The notebook story of an elderly lady’s life is being read to her, by her elderly partner in the hope that she will remember and conquer her dementia. Dementia is un-reverseable. The story of the notebook, Noah (Ryan Gosling) and Alley (Rachel Mcadams) fall in love over a summer, however he is a country boy, and she is a very rich city girl.
A sort of cliche inside a cliche story, done moderately well. I was extremely keen on the inside story (the notebook), rather than the outside wrapper of Noah overcoming Alley’s old age. This is in no way a spoiler, it is made quite clear in the first 30 minutes the two elderly’s are Noah and Alley, it does not try to patronise you with a surprise gotchya.
Ryan Gosling a country boy, who works on a lumber made you really feel for him; from asking her to a date to all of his downtimes. His dream is to get the run down house nearby in sea brook, do it up, and then Alley can paint and drink tea on the porch. Rachel McAdams was brilliant in fighting off her parents and was rather good at kissing….there is a lot of kissing! I could not imagine Alley and Noah played by anyone else!
I would have probably enjoyed it more, without the wrapper story of Noah and Alley in their age, however there would be no use for a notebook. It was slightly ambitious having two cliches, upper class loves lower class, and my love life forgetting our story. I did eventually have feelings for the wrapper story but it was a little too late. All of the cinematography was quite amazing, flapping birds in slow-motion and moon shining on the water. Incomparable to the English Patient.
IMDB The Notebook
Based on the classic story, a young girl (Hailee Steinfeld) is out to avenge her father’s death. The girl is headstrong and stubborn, she knows what she wants. She manages to get some money and a horse. She finds Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), a man who has lost count of the number of people he has shot; he is mean and true grit but he takes a while to get off his horse. Her room is taken by a texas ranger, la Boeuf , Matt Damon. She negotiates an agreement with Cogburn and he asks her to set off tomorrow. She finds that Cogburn has left with la Boeuf.
The adventure takes over when they set off. Their adventure is endearing and thrilling. It is a very calm western, with gun slinging action really in the last second half. La Boeuf wants some respect as a texas ranger and does decide to do his own thing, but gets shot and bites his own tongue. He acts with a bitten tongue, very cool. Cogburn and La Boeuf always try to get one over on each other and be the best.
It must have been shot in the wilderness as it is all so realistic and makes you feel like your there. The atmosphere at times is just great.
With an eventful adventure, I could easily watch this again, the story is 1st class and the ending is majestic.
A Martin Scorsese film in 2 hours and 20 mins charting the 1950’s through to 1980. Goodfellas is based on a true story with Ray Liotta as lead role, Henry Hill. Henry is brought into the Mafia from a young age skipping school to run errand, and he immediately starts to enjoy the life of a gangster with nice suits, women and – and lots of money. He meets Jimmy Conway and Tommy DeVito, played by Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci. They become his two closest friends whose mentality instability starts to cause trouble within the Mafia. The gang carry out many felonies, such as the infamous Lufthansa heist at JFK airport.
Through Henry Hill, the film shows the grim reality of gangster life behind the fast cars and banknotes. Its a story about loyalty and keeping your hands clean – but the question is who would rat out their friend to keep their reputation from picking up dirt? Excellent characterisation with a cameo role by Scorsece’s mum, which we loved. Wife Karen, Lorraine Bracco did an excellent job and Liota made a goodfella seem easy. However there’s a long build up and I’m not sure that this film should be at the top of the IMDB website. Have your say…..
In this suspense chilling investigation, two detectives, a veteran, William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) and rookie David Mills (Brad Pitt) are investigating a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sin as his modus operandi. This film comes with an incredible chase, huge climax and some uncomfortable moments. The murders are in ways you can not imagine so prepare your self for a heavy crime story. Gwyneth Paltrow is David Mills’ wife and Kevin Spacey also stars, Kevin Spacey’s name is no where to be seen on my dvd case, nor IMDB first cast page but you won’t miss him!
The chase is incredibly nerving and thrilling. The start may seem slow paced and tame but it is filled with build up of iconic inspection in the dark with torch lights; an inspection of a suspects apartment is very chilling. You want to ask how each murder was done, how did it happen. Soon afterwards you wonder why you asked, and it is the same with each one! This movie is very clever and well paced.
Michael Douglas (as Dan Gallagher) and Glen Close (as Alex Forrest) star in this thriller from the late 1980’s. The one with the “bunny boiler” in it! This movie starts out like most with an innocent beginning when their paths cross at a party. He is a lawyer with a wife and kid, she is a professional single woman. Glen Close is not particularly attractive in my opinion but the two of them have a connection (they fancy each other) and before you know it they are having dinner together because his wife is away so they spend the night together (as you do?). She changes herself from this person who is sexy and confident and who understands the rules to someone who is pathetic, attention seeking and psychopathic. Glen Close certainly gives you value for your money. She is actually extremely good at being evil. I’m sure she gave me nightmares back in the 80’s! Michael Douglas is also on top form in this raunchy thriller. The ending is not to be missed. Fatal Attraction IMDB
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck star in and co-wrote this oscar-nominated and original screen play about a clever young man called William Hunting who works in one of America’s top Universities and is a gifted mathematician – the only difference between him and the other students is that he is merely the cleaner and not only does he not recognise an opportunity when one is handed to him on a plate, he cannot cope emotionally and is a terrible let down for the proud professor who wants to bring his protege to the forefront of mathmatics. Robin Williams plays the Psychologist in a tailor-made role winning him an oscar. Worth viewing as first Matt is very young in this and his acting is rather mature and secondly because he co-wrote it and so he must understand a lot more than I gave him credit for! Rather cheesy American Shmaltz at times but Minnie Driver makes up for that.
Good Will Hunting IMDB
Gilbert Grape, (Johnny Depp) lives in Andora with his mum, his brother Arnie, (a young Leonardo DiCaprio) and two sisters. Momma Grape is morbidly obese and she cannot leave her house. Arnie is mentally challenged and the whole family have to look after Momma and make sure that her meals are ready and they collectively look after Arnie who is hopefully going to make his 18th birthday soon. The story brings us into the bosom of the Grape family and lets us know how Gilbert is feeling in particular. The interesting thing about this film is that you bond with the characters, Arnie becomes lovable, you feel sorry for Momma and you care about them all. There is no over-acting and the pace is slow but careful and I just sat back and enjoyed every minute like a fly on the wall docu-soap. Pure joy.
Psychological murder mystery thriller set in San Francisco, California. Basic Instinct crosses sexual boundaries in film making in that it is extremely explicit. Michael Douglas plays Nick Curran, the Detective who is investigating the murder of a rock star with an ice pick. Sharon Stone is Catherine Tramell, she is a murder mystery writer who has written about a murder with an ice pick and therefore she has given herself the perfect alibi – “I’d have to be pretty stupid to write a book about killing and then kill him the way I described in my book. I’d be announcing myself as the killer. I’m not stupid. “. However, she was the last person known to be in contact with the victim. Jeanne Tripplehorn also stars as the Psychologist who is helping Nick to overcome his alcoholism and itchy trigger finger.
The music is haunting and the winding roads round the coast to Catherine’s beach house make your spine go all tingly. The chemistry between Douglas and Stone in this movie is electric and charged with sexual tension. It is gripping in suspense and the script is exceptionally strong. Every time Stone appears on the set you fall for her charm. You get sucked in. You will try to find the clues but the movie is too clever for you!
IMDB Basic Instinct
Matt Damon is Chief Roy Miller, an American Army Team Leader in the Iraq war. His team’s job is to use intelligence sources to find weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Each site is empty and intelligence deemed false. Miller is angry at the time and effort wasted. When Miller finds a note book and a journalist he begins to investigate. The Green zone is the central area of Bagdad that was the government centre for the Iraq coalition. This area has been taken by Americans as America try to manufacture democracy.
The story takes a few twists and turns and is engaging. Unfortunately the ending action is bloated and drags on. Paul Greengrass is using his usual camera techniques that drive me crazy. We found that the effect of running everywhere with the camera man severely hampered our enjoyment of this film. Not only could we find ourselves infront of Matt Damon in the corridor and a second later behind him and a couple of seconds later right beside him which was confusing enough, we had to work out through the screaming of frightened Iraqis the machine gun fire and helicopter noise, who was shot and where we are. Yes ok if you want to experience war like it is first hand but in that case I would play Call of Duty on my Xbox.
IMDB Green Zone
Set of three films based on the character of Jason Bourne played by Matt Damon, which are; The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy and the Bourne Ultimatum.
The Bourne Identity is the most thoughtful and well executed film I have seen in a long time and has shot right up to one of our favourites together with the theme music and Matt Damon himself. (welcome to the elite Matt) The other two films therefore are a continuation of his struggle against the secret agency that hired him in the beginning that insist on tying loose ends and finishing him off! But really because we cannot get enough of Jason Bourne.
In the beginning, in The Bourne Identity, he is a special agent with all the training but has lost his memory on a mission and he is left for dead floating at sea. He is rescued and sets off on a quest to find out who he really is and what he was doing when he got “killed” as he still has all his training and faculties in place together with the help of a young lady. The identity thing is an unusual crisis for a secret agent film, there are many flashbacks and he has some information in the form of passports from all different nations with different identities and a bag of goodies to help him get want he needs. He is able to use his ingenuity to slip out of a country and into another one and piece it all together while at the same time evading his own mortality as the agency want him destroyed. He has to be resourceful, cunning, clever, and determined. Matt Damon owns this part there is no doubt about it! He is Bourne. He is our action man. We liked the interaction with the female he is in league with in this film as his character was more real and vulnerable with her around to worry about.
The Bourne Supremacy starts where the Bourne Identity left us, “You tell them Jason Bourne is dead. I swear to God if I even feel somebody behind me, there is no measure to how hard and how fast I will bring this fight to your doorstep.” and we learn more about the initial team and what he was trained to do. There is a new director for this film who also directs the Bourne Ultimatum after it and it seems that the camera man is actually running with the camera and you are forced to look at what he is looking at which tends to make me sick. There is a lot of chasing and fighting in this film and not so much careful thought gone into the plot so all round without a girlie to look after too much giddy camera and too much whacking it did not rate as highly as the first film.
The Bourne Ultimatum claws back it’s acclaim as careful thought has gone into the storytelling. So once again I am back on the edge of the sofa praying that he escapes by the skin of his teeth. I loved the twists in the story. I did get all excited and I did punch the air (very rare I can assure you). There were roof-top chases which were well choreographed scenes. Next time I go into a packed railway station I will be looking out for the places I can hide and the things I can do to avoid detection (nah not really, tempting though it is). We love you in this movie Matt Damon and we were singing the theme with the credits and wondering if you will ever come back again in the future? IMDB The Bourne Identity IMDB The Bourne Supremacy IMDB The Bourne Ultimatum
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Written by Hilary Gonen and Tim Volonakis.
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