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TST Film Review Thread

This is England

One of the best British films of recent years, in my opinion. Set in 1983 during the Thatcher era, it follows Shaun, a 13-year-old boy, living in a coastal town in the north-east of England (some scenes were shot in Grimsby, the home town of Thomas Turgoose, who plays Shaun). He lost his father in the Falklands conflict, and still doesn't seem to have come to terms with it. He befriends a group of skinheads, who take him in and become real friends of his. However, this changes when Combo, a violent racist, turns up, and the group is split into two, with Shaun joining Combo's racist gang. Combo's gang robs a shop owned by a Mr Sandhu, and Combo waves a machete around while using some of the most appalling language I have ever heard. One of the final scenes in the film sees Combo's group getting stoned thanks to some cannabis purchased by Milky (who is black, which is a key point in this scene). Combo, upon hearing how good Milky's family life is, flies into a rage and beats Milky to a pulp. It's brutal. Very brutal. The last scene of the film sees Shaun on his own again, much like he was at the beginning.

I'm not sure what I can say about it, other than I think it's a fantastic film. Very gritty, and an interesting look into how nationalism split the skinhead movement, among so many other things. It gets a 9/10 from me.
 
I revisited cult 80s animated classic Heavy Metal last night.

I could review it using words, but I think simply posting the poster is the best way I can review the film.

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Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

Susprisingly enjoyable pre-apocalyptic romantic comedy, with enough drama in it to make the situation (earth about to be hit by at 70-mile wide asteroid) believable. Not amazingly funny, but it's certainly heartfelt, with a very bittersweet ending.
 
Scary MoVie (Scary Movie 5)

Well it's really just your typical parody to sum it up in a few words, although I'd go slightly further to say it's a bit better than most of the parodies that have been released recently.

The acting was average (then again I think it was meant to be like that as it's a Scary Movie film) and the storyline was fairly decent, although it doesn't beat Scary Movie 1 and 2.

Overall, I'd give it a 6/10. It's worth seeing if you have the time and money, but I wouldn't go rushing to see it if you don't have either of these things. :p
 
Taken from a little film review blog I've started doing. dreynolds91.wordpress.com

Lawless

Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman and Guy Pearce in a crime-drama, it all sounds very promising doesn’t it? Unfortunately, whilst this film is still watchable, it suffers from pacing issues, massive lack of character development and a villain who is so over the top it’s laughable.


(From left) – Jason Clarke, Shia LaBeouf & Tom Hardy
Set in Franklin Country, Virginia in 1931, it follows Hardy, Jason Clarke and Shia LaBeouf who are all brothers and run a moonshine business. Pearce comes in as the new Deputy (Charley Rakes) who is so unintentionally hilarious as a villain. He’s so over the top it’s laughable and a big shame because Pearce is usually a terrific actor.

Whilst the film is based on the book and a true story OK, it was still hard to really root for the brothers (or anyone) throughout the film as their decisions are rash and unexplained and on top of that, their performances weak. Hardy is usually great but just mumbles and grunts throughout, Shia LaBeouf still can’t act and tries so hard to convince us he can it’s quite cringe worthy and Jason Clarke is forgetful. Some scenes are enjoyable admittedly, and watching it was intriguing, although this was more out of hope that something would actually happen.

The end feels very rushed and the final scene is absolutely ludicrous when you consider what has preceded it for 100 minutes. Gary Oldman is also in this film, for about two scenes and so is massively underused – a big disappointment as again, he’s always fantastic.

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Apologies for the double-post, but another review for Silver Linings Playbook, taken from my Wordpress blog I've started doing.

http://dreynolds91.wordpress.com/

Oscar winning and widespread acclaim are generally not associated with the genre of romantic comedy, however every now and then one pops up that surprises everyone and surpasses all expectations; ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ is this decade’s ‘As Good As It Gets’.

Pat Jr (Bradley Cooper) is released from a mental health facility after eight months of treatment for bipolar disorder and moves back home to live with his parents Pat Sr and Dolores (Robert De Niro; Jacki Weaver). Pat Jr is determined to reconcile with his wife and in the process, he meets troubled Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) who recently lost her husband and her job and they agree to help each other in achieving their goals.

The single thing that one has to praise about this film is the acting and characters. They are portrayed so well and the entire cast really put in a performance, even Chris Tucker! Cooper proves his worth and versatility as an actor and De Niro puts in the performance which proves he’s back on form. Lawrence’s Oscar-winning performance is well deserved for such a challenging character. It’s evident Tiffany has troubles of her own and the emotions she goes through are ever changing making the friendship between herself and Pat all the more engaging. You find yourself really rooting for the characters.

Whilst the final third of the film stumbles to the end and is quite clichéd, there are few faults with the film. The drama and comedy are well balanced and just work.

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:)
 
Evil Dead remake.

Meh. I liked the original for it's ridiculous humour and the creepiness. The remake has neither. It's not a TERRIBLE film at all, but it lacks something that just doesn't match up to expectations. Lots of gratuitous gore catering for this generation of 'violence for violence sake' audience. No real character to the movie overall, such a shame.

One pro though is that they used 'old school' special effects. No CGI or anything. It kept a rather impressive authentic feel to it by doing it that way and the Evil looked legitimately horrifying as the result.
 
Iron Man 3.

I haven't written a review yet as it's still properly sinking in but wow, what a disappointment. Way OTT and just ridiculous with the so called 'twists' being just terrible. Also the humour didn't work, there were too many characters and just, god, it was a mess!

Hope they just leave it there before they ruin IM any more. Stick to the first!

**
 
Danza91 said:
Iron Man 3.

I haven't written a review yet as it's still properly sinking in but wow, what a disappointment. Way OTT and just ridiculous with the so called 'twists' being just terrible. Also the humour didn't work, there were too many characters and just, god, it was a mess!

Hope they just leave it there before they ruin IM any more. Stick to the first!

**
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I thought it was a great, entertaining film with an unexpected but satisfying end. RDJ was again the star of the show, however I thought Guy Pearce played a great villain. Doesn't really look like your wish will be coming true though given it looks as if RDJ will sign a contract for another few films (at least one of which will be the Avengers 2).
 
Star Trek Into Darkness (No colon. J.J Abrahams said it himself on BBC radio 5 live) Brilliant film overall, but I don't get the beginning,
Why the hell is the enterprise underwater!? and the volcano
And the name hasn't got anything to do with the film at all... :/ also the why the villain is who he is... can't put it clearer otherwise I will spoil the film. It does have some good references to older star treks and some cool 3D but you can still watch it in 2D and it's not much different. ( I went 3D with my dad, 2D with my cousin and uncle, my uncle is blind in 1 eye so can't see in 3D) But IMO http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studio_Ghibli make the best films especially My Neighbor totoro!
 
Alastair said:
Danza91 said:
Iron Man 3.

I haven't written a review yet as it's still properly sinking in but wow, what a disappointment. Way OTT and just ridiculous with the so called 'twists' being just terrible. Also the humour didn't work, there were too many characters and just, god, it was a mess!

Hope they just leave it there before they ruin IM any more. Stick to the first!

**
Click to expand...

I thought it was a great, entertaining film with an unexpected but satisfying end. RDJ was again the star of the show, however I thought Guy Pearce played a great villain. Doesn't really look like your wish will be coming true though given it looks as if RDJ will sign a contract for another few films (at least one of which will be the Avengers 2).
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I just saw Iron Man 3 and thought it was really good. I haven't even seen 1 or 2 but I found it really easy to get into. I loved the kind of dark humour and twists.

Especially the 'leader' of Mandarin. That was just hilarious. :D
 
Watched Argo a couple of weeks ago. Intense, terrific acting, pacing was perfect and all round a great thriller. It may not have been historically correct but what film that's 'based on a true story' isn't dramatised? I really enjoyed it.

****

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And saw Man of Steel at the weekend. An absolute mess! Predictable, deus ex machinas, over the top effects, Michael Bay style action, self indulgent, cardboard characters and really quite boring; pretty much what you'd expect from Zack Snyder. The only thing that made it bearable was that Henry Cavill is actually a good Superman, it's just everything else was awful!

**
 
The World's End

Consider this whole thing a spoiler

I'm not quite sure what to make of it tbh. It certainly didn't leave me grinning from ear to ear Like Shaun and Fuzz did. I think I need to see it again to look out for more clues to certain things (trying not to give too much away).

The opening sequence certainly felt like something from Spaced, no complaints there. The first half of the film was really rather good. The character comedy between the five old friends getting back together was charming, and could have made a good film on it's own. In fact, I had almost forgotten there were killer "robots" coming soon. In a bizarre way, when they showed up it was almost a shame to ditch the initial plot and replace it with the crazyness.

I think that's my gripe with it. Whereas the first two films of the "Blood and Icecream" trillogy managed to seamlessly blend something daft in to the real world, this was very much a film of two halfs. Unfortunately, for me, the second half jarred with the first in a way that didn't quite work.
... Or did it? Maybe that was the intention? To imply that there's no point clinging on to your youth because the world changes?

As for the ending... (Real spoiler time here. Honestly, do not click unless you've seen it.)
Well, I sure wasn't expecting it. I know the film is called The World's End, but I didn't expect the world to actually end. Some of the imagery was rather Threads at times. Definately not the upbeat ending I was expecting after the last two flicks. Though in a way, I'm not complaining. I've always cringed at happy endings in alien invasion movies, so at least this was a bit more realistic. Again though, the ending almost felt like it came from another, third plot.

I'm glad they worked the Cornetto in there somewhere, I was starting to thing it wasn't going to happen! :p

The final scene didn't really work for me. It seemed to make no sense. Whereas in the last two films, Shaun and Nicholas had grown and developed over the course of events, in this one Gary is no better than he was at the start. Possibly even worse. If anything, it's Andy (Frost's character) that has changed.

Overall, while it certainly had it's fair share of laughs, and is in no way a bad film, it failed to wow me in the same way as the first two. A real shame. It felt like a compilation of ideas they couldn't fit in to the other films. In a way, I think I'd rather they didn't bother with the robot invasion, and just stuck with the "old school friends getting back to gether to finish a pub crawl" plot.

I think my main issue is that it all just felt a bit too ... "Doctor Who", as if it was co-written by Russell T. Davies. :S
 
Thought World's End was boss. The end was weird though. (Did love the bloke at the end with the England flag painted on his face, as if the "No blacksblanks" thing wasn't obvious enough already.)

Not sure any of it really 'worked', or what the point it was making was.

It still had all the subtle, clever jokes (like the names of the pubs reflecting what happens in each) as well as the more obvious and slapstick ones.

It's probably just about the weakest of the three, but it's still a very good and very funny film.
 
I can't help [hope?] but wonder, is it one of those films that grows on you over time?
 
I presume so. The other two get funnier when you watch them again and notice more of the jokes. This will probably be the same.
 
A segment taken from a review I wrote on a blog I sometimes make a small effort to post on.

The World's End

Although the film takes a while to get going, it starts delivering when the friends are reunited and they are given time to develop as a group. However, just as you’re beginning to get into the film and it picks up pace, it takes you completely down another route as you find out about the robots. The plot of five friends reuniting to embark on a pub-crawl that they never finished is promising enough for what is ultimately, a comedy. This is where the film starts to get messy.

Although the plot becomes silly and feels like Pegg and Wright were trying to be too clever, it could have still been much more enjoyable if the humour worked but it generally doesn’t. ‘The World’s End’ is funny and does provide some laughs, (in particular when Bill Nighy features), but the jokes never quite ‘hit’ as they’re sometimes a bit too obvious, along with there being a significant amount of slapstick.

What was apparent in the previous two of the trilogy is that Pegg and Frost played likeable characters and the two bounced well off each other. In ‘The World’s End’ there is negative history between the two and there isn’t any energy between them to help carry the film resulting in it stuttering along. King (Pegg) is ultimately an idiot where as Andy (Frost) has become a dull, corporate-obsessed businessman. The two characters just don’t work and it isn’t until later on in the film where you are provided with glimpses of how it could have.

‘The World’s End’ isn’t a bad film at all, it’s fun and enjoyable, but it feels more like an action film rather than a comedy. ‘The World’s End’ is about reliving your past and expecting it to be just as good, only to be disappointed; the same can be said for this film following the previous two of the trilogy.

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I agree about Pegg and Frost's characters. There's no connection between them. WhileI did like Pegg's character, Frost's character was completely dull. I get why he is, but we don't find out why until too late in the film, whereas most of Pegg's character's flaws are open from the start, allowing us to understand and sympathise with him and his behaviour.
 
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