2 Guns (2013, Baltasar Kormákur)
This is the first collaborative work of Mark Wahlberg and Denzel Washington and I should say that it is one of the best action movies of the year but I wouldn't go as far as that however I admit that this movie is one entertaining film and I had a good time watching it. Washington and Wahlberg exploded with great chemistry when they first appeared on screen and it's clear that they are having fun making this movie. Their performance felt very natural but the villain's while they were menacing and cold felt a bit unnatural and a bit of hammy and unrealistic, I liked Bill Paxton in this movie though. Another thing that I liked in this movie is the cinematography, the colors just pop out and while I was watching I was feeling the environment of the setting in each scene. I can't say the same for the story of this movie though because it is basically the same outline from all other action films that came out in the last ten years. Nothing memorable story-wise but like I said it's good to see Wahlberg and Washington together.Grade:
Machete Kills (2013, Robert Rodriguez)
When I watched the first installment of Machete, I was disappointed by it because when as watching it, I didn't feel the sense of fun that Rodriguez have shown in his films. In this installment, I basically had no expectations for this movie and I still didn't like this one, sure this movie is not meant to be taken seriously but it is still an awful movie. The acting was bad, the only good performance that I found from this one is from Danny Trejo and Mel Gibson who really embodies the personification of a psychotic nerd with a penchant for reenacting movies. Having said all of this though, it still had some redeeming qualities with it like the over-the-top action scenes which really fits how this movie plays out and I liked the fake trailer for their third installment AND for some reason I just want to watch that.
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jOBS (2013, Joshua Michael Stern)
Steve Jobs is renowned as one of the greatest innovators of all time and I believe that, he is a man of ideas and through this film that quality of him was shown and also in this film he was shown as a frustrated but a hardworking individual and in my opinion it was portrayed pretty well by Ashton Kutcher and he definitely showcased what is probably one of his best performances of his career. Despite my praises of this film though, I found this film to be quite tasteless and dull. This movie focused more what is probably the most negative trait of Jobs and that is he is an a**hole and this movie indeed showed it, I hated Jobs in this movie. It would be much more effective for the movie if they strayed away a bit from that factor and showed some scenes which will make you care for Jobs a bit more so that to balance out the character but as I previously said, the opposite happened. In this movie, there was only a couple of performances that truly shined to me, first is Kutcher and the next is Josh Gad as Wozniak, in my opinion he was great in the role, he fits like a glove and dare I say it, he was better than Kutcher. In the end, this movie didn't really do anything to me to make Jobs be a good role model, because this movie showed that he isn't, sure you will admire his ideas for the "future" but that was it, nothing more, nothing less.
Grade:
Odd Thomas (2013, Stephen Sommers)
Anton Yelchin is one of the most underrated actors today and this movie just showed how good and adaptive he can be. His American accent was really great, his emotions were just crispy and you can feel the emotions that he is going through whether it'll be shy, awkward, sad and scared and his delivery of lines was also quite good because it fits with the emotions that he's showing. As for Stephen Sommers, his last outing was G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra and that film was just abysmal, it was so bad and boring that I slept through it in a number of times, having said that though, I thought he did a pretty good job with this Dean Koontz adaptation. This movie reminds me of Constantine but a thousand times better and a lot more entertaining with likeable leads. Sure the story needs some polishing but the acting, the great VFX (despite the small budget) and the solid action more than makes up for it.
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The East (2013, Zal Batmanglij)
I'm not the biggest fan of espionage movies because sometimes it bores me or sometimes I just lose interest in it, however, this movie changed that. Every minute in this movie was well written and well acted by Brit Marling. This is the first time I've seen Marling act and boy oh boy she is just so damn talented, she is a great actress and I wish to see more of her because she was so believable on screen, her mannerisms were believable and did not looked forced and the way she shows her emotions were so natural and you can hate her, you can be sympathetic with character and at times you will also be confused like the character. I will say this with the utmost positivity, Brit Marling does a phenomenal job at manipulating the audience's emotions. As for Skaarsgard and Ellen Page, they were both good in their roles even though in my opinion there was something lacking in their characters. Moving on to the story, it was gripping and nail-biting and I also liked the usage of eco-terrorist because it just plays out perfectly with the issues today. Overall I really liked this movie and thought that it was well-crafted.
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Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013, Thor Freudenthal)
I wasn't a big fan of the first film but I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it even though it felt like a rip-off of the Harry Potter franchise only with a much lighter tone and also the lead characters were quite good and you can actually care at some scenes. However, upon watching this second installment, it was just a snoozefest and acting was pretty bad except for Lerman and of course Nathan Fillion (who I wish would have had a much bigger role). The progress of the story was slow and felt very thin and also with very little quality to it. The VFX was also not as good as the first one because in this one, it is pretty noticeable that it was CGI. Even though I'm disappointed with this one, I'm still gonna give the third one a shot (if it ever comes to fruition).
Grade:
Riddick (2013, David Twohy)
Before watching this film, I was only able to watch Pitch Black and I liked that one but I just couldn't get past 20 minutes in Chronicles of Riddick. So upon watching this, of course my expectations were quite low but the end result is that I just loved this movie, I had such a great tie watching it and thought that it was one of the most bad-ass movies this year. This movie clearly has the influence and tone of Pitch Black and I'm glad they went with that because it just adds more tension to the environment that they set. What I also liked in this movie is that there is a division between the three acts like the first act was about Riddick getting stuck in an island and the second act was when the bounty hunters started appearing on the planet and the last act is how they will battle the alien creatures and escape the planet. To me, that was done well by Twohy and it served a great purpose for the quality of the film. Diesel of course still owns as Riddick and the rest of the cast was good especially Katie Sackhoff who was just a complete bad-ass in this one.
Grade:
The Internship (2013, Shawn Levy)
I liked the talents that was surrounding this movie, the duo from "Wedding Crashers" is back with Shawn Levy directing this comedy, sounds good right? Well the result was anything but that, while the duo of Wilson and Vaughn was still great, this movie just recycles the idea of old people who doesn't know how to use computers. To me it was a washed up idea that is trying to be relevant nowadays. There was a lot of cliches in this comedy and over time it just gets tired and you can predict what is about to happen, it's all about the underdogs vs. the front-runners and in movie world we all know how that is going to turn up. The only thing that redeems this movie for me is the appearance of Will Ferrell, that guy just makes me laugh every time I see him on screen.
Grade:
Trance (2013, Danny Boyle)
Danny Boyle is hot off the heels of the success of 127 Hours back in 2010, just to share this, I love that movie, from the acting down to the music, everything was perfect for me. However, Trance is all about thrills, twist and hypnotism, firstly the cast involved is just talented and they did a great job with their roles especially Vincent Cassel who is just a phenomenal actor in my book. I liked how this movie was set-up and how they did the first and second act, it was gripping and you just keep guessing and guessing on what's about to happen, the third act is a different story though, in my opinion it did a 180 and just completely changed it's tone which was quite bothersome and felt a bit out of place. Also the music that Boyle chose to use on the last act also helped to let the movie change it's tone, Boyle should have kept the tone that he did in previous acts so as to make the whole film linear. Despite my problems with the last act though, there's still a lot of great thing to like in the 3rd act like the twists and the imagery and for some reason this movie reminded me a lot of Trainspotting.
Grade:
We're The Millers (2013, Rawson Marshall Thurber)
This movie just delivered on the laughs right from the start and in fact it's one of the most funniest comedies this year! Jason Sudeikis was really funny in this movie even though he's your resident douchebag, his lines were smart and his delivery was sharp and you will just laugh from this character. Jennifer Aniston, Emma Roberts and Will Poulter all had great chemistry towards each other and they worked very well with Sudeikis' character, it was just a laugh riot from the get-go. I also liked the villainous turn of Ed Helms, he was this nonthreatening antagonist that you will just love to hate, he was simply hilarious in the role. The set-up of the story was also quite good and it also worked with the cast and the overall comedy that this movie went for. I really liked this movie and am glad that a comedy from this year made me laugh hard 'cause let's face it, this year is not a good year for comedy.
Grade:
Well this concludes the first part of the seventh installment of Qweekly Reviews, stay tuned for the second part. In the meanwhile, I hope you have a great time watching movies!
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