Thirty Seconds Or Less: Final Destination 5, 30 Minutes Or Less, and The Help

Well, the summer is almost over, as far as summer blockbusters go. I think it has been a relatively good run. Overall, we had some crap movies and some really good ones. This week, I managed to squeeze in three movies to review for your delight. Delight? Not this first one. Final Destination 5.

Final Destination 5 (Be prepared to hear me rip into this one)

Cinematography 1/5

The only reason I am giving this movie a 1 in this aspect is because some of the CGI looked relatively decent. Honestly, every shot was as basic as it comes. It didn’t excite me, nor make me happy. I never really liked these movies very much anyway, aside from the first one, but I always keep an open mind when I see a movie.

Acting 1/5

I would have given this a 0 as well, but Tony Todd did have a good performance. I respect hiring no-name actors, or actors with no “big” movies under their belt, but this was just awful. Every single actor, excluding Todd, was horrid. The main character wasn’t too bad, but that’s saying the glass is half full, but it happens to be half full of rotten milk. It’s still gross. Every other actor was just trying to hard or didn’t know how to show emotion.

Writing 0/5

The writing of this movie almost made me physically ill. I really have nothing to say about it other than to fire the entire writing team and make them burn every script they are working on. Keep in mind, when I say writing, I am referring to the way it is written, not regarding the story.

Editing 1/5

I’m giving it a one because it was an hour and a half. Which was the best part of it. It was a bit quick with editing jumps and the so called “beauty” shots, that were attempting to set up a scene were horrible. It was also really quickly edited, I could see it throughout with the cuts between characters. No depth was allowed.

Story 2/5

Honestly, this was a slightly redeeming aspect of the film strictly due to some of the twists that were throughout the film. I really did like the ending, no spoilers, but it was really good how they threw a curveball.

Sound 1/5

Once again, another sad part of the film. Nothing really special. I only gave it a one for the use of Dust In The Wind, which really didn’t make the movie special, but did play a great classic rock song.

Closing Comments 6/30

Overall, this movie is horrible. Don’t waste your money. That’s that.

30 Minutes Or Less (Hmm, this title seems familiar)

Cinematography 3/5

This aspect of the film wasn’t too bad, but was very basic. I did like the settings a lot. I thought the sets were very well done in attempting to look run down, or rich, etc. But, overall, nothing really stuck out to me.

Acting 3/5

This part of the film didn’t really do anything special. Eisenberg seemed very flat in this film and really didn’t have much depth. His friend was, Ansari, was pretty funny and over the top most of the time. He did that role pretty well actually. Nothing really stood out to me, it was just basic and flat.

Writing 3/5

Another part of the film that didn’t really wow me. It was just average. Nothing special about it, but also nothing horrible. This film looks to be heading towards the completely average joe style of movie.

Editing 4/5

I gave this one a 4 because of it’s length and it’s style of editing. It was short, sweet and constantly was moving. No really dull moments. Even if a moment did get slow, it really didn’t last long and would go right back to the main plot.

Story 3/5

Considering this sort of movie has been done before, maybe not exactly like this, but close, it really didn’t bring anything new to the table. I didn’t dislike it, it’s just that it didn’t bring me the wow factor that I love.

Sound 4/5

This film really did have a good soundtrack. It was upbeat and really matched the tone of the movie. I enjoyed it.

Closing Comments 20/30

As I said earlier, it was just average. I enjoyed myself, I had a few laughs, and didn’t fall asleep. It was just an average movie. I would say you can go see it in theaters, but if you wait for the DVD release, you won’t miss much. To be honest, I expect more from Ruben Fleischer, who directed Zombieland.

The Help

Cinematography 5/5

The sets were great. They really did a good job in making things look like the late 50s, early sixties during the Jim Crow era. I really think that Mississippi is a beautiful state, and they did a good job in capturing the essence of it. Something that really looked good was the heat. I noticed that most of the characters were sweaty and hot, and that means they did make it look as real as possible. I’m sure that the large plantation houses they used were air conditioned, but not during the setting. I really liked that.

Acting 5/5

Emma Stone really hit this role hard and did a great job. Honestly, this was one of the better acted movies I’ve seen in quite some time. Every actor, including the children really were on the mark and made it convincing. One actress in particular really did well, Bryce Howard, who played the evil Hilly. Honestly, you learned to hate this character with a passion. I liked that about the acting on her part.

Writing 4/5

As good as the writing was, I honestly thought the dialogue in certain parts was a little unnecessary or not accurate. It wasn’t anything to shake a stick at, but as a person who was raised in the south, I thought it didn’t quite keep up to par on what a southerner would have said or how they would have said it.

Editing 4/5

I know that you really can’t blame just the editing for this, but this movie was a tad on the longer side. Certain scenes were unnecessary and made the movie longer than it needed. The movie runs around 2 hours and 20 minutes, and it is my opinion that it could have been cut down to 2 hours straight. Once again, nothing to shake a stick at, but a small mistake that could have been fixed.

Story 5/5

Well, this story is based around a very difficult time in American history. The Jim Crow laws were an abomination in American history that I wish had never happened, but it’s just history I guess. I think this movie did a fine job in showing the lighter side of this trying time in American history. I thought that the story of hardship was fantastic.

Sound 3/5

Honestly, nothing really stood out to me about the score. It was basic. A string orchestra or digital piano sound that played every once in a while. It was nice how they incorporated the original broadcasts of some of the news reports during that time period. For example, the JFK assassination funeral.

Closing Comments 26/30

Fantastic movie that I would recommend to go see. Bring tissues if you have a soft heart, but also be prepared to laugh a bit at some of the lighter parts of the story. Very good film.