Matt Damon, check. Steven Soderberg, check. The guy from Quantum Leap, check. Recipe for success is obvious. Or is it? I listened to a movie review podcast the other day about The Informer! and it had a lot of good things to say about it. So I figured I would give it a try.
This movie is about a price fixing scandal in the early 90s. Based on a true story.
The good: I've mentioned before that I like movies that are based on true stories. I am fully aware that they are only BASED on true stories, not the actual truth. But more times than not, I end up looking up the info to find out the true story. This is how I learn history... There are a few moments that are really funny--unfortunately very few. Damon's character is very interesting...You love him, then you hate him, then you feel sorry for him, then you don't. But I won't say why.
The bad: Don't be tricked like me. This is a semi-comedy. But I found that this had a much more serious tone than I was prepared for. I think I laughed out loud maybe 2 or 3 times. I found the acting to be mediocre at best. It may have been intended, but the FBI agents (Quantum Leap guy and Talk Soup guy) are extremely over dramatic and they ended up being more annoying than anything. Then there is the wife, I know her as the crazy ex-girlfriend in Two and half men, who is supposed to be normal, but carries the same crazy vibe as the sitcom. And finally, I must reiterate...not funny.
DVD rental at best.
Rating: 5.5 out of 10
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
...wish they would stop with the WWII movies. (Defiance review)
IMDB: 7.3
Released in 2008, Defiance tried to ride the James Bond train with Daniel Craig. I remember seeing the trailers for this in the theaters and thinking "Oooooh...that should be good!" Silly me.
The good: I think that the acting was good. Daniel Craig and Liev Shreiber (sp?) had a good chemistry, which you would expect out of those 2. Ummm...
The bad: I don't know, I think I've just seen this story too many times. Only this time, it happens in the forest. Good guys hide from Nazis. Nazis come after good guys. Good guys kill Nazis. The end. The trailers made this out to be an action packed movie...not so much. There were a few fire fight scenes, but nothing special.
This is an easily forgetable movie. I'm not saying I hate it, I'm just saying you dont need to waste your time with it.
Rating: 6 out of 10
Released in 2008, Defiance tried to ride the James Bond train with Daniel Craig. I remember seeing the trailers for this in the theaters and thinking "Oooooh...that should be good!" Silly me.
The good: I think that the acting was good. Daniel Craig and Liev Shreiber (sp?) had a good chemistry, which you would expect out of those 2. Ummm...
The bad: I don't know, I think I've just seen this story too many times. Only this time, it happens in the forest. Good guys hide from Nazis. Nazis come after good guys. Good guys kill Nazis. The end. The trailers made this out to be an action packed movie...not so much. There were a few fire fight scenes, but nothing special.
This is an easily forgetable movie. I'm not saying I hate it, I'm just saying you dont need to waste your time with it.
Rating: 6 out of 10
Thursday, September 10, 2009
...like some prawns. (District 9 review)
IMDB score: 8.6
Whats weird is that I didn't hear anything that supported this. I either heard that it was "ok", or it "wasn't bad", or even a "it suuuucked."
Peter Jackson did not direct this. As deceiving as the trailers may be, he only produced it. However, fun fact of the day. The director, Neil Blaumkapmejflaidjfpa (not sure), was supposed to direct the Halo movie that fell through. So, Jackson gave this guy $30 million to make whatever he wanted. This is the movie that resulted.
The good: I love the story. Aliens get stranded on Earth. South Africans restrain the aliens to a certain area but are allowed to colonize and stay. Tensions rise. I think this is was well adapted (I believe it is based on some other story), and as the trend continues, it is a "realistic" view of how it may be handled in present day. And I like how this movie was filmed in the manner of a documentary. It is a quick and interesting way to give all the background information and allowed them to jump quickly into the story. Although not a comedy, there was a fair amount of comedic value...especially as the aliens pick up the habits of the slums. There were a couple of nods to video games in the alien weaponry (Gravity Gun from Half Life 2) which is always fun for us nerds.
The bad: I don't think I'm a fan of the alien design used. Not a fan of the ending.
This was a good movie, stop hating.
Rating: 9 out of 10
Whats weird is that I didn't hear anything that supported this. I either heard that it was "ok", or it "wasn't bad", or even a "it suuuucked."
Peter Jackson did not direct this. As deceiving as the trailers may be, he only produced it. However, fun fact of the day. The director, Neil Blaumkapmejflaidjfpa (not sure), was supposed to direct the Halo movie that fell through. So, Jackson gave this guy $30 million to make whatever he wanted. This is the movie that resulted.
The good: I love the story. Aliens get stranded on Earth. South Africans restrain the aliens to a certain area but are allowed to colonize and stay. Tensions rise. I think this is was well adapted (I believe it is based on some other story), and as the trend continues, it is a "realistic" view of how it may be handled in present day. And I like how this movie was filmed in the manner of a documentary. It is a quick and interesting way to give all the background information and allowed them to jump quickly into the story. Although not a comedy, there was a fair amount of comedic value...especially as the aliens pick up the habits of the slums. There were a couple of nods to video games in the alien weaponry (Gravity Gun from Half Life 2) which is always fun for us nerds.
The bad: I don't think I'm a fan of the alien design used. Not a fan of the ending.
This was a good movie, stop hating.
Rating: 9 out of 10
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