Why? He's easily the least expensive at the moment out of all of them.
Movie Reviews 2.0
- Thread starter Dresden
- Start date
Why? He's easily the least expensive at the moment out of all of them.
That's an assumption based on how big some of them were.
WhiningKhan
Regular
Yeah, I believe that Stathams salary was much higher than anyone else's, but I'm a bit puzzled how that has happened - I've missed how he became such a big star. His action stunts were cool indeed, but it somehow felt like they had to include one full Statham action movie inside this one, and then have the others do something extra on top of that.
About the salaries:
I don't know whether he got more than the rest, but if he did it's because Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch are modern-day 'gangster crime' classics, or whatever you want to call them. Revolver, The Transporter, Crank, The Bank Job are definitely less popular, but i think the important point here is that he is more current than the rest of them.
Also, (again, assuming he did get more than the others) i believe that since he does not belong to the 'boys club'. I.e. Arnie, Willis and Lundgren might have done it a bit as a 'favour' to Stallone and just a way to do something cool with all these great action 'actors' (to use the term loosely), hence not requiring much in the way of cash (especially Arnie who was a cameo), whereas Statham is not Stallone's friend and was actually 'employed' and paid according to what he usually gets.
WhiningKhan
Regular
Yes, Sly already told that in the interview I quoted. I could have quoted a bit longer excerpt, I guess.
In that same interview, he also told that he started developing the movie with Jet Li and Statham, the idea of having the rest of the guys came later. That makes sense then, if Statham was originally the 'star' of the movie, it might not have played well to cut his role in favour of the rest (both contractually and on personal level).
The fourth Kind 4/10
Done in a sort of docu-drama type way, cutting in "real" video/audio with re-enacted scenes, the real bits didn't look at all real. Decent enough thrills at time, but ultimately i didn't believe the basis of the story, and given the nature of the film, that means it totally failed.
Expendables 7/10...good entertaining action romp
Losers 3/10...an A-team -esk film, action ok, but had zero interest in the characters and story had zero engagement level.
Anyone seen Socerors apprentice...looks like it could be decent.
Seen trailers for winter's bone, which looks like it tells a good story.
Done in a sort of docu-drama type way, cutting in "real" video/audio with re-enacted scenes, the real bits didn't look at all real. Decent enough thrills at time, but ultimately i didn't believe the basis of the story, and given the nature of the film, that means it totally failed.
Expendables 7/10...good entertaining action romp
Losers 3/10...an A-team -esk film, action ok, but had zero interest in the characters and story had zero engagement level.
Anyone seen Socerors apprentice...looks like it could be decent.
Seen trailers for winter's bone, which looks like it tells a good story.
Watched the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo in Swedish with subtitles. I'd say it's a 6 or 7 out of 10. Seemed well made, I guess, but there was nothing interesting about it to me. I didn't really get gripped by any of the characters, and I didn't find the story incredibly interesting.
Finally got a chance to watch more animations and some superheroes movies.
Wall-E - 6/10 - I think this is the most mushy Pixar movie. I think it would have been better if they didn't involved the humans into the dialog, So it can be a silent movie all the way through.
The Princess and The Frog - 9/10 - Disney is back with this. Well drawn animated, fun characters and story. Very enjoyable.
Ironman - 7/10 Good action flick, I enjoyed this one.
Dark Knight - 8/10 - Good story, action scenes were so so. The best Joker performance from Ledger, really lifted the whole movie.
And also a couple thrillers:
Shutter Island - 8/10 - It tried to be smart I think but I figured the plot before halfway through the movie, didn't hide the twist enough, just too bold with all the hints. But was an enjoyable performance from the casts.
Carriers - 8/10 - This one is suprisingly pretty good, a more realistic take on those deadly virus pandemic storyline. I think this is better than I Am Legend.
Wall-E - 6/10 - I think this is the most mushy Pixar movie. I think it would have been better if they didn't involved the humans into the dialog, So it can be a silent movie all the way through.
The Princess and The Frog - 9/10 - Disney is back with this. Well drawn animated, fun characters and story. Very enjoyable.
Ironman - 7/10 Good action flick, I enjoyed this one.
Dark Knight - 8/10 - Good story, action scenes were so so. The best Joker performance from Ledger, really lifted the whole movie.
And also a couple thrillers:
Shutter Island - 8/10 - It tried to be smart I think but I figured the plot before halfway through the movie, didn't hide the twist enough, just too bold with all the hints. But was an enjoyable performance from the casts.
Carriers - 8/10 - This one is suprisingly pretty good, a more realistic take on those deadly virus pandemic storyline. I think this is better than I Am Legend.
Iron Man 2 - 5/10. Nothing original or new in here and the character of Tony Stark is played well by Robert Downy Jr. The overall movie had next to no character development and the plot was as bad as a Nightmare on Elm Street movie.
The Rescuers Down Under - 10/10. Still one of my favorite movies of all time and LOVE its animation. Had to go into some old boxes of Laserdisc to find it, still superb as usual.
The Rescuers Down Under - 10/10. Still one of my favorite movies of all time and LOVE its animation. Had to go into some old boxes of Laserdisc to find it, still superb as usual.
I noticed this, as well. A lot of the movie is disclosed in the trailers. But the ending is an interesting turn of events, not exactly something you see in your average R rated heist movie.
The trailers and the intro state that a certain area of Charlestown is home to a large number of thieves. Being a resident of Boston, I wasn't aware of this fact. Nor was I aware of the movie's tagline stating Boston is the bank robbery capital of America. So, I'm taking both these claims with a grain of salt.
I've really taken a liking to Jeremy Renner, especially after The Hurt Locker. He better win an award for his role in this one, as well.
Last edited by a moderator:
Fantastic Mr. Fox 8/10 - Good movie, great visuals.
The American 7/10 - Really well made, and well cast, but I could guess just about everything that was going to happen before it happened, and all of the characters were some type of cliché. Kind of a late sixties, early seventies style action thriller, which means slower deliberate pacing, but tense. Oh yeah, also boobs included.
The American 7/10 - Really well made, and well cast, but I could guess just about everything that was going to happen before it happened, and all of the characters were some type of cliché. Kind of a late sixties, early seventies style action thriller, which means slower deliberate pacing, but tense. Oh yeah, also boobs included.
Let the Right One In-
9.6/10
With the advent of a remake here (Let Me In), I decided to rent the original Swedish vampire movie. It's without a doubt the best vampire movie I've ever seen. And it didn't take a gross budget and a plethora of special effects to maintain a solid story and great performances from the actors. Although I'm hesitant to see the remake, regardless of the fact that it scored rather high on Rottentomatoes.com, I'll probably catch it this weekend.
9.6/10
With the advent of a remake here (Let Me In), I decided to rent the original Swedish vampire movie. It's without a doubt the best vampire movie I've ever seen. And it didn't take a gross budget and a plethora of special effects to maintain a solid story and great performances from the actors. Although I'm hesitant to see the remake, regardless of the fact that it scored rather high on Rottentomatoes.com, I'll probably catch it this weekend.
Last edited by a moderator:
Brothers - 9/10 - Blu-ray
I talk about the plot in my review, so there are spoilers. Really fantastic movie, loved it, despite wanting to turn away from the screen or turn it off at some points because of the emotions.
I talk about the plot in my review, so there are spoilers. Really fantastic movie, loved it, despite wanting to turn away from the screen or turn it off at some points because of the emotions.
The trailers for this movie when it was about to be released had me interested and provided the hook, but they didn't prepare me to be blown away by how good it was. There's so much extra in the movie that the trailer doesn't expose, and it's the first film in a while where I've felt genuinely uncomfortable watching it due to the voyeurism on such a horrible, private subject matter (Sam's time in Afghanistan, and his family grieving).
Watching Sam's dark descent was hard, and you could honestly see it in the guy's eyes that he was completely on the edge and really struggling to hold it all together. It was a truly great performance from an actor I previously thought couldn't act for toffee.
Then you have Tommy and Grace's side of things (and the dad, who I thought was terrific) which was compelling too (I think they're both very good on screen together). Watching Tommy turn into this really good person and help Grace grieve and support her and the kids was really tender.
Then it all comes together in the 2nd part of the film where all the relationships are played out, including some cracking screen presence from the older daughter character, and things unwind to an edge-of-your-seat climax where Sam really loses it.
The only reason I don't give it a 10 is because I haven't seen the original, and I'd like to before I call out which one I think is the better treatment of the subject matter. It's supposed to be terrific too.
Watching Sam's dark descent was hard, and you could honestly see it in the guy's eyes that he was completely on the edge and really struggling to hold it all together. It was a truly great performance from an actor I previously thought couldn't act for toffee.
Then you have Tommy and Grace's side of things (and the dad, who I thought was terrific) which was compelling too (I think they're both very good on screen together). Watching Tommy turn into this really good person and help Grace grieve and support her and the kids was really tender.
Then it all comes together in the 2nd part of the film where all the relationships are played out, including some cracking screen presence from the older daughter character, and things unwind to an edge-of-your-seat climax where Sam really loses it.
The only reason I don't give it a 10 is because I haven't seen the original, and I'd like to before I call out which one I think is the better treatment of the subject matter. It's supposed to be terrific too.
I agree. Unfortuantely i watched the english dubbed version, which was absolutely atrocious. How on earth could they release such a shoddy job is beyond my understanding. Then again i'm italian, where dubbing is so good sometimes that it makes the acting sound better than the original english versions.
Even then, the movie was amazing.
It's a remake of a Danish movie.
I just happened to see this (have been down with flu/cold and watched a lot of movies) and thought it was pretty decent, some good acting in there by unexpected actors. 7/10
I also saw Lars and the Real Girl. Very good, highly recommended. 8/10
As I've seen Let the Right One In a little while ago, my wife loved it. I have seen a lot of Scandinavian movies (lived in Sweden for a year and dated a Swedish/Finnish girl for two, still friends decades later
) and I didn't think this one was particularly special, but it was certainly good. 7.5/10Robin Hood 5/10 - What a bag of suck. Started out ok, ended up being kind of shit. I wasn' t sure if they were going to go for a "realistic" Robin Hood or a more adventure styled Robin Hood. Turns out its a bit of both, and it isn't done well in any way. The movie looks pretty at times. That's about all I can say for it. I didn't think the story was very good, and the reasons for Robin becoming an outlaw was pretty lame. With the cast and director, this should have been a lot better.
Similar threads
