The Paperboy REVIEW

The Motion Picture Buff would like to present a review for the 2012 film, The Paperboy. In this film a newspaper writer returns home to investigate a case with a victim on death row. This film stars Nicole Kidman, Zac Efron, Matthew McConaughey, and John Cusack.

This is a tough film to review to be honest. The first thing I want to mention I suppose is the fact that this movie has an amazing cast. As per mentioned above the cast is pretty darn incredible. They aren't just a good cast, they have amazing characters to portray and they portray each role perfectly. Who really stands out in this movie is Zac Efron though. Zac Efron plays Jack Jansen in the film who is love with Nicole Kidman's character, Charlotte Bless, who is a 40 year old woman married to the prisoner who is on death row, played by John Cusack. They way Zac looks at Nicole in this movie is just perfect. You can see it in his eyes that he is really in love with this woman, and he would do anything for her, which he does. I also do want to mention John Cusack's performance in this movie. I have never seen John play a bad guy really before, and honestly I don't think I could have ever seen him play one. In this movie though John Cusack plays a complete jackass and pervert. He does it perfectly as well, I was literally disgusted with this character.

Now the tough part to review for this movie is the story/screenplay. The plot of this movie is actually quite intriguing. I was always interested in this movie and the movie did a good job with it. I like how the two brothers get along together and work together to solve the crime. At the same time I like how Zac's character falls in love with Nicole's character. I think it just adds a great element to the film. What was annoying about this movie though was that it was extremely slow and the screenplay seems just sloppy. There are points in the movie where I lost interest and started working on other things, like my homework. Whenever that happens in a movie, I think the movie is just way worse. I like a movie way more when it can keep me hooked the whole way through instead of losing and gaining interest on and off.

So there are a few things I would like to mention before I wrap up this review. These few things would include the cinematography of the film, the beginning of the movie, the narration. Starting off the cinematography in this movie is actually pretty darn good. I like the look and feel of this movie is just perfect for the time zone of this movie. Now in the beginning of this movie it starts off with Zac's character narrating the story, and throughout the film we will catch her narrating the whole thing. I really did enjoy this in the movie because it works for the whole feel of the movie. It kind of works in with how Matthew's character is trying to solve a case. It just feels right for the movie.

Wrapping up this review I will say that The Paperboy is an enjoyable film that works perfectly for a rainy day. It has a great cast that create great characters that you will care for and root for in the end. For the ratings I will give this movie a rent worthy rating, only that though. I am glad I did not buy this movie because it is only worth watching once. You will enjoy it though, that is for sure. Now for the rating out of ten stars I will have to give, The Paperboy, a 7/10 star rating. 

Well I hope you have enjoyed this review of The Paperboy. It isn't my best work, but this movie to be honest was hard to review. Anyway I plan on doing a couple more reviews today to catch up on my list that I have. Make sure you stay tuned for them and for more . . . coming soon.

Noah Mark Bitney

The Departed REVIEW

Well the "Motion Picture Buff" would like to finally present the review for his favorite film EVER (so far at least. I would like to present the review for Martin Scorsese's "The Departed." In this film there are two people leading undercover lives. One is from the mob and is undercover in with the cops, and the other is a cop undercover in the mob. In this film we get violence and war between the two sides when both people are trying to find their enemies.

Well as this film is my number one film, all I have to say about it is positive things. This movie I am going to have to say is just perfect in every single way. Shall we start with the acting from this film? I knew Leonardo DiCaprio was an amazing actor from the film "Titanic" but I never thought he was this awesome. He pulls of the performance of a lifetime in this film. When his character is scared in the film you feel him being scared. When he is sad you feel him being sad. Leonardo just pulls of this character with precision. What really bugs me was that he never even got nominated for his performance. Then there is Matt Damon who does the same thing Leo does. Just gives an all-star performance. Then we have Jack Nicholson in this film as well, and let me just say he was born to play his role in this film. He could 100% be a mob boss after this film. In this film we also have Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone, Vera Farmiga, Anthony Anderson, and much more. Every single actor in this film does a GREAT job with their performance. I loved them all so much. For that you also have to give the director Martin Scorsese some credit too. He was the one who had to bring out all the talent in this amazing cast. On top of that he also had to create an amazing movie which he did. The action and intense scenes were all just fantastic, GREAT job Martin. You really know how to direct a film. The screenplay of this film was done by Alan Mak, Felix Chong, and William Monahan. GREAT JOB with it guys. I love it, you had a great premise and a great story and you created my favorite film with it.   You had amazing and EXTREMELY unpredictable twists within the film. Some of them might have angered me but they were unpredictable and that is what I really love. The look and feel of the film was great and just kept you there on the edge of your seat wanting more and more. I remember watching this film for the first time and I just fell in love with it. The score I also wanted to mention. I thought it was extremely well done and it really added elements to certain scenes. So good job Howard Shore.

So why is this my NUMBER ONE favorite movie of all time? Well because it has an amazing cast that does a fantastic job with their parts. The story is just intriguing as all hell and it is full of surprises. All I can say is expect the unexpected when it comes to this film. Oh and be prepared to watch it more than once.

So all-in-all this film is FANTASTIC and is the number one film on my TOP TEN list. I am giving it a FOR SURE Blu-ray buy worthy and a great popcorn flick with friends. It is of course a must-see film. As for the rating out of five, I am actually going to do something different here and give "The Departed" a 6/5 rating. It is just that good. 

Well thanks for reading and I really hope you enjoyed this review. I exceptionally hope that if you haven't seen this movie that you go buy it now and enjoy it over and over again. Thanks again and stay tuned for more . . . coming soon.

The Motion Picture Buff

Zombieland REVIEW

The "Motion Picture Buff" would like to present a review for the movie, "Zombieland." In this film a home-bound college student, a master of arms tough guy on a quest to find a Twinkie, and two sisters on there way to an amusement park team up together to travel across a zombie infested America.

Well I had no hopes for this film. Lets just say I thought the whole thing was going to be a joke, gladly I was actually surprised to fine out that I loved this film very much.This film was extremely enjoyable, here are the reasons why. The whole story line was just great. I was engaged in the film the whole time, wanting more and more. All of the characters stories in this film you actually cared about, and the people playing the characters did a great job. This films main cast includes Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin. I thought each and every one of them did fantastic. Woody Harrelson really did steal the show though with his performance. Another thing this film had going for itself was that the humor in this film was actually enjoyable. I loved it, the funny parts made me laugh and it wasn't over-the-top funny. "I haven't cried like that since 'Titanic.'" Thought I would slip that in there. I did like the direction of the film, I thought Ruben Fleischer did a good job with it. I like when Jesse's character did one of his rules that it would pop up on the screen with a neat effect. Speaking of effects though I loved the looks of the zombie's. I also enjoyed how they didn't use the generic zombie where they hold there arms out and walk slowly. In this movie they sprint and I thought that made it more realistic (even thought the whole thing really isn't). Now the look of the film I also enjoyed. Cinematographer Micheal Bonvillian, was at the helm of this movie's cinematography and I thought he captured the film in a unique way. So yes in the end I did enjoy this film, it kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time.

Though I do have some negatives to add to this review of, "Zombieland." Firstly (and mainly) I want to talk about the flow of the movie. I felt like this movie just flowed to quickly. It is about an hour and a half long, but I still think for a movie that it was fast-paced. It is like one thing is happening, but then little break and then WHAM on to the next thing. The ending I really didn't enjoy to much either. It left a lot of unanswered questions and things that could have used a bit of more explaining. I think that was about it though.

So all-in-all for being a somewhat of a horror film, I actually enjoyed it very much. I am going to have to give it a DVD buy worthy rating along with popcorn flick. You and your friends will definitely enjoy this film on a halloween movie night. As for the rating out of five, "Zombieland" will get a 3.5/5 rating.

Well thanks for reading this review of "Zombieland." I am hoping that you enjoyed it and will tune back in for more reviews. Do make sure you subscribe by email (in the sidebar) as to not miss my next post. By subscribing you will be emailed when I upload my next post. Make sure you also hit that like button. Now thanks again and stay tuned for more reviews of motion pictures . . . coming soon.

The Motion Picture Buff

Dredd 3D REVIEW

The "Motion Picture Buff" would like to present a review for the reboot film "Dredd 3D." In this film we are put into a violent futuristic city, where cops have the authority to act as judge, jury, and the executioner. "The" Judge Dredd teams with a rookie judge to take down a gang that deals a reality-altering drug called, SLOW-MO!

Well positives of "Dredd 3D?" A ton, it may surprise you because it sure as hell surprised me when I watched this film. Lets start differently though with this review instead of acting first lets talk about the plot, story, and screenplay first. Well they were all really great. The dialogue in the movie was fantastic and the story lined flowed seamlessly. I loved it so much, it will 100% keep you interested the whole way. So props to Alex Garland for writing the screenplay for this film. Moving on I did like the action scenes in this film. They were done great and they did not seem rushed which makes good action scenes. I do want to also mention that they weren't over the top either, they were just great. The props for that goes to director Pete Travis. He also did a good job with the entire film, I really enjoyed the ride this film gave me. I was on the edge of my seat the whole way. Next thing I am going to mention is the soundtrack which for this film was helmed by Paul Leonard-Morgan. I thought it really helped add something to the movie, and I really did enjoy it. The acting in this film though now? Well Karl Urban was GREAT as Judge Dredd. His performance was great and his voice fit the character perfectly. Olivia Thirlby as Anderson was also great. She did a really good job at becoming her character I believe. Then there is the lady who play, Ma-Ma. Lena Heady was outstanding as her. Probably one of the greatest actress to play a villain. I loved her performance, and it was hard to believe that it was actually her. Great job. One more thing to mention is that the 3D was very good, I did enjoy it in 3D. That is always a plus since it is $10 a ticket.

Well I do now have a few negatives with this film. First of all the parts where they used slow motion capture to show the drug, SLOW-MO. All the scenes they used it with were great, but they over used it in that scene. I hope you get what I mean. Its just that they kept the slow-motion in the SLOW-MO scenes to long. The next thing was that the end seemed a little rush. It does it justice (pun intended) but it just seemed rushed. The last negative that I do want to mention is that the special effects in some scenes (with blood) were a little cheesy.

So all-in-all a VERY enjoyable film that I am going to say, "Shocked the hell out of me." I did expect it to suck, but in the end I shouldn't judge movies by their trailers. Whats "Dredd 3D" going to get? Well yes it is 100% a must-see film, a gory one at that but it is. When it comes to DVD and Blu-Ray . . . get it on Blu-Ray, it deserves it for sure. Oh and yes it is 150% a popcorn flick, it would be great for a movie night with friends. As for the rating out of five, "Dredd 3D" will get a 4/5 rating.

Well thanks for reading and I hope that you enjoyed this review of "Dredd 3D." Remember to click the "like" button in the sidebar to "like" the Motion Picture Buff on Facebook. I do want to (again as usual) say thanks for the continued support, and to make sure you stay tuned for more . . . coming soon.

The Motion Picture Buff

Inglorious Basterds REVIEW

The "Motion Picture Buff" would like to present a review for the film created by Quentin Tarantino, "Inglorious Basterds." In this film it takes you back to the time when the Nazi's occupied France. A group of Jewish solders plant to assassinate the leaders of the Nazi party, while they get some unexpected help from the owner of the theater where it all happens.

Well hm really you know how I have a TOP TEN LIST? Well when I extend it to the TOP FIFTEEN (which I will) this movie is 100% going to be on it! I am actually rethinking the list right now because this movie is absolutely amazing! The acting in this film from everyone is just SUBERB. The cast in this film includes: Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Micheal Fassbender, Diane Kruger, B. J. Novak, Mélanie Laurent, Eli Roth, Til Schweiger, and many more of course. Who I want to comment on in this review is Christoph Waltz's performance. This is (if I remember right) the first movie I have ever seen him in and he is now one of my favorite actors out there. Oh his performance is just phenomenal. He really became his character in this film. Apparently I wasn't the only one to think that wither because he did receive an Oscar for his performance in this film (2010 awards). So I thank you Christoph Waltz for an amazing performance. We move on now to the direction of the film . . . along with the screenplay because in this review the two co-inside with each other. They were great, the script was great and it was just a wonderful story. In this film they kept the dialogue true to the nationality of the character which I believe is great because it adds to the film and makes it somehow more enjoyable. As to not to give anything away about the plot I will not mention my favorite part about it, but lets just say this movie has some twists (if you have seen the film you will know what I am talking about). A thanks goes out to Quentin Tarantino for creating a GREAT film.  The costumes were great for they film, they really did a good job with setting up the stage for World War II time. The the last thing I really want to comment on is something I really wouldn't comment on, which is the cinematography. I thought I was very good for some reason in this film, and well I guess it was because it got nominated for an Oscar for that part of the film. Oh actually one last thing, I love the music in this film. For some reason I can't find who did the score but I loved the music that always played in the background.

The only negative things I could really say about "Inglorious Basterds" was the fact that it was a bit slow in some spots . . . other than that nothing! Oh wait there was this one guys performance in the film that I hated! Oh the guy who played Fredrick (Daniel Brühl) . . . I just feel like he did not fit the part.

So all-in-all I am pretty sure you can guess what this film will be getting? Well of course it is 150% a must-see film. I would have to say it is a tour-de-force too. "Inglorious Basterds" will also get a Blu-Ray buy worthy rating also. I do want to say though, "Fair warning this film is pretty gory. Which was something I did not expect!" Now on the scale out of five, "Inglorious Basterds" will get a 4.5/5 rating.

Well thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this review. Seems like it is a longer one? Oh well I hope you enjoyed it anyways. Now make sure you have subscribed by email in the sidebar, just wanted to mention that. Then you can be emailed when I update the blog next. Well stay tuned for more . . . coming soon.

The Motion Picture Buff

The Expendables REVIEW

The "Motion Picture Buff" would like to present a review for the feature film "The Expendables" starring and directed by Sylvester Stallone. This film is about a team of mercenaries who are given an assignment to take out a corporate military leader and a rouge CIA operative on a Latin American island.

So lets start out with the positives in today's review shall we? Well I thought this film did a great job at being a popcorn flick. I know that might be weird to say, but I feel like that is the sole purpose of this film. It is just for all of us to see our favorite action actors together in one movie. It does a good job at just entertaining the shit out of us. I want to say though that this movie did surprise me with actually having a relevant plot. I thought this movie was going to be literally all about the action, but it didn't it had something that was somewhat relevant. Now moving onto some of the acting within this film. I did enjoy Jason Statham in this movie. I thought he did a good job with his character, along with Jet Li.

I move onto the negatives now though because this film seemed to have quite a few of them. Lets start with the main guy Stallone. Ugh he is a good actor, but nope man I can barely understand what you are trying to say. Not a huge biggy but I think in a movie I shouldn't have to deal with trying to understand what someone is saying. I also want to point out that I felt like the movie was focused just upon Stallone. I mean sure there were some other scenes with Statham, but I feel like that was just an attempt at developing characters (attempt and I mean that, just an attempt). Otherwise the camera and story seems to evolve around Stallone.Then we move onto the plot. I said above I liked how this movie had a plot, but I never said I liked the plot. It just seemed to jumpy and a mess. Then the dialogue in this movie was just slow and just didn't seem natural. Then the action scenes in this film were awesome but way to over staged and the blood in this movie didn't even look real. I feel like with these actors who have been in loads of action movies, they could have unlocked there true potential but they didn't. The visual effects in this film aren't great at all. Almost anything that you can think of that would require visual effects, you can notice that they used visual effects. One more thing I do want to mention though, is that I fell like Stallone and all these other old action movie stars are just trying to relive there glory days. They just needed a better film.

So all-in-all I really didn't enjoy this movie a whole lot (my mind would wander off during the movie). I will say though that this movie would be a good popcorn flick for one night of watching movies. So if your having a movie night and thinking of movies to rent, these movie wouldn't be too bad of choice. It isn't anything special. Just something to watch and see some badass moves. For the rating out of five, I would have to give this film a two out of five though.

Well thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed this review of "The Expendables." I do want again to say thank you for helping me get over 1000 page views in exactly two months. I can believe it, to me this is truly amazing for me. I hope you continue to enjoy my posts of reviews for movies, and about the motion picture world. Make sure though you subscribe by email (in the sidebar) so you can be emailed when I upload a new post here. So stay tuned . . . for more.

The Motion Picture Buff