Reviews

Reviews of any and all movies and television shows or specials, be they new or old!

James Bond Rises

Posted by hfurnish on November 23, 2012
Posted in: Film/Television, Reviews. Tagged: , , , . 6 comments

Directed By: Sam Mendes
Written By: Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, John Logan
Produced By: Michael G Wilson & Barbara Broccoli
Starring: Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes, Naomi Harris
Edited By: Stuart Baird
Music By: Thomas Newman

Distributed By: MGM & Columbia Pictures
Budget: $200 million
Runtime: 143 minutes

Rating: 8/10

Simply put, Skyfall is an excellent film that I would encourage everyone to see. Most people expect something great from a Sam Mendes directed Bond with an Oscar winning actor playing the villain, and he doesn’t disappoint. It’s emotional, it’s intense, it immensely entertaining. Skyfall has most everything I want out of a James Bond film in the post-9/11 world we live in, and I hope that future installments continue to lean more Casino Royale than Quantum of Solace.

–This review contains MILD spoilers–
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We Have Lift Off…Maybe

Posted by hfurnish on November 23, 2012
Posted in: Film/Television, Reviews. Tagged: , , , , . 2 comments

Directed By: Robert Zemeckis
Written By: John Gatins
Produced By: Laurie MacDonald, Walter Parkes, Jack Rapke, Steve Starkey
Starring: Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle, Kelly Reilly, John Goodman, Bruce Greenwood
Edited By: Jeremiah O’Driscoll
Music By: Alan Silvestri

Distributed By: Paramount Pictures
Budget: $31 million
Runtime: 139 minutes

Rating: 6.5/10

It’s a Zemeckis movie. It’s a Denzel movie. That about sums it up. I usually would not see hard dramas like Flight while in theaters, and I didn’t, but the screenwriter, John Gatins, is a graduate of my college and recently brought a 35mm screener that I saw. It was a great experience, and the film is very enjoyable with two main hang ups: the use of Kelly Reilly’s Nicole character and the ending. Even with these quibbles, the film itself is well written, directed, and acted. It’s the definition of an intense realistic drama that in this case is, as are all of his films, driven by the screen presence Denzel Washington brings. Flight is a well made drama that I enjoyed seeing but probably will not see again of my own free will. Continue Reading

Seven Awesome Psychopaths

Posted by hfurnish on November 1, 2012
Posted in: Film/Television, Reviews. Tagged: , , , , . 1 comment

Written & Directed By: Martin McDonagh
Produced By: Martin McDonagh, Graham Broadbent, Peter Czernin
Starring: Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson, Christopher Walken, Tom Waits
Edited By: Lisa Gunning
Music By: Carter Burwell

Distributed By: CBS Films
Budget: $15 million
Runtime: 110 minutes

Rating: 9/10

I, along with most everyone I know, am a big fan of In Bruges. I didn’t see it in theater, but I instantly loved it when I rented it and subsequently bought. It’s one of those films where I marvel the whole way through at how beautiful and intelligent it is. I do not mean this so much in cinematography or editing, but in writing. Martin McDonagh is a writer who makes his scripts feel incredibly alive while at the same time so unlike everything else we watch/hear in modern cinema. This is odd considering the “realism” that films are supposed to bring, but McDonagh manages to entertain us with little more than two characters talking.

Seven Psychopaths allows his creativity to further hone and refine itself. Again, the script is amazing, the dialogue perfect, but Psychopaths also has a considerable amount of non-dialogue moments: flashbacks, action sequences, and much blood and murdering. Plenty more blood and murdering than In Bruges, but it’s all in a wonderfully meta way. Meta can be difficult, but Seven Psychopaths is meta in a good way and it makes for a vastly enjoyable film that entertains you throughout, even if what happens isn’t necessarily a surprise. Continue Reading

The Dark Knight Rises in Style, Part 2

Posted by hfurnish on August 4, 2012
Posted in: Film/Television, Reviews. Tagged: , , , , . 1 comment

This film was always going to be controversially, but I loved it from the amazing aerial prologue sequence to Bane breaking Batman and the all too fitting resolution not only to the film but the trilogy as a whole. I was not sure how to go about reviewing the film particularly when so many reviews exist already, both good and bad. Instead, I am just going to run down my favorite moments in the film while also giving responses to some of the complaints weighed against Nolan’s truly final Batman movie. /Film detailed 15 complaints about the film that Nolan-Fans responded to. I agree with most of their responses but would like to add to them in parts.

This list is long, and therefore broken into two parts. This is the second piece, with Part 1 located here.

THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS. I WILL ASSUME YOU HAVE SEEN THE FILM! Continue Reading

The Dark Knight Rises in Style, Part 1

Posted by hfurnish on August 3, 2012
Posted in: Film/Television, Reviews. Tagged: , , , , . 1 comment

Directed By: Christopher Nolan
Written By: Christopher and Jonathan Nolan, Story By David S Goyer
Produced By: Christopher Nolan, Emma Thomas, Charles Roven
Starring: Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Tom Hardy, Morgan Freeman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cottilard
Edited By: Lee Smith
Music By: Hans Zimmer

Distributed By: Warner Bros. Pictures
Budget: $250 million
Runtime: 163 minutes

Rating: 9/10

After having the chance to view The Dark Knight Rises multiple times, all at an IMAX venue, I will definitively say that I loved the film and consider it my favorite in the trilogy. I know many people enjoy the film but say it is not as good as The Dark Knight, and I have read some critics’ reviews that place it third in the trilogy even when giving it a strong score. While it should first be pointed out what this says about Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy when a film people enjoy is still their least favorite in the series, I will stand by my claim of thoroughly enjoying Rises the most. It is long but, unlike some complaints, not drawn out or boring. It is entertaining, funny, huge, and epic. After using the E-word so much in recent months, I maintain that The Dark Knight Rises is truly a film of epic proportions.

THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS. I WILL ASSUME YOU HAVE SEEN THE FILM! Continue Reading

The Dark Knight Falls

Posted by hfurnish on July 15, 2012
Posted in: Film/Television, Reviews. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a Comment

Directed By: Christopher Nolan
Written By: Christopher & Jonathan Nolan; Story By David S. Goyer & Christopher Nolan
Produced By: Christopher Nolan, Emma Thomas, Charles Roven
Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Aaron Eckhart
Edited By: Lee Smith
Music By: Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard

Distributed By: Warner Bros. Pictures
Budget: $185 million
Runtime: 152 minutes

Rating: 9/10

The Dark Knight holds very special memories and lessons for me that I did not fully grasp until two years after experiencing them. It is a monumental film of the 2000s decade explained best by David Koepp for Empire Magazine: “It really is like their [his two sons] generation’s Godfather.” The only thing missing from this remark is that The Dark Knight more closer to the Godfather Part II, bigger and better than Batman Begins in every way imaginable. It’s darker, grittier, more real, bigger explosions, longer, deeper, and the stakes are raised higher physically and emotionally than audiences thought a silly little superhero movie could do. Except The Dark Knight is more than a superhero film. Continue Reading

The Dark Knight Begins

Posted by hfurnish on July 9, 2012
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Directed By: Christopher Nolan
Written By: David S Goyer
Produced By: Emma Thomas, Larry J Franco, Charles Roven
Starring: Christian Bale, Liam Neeson, Michael Caine, Katie Holmes, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman
Edited By: Lee Smith
Music By: Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard

Distributed By: Warner Bros. Pictures
Budget: $150 million
Runtime: 140 minutes

Rating: 8/10

There’s something about origin stories that makes people cringe. An origin film has to start with a non-hero and end with the hero recognizing his purpose in life. Batman Begins does this and so much more. The great thing about Christopher Nolan’s first foray into the superhero genre, especially when watching it now, on the eve of The Dark Knight Rises, is that it both establishes the character of Bruce Wayne, good and bad, while also establishing themes that will continue in both of its sequels. Batman Begins is a solid film on its own with a great cast, adventure, and stunning visuals, and it comes with just enough threads to make it an equally strong start to a trilogy. Continue Reading

Ted is Funny

Posted by hfurnish on July 8, 2012
Posted in: Film/Television, Reviews. Tagged: , , , , . 3 comments

Written and Directed By: Seth MacFarlane
Produced By: Scott Stuber, Seth MacFarlane, John Jacobs, Jason Clark
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Seth MacFarlane
Edited By: Jeff Freeman
Music By: Walter Murphy

Distributed By: Universal Pictures
Budget: $50 million
Runtime: 106 minutes

Rating: 9/10

I had high hopes for Ted. I am a big fan of Family Guy and Seth MacFarlane and had consistently laughed at the theater and television previews. But as is common with all comedies, you wonder just how many of the best jokes have been put in the trailers leaving another 90 minutes of mysterious unknown. Luckily, there is absolutely no disappointment here. Ted is not only absolutely hilarious from start to finish but it is also impressively directed by first timer MacFarlane, making me not only want a full Family Guy movie but also as much MacFarlane as Fox is willing to give us. Continue Reading

Sequels of Van Damme Movies: Most Awesome Discussion Ever

Posted by ciscell on May 7, 2012
Posted in: Film/Television, Reviews. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a Comment

Lets get one thing straight. There are 20 sequels, spin offs, and continuations of storylines based on Jean Claude Van Damme movies. While that is marinating in your mind, the only character that Van Damme has ever actually reprised was Luc Deveraux and Van Damme actually made a movie that ignored a previous movie in which Van Damme starred as Deveraux. Deveraux was the main character in the film series Universal Soldier. Universal Soldier became a film series so convoluted that even Roland Emmerich must have broke down in the wilderness screaming “Forgive them father, they know not what they do.” Continue Reading

My Complicated Relationship With The Green Lantern Corps

Posted by ciscell on April 7, 2012
Posted in: Film/Television, Reviews. Tagged: , , , , , , . 1 comment

I often believe that my best work is generally what comes about when something won’t leave my brain even when I don’t particularly want to write it. This is the case today. I have struggled over my feelings on 2011’s Green Lantern since I saw the movie. I am not going to state that Green Lantern is a bad movie. I actually know exactly why I had a negative response to the movie. The negative response is actually borne out of a faithful rendition of what the current problem. I will repeat this. The Green Lantern movie directed by Martin Campbell (Casino Royale, The Mask of Zorro) and starring Ryan Reynolds is an absolutely faithful (perhaps the most faithful) retelling of a current comic book to movie. This is perhaps the most faithful that I have seen in my life time.

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