FilmPulse
A rejoint le avr. 2012
Bienvenue sur nouveau profil
Nos mises à jour sont toujours en cours de développement. Bien que la version précédente de le profil ne soit plus accessible, nous travaillons activement à des améliorations, et certaines fonctionnalités manquantes seront bientôt de retour ! Restez à l'écoute de leur retour. En attendant, l’analyse des évaluations est toujours disponible sur nos applications iOS et Android, qui se trouvent sur la page de profil. Pour consulter la répartition de vos évaluations par année et par genre, veuillez consulter notre nouveau Guide d'aide.
Badges4
Pour savoir comment gagner des badges, rendez-vous sur page d'aide sur les badges.
Avis25
Note de FilmPulse
On the surface, The Loved Ones may appear like just another teen horror flick involving a little bit of crazy, a little bit of sex, and a ton of violence. While it does certainly have all those things, The Loved Ones takes every horror element, and pushes it to wonderfully disturbing new heights. Completely over the top in every way, this film is both a top notch horror flick, and something you won't soon forget.
The plot of the film is something that may seem familiar. We have Brent, the good-looking popular guy who turns down Lola, the outsider, for the prom. Unbeknownst to Brent, Lola is a psychopath and decides to kidnap Brent and create her own prom. Things quickly escalate and get bloody. And weird.
Filmed and released in Australia in 2009, The Loved Ones had a very difficult time getting distribution in the states, even though it was considered a darling of the festivals and was well received by fans and critics. Fortunately, Paramount's micro-budget label Insurge picked up the film and set it for a June 1st theatrical release.
The Loved Ones is not your typical horror movie. Yes, it has all the horror movie tropes, and yet it excels in the areas most horror films falter. First time writer/director Sean Byrne was able to create something that drips with style, and has the substance to back it. With some very rich and disturbing imagery and interesting characters, this is a treat for genre fans.
The character of Brent (Xavier Samuel), who becomes hapless victim, is an atypical version of a horror protagonist. First, he's a guy, something that is not usual for the slasher film, and second, he has a backstory. In the early moments of the film, we get to know this character, and his difficult past. We see the inner-turmoil he's dealing with, and we are shown right off the bat, that he's not a bad guy. Normally, in these types of films (Misery comes to mind), the kidnap victim was a jerk, and may have deserved some type of punishment. That wasn't the case in this film, and because of that, the empathy one feels for Brent becomes greater.
Although Brent may be the main character of the film, as with most horror movies, the villain is always the most interesting part. Robin McLeavy plays Lola, a teenage girl who's twisted and sadistic tendencies know no bounds. She's pure evil and seems to have a penchant for power tools. Think Kathy Bates from Misery meets Leatherface. McLeavy plays the part very well, and does an excellent job portraying a teenage psychopath.
While it wouldn't necessarily be considered torture-porn, The Loved Ones is not for the faint of heart. The levels of violence and bloodshed are through the roof, and there are multiple cringe-worthy moments. It only take a few minutes to get the blood to start flowing and once it does, better get a raincoat.
It doesn't redefine the genre, and it's rough around the edges, but The Loved Ones is still a shining example of how to make a good horror movie. It may have taken several years to get to the states but don't let that dissuade you. It's crazy, it's bizarre, and it's a must see for genre fans.
Adam FilmPulse.net
The plot of the film is something that may seem familiar. We have Brent, the good-looking popular guy who turns down Lola, the outsider, for the prom. Unbeknownst to Brent, Lola is a psychopath and decides to kidnap Brent and create her own prom. Things quickly escalate and get bloody. And weird.
Filmed and released in Australia in 2009, The Loved Ones had a very difficult time getting distribution in the states, even though it was considered a darling of the festivals and was well received by fans and critics. Fortunately, Paramount's micro-budget label Insurge picked up the film and set it for a June 1st theatrical release.
The Loved Ones is not your typical horror movie. Yes, it has all the horror movie tropes, and yet it excels in the areas most horror films falter. First time writer/director Sean Byrne was able to create something that drips with style, and has the substance to back it. With some very rich and disturbing imagery and interesting characters, this is a treat for genre fans.
The character of Brent (Xavier Samuel), who becomes hapless victim, is an atypical version of a horror protagonist. First, he's a guy, something that is not usual for the slasher film, and second, he has a backstory. In the early moments of the film, we get to know this character, and his difficult past. We see the inner-turmoil he's dealing with, and we are shown right off the bat, that he's not a bad guy. Normally, in these types of films (Misery comes to mind), the kidnap victim was a jerk, and may have deserved some type of punishment. That wasn't the case in this film, and because of that, the empathy one feels for Brent becomes greater.
Although Brent may be the main character of the film, as with most horror movies, the villain is always the most interesting part. Robin McLeavy plays Lola, a teenage girl who's twisted and sadistic tendencies know no bounds. She's pure evil and seems to have a penchant for power tools. Think Kathy Bates from Misery meets Leatherface. McLeavy plays the part very well, and does an excellent job portraying a teenage psychopath.
While it wouldn't necessarily be considered torture-porn, The Loved Ones is not for the faint of heart. The levels of violence and bloodshed are through the roof, and there are multiple cringe-worthy moments. It only take a few minutes to get the blood to start flowing and once it does, better get a raincoat.
It doesn't redefine the genre, and it's rough around the edges, but The Loved Ones is still a shining example of how to make a good horror movie. It may have taken several years to get to the states but don't let that dissuade you. It's crazy, it's bizarre, and it's a must see for genre fans.
Adam FilmPulse.net
Sometimes there are movies that shock you into different worlds and take you on a journey to a never before seen land that changes the way you think about film, about life, about the human condition. Sometimes you leave the theater, uplifted by spending an engaging hour and a half in the dark, uncovering more about yourself than you'd thought possible and when you step outside and the sunrays bathe your face in warmth, you realize something you never thought before about existence. Tarsem Singh's Mirror Mirror is, by far, the farthest thing away from any experience like that or anything similar to a stimulating theater experience and offers no means of entertainment unless your idea of fun is sticking a fork in your eye over and over again.
Mirror Mirror opens with a voice-over by Julia Roberts's Evil Queen, explaining all the facts and story elements that everyone knows if they have ever heard of Snow White. Explaining Snow White's beginnings, played with dripping innocence by Lily Collins, and who her dad was etc., etc., we, as an audience, learn that White's dad was killed in battle and the kingdom is in ruins and run poorly (literally and figuratively) by the Evil Queen; who isn't so much evil as she is just a selfish priss.
The movie tries to be different and have moments where the Queen is aware of the tried storytelling but these moments are few and far between and don't make up for the waste of—dear god, I hope they didn't shoot on—film. The Prince, played by Social Network's Armie Hammer, is introduced and supposed to be that huzzah that we want but his performance falls short and feels like a caricature rather than a character.
There are other actors sprinkled in the movie that make it enjoyable to watch (I won't unveil some, just check IMDb) but to me, Singh hasn't proved himself to validate having such big names in his movies. The only movie in his repertoire that could go on as 'good' would be The Fall. And I would consider The Cell if you took out the acting.
Again, I am shown that Hollywood either does not care about what represents them anymore or there are holes in distribution and somehow this managed to squeeze past unnoticed, but it pains and hurts me to know that this is something that can charge $10 at the door and get away unscathed. Here, I'll make a deal, I'll make dinner, you bring 10 bucks, and then I'll punch you in the face. It'll be better than seeing Mirror Mirror or I'll refund your money back guaranteed.
Chad FilmPulse.net
Mirror Mirror opens with a voice-over by Julia Roberts's Evil Queen, explaining all the facts and story elements that everyone knows if they have ever heard of Snow White. Explaining Snow White's beginnings, played with dripping innocence by Lily Collins, and who her dad was etc., etc., we, as an audience, learn that White's dad was killed in battle and the kingdom is in ruins and run poorly (literally and figuratively) by the Evil Queen; who isn't so much evil as she is just a selfish priss.
The movie tries to be different and have moments where the Queen is aware of the tried storytelling but these moments are few and far between and don't make up for the waste of—dear god, I hope they didn't shoot on—film. The Prince, played by Social Network's Armie Hammer, is introduced and supposed to be that huzzah that we want but his performance falls short and feels like a caricature rather than a character.
There are other actors sprinkled in the movie that make it enjoyable to watch (I won't unveil some, just check IMDb) but to me, Singh hasn't proved himself to validate having such big names in his movies. The only movie in his repertoire that could go on as 'good' would be The Fall. And I would consider The Cell if you took out the acting.
Again, I am shown that Hollywood either does not care about what represents them anymore or there are holes in distribution and somehow this managed to squeeze past unnoticed, but it pains and hurts me to know that this is something that can charge $10 at the door and get away unscathed. Here, I'll make a deal, I'll make dinner, you bring 10 bucks, and then I'll punch you in the face. It'll be better than seeing Mirror Mirror or I'll refund your money back guaranteed.
Chad FilmPulse.net
Based on a book by real-life hockey Enforcer Doug Smith, Goon doesn't try to break any new ground, nor does it try to answer any of life's tougher questions. This film's ambitions are simply to entertain, and in that it succeeds
to a point.
Co-written by Superbad scribe Evan Goldberg and Jay Baruchel (who also has a supporting role in the film), Goon is the story of Doug Glatt, a well-meaning but less than bright Massachusetts bouncer who, through luck and circumstances, finds himself playing for the local hockey team as their "go to" enforcer.
From the beginning, it's clear that Doug (a well-cast Seann William Scott) simply wants to "matter." His father and brother are both doctors cut from the Ivy League cloth, while Doug, in his own words "doesn't have a 'thing'" of his own.
It's a classic underdog story, filled with every story beat you'd expect in a tale like this. There's almost nothing surprising about it, and yet there is a strange charm to it even when the blood starts to flow.
And flow it does. Goon is a pretty gory film. It doesn't play down or glamourize the role of fighting in hockey (though whether it celebrates it or not is up for debate). When the punches fly, the camera doesn't flinch away. Director Michael Dowse is not shy about letting the shot linger on a post-punch laceration or on a stream of blood as it slowly drips to the ice. In a way, the blood is almost as much a character here as it was in Tim Burton's 2007 adaptation of Sweeney Todd.
Intercut with the violence is a decent comic film with characters that are, despite being typical, somewhat easy to root for.
Doug's team, The Halifax Highlanders, is full of hard-luck cases and scrubs wanting that shot at glory, and despite the impossibility of developing them all as full-fledged characters, you end up caring for their plight perhaps more than you originally expect.
There's no doubt, however, that hockey fans will get much more out of Goon than the casual movie-goer. The film is very Canadian in feel, and blatant and over-the-top crassness of the sports locker room, while accurate, may turn off more conservative viewers.
The supporting cast is hit-and-miss. Liev Schreiber is stellar as Ross Rhea, an aging, past his prime 'goon' who sees a lot of himself in Doug, and the best scene in the film has Doug lucking into a meeting with Ross at a late-night diner, where the veteran imparts some sobering wisdom to the young protégé.
Alison Pill (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) is cute as Eva, a hockey-obsessed bookworm who falls for Doug despite (or perhaps because of) his simple nature, but Eugene Levy is completely wasted as Doug's father.
Worse yet is Jay Baruchel, whose performance as Doug's friend Ryan is so overly grating he almost sabotages the film before it can get started. After the first ten minutes or so, the focus wisely switches to Doug and the film improves almost immediately.
In the end, Goon is a decent little film and nothing more. Its part Bad News Bears and part Slap Shot, and although its story is really nothing new, it gets marks for telling it in an off-the-wall manner.
Daniel FilmPulse.net
Co-written by Superbad scribe Evan Goldberg and Jay Baruchel (who also has a supporting role in the film), Goon is the story of Doug Glatt, a well-meaning but less than bright Massachusetts bouncer who, through luck and circumstances, finds himself playing for the local hockey team as their "go to" enforcer.
From the beginning, it's clear that Doug (a well-cast Seann William Scott) simply wants to "matter." His father and brother are both doctors cut from the Ivy League cloth, while Doug, in his own words "doesn't have a 'thing'" of his own.
It's a classic underdog story, filled with every story beat you'd expect in a tale like this. There's almost nothing surprising about it, and yet there is a strange charm to it even when the blood starts to flow.
And flow it does. Goon is a pretty gory film. It doesn't play down or glamourize the role of fighting in hockey (though whether it celebrates it or not is up for debate). When the punches fly, the camera doesn't flinch away. Director Michael Dowse is not shy about letting the shot linger on a post-punch laceration or on a stream of blood as it slowly drips to the ice. In a way, the blood is almost as much a character here as it was in Tim Burton's 2007 adaptation of Sweeney Todd.
Intercut with the violence is a decent comic film with characters that are, despite being typical, somewhat easy to root for.
Doug's team, The Halifax Highlanders, is full of hard-luck cases and scrubs wanting that shot at glory, and despite the impossibility of developing them all as full-fledged characters, you end up caring for their plight perhaps more than you originally expect.
There's no doubt, however, that hockey fans will get much more out of Goon than the casual movie-goer. The film is very Canadian in feel, and blatant and over-the-top crassness of the sports locker room, while accurate, may turn off more conservative viewers.
The supporting cast is hit-and-miss. Liev Schreiber is stellar as Ross Rhea, an aging, past his prime 'goon' who sees a lot of himself in Doug, and the best scene in the film has Doug lucking into a meeting with Ross at a late-night diner, where the veteran imparts some sobering wisdom to the young protégé.
Alison Pill (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) is cute as Eva, a hockey-obsessed bookworm who falls for Doug despite (or perhaps because of) his simple nature, but Eugene Levy is completely wasted as Doug's father.
Worse yet is Jay Baruchel, whose performance as Doug's friend Ryan is so overly grating he almost sabotages the film before it can get started. After the first ten minutes or so, the focus wisely switches to Doug and the film improves almost immediately.
In the end, Goon is a decent little film and nothing more. Its part Bad News Bears and part Slap Shot, and although its story is really nothing new, it gets marks for telling it in an off-the-wall manner.
Daniel FilmPulse.net