Reviews by Prelude

I'm baffled. Listal users have given this only a 7.7 average?? Did you guys even see this movie, or are you just rating it average because its a film about Hitler? This movie deals with the horror of the Nazi regime and takes place during the final days in Berlin, as Hitler is still defiant and insane and still thinks victory is possible. This movie is better made, more shocking, and sends a more powerful message than other films that deal with the horrors of WW2, such as Schindler's List, The Pianist, etc..

Some people have blasted this film for showing Hitler's human side. Well I have news for you, even though he was a monster, he still had a human side. He did love his dog. He did treat his personal secretary with respect. The film does show plenty of Hitler going insane, yelling at his generals and such, spewing his ideology, but if people were expecting him to run around, kicking his dog, raping women and killing children, sorry. This film is all about 100% accuracy.

Beautiful,stunning,shocking,breath-taking, riveting,tearful,emotional,mesmerizing. That about describes this film.

The story is extremely non-linear, I believe the most non-linear film i've ever seen, and it took my a good half hour to start to finally follow along the story, and definately requires multiple viewings because of this. Highly recommended.

The story is set in 1805, and Napoleon and his French empire have Europe in their grasp, and bloody and deadly battles occur between the British Royal Navy and Napoleon's warships. Russel Crowe is captain of a British frigate, and the plot revolves in his determination to pursue and destroy one of France's most powerful warship, which has faster speed and greater firepower than his ship. He chases the ship from the carrbean all the way south along South America, around the tip of Chile, and all the way back up to the Galapagos islands. The movie recreates the perils and dangers and thrill as well as sheer boredom of being out on a ship for months at a time, and the strategy and determination the captain shows in hunting down his French nemesis.

And Jason, 1 out of 10? Thats a bit harsh. True, the plot is fairly involved, but this isnt a hollywood-style action film with fly-over scenes, camera following cannonball all the way, and showing explosions galore. It shows instead the true side of naval warfare, and I think the director captured the uncertainty and suspense quite nicely.

I recommend this film for history buffs, as well as people that enjoy stories with a lot of depth.

Extremely overrated. I don't what it was, but for me, this movie felt too fake, too engineered. I believe it was designed from the beginning just to give Eastwood an Oscar. Design up a script with tearful and shocking moments, add in a hot-button political topic (such as morality of keeping someone alive or letting them die in peace), and then add an all-star cast. Voila. The perfect film for Oscar night. Yet i can't help but find it so artificial. And they spent WAY too much time in the film debating wether to let her die or keep her alive, that in the end, i just felt like ripping the plug out myself just so I can stop watching this film.

Plus the casting was way off. I just can't picture Hillary Swank with her enormous teeth being a female boxer. Those massive pearly whites wouldve been knocked out long ago.

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Pixar and Dreamworks, though they pioneered and mastered 3D animation, have also done a disservice to animation too. So many people think just because the 3D animation is top, that movie is the best. And because of that, traditional animation is now rare to find in animated feature films (Curious George is the only one that comes to mind), but also films that use quick'n'easy 3D animation such as Hoodwinked get blasted by critics for not matching up to Shrek or Toy Story.

That said, assuming you leave your CG bashing packed away, you will find an absolutely perfect film in Hoodwinked. Its great for both adults and kids alike. The entire movie is filled with great one-liners and jokes clearly aimed at adult audience, yet the plot and characters are so well made for kids, that my toddler usually chooses this movie rather than any Disney or Pixar DVD. In fact, the jokes are so damn funny that only Hoodwinked and the Shrek films are the only ones that I still find funny after a dozen repeated viewings that a toddler forces upon their parents. (If you have a toddler, you'll know how boring/annoying many of those Disney films get after multiple viewings).

Yeah, everyone can keep their jokes about 'but its just a stupid movie about penguins', but it shows just how lame Hollywood is these days when people would RATHER watch a bunch of penguins just living life, then to see another explosive-filled mindless heartless piece of hollywood trash.

This documentary is beautiful, heart warming, romantic, shocking, sad, and even at times a bit funny. And all you have to do is point the camera at penguins to achieve this. Nature is a masterpiece.

If you loved 'Super Troopers', you'll love this movie. If you hated it with a passion, then you'll also hate this movie with a passion. Both of those films are the types of comedies best watched with your buddies, or drunk, or stoned, or all 3 of those elements together. ;)

Regardless, I'm glad Jay Chandrasekhar returned to doing films with his 'Broken Lizards' gang of comic buddies. He tried to go mainstream with 'Dukes of Hazzard' and it just sucked.

oh, i almost forgot. plot of Beerfest? well, if you can call it a plot, LOL, basically, a bunch of buddies joing up to represent team USA in the annual Beerfest competition held secretly in Munich during Oktoberfest. Its a worldwide competition of Beer Olympics. Hilarity ensues. On a general movie scale, its probably just a 5/10 in terms of acting/story/etc, but in laughs rating, its a 7/10.

The film has a great storyline and quite a few comic elements and memorable quotes are found throughout this murder-mystery. Steve plays as an ex-mobster/con man who goes into a unique business that caters to the rich and powerful that want guarantees not be caught when they cheat on their husbands/wives. They pay him generously, and he and his team spin a web of lies and provide ironclad covers and alibis to keep their spouses from ever discovering their infidelities.

Business is good, and he recently hires a smart woman (Romjin) to help bring 'more brains' to his operations, but soon starts falling for her when he finds out she's brilliant AND sexy. It takes a bit before the plot gets introduced to the audience, but basically one of Steve's top clients, played by James Brolin, asks him to help out his son whose getting married but also has a mistress on the side. I guess like father, like son. Steve gives the son his own identity to help keep the fiancee off track, but when he gets a call at 3am from the son saying he accidentally killed his mistress during some rough S&M play, Steve needs to work his magic, not only to protect his business and client, but also his life, since some detectives as well as the dead girl's gang-member boyfriend are linking him with the girl's disappearance. And to further complicate things, Steve's past catches up with him as he finds out there is a $5 million bounty on the head of his former mob boss.

The plot is a lot more involved than typical hollywood fluff that's been dumbed down to the common denominator, and as such this film may require 2 or so viewings before all the twists and turns start to make sense. But for any fans of murder-mystery films that slso have some good dry humour in the mix, make sure to check out this hidden gem. And the film also showed me just how talented Steve Coogan is, and I'm going to look for his other films as well.

Jakub wakes up with a bad hangover from another night of booze and drugs, but to his horror, he sees a ton of cop cars below, outside his apartment building. He hears a knock on his door. He panics and starts flushing and hiding all his drugs, and after nervously opening his door, he realizes its his best friend, Radek, who has come to tell him some bad news. The cops are not there for him. His long-time childhood friend and a girl he's had a crush on since their families went to the lake when they were kids, Vera, lived a few floors below, and has been found dead in her apartment. Fear and panic turns to anger and pain as he and his friend Radek become determined to seek out Vera's killer when they find the cops have no leads or clues. The mystery takes them deep into the Prague underground scene.

Great muder-mystery flick, even with subtitles, its very watchable and riveting, and the story will keep you guessing all the way to the end. And I love how they show the other side of Prague that most tourists are not aware of.

You either love or hate Will Ferrell's comic style, and in my books, it doesnt get any funnier then when he's given a movie where he can just go nuts in.

Anchorman used to be my favorite Ferrell flick, so its easy to see that if you bring in the same director, cast Will as a crazy redneck NASCAR driver, add the insanely funny Sacha Baron Cohen of Ali G / Borat fame and cast him as a gay french nemesis driver from 'Formula Un', bring in Gary Cole from 'Office Space' fame and cast him as Bobby's deadbeat dad, and on top of it all, throw in an unexpected hilarious performance from John C. Reilly, and you have a comedy masterpiece on your hands.

Yeah, its ridiculous. Yeah, its crazy. Yeah, it's Will Ferrel at his best. Those scenes with Ferrel and Sacha yelling into each other's face had me in stitches. Or when Ferrel thought he was on fire, running around the track in his underwear. classic!