Normanholic Reviews

American Horror Story (2011– )

Fearless

[10/10 · 5 February 2014]

When I say fearless, I mean it. This show takes so many risks, it doesn't hold back it's full potential in case someone is "too disturbed" by it. It doesn't play by the rules of most horror shows/movies. It's it's own animal, and it's crazy. If you watch the show and miss all of the symbolism, character arcs and development, you'd be watching 41 minutes of gore and 50 different story lines each week. But you're not, thanks to the amazingly twisted and brilliant writers. And no, this isn't the most meaningful and symbolic show out there, I think that title belongs to another show that I love, but I'm not gonna name it on here. But American Horror Story still brings in those elements quite nicely. I don't know how they bring in so many story lines and wrap them all up in the last 2 episodes. It takes very creative writing to do that, and that's what they do. Another unique and cool thing about American Horror Story is that it brings back some of the same actors season after season. All of them fantastic at adapting to their different roles and personality's. The power in their performances is one of the many things that make this show great. The characters are another great part of the show, they bring so many different personality's but you definitely get attached. And thanks to the clever writers, you have some of the best lines in TV history from your favorite American Horror Story characters. One of my personal favorite things about this show is the cinematography. I can't even describe how unique it is. One moment the camera will be totally still and another minute it's lopsided or upside down, but it fits with the theme of the show so nicely. Each season there is a song that you can identify the season with. The sound mixing for this show is great. I constantly listen to the soundtrack for all three seasons.

Watch it at your own risk, it's a crazy ride, but it's never let me down. Thanks for reading.

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

Wild

[10/10 · 14 January 2014]

To start off, this movie is crazy. Drugs, orgy's, more drugs, more orgy's, partying, strippers, language, incest & basically everything. That being said, it doesn't make it a bad movie at all. It's an incredible movie. The best part about it is that during the 180 minutes of it, you are never bored, not even for a second. Even when something crazy isn't going on, you can't stop watching. Your mind doesn't drift away wondering what time it is or when the movie will be over. I am pleasantly surprised that I never got bored, considering it's lengthy film. Great filmmaking is when you have your audience's attention the entire time. And boy, did this movie do that. The movie has a great ensemble, from Leonardo DiCaprio to Jon Bernthal, from Jonah Hill to Kyle Chandler. All amazing actors. They did an outstanding job, especially Leo. I can't tell you how much I'm rooting for him to get an Oscar for this. His performance is memorable, hilarious & crazy. I loved every second of it. This movie in a whole is just very well made. I've seen quite a few of the movie that have been up for awards this year, and this one has been my favorite so far. The film just shows you a lot of how Wall Street works, which is interesting. They explain a few things throughout the film about it, not much, but enough for you to understand what exactly is happening. It's not a confusing movie, which is nice. Also something interesting is that it's based off a true story. Yes, "based" doesn't mean this is completely accurate to what happened, Hollywood always adds a little extra to it, but if you want to learn more about the true story, I suggest you read elsewhere because I know nothing of it. This is getting tedious, so I will wrap it up here. The highlight of the movie is definitely the acting and the pure insanity of it all. The cinematography, editing, and all that jazz is good. I'm not blown away by it, but it was very good. PLEASE GO WATCH THIS MOVIE! You will NOT be disappointed!

Thank you for reading!

Saw (2004)

Horror movie with a moral

[9/10 · 2 August 2013]

Going into Saw, most people expect it to be a gory slasher flick, but coming out of Saw, people realize that it's a story with a meaning, a moral if you will. Saw is the story of two men trapped in an old rundown bathroom together, handcuffed (well, technically It's their feet) to pipes in the bathroom. As the story moves along we learn more and more about these two men and who put them there and why. This film is definitely one of my favorite horror movies. What makes this movie work so well is that it's not about the blood and the gore, (though it does have it's fair share of that), It's truly about the story, and a movie without a good story is no movie at all. Thankfully, this movie delivers with a powerful script. The script is amazing, Leigh Whannell took 9 months to write it and those 9 months paid off BIG TIME. The acting is also great. Leigh Whannell doing double duty by writing the script and being one of the leads. The editing is very quick due to lack of footage, but it works in my opinion. It doesn't look sloppy. The score is also wonderful. The main theme is brilliant. The entire song has an eerie feel and in a way you feel stressed out, which is a good thing! The climax of it is amazing and it fits so well with the ending of the movie. The pace of this film is great. You never get bored nor think that it is going too fast. It's going just right. The whole movie has a dark feel and an intensity that I love. It works so well with the story. Ohhh the story, I love the story, I love understanding the meanings and motives of the villain, and what he is trying to say through his actions. Most people take their life for granted, or wish they could die, but forced into these situations they are forced to make a choice, and all of them in the end want to live. And if you are of the lucky few who survive, you are given a new perspective on life. And not that I agree with what the villain is doing, because I don't condone that obviously, I just understand what he is doing and why. So all in all if you are expecting a slasher movie with no story look somewhere else, because you won't find it here. All that is here is a clever and extremely well done horror movie that you will think about for days. Oh, and the twist at the end will leave you speechless.

"Most people are so ungrateful to be alive, but not you, not any more..."

Thanks for reading!

The Last Stand (2013)

Entertaining and fun

[7/10 · 27 June 2013]

Even though this movie didn't seem to do very well at the box office and with critics, I surprisingly really liked it! It's a FUN flick. Going into this movie I really didn't know much about it, in fact, I didn't even know the plot! But as this movie went along, I really started to enjoy it more and more. The beginning is a bit slow in my opinion, but nothing unbearable. I like the plot, the acting was good, )(though it DID have it's rough patches), same thing for the script. The shoot-outs are fun to watch and well done. I didn't like the fight at the end though. I felt it was too choreographed and just, well, meh. I guess it needed something else other than a gun fight though. They had enough of that already. It had some funny moments too! The characters are likable, (with the exception of a few). Not a huge fan of the main character played by Schwarzeneeger, but maybe it's just his acting... This is a well rounded flick, though it may be lacking depth and doesn't make you think really, but it's not the type of movie that is supposed to do that. If I were to watch this movie again I would probably see more of the flaws, but watching it the first time I really just enjoyed it and wasn't particularly annoyed at anything. You'll probably forget about this movie in a couple of hours but you will enjoy watching it. Thank you for reading!

The Purge (I) (2013)

Set up for greatness but nosedives as it begins

[5/10 · 8 June 2013]

This movie was totally set up to be a iconic horror movie, the plot was a new idea, and not a stereotypical demon demon ghost ghost horror movie. The masks could have been some of the most recognized masks in horror history along with Michael Meyers, Ghostface, etc... You maybe could have seen people dressing up as characters from The Purge for Hallloween. But sadly, this movie wasn't well done enough for it to be in horror history. If they hadn't relied so much on jump scares, they could have legitimately scared people just by the horror that The Purge really is. If they would have made it more suspenseful it could have been great. If they would have focused on the feelings of rage that the characters had against other characters that made them want to kill each other, it could have been an amazing and thought provoking movie. But sadly, it falls short of being anything more than a summer horror flick. The Purge trailer really captured my interest. It had a very intriguing plot with actors and actresses that I like. However, only a few minutes into the movie I could tell it was going to go downhill from there. It all started with the characters. All of them were WEIRD! They had no depth and just came off as dumb and careless. I felt like Ethan Hawke's character was just narcissistic and obsessed with the fact that they had a nice home and lots of money. When his death rolled around, I truly didn't care. I had no feeling of sadness because they didn't write his character well enough that you were rooting for him and his family to live. Charlie was the most normal character, and I liked him. He seemed to be the only one with a sense of feeling, remorse, and what was right and wrong. Zoey was just a stereotypical dumb & ditzy teenage horror movie girl. Oblivious to what her boyfriend's intentions were when he snuck into her house to "talk" to her father. That part was SO predictable. I don't really know what to think about the mom, I didn't really like her, but I didn't think she was as bad as some of the other characters. Now let's talk about the stranger that wanted to kill the guy Charlie let into the house. Oh. My. Gosh. That was some terrible over-acting and terrible lines going on whenever he was on screen. And I'm not trying to be harsh, but it just wasn't good. OK, that's enough about the characters. Now for the script. The script had me shaking my head from the beginning of the movie to the end. It just wasn't written well. No backstory on any characters, and it didn't make you have any feelings toward them. And there were also a few scenes that the cinematography made me cringe. Sometimes it was way too close to their faces, sometimes I could barely tell what was going on. It wasn't all bad, but a few scenes were not shot good and I would have definitely changed some of the angles they shot. And the ending, oh my... The whole theater was laughing when Mary said "lets end this night in peace", or whatever she said. It was just plain stupid. It's almost like the writers ran out of idea's on how to end it and just said "OH WELL!" Even though this review sounds harsh, it wasn't an awful movie. It holds your attention throughout because you want to see what happens. And it didn't feel like it was dragging out the story. The masks were creepy and one of my favorite parts about the movie. It was an OK movie. I didn't hate it, but I did think it was pretty stupid at times. If you're interested in watching this, I'd say wait to rent it. Thank you for reading!

Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)

Family's will love it, critics will hate it

[6/10 · 22 April 2013]

To start off, I haven't seen this for over a month, so this review might be a little shaky. Oz the Great and Powerful has a cast of A-list actors, so you'd expect great acting, right? Well, I'm sorry to say, what you expected is not what you get. Franco as the starring role is just a disaster. The only scene of the film that I consider to have good acting from Franco is where he finds the china doll girl. Other than that his lines are delivered in a cheesy manner, especially his " I don't want to be a good man... I want to be a great one!" And I'm not trying to say Franco is a terrible actor or anything, it's just that this film did not suit him well. I've seen other roles of his and he's great! And you also can't blame all of it on the actors, you also have to blame the writers, but I'll talk about that later... Now for Kunis. WHAT HAPPENED?! Kunis is an amazing actress, her role in Black Swan is amazing and definitely testify's to her acting ability, but again, like Franco, this film did not suit her well. I believe she was overacting as the nice witch. It was just a poor job. It's a shame too, since she is such a good actress! I believe she did better as the evil witch, but not by much. The rest of the cast didn't do a terrible job. It just wasn't very good. Michelle Williams' role as Glinda was probably the best acting in this, but still not that great. Also something I hated about this film. The little black dude! I don't want to sound racist, 'cause I'm not. But that character was awful. I've seen similar characters in other movies and they worked SO MUCH better than this guy. I knew he was a character who you were supposed to enjoy and find him hilarious, but I just didn't. He felt so thrown in at the last minute and not given a lot of thought. The character just seemed awkward to me. But that's just my opinion. This film has an explosion of cheesy overdone lines of dialogue. It's a real shame because they could have made something marvelous. Instead, they hire crappy writers and hire actors who don't do well in children's movies. OK, I sound harsh, the writing wasn't AWFUL. It just had a lot of cheesy lines. OK, now onto the good stuff about this movie! The visuals! Oh, the visuals! It's like a feast to the eye. So beautiful it almost makes up from the acting and writing! The 3D is wonderful as- well. I say if you're going to see this movie, see it in 3D. You will NOT be disappointed by the 3D. I think this could receive an Oscar nomination for best CGI. Another good thing about this movie is the monkey and the china doll. Kinda sad that the animated characters are your favorite but I really liked the china doll. She had a sweet spirit. I really enjoyed the scenes with her.

Well, I guess that is all I have to say. Thank you for reading!

Coraline (2009)

Eerie and Beautiful

[10/10 · 20 March 2013]

I was eleven when this movie came out, I loved it, but getting older I have really come to appreciate the eeriness and beauty of it. This movie is definitely one of my favorites. I basically have all the words memorized. ;P Coraline and Nightmare Before Christmas are my two favorite stop-motion movies. This movie is has such a beautiful eeriness to it, it's hard to explain. Basically every adult I know has said this should be PG-13 just because of how creepy it is. Let's get into details then, shall we? The animation is beautifully done! The movements of all the characters is great and all the extra background stuff is great too. The voice actors do an amazing job at putting emotions into their characters voices and I applaud them for that. The visuals are stunning, especially in the garden scene, and the web one towards the end. The dialogue is great. I love that they really captured the essence of Coraline's age. They did good at writing how an eleven year old would act in this situation. The music is STUNNING and probably one of the best parts of the movie. It has a child-like quality but was dark and creepy at times, which is the perfect blend for this movie. And it was placed at the right moments. Props to Bruno Corlais for that. It's hard to explain how amazing this movie is, but I gave it a shot. I recommend this for anyone who wants to see a movie done right. It truly is beautiful. Thank you for reading! <3

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (2013)

The Not So Incredible Burt Wonderstone

[6/10 · 20 March 2013]

In all honesty, this film isn't that bad, it's just that I personally did not love it. It had some funny moments, especially the last 15 minutes or so. But the rest of it wasn't all that funny to me. The best part of this film was definitely Olivia Wilde, her character was likable and my favorite, unlike Steve Carrel's character, who is just a jerk in my opinion. Alan Arkin gave a good performance and I liked his character too. This movie as a whole, really isn't the best, but it has some shining moments.

So all in all, I say this is a wait 'til it comes out on DVD type of movie. Not bad, but not the best. 5.7 out of 10.

Jack the Giant Slayer (2013)

Surprisingly good!

[7/10 · 7 March 2013]

When I first saw the previews for this movie I went: "Oh gosh, another horrible movie!" And I thought I was going to HATE it. So needless to say, I wasn't expecting much when going to see this movie, but I was pleasantly surprised!

Let's talk about the flaws first.

The number one problem with this movie is that it got SO childish at times, especially for being a PG-13 movie. I remember a scene where one of the giants picks his nose then eats the booger. *Gag* And there was farting and what not but that is basically the lowest point of this film. Another flaw is the leader giant has two heads and one is like, retarded, it was stupid, odd, made no sense and not needed for the film. Another thing I hated was Roderick's sidekick. He was overplayed and stupid. Annoying throughout.

Now for the high points!

The thing that really makes this movie work are the characters. They are all very likable! I loved all of the good guys. The chemistry between the two leads is great and I enjoyed everyone's acting. The direction for the film is awesome because it's just supposed to be a fun movie and it delivers that! The CGI is pretty good. I didn't think the 3D was worthwhile but it wasn't bad. It's very entertaining and fun! I really liked this movie!

All in all I had a really enjoyable time watching this! It's meant to just make you forget everything and have fun and it succeeds in that. A fun flick, 7 out of 10. You'll be pleasantly surprised. It has been my favorite movie of 2013 so far.

Revolution (2012–2014)

Great plot, horrible execution.

[3/10 · 26 February 2013]

To start off, I was going to give this a six, but I thought that was being a little too generous... Revolution is a show with an amazing plot, I was SO excited for this when I saw the trailers! I was also a little nervous, it's another action-drama that NBC has been pumping out for years, always getting cancelled within the first 5 episodes. But I went ahead and watched it anyway. In fact, I watched the whole first season... Well, why the heck did I do that?! This show, as I said before, has a great plot, but it lacks SO MUCH in acting, sets, scrip, characters and basically everything. First off, the main character, in my opinion, isn't likable. She has only annoyed me throughout the season. Her brother, who gets taken by the Militia (in the first episode, I believe), is a whiny wimp. But that's just my opinion of him. I know he has asthma, but still, he just seems so wimpy and pathetic. Whenever a character died in the show, I really didn't care. They writers aren't good at making you care about the characters and feel for them and want them to survive! If your audience doesn't care about the characters, you basically don't have a show. The sets are just awful, obviously green screen, poorly build sets and such. To sum this show up, it's just a mess with characters you don't like, acting that isn't very good and sets that make you cringe. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone. I wish it had been cancelled. I'll probably think of more things to say later, oh well. This is all I have to say for now. Thank you for reading!