Rather than roaming around between threads looking for "Oh, what did this person think of that movie" I thought it'd be a lot easier if we just had 1 thread for pure and simple film reviews. You don't have to do much, just share your opinions and dish out a score (if applicable)
Here's my latest reviews:
The Number 23I find it strange that this doesn't have an average of 23 instead of
24 on Metacritic. Wish I saw the reviews first but the impression 'The West Australian' newspaper gave it as a preview did sound like an interesting concept and possibly a twisted but compelling movie. Jim Carrey returns after an average comedy remake of 'Fun with d*ck & Jane' to star in this movie and plays as an animal controller. Ace Ventura anyone? It starts off like that in a subtle comedy manner but then he discovers this book 'The Number 23' and notices that everything that's in the book reflects similar things from his early childhood.
The book basically talks about a detective who becomes consumed by the number 23, then when Walter (Carrey) thinks about it, there's a lot of stuff that adds up to 23. His driver's license, the date he was born, the day he met his wife, etc. Soon he becomes consumed by the number 23 too, just like the detective in the book. But what does it all add up too? Seriously there aren't many surprises in this movie, 23 is just a number and will always be a number - there isn't any twisted evil behind it. It's rather just a guy who has too much time on his hands and thinks
"Hey, if you take 17 away from the number 40 on my letterbox, that adds up to 23 too! OMG! WTF?!"The movie itself looks good, some creepy cinematic moments and with a believable performance from the cast. In the end though you'll realise that the movie is boring and the story doesn't reach to any climactic outcomes.
1.5 stars out of 5
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Curse of the Golden FlowerAlready released on DVD in the US but only just screening in cinemas locally this week - go figure. It's the latest movie from Zhang Yimou (director of House of Flying Daggers and Hero) who tries to blend martial arts with soap opera. I was disappointed with this, perhaps it's because I couldn't bother reading the subtitles this time around and stuck with the very average dub.
The richly detailed city and clothing is over the top - there can be such a thing as too much detail that it attempts to cover up for what it lacks. With every room containing golden imagery it looks too samey and takes up 3/4 of the movie. If you don't pay attention to the conversations you can easily lose the plot. Basically it's about betrayal and family matters. The action scenes whilst okay don't show up until the final few remaining minutes and feel "been there, done that".
If you like your action films and enjoyed House of Flying Daggers, Hero and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon - be very cautious of this new film. It's one of this year's yawners
2 stars out of 5
