Movies watched recently 12

The Darwin Awards: This is just a goofy comedy that will make you laugh, but it's very flawed. The screenplay is obviously hilarious, and some of the solutions presented are interesting, but certain points of the plot are useless (the forced romance, the kid shooting a documentary, etc.) and Siri was very poorly written. The acting is good: Joseph Fiennes and Winona Ryder pair well and have a good comic timing. The cameos are very amusing. The direction has some effective shoots and it elevates the funny moments. The technicals are alright. Overall, this is a fun, but forgettable and flawed movie .
King Kong (2005): I don't like action movie, but I found this intelligent and obviously a work of love, even if it was way too long. The screenplay is good, with a simple love story, moderately well-developed characters, appropriate and witty dialogs. The direction brings it to life with all little details developed: the shots are always lively and well-thought, you can feel the care Peter Jackson put on this. The sets and wardrobe are perfect and amazingly detailed, getting you into the movie. The extraordinary soundtrack and lushly beautiful cinematography also add value to this. The special effects are satisfactory, but not wonderful: they don't capture weight and the dinosaurs are obviously fake. Kong is amzingly expressive and one of the best things in the movie. The acting is very good: Naomi Watts is engaging and transmits emotion, Adrien Brody is smokin' and very expressive and human, Jack Black brings his character's obsessive quality to life and Jamie Bell captures his character and gets him under the spotlight with little screen time. The problem is the (lack of) editing: many of the action sequences could easily have been cut out, because they reduce the emotion and get very repetitive. It is good, but sincerely overrated.

Once Upon A Time In America: This is a very lauded movie about the Mafia. It has a good screenplay, with complex, interesting characters and realistic relationships between them. The dialog is intelligent. The acting is all-around excellent: Robert DeNiro is brilliant filling the screen with his charisma, and all the huge cast is talented. The direction is gorgeous, with evocative images and shots that capture all the feelings of the characters. The cinematography is very good, with subtle changes through the movie and gorgeous images. The complex editing is a bit confusing, but it adds originality to the film and helps building up tension between characters. The Ennio Moriconne is lyrical and really original. This is worth watching (but not the best gangster movie ever).

2:37: This is a gritty indie movie about australian teenagers, with several interconnected story lines with different levels of quality. The story is mostly well-written: the characters are generally well-developed, the pace is involving and the ending is brilliant. Its flaws are in some forced dialog and clichéd characters, but it's nothing too bad. The acting is natural ( mostly by unknowns) and Teresa Palmer delivers an amazing performance, making you really feel for her character. The direction is predictable but well-executed and effective, and the cinematography is really outstanding, using natural light to give the movie a unique feeling. The editing is a bit clumsy: some characters disappear for long stretches of time. The atmospheric soundtrack works well. I think that it could have been less graphic: it wasn't needed. Overall, this is a great achievement for such an amateur film, and it succeeds at showing what high school can be like.