REVIEW: American Pie 2 (2001)

Rating: ★★★★

Synopsis: The continuing bawdy adventures of a group of friends reuniting after their first year of college.

Same characters, same chemistry and more ball-busting gags. If you loved the first movie, then you’ll enjoy the second, but effectively it’s just the same movie, except their now college students and are in a beach house - and that’s exactly what i wanted.

I’d go as far as saying i laughed more at this than the first. I’d even go as far as saying that it’s better than the first. The movie feels relatable to my situation at the moment, trying to deal with change ect and it deals with these themes without become downtrodden, in fact it’s feel good and exudes this theme subliminally, kinda. 

How many great moments are in this film eh? Super-glue to crotch moment, Michelle’s sexual tutorship of Jim and Mr Levenstien in general. Oh I love this film, enough said really.

REVIEW: American Pie (1999)

Rating: ★★★★

Synopsis: Four teenage boys enter a pact to lose their virginity by prom night.

American Pie is a film any post-90’s teenager has seen, and though I admit it might not be the funniest comedy ever to present the teenage quest for vagina. It set up the very foundations for what we now see as the sub-genre “Teen-comedy” and for that we thank you American Pie.

The key to the success of the film is not it’s comedy but in its ability to establish like-able and relatable characters who all sit at different oppositions of the school social-hierarchy, and bringing them together with little force. The comedy seemingly rises from the tensions caused by these oppositions and the frequent use of perverse-situational gags.

I suppose it’s a secret favorite of mine.

I think Jason Biggs and Sean William Scott need to take a bow for creating two of the most believable and memorable characters ever seen in modern-cinema in Jim and Stiffler. Though my favorite character by far is Jim’s dad played by Eugene Levy. He’s ultimately embarrassing (unintentionally). There are so many inappropriate father-son moments packed in here, so many that i was reduced to tears of laughter.

If you haven’t seen this feel-good classic, then i feel sorry for you. Just wished they had stopped at three.

REVIEW: Training Day (2001)

Rating: ★★★★

 Synopsis: On his first day on the job as a narcotics officer, a rookie cop works with a rogue detective who isn’t what he appears.

Training Day might not be the most sophisticated piece of cinema, but trust me, it’s one hell of an exhilarating ride, with some fantastic performances from the two leads woven in.

The film happens to take place over one day, which means everything is in exploded time, which bodes well for the development of the partnership between newbie cop Jake (Ethan Hawke) and experienced and unorthodox narcotics officer Alonzo (Denzel Washington). What Jake begins to realize very early on, is that Alonzo is a crooked as they come, though he doesn’t know if his overall intentions are good or bad until Alonzo begins to jepodise Jake’s own life. Director Antoine Fuqua then presents Jake with two paths; to fight for what is just and right or to take the easier path, become rich and morally ignorant, and throughout Jake finds himself ever tempted by the later…Which route he will take is decided in what should be an epic scene, but it fails to encapsulate the feeling Fuqua was going for, but the ending is satisfactory none the less.

The acting throughout is solid: with Denzel Washington once again showcasing what a great actor he is at center stage, yes i agree he did deserve his Academy Award. Ethan Hawke was okay, nothing special on his part…

Training day is internally gritty, clever and ballsy, but its narrative is loose and exploded, which makes the later third of the film feel disjointed. Though who really cares about plot, when the characters are as animated and developed as they are here.

One can not argue that this was one hell of a fucking ride.

REVIEW: The Fighter (2010)

★★★★★

Synopsis: A look at the early years of boxer “Irish” Micky Ward and his brother who helped train him before going pro in the mid 1980s.

Essentially what The Fighter is, is the conventional tale of the underdog, boxing his way to a world title, that doesn’t mean that its not at the same time enthralling and emotionally raw. Heck i’d go as far as to say it’s a bonifide classic.

We see Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) wrestle with his controlling and parasitic family, his volatile relationship with his coach and crackhead former boxer brother, Dicky (Christian Bale), the distant and tattered relationship with his daughter and his love interest (Amy Adams) whilst also trying to better himself as a fighter and a person, though with all the conflicts he struggles and we sympathies with him, creating a like-able character, one we root for, it’s a fantastic use of manipulation.

The story is delivered fantastically by each character. Christian Bale steals the show and proves that he can actually act and is fully deserving of his Academy Award win. Amy Adam’s is inexcusably hot and also delivers a stellar performance, with Melissa Leo lending a hand as Micky’s selfish, freeloading mother. I must say that even Wahlberg impresses, though the rest of the cast make him seem merely mediocre.

It’s exciting, gritty, eye opening and feel good - what more can you ask from a movie?

REVIEW: Memento (2000)

★★★★★

Synopsis: A man, suffering from short-term memory loss, uses notes and tattoos to hunt for the man he thinks killed his wife.

If you ever want to spark a debate about a film, Memento is the perfect ignition…Mr. Nolan you have done it again. The most original thing about the film is the way its been structured, it runs backwards, meaning we know how it ends. Though this takes little away from the film, merely acting as a red herring. I’ve never before been more intrigued by a film, you find yourself looking for key points each scene, yourself becoming much like Leonard Shellby, an investigator into his present.

Guy Pierce fits the role brilliantly as the short memory impaired Leonard, selling the part more than convincingly, with Joe Pantoliano providing excellent support as the mustached mystery man, matching Pierce scene for scene.

This film should of won an Oscar…Simple.

It’s clever, exciting, intriguing, with a tone that persists to disturb and never fails to impress and surprise.

REVIEW: The Birds (1963)

You gotta take a few things into account when you watch The Birds, mainly that it was made nearly 50 years ago, so nothings gonna go too far in terms of horror and of course it’s gonna feel dated at the very least.

So i’m not gonna pick holes in things like effects ect.

There is an extensive build up story, which doesn’t materialize into anything worth celebrating. It sacrifices scares for…Well a story that is left ambiguous and not in an Inception kind of way, it basically ends, in the most predictable manner.

The birds are pretty fucking scary, especially the crows, that iconic image of them on the jungle gym is haunting. Though from a modern perspective, it offers very little in all departments.

But considering this was made 50 years ago, long before CGI, you gotta give it a huge amount of praise…

Rating - Worth A Watch

REVIEW: Paranormal Activity 2 (2010)

Rating: ★

I’m gonna make this relatively short and sweet. 

The Paranormal Activity philosophy - Loud noises are scary.

Reality - Loud noises are loud noises…nothing more.

The rest of this film is a complete borefest.

REVIEW: The Omen (2006)

★★★✰✰

Firstly this is a remake, that is all that will be said on the matter.

The Omen should be a psychological horror, the type that makes you question whether there is a little Damien in your town, on your street or even in your own house. Though what it does is all too generic, to be really frightening.

There are a few successful jump scenes, accompanied with some rather disturbing imagery and a heavy use of murderous hounds and that’s about it. The rest is just a wild-goose chase of biblical bullshit, that becomes too geographically improbable that it renders ridiculous. 

Liev Schreiber whom I am a big fan of is brilliant once more as Damien’s “dad”, he really drags this movie out of the shitter, whilst his wife played by Julia Stiles is beautiful…and that is all. Damien himself fails to menace with his jet-black bowl cut and his murderous grin.

Through all of its faults, it’s enjoyable and rather entertaining, but is definitely not one to re-watch.