American Gangster (1 viewing)
Plot : The movie follows two characters - Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) an assistant to long time crime boss - who passes away at the beginning of the movie . He takes his boss's place - and starts dealing drugs straight out of Vietnam for great results.
Second - Richie Roberts (Russel Crowe) one of the very few cops who wasn't corrupt. After turning down lots of dirty money he is given is own detection group aimed at taking down narcotics.
Story : The story of this movie is executed masterfully , as you connect with the characters - the events bounce from Frank to Richie constantly making the story extremely exciting with no dull points ever. I really can't say there was a part of the movie that wasn't important , and it's the little details - like the brand name of the drugs , the women being naked so they couldn't steal drugs , and even the clothes the characters wear : all important to the movie.
Visuals : Even though the movie is 3 hours long , it always maintains it's high quality visuals. All the places the movie takes place in are actually on location and it makes a huge difference. For example , you see the drug-house (apartment room) for the whole movie - but then toward the end you see the entire building the apartment was in and they go in fluently - which you rarely see in a film. Also , the action looks and feels intense : probably the most brutal gangster movie ever.
Synopsis : One of my favorite's , it's up there with The Godfather , Goodfellas , and The Departed for the gangster genre which apparently is one of my favorites with 4 great films like this. Also , I don't remember seeing the scene in the trailer where he drops a gun.
Spiderman 3 (2 viewings)
Plot : With some things solved in spiderman 2 there was much left open for the third (and final?) installment.
Story : A new enemy is introduced Sandman and Peter Parker's photo rival Eddie Brock (who later becomes Venom) also keep the story interesting. But , the majority of the movie focuses on Peter Parker , Mary Jane , and Harry Osbourn as their friendship goes through problems resulting in Peter Parker finding a new black spiderman suit - which seemingly gives him more power , but makes him more aggresive and full of himself. Sandman's character isn't as one sided as the past characters either - he has a dieing daughter and robs places for money to cure her. Overall , this is one of the fastest paced stories and tons of fun to watch unfold.
Visuals : The action scenes are some of the best of any movie - with extensive use of CGI basicly the whole movie. Whole stories of buildings are knocked out with tiny objects flying out of them - spiderman jumps through another building and flies out the window - and sandman is one of the most detalied CGI characters ever.
Sypnosis : The spiderman series are easily the best superhero movies , they put movies like Batman and Superman to shame. This third one though is my favorite of the three.
The Good , The Bad , and the Ugly (1 viewing)
The Plot : There really is no plot to this movie , i could just tell you the tagline "For three men the civil war wasn't hell. It was practice"
The Story : Follows two characters Blondie - The Good (Clint Eastwood) and Tuco - The Ugly (Eli Wallach). They make money with each other by Blondie taking Tuco into cities where he is wanted as a bounty - then blondie shoots him down from his hanging before they kill him. Eventually , they split up and Blondie takes Tuco's share - so he then Tuco gets his revenge on blondie. The story just keeps adding in twists and turns untill it becomes about a treasure that is buried in a grave - Blondie knows one half of where it is and Tuco the other. Angel Eyes - The Bad (Lee Van Cleef) also tries to get in on the treasure. Although the story has lots of fresh ideas it unfolds slowly with lots of pointless scenes that drag on way too long.
Visuals : Great for it's time , but compared to today's standards they don't look "that" great. Although some scenes have stayed amazing looking (espicially the long shots - that have only been rivaled by Children of Men). The action scenes and shooting though are still great and the epic civil war battle scene are pretty amazing.
Soundtrack : The classic score of this movie is one of the best things about it , there's no doubt you will have heard these songs even if you didn't see the movie.
Sypnosis : This movie could have been 30 to 40 minutes shorter cutting out the unnecesary parts - but it has it's moments.