Opinion as a Movie-freak

Nederlands hier ...

Genre : SF
Country : USA

Cast :
Richard Grieco : Sam Crowe
Adrian Paul : Frank Baum
Bali Rodriguez : Lea

Director :
Thunder Levin

Summary

A group of refugees from Earth trying to survive on a hostile alien planet.

Genre : Horror
Country : USA

Cast :
Johnny Pacar : Julian Miller
Ambyr Childers : Riley
Christian Slater : Frank Lyons
Toby Himingway : Quinn

Director :
Michael Nickles

Summary
When a group of high school students dig into their town's infamous past they unwittingly unlock an Evil that corrupts and destroys them. Possessing its victims through video playback and using them for malevolent purposes, it closes in on one specific soul, threatening to expose the town's deepest, darkest secret.
My opinion
I expected a really crappy movie, but ultimately it wasn't so bad.
Not very original and classifiable under the teen-horror movies (Friday the 13th and associates) in which teenagers doggedly continue what they are doing without following good advice and thus get into trouble. And this mixed with a kind of "The Ring" phenomenon. Slater also appears as some sick peeping pervert. I guess he has a shortage of money since he's joining a lot of low-budget movies lately.

A few nice horror images but a total lack of scares.
In other words, a moderate horror that won't make you shiver.
My rating 4/10
Links : IMDB

Genre : Comedy
Country : USA

Cast :
See the complete list here

Director :
Elizabeth Banks, Steven Brill, en others here

Summary

My opinion
Everybody is speaking about the "WTF"-level this movie has.
Yep, I had that too after a while : "What The Fuck" am I actually watching ....
The fact that such a star cast joins this is twofold (I think):

1. They probably are paid a disgusting lot of money for their momentary cooperation
2. If completely unknown nobodies would be in this movie, it wouldn't even get in the cinema. In other words the marketing department knew what it was doing.
If it was the intention to bring anarchic absurd humor on the screen, than this wasn't a real big succes. "The Young Ones" is pure anarchism and "Monty Python" is an epitome of absurdity. This was just a cocktail of vulgar poop and pee humor, laced with sexual trivia. From Halle Berry's bloated hooters to the testicles on Hugh Jackman's throat, the iBabe with Richard Gere and the prose about the pubic hair of Kristen Bell. The fart and flying shit scene in "Dumb and Dumber" was hilarious. Here it was just ... uh ... plain shit.
Why the hell did I watch the complete movie ? Because I was wondering if it might be better in the following sketch or the quality would even drop more. The bloopers in the credits was a high point.
PS. I must admit that for a moment a smile appeared at the Tampax advertising

Genre : Comedy/Fantasy
Country : USA

Cast :
Jennifer Garner : Cindy Green
Joel Edgerton : Jim Green
Cameron 'CJ' Adams : Timothy Green

Director :
Peter hedges

Summary
After receiving bad news from a fertility doctor, Cindy and Jim Green try to bury their dreams of having a child by writing out all the great traits their child would have and putting them in a box in the garden. During a freak storm in the middle of the night, they awake to find a boy named Timothy, with leaves growing from his ankles, standing in their kitchen calling them mom and dad. Cindy and Jim are thrown into the midst of parenthood and over the coming months, Timothy will teach them more than they could have imagined about being parents and raising a child, no matter how he comes into their lives.
My opinion
Ouch Walt Disney ... and yes I immediately had a feeling that this would be a pedantic family movie with a whopper of a moral. An enormous tearjerker which will give me a flashback of 40 years ago with my sniffing sisters on a pouffe staring at a similar funeral mood movie.
But to be honest ... this film charmed me in a subtle way. The beautiful environment in which it all happened, the woods and the swirling leaves, the typical local farming village with a dying pencil factory and Pencil Museum, the social ties between the people, the snobbish irritating family and the chilly in-an-ivory-tower-living manager. This along with the lovely-looking Timothy who is super cuddly with his twinkling eyes and who appears in the lives of Cindy and Jim, a childless couple that while enjoying a glass of wine in the evening make a list of the ideal son, put it in a cigar box and plant it between the vegetables. From there, you know step by step what's going to happen, what's expected and what's the outcome ... but for once I didn't give a shit, because I enjoyed it. A family movie that surely deserves a place in the gallery of "The better family movies ever". A smile, a tear and a sad but ultimately happy ending.
Well, the advantage of getting older is that you also can appreciate such movies.
The best and most funny moment was the prediction that Timothy, as a abominably bad soccerplayer, would score the winning goal, came true ... except on the wrong side. My rating 7/10
Links : IMDB

Genre : Crime/Drama
Country : UK

Cast :
James McAvoy : Simon
Rosario Dawson : Elizabeth
Vincent Cassel : Franck

Director :
Danny Boyle

Summary
A fine art auctioneer mixed up with a gang joins forces with a hypnotherapist to recover a lost painting. As boundaries between desire, reality and hypnotic suggestion begin to blur the stakes rise faster than anyone could have anticipated.
My opinion
An intense beginning, a middle that makes you sprawl in your sofa and a finale where you're tossed back and forth by an accumulation of twists. That's just about the brief summary that I can make here. The visual way of conveying and the atmospheric soundtrack aren't turning this into a real high flyer eventually.
I thought it was a mediocre movie eventually. And I really don't like a movie to end up in such a way that you can view and interpret it in different ways. To me that's like modern art. Eventually you see something you think you should see, or what someone thinks it is, using an obscure description with many expensive and intellectual expressions (annoying posturing for me).

Genre : Horror
Country : UK

Cast :
David Hayman : Sawney Bean
Samuel Feeney : Hamish MacDonald
Jean-Paul Jesstiece : Judd
Will Sutton : Jake

Director :
Ricky Wood

Alternative title : Lord of Darkness

Summary
Sawney, a religious psychopathic killer drives a devilish Black Cab, stalking the towns and cities, abducting unholy souls for his communion of sacrifices. His insane family of inbred killers Judd and Jake, use their agility to wreak slaughter and havoc among their victims, who are then dragged to Sawney's lair in the hills, where they are raped, tortured and cannibalised.
My opinion

Without much expectations I started watching this movie and I must say in the end I was somewhat surprised. Indeed it's an acceptable horror-slaughter movie but it's not necessary for me to see it again.
It may sound rather disappointing and droopy, but I still enjoyed watching this movie. It looked pretty real sometimes and it wasn't that abominably bad. Feeney gave a convincing performance as the hard liquor boozing journalist and Hayman was a convincing Catholic butcher. The religious bias I found amusing ("body and blood of Christ" philosophy).
I really wished that the plot twist wouldn't be the one I had in mind, but eventually it was anyway. Bit sad because it was a little bland.


My rating 5.5/10
Links : IMDB , Moviemeter

Genre : Thriller
Country : USA

Cast :
Malcolm McDowell : The Employer
David Dastmalchian : James Harris
Paige Howard : Sandra Turner

Director :
Frank Merle

Summary
Five highly qualified applicants interview for a coveted job with the Carcharias Corporation, a powerful conglomerate whose business practices are shrouded in mystery. On the night before the last round of interviews, they are all kidnapped and drugged. The next day, they wake up trapped together in a locked room without any hope of escape. Soon the true nature of their situation is revealed when they receive a phone call from the mysterious CEO of Carcharias, known only as The Employer. He informs them that they are about to experience the final interview, but it's not at all what they were expecting.
My opinion
Can someone explain to me where the thriller part was? At least I have found the fast-forward button on the remote control.
Put 5 people in a closed room with the following task : who leaves that room alive gets a decent job offer. And after that you can see how creative a person can be with a belt, a stilettoheel or a piece of a mobile phone. 
This was an incredible empty and dismal movie. The acting was so tragically bad you could start crying. Even the crying part of Willig was so pitiful. The rest of the candidates were third-rate actors to me. Very bad performances. Worst of all, the fact that McDowell joined this made me speachless. From "A Clockwork Orange" to this monstrosity ... how low can you fall. Probably a new trend in movie land: put a known actor on the DVD box so that there is a minority who'll do the effort to watch it. I also fell for this marketing trick.
Something I have learned from this film: I'll be very suspicious when I'm applying for another job.  I give this one a 1/10 just for myself because I did the effort to push the "Play" button !


My rating 1/10
Links : IMDB

Genre : Drama
Country : USA

Cast :
Brittany Snow : Carley
Christian Serratos : Lena
Evan Ross : Dre

Director :
Aimee Lagos

Summary
Inspired by true events, 96 minutes is the story of four young lives slammed together in one shocking moment. The events of the night in inner city Atlanta, Georgia, unfold in real time as we inter-cut between a carjacking and the beginning of that day, following four separate kids - who they are, where they come from, and the seemingly innocuous decisions that lead them towards a life changing conclusion. With no adults to guide them, they're left on their own to try to survive not only this night, but the complex reality of the world they live in.
My opinion

A realistic look at the sometimes hopeless life for some in the U.S. It's typically again a story of a boy out of the slums who WANTS to do it in another way, but through circumstances ends up on the wrong path again.
The camera work didn't bother me. It's now standard that images have a twitch. It seems as if the cameraman constantly works with a hangover. It annoyed me lots of times in the past and eventually I have reconciled myself to it.
The acting usually wasn't that bad nor excellent. The various story lines with flashbacks interwoven throughout made it sometimes difficult to follow, but eventually all the pieces of the puzzle fitted.

Not bad, but not top.


My rating 5/10
Links : IMDB

Genre : Crime
Country : USA

Cast :
Ving Rhames : Renzo Wes
Robert Patrick : Jules Dupree
Pam Grier : James Womack

Director :
Ryan Combs

Summary
It's the 70s and criminal boss Renzo and his crew wreak havoc across the streets, leaving bodies wherever they go. Detective Womack with partner Dupree will stop at nothing to bring these thugs to justice, even if it means breaking the law.
My opinion

The PC-Game Kingpin with a huge Starsky And Hutch mood.

Rhames brilliantly plays the violent criminal who, with the help of his staff (his soldiers), tries to conquer as much as possible terrain in an American metropolis. This role is made for him with his wardrobe-like body. There is some violent slaughtering of rivals and hanging out in his strip club acting like a tough guy. But that's it. There's nothing else to see in this film. The action scenes are limited to simply shooting at a short distance, at each person who's standing in the way.
The cop who wants to tangle Rhames with the help of a vengeful female officer (complete with a microphone-like afro hairstyle) is of course, who could have thought this, has a relation with Rhames's sister.
The end is miserable and the whole is a thrown together meaningless story. The situation with Rhames in his cell with shadowy figures could have been left out. It wasn't really of much use.
The most ridiculous scene is when Womack is told to murder Dupree and then that guy rushes towards the other one like a chicken without a head, and ends up on his own chainsaw ... Horrible poor and terrible invented. They should sack the guy who came up with that stupid horrendous idea.


My rating 3/10
Links : IMDB

Summary
The Lunar Base Ark is hit by a meteor shower and has severe damage. Colonel Gerard Brauchman sends Ava Cameron to repair a wing that is full of carbon monoxide. Dr. Lance Krauss warns that the gas may cause paranoia and hallucinations. Ava brings a sample of the meteor for analysis and Dr. Krauss finds that there are spores attached to the meteor. Ava accidentally cuts her finger in a sample but she hides the cut from the doctor. Soon Ava gets pregnant and delivers an alien offspring. Brauchman and Kraus believe that Ava is delusional. The offspring bites the crewman Bruce Johns and produces a clone of him. 

Genre : SF
Country : UK,Canada

Cast :
Christian Slater : Col. Gerard Brauchman
Brendan Fehr : Dr. Lance Krauss
Amy Matysio : Ava Cameron

Director :
Roger Christian

Genre : Action/Thriller
Country : USA

Cast :
Christian Slater : Robert
Donald Sutherland : Ambassador Ashdown
Elika Portnoy : Vicky

Director :
Isaac Florentine

Alternative title : Assassin's Bullet

Summary
Field Agent Robert Diggs walked away from his career in the FBI and accepted the position of Cultural Attaché in Sofia, Bulgaria for one reason: to escape the memories of his wife's death for which he blames himself. However, when an unknown vigilante begins killing high-priority terrorists from America's Most Wanted list, the FBI and CIA request he takes on the case.
My opinion

Slater and Sutherland in the same movie ... that couldn't be bad.
It was worse than bad. What a terrible B-movie this was.
For those who want to learn belly dancing, buy that movie. There's plenty of tutorials in.
There are also some really ridiculous blunders: a VHS tape that catches fire after being thrown into boiling water. A teacher who exposes half her buttocks showing a tattoo there. Afterwards she appears to be the belly dancer, but where did that tattoo go?

I had a flashback into the '80s when you could rent such crap movies by the hundreds at your local VHS rental store.
Better forget about this real quickly

My rating 0/10
Links : IMDB

Summary :

Friends get together for a night out in a bar. Life is wonderful as a couple share their proposal moment. When, suddenly strange things start to happen. Loss of power. Throughout the city. No phones, no lights, just darkness as the friends try to cope. Then an invasion from UFOs, big ones! The sky is darkened by the ships of the alien invaders. The takeover of planet Earth has begun as our the five friends struggle to survive amid the chaos and calamity. Will love survive the terror?

Genre : SF
Country : UK

Cast :
Simon Phillips : Robin
Bianca Bree : Carrie
Sean Brosnan : Michael
Jean-Claude van Damme : George

Director :
Dominic Burns

Summary
In the year 2044, a man working for a group of killers called "Loopers" (they work for the mob and kill people who are sent blindfolded back in time from the year 2074 by their bosses) recognizes a victim as himself. He hesitates resulting in the escape of his older self. 

Genre : SF
Country : USA

Cast :
Joseph Gordon-Levitt : Joe
Emily Blunt : Sara
Bruce Willis : Old Joe
Pierce Gagnon : Cid

Director :
Rian Johnson