Category: Drama

Beautiful Creatures


 The Film Freak

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7/10

A pretty good film that definitely has it’s good and bad points. I would first like to praise the performances of Jeremy Irons and Viola Davis for making the most out of a story that (in my opinion) was pretty bland. I enjoyed the amazing visuals during the dinner scene and the Civil War tornado was pretty cool. My problems with this film is the heavily-influenced Twilight story that they were so obviously trying to go for. I wouldn’t have had a problem with it if they didn’t make it so obvious. I also didn’t like the main character of Ethan. I felt that the kid was borderline stalker and if the people who see this film are too blind to notice, then i can’t help them. Overall, i would recommend the movie to the female audience for sure, but i think it would be very hard to imagine that the male audience will take anything away from it. That’s not saying anything insulting, it’s just that this love story is definitely made more for females

Side Effects


 The Film Freak

 

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8/10

This film totally took me by surprise as it seemed to be split into two seperate films. In the first 40 minutes, you think this film is going a certain way and then for the last hour it takes you on a totally different ride. Jude Law and Rooney Mara handed in amazing performances as a doctor and mental patient, respectively. Soderbergh is truly becoming one of my favorite directors as he tackles the issues in the world that others are afraid to even look at. This film explores the very dangerous world of medical pills and how far down someone can fall by taking or prescribing them. The last half hour reminded me of something out of Wild Things or Striking Distance. It totally keeps you guessing and guides you down a path making things look different from what they seem. I recommend this movie to anyone who likes a real movie like Traffic or Contagion (Both Soderbergh) that takes a look at the real world and it’s flaws with the justice system.

Zero Dark Thirty


 The Film Freak

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8/10

A very deep impacting film that does a great job of showing the negative sides of those who fight for our freedoms. I love that they didn’t skimp on showing the family of Bin Laden and their reactions to what went down because i think that is just as important as anything. The film’s strongest point is the cinematography and how it is shot. I am also now pulling for Jessica Chastain to win the Oscar.

Mama


 The Film Freak

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5/10

This movie was really disappointing for me. For the last two weeks, i heard nothing but positive reviews about how this film was different from the shock-horror that they have given us for the last decade. This movie was so far beyond stupid that i can’t even fathom what i did with the last 93 minutes. The ending (which i won’t spoil) was so terrible that i can’t even believe that they wanted us to be ok with it. The only things that brought it up from a 3 or 4 was the performance of child-actress Megan Charpentier, and the amazing visual effects that made Mama look real chilling. Other than that, TOTAL CRAP. It’s not the worst movie i have seen this year, but it’s pretty damn close

Broken City


 The Film Freak

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7/10

Russell Crowe is at the top of his game as a crooked politician who is hell bent on winning the election at any cost. This film had a lot of great interaction moments like the one near the end with Crowe and Mark Wahlberg. They are two veterans of the action/drama genre that have perfected their craft. The only thing i probably would’ve cut out of this were a couple of the characters as i feel they weren’t needed. I would recommend a DVD viewing, but you won’t be lost if you don’t catch this one in the theatres.

Django Unchained


 The Film Freak

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7/10

I had to watch it a 2nd time to decide how i truly felt about this movie. The positives for it are the performances of Leonardo Dicaprio, Christoph Waltz and Samuel L Jackson. It also has a lot of Tarrantino dialogue. The negative for me was the running time of 2 hours and 45 minutes. I could’ve easily shaved a good hour of this movie and had it still be just as entertaining. My overall opinion is good, but far from Tarrantino’s best.

Les Miserables


 The Film Freak

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8/10

One amazingly beautiful picture with the best cinematography of the year. The sets really created a dark world in which every one of these characters sang of their breakthroughs. I thoroughly enjoyed the performances of Jackman and Hathaway, and had it not been for Daniel Day Lewis (Lincoln), i would automatically assume that Jackman would take the Oscar. I also fell head over heels for the girl who played Eponine (Samantha Barks). When she sang ‘On my own’, it actually brought a tear to my eyes. I was also very surprised at how good Amanda Seyfried was as Cozette. I really thought that was going to be one of the weaker parts of the movie, but i was wrong. Now for the weaknesses, Russell Crowe did great as Javert, but that man cannot sing to save his life. It’s just my opinion, but his voice carries no rhythm what so ever and i find it hard that this man can inspire any kind of army. Another weakness was the screen time of 2 Hours and 37 Minutes. This movie is good, but it’s not great enough to carry a time like that without lagging in some spots. Luckily, Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter kept showing up to give it the little spike it needed. There were also a couple of camera errors and inconsistencies i noticed, but i wont get into those as i feel they aren’t important with a review. Overall, i would recommend this movie to musical fans, but it might lag to anyone who doesn’t have patience to watch a 2 and 1/2 hour movie.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower


 The Film Freak

 

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8.5/10

The thing that i found the most charming about this movie was that it didn’t go weak on it’s views of teenage life. We have all gone through the same things that these kids go through in this movie and that makes it relatable. A movie on Catcher and the Rye will never be made, but this is the closest that you can get to it. Great performance from Emma Watson. Showing that she has deep acting chops after the Potter franchise has ended.