hunterwhales83 Reviews

End of Watch (2012)

Shallow and Irresponsible look at the lives of two cops

[2/10 · 18 May 2013]

A very one sided, shallow and immature look into the lives of two police men on duty in LA.

This movie constantly touts the ideals of family and brotherhood and even says that the police force is like a brother hood. The message of this movie: It is honorable to die for your brothers of the law. The problem is this message is portrayed in a very simplistic and shallow manner.

What is honorable about dying for your brothers of law when you're leaving your wife and new child behind? The two cops only question this once during the film after they went into the burning building, and it's touched on so lightly that I almost forgot they even did this.

They're actions would have been honorable if they consciously thought about their families before putting themselves in these dangerous situations. It can be honorable to put your needs of yourself and family aside for the greater good of society to do your job but, besides the time I mentioned above, this doesn't happen. Instead these two cops get into these dangerous situations without really even thinking, and moreso because they feel like their bada**es for being these allstar cops who are at the top of their game controlling crime in the ghetto.

There attitude is extremely immature and they act like little boys with their responsibility. I watch this film and can't help to think, "no wonder we have such a problem with guns in this country,"after dozens of irresponsible films like this are produced.

Lincoln (2012)

A boring Masterpiece

[3/10 · 6 February 2013]

A friend who saw this movie told me, 'There are some great scenes, great acting, and set design but the movie never really comes together.' My friend was right, but he didn't explain the reason why this movie didn't come together. Simply put, it's the storytelling that has failed here.

Years ago when I was taking screen writing classes in college I remember hearing from teachers (and then later on in my own study) to avoid writing scripts with only talking heads. If you're going to have a script with mostly talking then there needs to be other action going on in the background to make it more interesting. There is a reason for this in writing and Lincoln proves this perfectly. If you have a script with only talking heads and nothing else going on, what you are left with is a boring script. This is a two and a half hour movie and three quarters of it at least are talking heads. There's one scene in the movie where Lincoln is about to tell a story (Again!) and someone in the room hurries up and leaves. I felt exactly the same way. Please don't bore me with another verbose story.

The problem is this is a movie, and the story in a movie is supposed to be dramatized not vocalized like this is. If I had wanted to read a book about Lincoln I would have done so, but I came to see movie and expected to see a visual dramatization of the story. We didn't get one unfortunately.

Instead we got movie about one of the popular presidents in US history, with excellent set design and costume, and a brilliant performance by Day Lewis. People praise this movie because of this and unfortunately they are blinded by it not seeing that there is a very poorly written script underneath. Regardless of whether this movie is about a great man or that it has a great message, the fact of the matter is the storytelling is atrocious and it fails as a movie because of this.

Shame on all the critics who praised this garbage and the academy for nominating it for so many awards. Most importantly, shame on Spielberg. You were better than this, but maybe not anymore...

Quiet City (2007)

expected something better

[5/10 · 19 February 2008]

Was looking forward to seeing this for a few months and just saw it last night. Unfortunately this wasn't what I was hoping for, I found the movie to be something that will be very forgettable in the long run.

However, there were some good things I liked about this picture. Obviously the music and the cinematography was very well done, especially the music. It's so simple and very beautiful and fitting to the film. Many of the notes struck in the music linger and then fade away with a few seconds til the next note. This definitely helped set the mood of the film, and worked extremely well with the visuals.

Dialouge is interesting to look at in this film. First of all it's very natural, and the characters themselves seem very real. This is great in a film, but however, I don't think this should be the only thing, and unfortunately this is mostly what we're left with in this film. Watching these two characters meet really reminded me of how similar this is to my own life, yet that's all it is (for the most part). I don't find this film challenging, or even attempt to bring any kind of dramatic tension into the piece at all. Not having any dramatic tension isn't necessarily bad thing in the case of a few situations. Mutual appreciation (another mumblecore film) had very little dramatic tension and still was very entertaining, and more of a portrait of a person's life. This is really a portrait of a new relationship, and two people finding each other in modern times. And on top of that kind of boring.

I don't feel like this film is really trying to say anything. It's rather just trying to show the viewer something real in times where that can be hard to find. But in this case it fails, because it does so with out even attempting to find anything deeper. In a way I almost feel this film is shallow. It just scratches the surface of life without attempting anything more. And just as in with most new relationships, the easy part is when you first meet the person. But after awhile you really get to know them and you see who the real person is.

And one final thing. I feel like some of the shots were ridiculously too long. To be specific, the CU shot of the subway passing by in the opening must have gone on for over a minute. Why? Highly, and ridiculously unneeded. You can ponder over an image like that for 10 to twenty seconds and then move on.

If you're looking for more than you can find in your own real life, I would pass on this one. Go rent Before Sunrise instead. Much more thought provoking and also captures the fleeting and intense nature of youth. You'll get much more out of it than this film.

Kissing on the Mouth (2005)

a surprisingly good little indie

[7/10 · 12 December 2007]

I expected to hate this movie. I had a friend who saw it, who had told me about it and mentioned there was ridiculous amount of nudity that seemed uncalled for and that the plot didn't really go anywhere. I've heard quite a bit about the mumblecore group of filmmakers with much criticism, and was still excited to see this movie and most likely tell everyone how much I hated it.

Hated it I did not. Quite impressed, was what I found myself to be. To start off with first, there is a ridiculous amount of nudity in this movie. However, I didn't find it to be uncalled for at all. I felt that the director was showing us sex as it is. So often we see glamorized images of sex in Hollywood movies and it is so far from what sex really is. In this movie we see it plain and simply as what it is: two people having sex on a bed, a guy masturbating in the shower (which I could have done without but I feel it was done with purpose), or a girl putting deodorant on her crotch. I found all the nudity to be less tittalating than a typical Hollywood movie. When we watch Hollywood flicks the intention is usually to tittalate, this is to show people really having sex (and I honestly think they were) without all the gloss and glamour.

And yes the movie is about sex, dealing with sex with an ex post relationship and how people feel about sex in general which we hear in the voice over questions that Swanberg records. From as far as I can tell these interviews seem very genuine and were unscripted, much like most of the movie. These are real people talking about both life and sex. This movie reminds me of Greg Araki's first film Totally f--ked up. Whereas that film was more of an examination of homosexuality, this is an examination of heterosexuality, and in my opinion Swanberg's film is much better (However, Araki's film was speaking to a different generation and I'm sure this will feel the same way years down the line).

As for the plot, I wouldn't say it's the most original idea I've seen. It's basically about a girl who is still sleeping with her ex, and her friend who has a crush on her. Does it go somewhere, yes. At the end the two both move on and the friend seems to make peace with our protagonist (I also loved the little touch of the money in the envelope. Perfect). It's a simple plot, but the way it is executed is done very well and feels very real. I applaud Swanberg for this first attempt and look forward to seeing the work he will produce in the future. I have yet to say LOL and Hannah, but will be soon. Anyone interested in checking out the latest on the indiest of indie check out this piece with an open mind and you may be surprised at what you will find.

No Country for Old Men (2007)

one of the most overrated films of the year

[6/10 · 11 December 2007]

This was a movie I was initially going to avoid because I had seen the trailers so many times and was less than thrilled. However, after hearing a great review from one of my best film friends, who's opinion I respect highly, I thought what the hell I'll give this a shot.

I'll admit I really enjoyed the the first half of the film up until the confrontation between Anton and Llewelyn where they first set eyes on each other. I loved the fact that no music is used, and I love that we know so little about the main characters as we go into the film, yet the acting and dialouge is done so well, although dialouge is sparce in this first half, that the characters all seem like very real people. Some of the tension in this first half is almost unbearable (in a good way). When we are at the second hotel and the tracking device starts going off and Anton walks right by the room as we hear the beeping. My god, I could barely sit still. And then the way the rest of this scene plays out as Llewelyn runs to the passing car, and the driver get's shot in the throat. Wonderful.

However, after this confrontation, what happened to the tension? I was no longer gripped to my seat as we go and clear up subplots with Woody's character, that I could care less about. Does this tension compare to that of our protagonist's? Not even close. Yet you think that all this is building up to a final confrontation between Llewelyn and Anton, especially when the two talk on the phone. But no, this never comes. The next time we see Llewelyn, he is dead on a hotel floor. Along with his death goes the energy that kept this film rolling. I'm not saying that seeing this confrontation between Llewelyn and Anton is necessary, but there still needs to be away to keep the conflict rising, which the Coen brothers I guess forgot to do here.

Instead we're left with a confrontation between Llewelyn's wife and Anton and some old food for thought from Tommy Lee Jones. Yeah, I liked the confrontation between Llewelyn's wife and Anton. But was it as good as the confrontation between her husband and Anton. Nope. I feel the Coen brothers were trying to emphasize the point of there story in this second half. Having to do with both fate and pure evil. Anton embodies both these things seeming to be a soulless monster who is on a mission that he has no control of. I've heard many praise his character saying that this is a great character study of a person who embodies pure evil. Well I have seen plenty of horror films where this character is represented as well, only Anton talks and gives a voice to this evil. And it's almost as if we know what he is going to say, that is exactly what any character of pure evil would say. And after all this we're left with Tommy Lee Jones little speech at the end. I had almost completely checked out at this point. Not because I wanted to (I guess it was fate) but because THE MOVIE no longer gripped me. I only caught bits and pieces of Lee's speech once again talking about fate, and then I was happy to leave the theatre.

Sure this movie has themes of how money can make you cold and dead to life, fate, and pure evil. But is this done in a new refreshing way. No. Does it stir my mind in a different way. Nope.

I have seen most of the Coen Brothers film, and I'm left disappointed almost every time. I think they are two of the most overrated directors that are alive today. I'm not saying they make bad movies, because they don't. It's only that I feel too many of their movies are heralded as genius when they are only in the category of good. This happens to be another one of them in the good.