Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Review: The Soloist

Powerd by IMDb

Title: The Soloist
Distributor: DreamWorks SKG (Paramount Pictures)
Director: Joe Wright
Writer(s): Susannah Grant (screenplay), Steve Lopez (book)
Staring: Jamie Foxx, Robert Downey Jr.
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, some drug use and language.
Running Time: 109 min (1 hr and 49 min)
Synopsis: A Los Angeles Journalist, befriends a homeless Julliard trained musician, while looking for a new article for the paper.

Other Reviews

Critics:

Roger Ebert: 2 ½ Stars
Michael Phillips: 2 ½ Stars
EW: Owen Gleiberman: B

Other Sites:

At The Movies: Ben Mankiewicz: Skip It, Ben Lyons: Skip It
Rotten Tomatoes: T-Meter: 60% (Fresh), Top Critics: 71% (Fresh), RT Community: 84% (Fresh)
Metacritic: Critics: 61 out of 100, Users: 7.2 out of 10
MRQE Metric: 64: (11.3% A, 40.6% B, 45.9% C, 2.0% D)
Yahoo Movies: Critics: B Users: B+

My Review

Source Material: Based on a true story of Nathaniel Ayers, a musician who becomes schizophrenic and homeless, book by Steve Lopez

Acting and Dialogue: A-, Robert Downey, Jr. awesome like usual and even with not being a Jamie Foxx fan, I give him kudos for pulling it off.

Art Direction: C, no high end art in the film but it was visual pleasing mainly because of the cinematography.

Cinematography: B+, good enough to please the eye

Direction: B+, Joe Wright hasn’t failed me yet add this to his already great movies of Pride and Prejudice and Atonement.

Sound and Music: A+, I love the music through out the film, Yeah for Beethoven

VFX: B, Dramatically driven therefore no FX

Overall: B+, for a critical stand point its not that good but in my opinion it is a good drama.

The Filmmaker's

BRYAN SINGER

17 September 1965, New York, New York, USA

Because M. Night has been an epic fail as of late I will move on to a more notable filmmaker, which would be Bryan Singer. Bryan Singer is known for being the man behind adapting the comic book series X-men to fit the big screen. He did a superb job on both X-men and X2: X-Men United. In my strong opinion if he didn’t leave the X-Men franchise to make Superman Returns then X-Men: The Last Stand would have turned out way better of a film. I understand you have to follow the money, especially in the movie business. Bryan is still in his prime and I think he has the talent to produce many more great films.

Biography

Filmography

They Shoot Pictures, Don’t They?

The Filmmaker's

M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN

6 August 1970, Mahé, Pondicherry, India

As of late M. Night has been a “failure” when comes to making good movies. I give the guy props though because he can write awesome stories. He can direct if their an effort that is put into just look at his early work like The Sixth Sense or even Signs. M. Night grows on you, for sure. I like how he uses the Hitchcock way of suspense as a scar tactic. I think I was more sacred of a dog barking and sprinkler system going of then I was a alien waling but or a “wolf grass monster.” Last I like how he interjects subtle religious undertones. ..very profound will at the same superficial, amazing right .

Biography

Filmography

They Shoot Pictures, Don’t They?

Movie Recommendation

Trailers Brought to You By: The Movie Box
If you don’t like my picks and want to know what’s coming out visit these site: Coming Soon, Film-Releases, Kerasotes, or Movie Web


The Best Movies for the Month of May

National: Star Trek or Angels and Demons
Indies: Brothers Bloom
Comedy: No Recommendation
Sci-Fi/ Fantasy: X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Family: Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
Animated: UP
Memorial Day Weekend: Terminator Salvation

Movies I Recommend to See in June

National: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Indies: Away We Go
Comedy: Year One
Sci-Fi/ Fantasy: Moon
Family:
No Recommendation
Animated: No Recommendation

Keep In Mind for the Month of July

National: Public Enemies
Indies: (500) Days of Summer
Comedy: Funny People
Sci-Fi/ Fantasy: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Family: G-Force
Animated: Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

THE FUTURE

2010

Alice in Wonderland
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I
Iron Man 2
The Last Airbender
Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Thor

2011

The Avengers
The First Avenger: Captain America
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II
The Hobbit
Spider-Man 4

Monday, April 20, 2009

Top 20 Movies I Want To See This Year

  • The Soloist
  • X-Men Origins: Wolverine
  • Star Trek
  • Angels & Demons
  • Terminator Salvation
  • Up
  • Moon
  • Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
  • Public Enemies
  • Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
  • (500) Days of Summer
  • Funny People
  • District 9
  • Inglorious Bastards
  • 9
  • Toy Story (re-release in 3D)
  • Where the Wild Things Are
  • The Lovely Bones
  • Avatar
  • Sherlock Holmes


Review: Dragonball Evolution

Powerd by IMDb

Title: Dragonball Evolution
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Director: James Wong
Writer(s): Ben Ramsey (screenplay), Akira Toriyama (novel))
Staring: Justin Chatwin, Yun-Fat Chow, Emmy Rossum, Jamie Chung, James Marsters
MPAA Rating: Rated PG for intense sequences of action/violence and brief mild language.
Running Time: 84 min (1 hrs and 24min)
Synopsis: The young warrior Son Goku sets out on a quest, racing against time and the vengeful King Piccolo, to collect a set of seven magical orbs that will grant their wielder unlimited power.

Other Reviews

Critics:

Roger Ebert: NA Stars
Michael Phillips: NA Stars
EW: Adam Markovitz: C-

Other Sites:

At The Movies: Ben Mankiewicz: NA, Ben Lyons: NA
Rotten Tomatoes: T-Meter: 14% (Rotten), Top Critics: 33% (Rotten), RT Community: 38% (Rotten)
Metacritic: Critics: 45 out of 100, Users: 4.2 out of 10
Yahoo Movies: Critics: NA Users: C+

My Review

Source Material: Based on Dragonball manga / anime

Acting and Dialogue: C-, umm yeah...could have been way better, very cheese

Art Direction: D, can’t call this art

Cinematography: D, nothing that appealed to me

Direction: C+, had descent pace, and the director has good style.

Sound and Music: C, good for a pseudo-action/adventure

VFX: D, scene way better FX before.

Overall: C, very flawed movie but somewhat entertaining, so rent it at least.