TheTVSamurai

A friend of mine recommended this movie and suggested I write a review about it...so there I was last night in a nearly empty theatre with a bunch of my buddies waiting for Chronicle to start. I've read a few reviews on the film before watching it and people either loved it for what it is or found it lame. Here's what I thought.

For those who don't know much about the movie, the story centers around 3 teenagers who happen to stumble upon a blue glowing giant meteor and gain super powers from it. The whole film is shot with a "found footage" method, meaning its shot in a documentary type style with a hand-held camera, think of movies like, Cloverfield, Catfish, Paranormal Activity and The Blair Witch Project. So it's safe to say, if you are not fan of that type of filmmaking, this movie might not be for you but having said that, I personally think that Chronicle does it in a pretty creative way that makes it different from the other films I've listed above especially since its a film about superheroes and superpowers. If I had to choose, I'd say this film is much more like Cloverfield in the sense its using found footage containing a lot of action sequences where as other films are usually portrayed like a reality TV series or a documentary film.

The three main characters include: the main camera man of the film, Andrew Detmer (Dane DeHann), Matt Garetty (Alex Russell) and Steve Montgomery (Michael B. Jordan, best known as the QB for East Dillon in Friday Night Lights). Andrew is a very emotionally disturbed individual, who is the victim of insulting jokes, school bullies and a drunk abusive father. Andrew's cousin, Matt is a level headed all around cool, nice guy of the group. And Steve is the funny, popular teen who's running for school president. The three teens all gain super powers from the aforementioned meteor, giving them telekentic abilities, super human strength and the ability to fly—all while giving the 3 of them a special bond and connection with one another. The three start off using their powers as practical jokes which include a lot of laugh out loud moments in a American Pie-esqe manner but to no one surprises, it soon gets them into a lot of serious trouble, all self inflicted—mainly by Andrew.

It takes awhile to get use to the camera style because throughout most of the film, its told through the eyes of Andrew who's basically a newbie cameraman, meaning there's a lot of hand shakiness but as the film progresses, (much like his superpowers and camera skills) the camera-work becomes more and more smoother and we also start to see the film told through other different cameras as well. I was pretty impressed with all the flying sequences because I don't think I've seen anything from the eyes of the "flyer" to this degree. A lot of very visually satisfying shots, great action sequences and like I said, a lot of funny moments.

Please continue reading the full review at:

http://www.thetvsamurai.com/2012/02/chronicle-review.html

Ahhh Mr Woody Allen, you either hate his work or love his work. I wouldn't necessarily call myself a big Woody Allen fan but I've seen a lot of his films (2000 and up) and I either really enjoy them or find them a complete waste of time (usually cause of the way it ends), there's hardly ever a middle ground. Match Point—loved it, Scoop—hated it, Cassandra's Dream—hated it, Vicky Cristina Barcelona—loved it...Midnight in Paris—loved it.

Midnight in Paris comes stacked with a very impressive cast. I'm surprised with the choice of Owen Wilson as the lead protagonist especially with Allen's recent history of casting, how we say, more alpha male, less goofy type male leads in the likes of Ewan McGregor, Colin Farrel, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Hugh Jackman...you get the picture, Owen Wilson simply doesn't really fit that list. Having said that, I felt Owen Wilson's soft hearted, goofy boyish charm worked really well for the character of Gil. Rest of the cast includes Rachel McAdams, Kurt Fuller, Mimi Kennedy, Michael Sheen, Alison Pill, Tom Hiddleston, Kathy Bates, Adrien Brody, Léa Seydoux and my very personal favorite, the very beautiful and talented Marion Cotillard. Cotillard plays Adriana, a beautiful women that catches the eye of Gil (as well as many others).

The story is quite simple, Gil (Owen Wilson, Hall Pass) and his fiancé, Inez (Rachel McAdams, The Notebook) and her parents are visiting Paris for business. Gil, a writer who feels a little bit uninspired as of late, feels like he needs to live in Paris for a little while to suck in the artsy and romantic culture to become inspired so he can finish his novel but Inez doesn't share the same perspective. I don't want to reveal anymore to the story because I went into this movie reading only the brief synopsis listed on IMDb which basically reveals nothing and I was pleasantly surprised. I will say this though, it was a interesting, different and very simple approach that Woody Allen used to execute his concept for this story and I thought it worked very well and in a very suitable Woody Allen fashion.

The only hint I would give is the film involves a lot of discussions involving historical characters such as Zelda Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and Pablo Picasso, to name a few. Is it important that you know your history for this film? It'll probably be a bonus but it wont distract you from the main story and the message that Woody Allen is trying to convey. At the heart of Midnight in Paris is of course, like all Woody Allen films, a romantic love story but its also about people living in the past, people who find the present boring and unfulfilling, people who crave nostalgia and blame the emptiness of the present simply because they are afraid to face the future. Something I feel that we can all relate to, at least once in our life.

Overall I really enjoyed my viewing experience with this film. Paris was perfectly chosen to capture the art, culture and romance to tell this story. The variety of very talented actors and characters kept things very interesting and made me want to learn more and more about each character. I loved the presence that Marion Cotillard's character, Adriana brought to the screen. Her outgoing, contagious charm and flirtatiousness was the total opposite of Inez and it created quite a bi-polar dynamic when you see each of the characters interact with the lead character, giving us a chance to see how Gil reacts to two very different love interests. I'm surprised I'm saying this, but I really enjoyed the chemistry between Gil and Adriana, if you were just to tell me to compare the two actors, I would've never believed it but just goes to show how well the writing was done (I'd love to see another Woody Allen film with Marion Cotillard as the lead but I digress). The dialogue in all their late night walking scenes were really well written and well shot. Midnight in Paris is a solid movie, full of diverse characters, with an interesting concept executed in a simple but enjoyable way that oozes Woody Allen—suffice to say, if you are a fan of the director's work, you will enjoy this film.

You can read the full review along with other movie reviews at: http://goo.gl/8KgJN or www.theTVSamurai.com

This indie film has been around for awhile now, old to many but new to me. I wanted to watch Blue Valentine for the longest time but was waiting for the right time to watch it, in my opinion, you need to be in the mood to able to fully experience and enjoy these types of intense dramas. It's not something I'd watch on a Sunday morning.

Be warned, Blue Valentine, is no feel good film and I think everyone should go in knowing that—Fellas, this is not a first date movie. Maybe its the way it's shot, the way the characters are dressed, the saturated colors, the very grainy film look, the middle class and old city scenery, the film just looks depressing from the get-go and it all works beautifully with the film.

The film follows a married couple, Dean (Ryan Gosling, Drive) and Cindy (Michelle Williams, Shutter Island). The story is told in a very unique way, it's simultaneously telling two different stories of the same couple; their past and their present. Consistent flashbacks of how they met, how they fell in love and how they got married vs. the modern day couple and how they are coping with marriage on a daily basis. "Coping" might be an understatement.

Director, Derek Cianfrance (Brother Tied), who's done mainly TV Documentaries and Shorts, tells a brutally honest story of what is sad to say, a realistic portrayal of the hardships of many (definitely not all) modern day couples. I think anyone that's been in a long term relationship or been in love before can totally appreciate this film. From the butterflies-in-your-stomach feeling when you first meet that special someone, the nothing-bothers-me-I-can-do-anything feeling, to the boring, routined and arguments-over-things-you-can't-even-remember married life; this is what Dean and Cindy—along with the help of Cianfrance's storytelling—so artfully illustrates.

Continue reading the full review at: http://goo.gl/EdwE0 or http://www.thetvsamurai.com/search/label/Movie%20Reviews

If you're planning to watch this film I'd recommend going into this film not judging it based on the trailer because it absolutely does not represent the film in its real light. Here's the short synopsis as listed on IMDb, "A Hollywood stunt performer who moonlights as a wheel man discovers that a contract has been put on him after a heist gone wrong." The film has a pretty impressive cast: Ryan Gosling (Blue Valentine, read my review here) as the "Driver", Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) as his boss, Shannon and Carey Mulligan (An Education) as his neighbour/love interest, Irene. Also starring in the film, is Ron Perlman (Sons of Anarchy), Albert Brooks (The Muse), the beautiful Christina Hendricks (Mad Men) and Oscar Isaac (I'm a new fan after watching him in Ten Year at TIFF last month).

The acting was superb in the film. Ryan Gosling delivers yet another strong performance, playing the lead role as the quiet and calculated skilled driver. Carey Mulligan is almost perfect for these serious, melancholy, strong yet fragile roles (I'd highly recommend watching her in An Education for those who haven't seen it yet). The two of them worked very well together even though with so much screen time, there wasn't too much dialogue between the two but you still felt the on screen chemistry. The few scenes with Ron Perlman were a treat (especially since I'm a big fan of Sons of Anarchy), Oscar Isaac did a great job with the handful of moments he was on screen, loved the scene where he gave the second chance speech and it's always great to see Christina Hendricks, she made a very memorable exit. Overall, great acting from all the main stars in this film.

The opening scene was very well shot, with the Driver explaining his 5 minute rule to the clients and demonstrating his very calm, calculated and cool skills. The whole sequence was very intense and very enjoyable. And we get a good sense of how serious he is about his rule when he turns into the underground parking lot and so non-nonchalantly walks out of the car, flips his jacket inside out and puts on his hat—freaking smooth. I almost feel bad for his two clients who are sitting in there asking themselves "where the hell did he go?" holding to two giant black bags and just waiting to get caught. BUT than the opening credits begin and we get our very first (of many) very, very retro techno-rock tracks and it was my turn to ask "where the fu*k is the director going with this?"

Why did the film only get a 6 out of 10?...Continue reading the full review here: http://goo.gl/h49PY or http://www.thetvsamurai.com/search/label/Movie%20Reviews

This was a little gem I found in the beginning of summer. Despite being aired on Showcase, Global and ABC, I didn't really hear too much about this show until the first season was done. With the series being filmed and set in Toronto, I was surprised it took me so long to watch it. This show might be old news to a lot of people but personally, I only know a handful of people who have seen this. So let me give a brief synopsis before getting into the review.

On the surface, Rookie Blue looks nothing more than a typical police drama with hardly any big name actors (No offence to Missy Peregrym and Gregory Smith) but it is so much more than that. Perhaps it holds a special place in my heart because of its Toronto and Canadian connections. The best way to describe this show is Grey's Anatomy with cops instead of surgeons. Replace the interns with rookies and Seattle Grace with 15 Division and you got yourself, Rookie Blue. The story is focused on 5 rookies (All Canadian actors btw) that just graduated from the academy, and follows their young careers as they experience the hardships of being a police officer both, on and off duty. Each rookie is assigned with a training officer and its a treat to watch the different dynamics of each pair, as well as the dynamics among the rookies as a group - learning together yet competing with one another to gain attention from the top dogs.

The main star of the show is rookie Andy McNally portrayed by the Montreal beauty, Missy Peregrym (Stick It), she's a cop that has a lot to prove because she carries the baggage of her father, a worn out, burnt out homicide detective. Other rookies include, over achiever, Dov Epstein (Gregory Smith, Everwood), nice-by-the-book-guy, Chris Diaz (Travis Mine), tough girl with an attitude, Gail Peck (Charlotte Sullivan), and the responsible single mother, Traci Nash (Enuka Okuma). Some of the veteran cops include, McNally's training officer, Sam Swarek (Ben Bass) - who's the direct opposite of her, goes by instinct and tends to break the rules to get the job done, homicide detective, Luke Callaghan (Eric Johnson) and Nash's training officer, Noelle Wlliams (Melanie Nicholls-King). With such a big ensemble cast of interesting characters, I need to cut myself short, or I'd be typing forever.

Please continue reading the full review at: http://goo.gl/3VH68

So I came upon this hidden gem because of my cousin. I have to admit, he tried explaining the synopsis to me and also showed me the trailer during our weekend road trip and I was very, very skeptical about the movie. Put aliens, young British gangsters, a samurai sword, A lot of British slang, weed smoking, two little pryo maniacs and you got yourself, Attack the Block. I have to make one thing clear though, I am a big fan of British humour and films (RocknRolla, Snatch, —fine, maybe I'm just a big Guy Ritchie fan) because know a lot of people either don't enjoy or just don't get British style films, namely, their slangs and jokes.

The film has a very simple and straight forward story, aliens invade Earth and are attacking a project housing complex, known as "The Block" in South London. Enter the heroes of the film, a bunch of young wanna-be gangsters who run the block. Sounds ridiculous right? I know but bare with me. The story starts off with the street gang mugging a young nurse, who we later find out also lives in same building as the gang. During the scuffle, a meteor hits into a car parked on the street beside them and we quickly get our first encounter with one of the many, alien creatures. The alien gets into a scuffle with the head gang leader, it scratches him in the face and runs off. The whole gang chases it down and eventually kills it with not-so-high-tech weapons—fire crackers and a wooden stick to be exact.

As you can probably tell from my other reviews, what draws me to like a film is usually the characters—if I don't find them interesting, chances are I'll lose interest quickly. Let me introduce you to the young street gang. A young looking version of Denzel Washington, Moses (John Boyega), the gang leader and main star of the film. Other gang members include: Pest (Alex Esmail) who is probably my favourite character of the film, Dennis (Franz Drameh), Jerome (Leeon Jones) and Biggz (Simon Howard). And there are also the two little pryo maniacs played by two very cute child actors who call themselves Mayhem (Michael Ajao) and Probs (Sammy Williams). And we also have the adult nurse who gets mugged by the gang in the beginning of the film, Sam (Jodie Whittaker) who is also the new resident of the Block. As you can see, the low budget film doesn't consist of too many well known actors but I personally think that works in advantage to the film and all the young actors did a great job in my opinion. The only name, most audience would recognize is probably Nick Frost (Paul, Shaun of the Dead) who plays Ron, a drug dealer residing in the block but he's only in a small part of the movie.

Read the full review at: http://goo.gl/MGFMI

It was quite serendipitous that I caught Fast Five in the theatres. There were over ten of us planning to go watch the much-talked-about Bridesmaids but when my car group got there (late), we had three friends trying to save like 15 seats on a long weekend—wasn't happening. There were still seats left in the first few rows of the theatre but I'd personally rather not watch the movie if I had to strain my neck for 2 hours and potentially feel sick. So me and a buddy volunteered to leave the group and go watch another flick that was airing around the same time. And that's how I ended up sitting (in very decent seats) in the cinema showing Fast Five.

Fast Five is the latest instalment to the "Fast" movie series and the third film of the franchise directed by Justin Lin (Fast & Furious, Tokyo Drift). I have to say that Lin has successfully revived this series that I thought was over and done with, when the Diesel-less 2 Fast and 2 Furious came out. The director has managed to not only revive the series but has been able to evolve it into a franchise he can call his own now. It's been over a decade since the first film came out and Fast Five comes full circle and basically pays homage to all the previous movies with almost all the "Fast" characters coming back (some characters meeting for the first time)—it feels like one big high school reunion.

The story takes off exactly right where the 4th film left off, where, Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker, Takers) and Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster, Fast & Furious) are going to rescue Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel, who's also the producer of the film)—in very appropriate "Fast" style—from the prison bus. They end up in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where they plan to pull one last job, a big heist which involves taking $100 million dollars from a drug kingpin and his army of corrupt cops. All this, while being hunted down by a bad ass DSS federal agent, Agent Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson, who's last film is ironically entitled, Faster) and his crew.

Continue reading the full 'Movie Review' and 'Blu-Ray Review' at: http://www.thetvsamurai.com/2011/10/fast-five-blu-ray-review.html

The wait is over. Starz has made the first episode of Spartacus: Vengeance available for viewing on their website, not only for free but also a week earlier than its expected premiere date (January 27th)! If you are new to the Spartacus series, you probably want to start with Spartacus: Blood and Sand but be warned, this show is not for everyone. It contains a lot of raw, vulgar, sex scenes, with a huge amount of cursing and a lot of bloody, gory fight sequences—although those are precisely the reasons (along with an incredible storyline and great acting) why Spartacus: Gods of the Arena made it to the No.2 spot on my Top 10 TV Shows of 2011 list.

The show left off in Season 1 on a really high note with the closing scene where Spartacus gives the "We will make Rome tremble!!!" speech and the Season 2 premiere starts off with a pretty intense opening scene that doesn't disappoint. The story takes place a few weeks after Season 1, Spartacus and his group of escaped Gladiators are causing ruckus in Capua. We are treated to a pretty awesome fight sequence with Spartacus taking on a group of mercenaries on horses that is apparently sent by new character, Seppius, a young noble. Returning Spartacus fans will be happy to see the usual cgi blood, slow motion, 360 degree camera spins and gory fighting style that we've grown accustomed to. The story is now opened up to the whole outside world of Capua, it was refreshing to see fight sequences that didn't just take place in the Ludus and arena.

I guess the main question people will be asking is how does newcomer, Liam McIntyre hold up as the titular character. To his credit, he carries the role of Spartacus pretty well or as well as he could since he's got some really, really big shoes to fill. He definitely looks believable as a gladiator and manages to bring the honourable, just and humble characteristics that Andy Whitfield brought to Spartacus. However, I still think fans will prefer Whitfield's Spartacus. There's something about Whitfield's Spartacus, maybe it's his eyes or demeanour that just brought so much more intensity and humility than McIntyre's Spartacus. Having said that, I think McIntyre's Spartacus definitely feels different but it's not necessarily a bad thing, just different. I have no doubt that fans will learn to love his Spartacus as the season continues.

Please read the full Episode Review at: http://www.thetvsamurai.com/search/label/Spartacus

Being a big TV junkie, I have to admit that I didn't hear about Sons of Anarchy (SOA) until the middle of Season 2 and even then, I didn't really pay much attention to it. I guess the main reason is because we don't carry the FX channel here in Canada, even though it finally became available last month. About 2 years ago, I received the SOA Season 1 Blu-Ray as a gift for Christmas from my cousin's boyfriend. I remember unwrapping it and then giving him a raised eyebrow look, What's This? Some random TV show about biker gangs starring Peggy Bundy and Hellboy? "Uhhhhh Thanks." He insisted he heard great things about it and that I should give it a try, I was very appreciative of course but the Blu-Ray sat on my shelf unopened for over a year. I honestly just kind of forgot about it because the idea of watching a bunch of old biker dudes causing ruckus just didn't seem so appealing, like how deep could the story be? I was just picturing a typical gang show but instead of the mafia sporting baller suits, you have old hairy fat white men shooting up each other while riding around in their Harley's. I was cleaning my house last summer, and stumbled upon my SOA Blu-Ray, filled with a layer of dust, still in its wrapping sitting on the shelf. I decided to give it a shot and let's just say my perception of the show was COMPLETELY WRONG. I was hooked after 3 episodes and I proceeded to marathon through the 3 seasons. Simply put, Sons of Anarchy is dope.

Sons of Anarchy is about a outlaw motorcycle club called, well—Sons of Anarchy, also referred to as SAMCRO (Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club Redwood Original). The story takes place in a town called Charming in California. The club basically owns the town, they have the police chief working for them, a Charming politician in their pockets and all the citizens respect them and fear them at the same time. The crew's clubhouse is located beside Teller-Morrow garage which basically acts as a business front for all their illegal activities, primarily, importing and selling firearms.

The story centers around the vice president of SAMCRO, Jax Teller (Charlie Hunnam, The Ledge) who is next in line to become the president when Clay Morrow (Ron Perlman, Hellboy) steps down. On the surface, Jax is probably one of the smartest and most useful club members, a natural leader who gets the job done but from the very get-go of the series, we see that he starts to question the club and himself. I don't want to get too much into the shows storyline because I went into the show not knowing what to expect and found myself totally divulged into the story. There are so many deep character interactions and story lines that make SOA far from just a simple show about biker gangs selling guns. Politics, family, love, friendship, brotherhood, secrets and betrayal all come into play.

Continue reading the full review at: http://www.thetvsamurai.com/search/label/Sons%20of%20Anarchy