A guy falls for a woman who's claimed by a violent crime boss. From: IMDb.com

Directed by: Fredrik Bond

Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Evan Rachel Wood, Mads Mikkelsen and others

Current release date:  November 15, 2013

Perhaps most people were expecting a different movie and therefore also were disappointed by it but personally, I really liked it!

It also was different from what I was expecting but then again, I didn't even really know what to expect from this movie in the first place. I mean, there is only so much you can do with a movie that's set inside of a prison anyway. And indeed, this movie feels quite formulaic as well, with its story and some of its characters and developments. It isn't the most surprising or original movie but it's a well made one, which was the main reason why I liked this movie.

The directing by Mikael Håfström is tight and he manages to turn this into an action movie, without really featuring all that much action in it. That's right, this is an action movie without any action in it, except for its finale, that also felt out of tone from the rest of the movie. But I guess it's in Sylvester Stallone's and Arnold Schwarzenegger's contract that they have to handle a gun at some point in the movie, preferably a very large one. It's not even a spoiler, you know it's going to happen at some point!

Guess you can even say this is a stupid movie, that isn't half as smart as it seems to think it is with its story but none of it matters too much because of the simple fact that the movie, despite everything, entertains.

One of the things that makes it obvious that this movie is made to entertain, rather than to impress or surprise, are its characters. They are all some big stereotypes, especially its villains. And guess what, I really liked Jim Caviezel as the tough and evil warden. I don't think I have ever seen him play a villain before but he was really good and enjoyable as one.

Of course people are making a big deal out of this movie because it stars both Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger in it but does it really matter? It's not like it provides the movie with any fireworks or feels like it's the best thing ever. Just two guys, that are known for their action roles, starring in an action movie together. Neither of them impressed much with their roles but it's still good to see that, despite their age, they are still perfectly capable of carrying a big movie.

It isn't a great movie by any means but it's simply a perfectly watchable and enjoyable one!

7/10

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When a structural-security authority finds himself set up and incarcerated in the world's most secret and secure prison, he has to use his skills to escape with help from the inside. From: IMDb.com

When a structural-security authority finds himself set up and incarcerated in the world's most secret and secure prison, he has to use his skills to escape with help from the inside. From: IMDb.com

When a structural-security authority finds himself set up and incarcerated in the world's most secret and secure prison, he has to use his skills to escape with help from the inside. From: IMDb.com

A guy falls for a woman who's claimed by a violent crime boss. From: IMDb.com

Directed by: Fredrik Bond

Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Evan Rachel Wood, Mads Mikkelsen and others

Current release date:  November 15, 2013

When a structural-security authority finds himself incarcerated in a prison he designed, he has to put his skills to escape and find out who framed him. From: IMDb.com

When a structural-security authority finds himself incarcerated in a prison he designed, he has to put his skills to escape and find out who framed him. From: IMDb.com

When a structural-security authority finds himself incarcerated in a prison he designed, he has to put his skills to escape and find out who framed him. From: IMDb.com

When a structural-security authority finds himself incarcerated in a prison he designed, he has to put his skills to escape and find out who framed him. From: IMDb.com

Two best friends (Kate and Chloe) embark on a cross country trip back to their hometown to attempt to win a pageant that eluded them as children. From: IMDb.com

Directed by: Chris Nelson

Starring: Bob Odenkirk, Alicia Silverstone, Vincent D'Onofrio and others

Current release date: November 8, 2013

The one thing worse than jazz music are comedies that just aren't fun or funny to watch.

It isn't all that hard to see what this movie was trying to achieve but it also isn't hard to see that it completely failed at it. Aside from its comedy, the problem with this movie is that it feels far too disjointed. It was trying to be a quirky comedy, featuring many different characters, each with their own individual story lines, all connected through Vincent D'Onofrio's pawn shop. That at least was what the movie was trying to do...

But in fact, none of the story lines ever feel connected though. It instead feels like a whole bunch of different segments, involving random characters, doing some very random and stupid stuff, that the movie expects you to laugh at. As a matter of fact, every segment feels like it got written by a completely different writer, taking on a different tone and approach. They feel that disconnected from each other but weird thing however is that the entire movie got written by one and the same person. Sorry Adam Minarovich! I'm just not a fan I guess. None of the story lines ever come together effectively and it all feels far too random and pointless really.

It's not just the story that's lacking but also the dialog and characters who are in it. You never get any back story, so it's hard to ever care for anyone in this movie and it doesn't help much that basically all of the characters got written as a bunch of douchebags. seriously, every character that you are supposed to like and laugh at, do some absolutely despicable things, at one point or another. It's basically a movie about douches being douches toward other douches. It draws most of its humor from this as well, which really isn't making this an either fun or funny one to watch.

Besides another thing that annoyed me about this movie was its directing approach. It's trying to be too stylish at times, with its camera position and movements. It's actually something very distracting really, ever time the movie feels the need to swirl around or focuses on achieving the next hip cut and transition. Swirly cam attacks again! I seriously hope it won't become the next big trend for movies, just like the shaky cam became a few years back. I'm actually fine with the shaky cam but I'm already fed up with the swirly cam, even though I have seen it in only just a handful of movies, as of yet.

You seriously shouldn't be fooled by this movie its impressive cast list. It probably was just a quick and simply paycheck for the big name actors involved with this, since all of them are in it for just 15 minutes, at most. I doubt that most of them even met each other on set, since they never had to actually physically work together within this movie, which perhaps is also part of the reason why this movie feels so incredibly disjointed.

It's just not funny, not clever, not original, not worth your time. This movie really doesn't work! The style, the acting, the story, the characters, the comedy, the music, nothing ever comes together! It's as if every person involved was busy trying to make their own little movie, within this movie.

4/10

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When a structural-security authority finds himself incarcerated in a prison he designed, he has to put his skills to escape and find out who framed him. From: IMDb.com

Directed by: Mikael Håfström

Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Vincent D'Onofrio and others

Current release date: October 18, 2013

A missing wedding ring leads to a wild-goose chase involving meth addicts, skinheads and an Elvis impersonator. From: IMDb.com

Directed by: Wayne Kramer

Starring: Paul Walker, Norman Reedus, Elijah Wood and others

Current release date: 2013

A missing wedding ring leads to a wild-goose chase involving meth addicts, skinheads and an Elvis impersonator. From: IMDb.com

Main thing that this movie has going for it is the fact that it's being original. Not just original with its horror but more so with its approach and storytelling as well. I believe that is also why people are split on this movie; some people love the movie for it, while others were probably wanting and expecting a more conventional horror movie.

I for one did appreciated and liked the movie for being somewhat different. Yes, it's yet again a horror movie that features a found footage type of plot line but it yet manages to come across as something fresh and original. I believe the foremost reason for this is that the movie, despite that it plays an important part for the story, is not all about its found footage. The movie focuses more on the story surrounding the footage and the home investigation conducted by the Ethan Hawke character. But really Ethan, why didn't you ever turn on the lights? No wonder you got startled all the time. Everything is scarier when its completely dark. It's not a complaint really, or something that distracted me too much from the movie. Just a funny thing I noticed throughout the entire movie and perhaps the only 'cheap' and formulaic thing about the movie its horror.

The movie other than that has a good atmosphere to it, which gets build up well by the movie its pace, storytelling, writing and cinematography. It besides is not the sort of movie that constantly tries to scare you by keep throwing things at you or by being all in your face with any blood or gore all the time. It's a more subtle movie really, which actually adds to the overall realism of it all as well, which in return also helps to make the movie its horror more effective.

And you have to remember this is not a big studio movie, so it definitely feels less polished but this at the same time also means it avoids most of the clichéd moments and characters you normally are accustomed to seeing in these type of movies. The fact that it's less polished and not as clichéd all add to it that this is a more 'real' looking and feeling movie and I do think this also helps the story tremendously. I think it's fair to say that in the hands of a big studio this would had been a far lesser movie!

Another example as to why this feels like a more honest and fresh type of movie is actually non-horror related. It's the family dynamic of the movie. What I especially liked about it is that the kids aren't used in a cheap fashion to explain certain plot lines or create cheap horror and scares with. They are simply part of the family and at least do sound and act like normal kids, which is not something that could be said for 90% of all movies out there. And when the husband and wife have an argument in this movie, they have a real argument. The dialog also plays a big and important role in all of this, so big kudos to the writing team, Scott Derrickson (who also directed) and C. Robert Cargill.

The movie further more does a good job at keeping things in the dark for as long as possible. No, I don't mean in the dark because Ethan Hawke constantly refuses to turn any of the lights on but because it keeps things a mystery for most of the time. Most of the time you really aren't sure what direction the movie and its story are heading at. The one moment it's being more of a thriller while at others it's clear it's being more of a horror. But still you are never sure what the movie is going to be at the end and don't worry, I'm not going to spoil that for you.

Just find out for yourself, fore it's definitely a genre movie that is worth checking out, especially when you believe that there is no way genre movies can feel fresh and original anymore.

8/10

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Found footage helps a true-crime novelist realize how and why a family was murdered in his new home, though his discoveries put his entire family in the path of a supernatural entity. From: IMDb.com

Directed by: Scott Derrickson

Starring: Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance, James Ransone and others

Current release date: October 12, 2012

Found footage helps a true-crime novelist realize how and why a family was murdered in his new home, though his discoveries put his entire family in the path of a supernatural entity. From: IMDb.com

Directed by: Scott Derrickson

Starring: Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance, James Ransone and others

Current release date: October 5, 2012

(Review originally written at 21 February 2008)

The movie its strongest point is its fun adventurous way of storytelling. It makes the whole story and movie seem like one big adventure, set in a big city. The roll from the one fun and of course highly unlikely situation into the other. It makes the movie very entertaining to watch and also fairly unpredictable, in terms of you not knowing what will happen to the main characters next.

The movie is filled with a couple of greatly fun moments but of course also some moments that don't work out. Luckily every moment in the movie is not really long enough to bore you when you don't really like it. The movie shouldn't had been much longer though. It all became a bit tiresome after a while and I feel the movie won't had been as effective had it lasted 2 hours.

Also a great asset from the movie is its cast and especially the kid roles within the movie. Normally kid actors aren't among the most believable once in the business, especially not in these type of films but all of the actors here do a great job and they most importantly all have some great chemistry together. Also Elisabeth Shue handles her role well. It was one of her first leading roles out of her career, even before her Back to the Future film roles. Also Penelope Ann Miller shows up in a fun and early movie role.

It's a sort of a shame that this Chris Columbus movie is relatively unknown. It by the way also was his directorial debut and what a fine way to start of his directing career it was!

I think especially the kids will appreciate this movie and its fun adventurous way of storytelling, even though the movie is rated PG-13.

7/10