August - Short Reviews

15. 8. Teen Spirit (2011) - 2 / 10

I felt like watching a high school comedy, but it's hard to even try enjoying this film.

Teen Spirit is like Mean Girls meets ghosts, which seems so ridiculous it could be something good. There is a lot of potential in the story. With the right writers it could be hilarious. Well, they failed. The whole film just makes you cringe. It has every bad cliché trope in the book and eventually everything deep feels fake. This is the kind of high school movie 8-year-olds like, but anyone else probably just feels annoyed.

I for one want to forget I ever saw this movie. Sure, there were few feel-good moments (that's why I'm giving this movie a 2 instead of 1), but apart from that 6 % of the film everything feels forced and just... horrible..

17. 8. Barely Lethal (2015) - 7 / 10

There's something more important than watching good movies, and that's watching movies that make you feel good. So whether it's an award winner praised by critics or a silly high school / secret agent movie, it doesn't matter. Barely Lethal is such a nice and fun movie, which is why I saw it again, even if it isn't the best movie out there.

19.8. Shark Tale (2005) - 7 / 10

It always makes me nervous to watch old childhood favourites. Like, how bad were they this time?

But luckily Shark Tale (which I always thought was Shark's Tale) isn't as embarrassing as childhood favourites can be. Sure, there are a few immature jokes, but hey, what kid movie hasn't? But this movie is still genuinely funny.

The best part of this Shark Tale is that the plot could easily be changed so it could fit the human world, in which case it would be quite a hard crime thriller. You could even keep the music which would give it a nice feeling.

Of course Shark Tale isn't as good as it could be, but at least I'm not embarrassed since I loved this movie when I was eight. Shark Tale was the first movie I watched in English, and it remains the only movie I've seen with the commentary.

21,8. Down with Love (2003) - 3 / 10

I once saw pieces of Down with Love on TV. The film is extremely silly and over the top. That was the first thing that caught my eye then and made me interested. However, after all these years that level of silliness just feels annoying. Of course this movie has something amazing as well, like the kind of plot twists you would never see coming, and a lot of them. Still, even they don't seem to be enough to salvage the movie. It's boring, and eventually quite predictable, if you don't the plot twists that shuffle the pack a bit. The 60's aesthetic and music is a nice touch, but eventually this movie was a big let down. The cast is excellent, though.

24,8, Take Me Home Tonight (2011) - 4 / 10

I saw this DVD sitting on the shelf at the rental store so many times, and I finally decided to actually watch it. Eventually it turned out to be such a disappointment. I hoped for more plot than just "LOL we are at the party and that's my crush" and blah blah blah, whatever this movie was supposed to be about. The story is really boring and only a few characters are relatable.

The cover promised me the talented cast will make me laugh out loud. Sure, the cast is talented, like Topher Grace, Anna Faris, etc, but I don't think I laughed out loud once.

The best thing about this movie is the 80s aesthetic, that's it.

26.8. Men in Black II (2002) - 9 / 10

I've always loved Men in Black and I think it's hard to try to review your childhood favourites. I mean it's one thing if you watched the movie when you were certain age but not afterwards, but I've watch Men in Black II several times.

Still, Men in Black films are always fun. They are fun whether you are a kid, a teenager or an adult, and that shows something. They have interesting technology and aliens in them. It's the kind of franchise I always want to know more about the alien species and the widgets and maybe the history of MIB, all that. Maybe the things that are briefly viewed in the movies aren't thoroughly thought out, but they always look like so much fun.

I like the story and I like the characters, the music, almost everything. Sure, the first one is much more interesting than this one, but that's mostly because the first one feels so new and we can see it through J's eyes, because it's just as new to him. While the second movie is just as good and interesting, it doesn't feel as fresh. Still, an excellent film, the best kind of science fiction there is.

28.8. Men in Black 3 (2012) - 10 / 10

For some reason it has been hard for me to begin writing this small review.

Most of the time sequels are horrible, if the filmmakers just come up with them instead of knowing there will be a certain number of movies. However, Men in Black 3 is just as excellent as the first two, but it has something new to give, since agent J has to go back in time to save his partner agent K. We get to know more about K, even if some of the knowledge we get is in contradiction with other stuff.

Everything that's good with the first two movies is still good in the  third one, and it offers newer things: more alien species and more celebrities who are in fact aliens or MIB agents, stuff like that. These films never fail to make me smile, even if there are very heart-breaking scenes in them as well.

29.8. The Last Heist (2016) - 1 / 10

You know how there are those B-movies with the weirdest concepts like giant spiders fighting a shark with four heads? Well, The Last Heist is a bit like that, but a lot more boring: bank robbers versus a serial killer. Nothing in this movie was good.

Five TV Shows That Kept Me Occupied During Summer 2016

Summers are a time when I have no motivation to start a movie and sit through it and pay attention wholly. It's easier to watch a TV show from Netflix, especially when the episodes are around 20 minutes long, because then you don't have to focus on them 100 % and you can do something else while watching. This is something I like to do when I have trouble concentrating on a movie that lasts 1,5 - 2 hours. 

ARCHER

I tried to watch Archer previously, but I didn't even make it through the first episode, because I didn't think this TV show was right for me. But during this Summer I wanted to find something to watch while I was waiting for new seasons of the shows I already loved. Eventually I managed to watch Archer and I started to like it. True, many of the running jokes annoyed me, and there is something in Archer that I just don't like, but in the end Archer is a really funny show, even if I don't necessarily enjoy the genre.

BOJACK HORSEMAN

I've seen first two seasons before, but the third season came out in July. I was so psyched and it didn't take too long for me to watch the third show as well. BoJack Horseman is probably one of my favourite shows. It feels like a typical, dirty adult animation, but it is so much more. There are many episodes that are just horrifyingly sad, and when you're watching this show alone at night it just makes you feel kind of... weird. As if you might achieve everything and still not be happy. This show manages to make me miserable yet I enjoy it. It's astonishing.

THE FRESH PRINCE OF BEL-AIR

I've seen the first season maybe ten times, but finally I managed to actually watch the rest too - even if I'm still in the middle of the last season. This show is hilarious yet there are few really sad episodes. I love the way Will breaks the fourth wall. Since I watched this show when I was little most of these characters feel like family to me. True, Will's character is kind of an asshole sometimes, but hey, he is so charming it's easy to forget that.

FROM DUSK TILL DAWN

Yes I started watching this show before this summer, but I started re-watching the first season since I bought the DVD. I love this show, it's enchanting and it feels like the lore goes on and on yet it's never fully revealed. I'm looking forward to the third season.

MISFITS

I love this show, and I started watching it again, mostly because my little sister hadn't seen it before. I've finished season three but never gotten past that, but I'm planning on watching the rest with my sister ASAP.

Enemy of the State (1998)

Directed by: Tony Scott

Written by: David Marconi

A lawyer Robert Dean finds himself in the middle of political schemes. His every move is tracked by NSA when he accidentally acquires a tape of politician murdering a congressman. 

---

After watching a terrible movie the other day (it will be included in the monthly collection of shorter reviews) I wanted to watch something really good. My dad recommended Enemy of the State mostly because he knows how much I like Will Smith.

And Will Smith definitely doesn't disappoint the audience. He's extremely talented actor, and he adds his own charm to each character he plays. Of course some might find that annoying, but in the end his charm is what makes even the otherwise unlikable characters sympathetic. I read that Tom Cruise was first considered to play the main character. There are people out there who love Cruise but I personally could not like Robert Dean if played by him. 

I think I've only seen one movie by Tony Scott before, and that was Domino. In Domino I was annoyed by the overuse of the special effects and weird cinematography. In Enemy of the State Scott's input is clear, but it is definitely easier to follow this one. Sure, weird effects are used, but not all the time, and while some shots are still "artsy" in a way, it doesn't affect the whole movie, just few scenes, during which it's not always easy to even notice. 

Enemy of the State is an excellent thriller. It's the antagonist that makes you sit on the edge of your seat - NSA has satellites and basically eyes everywhere, how is one person going to outrun all that? I love the use of NSA as the antagonist, since it feels all powerful, and it makes the film still very current. This is one of those movies that make conspiracy theorists wet themselves, yet isn't too far fetched. All the chase scenes are excellently executed, and the feeling of helplessness is extremely thrilling. 

The only annoying thing is that sometimes the technology doesn't seem believable. Would there really be a surveillance camera in a lingerie shop that would be good enough for someone to almost get a full 360 degree view of the shop? That didn't seem real. 

Enemy of the state is a marvellous movie. It has clever twists and interesting characters, even if most of them are just plain annoying - all that is saved by Will Smith's charisma, and the main character's family. That way there's at least someone who to root for. I definitely recommend this movie to anyone who hasn't seen it yet. This is, no doubt, one of the best thrillers out there.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

9 / 10

Magic Mike (2012)

Directed by: Steven Soderbergh

Written by: Reid Carolin

A stripper takes a young man under his wing and teaches him to strip, but no action is without consequence. 

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Explaining why I ended up watching Magic Mike feels a bit in vain. I've seen the posters and the screen captions. Of course I wanted to see this.

I'm surprised how many people talking about this movie (and I mean talking it about casually. I haven't exactly read any other reviews or blog posts) leave out how good the story is. From what people have said I've just assumed it's a cute male stripper story, but there was a lot of depth left out. Sure, not all characters are deep and have a big reason for why they are stripping apart from money, but at least it's explained why the main character wants the money. It was interesting to see that Mike actually wanted to do something else because I didn't think that was the case at first.

The story is an excellent drama with a lot of ups and downs both in the story and the writing itself. The whole idea is quite good, and it's interesting to see what is going to happen, bu a lot of the characters are left blank. Does the audience care about anyone else than Mike and maybe a little about Adam? It's like Channing Tatum is the only one giving life to this movie, and all the other actors are mere accessories. Without Tatum this movie would feel even more hollow. 

Visually this movie is amazing, and I'm not just talking about the cast. I mean the choreographic used in the dance numbers is excellent, and the colour scheme is extremely nice. 

I enjoyed this movie quite a lot, yet I have hard time figuring out why exactly. The story is good but not great, and that goes for many things in this movie, like the soundtrack, cinematograpy, etc. But I'd feel a bit horrible to say that the only thing that kept me interesting was all the hot men, because that wouldn't be true. I think it's Channing Tatum who makes this movie enjoyable - he's charming, funny and easy on the eye, and a lot better at acting than people say he is. He seems like an absolute sweetheart. 

☆☆☆☆☆☆

6 / 10

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

Directed by: Zack Snyder

Written by: Chris Terrio & David S Goyer; Batman created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger; Superman created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster

Two superheroes are both suspicious of each other's action and the consequences of those actions, and the whole world is trying to figure out what kind of a hero they need while Lex Luthor stirs the pot.

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Oh look, more disappointments caused by superhero movies! I saw the ultimate edition of this movie, and that's three disastrously bad hours spent in front of the TV. On the other hand I heard a lot of people wanted exactly this from superhero movies, and others hated this film. I can understand the hate better than how anyone can like this.

I didn't like Suicide Squad, but after Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which is a uselessly long name, Suicide Squad seems much better. For instance, Suicide Squad had interesting, in-depth characters. Most of them were knew to me, but it didn't matter, because the film introduced them well. However everyone knows who Batman and Superman are, so even if Batman is now a new character, his introduction was incredibly short, and the audience just has to accept this new Batman immediately, even if his character is left a bit hollow. Ben Affleck is an amazing Batman, but the writing doesn't give him any justice. Superman has always seemed a bit boring, and he doesn't seem to get any better in this film. So we have two hollow characters. Who are we supposed to root for, when neither of them seem at least a bit interesting?

Many of the scenes seem disconnected from each other, until it extremely slowly starts to become a one whole movie. Even when it is a one whole thing, it seems like it is patched together in the worst possible way. It's confusing and annoying. Yes, superhero movies could be a bit "smarter" but no, they don't necessarily need three hours and this kind of slow rhythm. Still, there are far too many dream sequences. They are almost always annoying, and they definitely don't go well with superhero action movies. They seem like a bad try to make this film seem deeper than it is.

There were a few intriguingly dark details, like the written notes for Wayne and the "Joke's on you Batman", but none of those were explore as much as I hoped they would be. 

The dark cinematography could've been interesting, but I feel like I missed a lot of details because of it. It was hard to follow and see what was going on.

The best part of this movie is Lex Luthor. I know basically nothing about him, because my interest to Superman is very limited. Jesse Eisenberg was an interesting choice, but he shines brighter than anything else in this movie.

I did not like this movie. It was annoying to watch and I wish I had watched to shorter version. Maybe it wouldn't feel so much like just empty disconnected scenes. Still, there's no way the characters are any less hollow in the short version. It seems like these days 20th Century Fox is making the best superhero movies when DC and Marvel Studios are both so disappointing.

☆☆

2 / 10

Suicide Squad (2016)

Directed and written by: David Ayer

The worst of the worst villains are given a chance of redemption and shortening their sentence by a mission that will likely result into their death.

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I saw this trailer when I went to see X-Men: Apocalypse and then again when I went to see Ghostbusters. The trailer made me very optimistic. Before the trailer I thought that this was not worth seeing. I know, I should've learnt by now that trailers are always better than the actual movie: the movie itself shattered all my hopes towards this movie. 

Writing in this movie is partially good. The idea of the script is good: let's give the bad guys a chance. Characters are deep, and it's easy to start liking them. They all have backstories, and some are explored. They give the characters something more than "LOL we are just bad and crazy". The only thing is I hate the Joker. While all the other characters were extremely interesting, Joker feels absolutely unnecessary. They could've left him out apart from the flashbacks.

But the writing is partially horrible. The dialogue seems kinda off. You see what's meant to be funny but it doesn't necessarily make you laugh. And it seems like this movie is trying to smooch off of Deadpool's success, considering he's an antihero, and he had that hilarious yet dark movie. If Suicide Squad wasn't trying to be like Deadpool meets Avengers except in DC universe, then their timing wasn't exactly the greatest.

But I don't want to start saying which one is better DC or Marvel. Both are good yet both suck. I'm just saying, the timing was bad.

When I watch a movie like this, I have high hopes for the action scenes, especially when technology is getting better and all that. In Suicide Squad, the action scenes are poorly executed. They are messy and it's hard to see what is going on and who is who. I mistook Boomerang for Rick Flag at one point and the dialogue was very confusing. Action scenes are allowed to be messy if they look interesting. These scenes were just shooting, and that's not exactly interesting to watch.

I loved most of the actors chosen for this movie. I love Will Smith, I love Margot Robbie, Karen Fukuhara, Jay Hernandez and Viola Davis (and of course Affleck, even if his role is small in Suicide Squad). Now I don't exactly like Cara Delevingne's acting skills, but still there's something much worse in the cast: Jared Leto. I've seen him in two movies before this, so I haven't seen that much acting from him but he is definitely not the right choice for Joker. He's just a disastrously bad copy of Heath Ledger. But the cast is amazingly diverse. 

Visually this movie is amazing. It's very dark, like David Fincher's movies. That's effective, though sometimes you don't even see who is in the scene. The bright neon colours give a nice touch to the movie.

The best part of Suicide Squad is the soundtrack. Few of my favourites include Heathens by Twenty One Pilots, Fortunate Son by CCR, Bohemian Rhapsody, Spirit in the Sky, Seven Nation Army. I can't stand Eminem, but Without Me by him suited this film very well. All are amazing, but still, Bohemian Rhapsody was used better in the trailer - it's really hard to put in an actual scene, no matter how awesome that song is.

Suicide Squad has many amazing details, but as a whole it isn't great. The idea is good, but eventually the story is boring. It seems like the film is just destroying stuff, explosions and shooting and smooching off of amazing characters. The characters deserve better movies. I heard there might be a spin-off for Harley Quinn, that's amazing. But I want to see the others in their own movies as well, like Katana and Deadshot. 

☆☆☆☆

4 / 10

Hitch (2005)

Directed by: Andy Tennant

Written by: Kevin Bisch

Alex Hitchen is called a date doctor: he helps men to land dates. But his advice doesn't necessarily help him, when he is smitten on a gossip journalist, who is wondering how a regular guy - a customer of Hitchen's - lands a famous, beautiful woman

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I've liked Will Smith since I was about 8 years old, and I realised I haven't seen that many movies from him. I've seen Men in Black and Shark's Tale (which was my favourite movie when I was eight), and seriously I thought it was a tragedy I haven't seen more. Well, of course there's Fresh Prince of Bel Air, but that is a whole other thing, isn't it?

Hitch is an amazing, light romantic comedy. I was suspicious at first, but Smith's character Alex Hitchen charmed me right away. He works with actually nice men who want a relationship instead of assholes, which is the key element that makes the character lovable. Mostly this movie works because of the characters. Hitchen is sweet, clever and honestly seems like the perfect man. Sara is clever, and while she has some typical romantic comedy tropes, she's still quite well written. All relevant characters grow significantly during the film. And it's amazing to see a romantic comedy about a black guy and a Latina woman without any annoying racial stereotypes - though of course I am no expert on this, so feel free to correct me.

Hitch just is an excellent movie. It's the perfect romantic comedy. It's sometimes ridiculous, but also genuinely funny. And it's so sweet and I enjoyed almost every second of it. apart from the typical plot structure, and those few moments that almost frightened me that the film wouldn't go the way I'd want it to - because when you're watching romantic comedies, it's important the films don't just shit all over your face. They are for fun, and the audience doesn't necessarily need some huge plot twist that the writers came up with just so they could change the whole genre and be fake artsy.

In short this is a really nice movie, something I genuinely liked, even if I sometimes am a bit cynical towards romantic comedies. This movie made me smile and feel all warm inside. I definitely recommend this.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

10 / 10

Adventureland (2009)

Directed and written by: Greg Mottola

James Brennan's dream of travelling in Europe and getting into an ivy league school are shattered, and he has to take a job at the amusement park Adventureland to save at least a little money. The job is horrible but the experiences - good and bad - make up for it.

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There is one aspect that makes Adventureland stand out from other movies about teenagers. Adventureland isn't overly dramatic. I don't think there is a one scene in this film that made me roll my eyes and think "well that would never happen". Adventureland is simple, which makes it realistic. The problems these characters are having, their feelings and situations, are very familiar to many teenagers, which means Adventureland doesn't alienate teenage viewers - apart from most of the actors clearly not being teenagers.

While the story is simple, it's also intriguing. You want to see what happens, how the main character is going to fuck up this time. You also want to see if something crucial is going to be revealed from the characters. There are a lot of characters who make the audience wonder what's up with them, why they are the way they are. Well, we don't get much insight on that, just hints, clues. That isn't disappointing however, it feels okay. After all, you never know everything about everyone.

The fact that Adventureland took place in the 80's didn't seem to hold much meaning. It affected the soundtrack and technology available, that's it. It wouldn't have much effect if the movie didn't mention that it happened in the 80's. The problems and the events of the movie are more or less ageless. They could happen in the 80's, in the 90's, 2010's, in the future... Crushes, love, bad jobs and money issues are always there. 

Of course the 80's music goes very well with the movie. The songs used are amazing. The music alone could've been enough to make the movie feel like 80's. 

I'm not sure if I'm a fan of Jesse Eisenberg's acting. He seems like Michael Cera: they both seem to have that one character over and over again.Sure, Eisenberg is really good at that one character, but what does it tell us about his skills?

Adventureland is an interesting movie. I don't like all the plot points, but it makes me just the tiniest bit inspired. I'm just not sure what it's inspiring me to do. Write a YA-novel? Have more teenager experiences like this one? I just don't know. But I enjoyed this movie.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

8 / 10