Oldboy (2003): Oldboy is a South Korean mystery thriller movie. It is about a man, Oh Dae-Su, who is kidnapped and held hostage for 15 years until one day he is let go by his captor without reason. The movie follows Oh Dae-Su has he tries to piece together the reasons for why he was kidnapped, why he was let go, and whom captured him. The mystery of the movie is what makes it a great watch. The less you know about the movie going in the more you will enjoy it. The acting is very good, a little over the top at points, but good none the less. Choi Min-sik, the actor who plays Oh Dae-Su, is brilliant. By far his acting and how he portrays the character makes this movie what it is. This movie is one of the weirdest and maybe disturbing movies I have ever seen. 8.5/10.
I Saw the Devil (2010): I Saw the Devil is another South Korean thriller. This one is one that I would classify as a psychological thriller. The movie follows Soo-hyun as he seeks revenge for the murder of his fiance. Actor Choi Min-sik (Oldboy) returns in this movie as he plays the antagonist, the serial killer Kyung-chul. This movie is wild ride through the human psyche. You put yourself in the mindset of Soo-hyun as he discovers whether vengeance is worth the cost. The acting is top notch between our two leads, I would even say better than in Oldboy. The cinematography is amazing. This was a very well shot film and there are some scenes in there that will make you go, "Wow!" At 2.5 hours long it does seem a little long, and at about 1 hour in something happens that makes you think, "How are they going to keep going for another hour and a half?" But they find a way and you never get bored through the movie. The ending of the movie is one of the best I have ever seen. It is very emotional and impactful. This is a movie that will have you thinking and questioning what would you do in that situation. Amazing film. 9.5/10.
V for Vendetta (2005): V for Vendetta is an action thriller. This movie had the unfortunate position of being extremely hyped by some of my friends. That hype is one of the reasons why I had not gotten around to watching the film until recently. Based on a 1982 graphic novel of the same name, this movie looked fantastic. It was very visually appealing and kept that comic book feel. Hugo Weaving, who played our protagonist V, was amazing. He spent the entire movie behind the now famous Guy Fawkes mask, yet he still was able to emote and deliver and incredible performance even behind the unchanging neutral expression of the mask. John Hurt, who played the antagonist the High Chancellor, also delivered a great performance as the fascist dictator of this future Britain. Even if he wasn't in the film as much he was still the second best actor in it. As for the story it is sort of hard to get yourself in the position of rooting for a character who is essentially a terrorist. The movie takes it's sweet time in getting around to V's motivations and what exactly makes the government so evil. It would have been better served if it had explained this sooner in the film. For a movie with a 132 minute run time it doesn't feel like a lot happens in the film. It is very character heavy and I just wish that there was more to make the viewer care a little more. Like I said this movie was very hyped up for me and because of that it kind of is a let down. It is still a great movie and one that I will re-watch. I was just looking for a little more. Great acting but a little lacking in the true meat of the film. 8/10.
Cube (1997): Cube is a Canadian science fiction psychological horror movie. Let me say this right from the start, the acting in this movie is extremely bad. Now that that is out of the way, the movie itself is fairly interesting. The movie takes place inside a structure made up of hundreds of connected cube-shaped rooms. Our main cast of characters meet each other after climbing out of their individual rooms. The movie follows the group as they attempt to find an escape from the Cube and along the way learn more about each other. Now you may think "Ok, doesn't sound so bad. Just keep going room to room until you find the exit." Well it's not that easy since some rooms as booby trapped in order to kill whomever enters that particular room. That is where the horror element comes into play. The psychological element comes in when you watch the characters interact and evolve (or devolve) over the course of the film. It really makes the audience have to put themselves in that situation and think if they had what it would take to survive in those circumstances. It is decent movie and definitely something to see once. The story is there even if not executed to perfection. This could be a great movie if done right and with halfway decent acting. Maybe a candidate for a movie that should be remade. 6/10.
Cleanflix (2009): Cleanflix is documentary about a trend out of conservative Utah in which a string of movie rental stores began to edit copyrighted movies for their conservative customer base. These rental stores would take popular movie titles and they would edit out the objectionable material in them such as sex and violence. This was mostly due to the Mormon Church's stance on obscenities and not wanting members of LDS to watch movies with sex and/or violence in them. The business model became very popular in Utah and create a string of copycat stores all out there trying to grab a piece of the market. This growth caused the business to gain the unwanted attention of Hollywood, who objected to their movies being edited without their permissions. This movie chronicles the rise and fall of the Cleanflix model in Utah and their struggle against Hollywood. It is also about whether or not Hollywood should take a backseat and allow Capitalism to work it's course, because if there is a demand then there should be a supply. Or whether the movies should remain untouched because they are the work of the director and the production teams that worked to craft those movies and worked to make them exactly how they are. It is a very interesting take on an interesting subject. 7/10.
The Big Lebowski (1998): The Big Lebowski is a Coen Brothers comedy. This is a movie that I have been meaning to get around to watching for awhile. The spark to watch it actually came from "Cleanflix" which had a clip of the movie in it and made me go "Hmm I should watch that." I have heard from multiple people that this a movie that many don't like (or don't get) upon the first viewing. I did not have this experience as I loved this movie from the beginning. This was a very well crafted comedy and was very funny, but I can see why people would not like it when they see it the first time. It is definitely a movie that lends itself to being watched over again because you will get something new out of it that you didn't catch before. I won't go too much into the plot as I feel that in most comedy movies that plot is not as important as the actual comedy. But the plot in the film was decent, it had a lot of twists and turns that drove it forward and gave more for the characters to do and more interactions. You can pick out a lot of stuff that has inspired other movies that have been made since this one. The acting in the movie is great. Jeff Bridges and John Goodman are amazing and hilarious. They work very well with each other and their characters work well bouncing off each other. Steve Buscemi is one of my favorite characters of the movie as well. This is well crafted comedy and is very highly recommended if it has alluded you as it had I. 8.5/10.
I hope you enjoyed the first iteration of my rapid fire reviews. As always feel free to leave any comments or thoughts below.
