Penelope

April 2nd, 2008

 

Is it just me or is the whole fantasy genre being loaded with movies that features famous actors? I really don’t mind because I love this kind of movies :) Penelope is about a girl who has the nose of a pig and the reason she  has one is because of curse that a witch lay upon her family. The movie features Christine Ricci and James McAvoy (who we all know from the legendary The Last King Of Scotland). Christine plays the role of Penelope and James plays the role of the only guy who sees beyond her nose ;) Very nice movie with good acting and a nice script with some fun actors!

Lions for lambs

March 15th, 2008

 

A movie that tells the story about the current war against terrorism in Afghanistan. The story is being told from different perspectives.. namely from the view of a senator who is trying to make a win and telling this story to a reporter. Another view is the where a professor tries to convince a student that he can make a difference in the world and there the final view of two soldiers that are based in Afghanistan and these two soliders were once students of the professor. It’s a real good movie that tries to explain what is going on in Afghanistan (and Iraq as well) and how difficult it is how to feel and how to act instead of doing nothing or vice versa. I recommend this one!

August Rush

March 15th, 2008
Movie about a boy who is searching for his parents through music he is hearing everywhere. How did the boy end up being alone? Well his parents found each other one night and very sadly didn’t meet each other again due to some unfortunate thing called faith. I really wanted to see this one since Robin Williams starred in it and it seemed a very genuine movie when I watched the trailer. Although the story itself is a bit cheesy, the overall acting and storytelling is pretty good. Nice feel good movie :)

Gone Baby Gone

February 19th, 2008

Robin reviewed “Gone Baby Gone” a few weeks back and it has been on my list to watch ever since. It has also been generally very well received, so I was really looking forward to it, especially since I really love a movie that poses an ethical dilemma.

image For me though, this movie just did not hit the spot. In fact, I hated the first hour so much that I *almost* turned it off.

Why? Well, to start with, Casey Affleck’s voice drove me absolutely MAD, the guy cannot pronounce his words. Instead something sounding half way between the kid from “The Year My Voice Broke” and Dirty Harry drips out.

Somehow his character has all this “street cred”, despite being a largely un-charismatic, poor white boy from the ghetto made good, who does not seem particularly “street-wise”. This cred enables him to investigate the kidnap of a young girl by going where the police cannot.

To me, this, not uncommon, plot device gives the story a “get our of jail free card”. Whenever they hit a dead-end, one of his old homeboys from the hood comes out of nowhere shouting “Dawg this, and dawg that”, “yo, yo, yo, my brother get your gac and lets go get us some nasty shit kidnapper types who I just sold a kilo to, yo, yo, yo”. Of course this comes with all that macho, bravado crap that makes me wonder what the hell his one dimensional (or less) girlfriend (Michelle Monaghan) actually sees in him.  

And this is just the first hour. Boring as hell I can tell you. When the second hour starts (and its almost exactly on the second hour) it does make the smallest of recoveries. I’m not going to go into detail, but at this point a rather far-fetched story line leaves you wondering if a poor child with a neglectful mother is not better off in the care of another, more idyllic family.

It is thought provoking, and I did spend some time on it, but then decided that I probably wouldn’t agree with most Americans about what a neglectful family versus an idyllic one actually looked like (granted the one in the movie was certainly neglectful). This of course leaves you at the top of one of those giant slippery slopes.

Actually, it was just this type of slippery slope that Australia rode and finally apologised for only this week. Just a generation ago an arrogant Government, albeit with arguably good intentions, made the assumption that they knew what was best for a child. As a result kidnapping children from their “neglectful” mothers so that they could have a “better” chance in life.

In closing, if, after watching this movie, you would NOT have called the police, start watching here: Rabbit Proof Fence, a fantastic movie, based on a true story, that comes at this ethical dilemma from a different and more powerful angle.

(Damn, I think I should have just tried to relax and enjoy this one!)

We own the night

February 17th, 2008

Generally speaking, I have liked a lot of stuff by Marky Mark and theimage Funky Bunch (Boogie Nights, Three Kings), and I like the unique style  of Joaquin Phoenix, so I overcame some hesitation and watched “We Own The Night

Don’t.

There is nothing to see here that you haven’t seen before.

Indiana Jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull

February 16th, 2008

No.. no review yet ;) But I just wanted to share the new trailer of the upcoming movie!

The Great Debaters

February 16th, 2008

Story about a debaters team in Texas back in the 1930’s starring Denzel Washington and Forest Whitaker.

A drama based on the true story by Melvin B. Tolson, a professor at Wiley College Texas. In 1935, he inspired students to form the school’s first debate team, which went on to challenge Harvard in the national championship

The  movie follows the professor and his students all the way from the beginning until the end at Harvard. During this time the students face some horrific scenes about racism. I was personally quite shocked to find out what went on in the US between white and black people.. I really recommend this movie to everyone!

Run Fatboy Run

February 16th, 2008

New movie with Simon Pegg (from Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz) and it’s directed by David Schwimmer. Although the story itself is a bit too predictable and quite lame, I really liked it. Mainly because of the way story is being told and the acting from Simon which is superb! The story is about a guy who left his wife at the altar while she was pregnant and after a couple of years she finally gets a new boyfriend. During this he finally get’s the point and tries to win her back by competing against her new boyfriend by doing the London marathon.

Juno

February 6th, 2008

If you himageave some time this weekend, or actually even if you don’t, check out Juno. Filled with a million and one classic little one liners, with each flying past you like they are on the way to the pub for a coopers after living away from home for 8 years, you must stay alert!

Ellen Page, who plays a terribly sarcastic 16 yo who finds herself pregnant after a fling on a chair, really carries the Movie, leaving Michael Cera, the father, to do not much more than a rolling series of cameos. But it works.

The roles these two play will be familiar to you if you have seen their other big movies (Hard Candy awesome!, Superbad funny) and while in dame ways it made me feel I was watching a sequel, they really pull it off.

Anyway, the movie charts the progress of Juno as she navigates a pregnancy from conception to adoption. With lots of laughs along the way. Watch it!

I want someone to eat cheese with

February 4th, 2008

Without a doubt the best movie title ever ;) (well.. actually Gayniggers from Outer Space is, but hey!) Story is about a chubby guy who still lives with his mom and fails when it comes to the ladies. Not a very strong story but brought very well and in a very funny way. Nice feel good movie ;)