The Majestic

Hello and thanks for checking out this blog. The Majestic offers short, easy readable movie reviews without spoilers. We don't like long and boring reviews, that's why we wantend to do something different. If you like what we do, follow and recommend us! Be sure to send us your favorite movie and we'll review it! This blog contains 2 reviewers Persist. and B

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Crazy, Stupid, Love (starring Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling & Julianne Moore)

A 2011 comedy, directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa. The story is written by Dan Fogelman.

When Cal Weaver (Steve Carell) finds out that his wife, Emily (Julianne Moore), has an affair with another guy and wants a divorce, his "perfect life" collapses. Now he spends his free nights, alone and mocking in a stylish little bar, untill the player, Jacob Palmer (Ryan Gosling), takes Cal under his charge to overcome his sorrow. Cal's introduced into the world of the single ladies and fancy clothes. While his children struggle with their own love-problems, Cal discovers that you can give a make-over to your looks, but not to your hart...

Steve Carell is in this movie, what else do I have the fuck to say? Okay, just kidding, well... Some scenes didn't stack up on each other too well, but in the end it comes all together, and cares for a hilarious ending. However, it don't makes it any harder to follow the story. It's perfectly followable. I don't have to say a lot about this... I'd say: watch it.

Story: 15/20 Performance: 13/20 Credibility: 14/20 Music: 16/20 Overall: 13/20 

Score: 71/100 "I'm going to help you rediscover your manhood. Do you have any idea where you could have lost it?”

~ Persist.

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A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas (starring Kal Penn, John Cho & Neil Patrick Harris)

A 2011 comedy, directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson, and written by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg.

Six years after Guantanamo Bay, Harold (John Cho) and Kumar (Kal Penn) grew apart. They live their own lifes now. Suddenly, during holidays, Kumar finds a mysterious package in front of his door... Only, Harold's name is on the package, so Kumar decides to deliver it back to Harold. When that's done, everything seems allright now, untill they accidently burn Harold's father-in-law's (Danny Trejo) Christmas tree. The duo wants to solve the problem, and travels across New York City in search of a new perfect Christmas tree. 

I looked forward to watch this movie months before it came out. But to be honest, after watching it, it didn't fulfill my expectations. The first movie: "Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle" is in my opinion still the best Harold & Kumar movie. It's hard to say, but this was kind of a dissapointment to me. However, I still had a good laugh, and the visual effects were certainly not bad. Also the fact of seeing RZA from Wu-Tang Clan in it, cracked me up a bit.

Story: 12/20 Performance: 13/20 Credibility: 7/20 Music: 14/20 Overall: 15/20 

Score: 61/100 “Would you like a waffle, Mr. Harris?”

~ Persist.

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How to Train Your Dragon (starring Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler and Christopher Mintz-Plasse)

What a masterpiece... from animation to the voice-cast everything in this movie is top-notch. The picture is visually stunning and has set new standards for 3D animation. For me this is DreamWorks' finest, better yet my #1 animation film.

In a village full of Vikings who are fighting against the constant thread of dragons attacking and burning down the village. A young boy named Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) dreamt of being one of them. His father, who is the leader of the village won't let his clumsy, small son fight real dragons. Without his father knowing he takes down the mysterious Night Fury dragon, a dragon the whole town fears. He ventures to the wounded dragon with the intention to kill it and to proof his father he is a true Viking. Hiccups will find out that the Vikings have misjudged the dragons and a friendship begins to unfold between Hiccups and the Night Fury.

The story is about friendship, faith, courage, prejudices and love. With its perfect mix of all these elements it's so much more than a movie for kids. This movie is a perfect example of movies you can watch again and again without getting old. This my friends is pure awesomeness.

P.S. "I wish i could tell you so much more about this awesome movie, but then i would spoil the movie and not living up to our motto "short, easy-readable reviews". But please do us all a favor and watch this movie. you won't regret it"

Story: 18/20 Performance: 18/20 Credibility: 14/20 Music: 17/20 Overall: 18/20 

Score: 85/100 “Everything we know about you guys is wrong.”

~ B

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Cowboys & Aliens (starring Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford & Olivia Wilde)

A 2011 sci-fi action movie, directed by Jon Favreau (known for Iron Man), and written by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, Damon Lindelof, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Steve Oedekerk & Scott Mitchell Rosenberg.

We're stranded in the 1873 Arizona. Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig), awakes in a desert while he can't remember anything from his past. The only reference to his identity is a mysterious bracelet around his arm. Jake arrives in the little village, Absolution. He quickly realizes that most of the villagers distrust outsiders. They do nothing without the permission of Colonel Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford). When they get attacked by UFO's, that abducted some of the villagers' loved ones, Jake, who wasn't welcome at first instance, seems to be the only hope now.

I had never even imagined the event of cowboys fighting aliens, before I watched this. This movie enforced change. It is a genious idea to put the simple, old minded cowboy versus the high tech alien. That's also one of the main reasons why I think the movie is awesome. I'm also a fan of great visual effects use, and with this movie, I couldn't complain. Also worth mentioning is the score in one of the final scene's, it's epic!

Story: 16/20 Performance: 14/20 Credibility: 15/20 Music: 17/20 Overall: 14/20 

Score: 76/100 “I don't know much about boats, but I'd say that one's upside down.”

~ Persist.

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UP (starring Edward Asner, Jordan Nagai and John Ratzenberger)

Saying UP is one of the best animation movies is an understatement. The movie is so much more than 'just' an animation film. The story is nifty, emotional and funny as hell. The characters, especially Carl (Edward Asner), are so well-drawn. You'll quickly empathise with Carl resolving into a movie you watch for the rich and deep story and emotions which drags you in. Nevertheless, the movie is also full of especially funny moments and colorful landscapes

A young Boy dreamt of being an adventurer grew old with the love of his life. While he never became a real adventurer like the one in his childhood dreams, he had an entire live full of "smaller adventure" with his wife. Now he's 78, and is being evicted from the house he and his wife spend years to renovate, the whole house breaths memories, something he'll never sell, not even for all the money in the world. Now he has one last promise to keep to his wife, A promise that will make his last adventure like one he has always dreamt of as a kid!

UP is a mix of comedy and drama, while not unique this movie is definitely something different. UP separates itself from the other animations movies on so much levels that it would take to long to explain. You'll laugh your ass off, smile and wipe a tear of your face throughout the movie.

Story: 18/20 Performance: 16/20 Credibility: 15/20 Music: 15/20 Overall: 17/20 

Score: 81/100 “Mayhaps you desire to - SQUIRREL! ”

~ B

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(500) Days Of Summer (Starring Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt)

This is not a love story... this is a story about love.

Tom (Gordon-Levitt) falls in love with Summer (Deschanel), a girl who doesn't believe in true love. Altho she doesn't believe in love, Tom and Summer become more than friends. A story about a boy madly in love and a girl who ... well enjoys the experience.

The main perspective in this story comes from a guy, how he experience the 'relationship'. Definitely unique, a story from the perspective coming from a girl quickly gets labeled "chick-flick", something this movie is definitely not.The movie isn't your daily, average, cliché love story. It's a unique story about love.

The story rotates back and forth between key moments, while confusing at first you'll quickly get it and you'll see that this was the only right way for the story to unfold. It is a quite refreshing way of storytelling, something alot directors would be afraid of doing, but here it's one of the strengths of this movie.

Story: 20/20 Performance: 19/20 Credibility: 19/20 Music: 19/20 Overall: 19/20 

Score: 96/100 “Roses are red, violets are blue... Fuck you, whore! ”

~ B

(Artwork poster by leknives)

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Johnny English Reborn (starring Rowan Atkinson, Rosamund Pike & Dominic West)

A 2011 comedy, directed by Oliver Parker, and written by William Davies, Hamish McColl, Neal Purvis & Robert Wade. It's the sequel of "Johnny English" (2003).

Once more, the call for Johnny English (Rowan Atkinson) occurs. 8 Years have passed, but for the last 5 years, our remarkable, British agent has been trained by monks in the Asian mountains to brush up his skills. When his superiors get to hear that there has been an assassination attempt on a world leader, they call Johnny back to save the world from global chaos.

Don't expect a top notch Oscar winning storyline. I had a good time watching this movie though. It's just Rowan Atkinson doing what he's good at. This movie is just good, stupid fun. There were some events that were a little too hard to believe, but I'm glad I watched the movie and I'm glad that it didn't waste my time, and that's the bottom line.

Story: 11/20 Performance: 13/20 Credibility: 11/20 Music: 14/20 Overall: 16/20 

Score: 65/100 “Let's kick some bottom!”

~ Persist.

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The Descendants (starring George Clooney, Shailene Woodley and Amara Miller)

Clooney my man, you done it again!

A beautiful drama about a man, named Matt King (Clooney) whose wife is in the hospital after a boating accident. King has to take care of his 2 daughter (Shailene Woodley and Amara Miller), which isn't really an easy job. On top of that he has to close a deal to sell his land he owns on Hawaii.

The movie is filmed on Hawaii, and it does a great job capturing the real, authentic "Hawaii feeling". The music is well chosen and fits the picture perfectly. The picture itself, is a definition for the drama genre, the story is pretty straightforward but unfolds brilliantly. The only downside of this movie is that the emotions of the other actors felt a little bit stiff throughout the movie, but Clooney carries this movie like only he can. It's a great story if you like the real drama genre. Fans of Clooney will not be disappointed.

Story: 17/20 Performance: 15/20 Credibility: 15/20 Music: 16/20 Overall: 17/20 

Score: 78/100 “Paradise? Paradise can go fuck itself...”

~ B

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The Change-Up (starring Jason Bateman, Ryan Reynolds, Olivia Wilde & Leslie Mann)

A 2011 comedy, directed by David Dobkin, and written by Jon Lucas & Scott Moore.

Mitch (Ryan Reynolds) and Dave (Jason Bateman) grew up together, and were the best friends. But as time flew by, they grew apart. While Dave is a lawyer, husband, and father of 2 children, Mitch stayed single. In Mitch eyes, Dave has got everything: children that love him, a beautiful wife, and a job at a prestigious lawyer's office. Dave, on his turn, dreams of a life without stress, duties. After a drunk night, they wish they had each other's lifes, but the next day their wishes become true, and they wake in each other bodies.

It's a bit of a shame to say this, but in my opinion, this movie was more of a dissapointment, nevertheless I heard from some people that they thought the movie was very good. But yeah... that's every one's own opinion. The movie had its good and bad parts.

Story: 14/20 Performance: 13/20 Credibility: 12/20 Music: 14/20 Overall: 15/20 

Score: 68/100 “Who says men can't change?”

~ Persist.

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30 Minutes Or Less (starring Jesse Eisenberg, Danny McBride, Aziz Ansari & Nick Swardson)

A 2011 comedy, directed by Ruben Fleischer, and written by Michael Diliberti & Matthew Sullivan.

Dwayne (Danny McBride) is a lazy guy with no job, that wants to open a massage parlor with his friend Travis (Nick Swardson). They haven't enough money to realize their ideas, so they decide to kill Dwayne's father, The Major (Fred Ward), who won a large amount of money in the lottery, years ago. Dwayne and Travis hire a hitman to pull of the job, but they first have to pay the hitman with US$ 100.000. They kidnap the pizza delivery guy, Nick (Jesse Eisenberg), strapping a bomb to his chest, telling Nick he has 10 hours to rob a bank to get a money. If he doesn't get the money in time, they'll detonate the bomb. Nick calls in the help of his best friend Chet (Aziz Ansari).

This movie was so fun to watch! It was the funniest movie I've seen lately. This is definitely my style of comedy. When Dwayne and Travis kidnap Nick, they wear monkey masks. Dwayne is more like the bossy type of the two, he wears a gorilla mask. Travis, the less smarter type than Dwayne, wears a chimpanzee one. Really, these masks make everything so much funnier! I wander why I didn't break my back laughing?

Story: 13/20 Performance: 15/20 Credibility: 13/20 Music: 15/20 Overall: 18/20 

Score: 74/100 “Sometimes faith pulls out its big ol' cock and slaps you right in the face.”

~ Persist.

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Drive (starring Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan & Bryan Cranston)

A 2011 crime drama, directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, and written by Hossein Amini. The story is based on the book by James Sallis. 

Driver (Ryan Gosling) is a mysterious man, who lives in a low-rent apartment and works as a Hollywood stunt driver, mechanic and getaway driver. His mechanic boss, Shannon (Bryan Cranston), tries to set up a raceteam with gangland money. Driver has been asked to race in the team. Meanwhile Driver tries to help his neighbour, Standard (Oscar Isaac), to pay off his debt that he incurred in prison. But when he tries to help, he works himself in trouble.

From the beginning of the movie, I was sitting on the tip of my chair. The movie is definitely one of the better ones that I've been seeing lately. The moodsetting, color palette and music fitted very well together! The acting was great! There are really not a lot of points that I can give bad comments on. And if I really had to pick one, I'd say that if I directed the movie, I would've linked the events different, because I thought they weren't put that well together.

Story: 17/20 Performance: 17/20 Credibility: 16/20 Music: 17/20 Overall: 18/20 

Score: 85/100 “There are no clean getaways.”

~ Persist.

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The Big Year (starring Jack Black, Steve Martin & Owen Wilson)

A 2011 comedy, directed by David Frankel, and written by Howard Franklin. The story is based on the book from Mark Obmascik. 

Kenny (Owen Wilson) is a passionated birder. Last year he did a Big Year. A Big Year is a year, in which you have to spot as many sorts of birds as possible in North America. Kenny holds the world record at 732, but Brad (Jack Black) and Stu (Steve Martin) also want to do a Big Year. Will they break Kenny's record?

To be honest, this wasn't really my kind of movie. Though the story wasn't very great, the storytelling was. Sometimes a narrator fell in, and told about the characters as if they were wild animals. Felt like I was watching a nature documentary on NGC. 

Story: 12/20 Performance: 14/20 Credibility: 14/20 Music: 13/20 Overall: 15/20 

Score: 68/100 “This is a true story. Only the facts have been changed.”

~ Persist.

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About Schmidt (starring Jack Nicholson)

Jack does it again. A beautiful story about a men who goes on a trip to find the meaning of life after retirement.

The movie is using a familair kind of storytelling we've seen in Forrest Gump. Schmidt is telling parts of his life in a letter which he writes every now and then.

I wont deny it, i'm a big Nicholson fan and if you love a actor/actress you'll automatically find movies with your favorite actor/actress in it much better. But nevertheless this movie is astonishing. I must warn you tho, if you don't like slow movies with deep characters and no action, i recommend you skip this movie because this isn't for everyone.

But this kind of movie is absolutely my cup of tea, the story is deep, warm and eye-opening. The ending is great, altho i must admit the first time i was confused about it, but it made me think, this isn't a movie you'll watch, laugh and groan with and the next day you can barely remember the name of the movie.

Story: 18/20 Performance: 19/20 Credibility: 18/20 Music: 14/20 Overall: 18/20 

Score: 87/100 “What difference has my life made to anyone. None that I can think of. None at all..”

~ B

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Kung Fu Hustle (starring Stephen Chow, Wah Yuen and Qiu Yuen)

Do you like kung fu movies? No? Me neither but i love this movie. This is a comedy, with kung fu mixed in it. Altho the kung fu plays a big part in this movie it is kung fu with special effects but, nothing over the top. The fights are spectacular to watch and the effects blend in so well that you toughts about kung fu will change forever.

Stephen Chow who directed and stars in this film plays the role of somebody who wants to join a notorious gang. A gang that is feared by everyone. They only terrorize people in the big city, having no intrest in people with no money. This all change  when there is trouble in a turf. The fight is on between the turf and the gang. Stephen has to decide which side he is on.

A movie that'll guarantees to make you laugh your arse off. Some jokes which are typical for countries like China arn't as effective as they should here but nevertheless this movies is a blast.

Story: 16/20 Performance: 14/20 Credibility: 14/20 Music: 14/20 Overall: 16/20 

Score: 74/100 “In the world of kung fu, speed determines the winner.”

~ B

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Alpha Dog (starring Emile Hirsch, Justin Timberlake & Anton Yelchin)

A 2006 crime drama, directed and written by Nick Cassavetes. The story is based on the life of Jesse James Hollywood, one of the youngest men to be on the FBI's most wanted list.

In 1999, Johnny Truelove (Emile Hirsh), a young drugdealer, threatens Jake Mazursky (Ben Foster), who owns Johhny a lot of money. Jake answers by breaking into Johnny's house. The game continues, and due to an occasional event, Johnny and his friends kidnap Jakes 15-year old brother, Zach (Anton Yelchin), to remind Jake to pay his debt. Zach is okay with it, because he thinks that Jake will pay the money to release him soon. Frankie Ballenbacher (Justin Timberlake), a friend of Johnny, becomes Zach's supervisor. Zach and Frankie create a brotherly friendship, by hanging out together and going to parties. Suddenly Johnny realises he is facing serious legal problems.

Unless you already know how the life of Jesse James Hollywood went, I suggest you don't look it up, because otherwise you're already finding out how the movie is going to end. Alpha Dog is a movie that'll grab you right into it. The story is so dragging. After seeing it, I watched it again the next day. I think a lot of people are not going to like this type of movie, you will understand this, after watching it.

Story: 17,5/20 Performance: 16,5/20 Credibility: 17/20 Music: 15,5/20 Overall: 17/20 

Score: 83,5/100 “You ever have that dream: the one where you did something...? You don't know why, but you can never go back?”

~ Persist.

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Felon (starring Stephen Dorff, Val Kilmer, Harol Perrineau & Marisol Nichols)

A 2008 crime drama, directed and written by Ric Roman Waugh

Wade Porter (Dorff) is living the American Dream with his wife, Laura (Nichols), and their son. One night Wade's whole life is about to be thrown into a mess, when he unintentionally kills a burglar who invaded his house in the middle of the night. On his trial, he is sentenced to three years in state prison, but after an incident, he gets sent to the maximum security wing, under the lead of the corrupt Lieutenant Jackson (Perrineau).

A friend of mine told me that i just had to check out "Felon", and I'm glad I did. I'm definitely going to check out more from Ric Roman Waugh. This is one of the best films I've ever seen. The plot was very original. Seeing the movie is like being in some kind of mysterious trance. And after seeing the end, I left with a satisfied feeling. "Felon" is definitely a recommender! You may think my score is a bit overrated, but that's just how I think about it. If you doubt to watch it, I'd say you might want to check out the trailer. Story: 19/20 Performance: 18/20 Credibility: 17/20 Music: 19/20 Overall: 18/20 

Score: 91/100 “When you're life is defined by a single action, it changes the concept of time.”

~ Persist.

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The Green Hornet (starring Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Cristoph Waltz & Cameron Diaz)

A 2011 comedy directed by Michel Gondry. The story is written by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg & George W. Trendle. 

When party animal Britt Reid's (Rogen) rich father suddenly dies, he is dedicated to take over the lead of the family business, the Los Angeles' "The Daily Sentinel" newspaper company. When he finds out he has more than one agreement with the employee Kato (Chou), they decide to go out and do something crazy. By chance they stop a robbery, and are so amazed, that they want to do it again. And so Britt, with the help of Kato, starts a career in fighting crime in LA on his own strange manner, by the name of "The Green Hornet".

The last couple of years, there were made a lot of movies like this one. The simple, ordinary guy becomes a masked superhero. If you like an original plot I don't recommend you to watch this. However, I didn't said it was a bad movie, I had a lot of fun watching it. Maybe you think, this movie isn't that good, but I definitely thought it was worth the time. There happens a lot of other stuff too, but if you wanna find out what, you have to check it out. Story: 13/20 Performance: 15/20 Credibility: 15/20 Music: 15/20 Overall: 17/20 

Score: 75/100 “Everyone knows, when you corner a hornet, you get stung.”

~ Persist.