In A Sentence:
While I consider Daniel Day-Lewis to be a phenomenal talent (and this performance is absolutely no exception), I nearly choked on the whole "Epic feel" of this film, as it is consistently and rudely shoved down the viewer's throat without giving you a chance to decide its epicness on your own, and I simply can't decide if the lack of insight into the main character's motivation was a sorely obvious oversight in writing and directing, or if it was an intensely profound theme on the soul-less cavity of greed.
In Three Words:
Citizen Kane??? Hardly.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Charlie Wilson's War: The Movie
In a Sentence:
If even a tenth of movies that came out were this well cast, well written and well directed, I wouldn't have needed to start a blog to motivate me to watch more films.
In Three Words:
Hanks. Enough said.
1-10 Rating: 9 (maybe 9.25)
If even a tenth of movies that came out were this well cast, well written and well directed, I wouldn't have needed to start a blog to motivate me to watch more films.
In Three Words:
Hanks. Enough said.
1-10 Rating: 9 (maybe 9.25)
Monday, July 28, 2008
Lemony Snickets: A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Movie
In a Sentence:
If you're expecting a charming adventure tale to occupy your children before bedtime, you're better off dousing their popcorn with cayenne pepper, spiking their ginger ale with 151 and plopping them down in the dark with The Shining.
In Three Words:
Not for kids.
1-10 Rating (for adults): 7
1-10 Rating (for kids): 3
If you're expecting a charming adventure tale to occupy your children before bedtime, you're better off dousing their popcorn with cayenne pepper, spiking their ginger ale with 151 and plopping them down in the dark with The Shining.
In Three Words:
Not for kids.
1-10 Rating (for adults): 7
1-10 Rating (for kids): 3
Amargosa: A Documentary
In a Sentence:
It's long on billowy, time-lapse desert sunsets and tiptoeing tumbleweeds, but thankfully, even longer on inspiration, admirable individuality and the hard-earned success that can occassionally come with creative integrity.
In Three Words:
Inspirational. Hack DP.
1-10 Rating: 8.25
It's long on billowy, time-lapse desert sunsets and tiptoeing tumbleweeds, but thankfully, even longer on inspiration, admirable individuality and the hard-earned success that can occassionally come with creative integrity.
In Three Words:
Inspirational. Hack DP.
1-10 Rating: 8.25
The Jane Austen Book Club: The Movie
In a Sentence:
In spite of Amy Brenneman's skillful navigation of the most lackluster material imaginable, if Jane Austen had known her work could inspire such gynocentric, unrealistic, forced-happy-ending pap, she'd have pulled a Virginia Woolf.
In Three Words:
Insulted my intelligence.
1-10 Rating: 4
In spite of Amy Brenneman's skillful navigation of the most lackluster material imaginable, if Jane Austen had known her work could inspire such gynocentric, unrealistic, forced-happy-ending pap, she'd have pulled a Virginia Woolf.
In Three Words:
Insulted my intelligence.
1-10 Rating: 4
Juno: The Movie
In a Sentence:
Though the story was fresh and the characters were organic and genuine in brief, inconsonant pockets, I would have known the woman who wrote this contrived hipster dialogue was a tattooed suicide girl even if I'd never seen her "not-so-goth-that-I'm-no-longer-pretty" tabloid pics.
In Three Words:
Too much hype.
1-10 Rating: 7.5
Though the story was fresh and the characters were organic and genuine in brief, inconsonant pockets, I would have known the woman who wrote this contrived hipster dialogue was a tattooed suicide girl even if I'd never seen her "not-so-goth-that-I'm-no-longer-pretty" tabloid pics.
In Three Words:
Too much hype.
1-10 Rating: 7.5
Introduction & DISCLAIMER to One Sentence Movie Reviews
I happen to believe that when a movie can be described in one sentence, it's probably a pretty bad movie.
But whether the movie was good, bad, or just so-so, a clear opinion of it should fit to the left of one little period. Unless, of course, it was exceptionally good... or bad.
This blog has a two-fold purpose for me. I don't go to the movies often enough, so this is a way to motivate me. Since I want to be a screenwriter, I should have an ever-expanding knowledge of film and what *I* think makes a movie good or not.
I also sometimes have a tough time succinctly voicing my opinions, of which (you will likely quickly learn) I have many. By the time I feel like I am accurately explaining my point of view, I sense that my audience has already begun to lose inter...
HEY!! Over here! FOCUS!
So, whether you agree or not doesn't really matter, but go ahead and leave comments regardless. I like disagreeing with people, and I like passionate conversation.
I've also decided that when a movie rates at 1.5 or lower, or 9.5 or higher on my scale, it warrants more than one sentence. These will be the only times when I veer from my one-sentence format. Because anything that is that amazing or that pathetic needs to be expounded upon.
DISCLAIMER: I know that no matter how negatively I respond to a film, those involved in its making are creatively far more brave than me. They have taken risks and put in a LOT of hard work to make their visions possible.
I am not delusional, pompous or bitter enough to think that just because I am able to create a bumper-sticker summation of my opinion that it even puts me in the same league with them as creative visionaries -- if I want to be in the same league with them, I must take the same risks and put in the same hard work and expose myself to the potentially hurtful or damaging opinions of others. I don't have any misconceptions about that truth. No matter how badly I may bash a film, don't think for one second that I think I could do it better. But someone can.
Even when I don't enjoy a film, I can always at least walk away from it knowing how and why I would have done it differently, and that knowledge is an added and blessed bonus to the price of a theater seat or my netflix subscription. So even when I diss a movie you may find to be your ultimate viewing experience, try not to get your panties in a bunch.
It's just an opinion, for chrissake. If we all agreed on what made a movie great, we'd only have one, and then people would stop acting like they're interested in what Warren Beatty is bleating about, and Brad Pitt would have to pull his El Pollo Loco chicken suit out of mothballs.
Oh, and Letterman would probably get cancelled. Which would really suck.
But whether the movie was good, bad, or just so-so, a clear opinion of it should fit to the left of one little period. Unless, of course, it was exceptionally good... or bad.
This blog has a two-fold purpose for me. I don't go to the movies often enough, so this is a way to motivate me. Since I want to be a screenwriter, I should have an ever-expanding knowledge of film and what *I* think makes a movie good or not.
I also sometimes have a tough time succinctly voicing my opinions, of which (you will likely quickly learn) I have many. By the time I feel like I am accurately explaining my point of view, I sense that my audience has already begun to lose inter...
HEY!! Over here! FOCUS!
So, whether you agree or not doesn't really matter, but go ahead and leave comments regardless. I like disagreeing with people, and I like passionate conversation.
I've also decided that when a movie rates at 1.5 or lower, or 9.5 or higher on my scale, it warrants more than one sentence. These will be the only times when I veer from my one-sentence format. Because anything that is that amazing or that pathetic needs to be expounded upon.
DISCLAIMER: I know that no matter how negatively I respond to a film, those involved in its making are creatively far more brave than me. They have taken risks and put in a LOT of hard work to make their visions possible.
I am not delusional, pompous or bitter enough to think that just because I am able to create a bumper-sticker summation of my opinion that it even puts me in the same league with them as creative visionaries -- if I want to be in the same league with them, I must take the same risks and put in the same hard work and expose myself to the potentially hurtful or damaging opinions of others. I don't have any misconceptions about that truth. No matter how badly I may bash a film, don't think for one second that I think I could do it better. But someone can.
Even when I don't enjoy a film, I can always at least walk away from it knowing how and why I would have done it differently, and that knowledge is an added and blessed bonus to the price of a theater seat or my netflix subscription. So even when I diss a movie you may find to be your ultimate viewing experience, try not to get your panties in a bunch.
It's just an opinion, for chrissake. If we all agreed on what made a movie great, we'd only have one, and then people would stop acting like they're interested in what Warren Beatty is bleating about, and Brad Pitt would have to pull his El Pollo Loco chicken suit out of mothballs.
Oh, and Letterman would probably get cancelled. Which would really suck.
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