Announcement 2

This blog is still to be on hiatus for a while, I am currently experiencing a major life event that has brought on change, don't worry about me, it is a positive change. Due to this change, I will need to settle down into my new lifestyle and get comfortable with it until I know when I will have free time to be able to continue my reviews, it should be maximum a couple of weeks before I resume posting, I just wanted to let you all know that I'm not dead and this blog isn't dead either.

Also I will be changing the way I announce future reviews, it has come to my attention that I often leave a date to when I will post a review and unfortunately I often do not comply, from now on I will only announce what reviews I will be publishing next and not leave an expected date as to avoid disappointment.

Thank you.

Announcement:

No reviews or blog posts will be published until further notice.

Pitch Perfect - Review

Script + Plot - 7
Characters - 8
Actors - 8
Soundtrack - 8
Visuals + Sounds - 7
Editing + Cinematography - 7
Directing - 8
Effect - 7

Raw Overall Score - 7.5

Personal Overall Score - 7.2

Brief Overall Review: This quirky musical was very entertaining and is one of those few movies I can watch over and over again. Where this movie could have easily been a cheesy ridiculous mess of a 'chick flick' it was made brilliant by the actors and their ability to turn something perhaps unbelievable and inane into a genuinely interesting story. The cinematography of the movie whilst not anything special did not hinder the movie's progression. By far the most impressive thing in the movie despite the acting abilities was the soundtrack and sound mixing, especially during the acapella sections, they were controlled so well and is probably what distinguished this movie from any other musical primarily aimed at teenagers and/or young adults.

Script + Plot - The plot of the movie is quite simple and basic and to an extent predictable 'like the guy gets the girl, and that kid sees dead people and Darth Vader is Luke's father.' Plot (via IMDb): Beca, a freshman at Barden University, is cajoled into joining The Bellas, her school's all-girls singing group. Injecting some much needed energy into their repertoire, The Bellas take on their male rivals in a campus competition.  However what makes the movie stand out in terms of the storyline is the underlying message, it is much easier to read into if you have ever experienced the situation, personally I am quite a bit like Beca the main character and therefore could understand more easily what she was dealing with. The movie was essentially trying to show that we need people to connect with, whether we like to admit it or not, and at the end of the day you'll get sick of being alone and trying to do things by yourself which is what the lead character Beca was trying to do. The script could easily have been a cheesy mess if not for the actors and the directing, it wasn't as funny or as clever as the writers probably thought but it did okay and it gave a unique and creative spin on the movie so I'll give this a 7.

Characters - The characters were definitely interesting and all different in their own way, and whilst we rarely got the opportunity to really understand some of them and get their background stories, I believe we got a good sample amount and they were entertaining. I loved how the characters were handled by the different actors and really for this movie I feel like the characters and actors go hand in hand because they were all believable as the characters they played and managed to make characters that could be as silly and cheesy as characters from a DCOM into characters that were a bit more real. An 8 for this category.

Actors - I thought the actors were brilliant in this movie, some of my favourite performances include Anna Kendrick who was natural in her role, Rebel Wilson who had great line deliveries, Adam DeVine, Utkarsh Ambudkah, Jinhee Joung and Elizabeth Banks. I can't say that anyone was completely off, now and then some actors weren't particularly believable; for example Skylar Astin did have a few parts where he looked like he was struggling to keep it looking natural, and Brittany Snow sometimes took the perkiness of her character just a little overboard, however I think they all generally performed well, and I praise the casting director for this movie. An 8 again!

Soundtrack - Of course this category is the main event, being a musical naturally the soundtrack makes or breaks the movie. I can say that when I first heard of this film I was not in the least interested and thought that it sounded too much like 'Glee: The Movie'. Either way I watched the trailer and found myself a little more intrigued, and as a huge fan of typical teenage movies I knew that one way or the other I would watch it. I'm glad I did because this was nothing like Glee. Where I personally found Glee's covers somewhat boring and a little unimaginative, Pitch Perfect was the opposite. The sound mixing was great, the world of acapella that was introduced to us seemed exciting, refreshing and I guess even to some extent 'cool'. I loved the mash-ups and remixes as much as anyone else. Another 8.

Visuals + Sounds - The visuals for the movie were good when it came to lightings and colours and the more electrical parts of things. I was a little put off by how the simple act of vomiting was not made to look a bit more realistic, it seemed to me like something that could have been done so easily, but for some reason it was overlooked, it could have worked into the authenticity of the movie, however all in all the visuals were okay, nothing particularly special. The sound effects were decent too but even that could have been handled a little better than it was. A 7 for me.

Editing + Cinematography - I thought the editing was well done, when it comes to musicals editing is also a very important element and usually takes a great deal of work, I thought it was handled quite well. The cinematography was well done too, and although it was nothing spectacular, it did manage to do the film justice. A 7.

Directing - I felt that the movie was well directed and brought the effect that the director was looking for, the message of the movie was conveyed clearly and concisely and I believe that the emotions in each situation was expressed well; the movie came together nicely and was handled expertly. This movie I feel could have turned into a very different thing had we been presented with a different director, Jason Moore made his stamp on the movie, and although I know little to nothing of the book that the movie was adapted from, I am almost sure he was able to capture the emotions underlying the literature and express them whilst still managing to make it his own.

Effect - Like I said previously I found myself relating to Beca's character, I adore it when I can relate to a character in a movie even if it's just one emotion I can share, it usually means the actor is doing a pretty damn good job of expressing that emotion to the point where it feels genuine. I liked that I could relate to her character and also understand the reasons behind her actions and could understand what the movie was about underneath the whole extravagance of the acapella championships. The movie of course gave me a happy feeling at the end just as I feel whenever I watch a teen flick like this, it also taught me a lesson or two about opening up to people. Above all it's a movie that I can watch again and again and again and never get bored and I certainly think that that is an important factor. I'll give the movie a 7 for effect.


Who should watch it?
If like me you're a huge fan of Anna Kendrick's work, or Rebel Wilson, Anna Camp, Brittany Snow, Adam DeVine or even Elizabeth Banks, if you enjoy musicals especially modern ones, if you like what people call 'chick flicks' or teenage movies or even just movies situated in colleges, if you like Glee, if you don't like Glee and you want to see more imaginative and exciting covers, if you just want to watch a fun entertaining 'feel good' movie, if you've read Pitch Perfect by Mickey Rapkin, if you're interested in the world of acapella.

Reviews coming soon:

Pitch Perfect - 04/09/2013
The Way, Way Back - 05/09/2013
She's All That - 06/09/2013
Drinking Buddies - 07/09/2013

The above movies will be reviewed by the dates shown so they might not necessarily be published on the day and could be posted before, but they will be published at latest on the days stated.

A Quick Summary of my Current Situation

Hello all,
So I have just arrived back from holiday, and have unfortunately come home to my laptop not operating properly, there seems to be an issue with my cooling fan and for that reason I will probably have to get the laptop fixed. Therefore my reviews will not come in substantial amounts very quickly as I had originally hoped.
I will attempt to make reviews via my phone or via a sibling's laptop and as you can imagine it won't be a quick process so I apologise again.
As I had promised to review Pitch Perfect once I return, I will do so in at most two days.
Just wanted to keep everyone posted so you know what's going on. Thank you for bearing with me and I hope to continue writing reviews really soon.

See you again in 8 days!

So that's it for now folks!
But I'll be back on the 3rd/4th September with a new review (starting with the promised Pitch Perfect of course) and I'll be getting a lot more serious, if anyone wants to leave advice and tips etc while I'm gone please do.

Thanks!

Now You See Me - Review

Script + Plot - 7
Characters - 6
Actors - 8
Soundtrack - 7
Visuals + Sounds - 8
Editing + Cinematography - 8
Directing - 7
Effect - 6

Raw Overall Score - 7.125

Personal Overall Score - 6.9

Brief Overall Review: This visually stunning movie with complementary cinematography had an enthralling plot that initially seemed as if it would be a horrific rip-off of 'The Prestige' or maybe a bad flashy complicated modern 'Robin Hood', but luckily it turned into something quite different, with magic tricks that were not completely mind-blowing but entertaining all the same as you worked to figure it all out and actors that could keep the entertainment factor up and produce believable characters with unbelievable circumstances, the end of the movie whilst containing a huge unpredictable twist still fell a little flat and made the overall film feel like wasted potential, however despite the numerous plot holes in this movie it still managed to entertain and give something for the viewer to enjoy watching.

Script + Plot - An FBI agent and an Interpol detective track a team of illusionists who pull off bank heists during their performances and reward their audiences with the money. The plot and storyline for this movie was an interesting one, although it sounded initially like this movie was working hard to be the next 'The Prestige' I still thought it took an interesting take on magic and how it could be used and exploited. Although the plot I felt was a little original even though it just mixed elements from different plots, I thought it was handled a little poorly and especially towards the end it completely lost it's goal. Whilst an interesting concept for a movie, the way the script portrayed and handled it was quite simply amateur. The script was so poorly done that if not for the good actors, this movie could easily have been one of the worst ones out there this year. Although the script was horrible and there were unexplained plot holes, I really did enjoy the plot a lot, so I'll give this a 7 even though technically the script score should trump the plot's.

Characters - The characters were not even slightly developed if we're being honest, we only really managed to see them on the surface level; this movie was all about the twists, turns, special effects, crazy plot and less about the characters. I usually don't like it when the characters and their development is secondary/tertiary in movies or books or shows, or anything fictional really so I was a bit disappointed, however I thought we had a nice mix of characters that complemented each other and each brought a little something different to the movie. I thought they had a nice dynamic together, the characters were well defined and I don't think I noticed a character waver from their typical traits so for that I believe they were well structured. Unfortunately I found myself feeling indifferent to most of the characters and this was probably due to the fact that we didn't learn enough about them to truly like or dislike them. A 6 in this category.

Actors - I thought the actors did a superb job with what they were given, they had pretty bad scripts and incredibly underdeveloped characters but they actually managed to make them bearable and make them real, giving them just a hint of depth simply by the way they handled their scenes. I also felt like there was good chemistry on set between them all and that made it easier for them to pull off interactions they had in the movie. I was particularly fond of Morgan Freeman, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson and Isla Fisher's handling of their characters, and a lot of people did a great job. I wasn't so sure about Jesse Eisenberg because I feel like he plays the same character again and again even though I have technically only seen him in three movies, although he seemed to portray his character quite well I don't believe I can give him much credit as I don't feel that he stretched himself enough or tapped into anything special or different. An 8 for me.

Soundtrack - The soundtrack from what I recall wasn't anything special and didn't stand out in a bad way, it was good and I believe it was very fitting for the movie and did a great job accentuating the scenes, amplifying them and bringing them to life, adding to the awe of the occasions during when magic tricks were being presented etc. A 7.

Visuals + Sounds - I thought the movie was visually stunning and evidently CGI was often used to accompany dazzling images especially when going for certain staged magic tricks. I liked the colours and the flashing lights which of course played into the aspect of trickery and the deception of the mind and hiding truths behind the flashy outer layers. The sound effects again is not something I particularly listen out for but I believe they sounded good, nothing out of place, nothing too over the top. I give this an 8.

Editing + Cinematography - I thought the cinematography in this movie was so well done, I know I don't know much about cinematography but I really do think that they did a brilliant job and had a wide range of interesting shots and angles that contributed to this film being so beautiful to watch and kept our eyes glued regardless of the other negative aspects of the movie, I can also recall so many shots and just admire them in my mind and how stunning and well designed they looked. The editing was also done quite well and majority of the scenes flowed appropriately, I surrender an 8 towards this section.

Directing - Generally I felt that the movie knew where it wanted to go at first and although the beginning made it seem like it would be a rip-off of a small selection of movies, it all started coming together and the vision of the movie was slowly created and developed, the whole idea of stealing from the rich and giving to the poor in a disguise of magic and the implications was beginning to be well handled halfway through the movie, in spite of the terrible script, the movie was beginning to make sense. However everything suddenly went down hill closer to the end, especially when numerous situations and twists were revealed, then the movie just seemed like it was trying to produce complicated and contrived twists and introduce complex ideas which didn't match the essence of the first part of the movie which had initially seemed more believable. The movie lost it's direction after a while, so I give this aspect a 7.

Effect - The movie lost most of it's effect by the end with the ridiculous twist it posed. The fact that there were no strong original lines in the movie also did not help create any effect upon the viewer. The maximum effect that it had was to provide some intellectual entertainment as the viewer tries to put the puzzle pieces together, tries to understand the magic tricks that were performed and obviously tries to uncover the mystery. Unfortunately the tricks were either really easy to guess and therefore not so interesting e.g the 7 diamonds trick at the start, or were really over the top or complicated that they were completely unbelievable and seemed ridiculous or pointless e.g the last trick they performed for everyone with the money and the appearances (trying not to spoil it for anyone). I give the effect a 6 as I can still recall some nice imagery and certain magic tricks.


Who should watch it?
If you liked The Prestige and would not mind watching a perhaps 'lesser' version of it, if you like anything involving magic, if you enjoy watching even slightly intellectually stimulating films, if you want to be mind-blown, if you want a movie with an unexpected twist, if you're a fan or Morgan Freeman, Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, Woody Harrelson and really any other cast members, if you enjoy mysteries, if you fancy yourself a magician, if you just want to watch something genuinely entertaining and pass time.