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The Neighbor (2017)
Decent flick only for those who really like these kind of gems
I can see how this movie can turn you off if it doesn't catch you in the right mood. I knew what to expect from the description, and it was like that 80%.
It's a conflict driven by a change in a middle age man's quiet and boring life. Sexy couple moving next door, that at least has to be intriguing. We have an up-close image of Mike's and Jenna's characters (including physically) which are constructed flawlessly by the two actors.
Every line, every scene is on place, there's no "fat" in it. However, one or two scenes don't seem to flow naturally, possibly because they caught out something between.
It's slow paced, exactly how it should be, but it has enough energy to keep you watching. It's not a masterpiece, but it's definitely not a garbage.
A Case of You (2013)
A feel-good modern love story
This movie is exactly what I expected to be and it left me with a good overall sensation. Nice way to cool off and spend your afternoon, maybe to break a series of action blockbusters.
The comedy part achieved its goal, brought by a combination of light and intelligent humor and good acting.
The romantic part is also well driven, without pushing any boundaries.
The story that leads to and the climax itself it's kind of lightweight, more tension would have been appreciated to top the good start.
Worth to check it out also for the great cast, Evan Rachel Wood is a win for this role, Peter Dinklage, Vince Vaughn and Sam Rockwell's performances deserve to be mentioned here, too.
Now You See Me (2013)
The real magic is that they trick you to believe this is a good movie
And I will not back up with this statement. It is a good movie, because it's not a boring movie, but it is that kind of movie that you watch once and walk away and forget all about it.
First off, let me tell you why movies involving magic tricks don't work. Because magic is for live audience and everything made on camera loses the main purpose of magic. In order to enjoy it, we have to subscribe to things that defy plausibility, we are obliged to take unrealistic facts for granted. But let's say we're OK with that. The Illusionist or The Prestige worked that way.
The real problem here is that the storyline is cynical and walks on a path of plain 'by the book' twist after twist after twist scenario, even though they lack of substance, motivation, trying to create an undeserved WOW effect. Plus, they forced in a classical fling to satisfy all viewers. There are major unrealistic events, but I guess the movie is not for us who try to find logic, but for those who just want to be entertained and see sparkles.
Chosen (2013)
Unrealistic, but entertaining
While they focused on creating a suspense drama - and they did achieve that on a very high level, some good acting is also noticeable - they forgot about putting together a believable scenario.
The ending did not resolve some major plot issues regarding the sustainability and relevance of a conspiratorial organisation revealed in the movie (they did it well in 'Eagle Eye') - yeah, I call it a movie, because that's what this is. The involvement of federal organisations is highly questionable. Of course, everyone is waiting for the 'second season' - the sequel, maybe then we will get some real answers on what and why.
'Chosen' also lacks in plausibility here and there, in the minor details. Watch it on your own risk: i's very possible to enjoy it due to the non-stop action, but also to get really annoyed by some 'why didn't they do that?' routines.
The Grey (2011)
A typical "survival" formula applied to a non-horror movie
"The Grey" is one of those movies I started watching with high expectations (Neeson starring in it consisting a factor for many, I guess) that turned into mixed feelings by the end.
The setting is promising: a bunch of dark folks with dramatic pasts (mostly ex-cons) working hard just to live through the day on a no man's land. Their everyday life takes a turning point when they embark on a plane ride leading to a crash in the middle of the freezing Alaskan lands.
This is where one can really start to get frustrated by some disturbing unrealistic events, plot holes that build the whole storyline. First of all, it's amazing how minor the injuries of the survivors are, considering the severity of the crash – not to mention that Liam's character finds himself thrown far away from the plane, even though he was the only one who double tied himself with the seat-belts.
Well, it's useless to bring up the big list of factual errors, while you need a major tolerability to digest the premise of the survival conditions – the hyperbolic depiction of the wolves. Oh, yeah. The whole area is packed with diabolical monsters (the CGI is awful in some scenes – poor facial expressions and movements) portrayed as revengeful and invincible in front of a group of humans in possession of unconventional weapons, fire and shelter (at first), who could easily win the battle with the beasts in normal conditions. But this wolves own some tactical skills that would amaze a SWAT team, they don't joke around.
No doubt, many aspects of reality can be neglected if you go along with this premise. So, at this point you either stop watching or take the whole scenery as a mythical, symbolic adventure, no matter how predictable it may be. It's obvious, everything leads to a typical horror movie formula, where the characters die one after another. It's just a matter of how they kick the bucket. So where's the plus in this movie? Well, we need to seek for it at the portrayal of characters. This guys' fate was dominated by melancholia, depression (Ottway even tried to commit suicide right before the plane ride), every one of them experienced loss in a way or another, had minimal or zero faith, optimism. So this second chance for life they surprisingly got would be a good reason for a fresh start and hope, change of thoughts. But that's not really the case with them. So if they don't care about their lives, why should we? Nevertheless, it appears until a certain point, everyone subscribes to some valuable idea: living the moment, fighting the fight and if it can't be avoided, embrace death with dignity. Sadly, some of them are overwhelmed by it, so they vanish either because of weakness, illness, bad luck or a sequence of poor judgments and decisions. Speaking of the last, sometime you get the feeling that the script was written by a 10 year old who loves adventure, but has a lack of understanding details and how things work in the big world.
Only one guy manages to remain intact until the final stage of this journey, where he engages in the last good fight he'll ever know
The ending, I think, saved the whole movie, by taking it to a certain level of drama, emotion, just enough to make you feel content with the development of the story. All in all, "The Grey" is an OK movie, but it could have been much better with the right amount of effort from the writers.
Kevin Hart: Seriously Funny (2010)
Seriously... not THAT funny!
Kevin Hart is one of the special black comedians that I "dig". I enjoyed his every little appearance in movies. As a stand-up comedy fan, I was really looking forward to see him on stage and all I can say is he could do better! As an actor, he's good. As a writer, not that good. However, he compensates that with funny gestures and mimics that he owns and a real live energy. The jokes are fine, maybe he sometimes uses too common routines. He has some hilarious moments when the crowd goes wild, especially when he tries to imitate some basketball stars participating in the audience. Overall, an entertaining show that I recommend to all of the real stand-up comedy fans.