AndrewZaki Reviews

The Reader (2008)

The great Kate.

[8/10 · 9 February 2014]

That was so much better than I thought it would be.

A bizarrely heart-warming, fairly-told, honest, cracked-heart alike, sensual, human story which represents the morality confusion people meet along the journey of life.

The phenomenal, charming, talented, passionate Kate Winslet had delivered a spectacular performance. She is just a perfect description of feminine confidence.

Fiennes and Kross were pretty good, but I was so, SO imagining DiCaprio for the whole role.

The music was perfectly suitable for the atmosphere.

Pretty good screenplay and direction, yet I think they had a pretty good chance for squeezing more emotions of the sexual and painful events of the characters.

No Country for Old Men (2007)

Let's be fair.

[30 January 2014]

Alright, there's a lot to say. I'll be fair and I'm gonna keep every side of the argument.

-I enjoyed it, very actually, specially the first 70 mins; it was more thrilling and would keep you waiting for more of badass well-shot scenes with some neat twists... well, hopefully. -Javier Bardem has made a remarkable performance for life and nobody could deny it. -I didn't really think I would adapt with a movie that has no music, but I actually loved it thanks to the sound mixing and editing neat tricks and usage of daily life materials. -I have no problem with realistic storytelling and that it's not always about how the good defeats the evil. -Awesome directing and guiding techniques for the scenes.

Every screenplay has got two major jobs on its shoulder, it's the writer's burden to deliver a written-before-visualizing material (the scenes), AND what these scenes are about through them. I could give you hundreds of well-written powerful scenes, but you wouldn't really get what the whole thing is about. This movie would go with an A+ for the first half, but leaves you confused about the second one. Same goes to the direction. The directors, besides visualizing the screenplay, they gotta keep the plot on your mind, what keeps the engine going.

So.. Was it too deep or too pretentious?

Was it deep because of how realistic the story is? Aka how the guy you dislike harms innocent people or the people you like? Because of how psychotic, without any kind of sympathy Javier was? Because old men can't fight and spend their last days just some deep thinkers, dreams-interpreter philosophers? I honestly wasn't following Tommy Lee most of the time, he didn't seem that interesting to me. Because the writer of the screenplay was like "Alright, they ain't gonna get nothing about the whole story but what I want them to know"? Not even talking about hints.

As the Coens brothers, the writers of the screenplay are the directors in the same time, I think they got more busy with the techniques and visualizing the scenes more than elaborating and explaining more of the core of the work.

I did enjoy it, but I was left unfulfilled nor satisfied. And I don't usually go fully hard on a movie's flaws, I just try to give it what it deserves.

There Will Be Blood (2007)

There will be epicness. A movie to over-think.

[29 January 2014]

A rich fulfilling screenplay which is neatly shot, gets Daniel Day-Lewis to the peak. Also a great performance by Paul Dano. Needless to say that Paul Anderson managed to make some solid work yet I think it could have been more.. um, you know.. gathered and to the point which could have made the pace more thrilling, specially at the beginning, but it was okay.

Some might think that the story is absurd or even no story at all, which is actually the movie's strength point, at least to me; as I've got a different perspective on that... it's a witty artistic piece which managed to sum up most of the everlasting-life-conflicts including power, money, superstitions, family, and feelings all combined in a really powerful honest way; because YES, it, life, not the movie, is THAT absurd.

Captain Phillips (2013)

Like a time machine to the year 2009, you'd be taken.

[18 January 2014]

That went a lot higher than my expectations. I was thinking an okay movie, but that was more than just okay. Truly impressive powerful thriller.

The movie's strength points could be summed up:

1. Greengrass's thrillers are really fine, I like his The Bourne Ultimatum with his shaky camera tricks. And here he is doing it again maybe with different techniques. As a thriller, Greengrass managed to make this movie get on your nerves and put so much tension, and that's a success.

2. The Somali crew.. Now, that's some serious impressive sh*t. Some Somali dudes you have never seen their faces in a movie before come and make such spectacular performances, that's something you should admire. It made the movie so believable that you'd sometimes forget it's just a movie. Barkhad Abdi has made a huge step in his career with this movie and that was crowned by his nomination for the best actor in a supporting role. He probably won't get it, but he deserved it.

3. Tom Hanks is just a really fine actor. He was driving the whole thing with his convincing performance. I still can't believe he got my tearing in that scene, or let's just say crying. Greengrass has taken him to squeeze some fine acting skills.

4. Fair screenplay that didn't make you forget that justice should be done, no matter how the conditions the person lives in, but it also pushed the eyes to take a look into the world that would produce such people as pirates.

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

Extremely enjoyable!

[8/10 · 18 January 2014]

Extremely enjoyable! How brilliant is it to choose to make such hardcore story in a funny way? That's just awesome. Who cares about the truth if you could get an enjoyable, funny piece like that?

Comedy crime at its finest. Indeed Scorsese's best work since Goodfellas. If you look at both of the movies, they have the same core, those people who do bad stuff and how they f*cking enjoy it, yet this might get them f*cked up.

Some people are whining about the hardcore nude scenes and the hard language, but f*ck it, Scorsese played his cards so damn well to get a fine job.

And oh, gosh, Leo was shining; I might have misjudged his performance because I was half-asleep when I tried to watch the first hour of it, I thought he was great, but when I got to watch it all over again, I didn't believe he was THAT great. He showed some good skills. Jonah is one of the funniest actors you would ever watch, the dude's face would make laugh for no reason.

And I really need to mention that I wished McConaughey to stay on the screen for more than just two scenes, the dude is so catchy. I totally forgot during his minutes that this movie was about Leo, he did stole the light and I enjoyed it.

The movie is about the Wall Street society, and I liked that it was all focused on them, and just them. He didn't seek your sympathy with anybody, though it could have been easier to get with those who have been defrauded, because yes, the movie didn't have a deep emotional or philosophical core, but you wouldn't always look for that, sometimes you just need fun and fun you get.

12 Years a Slave (2013)

"I don't wanna survive, I wanna live."

[17 January 2014]

"I don't wanna survive, I wanna live."

Just about one of the most powerful movies you'd ever see.

Slavery has been discussed for many times, but this time is different; McQueen with the help of the spectacular and phenomenal performance by Chiwetel Ejiofor and the mighty performance by Michael Fassbender, together they managed to get to the core, to go deep down the pain, the psychological suffering and harm of these black people at this period of time in history.

You may have watched a lot of scenes including physical pain, but this movie made it to physical--and-emotional-pain peak.

A lot of unforgettable scenes with savage, feeling-evoking actions that you think you, yourself, would breakdown with them. McQueen truly made this extraordinary.

But there was that genius scene where Chiwetel having a robe tied tightly around his neck which was tied to a tree that was low enough to keep his feet widely stretched to touch the ground. That went on the screen for whole two minutes, no dialogue, nothing. Just the sound of other working slaves and some playing kids. This scene was brutal to the extent that it delivered the pain personally to me.

Chiwetel has made the performance of his whole career.

Great cinematography and great customs.

And let's not discuss the religious part, you would see that this Scripture is what gives those in the greatest pain to believe that there's hope and one day justice will be done, but you would also feel the hatred towards the same Scripture that would allow people to go that far of abusing other human beings and do these inhumanly acts.

Her (2013)

Beyond time and space!

[10/10 · 16 January 2014]

Oh my f*ck... My hopes were high, but they didn't get the sky I met through this.

Perfect. So perfect. Melting. Heart-breaking-and-warming at the same time. Visually f*cking stunning, the colors are so damn beautiful. Surprisingly believable, I bet you could see yourself there. At least I did.

It's one of those movies you'd keep describing in just fragments while having your heart beating fast after you finish it with couple of hours. One of those that you would wanna keep talking about each detail of it.

I'm not a fan of measuring movies with numbers, but f*ck it, I'd go straight 10 with that, maybe more.

I mean.. How many times would you get to watch a perfect-first-date- movie material which is also a neatly and creatively made that it's an Oscar movie material? 5 deserved nominations. How many times would you get to watch a touching not-cheap romantic comedy discussing a serious psychological/emotional REAL issue in such creative, smart and brilliant way?

Have you ever wanted fantasy to become real? Watch this and you just easily will. Not just fantasy, it's about how impressed we are with the unknown way more than the known, like a book and a movie, you know what I mean? This movie delivers what's books are all about. What about a hint of the mysterious sweet unknown? Spike is giving you that. The music is superior and just goes with the whole mood you're put into, you're just beyond time and space with it.

I wouldn't be exaggerating if I said it's the best rom-com movie I've EVER watched.

Spike Jonze is f*cking digging the sky with this piece of pure enjoyable art and hell, Joaquin Phoenix is THE man. The dude deserved at least a nomination at the Oscars, he is a genius.

PS: I might have fell even f*cking harder for Scarlett's voice, lol.