Tag: Melissa

0

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

0

Kazed reviews: The Amityville Horror(2005)

I won't lie. I've seen this film about 4 times. Not sure why, it isn't even that good. One thing that makes me come back to this film as many times as I have, is Ryan Reynolds performance. The film's based on some supposed 'true events' that occurred in Amityville, Long Island, New York. I'm not sure how much truth there is to this film, but claiming the film is based on true events is a pretty bold claim. The linked website has an extensive look at the killings and the case and the bleh de bleh. Anyway, THE FILM. Chloe Grace Moretz plays Chelsea Lutz, the youngest girl of the family, and even back then, she did a great job, one could even say she did better than she did in Kick Ass (Some scenes, anyway). There was this one scene where she had just come down from the roof and she was being shouted at by her on-screen mother Melissa George (Triangle, 30 Days of Night), and she (Moretz) did a great job of emoting the emotions. The emotions that she emoted were commendable, although she should have had more screen time. She deserved it, dammit. Her and Reynolds took the film in terms of performance in this film, because really, the film had no other purpose. I saw this film, not for the film, but for the cast, I suppose. Although it was an interesting adaptation of the 'real life' events, it had some pretty questionable stuff happening despite it's 'based on true events' label. Whatevs, 3/10 for the film, 6/10 for the performances. So that's like a...5.5? Yeah. 5.5/10 Kazed.

0

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.

0

Triangle (2009) review

Synopsis: The story revolves around the passengers of a yachting trip in the Atlantic Ocean who, when struck by mysterious weather conditions, jump to another ship only to experience greater havoc on the open seas. Triangle is most probably one of the most confusing films I've seen a long time. With it's incessant repetition of scenes, it was certainly a film which had it's share of twists and-well, that's really what the film was: A large twist. Not that this was necessarily  a bad thing, It was like watching a feature-length episode of lost. Every so often I found myself scratching my head in complete confusion, it was difficult to grasp what was happening, by three quarters into the film, the 'time loop' was getting quite tiresome, but really effective. The swift transition from a seemingly 'realistic' film to something completely out of the ordinary was really quite impressive. Although it may have been a little predictable at times, but ultimately delivers a unique experience, something which is certainly lacking in films nowadays. Continuity was a huge factor here, and I think it was certainly well executed and put together almost flawlessly. Ultimately, Tireangle Triangle is a decent horror/psychological thriller film, although it may get repetitive at points, definitely a film which was a good watch. 6.5/10 Kazed