Welcome to the Punch (2013)

6.5/10

A thrilling film with a decent twist. The film tried to use slow-mo action sequences to set itself from other action films, which was effective. However, this film still kept many cliche gun fights and car chases that somehow ends in the hero surviving the madness.

Bit slow at times but superb performance from James Mcavoy and Mark Strong makes it worthwhile.

State of Play (2003) Mini-Series BBC

8.5/10 [Highly Recommended]

Looking for an exciting drama/thriller/crime with twists and curve balls?

Plot: A thriller set in London, in which a politician's life becomes increasingly complex as his research assistant is found dead on the London Underground and, in a seemingly unrelated incident, a teenage pickpocket is shot dead.

 State of Play mini-series is probably one of the best mini-drama series I've seen. It was so successful that a movie (by the same name) was made starring Russel Crowe and Ben Affleck. If you're debating to either watch the movie or the series, I would advise you to spend the extra bit of time with the original British series over the film. Here's why:

Even with Crowe and Affleck, the film did not have the same effect as the cast in the series. John Simm and David Morrissey was a better match as Cal and Colin. With guest stars James McAvoy and Bill Nighy, this series does stand apart from its successor.

The 6 episodes mini allotted more time to develop the stories and characters better than the film. When the story is really rich with many characters interwoven, like State of Play a 2 plus hour film just doesn't do it justice.


The only difficulty I found was the heavy accented dialogue, but I did not mind rewatching bits throughout.

I highly recommend this series. It is smart, sophisticated and really explores journalism and politics.  I encourage everyone to open up their minds and give this series a spin. Until you've seen it, I will not talk further about the ending or my thoughts on the 'curve ball'.

Charade (1963)

7.5/10 [recommended]

Twist after twist after twist. It was mysterious whodunit thrill ride that constantly makes you doubt who to believe in.

The movie begins with a death, rolls  the introduction credits followed by a gun pointed at Reggie (Audrey Hepburn). This fast gripping start instantly caught my attention, without revealing too much I will leave you to go see what happens next.
How Reggie meets and becomes very trusting towards a Peter Joshua (cary Grant) was a bit farfetched for me. The relationship started off and became something too quick. However, the dialogue exchange between the two leads are quite witty and funny, strengthening the weaker parts of the film.
If you enjoy action fight scenes and fast paced chase scenes, you'll probably find Charade a bit lacking in these aspects. The one fight scene and chase scene in this film are very slow. Charade depends much on dialogue and the twists for much of its thrill- a very classy and retro way of creating the intense atmosphere.
So do yourself a big favour, grab a bag of chips and some other junk food stuff, curl up and enjoy this film.

Dredd (2012)

7/10

Plot: In a violent, futuristic city where the police have the authority to act as judge, jury and executioner, a cop teams with a trainee to take down a gang that deals the reality-altering drug, SLO-MO. 

Based on the comic books, Dredd is a guy flick with a ton of violence, shooting, bloody gruesome gore, car chase and armoured hero ass kicking. The only thing missing is a romanic story to tie it all up.

Judge Dredd, played by Karl Urban, dominated the screen with a mean and serious growl the entire film. Urban brought more character to Dredd and is much more believable than Stallone in the first Dredd film in 1995. Urban, although I really wanted to see his face, kept the helmet on as Dredd the entire film keeping close to the comic books. The only part of Urban we saw is the lower half of his face, as his eyes were covered by the helmet. Even with most of his face covered, Urban was able to convey many deep emotions during some heart to heart moments with his fellow cast member Olivia Thirlby, who portrayed Judge Anderson. Thirlby, is fantastic, she reminds me of Camilla Belle in Push.

The graphics and visual effects in Dredd at times looked very animated but this worksin favour for the drug induced scenes and the comic book nature of this film. The slow-mo mixed with highly saturated imageries made the film feel like it stepped straight out of the pages of a comic.


If you hate gore and blood, this film is everything you'll hate. The slow colourful scenes of blood splatters and skin tearing scenes can make your skin crawl. Even though this film isn't as nasty as SAW or slasher films, Dredd still embraces similar aspects...just without the horror.

All in all, don't over think it and just enjoy this action flick!

Gambit (2012)

7.5/10 [highly recommended]

I stumbled upon this film quite accidentally as I was searching for the superhero "Gambit". My initial excitement that there was a film based on the comic-hero Gambit was quickly shot down when the film turned out to be a comedy/crime about a con by an art curator. HOWEVER, before quickly switching the page I was quickly drawn in by the cast and plot of this film and decided to give this film a shot. Boy, am I glad I did.

TOP NOTCH acting from Colin Firth accompanied by extremely witty dialogue (via the Coen Brothers) and some extremely funny scenarios.

I completely and utterly fell in love with Gambit. I am shocked at the 5.6 rating on IMDB. This film has everything I wanted in a comedy and avoided being crude.

HIGHLY recommended

Pawn (2013)

5.5/10

Great cast but too much coincidence made Pawn weak


For a low budget film, Pawn is succeeded in captivating and grabbing attention with the plot in the first 2 acts. The amazing ensemble (Stephen Lang,Michael Chiklis, Forest Whitaker, Marton Csokas, Ray Liotta) also helped strengthen the captivation of Pawn.

Sadly, despite these aspects, Pawn fell short at being completely epic. The film moved a bit too quickly, not allowing you much time to connect with the characters and completely grasping the complicated use of flash-backs, present time and flash-forwards. Pawn felt like it was going uphill in the first 1/3 as everything was coming together, but just before the climax was reached, it felt they ran short on budget and the story began moving fast paced. Dialogue was boarder-line cliche and somewhat entertaining.

--Spoiler below--
One of the biggest disappointment was the use of the character lying in the hospital bed. He played a major role in the entire cafe robbery set up as being 'the mole', but spent most of the film lying half unconscious in the kitchen. His character ends the film describing what went down in the cafe, but was half bleeding to death for a good 50% of the film. This might have been intensional, but being such an important character in the final reveal, I felt no attachment and couldn't relate to him at all.

-----

Jack Reacher (2013)

6.5/10

Ok, so I have said before that I didn't like Tom Cruise action films but this one was quite enjoyable. Putting aside how true this film stayed to the book, I felt it was a decent.

Reasons why I enjoyed this fim: 1) stars one of my favourite actresses Rosamund Pike 2) the witty dialogue 3) the very slight undertone of humor. Rosamund did a wonderful job, she's the demzel in distress, not too difficult role but I like her portrayal. The dialogue in the film is worth a closer inspection, it is witty and at times quite funny. There was one incidence where Jack (Tom Cruise) was examining the weapon he was lent and his reaction to it left me laughing. This slight use of humor made the film stand out a bit, and reminded me a bit of Lethal Weapon.

Now as for elements that I didn't like. As usual Jack Reacher has the very typical cliche of hero who's ever so lucky, damzel in distress and different teers of bad guys.
Jack Reacher (played by Tom Cruise) is a military veteran who gets involved in a sniper investigation, and now must fight all odds to save the day. He is able to fend of bad guys left and right, and eventually [oh look this includes a spoiler] save the damzel in distress, Helen [portrayed by Rosamund Pike] after fighting off the group of bad guys.  If you're angry that spoiled it for you, I don't apologize because this is a fairly obvious part of this film.

Jack Reacher has all the elements of the typical action film with the different levels of bad guys. As you can see there is always one big boss, who in most cases is the weakest but has a lot of power/money. Next after the big boss is the right hand man, he is usually the strongest fighter, toughest to beat and will be the last fight sequence in the film. In most cases the bad guy would hold up a weapon to the the hero and talk for a while, but thankfully this was kept out of this film. This film also included the lowest form of bad guys, the goons and idiots who would try to kill the hero but each failing miserably. What this film does do quite nicely, is the fact that it makes fun of the goons and idiots with this one scene in the bathroom...for those who have seen the film will know what I mean, it is VERY humorous.

 So if you're into James Bond, Die Hard or Lethal Weapon...and have actually read everything I just wrote....then you have just made me really happy, and deserve my blessing to go enjoy this film.

The Call (2013)

6.5/10

Great acting, thrilling but overdone with the final act.

Plot: When a veteran 911 operator takes a life-altering call from a teenage girl who has just been abducted, she realizes that she must confront a killer from her past in order to save the girl's life.

The Call was definitely thrilling and keeps you intrigued. However, the story becomes quite violent and twisted towards the end, which works well to support the maniac that is the killer.

The first 2 acts of the film was better, as it shows a very real portrayal the desperation 911 operator experiences. Their hard work everyday on the end of the phone lines does not get recognized enough. As the film progresses the story takes a crazy turn, the 911 operator Jordan (played by Halle Berry) makes a couple bizarre-superhero-braze decisions that results in the conclusion of the film (I won't say more as it will give the ending away). I felt the story was a bit too crazy at the end, but I understand that it was a necessary in order to make the film more suspenseful and striking. Also, the ending is very twisted...and leaves you wanting a bit more.


Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine, Zombieland) and Halle Berry (X-Men) makes a great team. But Breslin absolutely stole the show, as she was amazing in capturing the terror and panic of her character. Bravo.

The Yards (2000)

6/10

Typical crime film that is predictable throughout.


Mark Wahlberg, Joaquin Phoenix and Charlize Theron teams up in this simple crime drama about the politics and corruption behind the city's subway repair contractors. The plot line sounds exciting with Leo (played by Wahlberg), newly released from jail, gets caught up in the messy back drop of subway contracting with his friend Willie (played by Phoenix).

This film is not as exciting towards the first quater as the story started becoming more predictable and slow. There were no surprises and not much suspense as the film rolled to its climax. I saw the final conclusion coming long before the mid point of the film and spent majority of the time studying the use of lighting and colour grading, as both were splendid and well done, losing interest in the actual story. Cinematography was well done by Harris Savides , giving the film a very film noir appearance. The acting by Phoenix, Theron and Ellen Burstyn are all worth mentioning.


My more preferred film by Wahlberg and Phoenix collaboration still would have to be We Own the Night. Wahlberg and Theron teamed film would have to be Italian Job. As for this film, nice try...thanks for playing but The Yards missed at being a more memorable movie.

Sherlock (2009-present) TV series

9/10 [highly recommended]

AMAZING series that has got me hooked!

Each season only has 3 episodes..and so far there are only 2 seasons. SOOOO Catch up quick!

Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman are quite possibly the best combo of sherlock and watson (that's right, I like this duo even more than Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law). The performance by the cast, the writing/adaption as well as the filming/editing technique gives this film a very unique feeling. The use of a victorian era character and puzzle solving ability along with very modern equipment gives the old Sherlock Holmes new life.

 Bravo Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss

End Of Watch (2012)

8.5/10 [highly recommended]

Heartfelt, realistic and powerful police film.

Plot: Shot documentary-style, this film follows the daily grind of two young police officers in LA who are partners and friends, and what happens when they meet criminal forces greater than themselves.

A film about friendship, family, trust and love

The cinematography and shooting method is done in style of handheld cameras, much like in Cloverfield or Blaire Witch Project. The film is filled with many ''Amercian's Funniest Home Videos home camera footages that can be fairly shaky and blurry at times. BUT this shakiness worked in favour to tell the story as it gave the film a personal appeal, that it may not have been able to achieve if it went with a very block buster grand cinematic shooting style.  Thus, I applaud the choice of handheld camera.

I don't think there could be a better choice of a cast for this film: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Peña, Anna Kendrick were top notch in driving the emotions of  End of Watch. The chemistry between the characters were believable and real. Every time something happened to one of the characters, you could see it in the eyes of their supports.

A nice piece of artwork that has some disturbing contents but extremely heartfelt and well done.

My Top 10 - Jackie Chan

I realized I haven't rated a single Jackie Chan film despite having seen almost every single one of them. Since there are so many of them, I'm going to attempt to list some of my favourite Jackie Chan films (in no particular order).

1) Operation Condor
-Friggin gut splitting hilarious, with the classic Jackie Chan fighting scenes, and great supporting actress fighting for Jackie's attention that makes this film one of the best!























2) The Twin Dragon
-double the fun

 




3) Armor of God

-prop used to fight is a hot burning log

4) First Strike
-prop used to fight includes latter, broom


5) Who Am I

6) Project A

7) Mr Nice Guy
8) Rush Hour

9) Rumble in the Brox

10) Dragons Forever

Worth Mentioning:

11) Drunken Master

And Then There were None (1945)

6/10

A masterpiece by Agatha Christie that many other films got its inspirations from but it was predictable and not very suspenseful.

Plot: Based on a novel and subsequent stage play by Agatha Christie; ten people are invited to an isolated island, only to be killed one-by-one. Could one of them be the killer?

Nicely plotted, but not a very exciting film. During the film I kept thinking about Harper's Island (mini-series) and Clue (film), both of which I watched prior to this adaptation of Agatha Christie's novel. Having seen both of them first, i came into And Then There Were None with different expectations.

Witness for Prosecution (1957)

8.5/10 [highly recommended]

You want murder, suspense, thriller and twists upon twists?!? Well then strap yourself in and watch this gripping courtroom drama written by Agatha Christie.

Plot: It's Britain, 1953. Upon his return to work following a heart attack, irrepressible barrister Sir Wilfrid Robarts, known as a barrister for the hopeless, takes on a murder case, much to the exasperation of his medical team

From moment one of this movie, my mind was moving and attempting to figure out what the possible ending might be like. Leave it to Agatha Christie to write crime thriller full of twists and leaves the reader/viewer completely in suspense. The ending will blow you away, and I am sworn not to give away this ending and I stand by it.

This film consists of mostly dialogue that is very detailed, witty and sophisticated, which requires the viewers to pay close to attention. The case starts off very slow but picks up pace like a cheetah spotting its prey around minute 30 and continues its run until the ultimate twist filled conclusion.

I HIGHLY recommending this film to anyone who enjoys a murder mystery, courtroom/crime drama...as Witness for Prosecution will not disappoint!!

The Vanishing (1988)

6/10

those golden rules you learned as a kid "don't talk to strangers"

Rex and Saskia, a young couple in love, are on vacation. They stop at a busy service station and Saskia is abducted. After three years and no sign of Saskia, Rex begins receiving letters from the abductor.

The Vanishing is very slow paced film that  alternates between flashback and present day. It sets up a very mundane event of a couple going on vacation, and turning it into a sinister plot.

The ending of this original The Vanishing is fairly different from the hollywood remake with same title (1993). I found the ending in the original to be far more fearful and sad than the remake.

spolier: --------------
This film does not need any special effects, gory or frightening images to create fear; rather the fear/horror of this film is the randomness of the act.
------

Injustice (2011) Mini-series

8/10 [Highly Recommended]

Holy awesomeness batman!! Such a good mini-series!!

Plot: On the surface William Travers is a picture of success. An accomplished criminal barrister happily living with his wife in rural Suffolk. However, Travers is still recovering from a traumatic series of events that have shaken his belief in the legal system

Hats off to the writers of Injustice, who created a complex masterpiece through flashbacks, multiple intersecting story lines from different characters and many twists.

The series starts off a bit slow, but give this mini a chance and sit through the first half of episode one; You'll be thankful that you did. This 6 episodes 300minutes long mini-series is filled with unexpected twists, clever dialoge, interwoven stories, suspense and great acting. I was truly amazed by suspenseful and thrilling adventure that was Injustice.

James Purefoy (from TV series Rome) and Charlie Creed-Miles both gave superb performances in the lead roles, giving an edge to this mini that otherwise wouldn't have been as great.

The rating on IMDB.com must have been the result people who can't tell the difference between great television programming and jersey shore.

Recommended to those who enjoys Law and Order, Sherlock Holmes, Mr.Brooks (movie) or just a great police/court/character-driven film.

City of Men (2007)

8/10 [highly recommended]

Great film, from the producer of "City of God"

Plot: Best buddies Acerola and Laranjinha, about to turn 18, discover things about their missing fathers' pasts which will shatter their solid friendship, in the middle of a war between rival drug gangs from Rio's favelas.



Beautiful story that is companied by astonishing shots of landscapes. City of Men takes you on a journey between two friends (both of whom fatherless) and their search to find out about their fathers. Through their search for the truth, their friendship and values are tested.

A fantastic film, though not as great as City of God, but just as spectacular. I recommend watching both films, as each provide a different element in story, friendship, war, and scenery.

Casino (1995)

8/10 [highly recommend]

iconic cast and a story that takes you into the heart of casinos

Plot: Greed, deception, money, power, and murder occur between two mobster best friends and a trophy wife over a gambling empire.

Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci lead the way in this gangster themed movie about the beginnings of sin city. We are taken through their experience through Ace (De Niro) and Nicky's (Pesci) experience in the world of casinos and mob ties. The story is told from Ace and Nicky's point of view, as they switch in between each other in narrating the film. This narrating is very unique and feels almost like a diary entry, mobster style.

A great film that I would highly recommend!

12 (2007)

8.5/10 [Highly Recommended]

Magnificent! Absolutely magnificent Russian remake

Plot: 12 jurors must decide the fate of a Chechen teenager charged with murdering his stepfather.

Miracle at St. Anna (2008)

5.5/10

A good plot line but poor poor execution.

Plot: Set in 1944 Italy, the story of four black American soldiers who get trapped in a Tuscan village during WWII.

The film started off exciting but the attention grabber didn't last long. The dialogue and acting felt overly exaggerated. There was a lack in character development and connection between them. Many characters were introduced but none of them remain memorable.

The film felt long and dragged out. The movie felt like a bunch of scenes that was roughly thrown together in the editing room. Somewhere in the production, the direction of the film was forgotten, but the realization and decision to scramble a few meaningful scenes in proved insufficient.

Long story short, skip this film and go watch something like Saving Private Ryan and Saints and Soldiers