The Room - 1/10
This one is either a 1 or a perfect 10 depending on what you watch films for. In my case, I watch film to be entertained, sure, but first and foremost, I watch it to see artistic quality. When it comes to The Room, it certainly delivers entertainment, but it's only because of its blatant disregard for all that makes film great. Quality acting, directing, writing, cinematography, production design, and editing, are all left behind in this tale of love, deceit, and I am honestly not sure what else. While it delivers many laughs, it is at its own expense, as the comedy is to be found not in the quality comedic writing, but in the acting and horrendous dramatic writing. A serious film, this one could be mistaken to be a comedy if you did not know better. Really, the best quality brings to the table is an additional running joke for you to have with anybody you watch it with. Thus, I recommend gathering a group of friends together, popping some popcorn, and sitting back and enjoying everything that makes The Room the film it is. Honestly the worst film I have ever seen, but probably one of the most entertaining and rewarding experiences of my life.
Birdman - 8/10
Birdman is one unique film. A riveting character study from beginning to end, Birdman features many, many positives that make it deserving of the acclaim it received. Firstly, the cinematography is impeccable, as are the editing and soundtrack. The acting from Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Naomi Watts, and everyone else, is great. The casting and the way the characters almost match the actors playing them was also an awesome little touch. The direction from Alejandro Gonzalez Innarritu is also very good, as is the writing. Ultimately, Birdman is a tale of a man trying to regain past glory and dealing with his own high expectations for himself. Though, to say I understand this one is far off from the truth. In fact, I found it quite confusing. All the same, Birdman is a great film that really succeeds on the back of its many strong features and touching romantic/familial elements.
The Sandlot - 6/10
Overall, The Sandlot is not very good. The writing is poor, there are largely only child actors who are decent at their strongest, the adults are poor actors, and it's generally just poorly made. However, The Sandlot is just extremely enjoyable for people of any age and really makes you feel nostalgic about childhood and those care free days of years past. Aside from that, this one offers little in the way of quality.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - 9/10
An incredible blend of romance, comedy, science fiction, and drama, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is an incredible film. Director and writer Charlie Kaufman continues to prove why he is one of the most talented people in Hollywood with this one as the direction and writing are both perfect. The entire cast is great, but especially Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, and Kirsten Dunst. The cinematography and limited special effects here are also pitch perfect. A meditation on love and memory, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a film that sees a man learn he can erase the memory of a girl from his past and forget they ever had anything and after learning she has done the same to him, he opts to go for it, but quickly discovers that he does not want to go through it.
spoilers Overall, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind argues that it is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all. Though love hurts and the end of it can leave you broken, the good memories and even the bad ones are part of who you are and, as such, are invaluable. If they just did not happen, you would lose a major piece of yourself. The nonlinear narrative of the story also poses an interesting question on the repeating nature of love and history as a whole. If we are unaware of it, we are doomed to repeat it. Finally, the film argues that though love may hurt and leave us with sad memories and "scars", it is ultimately worth it it, because of the good they can cause. end spoilers
As a whole, those reasons and more are what make Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind such a fantastic film and one that is sure to touch you in some way.
Dark City - 5/10
Dark City is a great film in some areas and a bad film in others. The strongest thing this one brings to the table is the concept. Entirely riveting in that regard, the world created by Alex Proyas is a very interesting one worthy of being evaluated further. The lighting and production design here are great and the acting all-around is stellar. So, then why did I not like it? Well, the writing left much to be desired. The way the story came together and was written took the concept and world created and made it seem boring and worthless. The good acting and direction was wasted on pretty poorly done dialogue. I still appreciate all the positives in this one and wish the end result was better, but sadly, it was not. As a whole, I was expecting a lot more in terms of thrills and drama from this one, but all I saw was a screenplay fumble a great idea and tear down the rest of the movie with it. The positives make this one worth watching though, which is more than you can say for a lot of movies.
Oculus - 8/10
Oculus certainly surprised me. The beginning is a bit slow as it starts to get into the swing of things, but the man, once it kicks in, it really kicks in. Absolutely terrifying, Oculus takes an interesting premise and knocks it out of the park thanks to strong writing, direction, special effects, and acting. It can get a little silly at times, but horror movies of this kind require some kind of "leap of faith" and while you can easily poke holes in a lot of things, it kind of defeats the purpose of watching the movie. Ultimately, horror is supposed to scare you and this one delivers those scares, as well as a killer mood that really sucks you in with a sense of dread that is evident throughout. I also hate gore, so I am glad this one had little to no gore and instead tried to scare you through its mood and effects, which is what I prefer. As a whole, I am not sure why the audience was so lukewarm to this one, since I found it really entertaining and quite well made. Overall, Oculus is a fun watch that couples scares with good production elements to make the ideal film.
Submitted April 14, 2015 at 03:51PM by KJones77 http://ift.tt/1DFCCfY
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