A man with the ability to enter peoples' memories takes on the case of a brilliant, troubled sixteen-year-old girl to determine whether she is a sociopath or a victim of trauma. From: IMDb.com
Directed by: Jorge Dorado
Starring: Taissa Farmiga, Mark Strong, Brian Cox and others
Thriller charting the moral collapse of a police family. Two cop brothers, smothered by the shadow of their former police chief father, must investigate a crime they themselves have committed. From: IMDb.com
Thriller charting the moral collapse of a police family. Two cop brothers, smothered by the shadow of their former police chief father, must investigate a crime they themselves have committed. From: IMDb.com
Directed by: Nick Murphy
Starring: Rosemarie DeWitt, Scoot McNairy, Ellen Page and others
This looks like a good movie, this feels like a good movie, I only wish I could also understand what was happening in it.
Talking about some wasted opportunity. Or perhaps I should rather say; talking about style over substance. When it comes down to it, that's the biggest problem of the movie. Absolutely nothing wrong with its production values, also nothing wrong with the acting but the story is told in a very convoluted way, even while in essence its story is still a pretty straightforward and formulaic one, which probably also explains why the film-makers felt the need to overcompensate with its storytelling.
The movie loves to throw in all sort of characters and developments, who appear to be important for the movie and its progress but the movie doesn't really explain very well why. It doesn't really give you enough background or explanation to anything, which also has as a result that the characters don't ever really work out as the best or most interesting ones. It's hard to truly care for anyone in this movie, because you never really get to know them that well and because you just don't know what their motivation and ultimate goal is.
Sounds like an awful and nearly unwatchable movie but strangely enough it isn't. The movie still manages to give you the sense that everything that gets told and happens is important in some way and relevant in relation to something else. Can't say that movie ever reaches a very satisfying conclusion with anything as well but it at least helps to keep you interest in the movie and it makes you want to know what it's all leading up to.
There is also plenty of action. Nothing too big or spectacular but it helps to keep things going and ensures that the movie never starts to drag or bore. It gets kind of annoying after a while though to see all of the characters shooting hundreds of bullets at each other throughout this movie, while rarely hitting anyone. It sort of goes at the expense of the movie its credibility.
But still, the foremost thing that this movie still has going for it is its look. Despite its low-budget, it's an incredibly professional and slick looking movie, with a nice visual style and great cinematography, though dark is certainly a keyword, all throughout this movie.
Can't say I liked it but also can't say I hated it.
Set in the 1930s Arab states at the dawn of the oil boom, the story centers on a young Arab prince torn between allegiance to his conservative father and modern, liberal father-in-law. From: IMDb.com
Directed by: Jean-Jacques Annaud
Starring: Mark Strong, Antonio Banderas, Freida Pinto and others
Before any 2012 movie got released, this always sounded like the most
likely one to become my favorite of the year and the one main Oscar
contender for 2012. Well, seems like my predictions and hopes for this
movie were a bit too early and wrong, since "Zero Dark Thirty" is by no
means a great film, even though it still behaves like one.
Of course it's far from a terrible one as well but it still remains a
movie that does plenty of things in a just too remote and not involving
enough way.
The entire movie is just a telling of events, almost in the same way as
a documentary. This means there is no room whatsoever for any
personally drama and other plot lines to develop. It focuses on its
main subject and its main subject alone, making this very dry movie to
watch, also mostly because its set at offices and involves lots of
talking. Nothing wrong necessarily with this type of approach and some
directors might indeed get away with this but it seems that Kathryn
Bigelow was overplaying her hand a bit with this movie.
It's of course OK for a movie to not really feature any action or other
excitement but a movie at least needs to give you something thats both
interesting and involving enough to follow, especially when the movie
is nearly 3 hours long. This movie definitely has too little of that,
due to its more observing type of approach.
There is also still no good excuse as to why the actual raid toward the
end of the movie is a thing that also works out as something that's far
from exciting and engaging. It's supposed to put you on the edge of
your seat and should make you hold your breath, even though you of
course already know how it's all going to end. But it almost treats its
like an afterthought and perhaps it's something more subtle and less
exciting to be more in tone with the rest of the movie? I don't know
but it all felt like a missed opportunity to me.
If this movie teaches us one thing, it's that the hunt for Osama bin
Laden was a very long, frustrating and not always that exciting
process. It might be a very accurate movie but I somehow doubt that as
well. The movie claims it's based on a first-hand account of all of the
events but that would only make sense if the real 'Maya', or someone
very high up, was involved with this movie, which is all extremely
unlikely.
And just to show it also can be done right; "Seal Team Six: The Raid on
Osama Bin Laden" is a made for TV movie about the same subject, only
told from a different (more interesting) perspective. It's nearly twice
as short and made with a significantly less budget but it's about ten
times as exciting, interesting and engaging to watch.
Really, it's not like this movie ever gets a bad one but it's missing
something, all throughout, to make the movie truly something
interesting or engaging. It tries hard but it still never really pushes
through. It's filled mostly with wasted potential really. The movie as
it is remains a good enough one and it remains a well enough made movie
with some decent acting but it's obviously hardly any Oscar material,
though it will probably still get nominated in a few categories, due to
its subject and persons involved.
When a notorious criminal is forced to return to London, it gives a detective one last chance to take down the man he's always been after. From: IMDb.com
Directed by: Eran Creevy
Starring: James McAvoy, David Morrissey, Mark Strong and others
A chronicle of the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the 9/11 attacks, and his death at the hands of the Navy SEAL Team 6 in May, 2011. From: IMDb.com
Directed by: Kathryn Bigelow
Starring: Chris Pratt, Jessica Chastain, Joel Edgerton and others
(Review originally written at 20 August 2008) Too be honest, this was a horrible movie to watch. It was annoying since this is one of those movies that clearly lacks a purpose and you just don't really known what it is you're watching. Luckilly the movie does get slightly better toward its end, so I'm more or less glad I still finished watching it, since I almost switched it off after its first 15 minutes, something I normally never ever do.
I still don't know if the movie is trying to be a comedy or a serious movie with comical moments in it. Eitherway, it doesn't really work out effectively. Perhaps it's because of the very underwritten script. It doesn't has some good funny moments written in it and it mostly relies on the stereotyped characters being funny, which they just aren't however. As a realistic and honest straight-forward drama the movie works out better but the atmosphere is just way too light for it to truly ever work out effectively. So here we have one messy movie that just ever really work out either way.
The movie is going nowhere really at its start but if you'll survive the first hour relax, the movie will get slightly better after that point. But it's just too little too late, I'm afraid.
To be honest, I didn't expect this movie to be as good as it turned out to be. No way this movie seemed like one deserving its current 8 out of 10 rating on here. This seemed to me like just another fluffy 'light'-Lord of the Rings children movie. But even though this movie borrows heavily from other movies, it remains a good and certainly fun quality production.
Best choice the movie made, was that it was one that didn't took itself as seriously. You obviously have to take this movie with a grain of salt. It knows it is ridicules in parts and it doesn't try to hide this but rather even exploit it further. This is mostly what makes the movie so fun to watch. Because of this you also tend to forgive this movie from 'borrowing' elements or entire sequences from other movies. Fact that his movie doesn't take itself as serious can also be seen in the delicious over-the-top roles from Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer roles.
Because the movie needs to be taken with a grain of salt, also the humor works out the best. The humor within this movie feels non-forced, even though it got put in- and planned out all deliberately into the movie. It knows to remain fresh and it doesn't overly try to make you laugh. It's often more subtle and not something you would expect from a genre movie such as this.
It's mostly the fun level and atmosphere of this movie that makes it such a good one to watch. Because lets be fair, if this movie purely had to rely on its story, this would had been a rather weak and simple movie to watch. It's quite formulaic stuff all and of course the way the story progresses is rather predictable. I also don't know if this is really a kids movie. Even though the movie got obviously targeted towards this audience, I strongly feel that it are the adults who will mostly enjoy watching this. The humor and overall story is too mature for that.
Also the diverse wide range of characters makes this movie a real fun one to watch. Most characters are really over-the-top and are often being played by some fine big name actors. Besides the earlier mentioned Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert De Niro, the movie also features Sienna Miller, Ian McKellen, Peter O'Toole, Mark Strong, Rupert Everett, Claire Danes, Nathaniel Parker, Dexter Fletcher and Ricky Gervais among others. Most of them are well known respected British actors, which also already gives the movie a certain atmosphere. But it needs to be said, with all the many different characters in the movie it at times feels that most actors looked as if they were making a movie on their own. The movie doesn't always feel like a coherent one.
Also the pacing isn't always right and the movie gave the feeling that it also could had been easily 15 minutes shorter. It on the other hand is a fine looking and constructed movie, even though it doesn't feature the best special effects around but this sort of feels suiting for the movie and its entire atmosphere.
Highly recommendable and in this case believe the hype!
(Review originally written at 21 April 2007) There have been some (unsuccesful) attempts the past few years (such as "Solaris" and "Mission to Mars".) but lets face it, science-fiction movies now days mostly means flying space ships constantly battling each other and freaky looking aliens who try to take over the world, instead of the deeper and more philosophical approach. Nothing wrong with that sort of entertainment but it's refreshing to see that still good and clever science-fiction movies can be made, combined with the techniques of this decade. It really makes "Sunshine" one of the best science-fiction movies since years and I was pleasantly surprised by it. The movie features basically every cliché you can think of with this genre and it of course also makes the movie in parts predictable but it does a good job with combining it all and it works out really well thanks to the lively and original directing from Danny Boyle that is somewhere between spectacular and philosophical but always in its own style. The movie is a great blend between tense and spectacular action and clever written moments. This movie picks all kind of approaches from mystery, to tension, to action and it all works out effectively. Basically this movie has everything in it it needs to make a great movie with. It's tense, spectacular looking, has a mysterious theme in it and a sniff of romance. In other words; all the ingredients to have a great time with. It's a movie that entertains and thrills and is a feast for all your senses. The movie is incredible good looking. Outer space has never looked so impressive and huge before. The visual effects are amazing and in a way also are the core of the movie. The special effects are everywhere, the establishing shots, the spectacular moments, the beautiful moments. They are just basically always present and a reason why this movie works out so well is because of its visual look, in which the special effects play such an important part. It of course can be all best experienced on the big screen. Has there ever been a movie before in which the sun played such a prominent role? It almost becomes a character in the movie and it of course plays the biggest part in the movie, since it's all about the sun. In fact the story isn't really that much special or even original but the approach of it all makes this movie a refreshing one nevertheless, that is a great one to experience. How much things can you actually come up with, with a group of astronauts aboard a space ship on mission to re-ignite the dying sun. The movie comes up with some really well thought out and executed moments, that really are some edge-of-your-seat stuff at times. It's a greatly layered movie with themes in that can be interpreted in many different deeper ways, though it's also true that the movie toward the end becomes more formulaic and picks the more simplistic approach. And yes, it's definitely true that the movie is not terribly original with its themes and characters but nevertheless the execution and especially the visual look of it all still makes this movie one that is worth seeing, even if you've already seen all of the science-fiction movies this movie obviously was inspired by (such as "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "Alien".). The movie really isn't the most original one but yet it feels like a totally new experience. What I also love about the movie is that it does a good job at not picking one main character but instead focus evenly on all the characters aboard the space ship, even though you can say that Cillian Murphy plays the main character of the movie. It gives everyone a lot of screen time and doesn't really make any of them a secondary character for in the background with meaningless lines. It also makes all of the characters well developed, despite the fact that they all are quite formulaic. Also a reason why their characters work out is because of the top-class acting, from some well known but also lesser known actors. Not one actor in the movie disappoints and they all did a great job. It shows that Danny Boyle is a real actor-directing but also a director who knows how to tell a story without the actors but with lots of style and flair. A great, mysterious, tense, spectacular but above all also really well made beautiful movie experience that you really have to experience for your self. 9/10 Watch trailer
(Review originally written at 20 April 2007) No wonder that this movie became nowhere a success. It was made at a time when dozens of war movies were being made every year. This movie adds very little extra to the genre and offers few surprises or insight information about things we didn't knew yet. Also problem is that the movie just isn't much interesting because very little is actually happening in it. Just analyze this movie for a moment. Is it really the interesting story approach of the prisoners starting a school and start learning about so called 'deeper' philosophies. And here also lays a problem. The movie is toward the end trying to get philosophical and with deeper meanings in it but due to the way of film-making it feels too forced and because of that it gets overdone and works ineffective. All of the genre clichés you could expect from a movie like this are present here; A mean camp commander, a more friendly guard, escapes and escape plans, one group of people who wants to escape and others who want to stay put and the list goes on. Of course I understand that its hard to be original with a concept of a movie set entirely in a POW-camp but they at least could had put in some more surprises and less formulaic characters. Also the casting didn't helped much. Whose bright idea was it to cast Ciarán McMenamin (who?) as the main character. The movie is further more filled with some well known actors such as Robert Carlyle, Kiefer Sutherland and James Cosmo but it all makes you wonder; wouldn't they characters be just as effective and good if they were being played by lesser known actors? The actors performances just don't add enough to the characters and their development. You can see that this movie is a waste of such a fine cast. The characters are also one of the problems I had with this movie. They don't ever fully get developed and you just never feel close or attached to any of them. I once again results in the fact that the emotions of the movie don't work out because you quite frankly just don't care. The movie also isn't very effective with showing how brutal and hopeless the situations in the camps were. The lacks a certain atmosphere of danger and perhaps even is too light on the subject, despite having some violent and cruel sequences in it. But all of those moments are rather predictable and you can sense them coming from miles away. It makes them ineffective and also makes the movie feel all the more formulaic and forced. The movie doesn't look cheap but it feels like a cheap one nevertheless, due to some lame camera-positions and editing techniques at times. Also the fact that the movie begins almost immediately set in the POW camp just doesn't work out effective. It just makes you feel cheated that you missed out all of the action, which obviously occurred but wasn't shown on screen. Lots of cruel things are happening to the characters but problem is that we don't know them yet, so to say it boldly, why should we care what happens? The directing and choices they made just aren't much good and I doubt we'll ever hear some big things from director David L. Cunningham in the future. But obviously this movie is of cause much better than just your average B-war movie. It's definitely a watchable movie but really not deserving of the high rating and praise it is currently receiving on here. It's a watchable but above all a very redundant movie that adds nothing new to the genre. I just don't see how this movie does do any justice to the real POW, by the Japanese during WW II. This movie offers nothing more than formulaic entertainment with drama that feels too forced and overdone to find this movie ever credible or powerful, despite it all being based on true events. 6/10 Watch trailer
