Tag Archives: 5 second review

May 15 2014

Mel’s 5 Second Review: World War Z

World War Z
(2013) Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, Daniella Kertesz, Fana Mokoena, James Badge Dale, Ludi Boeken, Peter Capaldi, Pierfrancesco Favino, Ruth Negga, Abigail Hargrove and Fabrizio Zacharee Guido

WorldWarZ

Hollywood blockbuster or not, I truly enjoyed this film. It was fast paced, never dull (despite it’s 2 hour running time) and well acted. Zombie films aren’t generally my favorite genre, but since this (much like 2010’s The Crazies) isn’t “really” a zombie film, I guess that explains it. I also haven’t read the book yet (my to-read list is even longer than my to-watch list, if that’s even possible…), so I can’t comment on how different the film and book are. A lot of people seem to be unhappy with how it translated to the screen, that it was hardly even the same story, but since I went into it completely ignorant, maybe I enjoyed it more than I would have if I’d read the book? I don’t know. All I know is that much enjoyment was had on my part, and that’s the whole point of a film right, right? It gets a solid 9/10 from me.

This film is currently streaming on Netflix. Enjoy!

M.

ps – There seems to be more than one version of the film floating around. The copy I, err, “acquired” was not the same copy that was on the dvd my mother bought. My copy seemed to have a few extra scenes in it.

May 12 2014

Mel’s 5 Second Review: The Iceman

The Iceman
(2013) Michael Shannon, Winona Ryder, Chris Evans, Ray Liotta, David Schwimmer, John Ventimiglia, James Franco, Stephen Dorff, Robert Davi, McKaley Miller, Danny A Abeckaser and Megan Sherrill

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Amazing performances saved this films’ stars. Without it, I may have had to give it a lower rating, because in some places, the tempo slowed down to almost a crawl. If the performances hadn’t been as good as they were, I probably would have gotten too bored sometime during the film, and turned it off. But Michael Shannon is such a strong actor that he was able, along with Winona Ryder, to keep even the dullest parts of the film above water. 7/10

This film is currently on Netflix, and is worth a look despite it’s slow pace. Enjoy! 

 

M.

Apr 30 2014

Mel’s 5 Second Review: Dead Silence

Dead Silence
(2006) Ryan Kwanten, Donnie Wahlberg, Amber Valletta, Michael Fairman, Joan Heney, Judith Roberts, Bob Gunton and Julian Richings

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I bought this movie in the bargain bin for 5$. I didn’t actually think I’d enjoy it, seeing as how I’m terrified of dolls like this. However, it’s a surprisingly good movie. Made by the team who brought us Saw, Insidious, and The Conjuring, I should have known it would be scary. Scarier even than the dolls was the old woman. I couldn’t sleep that whole night until the sun came up. A sign of a job well done. A solid 7.5/10.

This film is currently streaming on Netflix. Enjoy 🙂

 

M.

Apr 29 2014

Mel’s 5 Second Review: Earth Girls Are Easy

Earth Girls Are Easy
(1989) Geena Davis, Jeff Goldblum, Julie Brown, Jim Carrey, Damon Wayans, Charles Rocket, Michael McKean, Angelyne, June C Ellis, Rick Overton and Stacey Travis

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So silly, so fluffy, so utterly ridiculous. And yet I absolutely love it. It always makes me laugh when I see reviews of this film that say things like “what the hell is this ridiculous thing??” because they’ve missed the entire point of the film. It’s SUPPOSED to be ridiculous. That was the point. It’s obvious while watching it (to anyone with half a brain, anyways) that this film isn’t meant to be taken seriously. It’s a musical about horny, furry aliens who crash land in a ditzy valley-girl’s pool, and she shows them around town and stuff. Just hearing that synopsis should be enough to tell you that it’s not a serious film. But it’s great fun. Not all the songs are good (I always skip “Cause I’m a Blonde“), but there aren’t that many, most of the dialogue is spoken, so I guess it’s not a true musical, hehe. Best part of the film? When Jeff Goldblum steps out of the machine at the hair salon (after having a full body shave). Hubba hubba… Great fun, it gets a solid 8/10.

This film is currently streaming on Netflix. If you haven’t seen it and are looking for a good laugh, I reccomend it 🙂

 

M.

Apr 27 2014

Mel’s 5 Second Review: Absentia

Absentia
(2011) Katie Parker, Courtney Bell, Dave Levine, Morgan Peter Brown, Justin Gordon, James Flanagan, Scott Graham and Doug Jones

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This film was surprisingly good, despite its obvious independent-film-ness. I was expecting crappy acting and crappy cinematography, but the story looked really interesting, and that’s usually enough for me (to a certain point of course. Some actors are so bad that no amount of good story can save the film, hehe). But I’m happy to report that the film exceeded my expectations. It wasn’t a masterpiece, and it did get a little laggy in a part or two, but on the whole it was a well-acted, well-shot very interesting story. The only negative thing I might have to say about it is that I wish there were more explanation as to what’s really going on. I loved the vagueness of what was going on at first, but eventually I was expecting an explanation for what the thing was, not just the “this is what it’s called” segment we got, which just felt slapped on and rushed, almost as if the writers themselves couldn’t figure out what was going on, and just decided to not include a reason in the story. But, despite all that, it still gets a solid score 8/10. Well done.

The film is currently on Netflix. Enjoy! 🙂

 

M.

Apr 24 2014

Mel’s 5 Second Review: Walking with Dinosaurs

Walking with Dinosaurs
(2013) John Leguizamo, Justin Long, Tiya Sircar, Skyler Stone, Charlie Rowe, Angourie Rice and Karl Urban

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I read that the makers of the film had originally intended for it to be like the show, animation with a voice-over telling the story of how the dinos lived, but they decided that it would be a better idea to make it like a cartoon, and have the dinos talking. It wasn’t a good idea. I absolutely love the show, and while the animation of the film is beautiful, the product as a whole is lacking. I was expecting a real documentary film, like the shows were (Walking with Monsters, Dinosaurs, Beasts, Cavemen, in that order), and I was unfortunately sadly disappointed. The Disney-like story was cute, if a little over-long, and lost most of it’s steam coming into the 2nd half. My 4 year old son will probably like it, since he adores all things dinosaur, but I’d probably not reccomend it for adults, it may bore you. And if you’re a big fan of dinosaurs like me, it’ll disappoint because there’s hardly any real info in the film, it really is just a story. They could have replaced the dinosaurs with any other animal and it wouldn’t have changed the film one bit. I give it a 6/10, and really, that’s mostly for the animation.

This film is not on Netflix yet, but if you’re really interested in dinosaurs, I’d suggest watching the Walking with.. series instead (which, all 4 series’ combined, has 17 episodes, narrated by Kenneth Branagh), even though a lot of the info is now outdated, and the BBC’s newest dinosaur show, Planet Dinosaur, which has 6 episodes and is narrated by John Hurt. It’s awesome.

 

M.

Apr 20 2014

Mel’s 5 Second Review: The Frozen Ground

The Frozen Ground
(2013) Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, Vanessa Hudgens, Radha Mitchell, Kevin Dunn, Kurt Fuller, 50 Cent and Jodi Lyn O’Keefe

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Pretty decent serial killer flick, if a little drawn out. The acting is a little sketchy at times, even from John Cusack, surprisingly, he’s usually so good, but never down-right bad, not enough to turn me off to the film. The fact that’s it’s a true story ups the ick factor, and I’d previously read about the case in one of my serial killer books. I’d have probably liked it more if were someone other than Nicolas Cage who was the lead, he’s not exactly the best actor out there. Little Vanessa Hudgens was doing s better than him, but anyways… :-p My score? 7/10, there’s an extra point in there just for seeing John Cusack as a serial killer.

The film is not currently on Netflix, but is well worth a watch if you can get a hold of it.

 

M.

Apr 14 2014

Mel’s 5 Second Review: Sinister

Sinister
(2012) Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance, Fred Dalton Thompson, James Ransone, Michael Hall D’Addario, Clare Foley and Nick King

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If you haven’t watched this, I highly recommend you do. Right now. Just drop what you’re doing and watch it. It was really good. Well acted, well written, awesomely atmospheric. Us horror fans are blessed that an actor of Ethan Hawke’s caliber loves doing horror films. The story is simple enough: a true crime writer moves his family into a house where the previous occupants were savagely murdered, and wouldn’t you know it, strange things start happening. But before you write this off as “just another ghost story”, think again. Very creepy, I give it a solid 9/10.

This film is currently streaming on Netflix. Enjoy, and don’t turn out the lights!! hehe

 

M.

Apr 13 2014

Mel’s 5 Second Review: Monster

Monster
(2003) Charlize Theron, Christina Ricci, Bruce Dern, Scott Wilson, Lee Tergesen, Annie Corley, Bubba Baker and Pruitt Taylor Vince

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It’d be such a sweet love story if it wasn’t about a serial killer. And why on earth did they cast such beautiful actresses in the leads? Ok, they did a great job of making Charlize look ugly (although, even with the prosthetics and makeup, she’s still not as ugly as the real woman was, and that’s saying something), but Christina Ricci, even in that horrid haircut, is still gorgeous. The woman she’s portraying was over weight and mannish, not good looking at all. She’s also being played as a sweet, naive little girl (which she wasn’t), and Charlize played the killer as a sad, tragic figure instead of the monster she really was. 5.5/10, and that’s just for the stellar acting. I was actually pretty bored through most of the film.

This film is currently on Netflix. But if you’re interested in the real woman’s story, her A&E Bio and even her segment in season 2 of Investigation Discovery’s Deadly Women (also on Netflix) are more interesting (and more accurate) than this film. The following video is an interview with the real killer, one day before her execution. She’s the definition of “crazy bitch”.

 

M.

Apr 10 2014

Mel’s 5 Second Review: House at the End of the Street

House at the End of the Street
(2012) Jennifer Lawrence, Max Thieriot, Elizabeth Shue, Gil Bellows, Eva Link, Nolan Gerard Funk, Jordan Hayes and Allie MacDonald

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Pretty darn good. A little slow in some parts, but never so much that I got bored. Acting was top notch (especially from Jennifer Lawrence, what a rising star she is!) and the story was really good. I wasn’t surprised by the twist, unfortunately, because I already kind of knew what was going to happen (god, I hate spoilers… grrr!), but I enjoyed it nonetheless. A solid 8.5/10.

This is currently on Netflix. Enjoy!! 🙂

 

M.