Bullet Movie Reviews

I've been kinda watching a few movies over the last few weeks. Here are some random thoughts on the ones I remember watching.

More after the jump.

DRIVE

This movie. WOW.
I saw the trailer for this once a while back. And I knew then that I needed to see it as soon as possible. I'm still thinking about this movie a day later. It's just well done cinema. This is a movie where everyone involved is on their 'A' game; writing, directing, acting, sound, lighting, and the list continues. I think what makes this so good is that it has a real indie sensability to it. The director, Nicolas Winding Refn, makes great visual choices, and the colors in this are fantastic. The pallet reminds me of the film 'Push', very saturated. Besides the color though, the real reason I liked it is because it's an action movie, but it has a slow burn to it. You'd think this is a bad thing and that it would be boring, but you're really sucked in right at the opening. The Tension in some scenes keep you almost literally, on the edge of your seat. This is an action movie, but like I said, it's a slow burn. So when the violence does happen it just seems that much more gruesome. It made me keep an eye out for Refn's other films, because movie making like this is why movies are made.

The Actors in this are all superb. Ryan Gosling & Carrie Mulligan are great as the leads. They make you really root for them. The supporting actors, Ron Pearlman, Christina Hendricks, Bryan Cranston, and Albert Brooks are all fantastic. Just fabulous acting all around, with little character quirks.
The music in this is such a strange choice, but it works so well for the film. It Uses a bunch of 80's sounding synth-pop along with a great score. I am currently listening to it now, and highly recommend it.
You should go see this in the theatre, you won't be dissapointed. I liked this film so much, that I really want to watch it again, and I just might.

Super

Super, a new independent film by James Gunn, the director of the cult classic, 'Slither'. I was strolling through Target the other day, and it was on sale for ten bucks. That's a gamble I can take, plus the cast was pretty great. I had heard some mixed reviews, but went in with low-ish expectations. This film is funny, dark, violent, and weird. At some points in the film I questioned what kind of movie I was watching. The premise of the Film is almost that of the movie 'Kick-Ass', basically, what if regular people became super heroes. While 'Kick-Ass' takes it a bit to the ridiculous, this movie keeps it pretty real. That's not to say that this movie isn't ridiculous, there is a bit of that to be found. Actually, there is a bit of everything in this film, genre wise. There is action, romance, sex, comedy,violence, satire; so it's like life.

The cast is great. Granted, the leads of the movie, Rainn Wilson & Ellen Page, are some of my favorites. Wilson is perfectly cast as the protagonist schlub who... decides his purpose in life is fighting crime. He really conveys a broad spectrum of emotions, and makes you feel for him. The highlight of the film, for me, anyway, is Ellen page. Her character and the way she portrays her is fantastic! She is ultra hyper, ultra violent, and adds another layer of comedy to the movie. Liv Tyler plays Wilson's lady in the movie, and is part of the motivation for him. I'm not sure if I've seen her in this type of role before, but she is pretty good. The villain of the film is Kevin Bacon, who is usually great, and is pretty fantastic here. You can tell he enjoys working on this material, and it shows in his character. The rest of the cast is a sort of who's who of actors, all bringing their A game. The only down side is I wish some of them had more screen time.

The feel of the film is pretty lo-fi, complete with shaky camera. That bothered me at first, but after a while it didn't phase me. Costumes are pretty good, and look like some regular people made them in the real world. There are some computer effects in the film that play with the lo-fi super hero aspect. The climax of the film is exciting and action packed while being hilarious. There is a turn that I didn't expect, but it does work with the tone of the movie. Overall, I enjoyed the film, but would Recommend it with a disclaimer of " it's kinda weird, and pretty dark '. I'm sure, some people will think this movie is a piece of crap, and I suppose i could see that. For me, however, after getting into the tone of the film think it works in what it's trying to accomplish. I think for some people that this film could be a cult classic, and I would totally be one of those people.

Lawrence Talbot the Wolfman

So, I finally got to see 'The Wolfman' and I liked it. I love the old Universal Monsters, so I may be biased. The film looks great has a very Universal/Hammer feel to it. Lots of smoke and grey toned sets. The costumes are great. The CGI is okay, there are some time where it looks good... and other times not so much. But really they aren't that bad. I did like all the actors. Benicio DelToro is a favorite, some of the emotional scenes, I felt could have been better. Anthony Hopkins kinda acted on auto pilot, but i still liked his performance. Emily blunt was good, maybe she could have had more to do? Hugo Weaving is always a good villain. The ending was a bit... meh. They leave elements open for a sequel, that's being done a bit too much these days, but all in all I had a fun time. So, yeah, recommended.

Machete!

Machete... a film that grew out of one or the fake trailers that played on the Grindhouse flicks. when i saw the trailer i totally wished that it was real. fastforward a few years and here we are.
the movie does a good job of inserting all the scenes that were in the trailer. overall i did like the movie, but there was something missing and i cant put my finger on what it was. the movie was over the top... but i think i wanted it to be more over the top. i mean there were ridiculous things that i've never seen before, but it still felt like it was missing that final piece to make it truly awesome.
The cast in this was great. each player bringing their own style to the table, and its always fun to see actors go to town on dialouge like this. danny trejo is awesome as always and knows exactly what to do with it. he's like a mexican ron perlman!
there was alot of action in the film, however being a rodriguez flick i guess i was expecting more and that may be what IS missing. the whole story revolves around the border, fences,and mexicans. so there was alot of 'splainin' being done, so that may have been why the action was cut back a bit.
....i saw lindsy lohans breasts. which i wasn't expecting...buuuut i wasn't surprized either (not bad). it just seemed a bit like a last ditch effort twards her career revival. i did enjoy that she was willing to go all out, as it were, but slightly forced would be the opperative word.
all in all, i did have a good time, and laughed a whole bunch. of course thats with me being hispanic, and living in south Texas. i was able to get all the jokes. i just wonder how this played in a less hispanic audience...or if other viewers saw machete as a bad guy, with them rooting for the cops to kill all those trespassing mexicans.
So, this flick is recommended if youre in the mood for something a bit over the top & doesn't take its self too seriously.

P.S. OOOOHHH, i almost forgrot! my friend eddie was an extra in the film so every time i saw him in the background it was pretty hilarious. plus its a good drinking game!