"Lone Survivor" Movie Review

            
            

            

            



            This film was released in award season last year on December 18, but in limited release. Now that it finally has a wider release, I can review it. It is directed by Peter Berg and stars Mark Wahlberg. It is about four Navy Seals that go on a mission to kill on guy who is part of the Taliban, but when it gets compromised, they find themselves up against main Taliban soldiers.

            The best thing about this film is the fantastic makeup work done on these Navy Seals. All of the wounds look real and it really looks like they are in war. This goes right along with how well shot this film is by Tobias Schliessler, director of photography (cinematographer). It all looks like these guys are in the mountains and everything there looks like it is in the mountains. The layout of trees, grass, etc. looks real. The film is also very well directed. There was not one time of which I could not tell what was going on. I was almost always able to tell exactly what was going on and the camera moved around enough to give us some intensity, but it was not too shaky. This film also has great performances, especially by Mark Wahlberg, but everyone else is great, too. This film was very, very well done in general.

            Though, this film has flaws. One of them is the script. It moves along fast, which is good, but it moves a bit too fast, so we do not know the characters very well. The forty minute action scene would have been more intense if I knew the characters better and cared about them. Therefore, there were what seemed to be long portions of underwhelming action which I was enjoying, but nothing more. Although there is still intensity in the film, I think there was more underwhelming action than there was intense action. There was also unrealism with gunfire. There was several times in which I thought “He would probably be dead.” Also, the Navy Seals would run across a line of trees right in front of the enemy’s gunfire, and would get hit.

            The film has some good writing in the tad bit of dialogue we get with the characters. The dialogue seemed real and I did not find anything wrong with it. The film also has some realism. The war element of the film has a lot of realism and depicts war very well in the first ten or twenty minutes of which the Navy Seals are on their mission. And as I have already said, there is some intensity in the battle scene. The film also is enjoyable for most of the running time. The fast pace of it works for that aspect. Though it does get dull in some moments of the film, and it is a bit too long, it is a mostly enjoyable film.

One other very good thing is that it illustrated that not all Afghans are bad. Some of them are good people. It is only the groups that control that are bad. Although it is illustrated in a somewhat illogical way, at least it was illustrated. There is also a moral dilemma having to do with war in the first ten or twenty minutes when the Navy Seals have gone on their mission. It is the best part of the movie. I could not wait to hear was going to come out of the next person’s mouth, and who was going to speak at all. The writing at that point in the film was gold and it was, no doubt, compelling, but it was also nearly riveting.

            I have mentioned all of the things I like about the film. Now I will mention my other flaws with the film, which are my biggest flaws. By the time the huge action sequence starts, the film forgets all of the morality it had just had a few minutes ago. The second act has little to no of the moral complexity of war. It is just Americans shooting non-Americans, except when one Navy Seal gets shot in the toe, which is one whole other story. With every single wound that a Navy Seal gets, it is treated as if something terrible has happened and American is starting to lose its title. When a member of the Taliban gets shot and killed, it is treated like a video game. The Navy Seal just moves along and shoots another, then another, then another, and so on. The camera should have also focused on the Taliban and what it is like on their side of the battle. It depicts war as good versus evil. Good is the Americans and evil and the Taliban. War is two sides versus each other. Though, I am not saying anything about the real Navy Seals by saying this. I am just criticizing the film for not illustrating war correctly. The real Navy Seals are much, much braver than I will ever be and I could not imagine going through this. I am just saying that this film should have gone in a different direction with depicting war.

            My final flaws are that it gets dull sometimes, due to the underdeveloped characters, and is a bit too long. Some scenes could have been compressed and some scenes were not essential to the film and could have easily been cut out.

Although it has flaws, this is a very well done and enjoyable film that has some intensity and some realism. It is still a very good movie.

            Lone Survivor is a very well done film with beautiful cinematography, fantastic makeup work, and very good direction, but lacks the moral complexity of war.L

Best and Worst Film of January 2013

            If you are unaware of what month it is, it is January, meaning that we have entered the movie zone that no one wants to be in. Because of that, I randomly decided to say what my picks for best in worst of January are. Also keep in mind that I am an idiot for doing this, because the only movies I have seen from January 2013 are these two movies. I will do the worst first.

Worst Film – A Haunted House

            A Haunted House is a spoof of several horror films that have come out in recent years. It spoofs them horribly. There are very, very little laughs in this movie, and that is it. All of the humor is extremely dumb, and the filmmakers’ attempt at dry humor is incredibly terrible. They just tried absolutely disgusting humor that did not work at all and made me want to look away from the screen. It is an extremely condensed movie, running-time wise, so that audiences will never get bored, which is also a pretty big flaw. An even bigger flaw is that I did get bored in some parts of it. This film also has a huge amount of jump scares that are not meant to be comical at all. They are just stupid jump scares that are in the films that they are making fun of. And sometimes it is almost like it tries to be scary. It is a very bad film that I strongly urge everyone to not check out.

Best Film – Mama

            Mama is a horror film that had no business coming out in January. It is a pretty creepy movie that really has the Guillermo Del Toro watermark on it. It is done well and looks good. It is also well directed. The execution is very good in that it captures everything the script had very well and delivered its scares well. Though, there was also a story behind all of this that is also executed very well. It is written very well, too. All the dialogue is good and the scenes are there for a reason. Mama looks extremely good and is not CGI. There is also some intense stuff in this film. It is very well done and has a very good script. My only flaw with it is the third act. Though, this is a solidly good film that should not have come out in January.

Best Found Footage Movie of All Time

            

            Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones is in theaters right now, so I am going to tell you what my favorite found footage film of all time is. I would like to mention that I have not yet seen The Blair Witch Project, [Rec], or Cloverfield. Therefore, my favorite cannot be either one of those. My favorite is

Chronicle

           Chronicle came out very recently (February 3, 2012) and many people say that it is one of the best found footage movies of all time. I think it is a really good movie. It has some really cool stuff with all of these powers that these guys get and all of it is introduced very slowly and it works in almost the best way it can work. The final showdown is very cool at the cool, too. It also has character development for the main character. We get a bit of a back story and there is a great reason that all of this is being filmed. I was sold to it as soon as it was said. We have really good writing and good acting here. These people seem like they are in high school and that this is what they would do if they get these powers. The dialogue being them is really good and they seem like they are in high school. The main premise also works for this film. This film has good shots and there is also a reason behind it. Since most found footage movies have “shaky cam” and people do not like that, the shots really work here. There is only one plus to making a found footage movie: if done right, it can seem a bit real. This one is done right. There are scenes in which a character is being abused and it seems a bit real. Therefore, it is hard to watch. And I also went for the main character; therefore, there was some intensity.

            All of these reasons are why Chronicle is my favorite found footage movie. It is a really good movie and I hope we get more found footage movies like it.

"Lone Survivor" Lead Up: Best War Movie & Worst Mark Wahlberg Performance

            

            Lone Survivor will be hitting theaters this weekend, so as a lead up to it, I will be saying my favorite war film of all time and my favorite performance/film given by the primary star of the film, Mark Wahlberg. I will start with my choice of Mark Wahlberg’s worst performance to get that out of the way.

Worst Mark Wahlberg Performance: The Happening

            The Happening is not only the film in which Mark Wahlberg gives the worst performance of his career so far, but it is also the worst movie Mark Wahlberg has ever been in, in my opinion. It is an awful film that I will not discuss. I will only discuss Wahlberg’s performance. His performance is horrible, but it is not his fault. Every actor in that movie is horrible. It is the director’s fault. It is M. Night Shyamalan’s fault. He apparently has lost his sense of how to work with actors by now. I have no idea what he tells them to do, but he is able to get the worst performance possible out of them. Though, it is not only his working with the actors that is the problem, the script leaves nothing for the actors to work off of. Every line is absolutely horrible, so the acting has a huge possibly to already be at least bad, but Shyamalan’s loss of sense while filmmaking has made Mark Wahlberg’s, and every else’s in this film, performance as terrible as they can be.

Best War Movie: Saving Private Ryan

            Saving Private Ryan is one of Steven Spielberg’s masterpieces. It is an excellent movie with beautifully crafted action scenes that hit stop-on in every aspect for the sequences to be some of the best of all time. There is not one flaw in the crafting of these sequences. Everything is perfect to make the sequences as realistic and as intense as possible. Though, the action is not the only amazing thing in this film. It illustrates the moral dilemmas of war and all of the moral complexities of war, which is due to the excellent acting and excellent script. Every character is extremely well developed and they all mean something to the film. Tom Hanks and Matt Damon give excellent performance as their characters and so do all of the supporting roles. Not once in the 169 minute running time the film ever get boring or dull. This would be in the list of my top ten favorite movies of all time.

"Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones" Movie Review

           




            Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones is a spin off of the Paranormal Activity Franchise that is written and direction by Christopher Landon (Writer, Paranormal Activity 4, Paranormal Activity 3, Paranormal Activity 2) and stars nobody. It is about a guy, name Jesse, who, with his friends, Hector and Marisol, starts to find out, after he goes into places he should not have gone to, that he has been “marked” by some supernatural witch thing and weird things are happening to him.

            

            This installment of the franchise is an enjoyable film, but it is because every scene is compressed down to the bare minimum of content that the scene could have. The editors have not learned from their mistakes. They use even more constant jump cuts to make a scene take up the least amount of time it possibly can, while still giving us what we need to know. Though, some scenes go on way too long and do not add anything to the scene. That is not the only good thing that turns out to be a flaw. There is one other: the film is humorous, but that element is used to keep the audience entertained and to try to keep the audience sidetracked from the fact that they are watching a horror movie so they will not know when a scare is coming up, but it does not work. Some of the humor itself does not work, and most of it is characters doing stupid things.

            I only have three pros about the film that do not have a bad side. The film has some good tension that kept me a bit tense and it did have one or two legitimately creepy moments. My biggest pro with the film is it expands the mythology a bit to make it a bit better. Those are the only truly good things I have to say about the film.

            This film has mass amounts of silliness that are incredibly ridiculous, do not work for anything, and I did not buy into them. The ending itself was incredibly ridiculous and goes way, way too far than it needed to. Several of the scares were also ridiculous and had the audience laughing. They would be some of the cheapest jump scares a film could possibly have. Speaking of the scares, there are on new scares added to the franchise. They are all exactly the same as the scares in the previous installments in this franchise. Therefore, they are all incredibly predictable, and every single one of them is a jump scare. Maybe one or two of them are true scares while the rest are just jump scares. They are jump scares that barely even made me jump. This film is also not disturbing one bit. I have been off my game with horror films recently and have found things creepy that I did not find creepy at all in the past when I had a huge horror tolerance. But with this film, I was not bothered one bit.

            This film not only uses the same scares from earlier installments of the franchise, it also copies off of other films. For example, it is incredibly derivative of Insidious: Chapter 2, while doing everything in a much worse way than done in that film. For example, it tried some of the same type of humor that was used in Insidious: Chapter 2 and it does one other thing, which I will not spoil, copied directly from Insidious: Chapter 2 terribly. It also copies off Chronicle a bit with some elements of the story.

            We have some of the stupidest characters in horror movie history here. They do everything in the stupidest way possible to try to get tension out of us, but it does not work. They also do not do, or think, logical things. That does not even go along with the fact that they are incredibly dumb. They just do not use their heads at all. And we only get one scene of character development in this film. The rest of the first half is characters doing stupid things for our entertainment, which does not add anything new to the characters, and just a few scares. There are not even that many scares in this film. All the filmmakers try to do is throw random things at the audience for entertainment that does not work and they throw a few jump scares on the screen.

            This is a problem in most found footage films, but it is still a problem in this one. Why are these idiots still filming this? There is no reason at all to why these things are being filmed. Our one reason to why anything is being filmed in the first place is: “Dad, this is a cool camera. Can I use it?” Another logical flaw is that the characters in the film notice things about the time that we do. They should notice everything first, not at the same time that we do. It is the camera is their eyes. One final flaw is that several scenes in the film seem isolated from the rest of the scenes. There is no recognition of those scenes in the future and they are just there to take up space in the running time because they add nothing to the film.

This is a bad film that is bringing the Paranormal Activity franchise even lower into the ground.

            Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones adds no new scares to the franchise, is incredibly ridiculous all-around, copies off other films, barely even gives us any scares, and is not disturbing in any way.

Most Anticipated Movies of January 2014

          

            It is time for my list of my most anticipated movies of January 2014. But because this is January, there is only one movie that I am truly slightly looking forward to, other than films that opened in select cities in December and are opening nationwide in January which I did not include in this list. Anyway, I have more than just that one film in this list, but I am not looking forward to them. I put them there because they may be enjoyable in some way.

January 3^rd

Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones

            Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones is the spinoff of the Paranormal Activity franchise, that made a giant regression with Paranormal Activity 4. I am expecting nothing from this film. I put it on here because I really like horror movies and found footage movies can be good or interesting sometimes. I like Paranormal Activity and Paranormal Activity 3, also. It also looks like it could be slightly creepy from the trailers. I will be seeing this film and hopefully it is good.

January 10^th

The Legend of Hercules

            The Legend of Hercules is a science fiction/fantasy film that looks awful from the trailers. There are always films like this that come out in January. The reason I put it on this list is because it could have some good effects and it could be enjoyable, or so bad that it is good, or I could enjoy how terrible it is. Those are the only reasons why I put it on this list.

January 17^th

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

            Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit is the one film I have on this list that actually looks good. It was meant to come out in December 2013, but ended up being moved back a month. I have no idea how a film goes from a release date in December to a release date in January. Though, it looks like it could be good from the trailers and it could be the only good film in January of 2014.

Devil’s Due

            Devil’s Due looks like a terrible, terrible found-footage horror film from its trailer. It also has dumbest premise a horror movie could possibly have. In general, even without the trailer, I can tell that it will be awful. It looks the worst of all of the films coming out in January. I put it on this list because it could end up being a fun time at the theater and I like horror movies, and making fun of horrible horror movies. I have no doubt that this will be one and I am pretty sure that I will enjoy sitting through this awful movie.

January 24^th

I, Frankenstein

            I, Frankenstein looks like a truly terrible science fiction/fantasy film from its trailers and it has a ridiculous premise. Though, it looks like it could be slightly fun from the trailer and I think it may have some good effects. I put this film on the list for, essentially, the same reasons I put The Legend of Hercules on this list. It could be fun, or at least I may enjoy its awfulness, or it may be so bad that it is good.

Most Anticipated Movies of 2014

            

            It is January 1, 2014, and it is time to tell you guys what movies I am looking forward to this year. These are not movies that I watched the trailer to and said “Eh, I guess it looks good.” These are movies that I thought looked really good from the trailer or I was looking forward to before the trailer was even out. Though, there is one film that I would like to mention first that I am not actually looking forward to, but I think I need to notice it in this blog.

Jupiter Ascending

            Jupiter Ascending is a science fiction film by the Wachowski brothers. Films by them I have seen include The Matrix Trilogy and Cloud Atlas. I loved The Matrix, but did not care for its sequels and was on the side that loved Cloud Atlas. In this trailer, we see its central plot and I think that it is a good plot, but it looks like it could have too much action and not enough science fiction. One of the parts I liked about Cloud Atlas the least were the action scenes. I wanted more drama and science fiction. Here, it looks like the Wachowski brothers are trying to make a better version of Cloud Atlas, but I think it has some potential to be bad, even though it looks like it will be a great-looking film.

Now it is time to get to my real list.

April 4^th – Captain America: The Winter Soldier

            Captain America: The Winter Soldier is another Marvel superhero film. Therefore, I kind of have to see it. Though, it actually looks good from its trailer. It not only looks like it has a good story and great action, but it also has a bit of a political message in the trailer, and we might possibly get some more character development on Captain America and maybe even some more on Nick Fury. The villain also looks really good and this film’s trailer really surprised me.

April 16^th – Transcendence

            Transcendence looks good from the trailer. Although it is probably my least anticipated movie on this list, I am still looking forward to it. The trailer gives it a good science fiction story that I think is fairly original. It has good actors in it, and that could help. It also looks like it will have good action from the trailer, and with producer Christopher Nolan, I think it will be good looking. And Christopher Nolan is involved, which is always a plus.

May 2^nd – The Amazing Spider-Man 2

            The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is also a Marvel superhero film. Therefore, I must also see this one. Although this first trailer was not promising, I am sure the film will have high production values to make up for some script issues that the film is looking to have from the trailer. Though, the trailer does have good elements. The action sequences look very cool and the acting looks really good for the most part. It did like this film’s predecessor, and I am also interested in what Marvel is going to do with this one.

May 16^th – Godzilla (2014)

            Godzilla (2014) is the reboot of the other American Godzilla film, which came out in 1998. Reboots will happen no matter what, but some of them are good. Many people, and I, too, agree that the best older films to remake are ones that were not that popular or were really bad. I have not seen Godzilla (1998), but I have heard that it is a really bad film. On to this film, it looks fantastic from the teaser trailer. The teaser does its job well in showing just enough to keep viewers in anticipation for the film. It looks dark and it looks awesome.

May 23^rd – X-Men: Days of Future Past

            

            X-Men: Days of Future Past is the sequel to the X-Men Trilogy and The Wolverine, which I was a big fan of. This is also another Marvel superhero film. Therefore, I have to see it. Though, it looks good from the trailer and has a good plot along with it. The after-credits scene of The Wolverine was very cool and set up an atmosphere for this film. This film also has a huge cast, which will come in handy.

June 6^th – Edge of Tomorrow

            Edge of Tomorrow is a science fiction/action film that I saw a trailer for on the big screen and I immediately thought that it looked awesome. I really like the story that is introduced through this trailer and it looks like it will also have some good action. Though, the main reason I am anticipating it is because of the story. It is such an original and cool science fiction story that could cause for some really creative scenes. This film is based on a novel, “All You Need Is Kill”, but this may make a good transition for novel to the big screen.

June 13^th – 22 Jump Street

            22 Jump Street, the sequel to 21 Jump Street has huge potential to be really bad. That is why I am still looking forward to it, but it is one of my least anticipated movies on this list. Form the trailer, it looks like it could have some good laughs and we have the same actors back to play their roles again. The main reason this film is on this list is because I liked 21 Jump Street and a sequel may possibly be good.

July 11^th – Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

            Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is one of my most anticipated movies of this year, and for two reasons. I was a big fan of Rise of the Planet of the Apes (this film’s predecessor) and I thought even stand-alone (not being a prequel of Planet of the Apes) it was a really good movie. So I was automatically anticipating its sequel. Though, this film looks fantastic from the teaser trailer. The teaser trailer was an excellent start to the marketing campaign and it showed just enough for fans to freak out and go crazy about the film. I hope the next trailers will still be good, and I hope the film will be good, because I am really anticipating it.

August 1^st – Guardians of the Galaxy

            Guardians of the Galaxy is yet another Marvel superhero film; therefore I have to see it. I am sure there will be high production values and it will be treated with care. I am pretty sure Marvel got an at-least-alright director and good actors to be in the film. The plot of the film makes it look cool. It also could be a cool sequel of all these Avengers Marvel movies.

November 7^th – Interstellar

            Interstellar is my most anticipated film of the year, solely because of Christopher Nolan. It also looks like it has some good actors involved with it, and the story is really, really cool, but the primary reason I want to see it is because it is directed and half-written by Christopher Nolan. The teaser trailer does not give much at all, but it is keeping me anticipating this film. It could be really awesome and I am almost sure it will be at least very good.

December 17 – The Hobbit: There and Back Again

            The Hobbit: There are Back Again is the concluding film in The Hobbit Trilogy. I was a huge fan of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, not so much on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, but I was also a really big fan of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. As a Middle Earth fan, no matter what I will want to see this film. But after The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, I am ready for something big. In my opinion, the best film of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy was the third film, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, and that could be the case here.