There's really not much to say about Safe House. The movie delivers on good action sequences but utterly fails to give any impression of uniqueness or originality. As a friend who saw the movie with me put it, it feels like I've seen this exact same story before.
The acting, particularly from Denzel Washington, is solid and the visual aspects are well executed. The greatest problem with the film is not in the manner in which the story is portrayed, which is quite good, but the unoriginal, predictable storyline itself. The ending felt extremely unsatisfying as, after an extremely predictable flow of events up until the final few minutes, the film tries to throw a major curve-ball but ends up just seeming awkward. It's almost like they realized at the last minute that the movie was too predictable and tried to mix things up.
In addition, there seemed to be a few issues with editing such as the abnormally loud sound of gunshots which overwhelmed/greatly exceeded the volume of other sound effects. At some points in the movie it felt/sounded more like a shooting range than a movie theater.
Further, the action scenes were executed extremely rapidly to the point it seemed just like a bunch of blurs flashing around on the screen, especially during driving/car-chase scenes. The strange cinematography, with the camera rapidly changing position and focus, further contributed to this blurring effect. It was extremely difficult to determine what was going on at multiple points in the movie.
If I was asked to describe/rate this movie in one word, I would have to say mediocre. There is nothing great about but also nothing terrible about it. Personally, I don't feel it is worth the 10+ dollar cost of movie admission - just wait for it to come out on television. That said, it is not the worst possible choice if you want to get out to the theater.
Safe House gets 6/10.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Movie of the Year - 2011
After watching the Academy Awards, I decided to post my own brief comments on the films and make my own pick for best picture. I'll start with the actual winner of the Best Picture award. Films in no particular order.
The Artist- Complete Oscar Bait. Only won by appealing to the (older) judges with its nostalgic feel. The sad thing is this movie probably would not have won an Oscar in the era of silent, black and white films. Still, it was a good film.
8/10
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close- Very emotionally stirring film. Definitely had its moments. Good acting. Still, probably only nominated as it involved 9/11 - nothing particularly excellent about it.
7.5/10
Moneyball- Good plot and a great performance from Brad Pitt. I usually hate sports movies but this was a great exception. Loved the plot and overall feel of the film.
8.5/10
Tree of Life- I've never been on a drug trip, but I imagine that this is what it looks like. Felt more like a strange display of art than an actual movie. You need to think outside the box to understand what's going on/get the message.
7/10
Hugo- Great, fun, exciting storyline. Great cinematography and music. Loved the overall feel/adventure. I particularly enjoyed this film. Still, I would not say its the best movie of the year.
8/10
The Help- Fantastic, well executed storyline. I loved the multiple comedic moments as well as how they were contrasted with some serious/depressing ones. Fantastic acting from pretty much all the actors/actresses contributed to the excellence of the story.
9/10
Midnight in Paris- A charming story. Absolutely fantastic/magical storyline supported by good acting, music, and cinematography. An all-around excellent movie - another great piece of work from Woody Allen.
9/10
The Descendants- Outstanding performance from George Clooney. Excellent storyline that brings plenty of both comedic and touching moments. A very engaging/meaningful film that definitely does not disappoint. I really enjoyed this film.
8.5/10
My personal favourite/pick for film of the year is:
War Horse- An outstanding film in all aspects. Engaging, heart wrenching film which takes you on an emotional roller-coaster without failing to deliver epic scenes of action worthy of any Spielberg war film. A magnificent, magical story supported by great acting (from both the actors/actresses and the magnificent horses), outstanding cinematography that conveyed the brutality and intensity of the war without going overboard on gore (very tasteful throughout), and one of my personal favourite scores of all time conducted by the always magnificent John Williams.
The fact that this movie failed to win a single award baffles me and takes away almost all my faith in the Academy. I can maybe understand losing to Hugo in cinematography and a couple other categories, and maybe to the Artist in Best Picture (as I knew that movie/Oscar Bait would win due to its appeal to the Academy even though other films were superior in my opinion), but its loss to the Artist in Best Original Score blows my mind. I can not comprehend how such a beautiful, original, chilling score lost out to a score with nothing original about it. The Artists score, while undoubtedly decent, is not original at all as it is just a rip-off of pretty much every score from the 1920s/30s. Even if this wasn't true, I found War Horse's score superior - just listen for yourself on Youtube and you will understand where I am coming from.
Anyway, these are my thoughts on the Best Picture nominees of 2012.
New movie reviews coming soon.
The Artist- Complete Oscar Bait. Only won by appealing to the (older) judges with its nostalgic feel. The sad thing is this movie probably would not have won an Oscar in the era of silent, black and white films. Still, it was a good film.
8/10
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close- Very emotionally stirring film. Definitely had its moments. Good acting. Still, probably only nominated as it involved 9/11 - nothing particularly excellent about it.
7.5/10
Moneyball- Good plot and a great performance from Brad Pitt. I usually hate sports movies but this was a great exception. Loved the plot and overall feel of the film.
8.5/10
Tree of Life- I've never been on a drug trip, but I imagine that this is what it looks like. Felt more like a strange display of art than an actual movie. You need to think outside the box to understand what's going on/get the message.
7/10
Hugo- Great, fun, exciting storyline. Great cinematography and music. Loved the overall feel/adventure. I particularly enjoyed this film. Still, I would not say its the best movie of the year.
8/10
The Help- Fantastic, well executed storyline. I loved the multiple comedic moments as well as how they were contrasted with some serious/depressing ones. Fantastic acting from pretty much all the actors/actresses contributed to the excellence of the story.
9/10
Midnight in Paris- A charming story. Absolutely fantastic/magical storyline supported by good acting, music, and cinematography. An all-around excellent movie - another great piece of work from Woody Allen.
9/10
The Descendants- Outstanding performance from George Clooney. Excellent storyline that brings plenty of both comedic and touching moments. A very engaging/meaningful film that definitely does not disappoint. I really enjoyed this film.
8.5/10
My personal favourite/pick for film of the year is:
War Horse- An outstanding film in all aspects. Engaging, heart wrenching film which takes you on an emotional roller-coaster without failing to deliver epic scenes of action worthy of any Spielberg war film. A magnificent, magical story supported by great acting (from both the actors/actresses and the magnificent horses), outstanding cinematography that conveyed the brutality and intensity of the war without going overboard on gore (very tasteful throughout), and one of my personal favourite scores of all time conducted by the always magnificent John Williams.
The fact that this movie failed to win a single award baffles me and takes away almost all my faith in the Academy. I can maybe understand losing to Hugo in cinematography and a couple other categories, and maybe to the Artist in Best Picture (as I knew that movie/Oscar Bait would win due to its appeal to the Academy even though other films were superior in my opinion), but its loss to the Artist in Best Original Score blows my mind. I can not comprehend how such a beautiful, original, chilling score lost out to a score with nothing original about it. The Artists score, while undoubtedly decent, is not original at all as it is just a rip-off of pretty much every score from the 1920s/30s. Even if this wasn't true, I found War Horse's score superior - just listen for yourself on Youtube and you will understand where I am coming from.
Anyway, these are my thoughts on the Best Picture nominees of 2012.
New movie reviews coming soon.
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