JayShermanStinksYoooooo1920 Reviews

Son of Saul (2015)

Best WW2 movie of all time

[10/10 · 15 February 2016]

Come and See, The Pianist and now Son of Saul, the only three movies to depict the true horrors of WW2. The world has yet to recover from the events. Every day one can find something on TV which relates to the holocaust, and at least once a week and articles regarding Auschwitz are to be published. There have been many movies made during the 21st century about WW2, almost too many. So what makes this Hungarian film stand out?

It is so shockingly realistic and grim which keeps the viewer disturbed and engaged through its 107-minute running time. We are constantly reminded of the horrific holocaust in our everyday lives, yet Son of Saul opened my eyes for what happened more than ever. The film takes place during a day and a half in Auschwitz, where we follow a prisoner who's work is to burn corpses. However, he finds moral when he wants to bury a body who he takes for his son.

Saul is the main perspective in the entire film. About everything around him is out of focus. Director Laszlo Nemes has created something beautiful yet horrific in the long takes of prisoners being brutally executed. These things are never the center of attention, but as Saul runs around the camp we see people getting shot, tortured and executed in horrific ways. Less is more is a common expression and this movie takes perhaps the best use of it.

We all know what happened in Auschwitz, we do not need close-ups of dead bodies. However, we need to be reminded of the horrible events and the sound of someone screaming is enough for us to know what is happening. Son of Saul is an incredibly intense film and it almost gave me a heart attack.

I have never dedicated so much thoughts to the victims of WW2. Son of Saul is a masterpiece that everybody should see. At a technical level, it achieves so much. The cinematography is amazing, the sound design is perhaps the best I have ever heard and everything is so well made. All the actors do a great job as well and at parts it felt like I was watching a documentary. The production design is just that good on top of all this. However, Son of Saul is so much more than just a film...

It's also a movie about humanity, choices we make and how it effects us. If the academy doesn't award Son of Saul the Oscar for best foreign language film then I don't want to live on this planet anymore.

Goodnight Mommy (2014)

Disturbing, beautiful and overall well made.

[8/10 · 23 August 2015]

One of the most disturbing films in recent year. I can strongly relate to this movie as I happen to be a twin. Me and my twin brother used to do everything together as kids and "Goodnight Mommy" reminded me of when we tried to solve "mysteries" together. Don't worry, we had no mommy issues whatsoever.

This movie is both beautiful and very intense. I knew I had to watch it after the chilling trailer went viral. I strongly recommend you to watch it, even if you're not planning on seeing the full feature.

The sad part is that "Goodnight Mommy" doesn't hold up throughout. Don't get me wrong, I was on the edge of my seat the whole time but it sadly becomes worse towards the ending. Still, it isn't all Sunshine (2007). It's great to watch horror films that are actually good, and I'm happy to say that "Goodnight Mommy" has joined the top 10 list of best movies in that category from the 21st century.

It Follows (2014)

Best horror movie in years!

[8/10 · 3 May 2015]

During the commercials that were shown before the film began, I was heavily reminded of the problem with horror movies today. There were two trailers shown in the cinema, one for the new Poltergeist movie and the other one was for Insidious III. This was such a heavy reminder, we never see original horror movies these days, only remakes and sequels. What happened with the genre? I was a big fan of horror flicks back in the day, but then I watched too many bad ones.

It Follows is something very special. What begins as a normal teen horror film turns into a suspenseful, scary and GOOD movie. Yes, I said good movie. In fact, this is the best horror film in years. Almost everything is good about it. I don't know how to describe the movie without giving too much away, so let me put this simple.

It Follows "follows" a young and cute high school girl who is followed by an unknown supernatural force after getting involved in a sexual encounter. That's it, I won't give out any more plot details, because this is an experience that can easily be ruined by probably just watching the trailer and that's why I chose not to do it, although I was VERY excited for this to come out.

The movie kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time, even during slow paced scenes there not much happened. Because the movie always felt so haunting. Director David Robert Mitchell took a different turn on the horror genre, and instead of just adding random jump scares he builds up an EXTREME tension. Teenagers are usually bad actors in movies like these, since all they do for most part is having sex, partying and then they are killed off quickly. While It Follows may seem like a sex horror film, there are actually only like three short sex scenes, and they're NOT graphic at all.

There's some nudity, we see the main character topless quite a lot, but that's for good reasons only. I really hope It Follows makes a big profit so that the director can make another film. Go see this movie in theaters! It's a haunting experience that is worth the price of the ticket.

I'm giving It Follows a 8/10, and this is the first time I ever give a horror movie that score. I know around five good horror movies, and It Follows is one of them.

It's Such a Beautiful Day (2012)

"No computers were used during production."

[23 April 2015]

In a film industry there animated movies are getting more and more advanced, this extreme surprise shows up on Netflix. What a beautiful film this is.

Don Hertzfeldt, a director I had never heard of until this day tells the story of a man named Bill, who struggles to put together his shattered psyche. All this is done with very simple, but heartwarming drawings mixed with some live action moments.

Like Mary and Max (2009), this animated feature relies heavily on the narrator, who's voice is the only one you hear. We listen to simple stories about life itself, with some very dark humor intended. You'll laugh, you'll cry, but most of all you'll only spend 62 minutes of your life on something that was quite clearly worth it...

Lost River (2014)

Amazing directorial debut from Ryan Gosling, but not for everyone.

[8/10 · 8 April 2015]

Most famous actors rely heavily on the production team during their directorial debuts and aren't very involved in the directing process. Last year, Angelina Jolie truly proved this with her movie Unbroken (actually her second film as a director though). A high budget WW2 film that Jolie clearly didn't put much effort into. It feels like the whole idea was just given to her when she called her agent and stated that she would like to direct a new movie. It is also not uncommon to see actors casting themselves in their directorial debuts, such as Zach Braff in Garden State. Lost River, is the weirdest directorial debut you'll ever see from an actor.

I've always liked Ryan Gosling. He picks his movies carefully and works great with "different" directors like Nicolas Winding Refn and Derek Cianfrance. Lost River is probably the strangest film in recent years. It is hard to explain what it is about so I'm not going to talk about that in this review.

The movie is very similar to most David Lynch films, especially Mulholland Drive. Therefore, one of the best things about Lost River is actually the cinematography, it helps to create the mysterious experience. I'm a very big fan of thrillers which don't explain everything to the viewer, but I know most people aren't. And that's why many will dislike this movie for what it is. With that being said, if you hate to re-watch films and want simple story lines, Lost River is not what you should be watching.

I really appreciate all the effort Ryan Gosling has put into this movie. It is risky to make a film like Lost River these days, and I'm glad Gosling was willing to take that risk to show his trademark. It is notable that he actually made the movie himself and didn't rely on the producers. Fans of David Lynch, Nicolas Winding Refn and David Cronenberg will surely have a good time with Lost River. I'm looking forward to Gosling's next feature, and can't wait to re-watch this film.

Chappie (2015)

Poorly executed...

[4/10 · 7 March 2015]

District 9 is a great movie. It kick started Neill Blomkamp's career as a movie director. His second effort, Elysium wasn't good. Chappie could be the movie that will ruin Blomkamp's career. I really wouldn't like that to happen since he's a young and creative filmmaker. Chappie was a movie with potential and I was really excited for it. Sadly, it was bad.

The film is about a near future there much off the crimes in Johannesburg are taken care off by police droids. The story focuses mainly on Deon Wilson (Dev Patel), the creator off police droids who's currently working on a robot with the ability to think and feel. This is a very interesting concept that's quickly ruined when the robot (Chappie) is stolen by a gang that teaches him how to organize crimes instead of stopping them. This is where the movie should have taken another path, I really don't understand what Blomkamp was thinking.

A movie that with a similar plot to films like Bicentennial Man and I Robot (two great films by the way) turns into a mess. The main character's week gets worse when his competitor Vincent Moore (Hugh Jackman) tries to take away everything that's important to him. What a poorly executed film this is. The idea is interesting although it isn't original, but the whole part with Chappie being raised by gangsters is just terrible. The movie did have some jokes that sadly didn't save it.

Action fans should still have a great time though. This movie is full off guns. Sadly Chappie isn't clever in any way like District 9 and almost becomes Transformers in the last act.

I really hope Neill Blomkamp can get his stuff together and make a great movie. Without Michael Bay explosions and poor character introductions.

American Sniper (2014)

Not really sure if I like this movie, or hate it for that matter.

[5/10 · 23 January 2015]

Eastwood is back! One of the best directors in Hollywood. As soon as this movie was announced I added it to my watch list without knowing the plot or anything. Several years later, I saw that an actor I had been following for a very long time (Kyle Gallner) was going to be in it which made me more excited for it. I still didn't know the plot though. Time went by, and suddenly it came out. It got zero nominations at the golden globes so I thought it was just another bad Eastwood movie, but a week later it was announced that it had been nominated for 6 academy awards. Now I had to go see it.

American Sniper is as you may hear on the title a war film. The story focuses on a man named Chris Kyle, who decides to join the navy in his thirties. He becomes a sniper for SEAL and is sent to Iraq. If you've been on the internet the latest days, you've probably noticed that this film has lead to a lot of debate on the internet. That's not surprising in my opinion. It's really hard to make movies about wars these days. There will always be people who only wants to know if the movie is patriotic or not. However, unlike many user reviews I will not be focusing on my actual opinion about the Iraq war.

There are both good and bad things about American Sniper. First off, I must say that Bradley Cooper is very well casted as Chris Kyle. He actually fit pretty perfect for the role. The movie wasn't only about war. It focused a lot on homecoming, how it is for Chris to return home to his family from the Iraq war. This is portrayed very well in the film. I think Clint Eastwood should have focused more on that part instead of the war.

The scenes in Iraq were often too long and sometimes kind of meaningless to the story overall. I'm not sure if the point is to feel like a patriot or an anti-American when you watch those scenes. I experienced both things, although the movie of course had to be a little patriotic at some parts. But that's what military is about. If you want to protect your country, you have to be a patriot (as they say in the film).

American Sniper also had a few touching moments. But most of the time they were basically introduced and then forgotten for the rest of the movie. I probably like this film though, but I'm still not sure. Of course I don't want to see a movie that's patriotic throughout, but if you compare this to Zero Dark Thirty and similar movies I didn't really feel there was too much off it.

Clint Eastwood has directed a pretty unpleasant experience, that is both good and bad. It's definitely worth checking out. I'm however a bit surprised it received so many Oscar nominations.

However, I really dislike how this movie is advertised. It is basically marketed as a teen war thriller with Robert Patinson in the main role. That's why the audience I watched this movie with, was pretty annoying. I guess half of them didn't even know what the Iraq war actually was (teens in Europe don't really know about it too well).

A Most Wanted Man (2014)

Anton Corbijn is a terrible director.

[5/10 · 2 January 2015]

A Most Wanted Man could have been one of 2014's best films. It has a talented cast and a great story. Anton Corbijn sadly proves what a terrible director he is with this film. I understand why Control was successful, he knew the actual band that was portrayed in the movie. But why would a photographer direct a thriller?

A Most Wanted Man is about a Muslim who illegally immigrants to Germany. When he's there he gets caught in the international war of terror. Considering how our society in Europe looks today, this is a very great subject to make a movie about. One of the biggest questions in the European Union is immigration.

But the extremely poor directing ruined nearly every scene in this film. It's not a bad movie at all, it does have its moments. But when Corbijn chooses to not introduce any of the characters (until the very ending of the film) I wonder why he's directing movies at all. However, that's not the only problem with A Most Wanted Man. Not a single scene was exciting. The ones that were supposed to be were just poorly acted and overall bad.

Philip Seymour Hoffman and Willem Dafoe are two of the absolute greatest actors of all time, but they didn't do anything to save this film. Dafoe is in a completely wasted role and Hoffman's character was just completely emotionless. When a character is described as emotionless in a script, the actor can't do much about it. But why does such a talented actor have to portray someone who just smokes cigarettes and looks emotionless? It feels like the scenes were rehearsed a minute before shooting began.

Anton Corbijn should stick to photography, or at least stick to making movies about music. This is just way too ambitious for him.

A Merry Friggin' Christmas (2014)

One of our captain's last movies is truly awful.

[3/10 · 30 November 2014]

I know you're only paying attention to this movie because of one of the greatest actors and comedians of all time, who recently died (Robin Williams if you didn't know) is in it. That's the only reason I even watched this Christmas comedy. Or, I'm actually a fan of some Christmas movies like Christmas Vacation, A Christmas Story, Miracle on 34th Street and I even thought Jingle All The Way kind of worked. However, A Merry Friggin Christmas is a poorly made comedy with a very bad cast. I like most of the actors in the film like Clark Duke , but they all did an awful job. The absolute horrible script. doesn't really help.

The story centers around a father who accidentally leaves all his son's Christmas presents at home, and attempts to make the 8-hour round trip before sunrise to get the presents, with his dad who's played by Robin Williams. Since I grew up with Robin Williams, I had to watch this. His death hit me so hard even though I never knew him or met him. I ignored the awful plot at first, but everything is just so bad about this film.

The main problem is that it's supposed to be a comedy with a few touching moments. I can't remember laughing while watching this. All the jokes were either very childish or just dumb. I don't think Robin Williams improvised any of his lines in this film, because I have never watched a movie with him there I didn't laugh at least twice. Since you weren't introduced to the characters in this comedy at all, you didn't really care about them.

This is just an awful Christmas movie everyone should at least try to avoid. I'm giving the movie a 3/10 because I still thought it was nice to see Robin Williams and Oliver Platt (who also starred together in the very good sci-fi film Bicentennial Man). Except for that, there's nothing worth mentioning here. The last years of Robin Williams consisted of poorly made comedies (except for a few movies like World's Greatest Dad), and A Merry Friggin Christmas just proves it.

Foxcatcher (2014)

A different look at wrestling, in a good way!

[9/10 · 9 November 2014]

My first night at the Stockholm Film Festival turned out really great thanks to Foxcatcher. A movie I didn't expect much from, but it was in fact one of the best movies of 2014. Foxcatcher is a movie that doesn't have that much action and will surely disappoint those who loves wrestling and wants to see fights. This is not a movie about the good side of the sport, it's about the bad one we don't get to see when Hulk Mania and The Rock performs nowadays.

The film is based upon a true story. Mark Schultz is an Olympic wrestler. His relationship with his sponsor, John du Pont and his older brother leads to very unlikely circumstances between both. John du Pont turns out to be a bit different than the man he first seemed like.

What I first wondered when I read about the film was, "how could they pick Channing Tatum for such a dramatic role? Isn't he that guy who just shows off his abs so the girls can look at something?" Well, in this movie Channing was someone completely different. He is superb as Mark Schultz, I couldn't imagine anyone else playing him after seeing this film. And this is partly what makes the film very watchable and good. Steve Carell (who usually stars in sex comedies) also did an amazing job as John du Pont. I could barely recognize him at first, and forgot that it was him 10 minutes after he first appeared on the screen. In the end, I also forgot what he looks like in real life. Great job on the make up there!

The good performances is definitely what I enjoyed the most. I'm not into wrestling, and Foxcatcher didn't really make me interested. It's a very deterrent example of how some Olympic athletes are trained and treated when they're not on TV. The movie will be out in theaters later this month, and I suggest you to go watch it. If you're not a fan of wrestling, that's even better. I don't like the sport but loved this movie.

However, pick your theater carefully. Sadly, some people in front of me waited to see Channing Tatum naked during the beginning. They were just annoying, but quiet when they realized that they weren't watching a teen comedy. Which was, around thirty minutes into the film. So I didn't really mind! The movie is a bit over two hours long...

Gone Girl (2014)

The best thriller I've seen in a long time.

[9/10 · 3 October 2014]

It's finally time for another David Fincher movie. I've always loved that director due to many reasons. He makes fantastic thrillers in a way that only he can do. Last time, he did a remake of the Swedish movie The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, which I personally thought was really good. Even better than the Swedish version. So now it's time to see if Fincher can turn another best selling book into an amazing thriller, and yes he can.

To keep it short and not spoil anything, Gone Girl is a movie about Nick Dunne (played superbly by Ben Affleck) who's wife disappears one day. After a short time, many suspects that Nick might not be innocent. Throughout the movie the story gets more and more exciting, and I was at the edge of my seat the whole time. The movie had a lot of twists and was never predictable. What's even better is that the movie barely included violence. But Fincher does something to make this two and a half our long film very exciting.

To begin with, all the actors did a very good job. I'm not a fan of Ben Affleck, but he was really good in Gone Girl. Just like Neil Patrick Harris and Rosamund Pike. They did a lot to this film. Secondly, the story is very good. The plot might be something you've heard before, but it develops really well throughout the movie. The soundtrack also helped the film a lot, it was a great. And of course I can't forget to mention the superb directing by David Fincher

Overall, Gone Girl is one of the best thrillers I've seen in a while. It might not win an Oscar for best picture, but it sure has enough potential to get nominated. I had high expectations for the film, and the didn't disappoint me. Gone Girl is a strong 9/10.

PS: It was nice to see Patrick Fugit back on the big screen, I haven't seen him since Almost Famous. Although he didn't have a lot of lines, he still did a pretty good job.

Boyhood (I) (2014)

Boyhood, a true masterpiece on it's own level.

[10/10 · 28 September 2014]

Movies have been around for over 100 years now. Every year there are around 8000 films produced. Most movies are really bad, but some are also very good. I've always appreciated movies that are like experiments in film making. That's why I love directors like Darren Aronofsky, David Lynch and Jaco Van Dormael. These experiments can take years to make, but the result is always amazing.

When Boyhood was announced in 2007, I forgot it nearly instantly. This was because at the time, I had only seen two movies from Richard Linklater. School of Rock and Fast Food Nation. While School of Rock was one of my favorite movies back then, Fast Food Nation was not really that great. So the years went by, but when the trailer was released in 2011 I remembered the project.

So for three years I've been looking forward to Boyhood. Today, when I went with my family to watch the movie, I was so impressed. I had very high expectations, but the movie was even better than I expected. What a movie it was.

Boyhood is a movie about a boy growing up, from the age 5 to 18. As you probably know, Richard Linklater spent 12 years making the movie with the same actors. Only by thinking of that, I'm impressed. I don't want to tell anything about what happens to the boy (Mason) during the years in the since then it won't be as fun to watch, but it is for most part a normal life.

That is what makes the movie so special. The plot isn't special in any way, the dialogue is not so special anything but the whole experience and the actors is what makes the movie so good. Ellar Coltrane, Ethan Hawke and especially Patricia Arquette did a fantastic in Boyhood. Some superb directing by Richard Linklater didn't hurt either.

I felt like Mason many times during my childhood, and I'm pretty sure everyone did. Boyhood is a movie that everyone should watch. It's a future classic that I hope will win the Oscar for best picture! Very good job Richard Linklater, I can't wait for your next big project.

Birdemic: Shock and Terror (2010)

By no doubt, the worst movie ever made. But also something everybody should watch!

[1/10 · 27 September 2014]

Most people usually say that if you put time and effort into something, the result will always be good. James Nguyen spent a total of four years making Birdemic, and he proved the opposite. This movie, is one of the worst movies ever made, if not the worst. But I think people should watch this. I especially think that this is something that should be shown at different film schools, instead of movies like Citizen Kane. You learn by your mistakes right? Well, then you learn by watching a bad movie and not masterpieces.

Birdemic is about a small Californian town which gets attacked by deadly birds one day. These birds don't appear until 45 minutes into the film, so there's also a lot more to this film. The most notable thing is that the movie follows the main character's full day, and I'm not kidding. You get to see him driving, working and eating. And these sequences are long, and also pointless.

Already after the introduction, you start noticing how poorly made this film is. The sound quality is very bad, and the track often goes to very quiet to very loud. The video quality isn't very good either, but since I'm a indie movie maker myself I don't have any problems with that. But the script, directing and most of all acting is so poor.

Alan Bagh who plays the main character in Birdemic, is the worst actor I've ever seen in a movie. He just looks so bored and uninspired in all of his scenes. The supporting actors are still a bit better, but that doesn't save the movie. It is when the birds arrives that you really start noticing how poorly made this film is.

The birds looks awful. They look so fake and they're all the same. The birds literally just attack the humans by basically flying in front of them. These special effects are also what makes the movie so funny and bad. The scenes are so far away from horror as possible. And the birds make a sound that gives you an headache within a second.

The movie continues to be a bad film throughout. Everything about this movie is so bad. But as I said, I think everyone should still watch this. It is the best worst movie ever, but someone actually spent time doing this. And I appreciate it more than modern art.

Red State (2011)

Kevin Smith's first horror movie is quite impressive.

[7/10 · 11 January 2014]

I've been a huge fan of Kevin Smith for a very long time. He always made me laugh when I watched his movies. I waited a long time with seeing this movie because I read a lot of bad reviews about this movie, and it wasn't a comedy. But I decided to watch it last night, and wow. It was a lot better than I expected. Smith really expressed his religious opinions with Red State.

With that being said, Red State is a really crazy movie as well. Shortly, it's about three teenagers who receives an invitation for group sex with an old woman. But soon they find themselves trapped in a catholic church where they kill people who "are gay". Well, these catholics are really stupid and crazy, they're against gay marriage, and it shows already in the beginning of the film.

I really reacted to the catholics in this film. The actors who played them were incredibly good, Melissa Leo and Michael Parks were both great in this film. Even the teen actors in this movie were quite good. And I can't forget to mention that seeing John Goodman as a cop was just wonderful. But the thing about Red State that didn't work out is how the plot turns out after just 40 minutes.

When the police gets involved it suddenly becomes an action movie, and that's where I started to loose interest. Sure, it was great and exciting action but when the sequence takes place at the same place for the rest of the movie it gets very repetitive. If Kevin Smith just decided to focus less on that this could have really been something special.

But I do understand why people react to this movie. The catholics in this movie are really too exaggerated. They appear to be a bit too religious, too crazy and too evil. If I were a catholic I would probably almost sue Kevin Smith for making this film. But still, Smith gives us his message via that. Compared to the reviews I read about this movie, I was really surprised. The movie worked out in a way I just didn't expect it to do.

It was exciting from the start to the ending. And you could feel the horror inside of you in the beginning of the film. When the action starts it isn't as good but it's still some exciting and moving scenes we have. If you love Kevin Smith's comedies a lot, then maybe this isn't something you should expect much from. But I really thought this was something special. I haven't seen a film like Red State before. I don't think Kevin Smith will make another horror movie because Red State didn't gross as much money as expected, but still. Watch it!

Cube (1997)

What a movie...

[8/10 · 27 December 2013]

Cube is a low budget film with not well known actors, but it is a really good movie. Have you ever been stuck in an elevator? Well you'll feel the fear 1000x times more when watching this movie. The opening sequence of the movie makes it look like a bad horror film at first, but Cube has so much more to offer.

One of the best things with this movie were the actors, they were all really good. I almost felt like they were playing themselves which I rarely feel while watching movies. The plot is simple, seven strangers wake up in an endless maze with death traps. But what Vincenzo Natali focuses on is how the different characters change during this time. That is what kept me worried, excited and scared all the time.

Few low budget movies can build so much excitement as Cube did, and that's why I really liked it. I haven't seen the two sequels yet but you can't make sequels to movies like these. I'm happy with the first one and I think you should watch it. But as I said, the actors are really what makes this movie so good, I'm pretty sure that if there would be a known cast it would have been a lot worse.

If you want an exciting adventure, then watch Cube. This is true cult.