Movies based on true happenings I always find interesting and this movie, Captain Phillips, is no exception. In 2009 Somali pirates hijacked a US-flagged MV Maersk Alabama - the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in 200 years. Although there were only four hijackers, Captain Richard Phillips played by Tom Hanks was able to get them off the boat into the lifeboat. Unfortunately, they took him with them. Tom Hanks does such a great job with this role, he may get another Oscar nod.
In the meantime, the US Navy sent a boat and the seals were sent from Virginia. Director, Paul Greengrass does a really great job in keeping the tension high. In fact this story could have been quite boring, but it wasn't. The tension between Captain Phillips, Tom Hanks and the leader of the Somali Pirates, Muse played by Barkhad Abdi was kept at a high level, as both men interact with each other.
I remember hearing about this event at the time, but thought they stopped the Pirates on the cargo ship, but they weren't. They were stopped on the lifeboat. Muse, the leader was talked off the lifeboat onto the US Navy ship, and ended up in a Missouri jail, whereas the other three were killed.
I found that I was quite exhausted from the adrenaline rushes the up and down and even when you know the outcome the director made it great to watch. 3 1/2 out of 5.
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Monday, October 7, 2013
Gravity - movie review
Gravity, a movie about being set adrift in space. Everyone's worst nightmare. Yet with the great acting of Sandra Bullock, who basically is the movie, with support from George Clooney has this movie leaving you with a sense of 'no way' do I want to go out there and also how appreciative it is to feel the 'earth' under your feet.
If you want your adrenaline going from the beginning to the end, then this movie - Gravity - is for you. Now the adrenaline is not in the red line, it is just 'up there' all the time. I was tired by the time I got home, all that tension, all that uncertainty. Sandra Bullock will no doubt get an Oscar nod for this performance. George Clooney does a great job as the support person. Basically that is all there is. We see a few other people, but after the first few minutes, everyone else is dead. Lovely.
From then on, we see George Clooney for a short while and then only Sandra Bullock. Sandra who has one trial after another as she works to get herself back to earth, first through a Russian station and then a Chinese. Nothing like international cooperation out in space. This could have been called 'Lost in Space' and it would have been true.
This movie Gravity does give you food for thought, it does give you adrenaline rushes and it does give you hope. It shows how the human spirit will fight to live.
Worth seeing - yes!
4 out of 5.
If you want your adrenaline going from the beginning to the end, then this movie - Gravity - is for you. Now the adrenaline is not in the red line, it is just 'up there' all the time. I was tired by the time I got home, all that tension, all that uncertainty. Sandra Bullock will no doubt get an Oscar nod for this performance. George Clooney does a great job as the support person. Basically that is all there is. We see a few other people, but after the first few minutes, everyone else is dead. Lovely.
From then on, we see George Clooney for a short while and then only Sandra Bullock. Sandra who has one trial after another as she works to get herself back to earth, first through a Russian station and then a Chinese. Nothing like international cooperation out in space. This could have been called 'Lost in Space' and it would have been true.
This movie Gravity does give you food for thought, it does give you adrenaline rushes and it does give you hope. It shows how the human spirit will fight to live.
Worth seeing - yes!
4 out of 5.
Runner, Runner - movie review
Sometimes you just go and see a movie which does not really have anything to say, or teach, but you sit back and go for the ride. Or, perhaps this movie is about the horror of what oneline gambling is doing to our society. Runner Runner has Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake with Gemma Arterton in it.
I'm a Ben Affleck fan, so I wanted to see this movie for that reason, and he plays that arrogant, in control person (or thinks they are) person so well, and does not disappoint here. The big shot, living in Costa Rica and unable to go back to the states where he will be arrested. Justin Timberlake playing the young gambler trying to make enough money to pay his university fees and discovers he has been stolen from. He goes to Costa Rica to confront Ivan Block, Ben Affleck's character and then the dance begins.
Enter the FBI, enter the beautiful woman, enter Ivan Block, Ben Affleck setting up young Richie Furst, Justin Timberlake's character, crocodiles, corruption and you have a 'ride' of a movie. You can't help liking Justin Timberlake (who becomes a better and better actor as time goes on) and when everything looks like 'oh no, how is he going to get out of this' the story evolves.
I loved the ending...uncertain, but perhaps he was going to go and become another Ivan Block, hopefully a more honest one. Yes, if you want to be entertained for approximately 1 1/2 hours, then go enjoy! Also note, that online gambling is shown as what it is...a horror for many.
3 out of 5.
I'm a Ben Affleck fan, so I wanted to see this movie for that reason, and he plays that arrogant, in control person (or thinks they are) person so well, and does not disappoint here. The big shot, living in Costa Rica and unable to go back to the states where he will be arrested. Justin Timberlake playing the young gambler trying to make enough money to pay his university fees and discovers he has been stolen from. He goes to Costa Rica to confront Ivan Block, Ben Affleck's character and then the dance begins.
Enter the FBI, enter the beautiful woman, enter Ivan Block, Ben Affleck setting up young Richie Furst, Justin Timberlake's character, crocodiles, corruption and you have a 'ride' of a movie. You can't help liking Justin Timberlake (who becomes a better and better actor as time goes on) and when everything looks like 'oh no, how is he going to get out of this' the story evolves.
I loved the ending...uncertain, but perhaps he was going to go and become another Ivan Block, hopefully a more honest one. Yes, if you want to be entertained for approximately 1 1/2 hours, then go enjoy! Also note, that online gambling is shown as what it is...a horror for many.
3 out of 5.
Rush - movie review
I happened to be in Vancouver when I went to see Rush. Driving through a huge rainstorm in order to make the theatre in time to see this movie, I later appreciated what it is to drive at high speeds through rain when I was driving at a low speed through a rain storm, (the only other time I have driven through such rain was in Florida).
I arrived at the theatre, in time but damp from the rain from the car to the theatre and sat back to watch Chris Hemsworth as James Hunt and Daniel Bruhl as Niki Lauda battle it out to become World Champion road driver in 1976.
Ron Howard has the reputation of making 'good' movies. Ones in which the story flows and the action is good. Ron Howard manages to maintain the same throughout Rush. My attention never wandered throughout. The driving scenes were magnificent and I found myself having a new admiration for racing car drivers and what they do.
The story line is primarily between these two very different men competing. One living emotionally and driven to become the top driver, the other more intellectual, where everything is planned, but emotionally shut down, even with his relationship. At the end you felt with the postscript that James Hunt died in his 40's, while Niki Lauda is still alive today, scars from the crash still visible on his face, that James Hunt lived. He lived totally, in the moment, and although dying young he achieved what he came to do - live.
Even the supporting women in this movie were appropriately cast, Olivia Wilde as Suzy Miller, the model James Hunt marries who divorces him and later marries Richard Burton and Alexandra Maria Lara who as Marlene Lauda played the elegant wife of Niki Lauda.
I left the movie, glad the rain storm was just about gone, and especially glad that I had gone to see it. Did seeing this movie make a huge difference to me, no, but it did give me an understanding of a bit of history, and especially made me aware of what racing car drivers actually go through.
3 1/2 out of 5.
I arrived at the theatre, in time but damp from the rain from the car to the theatre and sat back to watch Chris Hemsworth as James Hunt and Daniel Bruhl as Niki Lauda battle it out to become World Champion road driver in 1976.
Ron Howard has the reputation of making 'good' movies. Ones in which the story flows and the action is good. Ron Howard manages to maintain the same throughout Rush. My attention never wandered throughout. The driving scenes were magnificent and I found myself having a new admiration for racing car drivers and what they do.
The story line is primarily between these two very different men competing. One living emotionally and driven to become the top driver, the other more intellectual, where everything is planned, but emotionally shut down, even with his relationship. At the end you felt with the postscript that James Hunt died in his 40's, while Niki Lauda is still alive today, scars from the crash still visible on his face, that James Hunt lived. He lived totally, in the moment, and although dying young he achieved what he came to do - live.
Even the supporting women in this movie were appropriately cast, Olivia Wilde as Suzy Miller, the model James Hunt marries who divorces him and later marries Richard Burton and Alexandra Maria Lara who as Marlene Lauda played the elegant wife of Niki Lauda.
I left the movie, glad the rain storm was just about gone, and especially glad that I had gone to see it. Did seeing this movie make a huge difference to me, no, but it did give me an understanding of a bit of history, and especially made me aware of what racing car drivers actually go through.
3 1/2 out of 5.
Monday, September 16, 2013
Fruitvale Station - movie review
Yesterday I went to see the movie Fruitvale Station, based on the last day of the life of Oscar Grant II, a 22 yr old Bay Area resident. You follow the day of this young man as be interacts with his girlfriend, daughter, mother, other friends, enemies and finally his confrontation at Fruitvale Station.
Michael B. Jordan plays Oscar quite adequately, displaying him through his many emotions and Melonie Diaz as his girl friend and mother of his daughter, but it is Octavia Spencer as Wanda his mother who his great.
This is a sad story based on a true story, as the information gathered about his last day is brought together. Slow paced, it takes you through Oscars day, and at the same time you come to understand his journey, his awarenessness which are happening as he works to change his life. This movie was a Grand Jury Prize Winner in the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, and I can see why.
It is a movie which leaves you thinking of many different things. Would this have been a different ending if Oscar was not black. Would it have been different if one of the Bart coops was not a rookie. Would it have been different if he had not taken the train. Food for thought, a good way to leave a movie.
If you have a chance to see this movie, then do so, just to see how you can do everything in your power to do it 'right' but still be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
4 out of 5.
Michael B. Jordan plays Oscar quite adequately, displaying him through his many emotions and Melonie Diaz as his girl friend and mother of his daughter, but it is Octavia Spencer as Wanda his mother who his great.
This is a sad story based on a true story, as the information gathered about his last day is brought together. Slow paced, it takes you through Oscars day, and at the same time you come to understand his journey, his awarenessness which are happening as he works to change his life. This movie was a Grand Jury Prize Winner in the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, and I can see why.
It is a movie which leaves you thinking of many different things. Would this have been a different ending if Oscar was not black. Would it have been different if one of the Bart coops was not a rookie. Would it have been different if he had not taken the train. Food for thought, a good way to leave a movie.
If you have a chance to see this movie, then do so, just to see how you can do everything in your power to do it 'right' but still be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
4 out of 5.
Riddick - movie review
As my movie goer friend Trish and I were sitting in the movie to watch Riddick, I thought there would be more people to see it. I had been looking forward to seeing Vin Diesel again, as I'm a fan from the Fast and Furious franchise. I really did not know what to expect. I had seen the Chronicles of Riddick a long time ago. So as it began I was open to anything I was going to see.
First of all, Vin Diesel was great with his usual 'man' style especially with the 'glinty' Riddick eyes. The story line was not overly hard to get. Betrayed and stranded on a hostile planet, with alien predators he has to find a way to survive. Discovers an abandoned station and sends an emergency signal and is therefore joined by two brands of mercenaries one who want him dead for the bounty on his head, the other wants him alive for information.
The predictors, who he Riddick runs into quite early are scary (I often found myself with my eyes covered). I'm a real scaredy cat when it comes to unusual looking things. In fact, at one point, I made my self look, because I felt I was cowering way too much. But, I got used to these things, and was amazed as to how Riddick made himself a 'friend' with the coyote like thing (they were all things). How the plot had him inoculate himself so he could survive their poison and eventually gets himself off the planet, moving on to the next Riddick story to come.
The supporting cast, besides the computer generated things, Karl Urban did his usual good solid acting role, and Katee Sackhoff, who I had been watching in Longmire, was great as the gay woman of the bunch. Jordi Molla was the leader to the rag tag group, who slowly got themselves killed off.
If you want adventure, high tension (my adrenaline was pumping) then go see Riddick.
3 out 5.
First of all, Vin Diesel was great with his usual 'man' style especially with the 'glinty' Riddick eyes. The story line was not overly hard to get. Betrayed and stranded on a hostile planet, with alien predators he has to find a way to survive. Discovers an abandoned station and sends an emergency signal and is therefore joined by two brands of mercenaries one who want him dead for the bounty on his head, the other wants him alive for information.
The predictors, who he Riddick runs into quite early are scary (I often found myself with my eyes covered). I'm a real scaredy cat when it comes to unusual looking things. In fact, at one point, I made my self look, because I felt I was cowering way too much. But, I got used to these things, and was amazed as to how Riddick made himself a 'friend' with the coyote like thing (they were all things). How the plot had him inoculate himself so he could survive their poison and eventually gets himself off the planet, moving on to the next Riddick story to come.
The supporting cast, besides the computer generated things, Karl Urban did his usual good solid acting role, and Katee Sackhoff, who I had been watching in Longmire, was great as the gay woman of the bunch. Jordi Molla was the leader to the rag tag group, who slowly got themselves killed off.
If you want adventure, high tension (my adrenaline was pumping) then go see Riddick.
3 out 5.
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Lee Daniel's The Butler movie review
Every now and again you get to see a movie that has everything. Lee Daniel's The Butler is it. It contains everything, education, emotion, plus great acting. This is the movie of the year. The cast was phenomenal. Forest Whitaker as Cecil Gains the Butler, whose life we follow is his usual superb self. Oprah Winfrey, who you forget is Oprah, as she becomes Gloria Gaines Cecil's wife. She portrays the different stages and what she as a wife of a Butler in the White House, plus raising two sons goes through.
David Banner who plays son Earl, who joins the freedom rides and even the Black Panthers is also great. Then comes the actors who play the Presidents, John Cuscak as Richard Nixon, Robin Williams as a great Dwight D Eisenhower, James Marsden as John F Kennedy, Liev Schreiber does a great job as Lyndon B Johnson and Alan Rickman makes a wonderful Ronald Regan. They were all great selections for their roles. You learn a lot about the Presidents and the affect having Black Butlers played in their awareness of equality.
In fact the whole cast was so well cast that there was not one person you thought, wow, this is miscast, in fact, for the over 2 hour movie, you hardly recognize the time. The movie moves through the years, with ease, and with each character being so well played, you get caught up in the story quickly as it touches you emotionally, and you go for the ride. At the end, I found my self sitting there digesting it all. Let us hope we do not forget what people went through in order to have equality - even though in some ways it still on going.
I'm sure you have heard the story line, of how this share croppers son, who is taken in and trained to be a 'house nigger' ends up as a Butler in the White House. As you follow this tale you begin to identify with the 'struggle' as the White Staff of the white house receive 40% more monies than the Black staff. It appears it was Ronald Reagan who changed that so they all received the same.
Also through the movie comments were made by the Presidents which showed that having Black Butlers, whom they trusted and came to 'know', did make a difference. Nelsan Ellis who plays Martin Luther King, Jr. makes a statement during the movie of not to demean the Black Help, but due to their work ethic (can't remember it all, but it was another great statement during the movie) advising Earl, to recognize the contribution his father was doing.
There were so many wonderful moments, so many wonderful actors playing their parts that I can't possibly mention them all. All I can say, if you want to see a movie of the year, then go see this one.
5 out of 5.
David Banner who plays son Earl, who joins the freedom rides and even the Black Panthers is also great. Then comes the actors who play the Presidents, John Cuscak as Richard Nixon, Robin Williams as a great Dwight D Eisenhower, James Marsden as John F Kennedy, Liev Schreiber does a great job as Lyndon B Johnson and Alan Rickman makes a wonderful Ronald Regan. They were all great selections for their roles. You learn a lot about the Presidents and the affect having Black Butlers played in their awareness of equality.
In fact the whole cast was so well cast that there was not one person you thought, wow, this is miscast, in fact, for the over 2 hour movie, you hardly recognize the time. The movie moves through the years, with ease, and with each character being so well played, you get caught up in the story quickly as it touches you emotionally, and you go for the ride. At the end, I found my self sitting there digesting it all. Let us hope we do not forget what people went through in order to have equality - even though in some ways it still on going.
I'm sure you have heard the story line, of how this share croppers son, who is taken in and trained to be a 'house nigger' ends up as a Butler in the White House. As you follow this tale you begin to identify with the 'struggle' as the White Staff of the white house receive 40% more monies than the Black staff. It appears it was Ronald Reagan who changed that so they all received the same.
Also through the movie comments were made by the Presidents which showed that having Black Butlers, whom they trusted and came to 'know', did make a difference. Nelsan Ellis who plays Martin Luther King, Jr. makes a statement during the movie of not to demean the Black Help, but due to their work ethic (can't remember it all, but it was another great statement during the movie) advising Earl, to recognize the contribution his father was doing.
There were so many wonderful moments, so many wonderful actors playing their parts that I can't possibly mention them all. All I can say, if you want to see a movie of the year, then go see this one.
5 out of 5.
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