SUMMER MOVIE MARATHON RECAP PART II – Schindler’s List, Swordfish, Temptation Island

Rating #273 – Schindler’s List

A decent but tiresome world war story from a businessman’s perspective 

While not exactly Liam Neeson’s finest film, Schindler’s List was still able to garner my interest by having a different persona experience the overused world war setting. The decision to turn the picture into black and while definitely blended well with the setting and made the movie look older than it actually was. This film, although quite contrived, showed that not all Germans were in favor of the unjust and cruel actions of their own army. I also liked how they wrapped the film up despite it getting tiresome due to its extremely long running time. But still I found the second part to be better than the first.

GRADE: B-

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Rating #274 – Swordfish

Unrealistic yet entertaining

A movie about a hacker doesn’t really pique much interest, but Hugh Jackman and John Travolta made it seem so exciting. Both were awesome and also Halle Berry, but Don Cheadle’s performance was ho-hum here. Unfortunately, with its unrealistic plot and boring ending, Swordfish won’t get past being a 90-minute time killer that will surely entertain many but will also be forgotten after a while.

GRADE: B-

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Rating #275 – Temptation Island

Temping, but not enticing enough

Beyond doubt it’s very quotable, but this movie suffers so much from such an inflexible plot that as soon as you take note of all them you’re left with nothing. “Rubadub dub, two bitches in a tub.” one says. The dialogue is so bad that it’s good! Whoever came up with those very bitchy lines must really be awarded. Unfortunately, after a few quips it gets tiresome. And for a movie that’s titled ‘Temptation Island’, they were really desperate in getting the characters enticed and it really turned me off.

GRADE: C

SUMMER MOVIE MARATHON RECAP PART I – Music and Lyrics, Battle Royale, 21 Jump Street, Porky’s, Remember Me, Scarface

Welcome to Part 1 of my summer movie marathon recap! As promised, here are the first six films I watched and rated over the summer.

Rating #267 – Music and Lyrics [2007]

Surprisingly interesting

I have to admit, I watched this movie wanting to hate it, but by the end I can only help but smile as I saw Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant get back together. Both of them were decent and it was evident that they had some chemistry going on. Surprisingly, it wasn’t boring at all.

GRADE: B-

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Rating #268 – Battle Royale [2000]

Teenagers killing each other… wrong, but shamelessly fun to watch!

This film is much pretty much the r-rated Asian version of “The Hunger Games”, and it predates that film by 12 years. Battle Royale embraces violence and introduces us to a time when it’s okay to discipline delinquent students by letting them kill each other. I don’t exactly know how this film was even allowed to be released, but it certainly is a weird movie unlike any other. The whole concept is stupid…but hey, it was still mildly entertaining.

GRADE: C+

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Rating #269 – 21 Jump Street [2012]

Good chemistry and a cohesive plot = pure entertainment

One word: bromance. The film heavily relied on Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill, and both did their job pretty well.  Their awkward relationship shone throughout the film and provided some laughs. I wasn’t laughing all the way, but I still had a lot of fun watching the movie. I hope they didn’t have to curse too much though, because I found it way too excessive.

GRADE: B-

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Rating #270 – Porky’s [1982]

More bromance than romance, more dicks than chicks

A decade before American Pie was released, there was Porky’s. I’m aware that this film also spawned a lot of sequels, but honestly I think one movie’s enough. The film wasn’t quite what I was expecting…probably because I thought it would be similar to American Pie. Lots of bromance here, not just about girls or sex. The film was okay I guess… nothing special.

GRADE: C+

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Rating #271 – Remember Me [2010]

A well-acted drama that got better as it ran

Most critics bashed this film for being insensitive. Pardon me if I’m offending anyone, but I thought that the very unexpected twist at the end actually made the story better, and it reminds us to live life to the fullest. It’s a slow-paced drama. There were no excessive background music and it just felt simple and natural. The characters were believable as well, thanks to good performances by Emilie de Ravin, Robert Pattinson and Pierce Brosnan. Too bad not many people chose to see it.

GRADE: B

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Rating #272 – Scarface

Not a masterpiece, but good enough

Say hello to my little friend! Oh I love watching old-school action. Al Pacino delivered and simply carried the whole film. Story-wise I wasn’t that impressed, but the action scenes were enough to please me. It was insanely long though, and it contained violence, booze, drugs and alcohol…not exactly something you want your kids to see.

GRADE: B-

SUMMER MOVIE MARATHON RECAP – INTRO

Okay, so I watched a lot of movies in the past two weeks but I didn’t have time to write reviews for each of them. So instead, I’ll just give a few comments per film in my next few posts, except for movies released in 2012.

The list of movies I viewed and rated are as follows (Movie Rating #267 to #282)

1. Music and Lyrics [2007]

2. Battle Royale [2000]

3. 21 Jump Street [2012]

4. Porky’s [1982]

5. Remember Me [2010]

6. Scarface [1983]

7. Schindler’s List [1993]

8. Swordfish [2001]

9. Temptation Island [1981]

10. Valkyrie [2008]

11. Karate Kid [2010]

12. The King’s Speech [2010]

13. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring [2001]

14. Men In Black 3 [2012]

15. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island [2012]

16. Snow White and the Huntsman [2012]

Watch out for Part I very soon!