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Reviews
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
A mixed soup
I was so looking forward to this new episode of Indiana, I just love the old trilogy and seeing all the big names coming together for a new installment really set my hopes up.
Was it any good? I left with mixed feelings after seeing it...
Good: Harrison Ford. If one thing worked it was him, I mean sure he is older, but still I found him to be completely believable as the man in the hat. To bad he didn't get much screen time on his own.
LaBeuf was also OK as the young support cast, although I feel his introduction felt a bit to rushed.
Overall the first part of the movie was good, not to much (visible) cg, and some funny stunts.
Bad: Well apart from the Nuclear Bomb scene (what the hell was that about??), the first half was pretty good, but the second...man where to begin...Firstly I'm not a huge fan of excessive use of cg, sure you can get some amazing scenes...but something is lost from the 'good old ways'.
The old indiana movies were all about the dirty gritty hand-to-hand action. There were explosions and some crazy stunt, of course, but it never got to over-the-top (well apart from Temple of Doom maybe, but I consider that to be the weakest of the old movies). Here it quickly descends into the standard cg generated spectacle I feared it would be. The whole jungle scene was just laughable...and the aliens...I mean come on, Lucas couldn't have come up with a better story than that, in 20 years??
Oh well time to stop ranting, I give this movie a 5/10 because it is Indy, but if they ever make a 5th installment (and they most certainly will) I really hope they get their act together and do things right.
Guess I'll have to put my trust in Batman now...
The Mist (2007)
Everything I hoped for.
I'm a big Stephen King fan and have read most of his works. Yes I do agree not all his stuff are great, and he tend to repeat his themes quite often. 'The Mist' is based on one of his short stories that I happen to like a lot. The first time I read it I immediately started to wonder what it would look like as a movie. The problem is few Stephen King stories have adapted well to the screen, especially the ones when the man himself acted as director. Let's face it, King should stick to writing...
Clearly, by judging from his previous King adapt-ions, Frank Darabont is a man who knows his stuff and how to transfer the mood and tension from Kings writing to the cinema.
The Mist is dark, foreboding and everything the short story is. It was exactly like how I imagined it. I mean almost every single detail was there. Sure he took some liberties with the script, but overall it stays very true to the original story, well apart from the ending. I wont really say anything about that, but I guess you will either love it or hate it.
Overall Frank Darabont delivers again with his first adaption of a horror tale. As someone said earlier, he should be the only one allowed to work with Kings stories, and I really hope he keep doing so.
Noroi (2005)
One of the best horror movies I've seen yet...
Never posted anything here before, but after watching Noroi I just felt that I had to write down my thoughts about it.
Firstly do not compare this to Blair Witch, this movie deserves far better than that! Simply put, Noroi is (probably) one of the best horror movies I have ever seen (and I have seen a lot!).
I really liked how the movie presents itself not as a standard horror flick, but as a documentary filmed by a reporter (i think?) named Kobayashi and his cameraman. Without spoiling to much about the plot, I can say it that it starts with Kobayashi doing research on a series of seemingly unrelated events, that turns out to be connected to something far more darker and sinister.
While the story might not be that original in itself, what really hooked me with Noroi was the incredibly eerie atmosphere. If you're looking for cheap scares and seat-jumping scenes this movie might not be for you. This movie is all about the mood it presents, with haunting images and a general feeling of foreboding suspense. The documentary style filming just makes it farm more believable.
This is also helped a lot by the acting which is superb, although not perfect for the general part of the movie! Far better than in most other movies in this type of genre.
Well enough ranting from me, I highly recommend Noroi to everyone, it is suspenseful, creepy, well acted and the first movie that has scared me in ages.