TheMovieRhino's stats
- Review count647
- Helpfulness votes412
- First reviewNovember 16, 2008
- Last reviewMay 26, 2012
- Featured reviews0
- Average rating3.9
Overall rating
5
/
5
Sherlock Holmes - A Game of Shadows Plays Fast....
PostedDecember 17, 2011
...and tight. Much more of an action movie than typical Holmesian fare ... but that's okay. It's refreshing actually. Robert Downey Jr. and Jude law have a chemistry between them that it is near perfection and should be the envy of many heterosexual romantic movie lead actors. How can you not love the banter? The slow motion filming style during most action scenes has the desired effect - it is startling and adds to the realism, immediacy and danger. It is also visually stunning! We found the plot to be rather nebulous ....maybe even silly ....but it just does not matter here. The pace of the movie is breathtaking, the dialogue is full of intend re and humor, the cinematography is gorgeous, the action intense and the characters are alive. For us it was the perfect Christmas-time, holiday movie. The game is afoot .... join the fray .... get a clue ... sidle down to the nearest cinema and prepare to be engaged by Sherlock Holmes - A Game of Shadows. A rhino horn up!
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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Overall rating
4
/
5
Another Happy Day is a Stark Unhappy Look at....
PostedDecember 11, 2011
....one family's layers of dysfunction. This ensemble dramatic film is a serious look at a family's depressing dysfunction and how all of the players interact. It tries to get at all of the motivations and peel back parts of "the onion" .... but does not totally succeed. I found myself laughing at some moments and then almost regretted it as what I initially took as a dark humor opportunity turned more maudlin and just, plain dark. I was transfixed by many of the characters and the actors portraying them. Not sure if there is any kind of positive, hopeful message here on any level. I will need to mull that over a bit. The story is so relentless and depressing as to its portrayal of so many imperfect, deeply flawed people that I think any lesson-learned message is buried in a black avalanche of despair. For this reason alone I could not give it 5 stars. An adult movie worth seeing if you are prepared for a film without a hopeful message .... for the family interaction and character study. A rhino horn up - with conditions.
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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Overall rating
2
/
5
Mozart's Sister Hits Many Wrong Notes
PostedDecember 10, 2011
Costume, historical, period-piece that suffers from not fulfilling the implications from it's title. We learn all we need to know in the first 15 minutes and the last 5 minutes of the movie. Sadly, what we are left with is the thinnest stretched taffy of a movie in-between. A droll, ponderous film that at least could have given us a bit more music and natural cinematography .... but it doesn't. Skip this one in-theater and maybe rent it later so you can speed through the vastness of its middle and get to the very end to see the textual finale where we learn the fate of Mozart's Sister. A rhino horn melodiously down.
No, I do not recommend this movie.
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Overall rating
2
/
5
No Need To get a Sitter...Just Skip The Sitter...
PostedDecember 10, 2011
...you won't miss much ....and just think of all the things you could do that would be more productive than "sitting" through this predictable, mostly not funny, unimaginative, f-bomb laden drain on your time and money! Have you noticed that creative ingenuity, originality and great humor in movies is usually inversely proportionate to the quantity of bathroom boy humor + f-bomb infused dialogue? The good stuff is so sparse here that it could all be boiled down into about 10 minutes of this 100 minute movie. The talent potential is there with Rockwell, Hill and most of the cast ....it's too bad the writing and editing are so lackluster. I lightly chuckled 3 or 4 times in the entire movie (yawn). Cannot recommend this one on any level. A deflated rhino horn way down.
No, I do not recommend this movie.
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Overall rating
5
/
5
Put a Little Green, some Red Fur and a Piggy...
PostedDecember 4, 2011
...wiggy into your holiday movie Christmas stocking. People who know little or even nothing about the Muppets will be feeling nostalgia in this new Muppet adventure. We enjoyed this PG Christmas family movie as much as the kiddies. Lots of cameo appearances by Muppet-loving actor types... loads of singing and dancing and a few lessons about life and friendships abound. A harmless Christmas romp with our favorite Muppets that will have you humming and whistling tunes from the movie long after you have left the theater. Satisfy your long-starved craving for a rainbow connection and "hairy down" to a theater near you for some Christmas cheer - no strings attached. A soft, fuzzy rhino horn up.
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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Overall rating
5
/
5
Arthur Christmas is a Magical Holiday Gift...
PostedDecember 4, 2011
...for the entire family. Worth seeing for the animation, characters, story and life lessons ... in 2D or 3D. I did like the added intensity that 3D, in some sequences, brings to play ...the Santa flying sled scenes and the toy factory scenes - for example. Arthur Christmas 3D will make you chuckle, it will make you think and it will generally grab hold of you on an emotional level ....as you cheer on Arthur and his quest to bring some magic to one small girl on Christmas morning. A frost-covered, red and white striped rhino horn up.
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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Overall rating
4
/
5
Melanchiolia is Impossible to Categorize and ....
PostedDecember 3, 2011
...most compelling for it's musical score, cinematography, visual stylizing, and the overall inventive take on human interaction in the wake of the ultimate catastrophe. There are some muddled scenes that seem to go nowhere in the middle of the film BUT the first 10 minutes and the last 30 minutes more than make up for this defect. Writer-director Lars von Trier is an "acquired taste" but if you are going to "dabble in von Trier's very subjective world" then this may be a good one for you to start with. In my experience von Trier's movies get better once you have left the theater and begin contemplating them (as long as your mind is open and you can entertain the idea of thinking about the art that a film maker has produced ... rather than only accepting a film if it falls within your own preconceived ideas of what a "good movie" is). Melancholia was fascinating and visually stunning at times. The effects from the movie are still impacting me a couple of hours after viewing. A subjective and personal cinematic foray into what the end of the world might mean for any one of us. I found it magnetically attractive as when one witnesses a car crash and time seems to slow down ... and you cannot take your eyes off of the impending collision. A big rhino horn "hitting a huge tree trunk at ramming speed" up.
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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Overall rating
5
/
5
The Descendants is Full of Richness and Texture...
PostedNovember 27, 2011
...as it lets us peer into the lives of a fairly normal, dysfunctional family at a critical time - the accidental injury, coma and inevitable death of the young, middle-aged mother. Director Payne shows us why his hit "small film" Sideways was not a fluke. Payne has a rare talent for allowing his films to say more with silence and without dialogue than most films say that are packed with speeches, banter and diatribe. He knows the value of visually integrating the environment and here, as in Sideways, he makes the natural landscape and environs an integral character in the movie. Actor Clooney and the entire cast are fantastic. They are spot on and all characters feel naturally entwined and connected. Nothing seems forced. The movie is mesmerizing. We are not always sure who to root for in The Descendants, as everyone is multi-dimensional - just like real life! Writer-director Payne pulls away the curtain at just the right times to keep us off balance ... making it difficult to form strong black and white opinions about any of the characters ....thus we are kept in greater suspense and emotionally more invested. In a fair world both Payne and Clooney would be Oscar-fodder ... but, as Payne would undoubtedly agree, it is not a fair world. That's okay. The most important thing is that you do not miss seeing this one on the big screen. It will heighten your appreciation of the cinematography and great musical score. A lei-draped rhino horn way up. Aloha.
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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Overall rating
4
/
5
We Bought A Zoo - is Based on a True Story ...
PostedNovember 27, 2011
... and is well-told family fare for the winter-Xmas season 2011. Quality actors and a well-paced script make this PG film a notch better than the typical PG family pablum that we often are subjected to in the holiday season. Matt Damon apparently can do anything ... and do it pretty darn well! The actress that plays his little daughter is magnificently cute and she can act. She is a scene-stealer in We Bought A Zoo (her words are the title of the movie) and she is well-deserving of any accolades. The movie would have been less without her. For the genre this one is worth seeing with the whole menagerie you call a family. A peacock's tail, a bear's paw and a rhino's horn are all up for this one.
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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Overall rating
5
/
5
The Skin I Live in Has Wrinkles Galore...
PostedNovember 27, 2011
...and director Almodovar smoothly delivers them in this twisted tale of karma, insanity, revenge, passion, God-complex and sex-change surgery. I enjoyed every second of it. Almodovar's style and method keeps us guessing until the last act as to the full picture and the depth of depravity. Banderas and the entire cast are perfect. There is not a dull moment in the entire 2 hours. This is a weird, strange movie with the most basic of human emotions and excess pumping throughout the production. Original, stark, mesmerizing at times and hard to watch at others.... The Skin I Live In should not be missed on the big screen by those that like Almodovar .... and that like the quirkiest of movies. An adult film and not for the squeamish. This one is bound to elicit strong feelings either way. A perfectly formed rhino horn up.
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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