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Showing posts with the label funny. movie

BEST FILM OF 2011? - THE PEOPLE'S CHOICE

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As our poll finally ends, I can now reveal that the Best Film Of 2011 , for the faithful followers & visitors of the RetroCritic blog is... CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER Yes, Marvel's latest attempt at adapting the superhero was a winner and arguably the best comic book movie of last Summer. It made it to number 9 in my own Top 20 Best Films Of 2011 list and seeing it take the top spot here isn't too surprising: a great mix of modern action and old-fashioned heroism, Captain America gets it right. And after the dire 1990 version , Steve Rogers deserved his comeback. It was certainly great to see Chris Evans NOT play a smirking douchebag for once. Don't get me wrong, in small doses (see Scott Pilgrim vs The World ) it was fine but... Fantastic Four happened. Twice. Captain America looks the part and boasts a strong cast: Tommy Lee Jones doesn't exactly play against type but stays on good form nonetheless and Hayley Atwell makes a beautiful and ref

TOP 10 WTF UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN MOMENTS

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THE TAP - UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN

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POSTER CONTEST - DEADLINE ETC.

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Some of you might recall mentioning a poster contest in an earlier post . Here's more info about it: THE CONTEST Looking forward to The Dark Knight Rises ? Can't wait until The Avengers ? Indifferent about Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2 ? From where I'm standing, 2012 looks set to be one badass year at the movies. Which is why here at TheRetroCritic we want you to get involved in the fun! MAKE YOUR OWN POSTER for any upcoming 2012 release: doesn't have to be professional, doesn't have to perfect, just creative and/or funny. The posters can be silly, artistic, amazing, ass... it's all good! THE REWARD The best 3 posters will: - Be posted on the blog's new photo gallery! - Be included in the review of the depicted film! - Be made for real and sent to you directly in a goodie bag! The best runner-up posters will also be posted in the blog's photo gallery and a link to your own website/blog/page will be included in the "Retro Links&q

DON 2 - PREVIEW

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All set to watch new Shah Rukh Khan-starring Bollywood sequel Don 2 , I thought I should take a moment and show how great the new poster actually is. Quite a jump from the original one, don't you think? But wait... Is Don ripping out a mask of his own face? Or was he wearing someone else's skin the entire time? I mean, sure Don can be pretty unpredictable... But I never pegged him as a Leatherface-style psycho or... Tom... Cruise? Regardless of how silly the poster looks, I have complete faith in Don 2. It looks like fun.  But will it surpass Don?  That remains to be seen.

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS - REVIEW

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It seems Woody Allen films these days either hit or miss with the critics. It's like it all depends on how good the holiday was with sunny Vicky Cristina Barcelona doing surprisingly well despite its lack of any lasting impact or depth. But Cassandra's Dream and its dreary London gloom? No thanks. Now comes Woody Allen's Paris holiday which starts off as an obvious love letter to the famously (read: cliched-ly) romantic city (minus the homeless) but which soon takes a welcome sci-fi turn almost elevating itself to Purple Rose Of Cairo -style surrealism. Sadly the film refuses to go any deeper than its key message making it more of a cute little idea than a heartbreaking, moving, important story. It's a welcome return to thinking-outside-the-box type films like Scoop in which the afterlife made an appearance. Here, spending midnight in Paris can literally transport you back to a simpler time: the 1920's. Where Ernest Hemingway, the Fitzgeralds and Picasso a

COSTUME ROOM - MAGIC KID

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MELANCHOLIA - REVIEW

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Lars Von Trier may not be the best stand-up comedian out there but when it comes to making really good, really odd, really overblown surrealist films very few match the Danish director's unique talents. Forget the arty noir of Lynch, forget the V/O poetry of Malick, this is a Dali-molesting-baby-Magritte-with-a-chicken-head type of madness that's definitely not for everyone but which should appeal to fans of super slo-mo and talking foxes alike. For those unsure about giving Von Trier's film a go, check out Antichrist (lol). Now, Melancholia is nowhere near as twisted as the director's previous effort but you'll know pretty quickly whether this is a style you can get behind or whether the pretentious nature of the film proves too much to take. His films are a hard pill to swallow and I myself had no idea what to make of Antichrist at first. It occurred to me that I enjoy Von Trier's films on several levels: the silly overblown stuff I like in that it's us

ONCE BITTEN - DANCE RIFF

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And here's the full scene without commentary: enjoy!

BEST OF COBRA

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TOP 10 DAFTEST TMNT III MOMENTS

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SUCKER PUNCH - REVIEW

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Zack Snyder is a weird one. Directing career so far: 300 , Watchmen , OWLS, Sucker Punch, Superman. I can't say it's been a smooth, flawless ride so far but it's been...interesting. Even the best of the bunch, Watchmen, was far from perfect and failed to to live up to the source material's deeper aspects. What it seems to come down to is a disconnect between style and content. Snyder's films, Sucker Punch included, look fab from start to finish and the over-ambition is always welcome as it gives us the sense that there's nothing Mr Snyder will shy away from. Alas this can also prove to be something of a curse. Titanic scales, tedious slo-mos, gratuitous sex/violence, CGI up the ass, grungy pop music...these seem to be regulars now when it comes to Snyder's films. He's like a Michael Bay wrapped inside a Robert Rodriguez. And although I can't stand 300 and care not for owls I enjoyed Watchmen in parts and was looking forward to this new comic b

RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES - REVIEW

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Making a good film involving talking apes throwing spears has never been an easy task. The Charlton Heston-starring original almost feels like a fluke in that it did everything right with content that could so easily have been botched-up. I mean, what's sillier than apes riding horses? I'll tell you. CGI apes riding horses. Yes, many of the old Planet Of The Apes sequels failed to capture the original's stature, yes the TV series didn't have the budget needed and yes the Tim Burton remake is the director's worst achievement to date. And yet I would gladly sit through Mark Wahlberg's soulless journey once again rather than rewatch this new offering. Why, do you ask? Seen the trailers? Really what it comes down to is the sheer irrelevance that this entire production displays. The "rise" of the apes has been pretty much covered left and right in previous instalments besides, here's one film which will no doubt ruin the end twist of the ori

COWBOYS & ALIENS - REVIEW

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You'd think with a film called Cowboys & Aliens there'd be very little room to mess things up. I mean, how much more straight-forward can you get? Just get some cowboys, a bunch of aliens...voila! And yet Cowboys & Aliens doesn't quite get there... Now don't get me wrong: it's a decent film and I really enjoyed it. But alas it falls just short, like all the other summer blockbusters we were treated to this year, of being actually awesome. Which is pretty frustrating as, much like Super 8 and Horrible Bosses , they had the material and everything served up to them on a plate. All they had to do was not spill anything! Here's the thing, it's really quite simple: if you're going for something purely retro like an 80's Spielberg flick or a cowboy sci-fi in the style of Westworld it's your DUTY as a filmmaker to leave the CGI out of it as much as you can. Yes stop-motion monsters can look animated but so does CGI and at the very least

SUPER 8 - REVIEW

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J.J. Abrams: clever, sometimes great writer, good filmmaker but most importantly genius promoter. The man could make you want to watch anything with a single poster or a teaser/promo. When it comes to marketing a gimmicky concept, you can't beat J.J.. Look at Lost : amazing build-up, uninspired first season. Cloverfield ? Brilliant promo, pedestrian film. Star Trek ? Huge expectations, decent-enough silly romp. There seems to be a pattern of disappointment following every great build-up and I'm sorry to say Super 8 is no exception. Some of the blame for Super 8's failure to impress could be put on Steven Spielberg who might have influenced the film positively (the kids are great and the film definitely has a lot of heart) but also doomed it to being just an E.T. B movie, nothing more. I'm not saying it's Mac & Me but still. Abrams himself should have known better. With a film like this, in which the main "attraction", in this case an alien, is

THE KING OF COMEDY - REVIEW

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Stephen Chow takes on the world of acting in this typically goofy comedy about a clumsy but driven extra and his struggles to make it big in movies and doesn't disappoint. Although this isn't quite as cartoonish an outing as we've come to expect from Chow there's still plenty of silliness to enjoy. Watch out for a dramatic death scene involving gross dangling nose fluid and a shameless, cockroach-loving prostitute. There's also a fun Jackie Chan cameo and repeated piss-takes of overblown John Woo-style thrillers complete with gun face-offs, black trenchcoats, flying doves and churches. The film gradually grows a heart and introduces a promising romance between a young "club girl" and Chow's character but when a big name actress gives Chow the role of his life the film loses confidence and takes an odd sudden turn. The third act turns into some kind of dark cop thriller and a lot of the romance is washed over and is left under-developed making the

SSSSSSS - REVIEW

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Yes, as you can see the calibre of films that I've been watching lately has somewhat improved. Then I saw Sssssss... Believe it or not this is not a sequel to French caveman comedy Rrrrrrr! , a film I actually wish I had watched again instead of this soporific snake-a-rific mess. Not that I was expecting anything stellar quality-wise but at least vast amounts of laughable silliness. Oh I got the silliness alright but at what cost? Only 4 hours of my life in snake time! I'm exaggerating. Really the film is watchable but so many scenes throughout could have easily been rushed or just cut from the final edit altogether and the general pace of the whole thing makes a funeral look like Speed Racer . We tediously snail along to an incredibly silly but admittedly almost genius conclusion which turns out to be... Not really worth it. Oh sure the dialogs are Troll 2 awful, the story is nonsense and you get circus people PLUS a guy turning into a snake so there is some fun