Movie of the Week: Cast Away

   

 

    Movie of the Week (4/28/13-5/4/13): What would you do if you were stranded on an island by yourself for about four years? What would it be like? Would you lose it, give up, or try to survive? Well, the great movie Cast Away depicts just those situations in a very realistic way. The film follows Chuck Noland as a FedEx executive as his plane crashes in the middle of the ocean and ends up being stranded on a deserted island. He is tested in every way possible from physically to emotionally and he even makes an unexpected friend.
    We don't really have a big cast here there is just Tom Hanks and Helen Hunt, but that is enough. Tom Hanks plays Chuck Noland and he does a fantastic job. He underwent a physical change for the film twice, first gaining weight and then losing it again. Hanks pretty much acts by himself the whole movie, it really is driven by his performance because we get to see him act with items instead of people and he does a wonderful job, one of his best. Helen Hunt plays Kelly Frears as Noland's girlfriend when his plane crashes and she is left alone, then we don't see her again until near the end of the movie. So, she is not really in the film that much but she does a great job as well particularly in one scene between her and Hanks near the end in a rainy scene, a great and emotional scene.
    This movie is a great story and has a great screenplay because it shows the test of the human mind and what it can go through. It might not seem like it is much when you see it, but if you sit and think about the film after it is over it has a lot of meaning. The movie is also beautiful to look at because it was filmed with great cinematography and the scenes on the island are breathtaking. The special effects are also very good, but the only scene where they are essential is the plane crash scene and they were great.
    Director Robert Zemeckis does a great job at bringing the story all together and showing in great detail the amount of traumatic events Hanks' character goes through. He films it in such a way that it is slow it parts but never boring because of how he directed Hanks to react in each scene. There is one scene in particular that was done wonderfully and that was when Hanks is forced to say goodbye to his only friend on the island. That friend was a volleyball named "Wilson," we grow to love this character, or item, because Hanks' character grows to love it and his conversations with it are truly great and also help drive the film.
    This movie is very entertaining to watch and can be taken in many ways depending on the person. You can take it for what it is or you can dig deeper in the symbolisms that it has that some people appreciate it for, I just like to take it for what it is, a great film and story. We have a great actor in Tom Hanks playing a great character with probably one of the best character developments on film. From the minute the movie begins to the minute it ends Tom Hanks owns the screen and gives us one of his best performances. With the sound mixing, direction, writing, and the short heartwarming 24 minute musical score in only the 143 minute running time, this movie will make you laugh and make you cry all in one scene, but smile at the end.                                                           4/4 Stars.                       

Movie of the Week: The King's Speech

   

    Movie of the Week (4/21/13-4/27/13): Who would of thought that a person of high status in the royal family in England would have a king that was shy of public speaking and have a stutter. Well, we find out that they did in the 2010 Best Picture winner The King's Speech. The movie focuses on King George VI, in the 1930's, as a man who suffers from a stutter and then hires a man by the name of Lionel Logue, a speech therapist, to help him get over his stutter.
    This movie can be very emotional to watch for many people because of its content and what King George VI went through. From the opening scene to the closing scene we are drawn in by his determination to get over the stutter. But, of course, along the way he faces several obstacles that make things worse for him and make the movie that much more emotional. Some of the obstacles George VI faces are from his own family, including his father and older brother, who either force him to say things or even make fun of him. But, by the end we are given a very nice and relaxing closure that will more than likely move you tears.
    This film is a character drama and a good one because the development of George VI is done wonderfully. Colin Firth, who won Best Actor, plays George VI in this film and from the minute he steps in front of the camera we know that he was the right man for the part. He takes over the role so well and we can feel it because of his reactions. He delivers well to show us the horrible situations that George VI was in, and nothing is worse than being shy of public speaking and having a stutter. As you watch the film you grow to love his character and feel sorry for him, you hope it ends very well because if it doesn't you will feel extremely sad for the man. Colin Firth does a wonderful job to make us like, and feel for, George VI.
    But, the movie would not be complete without Lionel Logue who helps George VI with his stutter. He is played by Geoffrey Rush who also gives us a wonderful performance and becomes another character that we grow to love. We grow to love him as well because of his passion he has to help George VI get over his stutter, even if he goes too far at times to help him you understand why. We get a lot of screen time with Firth and Rush and they work together wonderfully because they have great chemistry. We really watch the movie for these two actors.
    However, it would not be the movie it is without Tom Hooper's direction, which is wonderful as well. He gives us a movie that we can't help but love because of the way he brought it to us, slowly, that is, and builds it up to a great emotional drama with a 'smile on your face' ending. Not to mention the editing, music, costumes, and production design, which are all superb and also help make this the best movie of 2010. Now, I didn't like this movie because I myself have a stutter, and I know how George VI felt in many of the scenes, I liked this movie because it was done in such a realistic and emotional way. If you haven't seen it yet go rent it and watch it, then think about it, you will not regret it.              4/4 Stars.           

Movie of the Week: Face/Off

   

 

    Movie of the Week (4/14/13-4/20/13): Going undercover as a police officer usually means you change your name, clothes, and how you act. You usually don't have surgery to make you look completely different or look like somebody else. Well this is what happens in Face/Off when Sean Archer chooses to go undercover as Castor Troy, his archenemy for personal reasons, to uncover plans of a bomb threat in Los Angeles.
    This film stars John Travolta and Nicolas Cage as Sean Archer and Castor Troy respectively, well sort of. Both of them do a great job in this because it takes a lot to take on a role this complicated since they switch characters a little while into the movie. They both play two different characters essentially and it turns out to be an entertaining movie. There is also Joan Allen who plays Eve Archer, Sean's wife, who eventually gets stuck in the middle of it and is used in a very good way in the film. The rest of the cast is virtually unknown, but they all still give us very good performances.
    When we see a movie like this we don't go into it looking for Oscar winning performances, I mean it is a movie directed by John Woo. John Woo is a director with a certain style and that style is to blow everything up on screen with some awesome slow motion shootouts and fight scenes. All of those aspects are good if they are used just right, not to make a movie that will win you Oscars, but a movie that will entertain the audience just enough that they don't get too much. This is what John Woo did with Face/Off.
    The amount of explosions and well choreographed fight scenes are mixed in very well with some drama, which centers around the lives of the two main characters. However, when there are the trade marked John Woo fight, chase, and explosion scenes, they are very exciting to watch. From the opening credits to the end credits our attention is drawn to the screen because of the edge of your seat scenes and there are many of them. From the beginning to the climax, which has to be one of the longest on film, we are given a shootout in an airport hanger, a riot in a prison, a shootout in a penthouse, a shootout in a church, a very intense boat chase, and the final confrontation fight. That might sound like a lot, but it is evenly spaced out with the film's 138 minute running time.
    As I said this is a movie driven by John Woo's action scenes and Travolta and Cage. But, there is plenty of good story and drama to go around here too. We are given plenty of back story on both the main characters and their pasts, done through other characters or by Cage and Travolta themselves and in very moving ways honestly. When you do an action movie in general it is hard to get it done right because if there is over the top action it can make the movie dull, this has plenty of intense action scenes, but nothing that would seem over top, although some could probably argue that. Nevertheless John Woo gave us one of the most fun action movies of the 1990's with Face/Off and he did it correctly with the right amount of drama and action. 3.5/4 Stars.    
        

Movie of the Week: True Grit (1969)

   

 

    Movie of the Week (4/7/13-4/13/13): At the 1970 Academy Awards John Wayne won his first, and only, Oscar for his portrayal as Rooster Cogburn in the Western classic True Grit. The film focuses on a U.S. Marshal hired by a girl to hunt down the man who killed her father, but the man has teamed up with a band of outlaws that Cogburn has been chasing for a while. So, they go out in Indian Territory looking for the men as a team, along with the help of somebody else.
    Now, this is not the best Western of all time and in all honesty it is hard to pick one because there are so many good ones. But, John Wayne has starred in many of those good ones himself and even though he was only nominated for one Oscar in all the Westerns he did, this was the one to be nominated for. John Wayne gives us a great performance and this one may not be his best, but it is the one that the Academy recognized him in. He plays a rude, drunk, and self-centered Marshal and does a great job because he embraced this role more than his others and you can see it because his character develops a lot by the end. He begins to care for the young girl in a way that he didn't in the beginning.
    Yes, we have John Wayne in a great performance here, but we also have a few other actors that were just getting started when they starred in this film. There is Glen Campbell, Robert Duvall, and Dennis Hopper. Glen Campbell gives a good, not great, performance as a Texas Ranger named La Boeuf who tags along with Cogburn and the girl because he wants the man they are chasing, Tom Chaney, for other reasons. Robert Duvall plays Ned Pepper, who Cogburn is really after, and plays the part well by looking rugged and as a man who will not give up, an entertaining role to see Duvall in. Then we have Dennis Hopper, who plays a man simply named Moon, and he is only in one scene, but it was a good and intense scene, which Hopper also does a good job in.
    Finally, we have Kim Darby as Mattie Ross, the girl who hires Cogburn. Darby probably gives us the worst performance in the movie. She is suppose to be a girl in charge and won't take 'no' for an answer. She does those things quite well at times, but as we sit and watch the movie we begin to grow tired of her complaining and whining because we just simply don't believe it. She was young at the time and that can contribute to bad acting. Even though she is probably the worst part of the movie there is enough help from the other actors and aspects of the film that make this a good film.
    The movie is beautiful to look at, of course most Westerns are, because of the brilliant cinematography, and for 1969 it was very good. We have a great score here to accompany the traveling scenes and breathtaking climax near the end. While watching a Western we all wait for the shootout to occur, well when it occurs in this movie it occurs on horseback in a valley. It might be a short climax, but it is exciting to watch with the score, great camera angles, and John Wayne holding the horses reins in his mouth as he is firing his pistols. This Western might not be John Wayne's best, I could name a few others, but it is one where we are captivated by his character that is brought out best in the climax. 3.5/4 Stars.
            

Movie of the Week: The Passion of the Christ

   

 

    Movie of the Week (3/31/13-4/6/13): Today is Easter and we all know the meaning of this holiday because it has been told to us throughout our lives and have seen it on film. There are many films that have been about or have been centered around this moment in history. But, the one that describes and shows it in the most graphic of detail is The Passion of the Christ from writer and director Mel Gibson. However, this film is not a biography like many other films about Jesus are, it is about the last twelve hours of his life, but it is not told in chronological order.
    From the opening scene we are really hooked into this powerful drama as Jesus is tempted by Satan in a scene titled "Agony in the Garden." In this opening sequence, which spans the first fifteen minutes, Jesus prays, is tempted, betrayed, and then arrested. With this much drama going on in the opening minutes it is really hard not to turn away.
    The telling of this well known story is done by virtually unknown actors. The only known actors are Jim Caviezel as Jesus and Monica Bellucci who plays Magdalen. The rest of the cast is unknown to most people, but that does not mean that the acting is not good. Caviezel gives a wonderful performance as he was forced to show so much emotion in his role, during the torture scenes, and does it very well. Monica Bellucci also gives us a fine performance as she also expresses an unbelievable amount of sadness. Just because I only mention these two actors does not mean that the rest of the cast did not do a great job because they did. This is a movie full of great performances from many small roles that makes the movie that much more powerful to watch.
    Although this story is well known it did have to be written into a screenplay. Mel Gibson and Benedict Fitzgerald wrote a great screenplay that converses well with all the Gospels. They mix up a few a things from each of the Gospels and put it into one movie and it really mixes well together, although some historians criticized it for being inaccurate. Gibson himself also directed this picture and another great job he did.   
    Gibson depicts the crucifixion of Jesus in a very graphic manner, so graphic in fact that many viewers cannot watch the film, although it does have a re-cut version out it is still rated R. But he chose to depict it this way to show as much detail as he possibly could, to show the real amount of pain that Jesus went through. Back in that time there were a few different ways of crucifixion and Jesus got the worse kind and it was very common then too. Along with making the film very bloody and graphic, Gibson also chose to shoot the film in Latin and Aramaic dialects with English subtitles, which gives the film more realism I believe. So, you have to read a lot during the movie.
    The score of the film, by John Debney, is also very powerful in many ways and is used very well throughout the film whether it be times when it does need music or times when it does not. It is used wonderfully at the end I might add. Simply put, this film is a great film, although number one on the list of the most controversial movies of all time. We see the crucifixion of Jesus in graphic detail with flashbacks of scenes like when Jesus was a young boy, the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaching the Twelve Apostles, and the Last Supper. All of which are mixed in well and fit the timing when we see them well. This is a very well done, beautifully shot, scored, written, directed, and emotional film with a very powerful ending that well not be forgotten anytime soon. 3.5/4 Stars.        

Movie of the Week: A Few Good Men

  
    Movie of the Week (3/24/13-3/30/13): There are many courtroom dramas out there and many of them have been nominated for multiple Oscars. The thing about these courtroom dramas is that they have to be dialog driven, be able to create tension with not much camera movement, have a good director, and have great actors that display a lot of emotion and are capable of doing it. A Few Good Men has all of those aspects, which makes it one of the best movies of 1992.
    As I said, these movies need to be written very well and have great dialog. Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, who got snubbed for Best Adapted Screenplay, wrote a wonderful script that creates so much tension at times, your hands are sweating. The courtroom scenes are obviously the best because that is all they do is talk and the dialog switches back and forth between each character so well that it is hard not to get bored. The thing that makes this movie special are the monologues that were written for the characters, they are so powerful and expressed with so much emotion that you want to go back and watch them again as soon as you finish them.
    But, without the proper director those scenes would probably turn out much different. Rob Reiner helps put Sorkin's screenplay on film. As I said, to make a good courtroom drama you need to be able to create a lot of tension with very little camera movement. Reiner does this in more of an old fashion way in that he uses multiple cameras and switches back and forth between characters when they speak with no special angles, just the classic straight shots. He also uses one camera with wide shots or the camera follows the characters around the room in several spots for a short time, he then zooms in slowly during the monologues, which creates the best tension in the film. There is not much camera movement and that is what creates the tension in the scenes.
    But, what is tension in scenes without great actors and actresses to create it for you. This film has an outstanding cast, there is Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore, Kevin Bacon, Kiefer Sutherland, and I could go on and on. Tom Cruise does a fantastic job as a cocky Navy lawyer defending two privates who are accused of murder, but claim they followed orders. Demi Moore as another lawyer representing one of the privates being accused. Kevin Bacon plays a Marine on the other side of the courtroom trying to convict the privates and Kiefer Sutherland as a Marine put on the stand to testify whether or not he was responsible for what happened.
    But, the best role in the movie would have to be Jack Nicholson as Colonel Nathan Jessup. We already know that Nicholson is a great actor, but he took over the movie, with the few scenes he is in, whenever he was on screen. The amount of anger and emotion he displays when delivering his monologues and his now famous line, "You can't handle the truth," is just simply mind-boggling. With the power of wonderful acting, especially Jack Nicholson, Aaron Sorkin's amazing screenplay with fantastic monologues, and Rob Riener's direction this is one drama that will not be forgotten any time soon. 4/4 Stars.        

Review: Olympus Has Fallen

   
    Going into this I really didn't know what to expect. Was it going to be cheesy beyond all belief? Was the CGI going to be very dual? Was it going to just be a hostage situation with no plan and be up to one guy to save them all? Well, yes and no. Olympus Has Fallen  has a fairly simple premise, North Korean terrorist plan an attack on the White House that is successful and they take the President and some of his staff hostage. Why you ask? Well is not for money, one of the first times that has happened, but for a much bigger and logical reason, for the U.S. the stay out of Korea. But of course I don't want to spoil anything so you'll have to go see it if you want the rest of the details, which are good and reasonable ones.
    The cast in this action packed thriller is great. We have Gerard Butler, finally getting back into the action genre, Aaron Eckhart, Dylan McDermott, Melissa Leo, and Morgan Freeman. Gerard Butler plays the hero Secret Service agent left alone in the White House, and it is up to him to stop the terrorists. Aaron Eckhart plays President Asher taken hostage along with his staff. Dylan McDermott plays a fellow Secret Service agent with a twist and Melissa Leo as Secretary of Defense Ruth McMillan. Since the President and Vice President are being held hostage the Speaker of the House is the acting President, and who better than Morgan Freeman to take control.
    This great cast really does a great job especially Gerard Butler, who needed a career booster. Aaron Eckhart is hard to picture as President, but really delivers well even if some of his speeches are a little cliched. McDermott's character is developed a little fast, but he is able revive it with some good scenes where his anger is shown or trying to hide something. This is not Melissa Leo's best performance, I mean it is hard to beat The Fighter, but I liked what she did with her character in very crucial scenes that are important to the plot by displaying a good amount of anger. Finally, Morgan Freeman is, well, Morgan Freeman, once he is called to take control of America that is what he does, he takes control of most of the dialog throughout the movie with great fashion.
    From the beginning to end it really is almost nonstop action, although we do get some time to be introduce to characters, which doesn't take long, so the pacing is not hurt too bad. The attack scene on D.C. and the White House is probably the best part of the film because, even though you know it is coming, it is shocking to see and it is done well. The writers wrote a very good attack plan that is edge of your seat action with an attack from the air and disguised terrorist on the ground. Most of the CGI work in the movie was in the attack scene and it was not disappointing. It was just enough to make it feel real along with enough real explosions that were not CGI, a very good mix of the two.
    After the attack scene the rest of the movie takes place inside the White House, which is where Gerard Butler takes over. During those scenes, thanks to director Antoine Fuqua who helped give us a great performance from Butler, we are put through a lot of exciting fight scenes that Gerard controls. It is dark throughout the movie because it is at night, which did make some scenes hard to see, but it was that effect that made it feel more real and enough lighting to tell what exactly was going on. The editing was also very good during the attack scene and the very fast paced fight scenes, which helped the movie a lot.
    However, the score is not the best, mainly during the fight scenes though, because it does not give the movie anymore power to it, except for some deep and fast drums during the attack scene, which does help it out. This is not the most original movie because it is, in the end, essentially Die Hard in the White House, but as I said earlier it is not about money, it is about something more. With a great performance from Gerard Butler, although his Scottish accent slips out a few times, this is a very good action film and will, for the most part, not leave you disappointed. 3/4 Stars.