Reviews have stated that this is the movie of a generation, about a generation and that it catches the zeitgeist of a moment. True all, but it's more. It's the story of friendship (ironically almost), how in modern times the germ or development of an idea is claimed by all, of how the simplest of things can become so intricate in daily life that you forget what it was not to have them. So is it worth watching? Oh hell yes. David Fincher maybe the most vital director around, giving so much more than 'The Facebook Movie', he is giving you a movie full of technical wonder you don't realise your watching (Example? The Twins, played by one man.), giving the film a pace not unlike a thriller (time is non-sequential, energy is not sapped). The cast are startling, Eisenberg especially so. He's Woody Allen's twitchy nervous son, intelligence pouring out, exacting and resulting. Andrew Garfield is possibly the movies heart and soul, Justin Timberlake the cocky, arrogant prick jumping on the band wagon. This has won so many critical awards (this is written before the Oscars) you might forget in years too come how this film will resonate of a time and place. Pretty much the zeitgeist, then. Oh, and don't be surprised when you see The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo being advertised as 'Directed By Oscar Winner David Fincher'.
Reviews
7 Reviews
Inception
(2010)
Stunning
16 July 2010
Don't read a single iota of plot about this. Watch it. What I will tell you is that DiCaprio may not have been better and is getting better the older he gets, the rest of the cast are amazing (especially Tom Hardy and Gordon-Levitt), the cinematography is at times breathtaking, Hans Zimmer's score is intoxicating (with Johnny Marr on guitar), and it travels across continents like a Bond movie. Oh yeah, and it's really, really loud in parts. But this is about Christopher Nolan again. He has crafted a serious adult thriller that happens to have exhilarating action sequences that, importantly, don't detract from the emotional content and a plot you will have to sit and think about. It's amazing that in a time of remakes and sequels that a director is given carte blanche to do what he wants and returns something as gratifying as this. Stunning. Why are you still reading this? Go! Watch! Now
A History of Violence
(2005)
Excellent. But...............
4 April 2006
Warning: Spoilers
An excellent, excellent film.
But before anyone starts going, "It's based on a comic book,suspend your rational thinking!", I'm well aware of that.
But........As I have read on other comments made, there are some matters not fully developed that perhaps should have been. For example, the full story of why Viggo fell out with Ed Harris (because he was crazy just didn't ring true for me),the Hospital confessional(was over a little too quickly) and the complete lack of Police investigation into one man and the MULTIPLE murders he has committed.But no more, here comes the positives!
What the film is, is a serious discussion about the merits and non merits of violence in society, and the affects it has there-on. Especially in a small town where people "Look after their own." The violence in question, is explosive,exacting and not at all glamorous. It is used for reason.
The performances are terrific, notables being Viggo Moretenstein and Maria Bello. And Ed Harris, is, well, Ed Harris(Superb in everything). One of note, and I mean note, is William Hurt. Oscar worthy he was not. He's good, but Oscar worthy? If anyone should have been nominated it should have been Viggo and Maria.
Cronenberg has not made a David Cronenberg film,which I think is good for all film makers who have such distinct styles and are often associated with a particular 'brand' of film making, and has made a very, very good film as a result.
Excellent.
But before anyone starts going, "It's based on a comic book,suspend your rational thinking!", I'm well aware of that.
But........As I have read on other comments made, there are some matters not fully developed that perhaps should have been. For example, the full story of why Viggo fell out with Ed Harris (because he was crazy just didn't ring true for me),the Hospital confessional(was over a little too quickly) and the complete lack of Police investigation into one man and the MULTIPLE murders he has committed.But no more, here comes the positives!
What the film is, is a serious discussion about the merits and non merits of violence in society, and the affects it has there-on. Especially in a small town where people "Look after their own." The violence in question, is explosive,exacting and not at all glamorous. It is used for reason.
The performances are terrific, notables being Viggo Moretenstein and Maria Bello. And Ed Harris, is, well, Ed Harris(Superb in everything). One of note, and I mean note, is William Hurt. Oscar worthy he was not. He's good, but Oscar worthy? If anyone should have been nominated it should have been Viggo and Maria.
Cronenberg has not made a David Cronenberg film,which I think is good for all film makers who have such distinct styles and are often associated with a particular 'brand' of film making, and has made a very, very good film as a result.
Excellent.
Hhhhmmmmmmmm........
20 May 2005
Just got in from watch this. I'm still mulling it over. I want to see it again, that's for sure. But am I satisfied? That's the Hhhmmmmmmm....
The Good bits; The opening battle is spectacular.The Jedi's in full flow are a sight to behold. The Wookie planet and the wookies themselves just add gravitas to how much you love Chewie and chums.Mace Windu's death to the last.The Emporer's transformation.The culling of the Jedi's.The Yoda Vs Sidious battle.The Obi-Wan Vs. Anakin Battle(at normal speed claims Lucas.If so, test them for speed enhancing drugs because they move alright!).The Birth of Vader as we know him (and the force exploding stuff around him is cool).The tying up of loose ends.John William's score.ILM.
The Bad bits;The dialogue.What the hell has Lucas been watching? To quote a certain actor, "you type this sh*t,you sure as hell can't say it". Some of it is almost cringe-worthy. Yoda just sounds drunk at some parts. Anakin is still a whiny sh*t, even as a grown man and his sudden switchto the dark side is not what I would call convincing. Obi-Wan is far from funny. And the Droids? No wonder the Emporer shut's them all down.Oh, and a certain Ultimate Bad Guy crying out "NNNNOOOOOOOOO" does not work.At all.The force exploding stuff around is cool though.
But all in all, this is like the other Star Wars movies. They all have flaws, parts that people don't like, and this probably adds to their charm and allure.
This is the best of the prequels,and although it has an obvious parallel in Return of the Jedi, it's still not as good as that.
Superb in parts, disappointing in others.A certain sadness descended on me as well knowing that was it,ultimately not what I'd hoped for.
But Mr.Lucas,hats off to you sir.Your imagination is astonishing.
The Good bits; The opening battle is spectacular.The Jedi's in full flow are a sight to behold. The Wookie planet and the wookies themselves just add gravitas to how much you love Chewie and chums.Mace Windu's death to the last.The Emporer's transformation.The culling of the Jedi's.The Yoda Vs Sidious battle.The Obi-Wan Vs. Anakin Battle(at normal speed claims Lucas.If so, test them for speed enhancing drugs because they move alright!).The Birth of Vader as we know him (and the force exploding stuff around him is cool).The tying up of loose ends.John William's score.ILM.
The Bad bits;The dialogue.What the hell has Lucas been watching? To quote a certain actor, "you type this sh*t,you sure as hell can't say it". Some of it is almost cringe-worthy. Yoda just sounds drunk at some parts. Anakin is still a whiny sh*t, even as a grown man and his sudden switchto the dark side is not what I would call convincing. Obi-Wan is far from funny. And the Droids? No wonder the Emporer shut's them all down.Oh, and a certain Ultimate Bad Guy crying out "NNNNOOOOOOOOO" does not work.At all.The force exploding stuff around is cool though.
But all in all, this is like the other Star Wars movies. They all have flaws, parts that people don't like, and this probably adds to their charm and allure.
This is the best of the prequels,and although it has an obvious parallel in Return of the Jedi, it's still not as good as that.
Superb in parts, disappointing in others.A certain sadness descended on me as well knowing that was it,ultimately not what I'd hoped for.
But Mr.Lucas,hats off to you sir.Your imagination is astonishing.
L.A. Confidential
(1997)
Cops and being Robbed by a sinking ship
31 January 2005
Warning: Spoilers
Startling.
L.A. Confindential, one of the best crime dramas ever made, loses out to Titanic in the Oscars. I still shake my head at the thought.
Okay, Titanic is technically brilliant and had cutting edge(at the time)special effects, but for all it's box office return, it's not the film that should have won the Oscars it did.
Confidential(as it will be henceforth known)is a real piece of craftsmanship. Curtis Hanson's unflinching,non-sympathetic direction just shows these characters for what they all are, flawed. He uses the L.A. landscape to enhance his story. The pace and rhythm to the movie is just like Kevin Spacey's suits, cool, and the music of the period (which I believe he chose himself) are spot on.
Then there's the actors.I've said(on these boards) that this is Russell Crowe's best movie, and I stand by it.A man at odds with what he thinks is morally right and wrong who grows before your eyes into what he should be doing instead of what he's told to do is riveting. Guy Pearce is excellent as the man who's actions have motives in progressing his profession and the man who will ultimately solve what is really going on. Kevin Spacey is coolness itself, but again wrangles with his conscience over his profession and his glamorous image. James Cromwell is brooding, his reputation on the line as the investigation tightens around his illegal activities.
A throughly brilliant film, one for which I again cannot believe lost out to a sinking ship of a film.
10/10
L.A. Confindential, one of the best crime dramas ever made, loses out to Titanic in the Oscars. I still shake my head at the thought.
Okay, Titanic is technically brilliant and had cutting edge(at the time)special effects, but for all it's box office return, it's not the film that should have won the Oscars it did.
Confidential(as it will be henceforth known)is a real piece of craftsmanship. Curtis Hanson's unflinching,non-sympathetic direction just shows these characters for what they all are, flawed. He uses the L.A. landscape to enhance his story. The pace and rhythm to the movie is just like Kevin Spacey's suits, cool, and the music of the period (which I believe he chose himself) are spot on.
Then there's the actors.I've said(on these boards) that this is Russell Crowe's best movie, and I stand by it.A man at odds with what he thinks is morally right and wrong who grows before your eyes into what he should be doing instead of what he's told to do is riveting. Guy Pearce is excellent as the man who's actions have motives in progressing his profession and the man who will ultimately solve what is really going on. Kevin Spacey is coolness itself, but again wrangles with his conscience over his profession and his glamorous image. James Cromwell is brooding, his reputation on the line as the investigation tightens around his illegal activities.
A throughly brilliant film, one for which I again cannot believe lost out to a sinking ship of a film.
10/10
Heat
(1995)
Masterful on all counts
30 November 2004
For some reason I cannot stop thinking about this film lately.
You know that feeling of having seen it about 3 or 4 times in the last 12 months is not enough? That's what I feel at the moment.
I rate it as Mann's best. It's his most kinetic,vibrant(for a film mostly shot in steely blue),agonising,stirring,brash,violent and brilliance in such a simple story.
What games did you play as a young kid? Cops and robbers.Good guy.Bad guy.
We all know De Niro and Pacino could have been either main part,but can you imagine it any other way round. Pacino doing ice cool calm? De Niro the manic outbursts,arms flailing? It wouldn't work. We know these men now.We know neither will stop at what they do.And yet there is no way either would stop the other.Unless they had too. Which leads us too the characters. All of them.
This is an extended family where you feel you know all of them without knowing anything at all. The cops are similar to the robbers and vice-versa. Perhaps Mann is telling us were all the same.Except in what we do.Every speaking part holds substance in this movie, and the support cast is astonishing when you actually read the caliber of who appeared in this film.Tom Sizmore, Val Kilmer,Ashley Judd,Ted Levine,Wes Studi,Hank Azaria,William Fitchner,Henry Rollins,Dennis Haysbert,Tom Noonan. And Natalie Portman, for chrissake! Try getting that cast again.
A real 10/10 film. And that Moby song at the end(God moving over the face of waters) gets me every time.
You know that feeling of having seen it about 3 or 4 times in the last 12 months is not enough? That's what I feel at the moment.
I rate it as Mann's best. It's his most kinetic,vibrant(for a film mostly shot in steely blue),agonising,stirring,brash,violent and brilliance in such a simple story.
What games did you play as a young kid? Cops and robbers.Good guy.Bad guy.
We all know De Niro and Pacino could have been either main part,but can you imagine it any other way round. Pacino doing ice cool calm? De Niro the manic outbursts,arms flailing? It wouldn't work. We know these men now.We know neither will stop at what they do.And yet there is no way either would stop the other.Unless they had too. Which leads us too the characters. All of them.
This is an extended family where you feel you know all of them without knowing anything at all. The cops are similar to the robbers and vice-versa. Perhaps Mann is telling us were all the same.Except in what we do.Every speaking part holds substance in this movie, and the support cast is astonishing when you actually read the caliber of who appeared in this film.Tom Sizmore, Val Kilmer,Ashley Judd,Ted Levine,Wes Studi,Hank Azaria,William Fitchner,Henry Rollins,Dennis Haysbert,Tom Noonan. And Natalie Portman, for chrissake! Try getting that cast again.
A real 10/10 film. And that Moby song at the end(God moving over the face of waters) gets me every time.
Goodfellas
(1990)
If you want to make a movie this is the blueprint
7 September 2004
I purchased what I consider to be my first choice as THE best film of all time on DVD recently and it got me thinking about a thought I had years ago. This is the most technically perfect film you will see.Okay, the editing has no consistency in parts,but that highlights the almost documentary feel to it. It is perfectly cast, brilliantly scripted, sublimly edited(by the genius Thelma Schoonmaker)and has a soundtrack most people can only dream of thinking of.
I seriously think, and have done for years before seeing the extras on the new DVD, that if your a new filmmaker, or at least want to make a film, there is a blueprint here to follow.Close ups,freeze frame, LONG tracking shots,spitfire editing,all in all, complete. Hell Frank Darabont says he watched this film every Sunday he made "The Shawshank Redemption". And that's from the director of one of the most well thought of movies on this database.
This one day will be recognised as THE definitive gangster movie,it is certainly the equal of The Godfather,perhaps not as sumptuos,but none the less it's equal and peer.It set a benchmark, but Marty improved it.
Holy s*** did he.
Be nice to yourself,perhaps one day you'll want to grow up to be a gangster..........
I seriously think, and have done for years before seeing the extras on the new DVD, that if your a new filmmaker, or at least want to make a film, there is a blueprint here to follow.Close ups,freeze frame, LONG tracking shots,spitfire editing,all in all, complete. Hell Frank Darabont says he watched this film every Sunday he made "The Shawshank Redemption". And that's from the director of one of the most well thought of movies on this database.
This one day will be recognised as THE definitive gangster movie,it is certainly the equal of The Godfather,perhaps not as sumptuos,but none the less it's equal and peer.It set a benchmark, but Marty improved it.
Holy s*** did he.
Be nice to yourself,perhaps one day you'll want to grow up to be a gangster..........
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