Knight and Day movie review

Somehow, Tom Cruise's movies always entice me. I always anticipate a blockbuster, knowing that he's one of the most famous people in the world. He always did brooding characters... and that's what I'm used to whenever he's on screen. Unfortunately, I foolishly expected the same thing.

(from http://blog.80millionmoviesfree.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/watch-knight-and-day-online1.jpg)

Yeah, it's obviously an action movie, but not quite I expected. It's also a comedy -- an info that failed to register into my brain as I watch it. Maybe that's one reason why I feel like the movie was inconsistent in some parts and the excitement for the scenes were barely there. And yes, this maybe why some comments from the internet weren't really kind; they didn't get it that this was supposed to be an action-comedy, but's not their fault, the movie failed to emphasize it. The action scenes were exhilarating enough for entertainment. The comedy was definitely there but couldn't pass its mediocrity. The first parts were a bit boring, the middle was just ok, the end was at times confusing but a little over the top. Although I gotta hand it to Tom, he looked really young and the hair cut made him a little swoon-able for the ladies. Cameron..well, she's just Ok but I can't help it stare at her wrinkles (oh man! I'm a meanie! >_<)

Rating:

6.8/10 

Probably wouldn't watch it again for a long time.

Tom did better comedy in Tropic Thunder.

I'm Speechless... (some minor spoilers)

As typical action-loving viewer, I normal would pass up a chance to watch a dreary looking movie. But in my very most meaningful moment, there is a rare chance that I would bite what that movie's trailer has offered because it shook my mind to the point that I will be hyped to see it like I would when I come across a potential, action-filled blockbuster. I don't why these rare moments happen to li'l o' me, but I will gladly choose to embrace it because it hasn't let me down yet. As you would notice, this is not the typical nonsense that I always write, but like I said, this is a rare moment.

My other chances of ignoring my usual tastes were the opportunity of watching Becoming Jane, Juno, Doubt, Valkyrie and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I didn't make a review about them because my interests for them [or rants] didn't last long. Now I'm reviewing this one because, I feel that it aroused me enough for it to be engraved in my mind.

I'm not gonna tease you anymore. The movie I'm talking about is The King's Speech.

 

(poster from http://www.latinoreview.com/images/stories/the_kings_speech_movie_poster.jpg)

The story is about King George VI and his struggle to speak publicly. Now this guy is had it really bad when it comes to public speeches. In every speech that he was obligated to do, he stuttered, and it was far for what I expected from royal prince. I realized that stuttering can be the worse royal problem. To solve his problems, Prince Albert (future King George, a.k.a. "Bertie" for short), hired an unlikely speech therapist... well, i think not really licensed as a therapist. They were off with a rocky start, but as they work together to eliminate his worst fears, their relationship turned from pure professional to a long-lasting friendship.

(from http://www.hollywoodnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/the-kings-speech-colin-firth-600x250-wd1.jpg)

I first saw Colin Firth (who played King George VI/ Prince Albert) in the Bridget Jones' Diary movies and he didn't gave me a good impression back them. I heard he was "dreamy" when he did Pride and Prejudice , but I still ignored him because, he didn't look dreamy for me in the first place [haha! sorry Mr.Darcy]. When I saw him in Mama Mia, I was thinking "Hmm... there's something very intriguing about this guy." In this biopic flick, he's quite different from what I expected. He showed an impressive range of emotions that most actors would have trouble to express in front of the camera. But in every emotion, you can still see his character's pain, shame and frustration underneath, which was, at times, adorable. He impressed me this time and I will certainly be cheering for him in the Oscar Awards. 

(from https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1OqjkMaPfgxM-xMUfHK6WRLfD1K_kHUq4QclDYCq5_opkVFwgfmPLKpCDYi-Ok5DHZHD_3fVwAQ3-Gik2MeO7O7ylyNcK-Ky3mBl-R_uISEm15ZwmW4oWEbQmBkw_aEqgW8FbBA7GAUyR/s1600/kingsspeech-geoffrey-rush-450x182.jpg)

Now, Geoffrey Rush (who played Lionel Logue, the speech therapist)... I always see him as Capt. Barbosa from The Pirates of the Caribbean movies, whenever I see him on screen. It's good for me to see him to play this kind of character 'cause I haven't see him in movies other than POTC and  Taylor of Panama. In this one, he was very witty but not so over the top. Both Firth and Rush work really well on the screen. They were pretty believable. 

(from http://i.indiewire.com/images/uploads/i/KingsSpeech.jpg)

Helena Bonham Carter (who played Queen Elizabeth, King George VI's wife) was acting queen-ish like what you'd expect for royals, but never fell short of anything. She delivered the lines perfectly and she was in her most gentle manner as the queen. 

(from https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH3EhMiqGbVY3C9c99bGWEK8ay_gM0K-Um14HnaMDcd0L-DRXkpLaWm6-p0XofoVbq0ZfE2DErV2x5bFjBevOiUeP_WssWkpkoQ9UV1YHZarNFyz0jt6AiGYBFzlLcLZtkMrkUxoqmsIsX/s1600/kings-speech-guy+pierce.jpg)

Somehow, Guy Pierce (who played Edward VIII, George VI's older brother) annoyed me. His acting was very much like what he did in The Count of Monte Cristo. He was a brat! I really wanted to punch him when he teased Firth's character by mimicing the stammer. But I guess, that means the acting was effective. I can see that he was a little bit on the antagonist side, but never quite reached villainy. The only thing that bugs me was that Pierce looked younger than Firth which was contrary their charater's age.

Now the story telling was superb. I couldn't describe it in any other way. The scenes were simple and yet they show some of the most important people in the history of the UK.Supprisingly, there were some humor in the scenes, specially at the beginning parts.

Another great thing about this film is that it showed the world and pressures of a person who stammers. Mostly ridiculed by peers, people who stutter don't get heard a lot. The King's Speech is an opportunity to show the world that stuttering ain't an easy problem. It can haunt a person for the rest of their lives.

(from http://www.getthebigpicture.net/storage/pics/09/kinggeorge6.jpg)

The real King George VI

I really like this movie, and I hope to watch it again with a movie buddy. I liked it maybe because I can relate to the king. I never stammer when I talk normally but I have great fear of speaking in front of the public and therefore have tendencies to create something close to "2 minutes of silence" in between paragraphs or words.  I would never volunteer to do it and I would most likely to try to avoid it. Whenever I was forced to do it, I was always shaking, worrying about the outcome or my mistakes. Watching this film really inspired me to build myself up and to be confident in front of people. 

Warning!: There were some tear-jerker scenes that really hit me... really deep, so you might as well have some tissues with you (you'll never know whether it will make you shed some tears or not) lol!.

Even though it was just a movie about a man and his speech problems, it was one of the best I've ever seen. I definitely recommend it.

9.5/10

No extensive CGI

No explosions.

No love scenes.

Just a beautiful story.

Simple does really mean better, cause it's nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars.

2011's Oscars... I can't wait!!!

Quick reviews... I watched TOO MANY

Ok... I just like to finish all my reviews TODAY.. so I'm keeping it short.

Let's warm up with an animated movie that I happen to watch on TV.

(from http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51w6IKygGEL._SL500_.jpg)

Based on a book of the same name.

Judging by the poster, you can tell it's a creepy movie... guess what.. IT IS CREEPY.  And it was perfect timing when I watched it -  almost midnight. Well, it didn't gave me nightmares, but some scenes are somewhat disturbing for a kid to watch [dunno.. maybe your kid is tough, if he went through this without any scary thought from him] 

Characters - just OK (well developed and designed)

Story - excellent (despite being scary)

Overall:

7.8/10

NEXT!!!! --------------------------

(from http://gossipteen.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Zac-Efron-Chalie-St.-Cloud-Movie-Poster-PHOTOS.jpg)

 Also based from a book. (saw numerous times in a bookstore hehe... but I'd rather watch the movie)

Hmmmm... this is a hard one to judge (dunno why).

The story kinda fell a little short; there were aspects of the story that weren't explained enough. The characters are satisfactory, I wouldn't complain about them. The Acting is good; Zac Efron did a good job, but there were times that he almost acted over the top, but good thing he kinda controlled it. The scene near the ending was a bit cheesy... something you would expect from a drama involving ghosts.. haha. Just like the feeling it left me when I watched the ending of Ghost (patrick Swayze and Demi Moore movie) - too mushy.

Overall:

7.5/10

NEXT!!!!!!!! ------------- imagine I'm screaming with a screachy voice HAHA!

(from http://www.moviepostershop.com/equilibrium-movie-poster-1020192806.jpg)

A friend recomended me this one. (she's a Bale head.. hehe)

This movie shows a promising concept and imagination BUT, you can tell that it had very short budget. Thus, crappy setting design and crappy script (well only a little bit). BUT the style and action scenes are watch-worthy. At least I enjoyed it. The gunkata was close to epic but it wasn't realistic enough. Martial arts with guns sounds cool but the makers didn't make it look cool enough to have a great reaction similar to the Matirx movies.

Overall:

6.9/10 The action scenes saved this movie from having a 5 from me.

NEXXXT!!!! ---------------- wow.. I can really scream with words...

(from http://www.examiner.com/images/blog/EXID9207/images/Kick-Ass_movie_poster.jpg)

It was on my list to watch.

This one REALLY disappoint me. At first it was fun, but it got a little gross and boring. The "boss fight" was just OK, but KickAss' entrance was a little lame and corny (Only a LITTLE). The only good thing about this movie is Hit Girl - she's awesome, but her profanity was a little disturbing (I was wondering how the actress' parents approve of this). and of course Big Daddy was good too, although he did look a lot like Batman there.

Overall: 

5.4/10

Next!!!!! -------------- getting tired of screaming here

(from http://www.moviepostershop.com/grown-ups-movie-poster-1020538943.jpg)

Been wanting to watch this for months.

This movie had no story but was TONS of FUN! I've always expected less when it comes to Adam Sandler movies. Let's face it, most of them felt like "it was just for fun." I felt the same way here too, but a little different. To make things clearer, it felt exactly like this -- Adam Sandler's family (with friends) vacation video. The jokes were good. It was definitely good entertainment.

Overall:

7/10 I had to base it on the comedy.

next.... ------------------------- getting pretty lazy here haha

(from http://media.daemonsmovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/YOU-AGAIN-Movie.jpg)

My movie buddy wanted to watch this.. I gave it a try.

Story - very underdeveloped... I think the writers got lazy and focused on the actresses' dynamics and chemistry.

Acting - Good.. Kristen Bell surprised me (I didn't know she can do good comedy)

I was really glad I got to see Odette Yustman again on a movie. I've been wanting to see her acting on a different genre. She did OK; she can land more roles in the future. Jamie Lee Curtis and Sigourney Weaver were fun to watch, but I wanted more "fight" between them. 

Overall:

7.1/10

LAST!!!!!! -------------- finally!.. I'm tired

(from http://photogallery.filmofilia.com/data/media/873/unstoppable_poster_01.jpg)

Out of movies in this post, this is the best one!

Story - Simple but very engaging to watch. 

Acting - Superb.. Denzel Washington HE-LLO!!!

This was very realistic. So realistic that it proved that Tom Cruise's Helicopter stunt in Mission Impossible was truly impossible LOL! Now I'm scared of trains... maybe watching thins isn't a good idea for my fears.

Overall:

8.7/ 10

NOTE: all my reviews are based on my opinion.. so DON'T JUDGE MEHH!!!

"That's a lot of hair..." (has some spoilers)

(from http://static.reelmovienews.com/images/gallery/tangled-poster_409x599.jpg)

I actually liked this one. Very traditional and yet different from all those Disney princess movies. 

Traditional because...

• It has the life or death situation type of climax like most of the Disney classics
• It has a princess OBVIOUSLY!
• It has can make you fall in love with the love story... but more importantly with the cute guy haha!
• It has original but traditional Disney-esque songs.
• It has fun-lovin' sidekicks

Different because...

• It's a 3D animated film
• The leading guy is not a prince or any aristocratic/prominent guy.. or even a social misfit... more like a thief... a very cute thief.. *melts*
• It showed blood, which makes it "darker" than the usual Disney films, but I'm not really sure if it's the 1st time they showed blood. (well, I'm not gonna tell who bled.)

Rapunzel reminded me of Ariel from The Little Mermaid 'coz she was a trapped character. The character who lives in her known environment but eager to find out whats "out there".

Flynn Rider... one thing I can say: I wish he was real.

I can notice that the makers of this film toned down the comedy a bit. I got used of the Pixar style where comedy or wackiness dominates the film. but in Tangled, only the 1st half has most of the fun scenes.  The pacing and the format of the story is quite similar to Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast. In the end, I see it as a fun love story.

Somehow, the story and the scenes were kinda... short. I feel like it's missing some piece or something. The only thing that I didn't like is that it didn't let the viewers explore more of the kingdom and the palace... I'm just saying I would really like to explore it, dunno if it's the same with other people.

P.S.
The horse is freakishly smart... and the chameleon is CUTE!!!

Score:
8.5/10

Hanna Trailer

Just wanna share it... I'm excited!!!

The OK , The BETTER, and the AWESOME (some spoilers)

Ok... I'm just going to make this quick. I've been watching some recent movies lately and I feel I need to make my reviews soon before I forget all of these flicks.. It's not like I have short-term memory loss or something...

The "OK" flick

(from http://www.27pitches.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/the-expendables.jpg)

I was hyped before I watched it. Now that I did, I'm not really impressed with the story. For me, the story is more important than the action. Although action scenes can really blow you away, in the end the story always gets the people buying more tickets (but this is not always the case, after all, it really depends on the taste of the viewer). With The Expandables, despite having mind blowing action scenes, it really disappoint me with the story. Besides being poorly written, it so many cliches that aren't interesting anymore. I also hate how they didn't make Jet Li's fight scenes into "fair" ones. Jet Li's character fought Dolph Lundgren's character twice, but loses on both fights. To me that seemed to be a little... unfair.

Things I liked to make it not the worse flick. I like how they made it realistically bloody. I'm also a sucker for guns, so.. I liked the artillary. I also like how they showed some of the "killer effects" of the jiu-jitsu moves when tried with utmost power (finally without the boundaries of the UFC tournament). I also liked the cameo of some of the action greats!!! -- for me that was a historic moment. WILLIS, STALLONE and SCHWARZENEGGER.. In ONE scene! so EPIC!

hmmm... I give it..
7/10

Next is the "BETTER" flick...

(from http://www.moviepostershop.com/red-movie-poster-1020556403.jpg)

Now, this one I really like. Some retirees kicking some butt.. not bad for a story, and not so boring to watch either. The action isn't so mind blowing like The Expendables but it was realistic (which is always a plus for me). Bruce Willis was in his talkative self in the movie -- he was just fair and bearable. Helen Mirren -- her character is so fun! I like how she sported her character as the nice old lady on the outside and the tough killer on the inside. John Malkovich was all the wacky-genius type with the right sense of humor -- he alone can convince me to give this movie a higher rate. Morgan Freeman... good acting; his character's fate made me sad.. :(

I give it...
8/10

Last but not the least.. The "AWESOME" flick!!!

(http://www.moviepostershop.com/inception-movie-poster-1020551542.jpg)

At first I was confused, but it didn't take me long to understand the concept of the movie. To be honest, I was afraid to watch this movie 'coz I might not like it. The trailer made it feel like it was a psycho-brain-exercise, which can either be really awesome or really bad. but Inception kinda pulled it off, but it just needs more info in the beginning. Some folks might be awfully confused. I know 'coz my movie buddy (Dad) was snoring his way out of the viewing time (that can mean 'confused', 'not interested', or 'it sucked!!!'); He didn't get to finish it. I think I was the only one in my family who actually liked it. LOL. Anyway, it was kind of disturbing that in his recent movies (Shutter Island and Revolutionary Road), Leo always has the role of a husband that had a wife who killed herself. In Inception, his role was no different Is it a type-cast? hmmm.. too early to tell.

Anyway, the movie was artsy and imaginative. I was impressed with the anti-gravity fight scene. I liked the whole dream world thing where you can make a living out if it hehehe! Somehow, it seemed like a better version of The Matrix. I wouldn't say it was a rip-off; It just had the similar concept, but in a different medium. Gladly, Inception pulled it off more nicely than the Matrix Trilogy. I also like the setting: very present, not futuristic at all. Marion Cotillard really annoyed me. She keeps popping in and out of the scenes and ruining everything for Leo's character. This only means that she is an effective actress. The whole cast was great, I couldn't complain about them. Ellen Page was awesome. The story was Awesome! I wasn't at ease letting go of the ending; It left me hanging and unsatisfied. It kinda sends the messege of "Use your own imagination".

I rate it...

9/10

Wasn't boring as I expected.. AWESOME!!!