ParaNorman isn’t a perfect movie by any stretch and the story isn’t all that interesting, at least in the middle part, but one can’t help but admire the stop-motion technique and just what’s involved to make a 90-minute feature film. Along with the voice casting, the movie is absolutely fantastic to look at.
I consider The Tall Man to be the surprise movie of 2012 going beyond my limited expectations and a story that was at first confusing but quickly brought back into focus with plot points which make complete sense once the twists are revealed.
Savages isn’t a complete waste of time but it was a waste of potential. The main characters aren’t very well developed though it’s not helped that the actors don’t deliver better performances and the use of voice over from Blakely was annoying. There are a couple glimmers of light: the film looks great thanks to director of photographer Dan Mindel and Benicio Del Toro is fantastic in a small but integral role.
I hated The Apparition, it’s an appallingly poorly executed movie that had a terrible screenplay which stitches together random scenes in the hopes of scaring audiences and even on that front it miserably failed.
This “Complete Series” box set has a great amount of features and while it only has the standard Dolby Digital audio track, to me the picture is good enough to warrant a purchase especially if you don’t already own the DVDs.
The Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Parts 1 & 2 Ultimate Collector’s Edition release will complete most people’s HP collection. Both movies are amazing and are a wonderful conclusion to the series, the features are incredible and the audio/video transfers aren’t half bad either.
Much like the “DreamWorks Spooky Stories” released a few weeks back, this Holiday collection is great for the entire family. It’s especially cool to get the main actors to reprise their roles for the animated shorts while the animation looks amazing.
Snowmageddon is your typical SyFy Original Movie with average visual effects (showing how far the industry has come), a lame story and shoddy acting. Even so, the movie isn’t terrible and might be fun for some, though I won’t be revisiting it any time soon.
Sweet Home Alabama is a fine romantic comedy that at least at times breaks the genre mold. Reese Witherspoon plays her usual role as a sassy character but she’s still charming and for his part, Josh Lucas serves as a suitable love interest.
Contagion has some things going for it, but mainly from an acting and technical level rather than the story. The cast is mostly good despite having a limited amount of screen time and Soderbergh’s visual style, while nothing new from what he’s done in the past, still looks stunning and gives the film a certain gravitas yet at the same time I felt like I was more or less a spectator versus becoming involved or entrenched with what was going on.
The Client is a fulfilling suspense-thriller propelled by three solid performances, adequate direction from Joel Schumacher (arguably his last ‘good’ movie) despite a predictable script.
The DreamWorks Spooky Stories has a nice collection of shorts that the entire family will enjoy. The Blu-ray offers up excellent audio and video transfers but the features have much to be desired.
Maximum Conviction doesn’t stray beyond a typical direct-to-video release from a stitched together plot, wooden acting and bad dialogue, but with the charms (i.e. ass-kicker-y) that come with Steven Seagal and Steve Austin, it’s at least worth a rental especially if you’re fan of either individual.
The Bonfire of the Vanities was a critical and financial flop when it was released back in 1990 and considering its cast with Tom Hanks and Bruce Willis, it should have been better. For me, I don’t think it was that bad though I’ve never read the novel it was based upon so taking at face value, it’s at least an average, and biting, satirical drama-comedy.
The Amazing Spider-Man certainly had opportunities to be a great movie and although I still enjoyed the film, sometimes even immensely, there are times the script could’ve been tweaked. Even so, the casting was pretty good starting with Andrew Garfield who will hopefully find more bearings with the sequel(s) while Emma Stone was a delight.