Hellish Busy

I'm so sorry but this is going to be very short. I'm so busy out of nowhere and I have no time to write the blog and actually I had no inspiration to write the blog. So, almost two weeks ago I went and watch the new Paul Greengrass film starring Tom Hanks, Captain Phillips. That would be a short review and I'll add  late three reviews of some 2013 films.

Captain Phillips
It's Tom Hanks vs. Pirates, but not as glorious like Pirates of the Caribbean nor even it is that American-heroic. It's a tense thriller, seeing the sides of both parties. The story is about Captain Phillips who's a captain for a cargo ship that had to go through the Somali Basin, which is pirates' waters. The film did justice by showing the pirates' side as well, and it did more justice by casting Somali people. Barkhad Abdi is amazing, and so do the other Somali actors. Tom Hanks is even greater, by the final scene alone, he could get an Oscar nom. Greengrass' direction is indisputable as it has been his standard since The Bourne Supremacy. The film's so good and it's not even Greengrass' best three films. It kinda shows how the Americans are the evil ones, although there seemed to be no other option. It was a very realistic, intense film set only at the seas. The only downside is the film kinda drags too long in the middle and the final scene's music is a reminiscence of Hans Zimmer's Time for Inception. But all in all, a very good film. Captain Phillips: rated 3.5/4

Kick-Ass 2
Kick Ass 2's story revolves after the events of the first film. Kick Ass and Hit-Girl are trying to fit in like usual, not as superheroes and Red Mist swore to avenge his father's death by being a supervillain named The Motherfucker. Inspired by Kick-Ass, some of the people in the city braved themselves and put on costumes like superheroes too. The film is not a bad film on its own, it's actually pretty good. But as a franchise to follow the far superior Kick-Ass, this film sucked. And it sucked almost in all aspects, starting from CGI to story. The story is unworthy and kinda disgraceful on treating the deaths of important supporting characters. Some loose ends are not tied up too. The brilliance of Jim Carrey is wasted, unfortunately. No wonder he didn't want to promote the film. I bet it's not only the violence that turned him off, but also his own screentime. Now let's talk about the good parts, Aaron Johnson and Chloe Moretz are great. The story line for Mindy/Hit-Girl is superb and it deserves a film of its own. This film belongs to 'Films That Are Not Bad Yet Its Existence Is Questionable' along with The Bourne Legacy and The Amazing Spider-Man. Kick-Ass 2: rated 2/4

The Family/Malavita
Malavita boasts great cast and a pretty good director, with Michelle Pfeiffer and Tommy Lee Jones with Luc Besson. It has a killer premise of a mafia family in a witness protection program living in Europe. However in reality this actually looks like a parody of Robert De Niro films. At one point in this Martin Scorsese-produced film, Robert De Niro's character watches a Robert De Niro film which was directed by Martin Scorsese. The story isn't interesting at all and the use of violence as comedy might be fun at first but bitter when it was prolonged. The only violence I support is when Dianna Agron's character beat up guys for her women rights. It's completely forgettable although it's kinda fun at first. The Family or Malavita whatever you want to call this film: rated 2/4.

Insidious Chapter 2
After the so-so but technically great The Conjuring, I was thirsty for some real, jump-scare-moment-filled, scary horror films, then this film came. I loved Insidious' ending that I really loathed the idea of a sequel but apparently it's also good. As a horror film you'd want to watch at the cinemas or with your friends during slumber party, Insidious Chapter Two wins at every aspect than The Conjuring. The story satisfyingly answered some questions raised in the first film, expanding Patrick Wilson's character and ghost. However, the first Insidious is still better for it's prolonged horror atmospheric scene and the characters while Chapter Two resolves the story with more action, losing the stakes of a horror film and also loses the interesting characters introduced in the first film in favor of jump scare tactics, and sometimes unintentional, strange humor too. But this film succeeded in making the super-kind looking Patrick Wilson as a scary figure. Insidious Chapter Two: rated 3/4


LATER THIS WEEK: ALFONSO CUARON'S GRAVITY 3D REVIEWED!
I'd like to do 47 Ronin but apparently it's not even that well-received in Japan. Mind you, the film is already out for a week but it only collected $1.3m. And I'm not even that interested in the film so, yeah, SKIP.