Quick Takes by Des

1922 2017
★★★★ Watched 28 Oct, 2017
This review may contain spoilers.
A different Thomas Jane.
His effected speech pattern, a combo between Brad Pitt's Kalifornia and Brandos' Godfather is one of perception, either great or hockey.
He does do a great character portrayal, as the conflicted husband, who murders his wife.
The movie has an authentic look, reflecting the times.
The original sin morphs into massive bad Karma.
At times slow, the movie succeeds in placing you into the mind of an uneducated killer, an everyman toiling the land in difficult times.
Neil McDonough has a few scene stealing moments, as the next door neighbor and the rest of the cast does this movie justice.

I hadn't heard of that but your review has grabbed my interest.

I caught a bit of that at a friend’s house. That was Leftovers levels of misery piled on.

Cold Summer of 1953 1988 ★★★★
Watched Sep 19, 2017

To really understand this movie it would help if one knew a bit about Russian history.
Gorbachev came to power in 1985 and so the Russians became more free to express themselves and talk about their history.
During WW II Stalin gave the order no retreat, no surrender but many Russian soldiers got wounded and got caught by the Germans.
After the war, when they returned from POW camps, they were treated like enemies of the state and were sent to Siberia and other remote places as political exiles.
The hero of this movie had the misfortune of being a Captain of a unit that all died. Even though he joined another unit, he was still deemed an enemy of the state and forced into political exile after the war.
The criminals that attacked that village had all been amnestied by Lavrentiy Beria, who was next in line after Stalin's death. They were not political exiles but were hardened criminals doing time. Because Beria himself was a psychopath and a criminal, Nikita Khrushchev with the aid of Marshall Zhukov was able to topple him and assume power.
This movie perfectly reflects those*times.

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The Wasted Times 2016 ★★★★★
Watched Aug 01, 2017

This movie is a meticulous work of art.
Like a fine Swiss watch it portrays three different Shanghai eras,
linked by an unscrupulous Chines crime lord and his allegiant activities with the Japanese.
In the process, no family member is spared.
A fine fusion of crime, war and romance, makes this gem a must*see.

Wolf Warrior 2 2017 ★★★★★
Watched Oct 30, 2017

Wu Jing is Jackie Chen on pcp.
Frank Grillo is all over the place.
This movie can easily be the formula for future action thrillers.
It has all the right ingredients:
an evolving story line
war special effects galore
mixed martial arts combat scenes up the ying yang
non stop tempo
great choreography and editing
multi dimensional cinematography
a plethora of likeable characters, including kids
some bad ass villains
and a director who has figured out how to take action to the next*level.

Ali and Nino 2016 ★★★★★
Watched Oct 31, 2017

A beautifully crafted movie about Azerbaijan during and post WW I.
A Muslim and a Christian, from prominent families, fall in love and, against their parents' wishes, get married.
Their union is tested by two wars as is his choice for undying love for his woman and the need for martyrdom.
The cinematography is superb in depicting a by gone era and the culture that defined it.

I saw this the other night. I was happy about the NYC accent. Not enough movies now with tough guys who are funny like that. New York is right around the corner from me, so it's always nice to see that kind of carrying on in a movie. This was a damn good movie. Thanks for the review.

Glad you liked it, Joel.

Wind River 2017 ★★★★★
Watched Nov 01, 2017

Loved this movie.
In the cold atmospheric north comes a female FBI agent who teams up with a hunter to solve the murder of a local Indian girl.
The cinematography is beautiful as the story unfolds and climaxes in unforgettable violence.
This just might be the sleeper of the*year.

Atomic Blonde 2017 ★★★★★
Watched Nov 02, 2017

Wow! Spy game on thorazine.
Charlize Theron is one of the world's most beautiful women.
Sean Penn, you dummy, what were you thinking?
Charlize can be a Monster ( Aileen Wudros ) or basically anything she wants to be.
In this movie, she is a stone cold lesbian assassin that fools us all.
The action and the plot twists are some thing else and Chalize so very convincingly wreaks havoc on those that probably deserve it.
Looking at that cool, calm and collected beautiful face, as she squeezes the trigger, sends an almost euphoric message to her audience.
I will drink to*that!

Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden 2012 ★★★★★
Watched Jan 05, 2017

The movie that brought to light Operation Geronimo.
A very human and detailed account of the of the whole mission
process that ended in the killing of Osama Bin Laden.
The whole story was painstakingly recreated, from the start of courier information, through the months long process of verification and planning by CIA, to the end and summary execution of Seal Team 6.
A moment in history*illuminated.

Zero Dark Thirty 2012 ★★★★★
Watched Mar 08, 2017

I can't do a review of Seal Team 6 and omit Zero Dark Thirty,
a film about the same subject that is much more rich in scope and detail,
and looks at every nook and cranny in relation to the hunt for Osama Bin Laden,
Kathryn Bigelow did her research, even to the point of a very frank portrayal of the use of torture in gaining relevant information.
This film may be polarizing but on it's own film making merit, it is*exceptional.

Get Out 2017 ★★★★★
Watched Sep 14, 2017

After watching this movie, I probably won't be flying for a while. Who knows what the TSA might find out about me? I will also stop having sex. When I think of some strange women I have encountered, it's a minor miracle that I had not become an involuntary organ donor nor, God forbid, been used as a sex*slave.

Baby Driver 2017 ★★★★★
Watched Sep 14, 2017

A very cool and fun action thriller that easily rivals The Driver and The Fast And The Furious. I can see Ansel Ergot developing the same fan base as did Wentworth Miller from Prison*Break.

68 Kill 2017 ★★★½
Watched Sep 14, 2017

First off, any one that named their daughter AnnaLynne must have been watching too many porn movies. The director of this violent neo noir apparently watched a lot of Rob Zombie. Rob, however takes his mayhem seriously. The tongue in cheek gore in 68 kill does not quite have the same effect. It's kind of Bollywood, where they murder some one and then immediately break out into song and dance. I just don't buy it, even though I was somewhat*entertained.

Fences 2016 ★★★★★
Watched Oct 01, 2017

Great acting and a well made character study.
This family drama portrays a man who has wasted his life
potential, a could have been baseball great.
He is consumed by this fact and it has become a part of his being.
Under the surface, there is a pent up rage, just waiting to explode.
I consider this Denzel Washington's greatest piece of acting, so far.
Viola Davis is an excellent loyal and understanding companion to this man and her performance is quite exceptional, as well.
The two together create a movie moment that will be remembered.

Magic in the Moonlight 2014 ★★★★
Watched Nov 07, 2017

Woody Allen is an imaginative, witty and observant individual and I am a big fan of his movies.
This movie deals with a renown skeptic's quest to find some real meaning in his life.
The way he goes about it, most would find perplexing.
He has been known to debunk many a psychic, having himself been a successful magician.
Having heard a fellow magician friend highly praise an unknown American psychic, this Brit sets out to prove her a fake.
In spite of his initial instinct, he starts falling for*her.

On Wings of Eagles 2017 ★★★★★
Watched Nov 08, 2017

The greatest gift of all is the gift of hope.
Thus was the life of Scotland's greatest athlete, runner Eric Liddell.
To serve others before yourself, is a higher calling, which Eric embraced
and as a missionary wound up in China, the original place of his birth.
Eric was in China, when it got invaded by Japan, and was placed in an interment camp for foreigners.
His strong spirit, humor and willingness to help others, especially children, gave hope to all those that were there.
A tribute to this great man was given in the movie Chariots Of Fire.
On Wings Of Eagles deals mostly with his missionary work in China and the tribulations during Japanese occupation.
Joseph Fiennes gives an enduring portrait of the man who helped and gave hope to so many*others.

Gangnam Blues 2015 ★★★★★
Rewatched Nov 09, 2017

I rarely watch a movie twice.
I started watching it as Gangnam 1970 and then realized I had seen it before.
I liked the story so I watched it again.
Crime meets politics or vice versa.
Two teen age orphans struggle to survive and live as ragmen on the streets, finding shelter wherever they can.
Finally they find an abandoned house to shelter from the rain, when they are woken up by a wrecking crew, as it demolished the house they were in.
The crew was protected by a gang, who the boys started fighting with.
Their skills became known to the leader and thus they embarked on a different life, but one that took them to a level of under bosses in two rival clans.
They became tools in the hands of skilled politicians that controlled these criminal gangs, and in the process the boys, now young men, somewhere along the line lost their brotherhood, one in a quest for money and the other, in a quest for land.
The former ragmen where on their way to becoming the street dogs that they once were.
There is a lesson in all this but you will have to watch the movie to find it for yourselves.
I loved the movie. I rate it one of the best Korean crime movies I have seen.