Monthly Archives: October 2013

Magic Mike (2012)

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magic-mike-2Roze-Rating: 4.5 / 5

Seasoned male stripper Mike (Channing Tatum) has ambitions out of the stripping industry, but can’t leave until he makes enough money to pursue his true passion. In the mean time he sticks to making easy money hoping to achieve dual equity of the stripping business he works for. During one of his construction jobs he meets a young kid, Adam (Alex Pettyfer), who he takes under his wing and introduces him to the world of male stripping. As Adam gets sucked into the glamorized lifestyle he has grown accustomed to, he starts to wonder where his life is really going.

One of the more surprising films of 2012 for me, I expected it to be super raunchy and solely marketed at women, but there’s more to it than a few ripped guys taking their clothes off and making suggestive movements with their hips. The plot is engaging, keeping your eyes fixated on the film. It kind of reminded me of a less messed up version of Boogie Nights, minus the explosive ending. Which is what this film could have offered, there were parts of the story which could have been expanded and explored to make for a thrilling ending, but this film was never meant to go in that direction. It chose substance over thrills. The stars of the film were the main characters and male stripping. The way this film depicts the lifestyle of male strippers makes it seem glamorous and inviting. Making women feel like they wouldn’t mind having such an experience and men envying the characters lifestyle. This is what kept me engaged to the film and the characters. You understand why they are there.

The stripping choreography is smartly done because it finds the right balance between erotic and tolerable so that both male and women can watch it without one being uncomfortable or disappointed. It’s sexy enough for the women to enjoy and tolerable enough for the men. But it’s still enough to make us feel bad about ourselves. The music to go with the stage performances is pretty good, as well as the overall soundtrack for the film. Definitely wouldn’t have captured that rock star tone of the characters without it.

There are two different colour tones seen throughout this film which convey a different atmosphere. There’s a yellowish tone which is seen when the characters are living in the real world, out of their stripping lifestyle. It brings the film back to earth along with the characters, illustrating the reality of strife and labour. Then there’s a more colourful clear tone, which is seen during the stripping segments, making the industry look glamorous, appealing and addictive. It emphasises the reason the characters are there and why it’s hard to get out.

The performances were solid. Channing Tatum is finally looking natural in these more serious parts, I always got the impression he wasn’t made for these roles, but he proves me wrong here. I’ve seen a few of Alex Pettyfer’s movies, and never really saw anything great from him, but this time round he probably makes his best performance, there’s some character development which he explores really well. As always Matthew McConaughey is slick, suave and as the girls would say, sexy, bringing back the “alright, alright, alright” craze. He’s been involved in a lot of great films recently, good to see him making some good choices. On the least impressive side, I had a slight problem with Cody Horn. She seemed really natural and genuine at first, then as the film progressed her face never seemed to change expression, it just seemed emotionless. Then during the more intense scenes I just didn’t feel it was real. For example a scene where she shouts at Channing Tatum’s character, it was good at first, then she went a bit over the top with it and it came off as awkward. I saw her in End of Watch and she was a proper bad ass in it, so there’s no doubt she’s talented.

Definitely worth seeing if your in the demographic that likes to see half naked men dancing in an erotic manner. If your not into that, then it’s still worth seeing for a worthy plot, performances and music, definitely one of the better films of 2012.


Man of Steel (Trailer)

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Literally jizzing my pants to see this movie, since the sudden surge of comic book films, I’ve been totally hooked. Literally been researching every characters back stories, seeing if there’s possibilities for films or if they can be in future Avengers films. No wonder comic book crazies are so into this stuff, the speculation is the funnest part of the comic book experience.

Anyways for some reason a lot of people hate Zack Snyder, and I don’t get why, I mean he brought us freaking 300, with the most epic quote ever “This is SPARTA”. One thing he does bring to a film, is heaps of style and along with it comes a unique tone. I’ve seen three of his five films, and the have all been pretty good, 300 is just fuckin’ epic, Dawn of the Dead is one of the best zombie flicks I’ve seen and Suckr Punch was… interesting, not bad, but a bit too unusual for me, but then again it’s a bunch of girls half naked playing with guns, I wasn’t exactly complaining for 1 and a half hours.

So one thing is for sure, and that is we are going to get a scarily dark, gritty and realistic version of Superman. I totally love these type of films, I just love a dark and gritty film when done right, and in this case, it seems fitting, since it is quite a dark origin story, and his superpowers would be a burden in the real world. One thing I am excited about with this trailer is the CGI and effects, they look pretty amazing and I think we’re in for some large scale explosions to go with the drama. Gonna be sick.

Man on a Ledge (2012)

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man-on-a-ledge-503f16fbf3429Roze-Rating: 3.5 / 5

Nick Cassidy (Sam Worthington) is an ex-cop turned fugitive, who has checked himself into a hotel to seemingly end his life. He stands on the ledge, outside his hotel room window until Lydia Mercer is requested on his behalf to try talk him down. As time passes it becomes evident that there is more to Nick Cassidy’s actions than assumed. He tries to resurrect his life rather than end it.

Its premise is very interesting and set the film up for an engaging and entertaining hour and a bit. It wasn’t the best film, nor was it the worst, but what it did offer was a reason to stay glued to the screen. At first your not sure who your meant to root for but as the film progresses you really care for the main character Nick Cassidy (Sam Worthington), and that’s what makes the film so entertaining. Despite that, the film didn’t really take advantage of it and instead some parts seemed very lazy and half assed. Although there were very few, those moments ended up being the most important, especially the final scenes.

Overall an awesome build up but very rushed ending. Sam Worthington and the actors cast as the police force, Anthony Mackie, Edward Burns, Elizabeth Banks, Titus Welliver and Co were pretty solid. The only problem I had was the relationship between Jamie Bell and Genesis Rodriguez, individually they were good but they just didn’t have any chemistry together. Their scenes, intentionally comedic, felt quite flat and ultimately unreal. Still a solid film, but not solid enough to be amazing.

Safe (2012)

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safe__spanRoze-Rating: 4 / 5

Luke Wright is an ex cop, living life as a cage fighter making his money from fixing matches so that his “employers” can make money off bets. One day during a rigged fight, he accidentally knocks out his opponent causing his Russian Mafia employers to make an example of his mistake by killing his family. They let him know that he will never live a free life again, being watched during the rest of his life. Luke drifts around New York with no path and considering giving everything up until he see’s a young Chinese girl being harassed by the same men that killed his family. He takes action and attempts to save the girl which saved him.

I’m glad Jason Statham has had a good run of good films, because I was starting to get worried he was picking films for the sake of being in them. 13 and The Mechanic to name a couple. But his judgement is slowly looking up with the successes of The Expendables 2 and this film Safe. It was really refreshing seeing Statham pick a script with a bit more substance. He plays a character with more of a complex, he has a past which he isn’t proud of, and has tried to get away from it by becoming a part of the Russian Mafia’s dishonest path for income. Of course once he makes an honest mistake, the Russian Mafia punish him in the most extreme way, sending him into a suicidal state. Definitely one his most interesting characters, and he pulls it off with ease showing his true acting abilities. I think people praise him too much for his ability to add action to a film with full affect, and forget that he’s a pretty good actor as well

The plot is a bit complicated and maybe seems quite implausible but it doesn’t reach the level of stupidity which makes it instantly bad. It’s an interesting premise and the chaos around it makes it even more entertaining. Obviously it wouldn’t be a Jason Statham without the action, and there’s no need to comment on it because he never fails to deliver in that aspect of films. One of the more surprising films of the year, and a perfect film if your looking for brutal action with a decent story to go along with it

Pitch Perfect (2012)

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91328_galRoze-Rating: 4.5 / 5

The film follows Beca (Anna Kendrick) and her reluctant journey to college. She’s an outsider and can’t seem to find her own kind around the campus, until one day a struggling acapella group preach for her help. She learns to develop her hidden talents while making life long friends in the process, but her edgy style eventually conflicts with the leaders old fashioned mindset, which might be the solution to their trophy drought.

I thought this film was going to be a musical, thank fack it wasn’t, can’t stand them. I tried watching High School Musical once, literally couldn’t get through more than five minutes, but that’s probably a bad film to start with. Anyways, this is a genuinely funny film which has a really cool take on the acapella phenomenon. It was really refreshing to watch a film with modern music given the acapella treatment then mashed up with more music. I’m just thankful that they made it about the music but not to the point where they were singing through the story. It had a street feel with the underdog theme, which we’ve seen loads of times, but it was a lot harder to notice than other films. This is helped by the added comedy, weird ass characters and a romance sub plot.

The film was a lot funnier than I expected it to be. I think that’s why I was so surprised by how entertaining it was. All the characters were memorable and strange in their own way, which is why the cast should take a well deserved bow for playing them with commitment. Rebel Wilson totally steals the show though, her quirky, odd-ball humor fits in perfectly, making it possibly the best comedic character of the year. Adam DeVine makes a memorable debut performance playing a character he knows all too well from his Workaholics comedy series. But the most surprising performance of them all has to be Anna Kendrick’s. We’ve seen her play a lot of timid, goody two shoes characters and seeing her play a rebel with an attitude so realistically, showed she has diversity. Oh and she can sing.

Definitely the most surprising film of the year for me, and it makes me crave more films like this, I might even go watch all the seasons of Glee… Or not.

The Grey (2012)

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the_grey_2012-2560x1600Roze-Rating: 4 / 5

Liam Neeson stars in this survival thriller, taking place in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness after his plane crashes leaving him and his colleagues stranded as Wolf prey. They are totally exposed in a barren land of snow and freezing temperatures, making them fight for their lives. It’s a film which explores hope, faith and fate, when in a situation where only your own will to live can save you.

One of the better survival thrillers around and definitely one of the most unique films this year. I’ve actually never seen a film which depicts such a disastrous situation as scarily as this. I mean what’s more scary than being in a plane crash? and then on top of that, you end up crashing in the middle of nowhere, where the temperatures are below zero, and on top of that you have to fend off uncharacteristically brutal wolves who just want to kill you. Even though some of the scenes are inevitable, you’re actually so immersed in the film that you second guess every seemingly predictable moment.

The isolated afflicted tone of the film is what gives the themes explored justice, and it really keeps your heart pumping for the characters involved. They succeed simply because of the dark greyish aesthetics and eerie music which is inhabited throughout the film. The filming is rugged and shaky matching the scenario the characters are in, it just wouldn’t have been effective if the camera shots were still and precise. All of this truly adds to the thrills and gets you sweating as it did for me.

Liam Neeson and co steal the show with some believably gritty performances, which doesn’t just aid the story but makes you genuinely want them to survive. The characters do this through their dialogue and their attitudes in the situations, they effectively promote the themes of hope, faith and fate. It’s their faith that keeps them going because they believe that it was their fate to survive the plane crash. Hope is all they have.

Once again Liam Neeson is truly amazing in this, really showing his true acting chops. The last few scenes are honestly the most powerful scenes I’ve seen in a film this year, pretty epic stuff.

I for one is shit scared of wolves now, I know a lot of it is exaggerated and fictionalized but still, if I was alone in the wilderness and saw a wolf, I think I would excrete from every hole in my body, PERIOD.

Skyfall (2012)

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skyfall_a

Roze-Rating: 4.5 / 5

This time round the story is centred round James Bond and his loyalty towards M, forcing him to come out of hiding after a failed mission. MI6 is under attack by a mysterious villain who has managed to get his hands on extremely sensitive data which could put British intelligence agents in danger. The more they find out about the villain, the more they realise that he has a strange interest in M, which could put the agency and her life in danger. James Bond meets his match as he tries his best to get one step ahead of his enemy.

The newest edition of the Bond franchise brings a gritty, dark and incredibly polished film, making it one of the best made Bond films ever. It may be technically better than its predecessors, but it still seems to fall short to Casino Royale, but only by a bit. The location shots were incredible and remained incredible throughout the film. You could tell a lot of work went towards finding those perfect locations and the attention to detail aided the success in making them look stunning and extremely sexy. It’s definitely one of those films you have to watch in HD and would make a perfect addition to anyone’s Blu-ray collection. It’s hard not to appreciate the polished aesthetics which you will notice from the traditional music introduction, which will stand as one of the best music intro’s for a bond film to date. It was clean, innovative and really nice to look at, I was literally in a state of awe.

Skyfall totally triumphs in terms of the dialogue, bringing it back to its British roots, exuding sarcasm and good old British wit. This is what Quantum Of Solace missed out on. M and Bond had genuine chemistry in this film, which is what I haven’t seen explored before in the Bond films I’ve watched. They’re both snappy with their replies making for a humorous and fun listen.

The plot is smart and interesting, aided by Bond’s antagonist who is a lot more memorable than past villains. Bond definitely found his match in Silva (Javier Bardem) who is always a step ahead. The villain is one of the major highlights of the film because Javier Bardem puts in an amazing performance playing this insane character who has an obsession with making things right with M. It’s such an unusual and crazy character that it’s actually brilliant. James Bond is of course gritter and darker than ever, which shows in his rusty attitude towards missions. It seems that due to the ending of Casino Royale, the Bond character has been moulded to a specific tone, a dark, gritty, no nonsense James Bond, and it totally works for Daniel Craig. There’s a certain vulnerability that I’ve not seen from past Bond characters and that makes him a more compelling character, and you realise that he is actually human sometimes driven by his feelings. Props to Daniel Craig who has, in my opinion, played this character to perfection making the character his own. There’s some pretty cool appearances as well by Ralph Fiennes, Naomi Harris and Ben Whishaw, which are worth watching for, and make for a promising sequel as they all seem to be sticking around for future films.

The action scenes were realistic and engaging and were stylish at times, continuing the polished aesthetics of the film. But that’s what Daniel Craig has brought to the films from the start, a more believable character with realistic fighting scenes showing true brutality with his kills. Despite that, I think that’s where the film was a let down. It lacked proper iconic, large scale action sequences which Casino Royale and Quantum Of Solace had. There were some big explosions here and there but it needed more in my opinion, and then it would have been a perfect film. Luckily everything else about the film compensated for the lack of action and still makes for an incredible watch.

I just hope that Daniel Craig has the capacity for at least another two films, because this character is truly one of my favourites at the moment, and he just seems to fit the role so perfectly. Although, I do think the next films need to be a lot more light hearted and fun, we’ve already had three fairly dark films and I think it’s time for a film filled with gadgets, over the top action and a freaking creepy villain wanting to destroy the world. Thanks to the introduction of Q and Eve I reckon the sequel will give us those gadgets we’ve missed and some sexual innuendo, WOOP.

Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)

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936full-safety-not-guaranteed-screenshotRoze-Rating: 4.5 / 5

Safety Not Guaranteed follows two interns and their superior on a work related journey to the seaside to investigate a newspaper add which states that a man is looking for a partner to travel back in time with. At first the three Seattle magazine employees are apprehensive about the man and expect the reality to match their cynical views, but as they get deeper into the man’s life they find themselves second guessing themselves.

This film is truly something special and out of all the films that I’ve seen this year, Safety Not Guaranteed is definitely the most genuine and real. There’s been quite a few films that share a similar tone as this but doesn’t quite make the mark and that’s purely because they lack heart. This film explores the strength of belief, youth and how your past can haunt you. There are numerous scenes which exude these themes simply from an awesome soundtrack and down to earth movie clips. Without the playlist the whole tone and indie feel of the film would be lost, and it’s honestly one of the best playlist I’ve ever heard for a film, it’s just perfect. It’s weird how much music can bring out emotion from a film scene, but it totally works.

The cast is awesome, it’s nice to see comedy series stars on the big screen. Mark Duplass and Jake M. Johnson completely surprised me with their performances, cementing their places as big time film stars. There’s also a pleasant quirky performance from Aubrey Plaza which will just make you smile uncontrollably. Definitely looking forward to any of their future films.

It’s definitely a feel good film, and it really tells you to cherish your youth and to cherish anything because one day they may disappear for no reason at all. I particularly liked the scene where Jeff tells Arnau to man up, get off his ass and start living because your only 21 once, it’s so true and the scenes that follow will just make you smile like you just discovered your first boner (if your a guy), Inspired film with genuine intentions and good laughs, perfect if your feeling down and need a pick me up.


The Expendables 2 (2012)

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2012-The-Expendables-2_1920x1200Roze-Rating: 4.5 / 5

The Expendables come back for a second go at a full on action flick. This time they have new members Billy (Liam Hemsworth) and Maggie (Yu Nan) who help take on money hungry savage Jean Vilain (Jean-Claude Van Damme) who has no conscience about the destruction he causes along the way to fortune. His actions prompt Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) and his men to track him, find him then kill him.

I really wasn’t a fan of the first one, I enjoyed the action but everything else was just pure… fail. The acting was terrible, dialogue cliched and the plot was just stupid. Thankfully Mr. Stallone has recognized a few of the problems and fixed them quite successfully, but of course he forgot a few.

The cast has some how gotten awesomer from the first film with introductions of Liam Hemsworth and Chuck Norris and more screen time from Bruce Willis and “The Terminator” Arnold Schwarzenegger. Action junkies will be pumped just by seeing all these action stars together, and that alone is satisfying, as it was for me. Although not all of them put in their best performances, and well there’s a reason that I’ve had a blind eye towards it. It’s unusual because you can really separate the real actors from the action stars. That being said, a lot of them did improve since Expendables 1, and Jean-Claude Van Damme makes a brutal villain, and he plays it to perfection; one of the only good performances.

The action is relentless as it should be and plays tribute to all of the past action classics. It’s loud, violent and unnecessary which is what makes it a lot of fun. It even improved in that aspect of the film. This is what I think was done a lot better than the first, it had clear intentions, which was to pay tribute to these action stars past films and parody them. This will become apparent when you see Arnold Schwarzenegger tell the crew “I’m back!” and when he replies to Bruce Willis with a “Oh yippee-kai-yay”. This film doesn’t takes itself seriously which is where the first film really faulted. This made me look past the below par acting and stale dialogue, because the film isn’t meant to be “excellent”, its meant to be mindless, gratuitous, blood stained fun. It finds the right balance between fun and seriousness.

End of Watch (2012)

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End-of-Watch_05Roze-Rating: 5 / 5

The film follows the journey of two LA police officers to fame. Officers Taylor (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Zavala (Michael Pena) are loyal partners who continue to impress their peers and superiors after making high status arrests and rescues. Eventually their motivation and high ambition put them on the radar of a massive drug cartel who aren’t massive fans of their hero antics having prevented them a lot of money. The story doesn’t just explore the gangster culture of LA and the dangers of police officers, but it explores brotherhood, loyalty and the heartache of their loved ones.

End of Watch offers so much, it has action, style, interesting characts, drama, it’s an all round great film that uses the found footage style appropriately. The action is extremely realistic which means it isn’t just relentless gun fights but it captures the heart thumping tension of making an arrest, really showing the unpredictability of thugs. This really aids the intentions of the film, which is to expose the reality of police officer life, which is why you get to also see the boring side of the job; paperwork. The two main characters are awesome, they are extremely likeable and they share a bond that you wont see in many films. The chemistry they share is so real that you root for these characters without thinking about it, and it makes you even more worried about each hostile encounter they face. This is thoroughly due to the great performances by Michael Pena and Jake Gyllenhaal, who keep growing on me, especially Pena who really show’s his full acting abilities. There are also some really enjoyable appearances from Anna Kendrick and America Ferrera, despite smaller roles, put in good performances.

The plot is quite simple, two cops ambition and initiative make them famous in the best and worst of ways. It literally follows them through their high status arrests until they are wanted by a massive drug cartel. I really like the way they went about filming this, using the found footage style as well as normal filming. It really helps make the film that much more realistic and puts you in the shoes of the police officers. Since everyone is familiar with the cops series and cop video’s on youtube where they film themselves from inside the car, everyone can relate and are already aware of what a cop video looks like. It makes the film a lot more gripping and grittier.

Overall awesome film with a lot of emotion, tension and grit. Definitely in the list of the greatest cop films around. You will also see a man with some real talent with the word “fuck” I wonder what his audition was like…