The first Stanley Kubrick movie I watched was The Clockwork Orange. That movie surprised me with its vulgarity and sinister plot. Stanley Kubrick is a legendary movie maker, I knew from then onwards. But the movie that really impressed me was 2001. It had everything, plot, acting, amazing fx and my god the music. Like every track is still being overused in everything. Then I StumbleUpon this. A Kubrickan movie that I never knew that I had.
The dialog is a bit contrived, but that is expected of a 1950ies movie. Bit the acting does stand out. Even the assaults on unsuspecting victims are played out in a manner which seems Kubrickian and makes you queezy.
It seems really ordinary at first . But the characteristics of what makes a Stanley Kubrick movie stand out slowly emerges. With the narration turning in to monologues of self reflection and similies, and sudden murders and queezy shots, be assured that this is far from being ordinary. You are gonna get the Kubrick treatment from this too. Of course you'll know that there will be something special if you've seen the poster, and also the RT scores.
But that's only what it drills down to. Just a bunch of soldiers pondering about life and everything. There isn't a very convincing plot. Still if one is interested in philosophical thoughts about Destiny and the purpose of everything, and doing things that matter, there will be something to take from the words spoken. To be honest, I wasn't interested that much and I just let it flow and watched the plot unravel.
Kubrick is to find the true greatness in the future movies to come. But not in this one.
"Seems like when people get in a hole, they begin to get jealous of dogs."
Disney movies were the BOMB when we were wee lil lads. It’s
history in making animated movies for kids is unmatched, running back 75 years
now. And Kids love them. It more often than not, is a beautiful re-mastering of
a well known children’s story or a fairy tale. Admittedly most of them are just
very much made to spoil little girls in to thinking that beauty and money is
everything, unintentionally I’m sure. It’s always to do with winning the heart
of a prince. Even if it’s a thief, he will eventually become a wealthy prince
in order to satisfy the princess. I really did not care for those ones. But it
always had good nice, fluid animations (nothing beats Anime though) good enough
songs to boot, and not too bad in the humor department as well.
I haven’t watched all the Disney Movies, but there are those
really special ones which is close to my childhood. Possibly one of my earliest
memories of a movie is of Bambi. Did it make that 5 year old me cry? I dunno,
but it certainly laid its imprint on my mind. Then there is The Lion King.
Before Toy Story came out, this was the animated movie that I was absolutely a
great fan of. The songs, the sad but fulfilling story, The Elton John hit song,
everything speaks out of its grandeur. I watched it multiple times, and loved it
every time. I need to watch it again. It’s got a great reputation as one of the
greatest Disney movies ever made and not much was able to reach that pinnacle
in years to come.
Then there came out Frozen in 2013, and one of the Tagline
reviews for the movie which I saw in the trailer or somewhere is that This is
the best Disney movie since The Lion King. I must say that they made a good
decision picking that line, because that certainly speaks more than any review
can say IMO. That’s a great thing to say something like that, but to prove that
would be the challenge that Frozen has to overcome. I have to admit, despite
that line, I wasn’t so much interested in watching Frozen, because lately
Animated movies seems like a bore to me. Because there is so much coming out
and they all try to be funny, and people overrate them and that makes me hate
them. But at the first day of 2014, on an impulse went to check out the movie
with some pals. And During watching it, I remembered that promise that this
movie made, and it’s getting great ratings. Little by little it all made sense,
why that Frozen is the greatest Disney movie since the Lion king. And I’m going
to explain why to you now. And yeahSPOILER ALERT!!!
It starts out with an oh so sad intro, almost like that one
at the beginning of UP. This one speaks of sisterly love and how they are
forever drifted apart by fear and care. I think everybody’s hearts sank a notch
when that black veil was thrown down over the portraits of the King and the
queen. The growing up with the songs thing, although clichéd, was outdone in
this one too, because it shows the yearning for contact and the loneliness the
sisters had to go through forever.
Then comes the Prince Charming of the many Disney cartoons,
Hans, this almost made that mediocre Disney cartoon tradition materialize in
this one. Almost got disappointed with the movie with that, and it seemed
predictable. The Prince was the perfect Disney hero prince, with the handsome
features and good manners and everything. Then after the story progressed,
there came the biggest twist which I bet very few actually would anticipate.
When Hans almost gives the kiss of true love and then didn’t and revealed his
true nature, that was actually shocking. That was like a big slap across those
spoiling Disney movies of yesteryears. Because here is your beautiful princess,
and handsome prince and it’s a Disney movie and at the end they will get
together and live happily ever after right?But no, even the most handsome, well mannered person which shows true
love on the outside can be evil. With the arrival of the other guy,
Kristoff kinds of a giveaway that something gotta happen with Hans, but
honestly I did not expect that twist.
That last act, the sequence in the Blizzard. I remember
the silence that fell over in the cinema when Anna was frozen in front of her
sister to save her. Everyone got hit by it I guess, that is not the way that
its supposed to end. (Then a kid asked “what’s wrong with her, dad?” and
everyone laughed, anyways…) Then a more overwhelming thing, the act of true
love is not the clichéd kiss, it’s the act of saving your own sister itself.
Now that is just so fucking beautiful! That fact itself, makes this movie so
special among others.
I thought the story was woven by the great John Lecester,
and while watching it Elsa constantly reminded me of the Snow Queen in the Snow
queen fairy tale we used to know when we were kids. Turns out this is based on
a fairy tale by Hans Christian Anderson who wrote Snow Queen. Wait… Gosh, why
didn’t I see that before! my mind is so blown right now by the fact that it is
really based on that story.Because that
fairy tale also speaks of saving the life of frozen boy with the true loves
kiss of that girl Gerda, and how Gerda seeks the help of a reindeer to reach
the castle of the snow queen! Wow didn’t see that coming. It’s amazing to think
how they have transformed that fairy tale in to this masterpiece.
It’s got good humor
too, with Olaf and Sven the dog like reindeer. Very well made components which
makes the movie all the more fun to watch. Also the songs. My personal favorite
is the one in which Elsa makes the castle. And FIY, if you are gonna watch a
Disney movie, you better not moan whenever a song comes up! Jeez. ..
Although on a impulse I sure am glad I started the year by
watching this movie. It’s a solid 9/10 from me. Recommended watch.
Started watching the movie under the knowledge of that this was named one of the worst movies of 2013. Why even watch, you might ask. Sometimes a dia hard fan of John McClane gotta watch the crappiest movie of the installment, just because he is a die hard fan. I'd still watch a Jurassic Park which will be made by a Michael Bay, just because it is Jurassic Park. Don't judge me, I'm watching A good day to die hard with the same kind of conviction.
It's obvious from the start that this is gonna crush the hopes and dreams of the fans. The 4th one sort of did that already. It proved that the future of John McClane in the big screen is going to be bleak and sad. But it still had a good conspiracy story which was in line with the previous material. Although filled with absurd plot holes and ridiculous, kollywood like action. But this one, the 5th one doesn't seem to have a good conspiracy either.
Man, I love high speed chases. I'm cuckoo for them. The one in this movie, I gotta admit was quite exhilarating. The sheer magnitude of destruction is awesome. Absurd, I know, as the previous one. But it's good entertainment. Can't complain about that. But I think what lacks, as in the first 3 Die hard movies was a sense of sophistication and cleverness. The first one was impressive in John McClane use of the air duct system and cleverness in kicking ass. In this it's just do the most impressive destructive thing there is to stop the bad guys. The snide signature remarks are still there. There is some consistency I that. And also actions that defies reason. Why the hell, would John McClane go to all that trouble to stop that armored truck, when he just wants to meet his son.
That's not all that defies reason. One trend in recent action movies I've noticed is that , with the story the writers come up with all kinds of absurd crap just to insert a twist. My particular concern is that when the hostage kills the bad guy inside the vault, they wanna give the idea that the daughter was working with the father all along. That's the twist, I get it. But why did the daughter ever betray the father in the first place. They could've taken the key, and went to the vault without the help of the bad guys as they want. Twists in this sense are overrated. If it's even a mediocre plot, if everything adds up, that's just fine. Why they gotta ruin everything just by adding an absurd plot twist.
The bottomline is that, if this was a standalone movie with no history, I think it would've been received more well. But it's the 5th installment in a legendary movie franchise, which makes it a challenge to keep that hype going. The first Die hard movies has set the bar so high for the oncoming movies that hollywood is struggling to reach. They are doing all the wrong things, with the abilities and technology instead of trying to stay true to the original concepts. They are trying to squeeze money out of everything without thinking about the quality. What they mustvr thought is "let's put John Mcclanes son in Russia and send John to visit him where all he'll breaks lose in Russia. I see no fabricated plot here, like in the previous ones. Even the 4th one tried a bit with a mass scale conspiracy. But this one doesn't even try. The story is so mundane and unfit for a Dua Hard movie. In trying to make it more appealing to the masses, it has lost its taste and grandeur. This happens with a lot of things I guess. To reach the popularity, the unique and special identities get lost or sacrificed. And doing so it might become popular, but it loses the value.
Until Bruce Willis lives there will be more Die Hard movies.But I see no improvement in future movies. One can only hope.
"Life affirming, Schmife affirming. It's about seven fucking psychopaths"
Seven Psychopaths tells the story of how this author Marty (Collin Ferrel) wants to write a book about seven psychopaths and is helped by his dog kidnapper friend Billy(Sam Rockwell), who runs his business with an older friend Hans(Walken). Shit hits the fan when the kidnappers take the pet dog of a mob boss, Charlie (Woody Harrelson). Saying anything more will seriously turn down the excitement of the movie, because surprise is a big and very important element here.
Wow, what a cast, Walken, Harellson. Did not imagine Colin Ferell in that kind of a role. I really thought that he would be one of the psychopaths for sure. And Sam Rockwell. It's a surprise why this dude doesn't get more movies. I really adored him in Moon(2009). In this one my favor for him like doubled! Such a good actor.
The introduction of the psychopaths is pretty poetic. The second one is my favorite. Man that was a chilling introduction to that character. The twists are too mindblowing. In my opinion one of the overrated movies that everyone seems to love is Zodiac(1997). From that I learned about the Zodiac Killer. The way they sneaked in the Zodiac is pretty nice too. The his execution, so horrifying and frankly beautiful.
Sometimes its gut wrenching to see that people that you'd never hope getting killed horribly. In that sense it is very very unpredictable. But what makes this a damn good dark comedy is, sometimes the deaths just jumps out of nowhere. It's so shocking, so much so that it's DAMN FUNNY. Like "WTF, that just did not happen" funny.
It takes a different path altogether from the way I imagined it would be. I thought that it was gonna be more like a heist movie or something. But I can't really seem to find an adequate label at all for this. It stands out from the rest. I wouldn't be lying if this is the best movie I've watched so far this year.
Joaquin Phoenix is an amazing actor. I really witnessed that so clearly through the movie The Master. That's one of the main things to talk about this movie. The acting and the difference in the nature of the movie. You know with Joaquin, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Amy Adams in the main cast, it's gonna be a great one. You wouldn't expect an intellectually numbing movie through this. At first before I started watching, I somehow had the idea that this is a biography movie. It almost is, but not quite.
The movie is based on the 1950 post WWII USA. A veteran soldier having mental 'issues' was driven into a movement called The Cause. The Master, portrayed by Philip, is a kind of a highly charismatic religious leader. He is a favorite, and his followers love him to death. The progress of the veteran, who is driven to the point of insanity by lost love, or unclaimed love as I see it, is shown step by step and the relationships that he makes with the movement and its leaders family, and its consequences, is what the movie is basically about. It narrows on to the weird side with the different processes that the master uses on the veteran to attempt to make him alright. They are interesting, leads to insights that is not encountered anywhere before. That interview session, processing, that's one of the most powerful sequences of cinema I've seen. Joaquin does it so well. Also when Joaquins character
with his fucked up state of mind imagines every girl around him naked,
there's also Amy Adams there. That scene was just,.. I don't know, arousing and weird.
But like all religious movements, this also seems like a bullshit attempt to drain the gullible of their money. The charismatic truly can make sense of any crap to sell it to the idiotic masses. If I haven't said it before, I say that now, that I frikking hate hippies. And this seems like a precursor to hippies. So I naturally hated the fact that this happened. And the facts that they seems to introduce seems natural to most of us who have been led by faith to believe all of that as fundamentals, about resurrection, rebirth and causality of everything. The Master reminds me of such personalities as the person who claimed that he is Maithree Buddha in down south Sri Lanka. Many gullible idiots followed him, and donated money for his cause. When you realize the falseness of it all, it is too late.
The acting is mesmerizing. Fills me with awe. Joaquin and Phillip are just masters of the trade, hands down. There isn't any suspense or curiosity as to drive the viewer to keep
watching it. For me the only drive was the powerful nature of the scenes
themselves. What grand feat of acting will they pull of next? That was the curiosity that kept me going. The dedication Joaquin puts into it is amazing. This made me wonder that Leonardo DiCaprio will never amount to be a great actor as Joaquin Phoenix because he is too pretty, and because he talks too perfectly. Just a side thought.
Not a favorite for many I believe. But very critically acclaimed. That must go for it. Otherwise, frankly it is just a boring movie.
"leave your worries for a while. They'll be still there when u get back. And your memories aren't invited."
