Good week in movies
12 Years a Slave (Blu-ray, 1st viewing) – It’s not an easy watch with the graphic nature of some of the beatings, but it’s a great movie and well worth your time. They did an excellent job making it feel authentic, and everyone involved does an exceptional job in their respective role. It deserves all of the praise it received. One of those movies that’s basically essential viewing.
8/10
Lee Daniels’ The Butler (Blu-ray, 1st viewing) – It’s obviously not as powerful viewing as 12 Years, but a decent drama nonetheless. It bounces around and lacks the focus it needs, but the strong cast and acting more than make up for those problems. Again, it may have been better suited being released at a different time, but most will find themselves reasonably entertained for the full 2 hours of runtime.
6.5/10
The Fifth Estate (Blu-ray, 1st viewing) – One of those movies that’s well done, but unfortunately just isn’t that interesting or entertaining. I’m sure Wiki Leaks is an interesting topic to some, but I knew about all I needed with a simple Google search – not sure why the topic needed a movie. Anyway, has some good actors performing well – Bruhl and Cumberbatch – but unfortunately it’s just not a terribly entertaining thriller. I think it tries way too hard to generate some character drama, when the majority of the drama should be about the events surrounding the leak itself.
4/10
True Romance (Blu-ray, 1st viewing) – I thought this was a pretty good movie. The late Tony Scott was always a dark horse of mine, and with the screenplay being written by Tarantino, there’s a lot to draw me towards it. It has that snappy dialogue QT is known for and the characters are excellent – Gary Oldman as a drug dealer, Brad Pitt as a stoner loser, and Christopher Walken as a crime mob boss. There are some great sequences, in particular the one between Dennis Hopper and Walken. It’s not up there with most of QT’s stuff, but certainly worth a watch for fans of the aforementioned cast and crew.
6.5/10
Flightplan (Blu-ray, 1st viewing) – The idea is a little far fetched, but good execution and acting make this a serviceable thriller. I think thrillers on planes work very well, and this continues that trend for me. It begins to stretch believability after a bit, but fortunately has an ending that ties up everything relatively well. Fans of Foster or the genre will find it to be worth a watch.
6.5/10
Riddick (Blu-ray, 1st viewing) – I really liked Pitch Black and thought Chronicles was a solid sci-fi flick, and though this doesn’t really take the series into any new directions, it sticks to what worked well in Pitch Black. The story in this is more contained than the one seen in Chronicles, and the back to basics approach was a good move, I think. Even for movies released today, it looks and sounds great. All in all, one of the better sci-fi action movies to be released in some time, and one you shouldn’t miss out on.
7.5/10
Heat (Blu-ray, 2nd viewing) – One of my personal favorite crime dramas and my top pick for Michael Mann, which is saying something considering how much I liked Last of the Mohicans and Collateral. There’s just so much happening in this movie it’s easy to get lost in, and the interplay between De Niro and Pacino is really good. It also has some excellent action sequences, in particular the bank heist scene about 2/3 of the way through the movie. I would imagine most everyone has watched it by this point, but if not, get on it – it’s well worth your time.
8/10
12 Years a Slave (Blu-ray, 1st viewing) – It’s not an easy watch with the graphic nature of some of the beatings, but it’s a great movie and well worth your time. They did an excellent job making it feel authentic, and everyone involved does an exceptional job in their respective role. It deserves all of the praise it received. One of those movies that’s basically essential viewing.
8/10
Lee Daniels’ The Butler (Blu-ray, 1st viewing) – It’s obviously not as powerful viewing as 12 Years, but a decent drama nonetheless. It bounces around and lacks the focus it needs, but the strong cast and acting more than make up for those problems. Again, it may have been better suited being released at a different time, but most will find themselves reasonably entertained for the full 2 hours of runtime.
6.5/10
The Fifth Estate (Blu-ray, 1st viewing) – One of those movies that’s well done, but unfortunately just isn’t that interesting or entertaining. I’m sure Wiki Leaks is an interesting topic to some, but I knew about all I needed with a simple Google search – not sure why the topic needed a movie. Anyway, has some good actors performing well – Bruhl and Cumberbatch – but unfortunately it’s just not a terribly entertaining thriller. I think it tries way too hard to generate some character drama, when the majority of the drama should be about the events surrounding the leak itself.
4/10
True Romance (Blu-ray, 1st viewing) – I thought this was a pretty good movie. The late Tony Scott was always a dark horse of mine, and with the screenplay being written by Tarantino, there’s a lot to draw me towards it. It has that snappy dialogue QT is known for and the characters are excellent – Gary Oldman as a drug dealer, Brad Pitt as a stoner loser, and Christopher Walken as a crime mob boss. There are some great sequences, in particular the one between Dennis Hopper and Walken. It’s not up there with most of QT’s stuff, but certainly worth a watch for fans of the aforementioned cast and crew.
6.5/10
Flightplan (Blu-ray, 1st viewing) – The idea is a little far fetched, but good execution and acting make this a serviceable thriller. I think thrillers on planes work very well, and this continues that trend for me. It begins to stretch believability after a bit, but fortunately has an ending that ties up everything relatively well. Fans of Foster or the genre will find it to be worth a watch.
6.5/10
Riddick (Blu-ray, 1st viewing) – I really liked Pitch Black and thought Chronicles was a solid sci-fi flick, and though this doesn’t really take the series into any new directions, it sticks to what worked well in Pitch Black. The story in this is more contained than the one seen in Chronicles, and the back to basics approach was a good move, I think. Even for movies released today, it looks and sounds great. All in all, one of the better sci-fi action movies to be released in some time, and one you shouldn’t miss out on.
7.5/10
Heat (Blu-ray, 2nd viewing) – One of my personal favorite crime dramas and my top pick for Michael Mann, which is saying something considering how much I liked Last of the Mohicans and Collateral. There’s just so much happening in this movie it’s easy to get lost in, and the interplay between De Niro and Pacino is really good. It also has some excellent action sequences, in particular the bank heist scene about 2/3 of the way through the movie. I would imagine most everyone has watched it by this point, but if not, get on it – it’s well worth your time.
8/10
