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Stoker (2013)
Stoker (2013)
Stoker is a well-made, bizarre dysfunctional drama that is difficult to like, yet hard to stop watching. The acting was very solid. The dialogue was very delicately written. The editing was fantastic. However, the story was bitterly perverse. It was fine writing, but twisted subject matter. The filmmakers took a pretty messed up story and through the art of storytelling, they dressed it up and made it almost hypnotic.
Some parts of the movie were predictable, while others completely took me by surprise. For the most part, the film keeps you guessing throughout.
After the death of her father, India (Mia Wasikowska) and her mother (Nicole Kidman) are visited by his brother (Matthew Goode) whom she never knew existed. He decides to move in with them. Why she had not met him before is a mystery in itself. Why he waited to visit until after her father died is puzzling. His presence is disturbing and India becomes obsessed with learning more about him and what he wants.
The film is directed by Chan-wook Park and the rest of the noteworthy cast includes Dermot Mulroney, Jacki Weaver, Alden Ehrenreich, Lucas Till, and Phyllis Somerville.
In Stoker, Wasikowska proves that she has the ability to carry the majority of a film by herself. She is an excellent actress and I wouldn’t be surprised if she gets an Academy Award nomination in the near future.
Kidman continues to choose darker roles and this one turns out to be one of her better performances in recent years. Given her recent movies, that might not be saying that much.
This is the first film that I have seen Goode in and I thought that he was superb.
When the credits rolled, it was hard to tell right away if I liked or disliked the film. In that sense, it sort of toyed with my emotions. It does a great job of being disturbing.
If you are looking for a positive and uplifting movie, Stoker is not for you. If you like twisted dysfunctional stories, then you will probably enjoy this film.
I rate this movie a 7 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? Rent.
Top 13 Disappointing Current Redbox Movies
Top 13 Disappointing Current Redbox Movies
There are many terrible movies out there. I have avoided renting movies at the Redbox just because they looked bad. You know which ones that I’m talking about. The ones that rip off movies that are actually popular by giving them similar titles and making the cover art look remarkably alike, but are actually knock offs that nobody should have to suffer through. That being said, there are probably worse movies at the Redbox than what are on my list. My list however, is a compilation of movies that actually looked like they could be good in one way or another. Something about these movies made me go to the theatre and watch them, or go to the Redbox and rent them. I made this list to save you time and money. Don’t get duped like I did. They might have a good cast. They might look funny. They might look scary. They might look intense and full of good action. They might look like they have a nice touching story. They are none of those things (well, sometimes except for the cast). They are poor excuses for movies. Stay far away from these awful creations.
With my list I have included the cover art to the movies, so that you know exactly what to avoid. I have not posted any trailers, because you don’t even want to waste your time with those. They will trick you. I have also listed my ratings of each movie. My ratings are on a scale of 1-10. My full review will be available for some of the movies. If the title is highlighted, then you can click on it for my full review.
I do not claim to have seen all of the movies that are currently available to rent at the Redbox, but I have seen 76 of them. Of those 76 movies, my Top 13 Disappointing Current Redbox Movies are:
1. V/H/S (2012) My rating: 1
4. Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012)
6. The Man with the Iron Fists (2012) My rating: 3
7. Silent Hill: Revelation (2012) My rating: 3
8. Deadfall (2012) My rating: 4
10. The Liability (2012) My rating: 4.5
11. Lay the Favorite (2012) My rating: 4.5
12. The Cold Light of Day (2012) My rating: 4.5
13. That’s My Boy (2012) My rating: 5
Now that you know what movies to avoid, Check out my other Redbox related material. Click on the links below:
Current Redbox Movie Reviews September 2013
Current Redbox Movie Reviews August 2013
Current Redbox Movie Reviews July 2013
Top 13 Current Redbox Movies Vol. 2
Top 13 Current Redbox Movies Vol. 3
Top 13 Current Redbox Movies Vol. 4
Are you a fan of Netflix? Click on the following links below for Netflix related material:
Netflix Watch Instantly Movie Reviews September 2013
20 Best Drama Movies Based on Real Life Available on Netflix Watch Instantly
20 Best Classics Movies Available on Netflix Watch Instantly
13 Best Mind-bending Movies Available on Netflix Watch Instantly
13 Best Comedy Movies Available on Netflix Watch Instantly
13 Best Romantic Comedy Movies Available on Netflix Watch Instantly
13 Best War/Military Movies Available on Netflix Watch Instantly
13 Best Gritty Action/Thriller Movies Available on Netflix Watch Instantly
Happy Movie Watching!
The Paperboy (2012)
The Paperboy (2012)
The Paperboy delivers a story riddled with nonsense, boredom, trashy characters, gratuitous vulgarity, and wasted talent. It was amazing the amount of scenes in the movie that were completely unnecessary.
The film is about a newspaper reporter (Matthew McConaughey) who teams up with his brother (Zac Efron) and a work colleague (David Oyelowo) to investigate the case of a prisoner (John Cusack) who is on death row. Along the way, they get help from the prisoner’s pen pal girlfriend (Nicole Kidman).
The movie takes it’s time setting the stage for what it is going to be about. Once you understand the goal that the characters are trying to accomplish, the story takes a left turn and does not come back to the main point until it is no longer relevant. In other words, the film is left without a purpose and you are left watching characters develop for a story that is hard to follow and no longer matters.
Much of the movie is narrated by Macy Gray. Gray was an extremely poor choice for a narrator. She is definitely no Morgan Freeman. It seemed as if she had trouble reading her lines. She mumbled her words very slowly and at times, she was hard to understand. This took even more away from the film and made it harder to follow.
Many times I was so bored with the movie that I wanted to turn it off. Other times I wanted to turn off the movie because of how unnecessarily vulgar and pointless it was becoming. I should have turned it off. I wish that I had turned it off, but I wanted to see if it would get any better, and I wanted to be able to tell my readers my honest opinion of the entire film.
The Paperboy had a very capable cast. They are all mostly good actors, but with the material that they had to work with, they were all doomed. Nobody had a chance to give a standout performance because the writers had made sure of that with their dreadful dialogue and horrible storyline.
Do not waste your time or money on this worthless excuse for a movie.
I give this movie a 1 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? Run and hide!
I think that this movie could easily have won the prize for worst movie of 2012. I was trying to figure out which movie was worse, this one or Killing Them Softly. The Paperboy takes the cake. Beware!
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