DOA: Dead or Alive (2006)

DOA: Dead or Alive (2006)

Director: Corey Yuen

Writer: J.F. Lawton, Adam Gross

Starring: Jaime Pressly, Devin Aoki, Holly Valance

Cinematography: Chi Yin Chan, Kwok-Man Keung

Editor: Ka-fei Cheung, Eddie Hamilton, Angie Lam

I was really bored one day while on YouTube, so I decided that I would watch this movie which I randomly found.

Based on a video game, the movie about this random martial arts tournament that three women (Pressly, Aoki, and Valance) as well as many others are invited to. Every character has their own agendas and they must work together to achieve them, especially after they find out a far more sinister plot.

Writing

2.0/5.0

Two dimensional-characters and enough plot holes it could have been written on Swiss cheese. The story was completely in understandable. Also, the fact that completely random battles were part of the plot...anyway, very awful. It basically is cheap porn combined with cliched battles.

Directing

3.0/5.0

The fancy camera angles are fun at first, but then get ridiculous after the first 15 minutes or so.

Acting

1.0/5.0

I guess it makes sense for the actors to be playing two-dimensional characters two-dimensionally, but I still laughed at the acting the entire movie. They are unbelivable and unrealistic. They all ham it up.

Cinematography/Sound

2.5/5.0

Basically done like a porno. Not very interesting.

Editing

1.0/5.0

The editing actually made me sick. It cut randomly and I could not tell what was going on for a lot of it.

Overall

38%

Conclusion

Not worth paying for, but it works for a good laugh, and you might even like it if you're really tired. Or drunk.

Sorry

I haven't written reviews in a while. No excuse. But I'm going to write a couple right now. I'm also starting putting in a conclusion where I write my basic opinions about the movie.

No Country for Old Men (2007)

No Country for Old Men (2007)

Director: The Coen Bros.

Writer: The Coen Bros. (based on a novel by Cormac McCarthy)

Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin

Director of Photography: Roger Deakins

When a small time hunter (Brolin) from a tiny town in Texas witnesses the aftermath of a drug-deal gone wrong, he takes the money from a dead man. This leads him to be stalked by a ruthless killer (Bardem) while the old sheriff of a small town (Jones) tries to piece it all together.

Writing

5.0/5.0

Brilliantly written! A gripping plot, with fast-paced action, amazing characters, and intense dialouge.

Directing

4.5/5.0

The Coen brothers do it again! They bring this story to life with clever camera angles and set the mood to increase the tension.

Acting

5.0/5.0

Bardem stunningly plays a ruthless killer, allowing you to empathize with him even with his lack of postive qualities. Jones and Brolin also do a fantastic job.

Cinematography/Sound

4.0/5.0

Stunning panoramic shots, eerie shadows and brilliant use of reflections.

Editing

4.0/5.0

Cuts together well, using quick shots in the action-packed parts, and slow but still intense shots during the slow parts.

Overall

90%

One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

Director: Milos Forman

Writer: Laurence Hauben & Bo Goldman (based on a novel by Ken Kesey)

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher

Director of Photography: Haskell Wexler

Editor: Sheldon Kahn, Lynzee Klingman

When a new patient (Nicholson) is commited to a mental institution with a incompitent and opressive head nurse (Fletcher) he chooses the rally the patients and rebel against the authority of the nurses and guards.

Writing

4.5/5.0

The expostion was done well, and the climax and resolution were well written, but the movie felt slow in the third act. Also, changing the point of view of the story to Nicholson's character changed the whole feel of the story.

Directing

4.0/5.0

Forman really portrays the craziness of the whole situation, as well as the characters by using quick, unfocused shots and plain set-ups. However, the constant fast zooming was very distracting.

Acting

4.5/5.0

Nicholson and Fletcher spar brilliantly together, and the supporting cast including Dany Devito, Will Sampson, and Scatman Crothers support them and add both comic relief and tragic drama to the film.

Cinematograpy/Sound

3.5/5.0

Dissapointly average from such a famous DP. The sound, however, was brilliant. During the loud parts you can feel the panic that some of the characters feel, as the yelling becomes inunderstandable and nerve-wracking.

Editing

4.0/5.0

Kahn and Klingman really capture the mood using quick cuts when focusing on the "crazy" people and slow, even shots when the nurses and guards are the center of attention. Also, they really increase the feeling of tension during the exciting moments.

Overall

82%

A Word About my Grading System

I recently gave There Will be Blood an 88%. This was a really good movie. An 88% is a very high review. To give you something to compare it to: The Godfather, which is one of my favorite movies of all time, would probably get around a 90%.

There Will be Blood (2007)

There Will be Blood (2007)

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Writer: Paul Thomas Anderson (based on a novel by Upton Sinclair)

Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Dillon Freasier

Director of Photography: Robert Elswit

Editor: Dylan Tichenor

Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) is a small-time oil miner with a young adopted son. When he stumbles onto a fairly large oil mine, he makes enough money to try to start his own...

9 years later, he and his son are working on their own mines, when a young boy, Paul Sunday (Paul Dano, who also plays his twin brother, the very religious Eli Sunday) comes and tells him, for a price, where he can find an oil mine. And Daniel does find it, and make his fortune. But money can lead to greed. And greed can lead to murder.

Writing

4.0/5.0

Although a very intriguing story, it dragged a little in some parts. But the characterizations were extremley strong, the foreshadowing was evident, and the subtext was amazing. As we see how much Daniel hates religion and everything associated with it, we can assume that he had a religion-filled childhood, which he did not enjoy.

Directing

4.5/5.0

Brilliantly done! Anderson really manages to make every situation suspenseful and exciting, and brings every character to life.

Acting

5.0/5.0

Day-Lewis does a magnificant job as Daniel, making us hate him and sympathize with him at the same time. Also, the actor that played young HW, (Dillon Freasier in his first performance) did a surprizingly spectacular performance, as well as Paul Dano as Eli.

Cinematography/Sound

5.0/5.0

Brilliant! The shadows dancing across Daniel's face, the fire burning up the towers, everything was brilliant. The sound was also amazing. It's eerie when you hear the baby's crying coincide with the sound of the oil drill, or hearing the eerie music under the choirs singing "What a Friend we Have in Jesus".

Editing

3.5/5.0

Nothing great, maybe a little above average.

Overall

88%

Oscar Binge

I'm going to be starting my mini Oscar Binge today. In the time before the Oscars are shown, I want to see Juno, There Will be Blood, No Country for Old Men, and perhaps Michael Clayton. Atonement doesn't really interest me. I've already seen Sweeny Todd and Charlie Wilson's War.

Anyway, in about 30 seconds I'm leaving to see TWBB. I'll write about it in a couple hours.

The Illusionist (2006)

The Illusionist (2006)

Director: Neil Burger

Writer: Neil Burger (based on a short story by Steven Millhauser)

Starring: Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti, Jessica Biel, Rufus Sewell

Director of Photography: Dick Pope

Editor: Naomi Geraghty

The Illusionist starts in Vienna in the late 1800's where the son of a carpenter becomes a magician after being entranced by an old man's tricks. While practicing, he meets a young girl, Sophie, who he falls in love with immidiatley. But Sophie is a duchess, and he is a peasant. They are torn away from each other, forbidden to speak. And, in his grief, this young man decides to travel the world, learning magic from the masters.

Fifteen years later, the now adult magician (Norton) has returned to Vienna, calling himself Eisenheim the Illusionist. And when he meets up with Sophie (Biel), now engaged to the corrupt Prince Leopold (Sewell) there relationship starts anew. But soon the prince becomes angry and suspicious of Eisenheim, and sends Chief Inspector Uhl (Giamatti) to try to arrest him for something. Soon, murder is committed, suspects are accused, and questions are left unanswered. But just remember: nothing is what it seems.

Writing

3.5/5.0

Although a very interesting screenplay, it had slightly cliched dialouge and characters. Also, the exposition was poorly done, with Uhl basically telling Eisenheim's entire life story to the Prince in voice overs done over predictable events. But this is mostly made up for by the brilliant storyline, including the surprizing twist ending.

Directing

3.5/5.0

Burger uses interesting camera angles, shadows, and light to bring life to the actors performance, and suspense into the climactic moments. You will be amazed when you see Eisenheim raise the dead, grow an orange tree in seconds, and even disappear into thin air.

Acting

4.0/5.0

The actors who played young Eisenheim and Sophie were awful. I laughed when she begged him "Make me disappear" and guffawed when they screamed for each other. Their performance was over-the-top and dry, completley cliche, and totally boring.

The others, on the otherhand, were brilliant. Giamatti once again shows what an amazing actor he is, as do Norton, Biel, Sewell, and indeed all the cast. A tremendous performance from all of them, especially Giamatti.

Cinematography/Sound

4.5/5.0

Pope brings life to the screen, showing the true "smoke and mirrors" of magic. The shadows creep across the screen, the smoke covers the stage, and you really believe that you are at a magic show. A stupendous job!

Nothing special or wrong with the sound.

Editing

2.5/5.0

The editing was really nothing special. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't especially excellent. However, the circle wipes were distracing, pointless, and random. A complete blunder by whoever chose to do so.

Overall

72%

How I will Judge Movies

I'm going to take what I think to be the five main crafts of filmmaking and judge them seperatley on a 5 star system. Then, I will give my overall rating in terms of a percent. The five key things I will be looking at are:

1) Writing
2) Directing
3) Acting
4) Editing
5) Cinematography/Sound

In this case, cinematography will include costume, makeup, sets, etc. All the elements that make a film look the way it does. I also include sound because it is not a big enough category to be considered by itself, and also involves how the audience experiences the film. In some movies in won't apply.

Welcome

Welcome to Rockslide Productions: Movies and Reviews!

In this blog, I will release to you the movies that I make, as well as give reviews to movies that I see. It should be a lot of fun, and I'll try to update it regurally, even in the likely circumstance that nobody reads it.

--S.F.