True Grit

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.

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Rating 8/10

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Green Zone

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

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Rating: 6.2/10

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Tootsie

Dustin Hoffman and Jessica Lange star in this funny film in which Dustin Hoffman (Michael Dorsey), an out of work actor, helps his friend audition for a part in an American Soap based in a hospital where Jessica Lange plays the part of a nurse.   The part is for a hot-headed middle aged woman who doesn’t take no for an answer.  He knows that he can play the part so when his female friend is unsuccessful, he auditions dressed as a woman and this is partly to prove a point to his agent who says he will not be able to land a role, any role, because he is simply too difficult to work with.  The film works because Dustin Hoffman makes quite an attractive woman, he seems to know just what to say and how to say it and he is quite loveable in his disguise.  But other men think so too and this proves to be a little bit of a problem especially as he is living a double life now with his girl-friend thinking he is gay and his heart belonging to Jessica Lange’s character who believes he is actually a she!  Lots of belly laughs out of his physical comedy and his banter with quick bullet-like quips that make him impossible to dislike, added with a pinch of melancholy.  Went slightly flat in the middle of the film but picked up pace in the finale.   All in all I thought is was a good evenings entertainment.  I have to say that Jessica Lange won best supporting actress in this film – if anyone can tell me why exactly I would be very grateful indeed – because anyone who can grin inanely while saying her lines deserves an Oscar right?

IMDB Tootsie

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Rating 6.8/10

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Taken

17 year old Kim (Maggie Grace), daughter to a government security preventer Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson), goes on holiday to Paris with a Friend to a cousins house.  With her Dad’s permission, he takes her to the airport and asks her to ring upon landing, ring each night and to let him know the address of where she is staying.  Upon landing in France, she and her friend meet a french boy, they share a taxi as it is cheaper and invites them to a party.  They inform him that they are own their own.  They get kidnapped.  The state starts looking for him after his destructive investigation.  He will “pull down the eiffel tower” if needs be.

The kidnapping is done as if it is presented on a plate.  After they get kidnapped, the pace of the film is fast, which is great it is 93 minutes long.  While the action is initially good in the first half, the climax action is too video gamey, walking into a room and take everyone out style.  It also becomes more of a hitman scenario as he kills on the way.  At one point he gets into the “house” where the Albanians are, finds him self with Marko and manages to take them all out.  Although cringeworthy, was done  like a cheesey Bond.

The best bit was when Liam Neeson is in the crime scene and he reconstructs the kidnapping.  It really hits home that she has been Taken.  Being a fan of Liam Neeson (from Schindler’s list) I am disappointed but there were moments.  Although the beginning is never engaging, you are meant to feel Liam Neeson as a boring Father.
IMDB Taken

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Rating 5.2/10

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The Shawshank Redemption

This is a very clever film that taps into human nature at its best and worst.  Tim Robbins plays the hot shot city banker who is jailed for life in Shawshank Prison for the murders of his wife and her lover.   1940’s America and the prison guards are more corrupt and easily as brutal as the inmates themselves.  Morgan Freeman plays Red, the “Norman Stanley Fletcher” of Shawshank who operates a neat little racket as a smuggler of practically anything you could wish for.  Tim Robbins (Andy Dufresne) becomes indispensable as his banking skills are exploited.  A long film but with plenty of drama, suspense and story telling to help you along the way so getting a toilet break will be difficult.  To sum up, superb particularly the end.

IMDB: The Shawshank Redemption

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Rating: 8/10

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The Last Samurai

Tom Cruise stars in this action war adventure as an American war hero who has fought the American Indians in his home land.  He is asked to serve in the civil war of Japan.  He gets captured by the Samurai and is kept in their society.  He can not escape due to the fierce winter.  He begins to learn Japanese and embraces their culture.  When he is released, both sides of the civil war have been revealed and he must decide which side to take.  He chooses the Samurai.

Tom Cruise fits the perfect American captain, Nathan Algren.  Billy Conolly is present at the beginning, he dies in the first action encounter which does the film good as he is incredibly annoying.  Timothy Spall is casted too.  Ken Watanabe is the Samurai leader, Katsumoto.  He excels his role and makes the Samurai village atmospheric.

The story only really starts when he gets captured.  There is obviously fighting and dueling, which was necessary.  It was done originally and very you felt like you were watching it in the village.  Slow motion effects and atmospheric brilliance from Tom Cruise.

Even though it is biased towards the samurai, you are engrossed and you feel for Ken Wantanabe.  Needed the beginning chopped and the war at the end left out or made shorter, could have been an all time favourite.  The ending is beautiful.

IMDB The Last Samurai

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Rating: 6.9/10

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The Machinist

Christian Bale works himself up into a frenzy in this psychological thriller/mystery. There is seriously something wrong with him, he cannot eat, he cannot sleep and he cannot remember. He has to resort to writing everything down on post-its in order to carry on a normal enough life to exist. He works in a factory with a bunch of guys and nobody likes him very much, lets just say he doesn’t have “friends”. As the movie progresses, he gets weirder, you will him out of his madness, but most shocking is the anorexic state that Bale has got himself into in order to make this film! There are a few red herrings but pay attention to detail it all adds up in the end. Summing up the film was dingy on the grey scale and dirgy like a day’s work in a lathe factory.

IMDB The Machinist

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Rating: 6.3/10

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The Dark Knight

This is undoubtably the best batman film.  As always there is a force of destructiveness and chaos upon Gotham city, this time, two villans are brought back.  Two face made an appearance as well as the Joker played by an incredible Heath Ledger who nearly stole the show from Christian Bale. He always had a funny quirky story to tell when he was talking to civilians.  Each time different but same ending!   The beginning is the classic bank robbery where you are introduced to Heath Ledger and his hench men.  The story is cliche and batman has to win the day.

Unfortunately Heath Ledger (Oscar for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role) did  pass away during the making of the film and replacement was used for the last bit of the film.  Christian Bale was almost a natural Batman.  At first a grumbly low quiet voice from a big bulky hench superhero was a bit funny, but Christian Bale was very serious and it suited the role perfectly. Michael Caine performed Alfred the butler again. I do like Michael Caine, but I found him weirdly annoying and was himself more than Alfred.

Good action movie.  More of a guy’s film though and I am so looking forward to The Dark Knight Rises!

IMDB The Dark Knight

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Rating: 7.9/10

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The Departed

Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon are freshly appointed State Police fighting organised crime not merely City cops.  One of them will be asked to become an undercover cop, the “rat” in the crime gang. The other works for the police but is tipping off the crime lord, the “mole” in the police force.  Although they are aware of each other the trouble is that they don’t know who they are after. Each has to blow the other’s cover to ensure their own cover is safe.   Jack Nicholson plays the crime lord extremely well this is a role that he probably spends a lot of time getting into character and stays like it for days and Vera Farmiga plays the love interest between the two cops nice choice.  Fast paced action movie high on emotion. There is no complicated plot however it is tense and well thought out.  So apart from the intro’s childish dialogue and the cringeworthy Mark Wahlberg‘s potty mouth this was an excellent maffiosa film from Scorsese and we enjoyed it!  One of my favourite films.

IMDB The Departed 

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Rating 8.6/10

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Minority Report

A Steven Spielburg science fiction set in the  year 2050 based on a short story.  The Pre-crime Department arrests murderers who have not yet committed their crime thereby reducing crime and saving lives.  This involves visions from the future determining the  next victim and the perpetrator by three gifted people called the “precogs” floating undisturbed in a pool which are then relayed to a perspex screen as flashing images.  The images can be interacted with by the use of a glove that can reach in, pin point,  zoom in, rotate and rewind to collect data ready for the Team to act on before the event actually takes place.  Tom Cruise is the head of the Pre-crime Unit and only he and a select few have the authority to get into the “precog” pool room.  But he is named as the next perpetrator and his Team turn on him, so he has to escape.

This is quite clever and thought provoking.  Apparently he does not know the victim?  Why would he kill someone he did not know and does he have a choice?

I enjoyed this story and the ingenuity of the future.  It was a pleasant ride and did not end up in the usual whacking it was much more inventive than that!  Some memorable scenes – anyone squeamish about eyes should look away!  Samantha Morton, Colin Farrell and Max von Sydow (Shutter Island) also star.

IMDB Minority Report

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Rating: 8.2/10

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