Hollywoodland (2006)
Well I have to admit, even thou I still can't really believe it, but Ben Affleck can just about act here. I mean it's a performance closest to acting I have ever seen from him. Luckily this movie doesn't rely on Affleck's performance, even thou he wasn't that bad. There's a superb cast to support him, who all do a great job. It's a story inspired by a real-life mystery about the death of Superman actor George Reeves. A private detective, Luis Simo, played brilliantly by Adrien Brody, is hired to investigate the case. He ends up finding out more than he hoped for, in both the good sense and the bad. This was all in all quite an ok movie, but it suffers quite a bit from over length, would have worked much better about 30 mins shorter.
60%
Cloverfield (2008)
The idea here was actually really great. Focus on a few characters and see the "end of the world" through their eyes, or more so through the lens of their camera. But sadly they managed to water it down with the basic cliches and a few really over the top plot twists. Quite bad movie and the jumping camera gave me a headache when I saw it on the big screen.
35%
The Bank Job (2008)
This was a surprisingly good heist movie. Based on the true story of the 1971 Baker Street bank robbery which was prevented from being told for over thirty years because of a Government gagging order. The movie is done with a simple tone and resembles Melville's masterpieces in a way. Everything is kept under strict control and it feels a bit muted at times. But that's only a good thing as it fits the story and gives it a nice touch of realism. So it's superbly done and quite entertaining, but it's still far from a masterpiece. Worth watching once.
69%
The Cottage (2008)
Two brothers kidnap the daughter of a gangster, bring her to a remote countryside cottage and find out there's more to the countryside than meets the eye. Gore and fun, that's what the movie promises. Well the gore wasn't much apart from a few scenes at the end and I think I totally missed the fun part. Few scenes made laugh a bit, but mostly it was either basic slapstick or something totally unintentional. Quite a boring movie.
19%
Bandidas (2006)
Bah. Totally pointless movie of two women who are forced to become bank robbers and outlaws. Sad to see two great actresses Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayek in such a pointless movie. Bad excuse of a movie, some points for the ladies.
17%
Lonely Hearts (2006)
Another adaptation of the Lonely Hearts Killers. Right from the start I have to say Salma Hayek alone is good enough reason to see this movie, she is just stunningly good as the better half of the killers. Rest of the cast is quite good too, thou none of them shine out nearly as much as Hayek. The movie itself seems a bit pointless remake of the same story as it fails to give it anything new. It's entertaining and at points thought provoking, but there's just some feeling of averageness in it that bothered me all through it.
61%
Stranger Than Fiction (2006)
Didn't know anything about this one and as I saw Will Ferrel starring it, I though it would be some crazy comedy. But it turned out to be an awesome experience. It had comedy, drama, tragedy and fantasy in it with a brilliant mix. The atmosphere was something close to perfection. The cast was great, even Will Ferrel did a great performance and my prejudice was totally unnecessary. I hardly ever watch a movie twice in a row, but I had to watch this one as I wanted more of it. So only bad thing I have to say is that it could have been a bit longer with a bit more insight, but it's close to perfection as it is. Great movie.
91%
The Proposition (2005)
Stunningly beautiful Australian western that has a bit more to it than it's looks. The story focuses on a sherif and an outlaw who he forces to go on a mission he's not willing to take. The sherif gives him 9 days to kill his older brother, or else they'll execute his younger brother. The story itself creates a dilemma that is quite well handled and that's one of the strong points of this movie. The movie is quite brutal and violent, but it's not relying on that in an exploitative way, it fits the story that is quite grim. It's not the best western out there, but really worth watching. And definately best Australian western I have seen (thou I think it's the only one I've seen).
81%
Jesus Camp (2006)
Jesus Christ this was scary. Seeing kids with empty eyes chanting praises in some kind of trance is one of the scariest things I've ever seen. Beats the hell out of your average horror movie. This documentary focuses on the people running a religious summer camp and the kids attending it. The camp is called Kids on Fire and it's purpose is to basically brainwash the kids into religious freaks. Scary stuff. This documentary makes me even more happy that I don't live in America, thou I bet there's religious freaks in pretty much every country. Definately worth watching as some of the stuff is so crazy you just have to see it to believe it.
89%
Colour Me Kubrick: A True...ish Story (2005)
A movie about a guy who poses as Stanley Kubrick and tries to boost his own ego with Kubrick's fame. A friend of mine recommended this to me and I just can't understand why. This is one of the most boring movies I have ever seen. It misses all the potential stuff about the hopes and lives the man destroys while lying to everyone, focusing only to the man himself. And as the character is hard to relate to and actually quite repulsive, the movie falls totally apart. Even John Malkovich, usually a great actor who could carry a movie by himself, manages to do a boring monotonic performance. Boring crappy movie. Yawn.
10%
The 9th Company (2005)
A Russian Full Metal Jacket. The movie itself brings nothing new to the genre, mostly just recycling the old ideas, but it's still quite interesting. Mostly because of it's point of view from the Russian army. Thou sadly the Hollywood feel is too much present and it looks a bit too much polished at times. Was worth the watch but don't think I'll give it another one.
60%
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