Resolution reviews from 2008
Jan. 11th, 2009 01:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wook77Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews
The story has an interesting premise. I found myself pulled in and enjoying the ride. It's well written and has some very interesting characters. The only thing I didn't like about the entire story was the romance. It felt forced and out of place. The book would've worked better without it. 7 out of 10
Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews
A really excellent book 2 in a series. Normally, I find myself disappointed by the second book because the first is so good and then the second one falls so flat. This didn't happen here. Instead, book 2's plot was even better than book 1. unfortunately, the romance continues to fall flat and seem out of place in the midst of such awesome world building 7 out of 10
Nightlife, Madhouse, and Moonshie by Rob Thurman
I'm going to review all three of these books in one fell swoop. These books just get better and better. Cal and Niko Leandros are two brothers being hunted. Cal is the main prey but Niko won't let him go.
To me – it's even better than Supernatural. I never could get into Supernatural but this – oh man. These books are awesome and I definitely say that everyone should give them a try. collectively a 9 out of 10
Sign of Seven Series by Nora Roberts
Three books here – Blood Brothers, The Hollow and The Pagan Stone.
It's a good series. Not my favorite, not by far. I found the first two books much weaker than the third. I prefer quite a few other series by Nora Roberts. This just felt a bit forced and I wasn't all that engrossed in the books. The last is the best book of the series. collectively – 6 out of 10
The Last Legion
Colin Firth. Aishwarya Rai Do I really need to add anything else to this review?
In all actuality, I found the movie to be tedious at times. It was a bit predictable and the kid wasn't all that likeable.
However, the actors did what they could with the script that they had. Eventually, I found myself sucked into the movie regardless. I also liked how it seemed historical, even if it really wasn't. Plus – there wasn't all that annoying Kira Kneightly in blue paint shit going on in this Arthur re-telling. 7 out of 10
Transporter
Whenever I see Jason Statham in a movie, I don't expect all that much from it. This exceeded my rather low expectations. It had explosions, good martial arts and fancy cars. That's all that can really be said about it. 6 out of 10
Jesus
OMG. What a crapfest. Srs crapfest. I fastforwarded through a metric shittonne of this movie because it bored me to tears. No one was likeable, there was a rather squicky UST between Mary and Jesus and IDK. I just… Do. Not. Want. Gary Oldman couldn't save this movie and it looked like he wasn't even trying. 2 out of 10
Driving Lessons
BooooOOOoOOOooooorrrring. Tedious. Blergh. The dad was a passive aggressive pansy/patsy who just needed to find his balls and seize the day. Rupert's character annoyed me with his passive aggressive emo moments. The only person who saved the day was Julie Walters. Her character was so awesome that I focused on her instead of the others. 5 out of 10
State of Grace
I fell asleep during this movie. There. I said it. The characters annoyed me. The plot was predictable. The doublecross upon doublecross upon doublecross was annoying. I think a five year old could've predicted every plot twist and the "winkwinknudgenudge" witty dialogue of the actors didn't help disguise the pisspoor script. 3 out of 10
Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Say what you want about how Ben Barnes didn't have dark enough skin color but he pulled the character off. He really did a fantabulous job with the role and the script was amazing. The visuals rocked. The acting rocked. I found myself leaning forward at multiple times throughout the movie because I was so absorbed in it. Total win of a movie. 10 out of 10
The Lookout
This movie really made an impact on me. It wasn't the best acted movie in the world, the bad guy was a bit over the top for that. It wasn't the best scripted movie, the ending was rubbish and predictable. It wasn't a great movie if taken in parts but, on the whole, this movie was amazing.
It's a dark(er) movie. It features Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a rich kid with a brain injury that means he has no sort of memory skill. He has to work back from the ending and write everything down. Jeff Daniels plays his blind roommate. It's got humor and darkness and all sorts of awesomeness intertwined.
My review can't do this movie justice. It's an interesting take on a tired bank robber plotline. I really enjoyed it immensely. 9 out of 10
George and the Dragon
Obviously low-budget and geared towards kids, the movie was entertaining and worked as crack. I think if I took it seriously and/or was expecting a serious D&D dragon movie, I would've been disappointed. However, I wasn't expecting serious and it was obvious that the actors, scriptwriters and directors weren't taking it seriously either. It was funny and light-hearted and just what I needed at the time. 8 out of 10
Elizabeth
I have a girl!hard-on for Cate Blanchett. That being said, I couldn't really move beyond the historical inaccuracies of the movie. I enjoyed it when I was able to suspend disbelief but there were moments that I was jarred out of the movie.
That being said, it was well-acted, well-written and moving at times. The very parts that I couldn't move beyond still entertained me when I was able to suspend disbelief. 7 out of 10
The Fast and The Furious
It is what it is. It's all about the cars and the going fast and not so much about the acting or the script. Cause, let's face it, if it were about the acting and the script, this movie would blow. However, the cars went really fast and looked really pretty and it had Vin Diesel in it as well as Paul Walker. The eye candy entertained and did what it was supposed to. 8 out of 10
The Fast and the Furious 2
Where's Vin? Srsly? The movie kinda sucks without him. Paul Walker is pretty but he's no Vin Diesel. But they do have a Very Pretty Indeed Eclipse so I guess I can deal. 7 out of 10
Beerfest
Beerfest. Oh man. I laughed the entire frelling time. I don't know why. It's infantile humor at best but omg. It's HILARIOUS. I watched the unrated version and could've done without the tits all over the place but it was still funny. 8 out of 10
in the name of the king - dungeon seige tale
Jason Statham kicking ass in a d&d remake. Poorly acted. Poorly scripted. Enjoyable crack. I think it was probably TRYING to take itself seriously but I watched it as a spoof and it was hilariously bad. 7 out of 10
10000 B.C.
Enjoyable for what it was. I found the plot tedious at points, the dialogue was sort of painful and there were so many coincidences that I couldn't suspend my disbelief and just get into the movie. That being said, I did enjoy it for the most part. Just have low expectations when you go into this and it'll be enjoyable. 7 out of 10
Water Horse
Cute little kid movie that was surprisingly quite a lot of fun. I thought the actors did a great job, the script was good and the storyline was intriguing. It was light-hearted for all the seriousness in it. Told a good moral without whomping you in the face with it. 8 out of 10
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
I enjoyed this movie more than I thought I would, not that I think that's saying all that much. They did a good job of touching on a variety of actual issues and making fun of the bigots for it. Eventually, I got caught up in the story and just enjoyed it.
I especially liked Adam Sandler's journey in this from borderline homophobic to "championing" gay issues. 9 out of 10
Dead Letter Office
Dead Letter Office stars Miranda Otto which is the entire reason I rented it. I expected a romantic comedy (as that was what it'd been billed as). Instead, it was a Film of serious Film stature. Watching it as a movie, it sucked. It dragged and barely made any sense. However, the way that the story lines eventually interwove and got you thinking and looking and researching, make up for it. I liked it as a film but if I was looking for a movie, I would've hated this. My family hated it, I liked it.8 out of 10
Veronica Guerin
Veronica Guerin is a very interesting person. She was gunned down for crusading against drug dealers. This movie, if it had been done up right, would've been an amazing emotional journey.
However, in the end, either the script or the acting fell flat somewhere. I wasn't moved at all by this and I was totally expecting to be. 6 out of 10
Saint of 9/11
It's the story of the priest that was killed by a falling body out of the World Trade Center. I was braced to be moved but I thought the editing was awkward and the pacing was a bit off.
Still, it's a good journey and a very interesting look into an openly gay priest that championed the little people and helped alcoholics. 7 out of 10
The story has an interesting premise. I found myself pulled in and enjoying the ride. It's well written and has some very interesting characters. The only thing I didn't like about the entire story was the romance. It felt forced and out of place. The book would've worked better without it. 7 out of 10
Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews
A really excellent book 2 in a series. Normally, I find myself disappointed by the second book because the first is so good and then the second one falls so flat. This didn't happen here. Instead, book 2's plot was even better than book 1. unfortunately, the romance continues to fall flat and seem out of place in the midst of such awesome world building 7 out of 10
Nightlife, Madhouse, and Moonshie by Rob Thurman
I'm going to review all three of these books in one fell swoop. These books just get better and better. Cal and Niko Leandros are two brothers being hunted. Cal is the main prey but Niko won't let him go.
To me – it's even better than Supernatural. I never could get into Supernatural but this – oh man. These books are awesome and I definitely say that everyone should give them a try. collectively a 9 out of 10
Sign of Seven Series by Nora Roberts
Three books here – Blood Brothers, The Hollow and The Pagan Stone.
It's a good series. Not my favorite, not by far. I found the first two books much weaker than the third. I prefer quite a few other series by Nora Roberts. This just felt a bit forced and I wasn't all that engrossed in the books. The last is the best book of the series. collectively – 6 out of 10
The Last Legion
Colin Firth. Aishwarya Rai Do I really need to add anything else to this review?
In all actuality, I found the movie to be tedious at times. It was a bit predictable and the kid wasn't all that likeable.
However, the actors did what they could with the script that they had. Eventually, I found myself sucked into the movie regardless. I also liked how it seemed historical, even if it really wasn't. Plus – there wasn't all that annoying Kira Kneightly in blue paint shit going on in this Arthur re-telling. 7 out of 10
Transporter
Whenever I see Jason Statham in a movie, I don't expect all that much from it. This exceeded my rather low expectations. It had explosions, good martial arts and fancy cars. That's all that can really be said about it. 6 out of 10
Jesus
OMG. What a crapfest. Srs crapfest. I fastforwarded through a metric shittonne of this movie because it bored me to tears. No one was likeable, there was a rather squicky UST between Mary and Jesus and IDK. I just… Do. Not. Want. Gary Oldman couldn't save this movie and it looked like he wasn't even trying. 2 out of 10
Driving Lessons
BooooOOOoOOOooooorrrring. Tedious. Blergh. The dad was a passive aggressive pansy/patsy who just needed to find his balls and seize the day. Rupert's character annoyed me with his passive aggressive emo moments. The only person who saved the day was Julie Walters. Her character was so awesome that I focused on her instead of the others. 5 out of 10
State of Grace
I fell asleep during this movie. There. I said it. The characters annoyed me. The plot was predictable. The doublecross upon doublecross upon doublecross was annoying. I think a five year old could've predicted every plot twist and the "winkwinknudgenudge" witty dialogue of the actors didn't help disguise the pisspoor script. 3 out of 10
Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Say what you want about how Ben Barnes didn't have dark enough skin color but he pulled the character off. He really did a fantabulous job with the role and the script was amazing. The visuals rocked. The acting rocked. I found myself leaning forward at multiple times throughout the movie because I was so absorbed in it. Total win of a movie. 10 out of 10
The Lookout
This movie really made an impact on me. It wasn't the best acted movie in the world, the bad guy was a bit over the top for that. It wasn't the best scripted movie, the ending was rubbish and predictable. It wasn't a great movie if taken in parts but, on the whole, this movie was amazing.
It's a dark(er) movie. It features Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a rich kid with a brain injury that means he has no sort of memory skill. He has to work back from the ending and write everything down. Jeff Daniels plays his blind roommate. It's got humor and darkness and all sorts of awesomeness intertwined.
My review can't do this movie justice. It's an interesting take on a tired bank robber plotline. I really enjoyed it immensely. 9 out of 10
George and the Dragon
Obviously low-budget and geared towards kids, the movie was entertaining and worked as crack. I think if I took it seriously and/or was expecting a serious D&D dragon movie, I would've been disappointed. However, I wasn't expecting serious and it was obvious that the actors, scriptwriters and directors weren't taking it seriously either. It was funny and light-hearted and just what I needed at the time. 8 out of 10
Elizabeth
I have a girl!hard-on for Cate Blanchett. That being said, I couldn't really move beyond the historical inaccuracies of the movie. I enjoyed it when I was able to suspend disbelief but there were moments that I was jarred out of the movie.
That being said, it was well-acted, well-written and moving at times. The very parts that I couldn't move beyond still entertained me when I was able to suspend disbelief. 7 out of 10
The Fast and The Furious
It is what it is. It's all about the cars and the going fast and not so much about the acting or the script. Cause, let's face it, if it were about the acting and the script, this movie would blow. However, the cars went really fast and looked really pretty and it had Vin Diesel in it as well as Paul Walker. The eye candy entertained and did what it was supposed to. 8 out of 10
The Fast and the Furious 2
Where's Vin? Srsly? The movie kinda sucks without him. Paul Walker is pretty but he's no Vin Diesel. But they do have a Very Pretty Indeed Eclipse so I guess I can deal. 7 out of 10
Beerfest
Beerfest. Oh man. I laughed the entire frelling time. I don't know why. It's infantile humor at best but omg. It's HILARIOUS. I watched the unrated version and could've done without the tits all over the place but it was still funny. 8 out of 10
in the name of the king - dungeon seige tale
Jason Statham kicking ass in a d&d remake. Poorly acted. Poorly scripted. Enjoyable crack. I think it was probably TRYING to take itself seriously but I watched it as a spoof and it was hilariously bad. 7 out of 10
10000 B.C.
Enjoyable for what it was. I found the plot tedious at points, the dialogue was sort of painful and there were so many coincidences that I couldn't suspend my disbelief and just get into the movie. That being said, I did enjoy it for the most part. Just have low expectations when you go into this and it'll be enjoyable. 7 out of 10
Water Horse
Cute little kid movie that was surprisingly quite a lot of fun. I thought the actors did a great job, the script was good and the storyline was intriguing. It was light-hearted for all the seriousness in it. Told a good moral without whomping you in the face with it. 8 out of 10
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
I enjoyed this movie more than I thought I would, not that I think that's saying all that much. They did a good job of touching on a variety of actual issues and making fun of the bigots for it. Eventually, I got caught up in the story and just enjoyed it.
I especially liked Adam Sandler's journey in this from borderline homophobic to "championing" gay issues. 9 out of 10
Dead Letter Office
Dead Letter Office stars Miranda Otto which is the entire reason I rented it. I expected a romantic comedy (as that was what it'd been billed as). Instead, it was a Film of serious Film stature. Watching it as a movie, it sucked. It dragged and barely made any sense. However, the way that the story lines eventually interwove and got you thinking and looking and researching, make up for it. I liked it as a film but if I was looking for a movie, I would've hated this. My family hated it, I liked it.8 out of 10
Veronica Guerin
Veronica Guerin is a very interesting person. She was gunned down for crusading against drug dealers. This movie, if it had been done up right, would've been an amazing emotional journey.
However, in the end, either the script or the acting fell flat somewhere. I wasn't moved at all by this and I was totally expecting to be. 6 out of 10
Saint of 9/11
It's the story of the priest that was killed by a falling body out of the World Trade Center. I was braced to be moved but I thought the editing was awkward and the pacing was a bit off.
Still, it's a good journey and a very interesting look into an openly gay priest that championed the little people and helped alcoholics. 7 out of 10
