Amores Perros - it's in Spanish, and was one of the films that went up against and lost to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon for best foreign language film
woah. what an intense movie. watched it on recommendation from a friend who kept raving about it...never cried so hard at a movie in my life. Don't even know how to describe it except deep, emotional and really, really intense.
All I can say is, it was an absolutely brilliant adaptation of the true story of His Majesty King George VI and his speech impediment, so he enlists a speech pathologist to help him overcome that problem. The interaction and the chemistry between Geoffrey Rush and Colin Firth was just amazing. I loved every minute of this movie.
Helen Bonham Carter's in it too. She's a woman who could make a bloke, say, f***.
May I humbly state that Kirk Douglas is my favourite Doc Holiday. I always thought Kilmer was hamming it up a tad too much. Now that scene where Kurt Russel confronts Billy Bob Thornton is awesome though.
Also, Linda " :x " Darnel is in My Darling Clementine. That's important.
Inspired by Golrush007's review and intrigued by the idea of comparing all the Wyatt Earp OK Corral movies I thought I would check My Darling Clementine out.
I am of two minds on this film, so I will start with the film itself, John Ford, Henry Fonda, Monument Valley, Walter Brennan hard to go wrong, and so not surprisingly the movie is enjoyable. As Golrush pointed out Director Ford gets the look right, Tombstone is made to look like a dusty little town in the middle of nowhere, which is most likely the right look. The film is dark and Ford uses light and shadows to help give the film a downbeat feel. With the exception of a scene or two of brightness and joy, like Wyatt Earp's dance with Clementine, most of the scenes are in shadows, dim light and/or dust. The actors do a fine job, especially Fonda as Wyatt Earp, I really liked his take on the role. Self confident, but not boastful. Victor Mature as Doc Holiday, was disappointing, not because the acting was bad, but I did not care for how the role was written. In this adaption, Holiday is angry, disgusted with his life and illness. The anger seemed out of place. Linda Darnell as Chihuahua has a couple singing scenes, that also seem out of place. Those are small quips, as overall the film was enjoyable.
My biggest complaint, is that the writers got the story all wrong. Having researched what actually happened between the Earps and Clantons, I can tell you this story is way off base. It's a shame that the story is so unfaithful to what really occured, because Henry Fonda is a great Wyatt and Brennan is a good Old Man Clanton. Recommended, but could have been better.
Inspired by Golrush007's review and intrigued by the idea of comparing all the Wyatt Earp OK Corral movies I thought I would check My Darling Clementine out.
I am of two minds on this film, so I will start with the film itself, John Ford, Henry Fonda, Monument Valley, Walter Brennan hard to go wrong, and so not surprisingly the movie is enjoyable. As Golrush pointed out Director Ford gets the look right, Tombstone is made to look like a dusty little town in the middle of nowhere, which is most likely the right look. The film is dark and Ford uses light and shadows to help give the film a downbeat feel. With the exception of a scene or two of brightness and joy, like Wyatt Earp's dance with Clementine, most of the scenes are in shadows, dim light and/or dust. The actors do a fine job, especially Fonda as Wyatt Earp, I really liked his take on the role. Self confident, but not boastful. Victor Mature as Doc Holiday, was disappointing, not because the acting was bad, but I did not care for how the role was written. In this adaption, Holiday is angry, disgusted with his life and illness. The anger seemed out of place. Linda Darnell as Chihuahua has a couple singing scenes, that also seem out of place. Those are small quips, as overall the film was enjoyable.
My biggest complaint, is that the writers got the story all wrong. Having researched what actually happened between the Earps and Clantons, I can tell you this story is way off base. It's a shame that the story is so unfaithful to what really occured, because Henry Fonda is a great Wyatt and Brennan is a good Old Man Clanton. Recommended, but could have been better.
I'm glad you decided to check it out as well! You make some good observations about the film - I didn't mention the accuracy of the story in my review. Not being too clued up on the actual events the inaccuracy didn't irk me although I was aware of it. This film and Gunfight at the OK Corral both seem more interested in the legend rather than the accurate events which I guess was normal for the times. This summary from an Empire review sums up the film nicely:
"John Ford was only interested in the myth that this story represented, not the reality, and the portrait of the Old West he paints ranks among the most evocative ever produced. "
...John Ford, Henry Fonda, Monument Valley, Walter Brennan...
John Ford had a love affair with Monument Valley, but it irks me to no end when he uses it as a 'generic' western backdrop. Monument Valley is a unique landscape in Northeastern Arizona, and is physically no where near Tombstone down here in Southern AZ. Walter Hill did the same thing for his movie "Geronimo" in '93. Cochise County, where Tombstone is and where many of the events in Geronimo's life took place, is actually fairly green desert, and totally different from the moonscape of Monument Valley.
Anyway, today I watched the 1994 bio-epic Wyatt Earp. The scope of this film is much broader than the other Earp films I have seen before. It covers his younger years as well as an epilogue of his later life. I don't know the detailed facts of Wyatt's life so I can't really comment on the accuracy of the film in that regard, but I enjoyed the period detail and thought the film was beautifully shot as well. The running length is quite long, but I think that the story moves quite briskly and didn't feel that it had any particularly saggy sections. I think the broad scope of the story warrants a three hour running time. Costner's performance was fine, but I wasn't especially drawn to his Wyatt Earp - I would definitely rate Fonda higher. Dennis Quaid's Doc Holliday was very good. I could barely recognise that it was Quaid, and the character was very charismatic without being as over-the-top as Val Kilmer's version from Tombstone. The supporting cast is also good, including Michael Madsen, Gene Hackman, Tom Sizemore and an early role from Jim Caviezel. I previously only knew director Lawrence Kasdan as the guy who wrote Raiders of the Lost Ark, and I thought he handled the film well. A good balance of character, action and visually compelling images. I thought the music was a bit excessive though - the main theme is fine but I found it a bit pompous and intrusive at times.
May I recommend Lawrence Kasdan's "Silverado"? Kasdan both wrote and directed the film and it's a great homage to the western genre. Kasdan is a superb writer and I felt that he successfully crafted a film that holds everything you expect from a western but without dipping too deeply into cliche territory...
May I recommend Lawrence Kasdan's "Silverado"? Kasdan both wrote and directed the film and it's a great homage to the western genre. Kasdan is a superb writer and I felt that he successfully crafted a film that holds everything you expect from a western but without dipping too deeply into cliche territory...
Lawrence Kasdan's Silverado is a very entertaining movie, not a western, but another good Kasdan film is Body Heat, excellent modern film noir.
I also enjoyed seeing the pictures you posted Darenhat, interesting to see the actual Tombstome landscape.
I grew up less than 20 miles from Tombstone, and I went there a lot to visit a great-great aunt and uncle who lived there; so photos of my beautiful Cochise County are enough to bring tears to my eyes. And, actually, although the film Tombstone was shot in Mescal, the locations were close enough to the real thing that tears really did come to my eyes!
Burt Lancaster stars at Wyatt Earp and Kirk Douglas is Doc Holiday in this very enjoyable take on the OK Corral shoot out. I enjoyed this movie more than My Darling Clementine, due mostly to Kirk Douglas's performance as Holiday. He is a sick man and he doesn't take himself too seriously, gambling all night, drinking at all hours of the day, he refuses to take care of himself. He doesn't invite confrontation, it just finds him, even his girl friend tries to kill him. His one friend is Wyatt Earp; Burt Lancaster plays Earp as a straight-laced no nonsense lawman. Lancaster’s Earp doesn’t have a lot of charm, but he does have a presence and he handles himself well.
The focus of the film is on Earp and Holiday, their relationship with each other and their relationship with their women. The beautiful Rhonda Fleming is Lancaster’s love interest and Jo Van Fleet plays Douglas’s on again off again girlfriend.
One of the things this film did better was build the tension up to the climatic gunfight than My Darling Clementine did. I think the film Tombstone does the best job of creating tension and re-creating the chaos of the gunfight, but this film does a nice job too. John Ford does a better job of creating an atmospheric Tombstone in Clementine, but overall I like this film better.
Of note, a young Lee Van Cleef appears early in the film as gun fighter looking for Holiday and a very young Dennis Hopper appears late in the film as the youngest Clanton. The screenplay was written by Leon Uris.
Though I found its depiction of 1930s London to be grimly authentic, and enjoyed the relationship between Bertie and his speech therapist Logie (Firth and Rush), it's My Fair Lady in reverse really, with the commoner teaching the posho to articulate, I fell out with this film within the first half hour.
It's when Michael Gambom pops up as George V, explaining in leaden-footed exposition how the Nazis are a threat across the pond, and how Bertie's feckless brother is a threat to the monarchy with his romance of Mrs Simpson. It's Ladybird book stuff, really artlessly done, and not historically accurate. This is the mid-1930s and Hitler wasn't seen as a big threat then, certainly not by the Royals. And from then on you get some politician popping up to flag up how Hitler is coming and Bertie has to get his vowels right. It's okay when Churchill does it, that's consistent, except Timonthy Spall could have been out of Comic Strip. The whole thing had a feel of Churchill: The Movie to me. We're also spoonfed information about how Mrs Simpson is A Horrible Woman, and just meant to believe it like gullible courtiers. Not saying she wasn't, but I'd like a bit more finesse and subtlety.
Firth is surely too old for the role, just as Rush was too old to be Sellers in his biopic.
Excellent action thriller that also has a compelling love story mixed in. The movie opens with a bit of trivia, an unusually large percentage of all bank robberies and armored car heists in the United States occur in Charlestown, Massachusetts. That bit of information is followed by one of those heist crews, headed by Ben Affleck, about to rob an armored car and bank in Charlestown. From there the movie cleverly weaves a story of bank robberies, police investigation of the bank robberies, a very tender romance between Affleck and Rebecca Hall, who plays a bank manager of a bank robbed by Affleck's crew, and some Irish mob involvement in the robberies.
The cast does an excellent job and Affleck, who directed the film, gives all cast members a scene or two to shine. Jon Hamm of Mad Men fame is the FBI agent tracking the bank crew; he has an excellent scene where he brings Affleck in for questioning. Jeremy Rennar is a member of Affleck's crew, a hot head too willing to shoot and kill for Affleck's taste, he has several run ins with Affleck. Rebecca Hall plays Affleck's love interest, unknowing that Affleck robbed her bank, she slowly opens her heart to him and him to her. I have never seen Hall before, but I was very impressed. Blake Lively plays Rennar's sister and one time girl friend of Affleck, very pretty, but too much drinking and too many drugs has left her vulnerable and alone.
There are times when I watch a film that the acting, the atmosphere, and the locations all have a sense of realism, a sense that I am being allowed to view life as it really is in the world I am viewing on the screen. That is how I felt watching The Town, the characters felt real and life seemed real. Credit for that goes to Ben Affleck, a Boston native, this is a life and people he knows and that he previously shared with us in the excellent Gone Baby Gone. He has done it again with The Town, an entertaining and engrossing film. Highly recommend.
LoeffelholzThe United States, With LovePosts: 8,998Quartermasters
"Rio Grande"
More classic John Ford from 1950: John Wayne, the exquisite Maureen O'Hara, Ben Johnson, Ken Curtis, J. Carroll Naish and the irrepressible Victor McLagen as the "chowderheaded Mick sergeant" ) This was the final movie in the vaunted 'Cavalry Trilogy', and my boys are growing more and more impressed with the classic western. They really don't make 'em like this anymore.
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Depiction of the Dec 1939 seafaring skirmish against the Nazi battleship the Graf Spree, which was hemmed in to a Ugandan port by three smaller British vessels, the Archilles, the Exeter and the Ajax.
Good stuff, with three stars who would go onto Bond: Bernard Lee, who has quite a large role here and also starred in Dunkirk, a film set a few months later. Though he's a good actor, you can see why he didn't make big stardom; he doesn't quite own the screen. The others are Patrick Macnee and Christopher Lee, the latter done up as a South American in much the same way as Basil Rathbone might two decades earlier.
It's a good film, some of the below deck banter was a bit much however, seemed a bit stereotyped.
Depiction of the Dec 1939 seafaring skirmish against the Nazi battleship the Graf Spree, which was hemmed in to a Ugandan port by three smaller British vessels, the Archilles, the Exeter and the Ajax.
Good stuff, with three stars who would go onto Bond: Bernard Lee, who has quite a large role here and also starred in Dunkirk, a film set a few months later. Though he's a good actor, you can see why he didn't make big stardom; he doesn't quite own the screen. The others are Patrick Macnee and Christopher Lee, the latter done up as a South American in much the same way as Basil Rathbone might two decades earlier.
It's a good film, some of the below deck banter was a bit much however, seemed a bit stereotyped.
I watched this a couple of years ago. Quite good as I recall.
Finally had a chance to see this remake of the classic John Wayne western, although I liked it, I wasn't overwhelmed. I will dispense with describing the story as I am sure everyone is familiar with it and just start by saying Hailee Steinfeld is wonderful as Mattie Ross the young girl that hires Cogburn to avenge her father. Her Oscar nomination is well deserved. Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn and Matt Damon as LeBouf are also good. My problem with the film is that at times I had trouble understanding what Jeff Bridges was saying. He plays Cogburn as an old surely gruff, but mean and tough Marshall. His speech mannerisms are also gruff and often times mumbled. Not knowing what he was saying was often a distraction. I also thought the movie, at times, was a little slow, especially the second act. I love westerns and this is a good one, just not as good as I hoped.
all I have to say is that did NOT turn out like they made it seem in the trailers.
I saw this tonight. And Pen is right..... not like the trailers at all - even with Pen's 'heads up' I still wasn't quite expecting what I saw..... crickey.
Ballet meets fight club.
Yes. Really!
Dark..... with some eyes behind hand moments.... and once the film was finished - you were left sat there..... watching the trailers..... gathering your thoughts.
4 out of 5 stars.
She's worth whatever chaos she brings to the table and you know it. ~ Mark Anthony
LoeffelholzThe United States, With LovePosts: 8,998Quartermasters
"The Mechanic"
Hollywood does love to remake---especially lately, it seems. The original version of this one starred a guy named Charles Bronson, with Jan-Michael Vincent as his protege...a '70s cinema classic as far as I'm concerned, and although I've not seen it for a good long while, it still looms prominently as a Bronson favourite of mine.
This one stars action superstar Jason Statham as Arthur Bishop, the most talented hired killer in the business, and Ben Foster as the ambitious young man who wants to learn a new trade. Donald Sutherland has a brief but very good turn as Bishop's old mentor (and the ambitious kid's father), and Tony Goldwyn plays the man at the top who pulls the strings.
Directed by Simon West, the action is top-notch and fairly constant. I won't spoil the plot here, but all action fans know that eventually assassins become targets...and trust is rare B-) The overall theme and spirit of the original is faithfully respected. It may not be art, but he boys and I enjoyed this one a lot...and it earns its 'R' rating via sex, violence and viscera.
Highly recommended for action buffs. 4 out of 5 stars.
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Independent film that has garnered an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. Jennifer Lawrence plays, Ree, a 17 year old girl living in the Ozarks, an area located along the Missouri and Arkansas border. Ree's father is missing and mom has lost touch with reality, leaving Ree to raise her 12 and 6 year old siblings. This is rural mountain country, where, dentistry, education and trust of the law is minimal. Ree's father has a court date, but no one can find him. Because he signed the property and home as collateral for the bond, if he doesn't show the family will lose everything. To save the family home and keep the family together, Ree starts a search for dad. A search that will force her to grow up quickly.
Director Debra Granik got the look and feel of the movie right, the location and actors have the look of the rural mountains and she includes several scenes, like the skinning of a squirrel, to help reveal the rural lifestyle. Granik also used non-actors from Missouri for many of the smaller roles in the film. Jennifer Lawrence as Ree carries the film, subtly revealing her pain and stress that a 17 year old girl trying to care for a family would have. John Hawkes plays Teardrop, Ree's father's brother. A coke head, he wants to know what happened to his brother and through his own means lend a hand to Ree's search. Jennifer Lawrence is nominated for Best Actress and John Hawkes received a Best Supporting Actor nomination, both well deserved.
This is a unique story, which moves slowly, but never stops building the suspense. A small film with a small story, that kept me intrigued throughout. Highly recommend
Utterly fascinating look at the birth of Facebook and the life of Mark Zuckerberg. Zuckerberg is one of those guys who thinks he is the smartest guy in the room, except in his case, he is. The story is cleverly told through present time deposition hearing and flashbacks to the actual events. Jesse Eisenberg's performance as Zuckerberg, for which he received a Best Actor nomination, is wonderful, portraying a young man obsessed with his creation. The supporting cast is also good as the characters they play are all very colorful. Film received a Best Picture nomination and I would say it is well deserved as this is one of the best films I have seen from 2010. Very highly recommend.
A member of The Monkees is kicked off their reunion tour; he walks around the desert taking it out on random passers-by. He was kicked off the coach for wanting to sing his little known B-side, Lend Me a Dime, Friend-O.
Some nods to Bond here; Live and Let Die and the southern sheriff's use of the word 'veh-ic-cal'. I liked it, it had the Coens' studied indifference to their characters' fates, almost Kubrickesque, but I just didn't get the ending, maybe I was tired. I couldn't hear the dialogue too well either. Possibly another Coen brothers shaggy dog story.
Utterly fascinating look at the birth of Facebook and the life of Mark Zuckerberg. Zuckerberg is one of those guys who thinks he is the smartest guy in the room, except in his case, he is. The story is cleverly told through present time deposition hearing and flashbacks to the actual events. Jesse Eisenberg's performance as Zuckerberg, for which he received a Best Actor nomination, is wonderful, portraying a young man obsessed with his creation. The supporting cast is also good as the characters they play are all very colorful. Film received a Best Picture nomination and I would say it is well deserved as this is one of the best films I have seen from 2010. Very highly recommend.
Saw this last week. I can't add too much to Barry's review above -- his use of phrases like "utterly fascinating", "cleverly told" and "highly recommended" are exactly the ones I would have used. This is a wonderful film that absolutely flies by, thanks to typically brilliant Aaron Sorkin writing, crisp direction from David Fincher, and acting performances that are excellent across the broad. Jesse Eisenberg is spectacularly good, and Justin Timberlake (!) is simply riveting. Do not miss.
Though I found its depiction of 1930s London to be grimly authentic, and enjoyed the relationship between Bertie and his speech therapist Logie (Firth and Rush), it's My Fair Lady in reverse really, with the commoner teaching the posho to articulate, I fell out with this film within the first half hour.
It's when Michael Gambom pops up as George V, explaining in leaden-footed exposition how the Nazis are a threat across the pond, and how Bertie's feckless brother is a threat to the monarchy with his romance of Mrs Simpson. It's Ladybird book stuff, really artlessly done, and not historically accurate. This is the mid-1930s and Hitler wasn't seen as a big threat then, certainly not by the Royals. And from then on you get some politician popping up to flag up how Hitler is coming and Bertie has to get his vowels right. It's okay when Churchill does it, that's consistent, except Timonthy Spall could have been out of Comic Strip. The whole thing had a feel of Churchill: The Movie to me. We're also spoonfed information about how Mrs Simpson is A Horrible Woman, and just meant to believe it like gullible courtiers. Not saying she wasn't, but I'd like a bit more finesse and subtlety.
Firth is surely too old for the role, just as Rush was too old to be Sellers in his biopic.
I can't speak to Nap's complaints about historical or biographical accuracy, but I sure liked this film. At the end of the day, it's a buddy picture -- a little more restrained in its setting and volume than most, but with the typical attributes of a winding journey and a central relationship that ends up nowhere near where it begins. The film is full of warmth and humor, and it is always a pleasure to watch two excellent actors in fine form. Bertie's wife comes off as a bit saintly, but I only knew of her as the Queen Mum, and she certainly seemed to be revered in her later years.
True story of Micky Ward, a middling boxer from Lowell, Massachusetts, who emerges from underdog status to win a title. Although I have had my fill of movies showing the seedier side of greater Boston, and I knew how this film would end, it is still pretty good. Basically, it's all about the performances. Everyone has probably read about Christian Bale as Micky's crackhead older stepbrother and trainer Dicky Eklund, but his performance earns every bit of attention it gets. His mannerisms, speaking rhythm, and especially his wiry frame (not quite as skinny as The Machinist, but close) make you truly believe he is possessed by the rock. It's a stunning example of a method actor totally inhabiting his character, and will certainly win him an Oscar. Melissa Leo is also excellent as Micky and Dicky's mother and manager, who never really seems to have Micky's best interests totally at heart. Amy Adams plays against type as Micky's girlfriend, who has unfulfilled promise in her past and inserts herself as a wedge between Micky and his family. Even Mark Wahlberg, the weakest among these actors, does a great job as Micky.
The story is told in a straightforward way, with few extraneous pieces. About the closest thing to humor are Micky/Dicky's six sisters, who are portrayed as such harridans that they are almost cringeworthy. The fight scenes are realistic, and there's a palpable sense of desperation among most of the people that Lowell is a place worth escaping from.
Black Swan - Excellent if you can handle a neo sexual psychological thriller, with a hint of horror.
I came across this last night: http://www.mattdamonmoviegoers.blogspot.com Kinda wrong way of reviewing films, about the people going to see the movie, rather than the movies itself!
This film has been reviewed several times already on this thread, including right above this review, but unlike most others, I didn't care for the film.
Natalie Portman stars as prima ballerina Nina, she is reserved, innocent and graceful, perfect for the role of the white swan, but can she become the black swan, as the star dancer must be able to perform both roles. Mila Kunis is Lily, the new young dancer in the company; she is wild and flirtatious, perfect for the role of the black swan. The two dancers develop a friendship, yet also a competition. As Nina struggles to feel the black swan role and as the competition intensifies Nina slowly begins to lose her mind.
The film was directed by Darren Oronofsky, this is the third film of his I have seen (The Wrestler and Requiem for a Dream the others) and it is obvious to me that he loves to present graphic images that are difficult for the audience to watch. This film is no different as several scenes of graphic violence are on display. He is a good director; I just don't understand the need to present disturbing images, especially in this film.
Natalie Portman is nominated for an Academy Award for her role as Nina and it is well deserved. Nina wants to be perfect and you can see it in her face as she dances with an almost pained expressions as she attempts to dance perfectly. Oronofsky loves to use close ups and in this film he has numerous close ups of Portman as she struggles to hold her self together and muster the strength to continue.
Although the film has a lot to like, great performance from Portman, a compelling story, good performances from supporting players like Barbara Hersey as Portman's domineering mother and Kunis, I still can't recommend it. My problem with the film, and I admit this might be a personal thing, is I hate when I watch a scene that I believe to be real only to find out it was someone's imagination. The Black Swan is full of that type of storytelling, at times it isn't until 10 minutes later that you find out something you saw before did not really happen. As I sit here now there are scenes that I still don't know if they really occurred or were in Nina's mind. I find that very frustrating and in this film I found it a distraction. So although I enjoyed some of what I saw, I can't recommend the film.
Finally had a chance to see this remake of the classic John Wayne western, although I liked it, I wasn't overwhelmed. I will dispense with describing the story as I am sure everyone is familiar with it and just start by saying Hailee Steinfeld is wonderful as Mattie Ross the young girl that hires Cogburn to avenge her father. Her Oscar nomination is well deserved. Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn and Matt Damon as LeBouf are also good. My problem with the film is that at times I had trouble understanding what Jeff Bridges was saying. He plays Cogburn as an old surely gruff, but mean and tough Marshall. His speech mannerisms are also gruff and often times mumbled. Not knowing what he was saying was often a distraction. I also thought the movie, at times, was a little slow, especially the second act. I love westerns and this is a good one, just not as good as I hoped.
Sad about that one - really been looking forward to it. I tend to agree with most of you reviews and have used it as a litmus test as whether to watch or not, especially if it's still on a pay-per-view channel or DVD rental... Probably still give it a go as I've really been waiting for this one ...
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This film has been reviewed several times already on this thread, including right above this review, but unlike most others, I didn't care for the film.
Natalie Portman stars as prima ballerina Nina, she is reserved, innocent and graceful, perfect for the role of the white swan, but can she become the black swan, as the star dancer must be able to perform both roles. Mila Kunis is Lily, the new young dancer in the company; she is wild and flirtatious, perfect for the role of the black swan. The two dancers develop a friendship, yet also a competition. As Nina struggles to feel the black swan role and as the competition intensifies Nina slowly begins to lose her mind.
The film was directed by Darren Oronofsky, this is the third film of his I have seen (The Wrestler and Requiem for a Dream the others) and it is obvious to me that he loves to present graphic images that are difficult for the audience to watch. This film is no different as several scenes of graphic violence are on display. He is a good director; I just don't understand the need to present disturbing images, especially in this film.
Natalie Portman is nominated for an Academy Award for her role as Nina and it is well deserved. Nina wants to be perfect and you can see it in her face as she dances with an almost pained expressions as she attempts to dance perfectly. Oronofsky loves to use close ups and in this film he has numerous close ups of Portman as she struggles to hold her self together and muster the strength to continue.
Although the film has a lot to like, great performance from Portman, a compelling story, good performances from supporting players like Barbara Hersey as Portman's domineering mother and Kunis, I still can't recommend it. My problem with the film, and I admit this might be a personal thing, is I hate when I watch a scene that I believe to be real only to find out it was someone's imagination. The Black Swan is full of that type of storytelling, at times it isn't until 10 minutes later that you find out something you saw before did not really happen. As I sit here now there are scenes that I still don't know if they really occurred or were in Nina's mind. I find that very frustrating and in this film I found it a distraction. So although I enjoyed some of what I saw, I can't recommend the film.
You have summed up this film perfectly.
I have struggled to 'recommend' this movie too - and I'm still unsure of who Oronofsky target audience is - plus, the trailers are SO far removed from what the movie is..... I was uncomfortable watching this movie, as I didn't like the 'graphic horror' element - I don't like horror for that exact reason.
However, I do agree that Portman is well deserving of the nomination - and I do hope she gets it. She looks, moves and is utterly convincing as a prima ballerina - and that aught to be recognised.
She's worth whatever chaos she brings to the table and you know it. ~ Mark Anthony
Comments
woah. what an intense movie. watched it on recommendation from a friend who kept raving about it...never cried so hard at a movie in my life. Don't even know how to describe it except deep, emotional and really, really intense.
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Helen Bonham Carter's in it too. She's a woman who could make a bloke, say, f***.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Also, Linda " :x " Darnel is in My Darling Clementine. That's important.
Alrighty then...
Inspired by Golrush007's review and intrigued by the idea of comparing all the Wyatt Earp OK Corral movies I thought I would check My Darling Clementine out.
I am of two minds on this film, so I will start with the film itself, John Ford, Henry Fonda, Monument Valley, Walter Brennan hard to go wrong, and so not surprisingly the movie is enjoyable. As Golrush pointed out Director Ford gets the look right, Tombstone is made to look like a dusty little town in the middle of nowhere, which is most likely the right look. The film is dark and Ford uses light and shadows to help give the film a downbeat feel. With the exception of a scene or two of brightness and joy, like Wyatt Earp's dance with Clementine, most of the scenes are in shadows, dim light and/or dust. The actors do a fine job, especially Fonda as Wyatt Earp, I really liked his take on the role. Self confident, but not boastful. Victor Mature as Doc Holiday, was disappointing, not because the acting was bad, but I did not care for how the role was written. In this adaption, Holiday is angry, disgusted with his life and illness. The anger seemed out of place. Linda Darnell as Chihuahua has a couple singing scenes, that also seem out of place. Those are small quips, as overall the film was enjoyable.
My biggest complaint, is that the writers got the story all wrong. Having researched what actually happened between the Earps and Clantons, I can tell you this story is way off base. It's a shame that the story is so unfaithful to what really occured, because Henry Fonda is a great Wyatt and Brennan is a good Old Man Clanton. Recommended, but could have been better.
I'm glad you decided to check it out as well! You make some good observations about the film - I didn't mention the accuracy of the story in my review. Not being too clued up on the actual events the inaccuracy didn't irk me although I was aware of it. This film and Gunfight at the OK Corral both seem more interested in the legend rather than the accurate events which I guess was normal for the times. This summary from an Empire review sums up the film nicely:
"John Ford was only interested in the myth that this story represented, not the reality, and the portrait of the Old West he paints ranks among the most evocative ever produced. "
John Ford had a love affair with Monument Valley, but it irks me to no end when he uses it as a 'generic' western backdrop. Monument Valley is a unique landscape in Northeastern Arizona, and is physically no where near Tombstone down here in Southern AZ. Walter Hill did the same thing for his movie "Geronimo" in '93. Cochise County, where Tombstone is and where many of the events in Geronimo's life took place, is actually fairly green desert, and totally different from the moonscape of Monument Valley.
Tombstone...
Monument Valley...
Sorry...pet peeve.
Fair enough!
Anyway, today I watched the 1994 bio-epic Wyatt Earp. The scope of this film is much broader than the other Earp films I have seen before. It covers his younger years as well as an epilogue of his later life. I don't know the detailed facts of Wyatt's life so I can't really comment on the accuracy of the film in that regard, but I enjoyed the period detail and thought the film was beautifully shot as well. The running length is quite long, but I think that the story moves quite briskly and didn't feel that it had any particularly saggy sections. I think the broad scope of the story warrants a three hour running time. Costner's performance was fine, but I wasn't especially drawn to his Wyatt Earp - I would definitely rate Fonda higher. Dennis Quaid's Doc Holliday was very good. I could barely recognise that it was Quaid, and the character was very charismatic without being as over-the-top as Val Kilmer's version from Tombstone. The supporting cast is also good, including Michael Madsen, Gene Hackman, Tom Sizemore and an early role from Jim Caviezel. I previously only knew director Lawrence Kasdan as the guy who wrote Raiders of the Lost Ark, and I thought he handled the film well. A good balance of character, action and visually compelling images. I thought the music was a bit excessive though - the main theme is fine but I found it a bit pompous and intrusive at times.
Overall, another enjoyable viewing experience.
Lawrence Kasdan's Silverado is a very entertaining movie, not a western, but another good Kasdan film is Body Heat, excellent modern film noir.
I also enjoyed seeing the pictures you posted Darenhat, interesting to see the actual Tombstome landscape.
Burt Lancaster stars at Wyatt Earp and Kirk Douglas is Doc Holiday in this very enjoyable take on the OK Corral shoot out. I enjoyed this movie more than My Darling Clementine, due mostly to Kirk Douglas's performance as Holiday. He is a sick man and he doesn't take himself too seriously, gambling all night, drinking at all hours of the day, he refuses to take care of himself. He doesn't invite confrontation, it just finds him, even his girl friend tries to kill him. His one friend is Wyatt Earp; Burt Lancaster plays Earp as a straight-laced no nonsense lawman. Lancaster’s Earp doesn’t have a lot of charm, but he does have a presence and he handles himself well.
The focus of the film is on Earp and Holiday, their relationship with each other and their relationship with their women. The beautiful Rhonda Fleming is Lancaster’s love interest and Jo Van Fleet plays Douglas’s on again off again girlfriend.
One of the things this film did better was build the tension up to the climatic gunfight than My Darling Clementine did. I think the film Tombstone does the best job of creating tension and re-creating the chaos of the gunfight, but this film does a nice job too. John Ford does a better job of creating an atmospheric Tombstone in Clementine, but overall I like this film better.
Of note, a young Lee Van Cleef appears early in the film as gun fighter looking for Holiday and a very young Dennis Hopper appears late in the film as the youngest Clanton. The screenplay was written by Leon Uris.
Good film, recommend.
Though I found its depiction of 1930s London to be grimly authentic, and enjoyed the relationship between Bertie and his speech therapist Logie (Firth and Rush), it's My Fair Lady in reverse really, with the commoner teaching the posho to articulate, I fell out with this film within the first half hour.
It's when Michael Gambom pops up as George V, explaining in leaden-footed exposition how the Nazis are a threat across the pond, and how Bertie's feckless brother is a threat to the monarchy with his romance of Mrs Simpson. It's Ladybird book stuff, really artlessly done, and not historically accurate. This is the mid-1930s and Hitler wasn't seen as a big threat then, certainly not by the Royals. And from then on you get some politician popping up to flag up how Hitler is coming and Bertie has to get his vowels right. It's okay when Churchill does it, that's consistent, except Timonthy Spall could have been out of Comic Strip. The whole thing had a feel of Churchill: The Movie to me. We're also spoonfed information about how Mrs Simpson is A Horrible Woman, and just meant to believe it like gullible courtiers. Not saying she wasn't, but I'd like a bit more finesse and subtlety.
Firth is surely too old for the role, just as Rush was too old to be Sellers in his biopic.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Excellent action thriller that also has a compelling love story mixed in. The movie opens with a bit of trivia, an unusually large percentage of all bank robberies and armored car heists in the United States occur in Charlestown, Massachusetts. That bit of information is followed by one of those heist crews, headed by Ben Affleck, about to rob an armored car and bank in Charlestown. From there the movie cleverly weaves a story of bank robberies, police investigation of the bank robberies, a very tender romance between Affleck and Rebecca Hall, who plays a bank manager of a bank robbed by Affleck's crew, and some Irish mob involvement in the robberies.
The cast does an excellent job and Affleck, who directed the film, gives all cast members a scene or two to shine. Jon Hamm of Mad Men fame is the FBI agent tracking the bank crew; he has an excellent scene where he brings Affleck in for questioning. Jeremy Rennar is a member of Affleck's crew, a hot head too willing to shoot and kill for Affleck's taste, he has several run ins with Affleck. Rebecca Hall plays Affleck's love interest, unknowing that Affleck robbed her bank, she slowly opens her heart to him and him to her. I have never seen Hall before, but I was very impressed. Blake Lively plays Rennar's sister and one time girl friend of Affleck, very pretty, but too much drinking and too many drugs has left her vulnerable and alone.
There are times when I watch a film that the acting, the atmosphere, and the locations all have a sense of realism, a sense that I am being allowed to view life as it really is in the world I am viewing on the screen. That is how I felt watching The Town, the characters felt real and life seemed real. Credit for that goes to Ben Affleck, a Boston native, this is a life and people he knows and that he previously shared with us in the excellent Gone Baby Gone. He has done it again with The Town, an entertaining and engrossing film. Highly recommend.
More classic John Ford from 1950: John Wayne, the exquisite Maureen O'Hara, Ben Johnson, Ken Curtis, J. Carroll Naish and the irrepressible Victor McLagen as the "chowderheaded Mick sergeant"
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Depiction of the Dec 1939 seafaring skirmish against the Nazi battleship the Graf Spree, which was hemmed in to a Ugandan port by three smaller British vessels, the Archilles, the Exeter and the Ajax.
Good stuff, with three stars who would go onto Bond: Bernard Lee, who has quite a large role here and also starred in Dunkirk, a film set a few months later. Though he's a good actor, you can see why he didn't make big stardom; he doesn't quite own the screen. The others are Patrick Macnee and Christopher Lee, the latter done up as a South American in much the same way as Basil Rathbone might two decades earlier.
It's a good film, some of the below deck banter was a bit much however, seemed a bit stereotyped.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
I watched this a couple of years ago. Quite good as I recall.
Finally had a chance to see this remake of the classic John Wayne western, although I liked it, I wasn't overwhelmed. I will dispense with describing the story as I am sure everyone is familiar with it and just start by saying Hailee Steinfeld is wonderful as Mattie Ross the young girl that hires Cogburn to avenge her father. Her Oscar nomination is well deserved. Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn and Matt Damon as LeBouf are also good. My problem with the film is that at times I had trouble understanding what Jeff Bridges was saying. He plays Cogburn as an old surely gruff, but mean and tough Marshall. His speech mannerisms are also gruff and often times mumbled. Not knowing what he was saying was often a distraction. I also thought the movie, at times, was a little slow, especially the second act. I love westerns and this is a good one, just not as good as I hoped.
I saw this tonight. And Pen is right..... not like the trailers at all - even with Pen's 'heads up' I still wasn't quite expecting what I saw..... crickey.
Ballet meets fight club.
Yes. Really!
Dark..... with some eyes behind hand moments.... and once the film was finished - you were left sat there..... watching the trailers..... gathering your thoughts.
4 out of 5 stars.
Hollywood does love to remake---especially lately, it seems. The original version of this one starred a guy named Charles Bronson, with Jan-Michael Vincent as his protege...a '70s cinema classic as far as I'm concerned, and although I've not seen it for a good long while, it still looms prominently as a Bronson favourite of mine.
This one stars action superstar Jason Statham as Arthur Bishop, the most talented hired killer in the business, and Ben Foster as the ambitious young man who wants to learn a new trade. Donald Sutherland has a brief but very good turn as Bishop's old mentor (and the ambitious kid's father), and Tony Goldwyn plays the man at the top who pulls the strings.
Directed by Simon West, the action is top-notch and fairly constant. I won't spoil the plot here, but all action fans know that eventually assassins become targets...and trust is rare B-) The overall theme and spirit of the original is faithfully respected. It may not be art, but he boys and I enjoyed this one a lot...and it earns its 'R' rating via sex, violence and viscera.
Highly recommended for action buffs. 4 out of 5 stars.
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Independent film that has garnered an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. Jennifer Lawrence plays, Ree, a 17 year old girl living in the Ozarks, an area located along the Missouri and Arkansas border. Ree's father is missing and mom has lost touch with reality, leaving Ree to raise her 12 and 6 year old siblings. This is rural mountain country, where, dentistry, education and trust of the law is minimal. Ree's father has a court date, but no one can find him. Because he signed the property and home as collateral for the bond, if he doesn't show the family will lose everything. To save the family home and keep the family together, Ree starts a search for dad. A search that will force her to grow up quickly.
Director Debra Granik got the look and feel of the movie right, the location and actors have the look of the rural mountains and she includes several scenes, like the skinning of a squirrel, to help reveal the rural lifestyle. Granik also used non-actors from Missouri for many of the smaller roles in the film. Jennifer Lawrence as Ree carries the film, subtly revealing her pain and stress that a 17 year old girl trying to care for a family would have. John Hawkes plays Teardrop, Ree's father's brother. A coke head, he wants to know what happened to his brother and through his own means lend a hand to Ree's search. Jennifer Lawrence is nominated for Best Actress and John Hawkes received a Best Supporting Actor nomination, both well deserved.
This is a unique story, which moves slowly, but never stops building the suspense. A small film with a small story, that kept me intrigued throughout. Highly recommend
Utterly fascinating look at the birth of Facebook and the life of Mark Zuckerberg. Zuckerberg is one of those guys who thinks he is the smartest guy in the room, except in his case, he is. The story is cleverly told through present time deposition hearing and flashbacks to the actual events. Jesse Eisenberg's performance as Zuckerberg, for which he received a Best Actor nomination, is wonderful, portraying a young man obsessed with his creation. The supporting cast is also good as the characters they play are all very colorful. Film received a Best Picture nomination and I would say it is well deserved as this is one of the best films I have seen from 2010. Very highly recommend.
A member of The Monkees is kicked off their reunion tour; he walks around the desert taking it out on random passers-by. He was kicked off the coach for wanting to sing his little known B-side, Lend Me a Dime, Friend-O.
Some nods to Bond here; Live and Let Die and the southern sheriff's use of the word 'veh-ic-cal'. I liked it, it had the Coens' studied indifference to their characters' fates, almost Kubrickesque, but I just didn't get the ending, maybe I was tired. I couldn't hear the dialogue too well either. Possibly another Coen brothers shaggy dog story.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Saw this last week. I can't add too much to Barry's review above -- his use of phrases like "utterly fascinating", "cleverly told" and "highly recommended" are exactly the ones I would have used. This is a wonderful film that absolutely flies by, thanks to typically brilliant Aaron Sorkin writing, crisp direction from David Fincher, and acting performances that are excellent across the broad. Jesse Eisenberg is spectacularly good, and Justin Timberlake (!) is simply riveting. Do not miss.
I can't speak to Nap's complaints about historical or biographical accuracy, but I sure liked this film. At the end of the day, it's a buddy picture -- a little more restrained in its setting and volume than most, but with the typical attributes of a winding journey and a central relationship that ends up nowhere near where it begins. The film is full of warmth and humor, and it is always a pleasure to watch two excellent actors in fine form. Bertie's wife comes off as a bit saintly, but I only knew of her as the Queen Mum, and she certainly seemed to be revered in her later years.
True story of Micky Ward, a middling boxer from Lowell, Massachusetts, who emerges from underdog status to win a title. Although I have had my fill of movies showing the seedier side of greater Boston, and I knew how this film would end, it is still pretty good. Basically, it's all about the performances. Everyone has probably read about Christian Bale as Micky's crackhead older stepbrother and trainer Dicky Eklund, but his performance earns every bit of attention it gets. His mannerisms, speaking rhythm, and especially his wiry frame (not quite as skinny as The Machinist, but close) make you truly believe he is possessed by the rock. It's a stunning example of a method actor totally inhabiting his character, and will certainly win him an Oscar. Melissa Leo is also excellent as Micky and Dicky's mother and manager, who never really seems to have Micky's best interests totally at heart. Amy Adams plays against type as Micky's girlfriend, who has unfulfilled promise in her past and inserts herself as a wedge between Micky and his family. Even Mark Wahlberg, the weakest among these actors, does a great job as Micky.
The story is told in a straightforward way, with few extraneous pieces. About the closest thing to humor are Micky/Dicky's six sisters, who are portrayed as such harridans that they are almost cringeworthy. The fight scenes are realistic, and there's a palpable sense of desperation among most of the people that Lowell is a place worth escaping from.
Not the greatest, but recommended nonetheless.
I came across this last night: http://www.mattdamonmoviegoers.blogspot.com Kinda wrong way of reviewing films, about the people going to see the movie, rather than the movies itself!
This film has been reviewed several times already on this thread, including right above this review, but unlike most others, I didn't care for the film.
Natalie Portman stars as prima ballerina Nina, she is reserved, innocent and graceful, perfect for the role of the white swan, but can she become the black swan, as the star dancer must be able to perform both roles. Mila Kunis is Lily, the new young dancer in the company; she is wild and flirtatious, perfect for the role of the black swan. The two dancers develop a friendship, yet also a competition. As Nina struggles to feel the black swan role and as the competition intensifies Nina slowly begins to lose her mind.
The film was directed by Darren Oronofsky, this is the third film of his I have seen (The Wrestler and Requiem for a Dream the others) and it is obvious to me that he loves to present graphic images that are difficult for the audience to watch. This film is no different as several scenes of graphic violence are on display. He is a good director; I just don't understand the need to present disturbing images, especially in this film.
Natalie Portman is nominated for an Academy Award for her role as Nina and it is well deserved. Nina wants to be perfect and you can see it in her face as she dances with an almost pained expressions as she attempts to dance perfectly. Oronofsky loves to use close ups and in this film he has numerous close ups of Portman as she struggles to hold her self together and muster the strength to continue.
Although the film has a lot to like, great performance from Portman, a compelling story, good performances from supporting players like Barbara Hersey as Portman's domineering mother and Kunis, I still can't recommend it. My problem with the film, and I admit this might be a personal thing, is I hate when I watch a scene that I believe to be real only to find out it was someone's imagination. The Black Swan is full of that type of storytelling, at times it isn't until 10 minutes later that you find out something you saw before did not really happen. As I sit here now there are scenes that I still don't know if they really occurred or were in Nina's mind. I find that very frustrating and in this film I found it a distraction. So although I enjoyed some of what I saw, I can't recommend the film.
Sad about that one - really been looking forward to it. I tend to agree with most of you reviews and have used it as a litmus test as whether to watch or not, especially if it's still on a pay-per-view channel or DVD rental... Probably still give it a go as I've really been waiting for this one ...
http://apbateman.com
You have summed up this film perfectly.
I have struggled to 'recommend' this movie too - and I'm still unsure of who Oronofsky target audience is - plus, the trailers are SO far removed from what the movie is..... I was uncomfortable watching this movie, as I didn't like the 'graphic horror' element - I don't like horror for that exact reason.
However, I do agree that Portman is well deserving of the nomination - and I do hope she gets it. She looks, moves and is utterly convincing as a prima ballerina - and that aught to be recognised.