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American Sniper (2014)
Very Very Good....but not GR8...
Tonight, I sat down to watch this movie with my brother and the only thing I knew it was in the running for awards and a friend of my brother had said he was underwhelmed by it, and thought it "very slow"....
Having now watched the film, one thing I can say is that it is definitely not "slow"....I mean if you are into your James Bond Style films or something with Jason Statham in it, it probably is plodding but that is because of you and your preferences, not this film. I mean it takes place over the course of 13 or so years, and a lot of stuff happens, so how you could describe it as "slow" is beyond me.
I think this drama is character driven, and about what is going on with Chris Kyle and what is going on in his head and his life as a result of what is going on around him. I would have thought that was obvious. I don't think think it's pro-American in any sense really, I think that's all a bit superfluous. I think the essence of the film is about what it means to be a soldier, and what it means to take a life and how that changes you as a person. The army becomes his family, and that world becomes his reality, and then conversely by seeing the affects of war and seeing those less fortunate than himself who have lost limbs etc. he starts to appreciate life again. I don't think there are really any judgments made in this film as regards 911 and the war that ensued. It's a film about a man in that war,the decisions he has to make and how it affects him as a person. The flags and stuff at the end may fly in the face of that, but how else would you end it....The man was a hero to his country and all those around him, but I never got the feeling he felt that way about himself....Over the course of the film, he never acted as such....
I liked this film a lot, but it's not a great film. Fury comes to mind immediately. American Sniper is a better film imho, but Fury entertained me more, if that makes any sense....Gave them both 8.....Hurt Locker is on another level though....
La vie d'Adèle (2013)
Incredible.....
I saw this film in the middle of July I think. And now that the year is over, I can safely say that it was my favourite film of 2014. I thought it was amazing. The script, the acting, the themes, the music.....I just thought it was exceptional on every level, and the only slight complaint I would have about it, is that the sexual scenes were a little overdone. I thought their tone was in keeping with the raw nature of sexual awakening and desire, but I just felt that they went on a bit too long....a hammer would have done, but I was presented with a jackhammer, if that makes any sense....Lea Seydoux was great as per usual, but aptly given the original French title of this movie and the name of the lead character,Adèle Exarchopoulos was absolutely incredible...I never read this book, but if they say a picture can convey a thousand words, this book must have been longer than Encyclopedia Britannica and then some, because seriously, there were so many things being said without a word being uttered, it was utterly mesmeric... I can't recommend this film highly enough, it is so unforgettable,beautiful and painful....
The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014)
Just like my souffles, flat with no consistency.....
I watched this film without knowing anything about it at all. I had no expectations, and even if I did, I really don't think it would have made a difference. I give it a 6 because above all else, it secured my attention to the end and the acting, aside from Helen Mirren's French accent, was pretty good....But aside from that I found it to be hollow and trying too hard...I did not believe in the love story at the centre of this film to any extent at all, and felt it just fell flat. The other love story between people which comes to light near the end fell even flatter in my opinion. And the only love affair I actually believed in, was the love affair between Hassan and food/cooking. So I guess on that level, the film didn't fail....but having seen Chef(2014) and giving that an 8(7.5 if halves were allowed), this was disappointing....Oh, one thing that annoyed me, if you're doing a film set in France, do the English with French accents all the way through, or get French-speaking actors and do it in French, don't have a mixture of the two. But above all else don't have two apparently French-speaking characters speaking English to each other with a French accent when there are French characters within the film that do speak French to each other.....It makes no sense....
Pride (2014)
Very Special Film.....imho
As a heterosexual male born in 1982 in Ireland, I have no bias as regards the subject matter of this film aside from a dislike of Margaret Thatcher and what she represents based solely on history and not personal experience.
After watching this film for the first time, I really was left speechless. There were literally streams of tears running down my face as I tried to read what happened to the characters I had come to care so much about over the course of the film. Indeed that was what was so special about this movie for me, it really made me care about 5-6 (probably more)characters easy, and it never made me feel like it was overly trying to tug on heart strings at any point in the movie.
It was just uplifting and enriching, and in a time when so much of what passes as comedy consists of grotesque accentuations of human nature such as misogyny, stupidity, vulgarity etc.,this was a film that was never going to do that, and yet it made me smile consistently throughout, except for when the buses arrived and with no warning, I became a blubbering mess....
Bill Nighy and Imelda Staunton were immense, and I thought the juxtapositoning of these two characters worked so well and embodied the essence of the movie nicely.I thought Dominic West was very good in a part which in lesser hands could have been played in a stereotypical or clichéd manner. Ben Schnetzer, whom I never heard of before this, was amazing as the somewhat cold and ruthless leader of a cause in which he utterly believed in. I don't know, I could just go on, and on, but I fear my words cannot do this film or the actors within it, justice....
I urge people to see this film. To coin a well touted phrase "it's the feel-good movie of the year"...Only, in this case, it most certainly is...
Until Death (2007)
Flawed but very Entertaining
If you rent or buy a Van Damme movie then you want to be entertained, right??? As long as you are entertained then you would be willing to let the quality of the acting or script slide a little, right??? Well, I have to say that this film did indeed entertain me and Mr. Van Damme even surprised me because he was rather good, even with a script that went a little overboard with movie cop-talk. For all of his critics,I say, give the man a break, he is making an effort and trying something different.
As an Irishman I was as surprised as anyone to see Stephen Rea in such a film as I hadn't looked at the full credits before watching it, but he was solid as usual.
I don't want to summarise the film for anyone because I watched the film without knowing anything about the story except that Van Damme played a dirty cop, and I found the story to be very entertaining ,even in spite of the poor dialogue at times. Please, do not go along and watch this film with preconceived notions of negativity towards Mr. Van Damme, just watch it with an open mind, and I think you may find yourself surprised.....
Swimming Pool (2003)
A profound insight into what it means to be a writer
This film was utterly beautiful and anybody who says otherwise really just did not get it. Essentially the psychological aspect to this film gives it a depth far beyond that of any swimming pool. Oh please forgive me. It is hard to justify the title of this without going into too much detail which will absolutely destroy this film for the first-time viewer. The end of this film is the key to everything and it completely transforms the whole film into something so much more than a simple thriller.
I thought the acting was superb with Charlotte Rampling giving us what we come to expect from her, and young Ludivine Sagnier really took my breath away with her stunning beauty and a sense of sexy playfulness which really went along well with the character she was seeking to portray. The setting was idyllic and just looking at it meant me want to be back in the south of France, if that is indeed where it was shot as I am not sure. This film really is a fine example of how refreshing French cinema can be, albeit with the aid of some English actors. I think seen as a whole is poses deep philosophical questions, along the same lines of "les trois couleurs" set of films and particularly the film "Rouge" in that series. You will probably be puzzled by how I have summarized it throughout, and be saying sure there is a writer, but where is the profound insight? If you take a step back, let it sink in, make sense of the ending, then I think you will get what I mean. I hope you enjoy the film, and really is has to be an 8+ rating.
Daniel P. Cunningham