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Drive 2011
80s nostalgia cues aside, this is one hell of a film from Nicolas Winding Refn. If you go in not knowing what to expect, then you'll be rewarded. And it's best if you know as little as possible before seeing it.
Michael Mann gets namedropped when people see this and it's not surprising why. But Refn has a quicker, faster pulse than Mann does and ultimately, the film stands on its own easily.
A little haunting, in a good way.
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Skyfall 2012
Possibly the first Bond film that I'll remember in a long time, Skyfall does a great job of doing what The Dark Knight Rises aimed to do — show a hero fall from grace, struggle with his purpose in life and redeem himself — but better. Christopher Nolan could have learnt from Sam Mendes here. The pacing and transitions are better, smarter and resonate deeper.
The film resets Bond and makes him vulnerable, including everyone he's involved with. Yes, unfortunately,…
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The Cabin in the Woods 2012
WTF.
That was my first reaction to the film. But, as I read more behind-the-scenes, I discovered that it was indeed, a love letter to films of the genre. And in that context, I felt a deeper affinity for the film.
The film strikes a familiar chord in me to From Dusk Til Dawn, echoing the dual nature of that film — from bank robber heist to vampire gore film — in a classic teen slasher film to a... well,…
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Zero Dark Thirty 2012
I've been a fan of Kathryn Bigelow's work since Point Break. I love that film. Watching The Hurt Locker astounded me — how Bigelow went from Point Break to The Hurt Locker was surprising and whilst watching Zero Dark Thirty, I asked myself the same.
Zero Dark Thirty is a difficult film to watch. But not in the way you may or may not suspect. Yes, it opens full frontal with torture (pun intended) but treats it not as torture…
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The Amazing Spider-Man 2012
I went into this film without much expectations. The trailers I'd seen beforehand made this film seem very heavy-handed and very action-oriented. I like Andrew Garfield's work in The Social Network and I love Emma Stone's work. That was enough for me to give it a go.
Oh: and that Spider-Man's web-shooting capabilities were of his own device. Score one for getting that one right this time around.
Back to the film. Despite no expectations, I was extremely surprised that…
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Jurassic Park 1993
Rewatched the Jurassic Park trilogy recently and wanted to note thoughts about it, so many years later (more reviews/thoughts in the other film entries).
The first film is still my favorite out of the trilogy and one of my favorite films, period and amongst Spielberg's canon.
It's the perfect example of the things that Spielberg loves: child-like wonderment, not taking things for granted and a lesson learned. Jurassic Park has a great mix of pacing, energy and excitement as it…
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21 Jump Street 2012
It's not 21 Jump Street the show. Barely. Kinda. But it's so goddamn funny. The bro-medy works here and all of a sudden, Channing Tatum is one hell of a funny guy. Who knew?
There's a special part in this film. That is all I will say but it killed, and made this film all the more special.
It makes you laugh, it makes you smile. What else is there?
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X-Men: First Class 2011
Better than I expected. The interplay between would-be Professor X and Magneto as younger men was sharp. The character development is better than most in the film franchise, but feels short. They packed a lot of time into one movie. I'd like to see a sequel to this, to see how these characters (as well as others) evolve pre X-Men.
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50/50 2011
First things first: f@!k cancer.
As someone who has come to terms with the idea (or is it fact?) that cancer is a real possibility to myself, and whose loved ones and friends have been directly affected by it, both for the bad and for the worst, this film was both one I was excited to see, but also dreaded to see.
The cast drew me in first of course: Seth Rogen, the ever-excellent Joseph Gordon-Leavitt, Anna Kendrick (who was…
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Star Trek Into Darkness 2013
This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
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Crazy, Stupid, Love. 2011
Steve Carell doesn't stray too far from characters he's played in the past — consider his Cal Weaver a more grown-up version of his 40-Year Old Virgin. But it's the characters around him that make this film worth a watch.
Kevin Bacon, who's making a bit of a comeback (in X-Men: First Class too) plays slightly smarmy well. The trio of ladies, Emma Stone (always enjoy anything she's in), Marisa Tomei (aging gracefully) and Juliane Moore (her too!) are a…
