robarcher's stats
- Review count9
- Helpfulness votes2
- First reviewFebruary 1, 2010
- Last reviewApril 24, 2013
- Featured reviews0
- Average rating4.3
robarcher's Reviews
Overall rating
4
/
5
A story almost as good as the visuals
PostedApril 24, 2013
Dialogue
3
/
5
Special Effects
5
/
5
Art Direction
5
/
5
Acting
4
/
5
Story
4
/
5
Camerawork
5
/
5
Oblivion is a visually stunning “hard” science fiction film with a pretty good story that almost, but not quite, lives up to the visuals.
You’ve heard from the professional critics already that its biggest fault is that it borrows too heavily from too many other science fiction tropes, and while that may be true, it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of it… mainly because I was just happy to see some real science fiction on the movie screen for a change, and not just another action thriller dressed up in sci fi trappings, like most recent “science fiction” movies have been.
To be sure, there are some outright visual touchstones borrowed directly from other films, most notably 2001 and the original Planet of the Apes. During an aerial battle, ships fly past the torch of the Statue of Liberty from Apes, and elsewhere clones are seen growing inside pods posed like the Star Child from 2001. There are a few more from 2001 — a red eye, a space sequence, but I don’t want to say too much. These touchstones are so overt I saw them as homages, and appreciated them as such.
Pros well paced, great story, great actors
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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Overall rating
5
/
5
A transcendent movie about a transcendent figure
PostedNovember 18, 2012
robarcher
from Los Angeles, CA
Age:45 to 54
Gender:Male
Goes to the movies:weekly
Dialogue
5
/
5
Special Effects
5
/
5
Art Direction
5
/
5
Acting
5
/
5
Story
5
/
5
Camerawork
5
/
5
Lincoln is a transcendent movie about a transcendent figure who is the nearest thing to a god America ever produced. Perhaps in a thousand years President Abraham Lincoln will be the only thing for which America is remembered. And with this definitive film about him Daniel Day-Lewis owns the role for all time. An incomparable movie.
Pros great story, great actors
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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Overall rating
5
/
5
A love letter
PostedNovember 27, 2011
Hugo is a singularly wonderful film. Go see it and you will carry it with you for the rest of your life. It is the gentlest of love letters. It's a love letter to magic. It's a love letter to films. It's a love letter to dreams.
The story – actually, stories – draw you in without much dialog, and that’s when you remember that this used to be the magic of movies, telling your stories with visuals and music. Fitting then that this is a monument to the earliest days of filmmaking, before there was sound, before there were movie stars.
Every performance is marvelous, from the main roles to the supporting players. The 3-D visuals are stunning, and the words as well as the pictures are sheer poetry. This is a film to see many times, inspiring, beautiful, and the kind of art that makes you ache at the wonder of it.
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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Overall rating
4
/
5
Resonating
PostedOctober 30, 2011
Compelling concept, serviceable acting, and its message will resonate with those sympathetic to Occupy Wall Street. With the current protest climate, the producers luckily released the movie at the right time (no pun intended). A couple of unbelievable moments, like the car crash, are excusable with a bit of suspension of disbelief. Best sight gag -- a "99 Seconds Only" store. The audience I saw it with gave the movie a round of applause.
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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Overall rating
4
/
5
Go see
PostedMarch 21, 2011
What's not to like? Bradley Cooper is appealing, the plot is compelling, it's imaginatively photographed, and Robert De Niro even shows up to do some work. 4 and a half smart pills out of 5.
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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Overall rating
4
/
5
Chuckles don't stop
PostedAugust 9, 2010
Laughed out loud for most of it, chuckled for the rest. The third act is a little slow, but still worth it. The running gags don't run out of steam, which is good -- because the secret to good comedy is reincorporation! I give it 4 "deskpops" out of 5.
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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Overall rating
4
/
5
4 hot tubs out of 5
PostedApril 4, 2010
Yes, it's a retread of Back To The Future, so it's funny in and of itself because Crispin Glover is in it. For about the first half hour I wasn't quite sure about this movie, but then I relaxed and laughed by ass off.
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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Overall rating
4
/
5
Forest Whitaker all the way
PostedMarch 21, 2010
It's worth the ticket price for Forest Whitaker, whose performance is better than the movie itself.
That said, Repo Men is not a bad flick. I saw all the plot twists coming a mile away, but it was still fun getting there, and in addition to Whitaker's fantastic performance, Jude Law and Liev Shrieber are very good too.
The action sequence at the end is a bit TOO cartoony and over the top, compared to the sequences that came before... but without giving it away it turns out there was a reason for that.
There's one gut-busting laugh out loud bit involving a medical procedure that ALMOST seems out of place... but only almost.
All in all, not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon with a bucket of buttery popcorn, perhaps giving some new business to The Union.
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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Overall rating
5
/
5
Fun
PostedFebruary 1, 2010
A lot of fun, and you get exactly what you expect to get. It's hard to go wrong with Robert Downey Jr., and partnered up with Jude Law they don't disappoint. The bickering and interplay between Holmes and Watson will remind you of TV's House and Wilson; but then, House and Wilson were always meant to be an homage to Holmes and Watson.
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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