Films: A
Films I've seen (that I can recall and have recorded) starting with A
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- DirectorTon van ZantvoortFlowers love people. Anyway, that is what the flower growing industry is trying to propagate. But whether flowers actually do love people, well, that remains the question. The largest percentage of flowers produced in third world countries, where the pay checks are low and the environment constraints are flexible, is auctioned in The Netherlands. "A Blooming Business" is a poetic documentary about people in Kenya who are imprisoned by the power of the global flower growing industry. The dilemmas of the industry grow painfully clear and a dark world of oppression, sexual abuse and terrible working conditions unfolds. There is only one conclusion possible: the smell of the imported rose is not sweet, but bitter. Pure observation goes unnoticed, hand in hand, with straightforward comments about life and living from the main characters throughout this film. The camera is present and absent at the same time. It reshapes the documentary. With great humanism, Van Zantvoort shows us literally and figuratively another world; a world in which the life of each human being is precious.Very interesting, if not depressing doco
- DirectorJohn CassavetesStarsBurt LancasterJudy GarlandGena RowlandsA teacher and a psychologist work with children at an institute for the mentally-imparied.Amazing performances from the children. I loved the very end when Garland calls the new boy darling and he says in horror 'Darling?' and she replies, 'yes, I guess that darling is a little inappropriate for a boy your age'.
- DirectorRobert ZemeckisStarsJim CarreyGary OldmanColin FirthAn animated retelling of Charles Dickens' classic novel about a Victorian-era miser taken on a journey of self-redemption, courtesy of several mysterious Christmas apparitions.Dicken's classic is animated to life in this new version, with Jim Carrey playing Scrooge and the Ghosts, all animated with performance capture technology. This style of animation has been used before, in Beowulf for instance and whilst it at times works for the most part I struggle with it as the sense of realism becomes borderline. In this instance it looks okay, but the better scenes are the ones where people aren't in close up. The human characters rarely look anything more than bad computer game characters. On a few occasions does it work well, a candle lit Scrooge's face. General scenes where presumably they used regular animation are often wonderful, flying over a snow covered London or the scenes where Scrooge falls through the air are very effective.
Jim Carrey does well here playing the old Scrooge and is less Carrey than normal, his performances as the three ghosts are also okay, despite annoying accents. The film is for the most part very dark with scenes such as the ones with the Ghost of Christmas yet to come really ominous and perhaps too dark for a 'family' rated film.
The story is a true classic, but whilst there is some things to enjoy, it is perhaps a story I prefer told as a live action story. - DirectorArnaud DesplechinStarsCatherine DeneuveJean-Paul RoussillonMathieu AmalricThe troubled Vuillard family is no stranger to illness, grief, and banishment, but when their matriarch requires a bone-marrow transplant, the estranged clan reunites just in time for Christmas.Great cast - but overly long.
- DirectorChris WaittStarsAleksandra BoyarskayaDanielle McLeodOlivia TrenchA humorous look at life for a loser in love.Another WOW! This was such a surprise. I didnt know what to expect, but within the first opening moments, I was, along with the rest of the audience laughing heartily. And I did so for much of the film. This was an incredible insight into someones life, if not a very tragic and sad one, but it was difficult not to see the humour in the situations. It was down right hilarious. Poor guy....and poor women!!. We as an audience never really learn what his faults are, he just sound like a guy blessed with bad luck, and some part of you has to feel sorry for him. Not sure I was comfortable with the scenes of him asking woman if they would *beep* him after he'd taken too much viagra, but still there was a nice outcome to that. The scenes near the end with the one woman he really loved, were quite heartbreaking. Great stuff!
- DirectorBasil GelpkeRaymond McCormackReto CaduffStarsWade AdamsAbdul Samad Al-AwadiFadhil J. Al-ChalabiA theatrical documentary on the planet's dwindling oil resources.Great doco. Oil is the nightmare of humanity.
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsMichael FassbenderKeira KnightleyViggo MortensenA look at how the intense relationship between Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud gives birth to psychoanalysis.I just can't stand Knightley - makes for difficult viewing.
- DirectorJohn WatersStarsTracey UllmanChris IsaakSelma BlairAn uptight, middle-aged, repressed woman turns into a sex addict after getting hit on the head, and she then falls into an underground subculture of sex addicts in suburban Baltimore.Had high hopes, but was very disappointed.
- DirectorStephan ElliottStarsLaura BrentXavier SamuelKris MarshallA groom and his three best men travel to the Australian outback for a wedding.The lead is likable, but this is a unfunny mess.
- DirectorBen WheatleyStarsJulian BarrattPeter FerdinandoRichard GloverAmid the Civil War in 17th-century England, a group of deserters flee from battle through an overgrown field. Captured by an alchemist, the men are forced to help him search to find a hidden treasure that he believes is buried in the field.Trippy, surreal, weird, fantastical and confusing.
- DirectorIan FitzgibbonStarsDylan MoranMark DohertyKeith AllenA broke, jobless actor and a broke, jobless screenwriter set out to make a movie and then find that life starts imitating art.I had hopes for a good for laughs from this,it does have Dylan Moran in after all, but I was really disappointed. The premise is so far fetched and whilst that might the whole point, I just couldn't wait for it to end. I may have cracked a smile once. It's a shame, as it's a very well made film for a low budget effort.
- DirectorDito MontielStarsRobert Downey Jr.Rosario DawsonShia LaBeoufComing-of-age drama about a boy growing up in Astoria, New York during the 1980s. As his friends end up dead, on drugs or in prison, he comes to believe he has been saved from their fates by various so-called saints.great cast and likable thriller.
- DirectorCesc GayStarsJavier CámaraRicardo DarínEduard FernándezA comedy centered on eight men in their 40s, all with identity crises.Brilliant film - moving, funny and cleverly played out.
- DirectorTobias LindholmStarsPilou AsbækSøren MallingDar SalimThe crew of a Danish cargo ship is hijacked by Somali pirates who proceed to engage in escalating negotiations with authorities in Copenhagen.Brilliant tense thriller - just has the edge over Captain Phillips.
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsViggo MortensenMaria BelloEd HarrisA mild-mannered man becomes a local hero through an act of violence, which sets off repercussions that will shake his family to its very core.Great performance from Mortensen.
- DirectorMichael MayerStarsColin FarrellDallas RobertsRobin WrightA boy who has experienced many losses in his life grows to manhood and enters into a love triangle with a woman and his boyhood friend.Likable enough drama.
- DirectorMark KidelStarsOsvaldo GolijovGerard MortierKaija SaariahoFollows Peter Sellars around the globe to reveal his inner life as an artistic visionary. Filming over two years, Mark Kidel travels a rocky artistic roadI went into this not knowing anything about Peter Sellars (no, not Peter Sellers) and I left feeling creative and inspired. Sellars is a man full of energy and passion and it's wonderful to see this creative mind on screen. There is an intensity to him which is both fascinating and a little disturbing.
At times he seems way over the top, crying during rehearsals for instance but perhaps this is the sign of true passion for the art or work you create and love. I'm not sure I felt I went on a journey with this man as the title suggests, but I did get a wonderful insight - DirectorIlmar RaagStarsJeanne MoreauLaine MägiPatrick PineauAnne leaves Estonia to come to Paris and care for Frida, an elderly Estonian lady who emigrated to France long ago. Anne soon realizes that she is not wanted. All Frida wants from life is the attention of Stephane, her younger lover from years ago. Stephane, however, is desperate for Anne to stay and look after Frida, even against the old lady's will. In this conflict of strangers, Anne finds her own way...great performances and got me engaged despite negative reviews
- DirectorPhilippe GrandrieuxStarsDmitriy KubasovNatálie RehorováAleksey SolonchevThe story takes place in a country about which we know nothing: a country of snow and dense forests somewhere in the North. A family lives in an isolated house near a lake. Alexi, the brother, is a young man with pure heart. A woodcutter. An ecstatic, prey to epileptic fits, he is entirely opened to the nature that surrounds him. Alexi is terribly close to his younger sister, Hege. Their blind mother, their father and their little brother are the silent witnesses to their overwhelming love. A stranger arrives, a young man barely older that Alexi...Here are the final scores for the film A Lake:
Visual Imagery 1 - Film 0
People Leaving throughout the film 1- Film 0
Oh dear.
Boy has fit in snow, after walking with horse. Found by sister. Stranger arrives. Sister and stranger sleep together. Small girl appears. Followed by the return of the father. And near the end, the mother, which is followed by the sister and stranger leaving. FIN. This "story" is told with some very sparse dialogue, but plenty of shaky out of focus camera work. The film's only redeeming feature and I use the word redeeming lightly, was the visual, the snow covered landscape looked amazing and the camera work often gave it an ethereal effect. At least I had a chance to rest my eyes without fear of missing anything. Shocking. No wonder so many people left, and those that didn't I suspect were asleep or resting their eyes. - DirectorYaron ZilbermanStarsPhilip Seymour HoffmanChristopher WalkenCatherine KeenerMembers of a world-renowned string quartet struggle to stay together in the face of death, competing egos, and insuppressible lust.Listed as A Late Quartet;
likable, but hated the characters after a while. - DirectorHiroyuki OkiuraStarsKaren MiyamaYukaDaizaburo Arakawa11-year-old Momo moves with her mother to a small island town after her father dies. When she arrives, she encounters three goblins that others cannot see who try to help her to cope with the loss of her father and the changes in her life.Charming tale.
- DirectorShainee GabelStarsScarlett JohanssonJohn TravoltaGabriel MachtA headstrong young woman returns to New Orleans after the death of her estranged mother.Hated it. But being near the end of a long haul flight wouldn't have helped.
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsDavid NivenKim HunterRobert CooteA British wartime aviator who cheats death must argue for his life before a celestial court, hoping to prolong his fledgling romance with an American girl.Released in the US as Stairway to heaven. Astonishing film. Visually amazing and touching on some ideas that must have been a little taboo when it was made.
- DirectorAnton CorbijnStarsPhilip Seymour HoffmanRachel McAdamsDaniel BrühlA Chechen Muslim illegally immigrates to Hamburg, where he gets caught in the international war on terror.brooding drama, well played, but Rachel McAdams accent was so bad. Hoffman was a fine actor
- DirectorMichael HoffmanStarsKevin KlineMichelle PfeifferRupert EverettLovers' lives are complicated by city law, feuding faerie royalty, and... love.Likable adaptation of the classic.