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Reviews
Hidden Figures (2016)
rocket science with plenty of uplift
When it comes to historical movies about brilliant minds, especially in the realms of math or the sciences, audiences can all but expect a tale of ego. Films such as A Beautiful Mind, The Theory of Everything, and The Imitation Game all lean in some way on the idea of the inaccessible genius-a mathematician, computer scientist, and theoretical physicist all somehow removed from the world.
Hidden Figures is not that kind of film: It's a story of brilliance, but not of ego. It's a story of struggle and willpower, but not of individual glory. Set in 1960s Virginia, the film centers on three pioneering African American women whose calculations for NASA were integral to several historic space missions, including John Glenn's successful orbit of the Earth. These women-Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan-were superlative mathematicians and engineers despite starting their careers in segregation-era America and facing discrimination at home, at school, and at work.
Girl in the Basement (2021)
suprised by it ....but good
It's not really a horror movie, but sort of character study, so if you're looking for something like Saw, this isn't it, even though the cover suggests that.
It was made on a very low budget, there's a special feature that shows a local news show reporting on the making of the little independent movie being made in their city. As long as you're not expecting a big Hollywood production, and don't mind independent movies, you'll probably enjoy it.
The actress that played the girl being held captive in the basement, was very good, she's beautiful, but she has a natural look that sets her apart. I tried to find more of her work, but this is just about the only thing she's done, which is a shame, I hope she comes back to acting at some point.
La reine Margot (1994)
She was the wife of a king... and the lover of a soldier.
That is Chéreau's dramatic adaptation about the arranged marriage between Margot de Valois, sister of the idiot Catholic King Charles IX, and the Protestant King Henri of Navarre, as a political disguise to "achieve" peace between Catholics and Protestants - or Hugenots, as they became to be known - in the tumultuous year of 1572, circling around the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre carried out by the infamous Catherine de Médicis. The latter brings me to the smashing performance of Virna Lisi, the disgusting, manipulative, cold-blooded, calculative female pig, orchestrating a series of hideous acts behind the curtain. Her stare is enough to communicate fractions of the psychology of her character. Her prize at Cannes was more than deserved.
Sissi (1955)
The Real Sissi
The Real Sissi
Historically speaking, Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie was born in 1837, the daughter of a Bavarian duke, raised in the country, far from court life in Vienna. Her mother, however, was sister to Archduchess Sophie, who decided a cousin would be a good match for her son, the ruling Emperor Franz Joseph. In 1853, Sissi accompanied her mother to present her older sister, Helene, as a future bride for the emperor. And that's when fate stepped in. Various stories have sprung up about how it happened, but essentially Franz Joseph fell madly in love with Sissi, told his mother he had to marry the younger sister, and that was it.
Franz Joseph married Elisabeth in 1854, and in quick succession they had a daughter, Sophie, in 1855 (who died after two years) and another, Gisela, was born in 1856. Sissi became pregnant again, and in 1858 their son Rudolph was born. This took a toll on Sissi's already delicate health, possibly exacerbated by the stressful situation of adjusting to strict court formalities and dealing with her overbearing mother-in-law.
The person of Sissi has been described as an introvert, a free spirit, independent, controlling, obsessive, romantic, melancholy, having low self-esteem, dreamy, shy, awkward, proud, nervous, and paranoid. Her beauty and fitness routines have become the stuff of legend, noting how she rigorously controlled what she ate and how much she exercised, rode horses, hunted, even took up fencing, and maintained a 19 waist all her life. Her famously long hair - hanging down to her feet - required its own fanatical routines with daily upkeep by a special hairdresser and needed concoctions of egg and brandy to keep it looking fabulous, yet the weight of all that hair gave her constant headaches. Sissi has been compared to the 20th-century's Princess Diana for being the people's princess with a tragic side. How much of this is true and how much is myth is hard to say, but these 1950s movies sure did seal the deal.
But hey, we don't want to get all bogged down with historical seriousness - we're here for the pretty pretty princess! And that's why these movies deliver. They don't delve into her complicated familial relationships or Sissi's obsessive daily regimens and what that meant about her or society at the time. These frock flicks don't even cover the entirety of life's events and all the changes in the Austro-Hungarian Empire of the time. Heck no, it's a frothy fancy frock flick for fun, yay!
Lo imposible (2012)
true life..
Despair, pain, panic and hope fight for supremacy in this outstandingly made and heartwrenching film, based on the true-life story of a Spanish family who went on a Christmas holiday in Thailand in 2004 and were caught up in the tsunami that hit south-east Asia, killing 230,000 people. With simplicity and conviction, it manages to be something other than a conventional disaster movie. The tsunami sequence itself is a masterly piece of film-making - and as for what follows, I have to admit to being blindsided by its real emotional power. This film is of course vulnerable to charges of manipulation, and of magnifying the western-tourist experience at the expense of the indigenous communities who lost everything. But in the end I found honesty and compassion in The Impossible. It could well be Ewan McGregor's finest hour, and there were long sections that I had to watch through a wobbly blur of tears.
Apocalypse Now (1979)
The Films of war Life
Apocalypse Now is the ultimate war movie, a riveting adventure story, a searching and deeply committed probing of the moral problem of the Vietnam War and something more than all of these, transcending categories and genres in a way that only true art, and specifically true movie art, does at its best. The film seethes with violence but the seething is controlled by the hand of a master.
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What's great in the film, and what will make it live for many years and speak to many audiences, is what Coppola achieves on the levels Truffaut was discussing: the moments of agony and joy in making cinema. Some of those moments come at the same time; remember again the helicopter assault and its unsettling juxtaposition of horror and exhilaration. Remember the weird beauty of the massed helicopters lifting over the trees in the long shot, and the insane power of Wagner's music, played loudly during the attack, and you feel what Coppola was getting at: Those moments as common in life as art, when the whole huge grand mystery of the world, so terrible, so beautiful, seems to hang in the balance.
300 (2006)
excellent (just movie, not the story)
In epic battle scenes where he combines breathtaking and fluid choreography, gorgeous 3-D drawings and hundreds of visual effects, director Zack Snyder puts onscreen the seemingly impossible heroism and gore of which Homer sang in "The Iliad."
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It's a perfect adaptation of the comic book and the only real fault with Zack Snyder's 300 is if you watch it as a historical piece and not as a work of pure fiction, a story that is more myth than reality, which is why Snyder wisely has the story being told by the Spartan Dillios who tells of the events in the past tense, to rally his troops before battle, and as a propaganda tool, the movie works perfectly.
Born Free (1966)
amazing story...
A heartwarming true story with an African locale, BORN FREE has a pseudo-documentary style. It tells the story of Joy Adamson (Virginia McKenna) and her husband, George (Bill Travers), a game warden in Kenya, who adopt a slain lioness' cubs. One of the cubs, Elsa, is raised to adulthood and becomes a primary fixture in the couple's life. But soon they are faced with their inability to keep an enormous, potentially dangerous (if domesticated) lioness as a house pet. Rather than follow orders that Elsa be sent to a zoo, they set about teaching her techniques of hunting and surviving in the wilderness. A great success when released, the film won Academy Awards for score and the title song. The nature photography is excellent, and real-life husband and wife McKenna and Travers are very good, their genuine affection transferring to the screen. The real Joy Adamson was later reported, ironically, to have been killed by a lion; investigation proved her death to be murder at the hands of a disgruntled ex-employee, however. In 1972 the story was continued in LIVING FREE--also an enjoyable film, but not as captivating as this one.
Just Beyond (2021)
loved it a teen spectacular mystery stories
Just Beyond
8 halfhour epeisodes, pleasant to watch them. Remind me like another ''Twilight zone'' but teen version .
Just Beyond has the same vibe as Goosebumps.
Just Beyond is a light-hearted series that explores the mysteries of the paranormal. The series is based on Stine's novel. While there are stories that you can expect to see in any typical haunted house/ghost story, Stine does a great job of mixing logic with the stories told. While this might not be enough for older viewers, it is perfect for kids getting their first taste of the paranormal.
The stories are great for children, and adults will love them too! The series is filled with twists, turns, thrills and chills. It is not your typical paranormal show which makes it appealing to any viewer whether you like cartoons or live-action shows. These stories will make you think about what might be going on around you during the Halloween season.
Midnight Mass (2021)
excellent
Midnight mass. I recommend it.
The eternal struggle between good and evil, blind religious faith, the fear of death, logic, fanaticism, the great questions that concern man, guilt are some of the issues that preoccupy Flanagan.
Puts you right into the dark plot.
Midnight Mass is a television project that gives the impression that it could be a matter of analyzing the essence of Christian scriptures, the psychological search of many years, all given in a nightmarish setting of isolation with scruffy religious inhabitants with long beards who are on an island struggling to accept their predetermined fate, reminiscent of the island of Lost, from how some people got there to the heartbreaking and optimistically cruel ending.
Of course, together with horror and one of the most famous myths we have seen on the small and big screen.
Great actors, great atmosphere, escalating tension. I'd say better than the demons of Hill House.
Black Panther (2018)
niceeee one
"Black Panther" follows some typical superhero plot points, but it does make a few changes along the way. Perhaps the biggest is in how the villain is represented. He doesn't really play a big part until close to an hour into the film. Until then, we are entertained by a more minor villain named Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis). There are several stabs at humor (not unusual for a Marvel flick), and thankfully the jokes are very good-natured and funny.
Speaking of the villain, he's one of the most interesting villains Marvel's put together. He's given interesting reasons behind taking over Wakanda. Michael B. Jordan gives an energetic performance that adds a layer or two more than what you might expect a villain to have. As for Boseman, he aptly provides the heart and soul of the strong but gentle-hearted character. Lupita N'yongo gives a memorable performance as the kind Nakia. Movie fans and "Lord of the Rings"/"Hobbit" fans, may be excited to see Martin Freeman (reprising from "Civil War") and Serkis together again in an interesting scene. There are a lot of characters to keep up with, however. This makes veteran actors such as Angela Bassett and Forest Whitaker have less screentime than people might have hoped for.
Ludwig Gorannson's score cleverly mixes African beats with some orchestral pieces. The production design and costume design carry bits and pieces of originality and uniqueness. The visual effects, like most superhero movies, are impressive, but sometimes over-the-top. The action sequences are exciting, but the camera work is a bit shaky in places.
As for the usual Marvel elements, Stan Lee's cameo doesn't disappoint. And the second post-credits scene is worth waiting for.
Gisaengchung (2019)
oddly unique and great movie
This kind of interrogation might still feel as effective in a gloomier, more self-serious film, but Bong has somehow mastered the art of mining powerful messages in the midst of hair-raisingly entertaining set pieces, breathtaking action sequences, and daffy character development. The balance he strikes between the grave sincerity of his subject matter and the agile levity and stimulating smarts of his filmmaking gifts regularly reveals a deeply spiritual artist, one who wants audiences to pay attention, but who also knows that getting audiences to transform often requires age-old stories to be told in freshly affecting ways.
Parasite burrows far deeper than most films dealing with economic disparity. Its sheer weirdness and wit undergird a profound meditation on the rancid decay at the core of a society that turns up its nose at the stench of truth. It invites exploration of what lies beneath the politely accepted status quos of wealth and poverty with the force of an inevitable revolution. Like the striving family at its center, Parasite is not to be underestimated and will never be forgotten.
Moonfall (2022)
not bad...but now what expected
Like many other Hollywood disaster movies, the world is coming to an end in 'Moonfall' too, but the only difference is that this time, the moon is the villain. Well, in a way, because an evil force has now invaded moon, which as per a theory floated in this rash sci-fi, is a 'mega structure' built by our ancestors, using the most advanced tech including Artificial intelligence. As the film progresses, its central premise becomes increasingly ridiculous and preposterous with its actors trying hard to make it believable. However, there's barely ever a moment that feels real in this make-believe occurrence. This is precisely why it seems so hard to feel invested in this labourious saga of life and death. The weak writing takes its toll on everything. It makes the screenplay come across as exhausting and repetitive because almost every action sequence is mounted as if the world is coming to an end. While it is thrilling, adventurous, and even edge-of-the-seat, at times, it still doesn't come off as wee-bit convincing.
2012 (2009)
i am huge fan of disaster so..i love it
End of the world movies have almost always been engaging. Also, director Roland Emmerich has ended the world time and again through his celluloid epics. Be it the aliens bringing the White House down, the world going into deep freeze or the giant lizard trampling across terra firma, films like Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow and Godzilla have showcased Emmerich as an able prophet of doom. Once again, he churns the oceans, cracks up the earth and sends down fireballs to create a cataclysm that sends humanity into a tizzy. Everyone's on the run, now that they know Earth has an expiry date: December 2012. And before the new world can begin (circa 0001), with a handful of survivors, families must unite, loved one's must be lost, the benevolent must shine and the bad guys be sorted out...In short, the entire gamut of emotions must be run through, even if it takes a prolonged two and half hours to depict the might of man against the fury of nature. Yes, 2012 is too long and ends up taxing your patience in the last 40 minutes where all the drama unfolds inside a submarine-like Noah's ark, brimming over with the survivors, handpicked on different yardsticks. Most of them are there because they could afford to buy themselves a one billion euro berth in the secret ship. Some have connections (like the US president's daughter, the White House chief), some because the new world needs them, like the bright, young scientist, Chiwetel Ejifor, and some -- the good, yet ordinary guys -- are gatecrashers and stowaways (John Cusack and his estranged family). But human drama isn't supposed to be the highlight of any disaster film. Special effects are the main draw. So, you actually don't mind the perfunctory manner in which the director handles his characters' bondings. There's Cusack trying to re-bond with his separated wife (Amanda Peet) and kids. There's the scientist torn with grief because he can't take his dad on the secret ship. There's the US Prez (Danny Glover) who chooses not to abandon his countrymen and prefers to look for a kid's lost daddy, when doom dawns. And there's the scheming wannabe (Oliver Platt) who dreams of becoming Prez when the new world order begins. Oh yes, amongst all these usual types, there's also the mad prophet of doom cum radio jockey (Woody Harrelson), who wants to be the first to bring the news, even if it means standing in the face of a volcano. All the characters try to hold your attention as they battle apocalyptical blues.
The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
as for me love it..many more it deppends
The film's premise - global warming leading to a radical climate shift and a new ice age - has caused scientists worldwide to flinch. Emmerich takes established facts and blows them out of proportion, and it's the exaggeration that has caused the consternation in the scientific community. (Incidentally, the Weather Channel apparently didn't have a problem with this, since their logo is plastered all over the place.) But who expects realism from a movie like this, anyway? The central disaster is just an excuse for the impressive effects work and the paper-thin character development. If it focuses some attention upon a real problem - global warming - then how can that be bad?
Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid) is a climatologist who has come to the conclusion that the world is fast approaching a new ice age. He estimates that the event will occur in 50 to 100 years - until he hooks up with British scientist Terry Rapson (Ian Holm), whose measurements of plummeting ocean temperatures in the North Atlantic advance and accelerate the time table significantly. Vice President Becker (Kenneth Walsh) ignores Jack's warnings, leaving the country without a plan of defense when disaster happens.
San Andreas (2015)
not bad
SAN ANDREAS is a competent disaster movie, but tries to be too big for its own good. A major benefit is that experts say the San Andreas fault is ready for a big earthquake. However, the movie doesn't elicit the same fear that 1990s movies like TWISTER and DANTE'S PEAK do. That said, SAN ANDREAS has plenty of exciting moments from beginning to end. The movie also has some positive Christian content. However, some characters are flat and some moments are unintentionally laughable. There's also a constant stream of mostly light profanities in SAN ANDREAS, and some strong obscenities. So, extreme caution is advised.
Volcano (1997)
heroic
Tommy Lee Jones' Roark is a wonderfully heroic figure -- a man of action who never has time to rest. The fate of the city rests on his shoulders, and he knows it. Jones' fierce, unflagging portrayal helps us accept Roark not only as the man to save L. A., but as a loving father who is more concerned about his daughter's safety than that of every other citizen. Anne Heche (Donnie Brasco), a young actress who has experienced quite a bit of recent exposure, offers a spunky interpretation of her sidekick-turned-love interest role. Don Cheadle (Rosewood) is in top form -- most of the film's comic moments revolve around him. The rest of the cast isn't nearly as impressive, but, since no one else has much screen time, any number of acting deficiencies can be forgiven.
Twister (1996)
great one
So tornadoes pass into the muse of one Michael Crichton, the reigning techno-king of Hollywood. And they make for rich pickings, indeed, for the science obsessed scribe: nature out-of-control, loads of accompanying technobabble, and the chance for huge screen-filling set-pieces.
But instead of channelling his premise of weather geeks careering across middle-American farmland in chase of the swirling masses of destruction into one of his populist novels, he decided (with the help of his wife Anne-Marie Martin) to make it straight into a movie. Computer generated tornadoes interacting with real-life actors? Cool idea. But could it be done?
Rope in one Jan De Bont, last seen whipping a bus through LA's rush hour traffic, and the boys at Industrial Light & Magic and - hey presto - visual effects to smack the collective global gob. Their "mission impossible" was accomplished. It's a shame such an effort was not afforded to the rather plodding storyline and lacklustre script. Twister is about one thing, and one thing alone: a thrill session. In that, it delivers tenfold.
The central hook is that a group of weatherfolk, dressed nattily in grunge gear, their four wheel-drives loaded with state-of-the-art equipment, are aiming to do the impossible and launch some sensors up inside a twister. This, for the sake of mankind, will allow them to predict their movements more quickly and hasten advanced warnings. Luckily for them, and the movie, it's about to be a double whammy of a tornado season.
And that, really, is all there is to it, plotwise. The team, led by the feisty Jo (Hunt) and her estranged hubbie Bill (Paxton), chase the tornadoes, getting seriously up close and personal in the seemingly vain effort to get the early warning ultra-sensor "Dorothy" in the twister's path.
There are attempts to add dimension: the spiky relations between the couple with Bill's new girl Melissa (Gertz) along for the ride, a formulaic but under-used bad guy in Elwes' corporate-funded competitor and the rum nuttiness of the science-school dweebs of the team (Philip Seymour Hoffman, Alan Ruck, Sean Whalen and Scott Thomson as comic relief). But they're fooling no one. This is about the twisters, five of them, building up to the rip-roaring (literally) wham-bang conclusion.
Apart from the odd spot of shoddy matte-work, the effects do for wind what Jurassic Park did for dinosaurs. From the get-go we're launched into a high speed chase - no buses, just jeeps and wind masses arbitrarily destroying farm buildings - and from there they just get bigger. The last 20 minutes predictably roll out that big gun, the F5 (top of the Fujita-Pearson Tornado Intensity Scale) leaving the audience suitably rapt by the sheer dynamism and flawless believability of it all.
De Bont knows about kinetics, he just lacks the skill to instil any lasting emotional level. Hunt and Paxton, valiant as they are, are simply ciphers to deliver us to the next thrill.
Twister is a disaster movie - houses collapse, cows fly, death looms - but a strange one where the victims are not unwittingly forced to face death, but, rather happily almost drunkenly imperil themselves like high-risk junkies (the compassionate subtext just doesn't rub). While it's hard to stir any sympathy for them, their excitement is infectious. Hence this film encompasses everything that is both grating and great about the blockbuster: it gives scant regard to character depth or dialogue while still being a must-see hoopla of computer trickery that weakens the knees and raises the neck-hairs.
The Towering Inferno (1974)
The all-time classic disaster movie
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Really cool. This film is legendary for basically starting the entire disaster movie genre. It's very entertaining from beginning to end, and watching Newman and McQueen together in one movie is pretty damn awesome.
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