Posts Tagged ‘movie’

The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine is a 2011 book by Michael Lewis. It is one of his best, perhaps second only to Flash Boys. I reviewed it in 2014. I recently watched the film adaptation. Coupled with The Blind Side makes me look like I am on kind of Michael Lewis-film binge, which I only noticed afterwards.

It is a reasonably good retelling of how it happened in the book. Not that you can do it justice in a two-hour film, but it is a good summary. Occasionally one of the characters would break the fourth wall and introduce celebrities offering sarcastic explanations of how the banks fucked us.

Speaking of fucking, the one thing that draws my attention was the phone call between Mark Baum and Greg Lippmann. I’m sure in the book Lippmann actually told Baum how he was going to fuck him, rather than the watered-down reconciliation in the film.

The film even had a moral point at the end, discussing how basically nothing has changed and we are just repeating the same old patterns. And that is why I am moving to Iceland in two weeks…

The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game is a 2007 book by Michael Lewis. I reviewed it in 2014 and in another post discussed my thoughts about the story.

In 2009, it was made into a film, which, after a recommendation from someone, I finally got round to watching. It shares quite a bit in common with the book, while at the same time concentrating exclusively on the relationship between Michael and Leigh Anne.

That is the whole thing. It is not, to Elina’s relief, a film about American football. Nor is it, to my disappointment, a film about economic theory. It is a drama revolving around those two characters, with almost everything else cut out.

I thought having read the book helped me out on a number of occasions during the film. A lot of things made sense to me because I had read the details in the book. You would miss them if you had not, but maybe you just wouldn’t notice.

The Revenant is a film based on the Michael Punke’s novel of the same title. That in itself is based on the true story of someone called Hugh Glass in 1823, though exactly how much historical truth there actually is in it I am not sure. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio.

I was not aware of this when I watched the film. I did so off a recommendation, so I didn’t really know what it was about. I had seen the trailer during the screening of Star Wars: The Force Awakens but it is hardly enlightening.

The problem is that this leaves you without really knowing what is going on. There isn’t much in the way of a plot to follow. Some people get killed, some guy is injured, he doesn’t die, he somehow makes it home to take revenge on someone else. It’s not very clear.

Nor is the dialogue. The actors attempt to use authentic accents which makes it almost intelligible to Elina.

Some of it seems simply unbelievable. I can accept that you can survive being attacked by a grizzly bear. Elina questions whether you would have all your limbs in tact though. The survival after this is where it breaks down for me though. If he was too ill to stop his son being murdered, how did he then recover enough to find food? How did his leg heal so quickly? How do you spend so much time in a river running through snow-covered mountains, with no change of clothes, and not die of hypothermia?

All of that said, I did actually quite enjoy the movie.

The plot: A cure is found for mutants but it doesn’t go down well. Magneto begins to raise an army while Xavier tries to prevent all out war.

The good: Captain Picard and Gandalf in the first minute of the movie – what more could you ask for? Some shockers too.

The bad: There isn’t really anything wrong with this movie. But then it’s not the most amazing movie ever either.

Conclusion: It’s a fun movie, if you like X-Men then you will certainly enjoy this. As comic book franchise movies go, this is a very good one.

Rating

Reviewed by Greg. I gave this movie a 6.5 out of 10.

The plot: Simple water boy Bobby turns out to be an amazing football player and is drafted in to the college team as their star player though lacking in social skills or knowledge of the real world.

The good: Lots of cool people in it – Adam Sandler, Henry Winkler (you don’t get any cooler than The Fonze) and Fairuza Balk (much better known as Nancy from The Craft).

The bad: It’s not laugh out loud funny.

Conclusion: Another solid Adam Sandler comedy, it’s basically Happy Gilmore but with a different sport to the honest.

Rating

Reviewed by Greg. I gave this movie a 6.8 out of 10.

The plot: A portrayal of the changes kids go through when they hit the teenage years as Tracey’s relationship with her mother is tested as she decents into the crazyness of high school popularity seeking, boys, drugs and sex.

The good: It hits some key points and makes you feel good inside that you weren’t that bad.

The bad: It was fair criticism made when the film was released that some of the scenes are just gratuitous.

Conclusion: Very, very good film though a bit heavy if you are not into your deep dramas. It’s a fairly low budget movie so it will appeal to film geeks more though don’t let that stop you watching it, it’s far from a purely indie appeal.

Rating

Reviewed by Greg. I gave this movie a 8.5 out of 10.

The plot: JB goes to Hollywood to make it as a famous rock star. When he gets there he meets a man named Kyle Gass who agrees to teach him the way of rock and roll. They team up in order to steal the pick of destiny which transforms average musicians into rock gods.

The good: Tenacious D music, Jack Black rules, it’s funny.

The bad: Maybe a little low-brow, could have done with a few jokes that were a bit cleverer.

Conclusion: Fun movie, go see it.

Rating

Reviewed by Greg. I gave this movie a 7.1 out of 10.

The plot: John Bennett is your average guy – he works at a car rental company, has a small apartment and enjoys getting stoned with his real life teddy bear that magically came to life after he wished for it to when he was a child. Unfortunately, his bromance with Ted is starting to get in the way of his relationship with girlfriend Lori.

The good: Has some funny moments, plus Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis are always welcome additions. Good ending. Features Sam Jones, the star of Flash Gordon.

The bad: Doesn’t have as many funny moments as you would like. Could have been more Mila Kunis.

Conclusion: It was always going to be a big challenge when Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane announced he was making a movie, because we were all expecting great things. As it is, we got something reasonably funny, but I was hoping for better.

Rating

Reviewed by Greg. I gave this movie a 5.8 out of 10.

The plot: South Korean president Kim Jong Il plots to kill all of the world leaders in a huge terrorist attack only one group can stop them – Team America: World Police. From Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the guys behind South Park.

The good: Very funny, has some good social commentary.

The bad: Racist, low-brow humour, contains the over-obvious messages South Park does, generally just offensive.

Conclusion: If you are easily offended then stay well away from this. If you think South Park is funny then watch it. If your somewhere in the middle, it’s misable but don’t go out of your way to avoid it.

Rating

Reviewed by Greg. I gave this movie a 6.7 out of 10.

The plot: Tells the story of Mark Zuckerberg and how he founded Facebook.

The good: The geeks will love it, it’s a fascinating insight into the story of Facebook, even if it may not be in any way accurate.

The bad: Despite its reviewer’s claims of wide appeal, I’m not so sure how true that will hold.

Conclusion: It’s a film done well if you have interest in the subject, otherwise give it a miss.

Rating

Reviewed by Greg. I gave this movie a 5.7 out of 10.