[3.25/10] Unrequited (2010)

Unrequited (2010)

"Unrequited" is a lackluster psychological thriller, that unfolds around Ben Jacobs, who has been living for the past several months in a home for 'troubled teens'. On his 18th birthday he leaves the group home and moves back in with his alcoholic mother. Upon his return, Ben discovers that his girlfriend, Jessica Morgan, has moved on with her life and is now dating an older college guy. Desperate for love and unable to cope with losing Jessica, Ben’s troubled past catches up with him as he kidnaps her in an attempt to regain her affection, but soon things get out of control, and so does the movie itself. "Unrequited" is one of the worst cinematic experiences I've had this year. It's completely pointless, poorly-made, incredibly tedious and it feels so overlong, it was a torture to watch. Film's paper-thin tired plot is being stretched too far and the director is trying to wring more out of it than can be wrung. The end result is a thoroughly unengaging crappy thriller, that lacks thrills and scares and it has zero entertainment value. Actually, the scariest thing about "Unrequited" is the acting - it's either stiff and wooden or way too overstated. Michael Welch as the main protagonist, Ben, gives a hopeless, neurotic performance, that is so annoyingly over-the-top, it makes his character very unlikable and barely standable. Sarah Habel is truly eye-candy and undoubtedly captivating, but unfortunately, her acting skills are pretty mediocre. David Keith's character is probably the only one that is sympathetic - he's calm, sweet and kind, and he easily wins the heart of viewer. "Unrequited" is the first full-length feature film for director Jason Epperson, and it shows - his direction is all-over-the-place, the editing is simply dreadful, and the film is full of countless stupid flashbacks that do nothing but confuse the audience. At least the cinematography is decent. Overall, "Unrequited" is a dull, uninteresting and overly-cliched psycholgical thriller, that totally fails to deliver.

• My Rating: 3.25/10
• Rotten Tomatoes: N/A
• IMDb: 4.1/10

HAPPY HALLOWEEN with CineMarvellous' TOP 30 Horror Movies of the Past Decade

Have a spooky Halloween,

with CineMarvellous'

TOP 30 Horror Movies
of the Past Decade

(Click on the link above, and EXPERIENCE THE FEAR!)

[9.75/10] The Social Network (2010)

The Social Network (2010)

David Fincher’s new exceptional film “The Social Network” is about the creation of Facebook, an internet website that’s less than a decade old and already worth 25 billion dollars. On a fall night in 2003, Harvard undergrad and computer programming genius Mark Zuckerberg sits down at his computer and heatedly begins working on a new idea. In a fury of blogging and programming, what begins in his dorm room soon becomes a global social network and a revolution in communication. A mere six years and 500 million friends later, Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest billionaire in history, but for this entrepreneur, success leads to both personal and legal complications. I'll start with Wow! I mean... WOW! “The Social Network” was so superbly-crafted, so ingeniously impressive and so overwhelmingly entertaining, I could barely blink while watching this remarkable film. Led by furious dialogues full of wit, interesting characters, brisk pacing and clever editing, there is so much to like about this film even from the beginning. As "The Social Network" progresses, the story becomes more and more gripping and absorbing, the dialogues - wittier, smarter and funnier, and the intrigue escalates tremendously, as the story goes far beyond just the creation of Facebook, moving into deeper ground. "The Social Network" also perfectly captures the essence of the modern world we live in, and today's younger generation, where technology and internet play big part in our daily activities and social life. Visually, and on a technical level, "The Social Network" never fails to impress. Fincher's direction is pitch-perfect - the camera work is flawless, and the camera angles are creative, varied, and thoroughly effective. The editing is sharp and dynamic, and it helps the story to move briskly from one great scene to another. Cinematogprapher's choices are also admirable - he uses a soft and subtle golden tint and low-key lighting, that pleases the eye, but also a brighter bluish tint in some of the scenes, in order to stimulate viewer's visual senses even more. Donald Graham Burt's production design is nothing short of fascinating, making Harvard look more posh and beautiful than ever. Plus, the soundtrack is fantastically upbeat, as it includes a diverse range of electronic melodies and amazing house tracks. Performance-wise, "The Social Network" truly delivers! Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg is definitely the highlight of this film, as he commands the screen with his charismatic presence and charming awkwardness. Ironically, his character lacks social skills, but he compensates with innovative thinking, razor-sharp cleverness and strange, unexplainable likability. Andrew Garfield as the other protagonist, Eduardo Saverin, gives an incredibly mature and competent performance, and I predict a great acting career for him. Although I'm not a big fan of Justin Timberlake, I have to admit that he is simply incredible here - he's not only charming and physically captivating, but it's obvious that his acting skills has improved enormously. The gorgeous Armie Hammer, perfectly-cast as the twins, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, also does a great job - not only his characters look sophisticated and expensive head to toe, but they're extremely well-portrayed and believable. Marvellously-written, masterfully-directed, sharply-edited, and hugely engrossing, "The Social Network" is hands down the best movie of the year so far, a true masterpiece of modern cinema, and one of Fincher's finest achievements along with "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", "Fight Club" and "Se7en".

• My Rating: 9.75/10
• Rotten Tomatoes: 97% (9.0/10)
• IMDb: 8.5/10

[7.00/10] Catfish (2010)

Catfish (2010)

An unexpected odyssey unfolds after a filmmaker's brother, Nev Schulman, begins receiving unusually advanced paintings from a supposedly 8-year-old girl, in this documentary from filmmakers Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman. Although the creators of this film claim that it is "100 percent real", and it often feels and looks like it's 100% real, "Catfish"'s authenticity somehow remains questionable to me. Nevertheless, this is an engrossing, clever and kinda unique documentary and probably one of the saddest and most twisted love stories I've seen in a while. I won't spoil anything from the story, becuase this weird journey is best experienced with Nev Schulman himslef, and the less you know about this film the better. "Catfish" is astounding in many ways, most of which cannot be said without revealing the end, but I have to say that as the movie progresses, the mystery behind the story becumes more and more intriguing, and once the pieces of the puzzle are put together, "Catfish" turns into a very emotional, sad and moving story. Technically, the film doesn't really shines, due to the fact that it's shot entirely with hand-held camera - there are no special effects gimmicks or intense music score, and yet, the film effective in its simplicity. Although it's executed on an amateurish level, "Catfish" is extremely well-photographed and impressively-edited. Moving, thought-provoking, effective and thoroughly absorbing, "Catfish" is probably like nothing you've seen before, and it certainly opens people's eyes to the truth about the mega-popular Facebook and other social networks, because it tells a story, that could actually happen in real life.

• My Rating: 7.00/10
• Rotten Tomatoes: 78% (6.9/10)
• IMDb: 7.0/10

[5.25/10] The Switch (2010)

The Switch (2010)

"The Switch" centers on a neurotic and insecure man, who finds out his best friend wants to have a child through artificial insemination. He surreptitiously replaces her donor's semen with his own and is then forced to live with the secret that he is the child's real father. Unfortunately, the latest 'dramedy' starring Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman is nothing special. Despite it has a good premise, sympathetic characters and engaging cast, "The Switch" falls short, as it suffers from cliche-ridden, alsmost joyless script and weird humor that rarely works. Jason Bateman delivers an above average performance as the insecure, confused and oddly charming Wally, though I like him much better as a dramatic actor rather as a comedian, because I've always thought that as a comedian he's either mildly funny or not funny at all. Thankfully, his performance here skilfully blends comedy with drama, and the result is rather satisfying. Jennifer Aniston is sweet as always and she turns out a decent performance as Kassie, though her role in this film isn't very major or very important. Sadly, there isn't any real chemistry between Aniston and Bateman, and don't make a believable couple. Thomas Robinson's character Sebastian is my favorite - he's adorable, smart and delightfully weird, and the relationship between him and Wally feels absolutely sincere. Juliette Lewis is cute, funny and eccentric as usual, and she steals the show everytime she's on screen. Technically, "The Switch" is average at best - the pacing is smooth, the editing is finely done and, Gordon and Speck's direction is good, though a bit unimpressive. By-the-numbers and occasionally entertaining, yet well-acted and pretty watchable, "The Switch" is an okay hybrid of comedy and drama, that certainly has its moments, but it lacks big laughs and comedic value.

• My Rating: 5.25/10
• Rotten Tomatoes: 51% (5.5/10)
• IMDb: 5.9/10

[5.50/10] Step Up 3D (2010)

Step Up 3D (2010)

In the third installment of the "Step Up" franchise, a tight-knit group of street dancers, including Luke and Natalie, team up with NYU freshman Moose, and find themselves pitted against the world’s best breakdancers in a high-stakes showdown that will change their lives forever. "Step Up 3D" has self-proclaimed itself as the first ever 3D dance drama, but in fact, "StreetDance 3D", a slightly better British flick, which was released on May 21 this year, takes the crown as the first 3D dance movie ever. Anyway, that's not of a big importance to me, since I saw the ordinary 2D version of both films. "Step Up 3D" doesn't have much to offer, except for a bunch of crisply-choreographed dance routines that never fail to entertain, and a wonderfully upbeat music score, that is a joy to listen. The plot is your typical predictable 'dance movie' story, filled with countless cliches, nonsensical dialogues and stereotypical characters, but nevertheless the film is often fun to watch, and it does manage to entertain throughout its running time. Acting-wise, "Step Up 3D" is pretty decent. Adam G. Sevani as Moose is not only adorable, but he's the real star of the movie, as he lightens up the screen everytime he appears. Alyson Stoner as Moose's best friend, Camille, has a very minor role here, but she's probably the most likable character in the movie. The gorgeous-looking Sharni Vinson and Rick Malambri give passable performances as the two leads and they share good on-screen chemistry, and their romance feels believable. Also, the film featuers "So You Think You Can Dance" star Twitch, who does an admireable job, although he's not an actual actor, but just an incredible dancer. "Step Up 3D" is all about the dancing, and this is the area where the film mostly succeeds. The dance choreography ranges from spectaculat to decent, but the routines are always engaging, quite effective and a pure joy to watch. Shallow, yet fun, fairly entertaining and impressively-choreographed, "Step Up 3D" is definitely a notch above its mediocre predecessor "Step Up 2: The Streets".

• My Rating: 5.50/10
• Rotten Tomatoes: 48% (5.1/10)
• IMDb: 4.9/10

[5.75/10] Alpha and Omega (2010)

Alpha and Omega (2010)

Crest Studios' latest animated adventure "Alpha and Omega" tells the story of two mismatched wolves, Kate and Humphrey, who embark on a cross-country quest to get back home and restore peace in their pack after being relocated thousands of miles away by well-meaning park rangers. With such an amazing flicks as "How to Train Your Dragon" and "Toy Story 3", 2010 has proven itself as quite a strong year for animation, and while "Alpha and Omega" doesn't fall in the same league as the above mentioned, it's a fun and decently-crafted animated flick that is actually pretty enjoyable to watch. The story isn't anything groundbreaking or very innovative, but it's adventurous, dynamic and never boring, and there are a few scenes that are so genuinely hilarious, that you just can't help but laugh out loud. Kate and Humphrey, the two main characters are likable and very sympathetic, and both, Justin Long and Hayden Panettierean, do an excellent job on bringing these charming wolves to life. The secondary characters are also interesting to watch - Garth provides most of the laughs, and Kate's little sister, Lilly, is simply adorable. Visually, "Alpha and Omega" is rather average. The CGI work looks a bit clumsy and not polished enough, but the use of color in the scenery is absolutely incredible - the color palette is bright, vivid and richly saturated, and it's a feast for the eye. Unfortunately, I can't comment on the 3D effects, since I watched this flick in an old-fashioned 2D. Overall, "Alpha and Omega" is joyous, fast-paced and engaging, yet ultimately forgettable and clumsily-animated flick, that comfortly falls into the 'average' category.

• My Rating: 5.75/10
• Rotten Tomatoes: 14% (4.2/10)
• IMDb: 3.6/10

[5.50/10] The Tortured (2010)

The Tortured (2010)

When the son of young couple, Elise and Craig (Christensen and Metcalfe, respectively), is abducted and murdered by a sexual deviant by the name of John Kozlowski (Moseley), the grieving parents are enraged when he is granted a lesser sentence in return for information on where... more

"The Tortured" revolves around Elise and Craig, young couple who's son is abducted and murdered by a sexual deviant by the name of John Kozlowski. The grieving parents are enraged when he is granted a lesser sentence in return for information on where his remaining victims are buried. Struggling to come to terms with the injustice, the couple decide that the best way to alleviate their pain is to inflict as much as possible upon the monster responsible. "The Tortured" is by no means a bad movie - it delivers exactly what it promises, but its main problem is that it lacks originality and the 'revenge' theme is just not believable enough. Otherwise, the film has a fairly good script, a couple of decent performances and pretty unexpected and completely satisfying twist ending, that doesn't disappoint. Except for the final part, the plot is pretty standard and quite straightforward, and the story unfolds without many surprises along the way. It actually reminded me a lot of another Canadian 'revenge' flick "7 Days", which plot was pretty similar. Jesse Metcalfe and Erika Christensen as the two protagonists and sorrowing parents give credible performances, although they both look so nice and deary, it's somehow hard to believe that they're capable of doing such terrible things as kidnapping and cruel torturing. Bill Moseley is also passable, though he barely speaks in this film, and his performance consists mostly moaning and screaming. The torture scenes themselves, while not too gory or over-the-top, are quite uncomfortable to watch, as they're surprisingly sadistic and brutal. Overall, "The Tortured" is neither great nor bad - it's watchable and entertaining enough, though not especially ingenious, apart from the ending.

• My Rating: 5.50/10
• Rotten Tomatoes: 0% (2 Reviews)
• IMDb: 5.8/10

[3.75/10] Macabre (2009)

Macabre (2009)

"Macabre" is an Indonesian slasher flick that involves a group friends on a late-night drive to Jakarta, who stop for a young woman who claims to have been robbed. She invites the group to dinner at a stately mansion with her peculiar relatives, and the friends soon realize that they may have stumbled into their doom. "Macabre" tries hard to be shocking, disturbing and outrageously grotesque, but fails miserably to be all that, as it offers nothing more than flat and undeveloped characters, uninteresting villains and, of course, buckets of gore. Simply put, it brings absolutely noting new to the table. Its plot is build on tired 'horror' cliches, and there's not a single original moment in the entire movie. Plus, it shamelessly borrows ideas from many other good and not that good slasher movies, which makes it even less intriguing, simply because we've seen it all before. The victims are portrayed as total dummies who make completely stupid and illogical decisions for no other reason than to to set themselves up for gruesome deaths. They're so undeveloped, that it's hard to feel sympathy for any of them or to care if they die or not. Shareefa Daanish as the monotonously speaking cold-faced mother, Dara, is supposed to be creepy and disturbing, but in fact, she's just an unbelievably bland and silly-looking villain that ultimately fails to terrify and has a very little or no impact at all. The other villains, Maya and her brother, are just too sweet and good-looking to be scary or to be taken seriously. Gore is the only area where "Macabre" succeeds. Death scenes and the splattery gore effects are well done, nasty and very graphic - gore fans will be in heaven. Un-scary, formulaic and surprisingly boring, "Macabre" is a slasher gorefest at its worst.

• My Rating: 3.75/10
• Rotten Tomatoes: N/A
• IMDb: 6.2/10

[6.50/10] Winter's Bone (2010)

Winter's Bone (2010)

Short review: Based on Daniel Woodrell's novel of the same name, "Winter's Bone" tells the story of Ree Dolly, a gutsy teenager, who after facing the loss of her home and siblings, sets out on a dangerous quest to learn the fate of her missing father. While this is an emotionally powerful and truly sad film, its painfully slow pacing, muddled direction, and grim and often depressing settings, make it quite difficult to watch and, unfortunately, not a very pleasant experience. Although the story is slightly overcomplicated and rather confusing at times, and the poverty subject is quite oppressive, "Winter's Bone" is fairly interesting and suspenseful drama, that succeeds in evoking emotions, and makes the viewer feel connected with the characters and their struggles. "Winter's Bone" is driven by Jennifer Lawrence's character, Ree Dolly, and she's certainly the highlight of this film. Lawrence's performance is incredibly strong - she shines in every scene and she's thoroughly believable and engaging as the vulnerable, yet fearless main heroine. John Hawkes and Dale Dickey also deliver fine performances. The visual style reflects the mood of the film quite well - the low-key cinematography by Michael McDonough is murky and quite grim, yet somewhat beautiful in its own way, and the music score is pretty haunting. Overall, "Winter's Bone" is sad and painfully slow-moving, yet absorbing and truly moving drama that has a very realistic feeling to it and often manages to impact the viewer emotionally.

• My Rating: 6.50/10
• Rotten Tomatoes: 94% (8.4/10)
• IMDb: 7.8/10

[8.00/10] Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame (2010)

Di Renjie

a.k.a.

Detective Dee and the Mystery of
the Phantom Flame (2010)

Set during the reign of China’s first female Emperor, Wu Zetian, "Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame" revolves around a series of inexplicable spontaneous combustions that have killed dignitaries. Feeling threatened by the mysterious deaths, the Empress Wu sends for Detective Dee, whom she had ordered to be arrested and imprisoned eight years before, after he criticized her grab for power. Dee is an unlikely candidate to be at the court of the Empress, but he is also the only one capable of solving the mysteries. Vietnamese-born Tsui Hark is very much a 'hit and miss' director. He has a long list of films behind him, of which "Once Upon a Time in China" series and "The Blade" are arguably the best and most successful, and "The Legend of Zu" and "Black Mask 2: City of Masks" are probably his weakest efforts. Fortunately, Hark's latest big-budget martial arts/fantasy/mystery hybrid, "Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame", is not only a feast for the eyes, but also quite intriguing to watch. Although the film has some slight pacing problems and a few plot holes here and there, the story is overall well-structured and consistently engrossing, and the mystery keeps you guessing through most of the story. Plus, "Detective Dee" is probably the most sumptuous, most beautiful and most stunning-looking movie of 2010. Visually, the film succeeds boldly, thanks to production designer Sung Pong Choo and cinematographers Chi Ying Chan and Chor Keung Chan. The settings are lush, picturesque and wonderfully-created, without being over-the-top, and the art direction is top-notch. Tsui Hark is full of creative ideas and imagination and it shows - here, his camera shots are well-planned, inventive and rather effective. The action choreography, by martial arts superstar Sammo Hung, while certainly not first-rate, is dynamic and thrilling enough. There are a couple of great fights and a couple of a very unimpressive ones, probably due to the fact that Hung was "forced" by Tsui Hark to work as an action director on "Detective Dee". One of my favorite Asian actors, Andy Lau, brings a lot of charisma to the title character. He gives another strong performance and makes Detective Dee a very engaging and sympathetic protagonist. Carina Lau also turns in a great performance as Empress Wu, as she acts really convincing and has an incredibly strong screen presence. Li Bingbin, best known to the Western audience as the white-haired Ni Chang from "The Forbidden Kingdom", is not only pretty, but also does a good job portraying her character, Shangguan Wan'er. Spectacularly-lavish, hugely-engrossing and often magical, "Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame" delivers a perfect combination of dazzling visuals, enthralling story and interesting characters, and proves that Tsui Hark is back on top form.

• My Rating: 8.00/10
• Rotten Tomatoes: 100% (1 Review)
• IMDb: 6.9/10