Jason's Reviews

Enjoyable lark. Doesn't take itself seriously (how coud it?). Great for a fun night in!

An excellently written, acted and directed film. The mood of the scenes was always captured just perfectly. I think it came down slightly on the side of glorifying Nixon but, overall, it was a balanced look at the process behind the Nixon Interviews. I would highly recommend it.

This movie is both good and bad at the same time. Fascinating from an historical perspective but, even armed with a decent knowledge of the event surrounding Watergate, it is difficult at time to follow exactly what is going on. A viewer without any background knowledge would be lost. The other problem is the sense that it conveys that these two were somehow the only ones with any hint of a scandal which was just not the case. Overall it left this historical scholar just a little disappointed.

A lot better than I expected. It has a bit of depth but not too much to detract from its essential comedic nature. A decent film.

Unbelievably good film. Phoenix and Witherspoon shine both on and off the stage. It is a fascinating insight into a troubled but brilliant man. Well acted, directed, sung, played... the list goes on. No hesitation in giving it five stars.

Eastwood is excellent but the support cast is a mixed bag. Some good moments but I thought overall it was a little superficial.

A B-grade movie that didn't do too badly at presenting the story. The first person narrative of the novel and the intimacy with the protagonist that that provided is lost in the movie. Some inexplicable changes made from the novel. Only going to be worth it if you enjoyed the novel, otherwise you might just think it rather a strange story.

Tarantino films are always well-written and generally well-directed. It's the little aspects of his film making rather than the gung-ho stuff that I enjoy. For example, there was something poignant about the water feature that slowly taps away in the final fight scene between The Bride and O-ren. Having said that, I found this film, like the Matrix, to be overindulgent in terms of the fights scenes and the (admittedly comic book style) gore. I enjoyed it for the story and will defintely be having a look at Vol. 2 but it left me with mixed feelings. The music was superb and elevates this film from 3 to 4 stars.

Everything that a romantic comedy should be. Well written and acted; it is funny, engaging, witty, punchy and just a little bit silly. An excellent cast, with Zellweger providing and very passable mid-30s, single, professional (somewhat) woman. Firth does a softer interpretation of his seminal role as Jane Austen's Darcy and Hugh Grant is a frop-ish as ever. A good movie for a quiet night in with a glass of wine or two!

A ponderous film that is about 20-30 minutes too long. The long conversation scenes between the two pairs of protagonists are arduous and, at times, uncomfortable. Kate Winslet is excellent while Cameron Diaz does a passable impression of Paris Hilton. The chemistry between the pairs, Law/Diaz and Black/Winslet just does not exist. The best aspect of the film is the relationship between Winslet's character and the old Hollywood screenwriter (Wallach). Overall, this is a film which women will probably enjoy but overall there are only a few laughs to be had and a lot of sitting through lengthy, and mundane, conversations that seem to belond more in high school than the adult world. Would not recommend it.

I'm just not understanding why this is rated so highly. Just an excuse of Will Smith to strut around looking kinda-cool. There's plenty of action and special effects but not a lot in terms of decent plot. It will leave more questions than answers - maybe that was the aim - but when you actually think about it the story is a pile of you know what. At first I was thinking just a modern taken on Superman. Then it descended into some half-baked Watchmen type scenario. Then it just kind of ended. Overall, I don't think it has much going for it unless you just want a really unthinking 80 minutes in front of the box and then move on.

Well acted, well written, well filmed. Although it may appear on first glance to be your run of the mill action/espionage film, there are quite a number of layers to this film in its examination of the differing approaches taken to a common problem: warfare in the global age. The story is not a straightforward as you may be thinking for much of it. The performance of Mark Strong as the head of Jordanian intelligence is particularly good. Russell Crowe was as good as ever a Di Caprio put in a decent performance although he seemed a little strained in some of the more nuanced scenes with Strong. Overall, this film gets a hearty recommendation from me.

After hearing so much about this film for so many years I finally got around to watching it. Can't say that it entirely lived up to the hype but it was a good film nonetheless. Basically, I understand it to simply be an examination of violent gang culture although others have tried to read a lot more into it. A pretty much, "all star cast" that does a good job. The writing was excellent and the story was a good inter-weaving one although it lacked some overall 'point'.

An interesting film but like a lot of Cohen brothers stuff it leaves you a little hollow at the end. Not entirely sure it warranted all the oscars it got.

A great fun-filled movie. Will have you smiling and tapping your feet all the way through.

Aaron Sorkin's fingerprints are all over this one so if you enjoyed the West Wing you'll definitely enjoy this. History buffs will enjoy a lot of it but there is still enough for those who aren't as polished on their Cold War history. My partner, who knew little of the events, still enjoyed it. There is no action or anything like that so don't be folled into thinking you're getting Saving Private Ryan redux! Overall, a worthwhile film. Gets 3 instead of 4 stars for being a little bit soppy and predictable.

I've always really enjoyed the other films but I felt this one fell a bit short. The alien aspect of the storyline wasn't great and I felt the plot was a little hard to follow at time because it jumped ahead very quickly, i.e. Indy was making conclusions and working things out seemingly out of nowhere. However, if you enjoy A LOT of crazy action then this would be one for you. Good for a night when you don't want anything particularly serious and can chuckle at some physics-defying action sequences and rather corny acting.