing short of amazing. Wahlberg, though...Damn. I mean, why? He was great in The Departed, but why all this Happening-type performance? Anyway, great film, deserved it's Oscar wins, and definitely wouldn't have been the same with a different cast. Wahlberg may have a few shit spells, but we know he's capable of more, and for that, I forgive him. 7/10 Kazed.

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Shutter Island review

Synopsis: Drama is set in 1954, U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels is investigating the disappearance of a murderess who escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane and is presumed to be hiding on the remote Shutter Island To be completely honest, I really wasn't expecting much from this film, but of course, if the past has taught us anything, it's that trailers aren't to be trusted. With the incessant twists and psychological mindf*%@s, Shutter Island proved to be a pretty impressive film. There was a steady pace to the film, and I didn't find myself getting impatient waiting for something to happen, but instead found myself trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Looking back at the film, the ending was quite foreseeable, but wasn't obvious enough for me to realise throughout the duration of the film. The film had several 'abstract' scenes intercut with a lot of the dialogue, something I really thought worked beautifully well in a lot of the scenes, with the subtle volume of the dialogue, and the silence of the overlaid scenes. The flashbacks that DiCaprio was having were very nicely shot, really well done, and weren't explained all at once; something which I felt contributed to the factors which kept my interest. Leo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo as the two 'cops' didn't seem to have a lot of chemistry together, although the reason for this becomes apparent, there wasn't a lot of relationship between the two, DiCaprio just seemed to saunter through the film with Ruffalo tethered to his backside. DiCaprio, however was quite astounding. I was taken by his incredible emotionally-driven performance, especially in the closing minutes of the film. I wasn't as taken by Ben Kingsley's performance as the institution's proprietor, although he had his shining moments (notably the final 10 minutes or so), DiCaprio overshadowed Kingsley. Not by far, but overshadowed nonetheless. In any case, the positives about Shutter Island far outweigh the negatives, with it's gripping story and an intense performance by (some of) the cast, and interesting psychological thriller with sudden twists and an ending which, in all honesty was simply adequate. 7/10 Kazed