laura_brady_au Reviews

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)

Best of the Prequels

[9/10 · 19 January 2016]

This is what I like about the movie: Beautiful costumes, sets and scenery Obi-Wan Kenobi is becoming one of my favourite SW characters The lightsaber battle at the end Yoda fighting Palpatine The Musical score

What I liked less: Anakin sometimes seemed a bit whiney but in light of recent movie efforts, not so bad after all Padme still seems a bit wooden sometimes. The wookies and Kashyyk don't look real

I enjoyed the plot and like the originality of this movie. The end of this movie is saved from being utterly depressing by the birth of the twins which is meant to give us hope...but if you've seen TFA...maybe not.

Still better by miles than the newest Disney effort.

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)

recently rewatched and it's a pretty decent story

[8/10 · 29 December 2015]

I recently rewatched everything Star Wars including this, the Clone Wars cartoons etc. In preparation for seeing The Force Awakens.

Well for someone who wasn't a huge fan of this initially I made a few discoveries and in light of the Force Awakens this movie is a cinematic masterpiece.

The story is really quite original (except for that main reactor bit). I really quite liked it and the politics is easier to follow after a few viewings. I remember being quite shocked when I found out the 'queen' wasn't always who we thought.

The sets and costumes are really beautiful.

JarJar isn't really that bad, let's face it he's there to keep kids happy and that's OK isn't it? Obi-Wan is great, I really liked seeing him younger.

I did feel quite sorry for Anakin this time around and I think the actor did quite well with the material he had.

Yes this movie has it's issues, it can be slow at times and the bit about Midichlorians still makes me cringe but at least it's original and had a story to tell. It does remind me that Star Wars was really Anakin's story told in 6 parts. The newest 7th 'instalment' is reductive and undoes a lot of the history.

Star Wars finished with return of the Jedi and most certainly after George Lucas left. the new Disney stuff has no heart.

Please come back George.

Memento (2000)

Guy Pierce is great

[10/10 · 29 December 2015]

As an Australian I always make an effort to watch movies that have an Australian component to them but I missed this one when it was in the Cinema years ago. I have only recently seen this movie on DVD when I borrowed it from a friend.

I think that although Guy Pierce has had some commercial success he is vastly underrated as an actor and he excels himself in this movie.

The directing and cinematography are excellent as is the supporting cast and the story is very suspenseful.

As I said I have only seen this on the 'small screen' but I do not feel anything is lost by seeing it in this format.

If you haven't seen it yet it is well worth watching.

Schindler's List (1993)

Tragic but amazing movie

[10/10 · 29 December 2015]

I have read the book of this movie and believe Spielberg's adaption (although it does deviate slightly) is very true to the purpose of that book.

I first saw this in the cinema and some parts of it were very confronting (as they rightly should be) and were hard to watch.

The score is still one of my all time favourites, just heart wrenching. Still makes me cry when I hear it.

Liam Neeson is amazing as is Ben Kingsley.

The cinematography is great and I am so glad they stuck to black and white. The little girl in red was beautiful and is a key feature in the book too.

Hard to watch in places but a great movie.

Alien (1979)

Strong believable female protagonist

[10/10 · 29 December 2015]

Now this is a believable heroine. Ripley gets beat up, she's afraid and she rallies.

Sigourney weaver is fabulous as Ripley. She's not a cardboard cutout, instantly good at everything she turns her hand to barbie doll.

Recent movies cast female protagonists as impossibly good and almost incapable of working in teams but Ripley is a really well balanced character.

As a long time fan of science fiction she is a great role model for girls and it's an excellent movie with an original story that still holds up after all these years.

It also set the stage for one of the best sequels of all time. Aliens.

Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)

Still a great film...far better than recent efforts

[10/10 · 29 December 2015]

Well having recently seen TFA what can I say?

It's so nice to see Han, Luke and Leia acting like heroes again. This movie has the relationships between the characters at its heart. Luke and Leia go to rescue their friend Han and this is ultimately a transformational experience for him. He learns he is a part of something rather than being apart from everyone.

I know some people hate the ewoks but I always thought they were OK. I remember reading they were supposed to be wookies originally which would have been great but I guess Lucas struggled to get enough 7 foot tall actors.

I know Harrison ford said he found Han boring and one dimensional but I always thought his character had the greatest transformation and if you read the Timothy Zahn books it really fleshes this out. Unfortunately most recent iteration does make him seem shallow and is rewriting Star Wars history which is really sad. I would have thought Mr Ford would have had enough clout to demand a better script, or maybe he just didn't care.

I have been rewatching these movies to get the taste of the newest effort out of my mouth. They are great movies. Obviously there is no Star Wars without George Lucas, who really loved the characters and had plans for them. Not just using them as a money making machine.

WALL·E (2008)

Delightful

[10/10 · 29 December 2015]

I just rewatched this movie the other day and thought I would leave a review.

I grew up with the short-circuit movies and Wall-E's resemblance to number 5 is quite noticeable, but I liked number 5 so that's fine with me.

He expresses a lot as an anthropomorphic little character and so do the other robots.

The humans are pretty funny but I remember when I first saw it at the cinema and thinking that I wouldn't have that icecream at then end of the movie. just in case.

On a side note I really hope we learn to treat the planet better

Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)

Changed my life

[10/10 · 29 December 2015]

When I was a kid and things in my household were pretty rough we rented this on video.

As a girl I have to say I wasn't totally sold on the cover with its spaceships and Leia looking a bit like a pole dancer but I'd never heard of the movie so I gave it a go.

About 5 minutes in I was intrigued and by the time I saw the twin Suns I was hooked. By the time the movie finished I rewound it and watched it all again.

These became my role models as a kid and Star Wars became a massive part of my childhood. I loved the characters and the stories and how the main characters related to each other. I read every book and comic I could get my hands on.

I remember thinking at the time it was just such a great original story and it had so much heart. Unfortunately I think recent iterations have lost this.

Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Love it

[10/10 · 29 December 2015]

Best movie of the series, including the latest effort.

I love everything about this movie, the music is amazing and I love the settings.

The characters are really well developed in this movie. Original and mature film making. It fleshes out the characters and makes you care for them even more.

I first saw this movie when I was 9 years old and I thought it was magical then and I still do.

I have watched both the remastered edition and the original version and they are both beautiful but I think Bespin looks even better in the remastered copy.

Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)

Just awful - wish I'd never seen it

[1/10 · 25 December 2015]

Firstly I have loved Star Wars all my life, I didn't even mind the prequels (not including Jar Jar of course). I've read the EU books and comics. I was so certain this movie would be great and I was so looking forward to it I bought two lots of tickets, 2 to the midnight screening and 2 for the next day. After this movie I will never watch Star Wars made by Disney ever again. As has already been said this movie is a bad remake of a classic, there is absolutely nothing original in here, I mean seriously a droid on a secret mission on a desert planet, on the same planet Catniss Ever...oops I mean Rey a Force sensitive young person with unknown parentage, Death Star 3.0 and they still haven't worked out how to protect that main reactor...really?? And the scary thing is I could have lived with that but here's the bit that left me really depressed. Han Solo has gone from being a Smuggler to a General and a war hero, back to a smuggler and the kind of guy who abandons his wife and friends and then he's dead, and no one cares! Even Chewie is upset for about 30 seconds; all I can say is they must have good Prozac in this Galaxy. Luke goes from farm boy, to hero pilot, to Jedi to...hermit???? It makes them both look like cowards and these are not the characters I grew up with. This is NOT character development, this is regression and lazy story telling and there's lazy story telling throughout this movie. We're supposed to believe these two heroic individuals who always stood with their friends and faced the Emperor and Vader have run crying because Kylo Ren killed a few people and then they left Leia to clean up the mess. The new villain is completely unconvincing and throws tantrums, presumably because his parents never loved him enough or whatever. I loved the Originals because of the characters and how steadfast they were together, this has forever destroyed that. Leia should be running the government, Han should be commanding a fleet and Luke should be training Jedi. The New Order should be the Rebellion. and the new villain should not be a Skywalker...this is another I am your father moment and it's bad. If you take the special effects out of this movie you have a bad bit of fan fiction. No Hope rather than a New Hope - this movie has no heart at all.