williambendavis-933-218958 Reviews

Kick-Ass 2 (2013)

Such a terrible sequel

[3/10 · 4 August 2015]

What a complete and utter mess of a film. It's all over the place and is over saturated with characters and plot lines. Why they didn't cut like 3 or 4 of these plot lines and like 10 characters I don't know. Had they done that, they could have focused on the action and the relationship between Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl. That is all I wanted from this movie. But no. They had to waste my time with Hit-Girl having a dilemma about being Hit-Girl, Hit-Girl being a normal, stereotypical teenage girl, Kick-Ass dicking around with some random superhero group, and so much other crap like that. None of it was necessary. Unfortunately, they left in all of it and we are left with this cluttered, unfocused crap. Such a disappointing movie. Definitely avoid.

American Hustle (2013)

Filled with great characters placed in a fun, tense story

[8/10 · 4 August 2015]

This was a refreshing movie for me. The most recent movies I've seen have ranged from "meh" to "awful". I'm glad to say this was actually a really awesome movie. The film has a magnificent ensemble cast that was brilliantly directed by David O. Russell. Every character, no matter whose side they were on, was memorable and a blast to watch. From Christian Bale and Amy Adams as con artists, to Jennifer Lawrence as a delusional, overly dramatic, clueless wife, and to Bradley Cooper as a FBI agent seeking fame and glory. All of them were awesome characters. Thankfully they were placed in really good plot line. Watching these people scam politicians and gangsters is fun, tense, and exciting. I'm really happy to say this film exceeded my expectations and I say go see it.

Pain & Gain (2013)

Absolutely awful

[2/10 · 4 August 2015]

Well I saw "Michael Bay's most thought-provoking film to date" in the Rotten Tomatoes critic consensus, so I thought, "maybe he actually made a good movie for once". Oh how dreadfully naive and silly I was. This is movie is awful. Absolutely awful. In this film, we see Sir Michael Bay attempt to tackle the dark comedy genre while seemingly having no knowledge about what makes these types of movies good. The characters in your movie have to commit despicable acts while still remaining likable. Characters in Tarantino movies come to mind. Jules Winnfeld, Vincent Vega, Mr. Blonde, Django, etc. Michael Bay got the despicable acts down, but he forgot to make the characters likable in any way. I hated every single one of them. I wanted them all to go to jail. Never once did I want them to succeed. You cannot make dark comedy work with terrible characters doing terrible things, thus making this film doomed from the start. Every time something is played for comedy, you cringe at just how bad it is. Not having good characters for this ruins your film. When they finally do get caught, I was cheering. That should never ever happen in a movie like this. This would probably end up on a list of my least favorite movies ever. Stay very far away.

Spy (2015)

I would say alright at best

[6/10 · 4 August 2015]

It's an action comedy with forgettable action scenes and a couple big laughs, mixed in with some chuckle worthy lines. It's alright at best. Melissa McCarthy does her job just fine. Her character was always involved in the best scenes in the film and all the laughs she brings isn't from stupid physical comedy (for the most part). Like I said though, it's alright at best. I don't know if it's worth watching the entire thing for maybe 2 laugh out loud scenes. Everything in between that is really forgettable and boring. Overall I would say this was by no means bad, but could have certainly been much, much better. If you really, really like action comedies, you'll probably have a blast with it. Everyone else I would expect to say either "fine" or "meh".

Dirty Dancing (I) (1987)

Silly, dumb, romantic fluff that I didn't find particularly compelling

[4/10 · 4 August 2015]

Filled to the brim with silly romantic fluff that really isn't all that compelling. To be fair, it could have been much worse. Nothing is really done really poorly, except developing the relationship between Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Gray. Personally, I found their relationship quite shallow and not very interesting. I can see how it could be enjoyable in a cheesy kind of way. Acting, directing, editing, etc. is all very "whatever". None of it makes the film unwatchable, but none of it is particularly noteworthy either. The one thing I did enjoy was the soundtrack. I actually enjoyed it more than the movie itself. It's by no means good enough to warrant watching the movie, but it was admittedly nice to listen too. I can't say I liked this movie, but if all require from your movie watching experience is some cheesy romance, you'll be satisfied. You could watching a much worse movie, like a Nicholas Sparks movie.

Wet Hot American Summer (2001)

Overall, pretty terrible, but gets a couple chuckles from sheer weirdness

[5/10 · 4 August 2015]

I don't fully know how I feel about this movie. It's incredibly bizarre and strange, but it balances the normal scenes and the bizarre and weird scenes pretty terribly. For maybe the first half of the movie it feels like a normal, silly R-rated comedy (for the most part). Then, kind of out of nowhere, it slams all the weirdness and utterly ridiculous stuff into your face. It's rather jarring and really confusing. That being said, some scenes were just so strange that I couldn't help but laugh at them. So, we have this movie that is overall fairly bad, but it does make you laugh on occasion. I can't really call it a great movie, as I feel like every laugh the movie gets was gotten by the filmmakers just throwing silly stuff on the screen. That's not the hardest thing to do. But it it most certainly is a watchable film. It gets a few laughs. Maybe, possibly worth a watch, but you can probably do much better.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015)

Funny, sweet, and emotional film with cool references to classic films throughout

[8/10 · 5 July 2015]

This is a movie for people who love movies. That's not to say it's only for people who love movies, but this director clearly has an affinity for film and it shows. There are nice little references to classic movies all throughout and I had fun trying to notice them. Now for those who don't know tons about film, they're still left with a funny, sweet, and emotional film about someone trying to make a girl with leukemia feel happy. It made me laugh and it made me sad and I had a pretty great time with it. The only real issue I have is the undeniable resemblance to The Fault in Our Stars. I can't say more than that without spoiling the film, but for those who have seen both movies, you know what I'm talking about. Other than that, pretty great movie.

Dope (2015)

It's like Superbad, if Superbad was set in Inglewood, which turns out to be a great mix

[8/10 · 5 July 2015]

This joke has probably been done a million times by now, but whatever. The film Dope, was in fact, dope. It's a fantastic coming of age movie that jumps between seriousness and humor perfectly. I would be laughing in one scene then be worried about the characters' safety in the next scene and it didn't feel jarring or out of place it the slightest. Good job Rick Fumuyiwa, good job. I want to see your other movies now. Anyway, back to the movie. The 3 main characters are all awesome. They're all funny and relatable in some way.They're all nerds and everyone has a little bit of nerd in themselves somewhere. The film is like Superbad, if Superbad was set in Inglewood. How could you go wrong? This movie is fantastic and definitely seek it out.

Ouran High School Host Club (2006)

Silly and knows it, which made for an entertaining show

[7/10 · 5 July 2015]

I did enjoy this show quite a bit. The show is dumb.The show is really silly and stupid. I know that. But I feel like the show knew it was all those things. The show breaks the fourth wall a lot and when they do, they reference the type of show that they're in (reverse harem) and they reference the character archetypes that each character fulfills. That to me says they knew the show was really stupid and cliché, which is great in my opinion. I do love a certain level of self awareness when I watch these types of shows. The show is still surface level entertainment level though. You don't have to use your brain at all, which isn't a bad thing here really. It entertained me consistently, it made me laugh, and I had a fairly good time with it. I do not feel as if I wasted my time. I say watch it.

In Bruges (2008)

An excellent crime thriller mixed in with some dark humor

[8/10 · 5 July 2015]

In Bruges is a terrific example of how to properly make a crime thriller mixed with dark humor. It's a very fine line to walk and it's very difficult not to cross that line, so when this type of film is pulled off successfully, it deserves some major credit. Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson have awesome chemistry together. Brendan Gleeson always tries to look at things positively and he is met with Colin Farrell's amazingly negative (and funny) responses. The beginning of the film is a tad slow, but once it picks up it grabs you and never lets you go. I was surprised by how much I actually ended up liking it. Overall I though this film was great and I say go see it.

Jurassic Park (1993)

The ultimate dinosaur movie

[9/10 · 17 June 2015]

This is movie is awesome in every sense of the word. It captured dinosaurs on film like no other. It didn't rely solely on special effects, thankfully. Spielberg made sure to throw in several incredibly tense and thrilling scenes to tie the whole thing together. I mean the climbing up the electric fence scene and the raptors in the kitchen scene are damn near perfect. If those scenes don't get your eyes glued to the screen, then I don't know what will. The music is great too. It's awe inspiring and it makes your hair stand on end. The characters in this movie feel suitably real as well. They all act like real people. Nobody felt like a fake movie character, which was rather nice. This movie also has possibly my favorite child performances of all time. Both of the kids are fantastic. When dinosaurs are coming for them, they look absolutely terrified. They made me believe there were actual dinosaurs chasing them. This film is a classic and I cannot recommend it enough.

Jurassic World (2015)

Nowhere near as great as the first, but works as a fun monster movie in its' own right

[6/10 · 17 June 2015]

Is it as awesome as the first movie? Absolutely not. It is way better than the god awful sequels? Absolutely. I didn't fall in the love with this movie, but I can certainly say that I liked it. It's a fun popcorn monster movie that just about everyone can enjoy. Be warned though, there is a lot of really stupid stuff in this movie. First off the notion that this park would ever open is ludicrous. This takes place after the first movie, so the events that took place there still happened. I find it hard to believe anybody would come to this place after people died on the first attempt. Bryce Dallas Howard's character was wearing high heels the whole time. Keep that in mind when you're watching this movie. There's also a really stupid decision made by the kids in this movie that I can't say without having spoilers. But in the end, all those things don't ruin the movie. I got to see dinosaurs kill stuff and I was entertained by it. I say go see it.

Noah (2014)

Not great, not awful, but in the end rather boring

[4/10 · 17 June 2015]

This movie didn't really do it for me really. It didn't make any enormous mistakes and you could end up enjoying it actually. The whole film was just so boring to me. Trying to stretch a story that can be written in one or two pages has its problems. There just wasn't enough source material for this to work. I mean God tells this guy Noah to build a boat. He does it. There's a flood. The end. Really doesn't work with a nearly two and a half hour runtime. Noah was a real asshole as well, which annoyed the hell out of me the whole movie. It's not all bad though. The special effects are nicely done and it is competently made. It isn't poorly acted or directed, so it isn't unwatchable. The big issue is the boredom. I can see people going either way with this film. Didn't do it for me though. I still say give it a shot. You may end up enjoying it.

Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet (2013– )

Nothing spectacular, but quite enjoyable

[6/10 · 23 May 2015]

This show is good. Not great, but certainly not terrible. The animation and art design are both absolutely gorgeous. Everything looks amazing, from the characters to the environment. Those two things I can say are definitely far above average. Everything else is fine I guess. Nothing very original or jaw dropping, but it didn't really need to be. It was perfectly enjoyable and I was okay with that. It reminded me how I felt about Blue Exorcist. Both are mindless shows with nothing super amazing (besides animation), but they're both enjoyable and fun. If you don't have anything else to watch, this'll meet your needs. It's short and entertaining, who can complain?

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

It's fun and enjoyable, though the first Avengers is better

[7/10 · 23 May 2015]

Well, we've all been super excited for this movie since the first Avengers came out. Does it meet the hype? Well no, not really. I did like the movie overall, but it certainly didn't meet my expectations and I thought the first Avengers was a much better movie. I think there are two main reasons why this movie wasn't as good as The Avengers. 1: We've seen all the Avengers together and fighting already. The novelty of seeing all those iconic characters in one movie has been lost. 2: This is ultimately a setup for other Marvel movies. Now you could argue every Marvel movie is a setup for the next one, but it felt way more prominent here. It seems the whole reason the film exists is to set up for the Civil War arc. I know it sounds like I'm trashing this movie, but I did actually enjoy it. The special effects are great and the action scenes are nothing short of awesome. It's not a terribly amazing film, but it's a fun Summer blockbuster and I think it's worth watching. (P.S. Days of Future Past Quicksilver was better).

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

A pretty freaking great action movie

[9/10 · 23 May 2015]

I've been super excited for this since I saw the trailer. I was more excited about this than I was about Avengers: Age of Ultron. Did it live up expectations? Hell yeah it did! This movie is freaking awesome. It kicks all the ass. Is it the most thought provoking film ever? No. Does it have an amazingly original story line with super complex and deep characters? No. When you get down to it, it's a 2 hour chase scene. But that doesn't matter with this movie. It wanted to be fun and it achieved that. What sets this apart from other movies that try to be nothing more than "fun is the fact that it doesn't waste time on a story that doesn't matter anyway. Lets use the Transformers franchise as an example. Overall, pretty terrible franchise. Why? Well a lot of reasons, but the one I care about here is that each movie wastes time on pointless crap that doesn't matter. It's a Transformers movie, I want to see Transformers fight. I don't want to watch humans argue in a Transformers movie. Those movies can't be fun if they keep wasting time on stupid stuff. Mad Max doesn't do that. It lays out the basics, so it makes some amount of sense, then they get straight to the action and it doesn't really stop. We get two glorious hours of exceptionally directed action scenes with no crap in between. This really is one of the better action movies I've seen in recent years and I really hope they make more. Go see it.

The Voices (2014)

Pretty terrible movie unfortunately

[3/10 · 23 May 2015]

The Voices is a terrible movie, which sucks, as I had been looking forward to it. I like dark and twisted humor, so I figured this would be right up my alley. Unfortunately, the movie only managed to get the dark and twisted part. It failed at the humor. The tone shifted from goofy to serious too often for it to be funny. It didn't know what it wanted to be. It would try and be funny after coming off a serious scene and the shift in tone really ruined the movie. It was so jarring every time it happened. That was actually the only problem. Shame it destroyed the movie. It could have been so good. I will say this, however. The foul mouthed cat in this movie cracked me up a little. He's not a exceptionally hilarious character, but seeing a cat swear a lot and talk about how killing things made him feel alive made me chuckle. It by no means makes this a good movie, but the cat was one good thing. I'll give the film that.

Oculus (2013)

An extremely well put together film

[9/10 · 23 May 2015]

I really loved this movie. I thought the filmmakers handled this movie very intelligently and brilliantly. They put a strong emphasis on building a super creepy atmosphere rather than focus on pointless blood and gore. Because of this, you're on edge pretty much the whole time. I can't say it's the scariest thing I've ever seen, but it was certainly nerve wracking throughout. The plot of the movie revolves around a brother and sister trying to prove that this weird mirror is haunted and is responsible for many deaths over the years, including their father's death. This mirror makes you see things that aren't really happening and it screws with your perception of reality. It makes the main characters kind of lose it mentally. The film loses structure and coherency as the the character's minds deteriorate, and that isn't a bad thing at all. It adds to the movie really. I thought the correlation between their state of mind and the film's structure was pretty cool. Also, the child actors in this movie are fantastic. They were never annoying and the way they acted like normal children (for the most part). That being said, it isn't flawless. You could watch this and completely hate it. I could definitely see the overall confusing narrative turning people away. It's a fairly subjective movie I think. You could love it or hate it. That being said, I personally loved it and I think people should see it.

The Exorcist (1973)

Amazing horror film that easily stands up today

[8/10 · 4 May 2015]

This is an exceptionally made movie. I got to see it theaters too, which only made it better. The film might be a tad slow in the beginning, but it picks up quickly once Reagan gets possessed and starts doing weird things. During the scenes where Reagan is flipping out, the special effects are incredible, especially for the time. They'll have things flying across the room, the entire bed shaking furiously, and of course, the projectile vomit. All of those look extremely realistic and they add to the super creepy atmosphere this film has. The voice they gave the possessed Reagan is perfect. If I had to choose a voice for the devil, it would have been that one. It really gets to you and makes every scene that has it way more frightening. The movie does have issues though. In the very beginning, they have this backstory about this little sculpture of the devil being found and I found it to be both unnecessary and kind of confusing. It isn't really clear if the devil got released because of that statue or what. I couldn't find a correlation between that statue and Regan either. Only other problem I have is the devil being very picky about how he uses his power. I don't understand why he just didn't break the straps and leave. I know they tried to explain it, but it doesn't really make any sense. Damien Karrass asked him that and he responded with "that would be a display of too much power" or something like that. He says that, yet he'll throw stuff all over the place and throw up on people, and even kill people. How is breaking some straps too much power? I call bs on that explanation. Other than those 2 problems, fantastic horror movie.

Ex Machina (2014)

A bit of a been there done that storyline, but it's executed well

[8/10 · 4 May 2015]

A story about A.I.? That's been done over and over, but what really matters is execution. I'm happy to say that this film is very well executed. Not much happens really. It's mostly just scenes of people talking, yet they managed to build up tension and interest over the course of the movie. This makes the end way more exciting. The performances and special effects were both fine. Neither was particularly spectacular, but they were by no means bad. I only have one real issue with the movie. At the end, there is a helicopter pilot who makes a very, VERY questionable decision. I won't spoil it, but for those who've seen the movie, you probably know exactly what I'm talking about. Other than that, this is a pretty decent sci-fi flick.

South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)

Lewd, crude, and rude, but still utterly hilarious

[9/10 · 20 April 2015]

Ah, how refreshing. I can't remember the last time I watched a comedy that actually made me laugh. This movie is a truly hilarious one. It's jokes are incredibly crude, yet they're also amazingly intelligent. South Park's traditional satire and general parodying of everything and everyone is not lost in the transition from TV to film. The genius writing is still here.The idea of looking at problems through the eyes of children is a brilliant one and opens many opportunities for laugh out loud comedy. Trey Parker and Matt Stone jumped on those opportunities and now we have this film. Surprisingly enough, the music is really, really awesome. Each song is both funny and pleasant to listen to. Trey Parker and Matt Stone put an extraordinary amount of effort into this film and it paid off big time. Seek this film out.

Boys Don't Cry (1999)

Powerful and moving film, but not without flaws

[8/10 · 20 April 2015]

Powerful and moving film, but not without flaws. Hilary Swank gives the best performance she's ever given here. She does a great job at making you care about this tortured character. I'd say her performance is the highlight of the film. Everyone else does a pretty nice job as well. The people playing the evil murderers did their job of making me hate them and the other side characters did their jobs fine. The film tells the story of real life teenager Brandon Teena who was murdered for being transgender, and for the most part, the film tells this story fairly well. Only problem though is it tends to ignore the more flawed aspects of the character. The real life person had quite a criminal record, and while they do mention this several times in the movie, I never felt they truly explored that side of the character. The film instead decided to focus more on making the audience care about the main character, which is fine, I just would have liked both aspects of the character to have been touched on with equal amounts. In the end, it's still a pretty great film. The film makes you care and the more uncomfortable scenes don't feel excessive and unnecessary. Go see it.

James and the Giant Peach (1996)

Wonderfully creative and imaginative film

[8/10 · 20 April 2015]

What a creative and imaginative film, though it's really weird, so prepare yourself if you watch this. I was surprised by how much I actually liked this movie. I mean, I expected it to be good, maybe around a 6/10, but after watching it I'd probably give it a 8/10. The stop motion animation looks really awesome, especially for the time. What I think really makes it stand out though is just how wacky and creative it gets. It serves as an outlet for anything absurd and over the top, while being grounded by a simple story and simple, relatable characters. It does have issues though. There's this song at the beginning of the movie sung by the main kid actor, and I'm not going to lie, it sucked really bad. The kid just couldn't sing and I certainly could have gone without it. Also I don't like the ending. The way it ended left me believing that magic actually did exist in the movie's universe and I thought it would have been a better film if the kid had made it up all in his head to cope with the loss of his parents. Maybe that's a little dark, but it would have been really interesting for a kid's movie to have that underlying tone. Still, it's a pretty great film and it's perfect for the family (except my family, as they all hated it, yet they'll watch The Nut Job and laugh all the way through. Why?).

The Babadook (2014)

Overall, a fairly terrifying horror movie

[7/10 · 16 April 2015]

I really liked the movie. I really did. It scared me and had me looking away from the screen a lot, which is great. I love it when horror movies can do that to me. Essie Davis gives an awesome performance that really made me feel for her character. The relationship between her and her son at the end was actually really touching. Every scene with either the book or The Babadook were really sweet and I really liked the ending (except for one part, which was kind of stupid). Yet, I didn't love this movie. To me, it felt like the movie had all these amazing things in it, but they weren't really put together in the best possible way. Not to say it failed miserably at it, I just felt like it could have been a bit better in that regard. You might not even notice this, as I have a sneaking suspicion that this is a problem only I have, but who knows. As I mentioned previously, I like the ending, except for one thing in it. *Spoiler warning* At the end, Essie Davis defeats The Babadook, I guess you could say, and it runs off to the basement and stays there. Fine, whatever. But then we get a scene of Essie Davis going to the basement with a bowl of worms to feed it, which was really weird to me. I mean I get it. She wants to keep it contained, but it makes me laugh to think that this evil creature that freaked me out so much can be subdued with a bowl of worms. I don't know, it's that that big of an issue. It was just kind of silly. In the end, the movie scared me, which is the main thing I need from a horror movie.Combine that with all the other good things, and you've got something worth watching.

Vampire Knight (2008)

Starts out okay, but lost me pretty quick

[4/10 · 16 April 2015]

Eh, this show started out okay I guess. Kind of lost me pretty quick though. It isn't completely terrible. It has things to appreciate, but not enough to really keep watching it. The biggest issues are the characters and the plot lines. The main character, Yuki, is a bland, boring, and extremely uninteresting character. Her character mainly consists of being attacked and being useless. As you can imagine, watching her gets quite tedious very fast. The guy she has a crush on, Kanamae, is an asshole. He seems to enjoy being a dick for no real reason. He really bothered me the entire time. The only character that was alright was Zero. He wasn't a dick (without reason anyway) and I felt bad for him when all sorts of awful things happened to him. Unfortunately, one character can't carry this whole show. The plot lines, while maybe not bad ideas, were executed poorly. None of them felt like they had any real weight to them, as the characters never really treat any situation very seriously. When the characters don't care, then I don't care. Like I said, there is good here though. The animation is pretty good and nice to look at, and the music does set a nice tone. That's about it though. Those two good things aren't worth sitting through this entire show. I don't hate it, but I certainly don't like it at all.