Catch up reviews

I haven’t had time to review the movies i watched during my semester, so i want to take the time to review at least most of them. Now, i watched a lot of movies, so this will probably comprise a few posts. I’ve also been watching a few tv series’s on netflix, so i will try the ones i’ve completed so far.

The Girl who Kicked the Hornets Nest The final part of the Millennium Trilogy. I loved the first 1, but i didn’t find the second one movie as good. But this is by far my fav of the series. This movie is very atmospheric, which i loved. In the beginning Lisbeth is stuck in a hospital, which may sound like a boring opening, but i think it works well in the movie. The movie also keeps you guessing as to what Lisbeth’s plan is as the case piles up against her. Honestly, this is my fav movie in the series

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Black Swan I had high expectations for this one, so when i saw my dad got the blu-ray version of this i was really excited. Glad to say, this did not disappoint. The visuals in this movie are amazing, and Nina’s journey of self destruction and obsession is enthralling to watch. There’s not much i can say about this movie that hasn’t been said before, but overall i agree with the hype on this one

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Buried This is another one i had high expectations for. Fortunately it did not disappoint. As you probably know the film stays in one location, thus making Renolds performance vital to the success of the film. Thankfully, he was up to the task.

The desperation his character goes through is portrayed well, and makes you sympathize with his character quickly. Overall the movie manages to use its lack of locations to its advantage, and does a good job of keeping the tension going.

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Fair Game This succeeds mainly because of its two leads. Sean Penn, someone who i think is one of the most consistently good actors out there, gives a amazing performance as Joe Wilson. Right from the beginning i was engrossed in his performance, and did a perfect job of portraying his quest to get justice for his wife.

I wasn’t too familiar with Naomi Watts before this, but i will certainly try to pay attention to her career more now. She managed to portray both Valeries strength and her vulnerabilities extremely well, and kept me engaged throughout the whole movie.

Together, the two had great chemistry. The two felt perfectly believable as husband and wife. The plot is well written, although it can’t escape the fact that because the story is so well known it is a bit predictable. But even with that, i feel this is worth watching for the two leads alone.

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The Alien Girl While this may sound like a sci-fi movie, it is actually a russian crime drama. The first thing that stands out in this movie is the visual style. It changes from gritty to stylized multiple times while keeping the tone consistent. Since IMDB doesn’t seem to have a plot synopsis for this one, i will try to summarize it without spoiling anything. Basically, a mob boss a group of mobsters to find the sister of a possible informant called the “alien” girl. That is all i will say, as i feel another thing that works for the movie is that it can be hard to predict.

Like the plot itself, it is hard to tell exactly what the “alien” girl character is thinking. This is not because Natalia is bad in the role, in fact the opposite is true. it is just her character has a very mysterious and alluring mystique to her, which makes her all the more entertaining to watch.

The movie does have graphic violence, sexuality, and profanity, so if those things bother you then you might find this one too hard to watch. But i personally enjoyed this one a lot.

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Grown Ups This one surprised me. In the beginning it didn’t seem like anything special. Not to say it was especially unfunny, but it didn’t grab me. But as it went on, the movie seemed to start to focus on its characters more, and i found myself getting more and more into it. By the end, i was rooting for the main characters.

The leads are all adequate in there roles, and provide the comedic chops needed, but don’t expect any profound performances here. The actress’s are pretty much the same way, but Mia imo manages to stand out and gives the best comedic performance out of all the actress’s in the movie. Now the humor is a bit crude at times, which may turn off some viewers, but i personally don’t mind it.

There was one plotline that i felt was unnecessary(and another that felt slightly creepy) but i did find the movie enjoyable, and it did make me laugh.

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Skins Now, i’ve only sen up to season 3 of this(Season 4 is not available for streaming yet)but the cast changes after the second season. My review will focus on the first cast. One thing that i noticed immediately is that with the possible exception of 1 character, the teens in this show aren’t well off. I think this works in the shows favor,making the characters more related than the usual american teen characters.

In Skins, most of the episodes is focused on a specific character. Thats not to say there aren’t elements that carry from episode to episode, but this structure focuses more on character development than plot. Thankfully, the characters in the show are written well enough that spending a lot of time with them doesn’t become a chore(I will admit that i hated Tony in the beginning, but my opinion of him changed drastically in the 8th episode).

Like most teen focused shows, romance is a main element of the series, especially in the beginning. But as the show goes it, it does start to tackle more serious themes/elements in addition to the romance(This is one of the few television series’s i’ve seen to actually tackle the subject of abortion). I like this aspect of this show, as i feel it gives it a more unique feel.

There is a lot of sex, profanity, and drug use in the series. As most of you know, i don’t really mind stuff like that, but i realize different people have different interests, so just wanted to give a warning to people who may object to that sort of material.