xBenjaminMichae lx

Member since 4/28/2007, last signed in awhile ago.

"As long as I have teeth, I will bite you."

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Personal statement:

I am a big movie buff, and an aspiring screenplay-writer, actor, and etc. I watch quite a few movies, but I am too lazy often times to write reviews. I like to think you can trust my taste. I do stand up comedy. I'm broke.

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Inglorious Basterds

Tarantino's masterpiece?
By xBenjaminMichaelx in xBenjaminMichaelx Blog
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"Quentin Tarantino garners a very big mixed reaction. A lot of people find him overrated, while a lot of people find him to be one of the more brilliant minds in cinema today. I tend to find myself leaning somewhere closer to the brilliant, so when a movie comes out he has written/directed it tends to be a big event for me. Enter Inglorious Basterds. It follows three main stories: that of a group of Jewish soldiers lead by Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) that are attempting to kill as many Nazis as possible, much to the chagrin of Adolf Hitler himself. It also focuses on German officer Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz), known by the Jewish people as the “Jew Hunter” due to his ability to sniff them out of hiding. Finally, we see Shoshanna Dreyfus (Melanie Laurent), a woman whose entire family was snuffed out by Hans Landa and his men. The film is pretty typical Tarantino. A misconception is this is a remake of a film with the same title; they have nowhere near the same plot. ... " [More]

District 9

Sensational
By xBenjaminMichaelx in xBenjaminMichaelx Blog
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"I’ve always been a sucker for alien movies. They just intrigue me. I always believed there to be something out there, so they spoke to me. With that said, there isn’t a whole lot of substance when it comes to alien movies. A few classics, but a good majority of them are duds. The best movie I’ve seen in 2009 so far is District 9. It follows a man named Wikus (Sharlto Copley) who is leading MNU through a movement of aliens from District 9 into District 10, which is smaller and has less roomy homes. The aliens just want to go home, but Earth-dwellers won’t let them leave. The story is well-thought out. It goes back and forth between a faux-documentary and a standard, fictionalized story, and it works shockingly well. The characters are all well-thought out and make perfect sense. Sharlto Copley has never acted in a film, with the exception of the short film District 9 was based on, but he does a phenomenal job as Wikus. The evolution his charac ... " [More]

Re:Which of these movies writte ...
By xBenjaminMichaelx in Movie Polls
"Home Alone, easy. One of the better family movies of all time. " [More]

Timecrimes

don't miss this film!
By xBenjaminMichaelx in xBenjaminMichaelx Blog
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"Time travel is a tricky subject. Many films attempt it, but a lot of films also mess it up. It’s a very touchy topic to take on. Timecrimes takes swing, and hits a home run. It’s one of the best movies involving time travel that I have ever seen. Timecrimes follows Hector; a man sent traveling back in time after being chased in the wilderness by a strange man with a bandaged face. There really isn’t much more to be said about the plot without giving away the twists and turns that it follows. I watched the film with the overdubbing. I can’t say anything about the subtitles, but the overdubbing could have been better, but wasn’t bad. At no point did I ever get distracted by the English in the film. The acting itself is hard to say, again, because it wasn’t the actors themselves speaking. The direction and writing of the film is very excellent, both tasks by Nacho Vigalondo. This is his first film behind the lens, and he is starting o ... " [More]

The Last House on the Left

Very surprising!
By xBenjaminMichaelx in xBenjaminMichaelx Blog
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"I didn’t have much expectations going into the Last House on the Left. I’m not a horror film buff, and generally don’t rush to see these types of movies. Expecting a typical, tired movie in a genre full of the familiar, I only watched with half-interest. After a slow start, I found myself hooked into the movie I originally hardly cared for. The Last House on the Left follows a family that is going for revenge against a group of criminals that torture, rape, and kill their daughter and her friend. One thing I particularly enjoyed was the lack of bumbling, idiotic cops who completely ignore police protocol in similar situations. In fact there was just no police in general. It gave the film a far more realistic tone than other movies in this genre that I feel is sorely lacking. All the actors in the film did a wonderful job. Sarah Paxton, in particular, I found to be excellent. The pain and suffering she experienced she really brought to life. I’m ... " [More]

The Goods: The Don Ready Story

Funny, but uneven
By xBenjaminMichaelx in xBenjaminMichaelx Blog
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"I had very high hopes for The Goods: The Don Ready Story. I had seen the standard trailer and the red-band trailer as well, and thought it looked hilarious. What I got was an uneven outing. I found myself laughing hysterically at some parts and wincing at others. In the title role, Jeremy Piven played the jerk well, but he’s been doing it for years on Entourage so it was nothing new to him. He was supposed to be the main character, and he was, but he didn’t have as many jokes as I was expecting. He played backseat in the funny department. Ed Helms did great as his nemesis Paxton. Helms is always on-point and rarely will you find him to not be funny. Dave Koechner, Ving Rhames, and Kathryn Hahn all played roles on Piven’s team, and all were funny in their own right. Rhames probably had the best line of the movie, specifically when talking about his past sexual exploits. All the supporting roles in the film were good, and Craig Robinson was his usual hi ... " [More]

Re:What is the Spout Mavens group?
By xBenjaminMichaelx in Spout Mavens
"I would like to request membership! [quote user="paul"] If you are accepted to the Spout Mavens... Here’s how it works:- To receive a screener, write an email the Mavens email account with the name of the review you have completed in the subject (unless you are requesting your first screener), and any films you would like to request in the body. Check the lists in the group for films that are available.- Once you have received your screener, you will have up to a month to write a review. If you are quick at writing your review you can request a new screener sooner, this way if you want to see lots of movies you can, and if you want to take your time, you can. Don’t worry, we will remind you if you go over, but we will only give you a week after the reminder to write it. If you still haven’t written it, you’ll get the boot. It’s a hard-knock life.- The reviews should adhere to basic movie review guidelines (600-1000 words in length, cite actor and d ... " [More]

The Time Traveler's Wife

Not the best, but could be worse.
By xBenjaminMichaelx in xBenjaminMichaelx Blog
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"Let’s face it, The Time Traveler’s Wife this weekend shouldn’t be your first choice headed into the theaters this weekend considering District 9 is out the same weekend. However, if you have a lady in your life that is taking you to see this movie, or you’re the lady yourself, you really could do a lot worse than the Time Traveler’s Wife. Eric Bana finds himself in the main role, playing Henry. At the age of 6, Henry is involved in a car accident that kills his mother, and for reasons wisely unexplained, also sending him hurling through the space-time continuum. He visits Clare, a young girl who grows up to love him, played by Rachel McAdams. The rest of the tale chronicles their struggles with love, marriage, children, and more. Bana does a good job as Henry, and makes his confusion and love for Clare come to life. McAdams does fine in this, but it’s not new material for her. She’s been the love interest in epic love tales many t ... " [More]

The Informers

Waste of time
By xBenjaminMichaelx in xBenjaminMichaelx Blog
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"Informers is a film that follows interweaving characters who are all connected by a very thin premise – they are all going to the same concert. Set in the 1980’s, There are a plethora of characters, all of which are boring and have nothing of importance to say. Billy Bob Thornton plays William; a man who wants both his wife (Kim Bassinger) and his mistress (Winona Ryder) but neither will share. Mickey Rourke plays a useless character that doesn’t get enough time to be effective. Chris Isaak is a creepy father who tries to steal away his son’s new lady on their Hawaiian vacation. All of the aforementioned characters problems are there, and are generally legitimate, however all of the personality traits and quirks these people possess don’t even leave you rooting for them to overcome their issues: you just don’t care. The majority of the screen time goes for Jon Foster, who no longer wants his girlfriend (Amber Heard) to have sex with the ma ... " [More]

Re:Which of these film director ...
By xBenjaminMichaelx in Movie Polls
"Paul Thomas Anderson is my favorite director, so this was an easy choice. There Will Be Blood is on my top films, and Magnolia and Boogie Nights are both high on my list. I'd say Wes Anderson, until I saw a PTA movie was at the top. I still think Life Aquatic is his best, a lot of people feel Rushmore gets that nod. " [More]

Re:What is your favorite movie ...
By xBenjaminMichaelx in Movie Polls
"I have to be honest when I say I was never really alllll that into John Hughes' flicks. But I voted for Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Such an iconic film. Breakfast Club would go to number 2 for me. It's a solid film, although personally I find it a bit overhyped. " [More]

Visioneers

Bright Future Ahead for the Dra ...
By xBenjaminMichaelx in xBenjaminMichaelx Blog
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"Visioneers is a weird movie. Let’s get that out of the way, and move on. It’s a very different look at the everyday boredom of office work, and also lampoons our nation’s willingness to let news reporters influence our actions. It straddles the comedy/tragedy line perfectly, and keeps you enticed and interested throughout, even as you’re unsure what the hell is going on. Visioneers follows the hilarious Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover) as George Washington Winsterhammerman, a descendent of the nation’s first president. He works at an omnipotent company know as the Jeffers Corporation that essentially runs the free world, and even has the president in its pockets. He hates his job, but the bigger problem is that people are spontaneously combusting due to stress in their lives, and George has all the symptoms, which include dreams and ambitions. A lot of people that watch this movie are going to be looking for Zach Galifianakis’ usual bran ... " [More]