Your Daily Dose of Jack: Bite-Sized reviews for each day of the week
Editorial April 12, 2019, Comments OffThe following is an editorial and does not represent the views or opinions of The Drury Mirror.
Throughout 2019 I’ve made it my mission to watch at least one film a day in order to broaden my horizons in the art of film making. I invite you to join me on this journey, as I both watch and share my thoughts, through bite sized reviews, on the vast array of films the world has to offer. My goal is to introduce you to a variety of films, some you have heard of, others you might not have, watching them throughout the weeks as I do from the comfort of your own home. Enjoy!
Scoring System
- Highly recommended
- Recommended
- Enjoyable enough
- Decent watch with friends
- Take a look if you’re bored
- Not recommended
“Final Destination 2”
“Final Destination 2” is a 2003 horror sequel directed by David R. Ellis that follows a group of teenagers who escape death after one of them has a premonition of their demise, before slowly being killed off by a mysterious force.
The film has a boring opening title sequence, with weird awkward pauses between people talking that seem to be missing some kind of music. “Final Destination 2” has a much less interesting opening scene than the first one but much more visceral which I appreciate, even if it goes way overboard with the explosions.
It has a nice bait and switch with the main cast of characters, but this meant that they all feel disconnected from one another rather than the group from the first film where they were all friends or at least knew each other.
The overall quality of film making is slightly better, with average acting that is better than the first but nothing special, however, there are certain times where the actors will over act and it is terrible. This is the same with the camerawork as well, with some solid shots but is overall still pretty boring, with lots of shot reverse shots that only serve to highlight the awkward dialogue.
This sums up “Final Destination 2” pretty well, where the technical aspects of the film are slightly improved, but the story aspects aren’t, with a far less interesting story that tries to be more complicated than it has any right to be, which ended up just dulling my enjoyment of it.
Decent watch with friends.
“Little Miss Sunshine”
“Little Miss Sunshine” is a 2006 comedy drama directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris and follows a dysfunctional family who travels to California for the youngest daughter to compete in a beauty pageant.
The film has a nice contrast between humour and serious subject matter, managing to balance the two so that it never seems unrealistic. The acting is great, with everyone in the film giving a great performance that I couldn’t fault, and it was nice to see Steve Carrel in a more serious role which he does a great job with.
The script is also really good and the intro really nicely introduces all of the characters and their motivations in a nice and subtle way. It’s a nice simple road trip plot that allows for some really nice character development, as well some interesting events along the way that all culminates to a heart-warming conclusion.
The characters are all nice and complex which I appreciate, and you really start to care about them throughout the film, even if some of them are harder to care about than others. It also has some really nice cinematography throughout as well, with lots of symbolism in shots, as well as always having a bright colour in every scene to highlight how there is always a little bit of hope in every situation.
Overall “Little Miss Sunshine” is a heart-warming journey, with great writing and interesting characters, that were made even more compelling by the great performances.
Highly recommended.
“A History of Violence”
“A History of Violence” is a 2005 crime drama directed by David Cronenberg and follows a man who is stalked by mobsters after killing two to stop them from robbing his restaurant.
The cinematography is great, with lots of nice long shots and really good smooth camera movements, which never takes you out of the film when watching. However, the acting is really bad throughout, with the child actor being among the worst I have ever seen, making me laugh every time she spoke.
At least she has the excuse of being a child, whereas the rest of the cast don’t, with many of the side characters being especially awful, but even the main family are terrible. It constantly keeps the film feeling very amateur, and I never felt invested in the family’s situation because I was never convinced by their performances.
Ed Harris as the villain is average, not anything great but at least I didn’t roll my eyes every time he talked. In fact, most of the villains aren’t bad, but they only get around half an hour of screen time before they are killed off and replaced by another which just made the plot feel very fractured.
The writing also isn’t good, which isn’t helped by the acting but doesn’t do itself any favours, with lots of unnatural sounding dialogue with lines that sound incredibly stupid. The film has a very slow pace that kept me bored throughout, with the start being especially slow and it feels like it drags on forever before anything of substance happens. As well as that there are many scenes that don’t really serve a purpose and only drag down the pace of the film.
However, the blood and practical effects look great, and are used sparingly to enhance the effect, which adds a nice sense of realism to it, even if the sound effects that go along with them sound pretty bad.
Overall “A History of Violence” is a film plagued by bad writing, awful acting and a slow pace, with the only thing that stopped me from fully hating it was the good cinematography and the great practical effects.
Take a look if you’re bored.
“Kung Fu Hustle”
“Kung Fu Hustle” is a 2004 action comedy film directed by Stephan Chow that follows a neighbourhood that is terrorised by a gang, only being defended by a series of powerful martial artists.
The film is pretty self-aware at how ludicrous it is, with over the top fight scenes and characters, with gangs and locations that have stupid names to make you laugh. Along with the over the top fight scenes comes a nice amount of slapstick comedy, that never overshadows how good the action actually is, using nice long takes to allow you to appreciate the fighting going on.
“Kung Fu Hustle” has great comedy overall, with funny one liners, amusing scenarios and just a general sense of hilarity, using every opportunity it can for some kind of joke and due to the sheer amount of them there are a decent amount that aren’t funny and it can be too comical for its own good, using cartoonish sound effects that just aren’t funny.
However, when the humour does hit it is absolutely hilarious and there are plenty of scenes that had me laughing out loud. This unrelenting stupidity and slapstick can sometimes get a bit much and I sometimes grew tired of it and it makes the whole plot seem like a series of events rather than an overarching plot.
Overall even though “Kung Fu Hustle” has hilarious parts to it, and although the sheer amount of jokes starts to get a much, my overall enjoyment wasn’t affected.
Recommended.
“Godzilla (1998)”
“Godzilla” is a 1998 action film directed by Roland Emmerich and follows a scientist who aids the military to try and stop the titular Godzilla.
The writing is pretty basic and doesn’t sound particularly good, with a lot of exposition that isn’t subtle at all, sounding very obnoxious a lot of the time. The acting isn’t great, especially Matthew Broderick, who tends to over act a lot and it just looks stupid, as do quite a few other actors and it started to get on my nerves.
There are quite a lot of abrupt cuts that are very jarring to watch and don’t look great, always looking like mistakes rather than for effect. The CGI at times looks alright, but at other times looks awful and I’m not a fan of the design of Godzilla, looks too much like a dinosaur and too different from the original design for my liking.
However, the second half destroys any good will the first half built up, turning into a bad “Jurassic Park”, and it easily could have ended halfway through the film and nothing of substance would have been lost. The film just in general drags on far too long as well, and I was almost constantly bored throughout, wishing for it to be over near the end.
Overall “Godzilla” starts off as a fairly run of the mill monster movie, but by the end was a frustrating mess that I couldn’t wait to be over.
Take a look if you’re bored.
“American History X”
“American History X” is a 1998 drama directed by Tony Kaye that follows reformed neo-Nazi after he gets out of prison, as he tries to get out of the lifestyle that put him in there and prevent his brother from joining it.
The film has a fantastic opening scene that perfectly sets up the tone of the film, using a black and write tone to nicely showcase the film’s racial themes, and just how different the protagonist acted before prison.
The camera work is quite a mixed bag, at times showcasing a variety of really great artistic shots that look fantastic, perfectly showcasing the mood of the characters and the tone of the scene, whilst at others being so close up that it’s hard to see what’s on screen, as well as having a decent amount of hand held shots I that wasn’t a fan of.
“American History X” has some really great writing, with dialogue that always sounds naturally and keeps you engaged, that is delivered with so much hate when talking about other races that it is honestly quite terrifying.
Edward Norton is fantastic, and is always convincing, and I found his character arc extremely interesting throughout and the contrast between him in the past and present was great, and I was always curious to see what would cause that change in character.
Due to the subject matter there are a few scenes that are incredibly hard to watch but never felt unnecessary, and they always had meaning, making sure to use them sparingly to increase the impact of them to highlight how evil some of the acts are.
Overall “American History X” is an extremely powerful film, providing a highly engaging but deeply personal narrative that delves into the inner workings of a group that you don’t often see in film, with fantastic performances, nice camera angles and a great script, it doesn’t take much to recommended.
Highly recommended.
“Reservoir Dogs”
“Reservoir Dogs” is a 1992 crime drama following a number of bank robbers as they try to work out who the rat is in their group after a bank robbery gone wrong.
The film has fantastic writing that always sounds great, funny at times whilst contrasting with the violence that is happening on screen which I love. The music will also do this at times, which only complements this contrast, with the “Stuck in The Middle with You” scene being a particular standout.
“Reservoir Dogs” has a great opening scene, with nice long takes that are also often used throughout the entire film, that allow you to naturally take in the personalities of all the characters, establishing what part each will play throughout the film. All of the acting is great, with everyone giving convincing performances that keep you immersed in the mystery of the film.
The plot is extremely intriguing and kept me engaged throughout, keeping me guessing for the whole film which was great. I love how you don’t see the heist when it happens, only hearing about it from other characters which only highlights how great the writing is.
The non-linear nature of the films plot is great, and is perfectly paced to give you just enough information to keep you guessing which only complemented the scenes happening in the present day.
Overall “Reservoir Dogs” is a film that constantly keeps you guessing as you try to work out its fantastic plot, only complemented by the flawless writing and great acting.
Highly recommended.
Written by: Jack Goodman
Author
