Movie Reviews By Movie Reviews Pro

 

 

Transformers 3

Rating:

Movie: Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)

Studio : Paramount Pictures

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 157 min

Website : transformersmovie.com

Rating : PG-13

Trailer :
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xj5cnl

Review:

During the moon missions in the 1960’s, the crew discovered the remains of a Cybertron ship called the Ark that had crashed while transporting a powerful new technology that could be used to save them all. When Optimum Prime discovers that he was lied to about the discovery, knowing full well what was in the cargo, he decides to take matters into his own team’s hands and plots to get it back with the help of some old and new friends. But the Decepticons are also aware of it and the two are in a race to see who can get its secrets first. Read more…

Action, In Theaters, War 3D, alan tudyk, charles adler, hugo weaving, jess harnell, john malkovich, josh duhamel, leonard nimoy, paramount pictures, patrick dempsey, peter cullen, pg13, shia labeauf, transformers

Tau Ming Chong: The Warlords

Rating:

Movie: The Warlords (2007)

Studio : Morgan & Chan Films

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 127 min

Website : warlordsthemovie.com

Trailer :
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xcupej

Review:

Missing the chance to catch this film during New York’s Asian Film Festival, I was pleased to learn about the film’s “wider” release to theaters. While released a few years back, the task of subbing a foreign film into the U.S. combined perhaps with other unknown complications have disallowed American audiences from seeing this film locally until recently.

Although widely unknown by most Americans, the Taiping Rebellion is considered by many to be one of the most violent wars of all-time, matching World War I and some may even argue the second World War as well. I will skip the background of this time, as the movie itself actually centers less on the large scale of its history and more on a point involving three particular men. A fallen general finds solace in a poor village where he meets two bandit leaders. With his guidance, they not only do they become brothers-in-arms, but fight off the rebel insurgence. Between this, there is an affair, politicking, and quite a few gorgeous moments to drink in the scenery.

I should say that even as someone who has never been a historian of this period of time, you can still tell that this film is adulterated from its original content, although if you’re complacent with the accuracy of films like Braveheart and U-571, then you should be content with this film because, despite the nature of the film, the overall execution is brilliant. Wars are epic in scale and given a gritty feel, and while there is a martial arts feel to the film, this film attempts to ground itself a little more, give or take a duel or two.

I can honestly say I enjoyed this film and would watch it again. Granted, I am a fan of this kind of Hong Kong cinema, but even when the gloves are back on and the subterfuge plays, there is a lot to appreciate between the unspoken moments of the film, from jade-toned misty mountain ranges to gracefully filthy villages to unspoken words between vocal expressions. This is definitely a foreign blockbuster I would recommend to any fan of action films willing to do a little reading with some points of underexaggerated drama.

-Donald Lee

Action, Drama, In Theaters, War

The Men Who Stare at Goats

Rating:

Movie: Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)

Studio : BBC Films

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 94 min

Website : themenwhostareatgoatsmovie.com/

Trailer :http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xaaujb

Review:

Even with its somehow puzzling title, The Men Who Stare at Goats offers an impressive line-up that raises our expectations significantly. Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges, George Clooney and Kevin Spacey form a high priced cast bound to please all viewers and that make us hold out for another Hollywood blockbuster on the American army. Mind you, this is not what you’re going to get (it’s much better).

Based on true events (and on Jon Ronson’s book of the same name), the film takes us on a mind-boggling adventure through the Middle East, as Bob Wilson (McGregor) digs deeper into Lyn Cassidy’s secret psychic army story. Gone to Kuwait to win back his ex-wife by impressing her with his war reporter experience (go figure!), Bob Wilson stumbles upon Lyn Cassidy, a special-op force psychic agent played by an especially tanned and crazy-eyed Clooney. Cassidy reluctantly takes him along his journey to find his mentor, Bill Django (Bridges), creator of “the New Earth Army”, a secret experimental army unit formed of psychic warriors aka “Jedi warriors” (humoristic hint at McGregor’s famous Star Wars’ role). Bob Wilson tries to learn more/make sense of the mission of these incredible super-powered soldiers by following Lyn Cassidy in his crazy adventures.

Super-powered? You may ask. Then it has to be some kind of science fiction movie, right? Or is this another “Roswell-like” situation the American people have not yet heard about? Not exactly. Weirdly enough, we do not once witness any super power display or have a tangible proof of their incredible capacities. Instead of that, we discover the power of the mind over logic, over physics and most of all over common sense. What the film succeeds to do is keep us at the edge of our seats, expecting to see the magic happen, with goofy plot twists and hilarious dialogues that make no sense whatsoever to people in their right minds. As the two men’s adventure goes from disaster to disaster, we can’t help but wonder why Ewan McGregor’s character keeps going along with this masquerade. But what we slowly realize is that this insane hippie project is maybe not that irrealistic and offers to those soldiers an ideal to follow, a place to belong to.

The magic power of The Men Who Stare at Goats resides in showing us the capacity of the human mind to believe and to defy logic with unconditional faith. Maybe this is what we need: something to believe in. No matter how crazy it may seem, we simply need something to make us keep on going. All in all, do not expect to get it, do not expect to make sense of the characters, just be prepared for a very odd hour an a half of delectable madness.

-Nolwen Cosmao

Comedy, On BLU-RAY, On DVD, War

Inglourious Basterds

Rating:

Movie: Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Studio : Universal

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 153 min

Website : inglouriousbasterds-movie.com

Trailer :http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9zcxu

Review:

While it will certainly not win any Oscars, Quentin Tarantino’s, Inglorious Bastards, entertains for the full 2 hours and 33 minutes. The film is divided into five chapters, which at first seem mutually exclusive, but begin to tie together towards the middle of the movie.

Though it is a war movie, there are very little gunfights. The classic “Tarantino violence,” mostly comes from the scalpings of dead Germans, body mutilations, and one overly gruesome execution by baseball bat, though none of it is comedic as usual. Tarantino also uses a series of flashbacks in order to fill the audience in on plot holes, which works very effectively and is also very entertaining. Seeing as how the rest of the movie is filled in by scheming, plotting, and a pestering German war hero, it is difficult to understand how the movie went by as quickly as it did.

The reason for this however, is that Tarantino was able to create an intricate plot with many captivating characters. The story is an alternate history of World War II, beginning with a young girl named Shosanna Dreyfus (Melanie Laurent), who witnesses the murder of her family, but narrowly escapes. She flees to Paris, where she forges a new identity as French theatre owner. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Bradd Pitt), creates a group of Jewish American soldiers, known by the enemy as “the Basterds,” who are trained to commit quick and shocking attacks on German soldiers.

When a young German war hero, Fredrick Zoller (Daniel Bruhl)—who has had a film made about him, starring him—falls in love with Shosanna, he moves to have the highly anticipated premier of his film at her theatre. With Hitler and the entire high command set to attend, both Shosanna and Aldo create separate plots for their assassinations.

This film is unlike any World War II movie ever made, however, it does have many flaws. While Bruhl’s character, Zoller, is supposed to be annoying to Shosanna, he did a better job of annoying me. Additionally, Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger), an actress/double agent, who is supposed to help Raines carry out his mission—but ends up hindering it instead—seems almost completely unnecessary. “Basterds,” is not to be a Tarantino classic, but it is certainly worth seeing, even if it is just to see Pitt speak Italian in a Southern accent.

-Stephen Fox

Action, Drama, In Theaters, War Action, Drama, Quentin Tarantino, War