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"41"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2319739/

It's an Australian time travel movie called "41". It's made on a shoe string budget and feels like the actors are on first day of drama school. BUT the plot is actually quite clever. I'd recommend it to those who like time travel movies, if you can get past the acting.





The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)




Deepwater Horizon 2016

Based on the true story of the 2010 oil spill, the largest in American history, this was a gripping film throughout with stand out performances from Kate Hudson and John Malkovich, not sure how much of it was exaggerated to suit the Hollywood audience but a very moving tribute at the end to those that lost their life at the rig that day.

4/5



Burnt (2015)

Very good movie about a once-great chef who basically sabotaged his own career and messed up a few lives along the way. Bradley Cooper plays the chef who is intent on making a comeback, but grates on everyone along the way with his temper and demand of excellence. You might not think a movie about a fallen chef mounting a comeback is material for a good movie, but it is. Cooper is excellent as the man who has to learn to fight his inner demons and to work with others instead of running it all. Of course there are roadblocks along the way, and even though his character acts like a jerk for most of the way, you end up rooting for him. Sienna Miller co-stars as a chef that Cooper hires to help him, but of course he soon treats her like garbage. Daniel Brühl is very good as the owner of the restaurant that Cooper sets up shop in. Emma Thompson has a somewhat small part as shrink that helps Cooper. Uma Thurman has a very small part as a restaurant critic. And the beautiful Alicia Vikander shows up as Cooper's ex-love. Don't be put off by my description of Cooper's character...like any good jerk, he learns the error of his ways. And don't watch this movie before dinner as you might end up going out to eat before you're even through with the movie.





Love the Coopers (2015)

I'd heard nothing but bad things about this movie, yet I found it to be pretty good. I stuck with it all the way and entertained. A star-studded cast fills this movie about a family getting together at Christmas, and of course dysfunction rules the season. This stars Diane Keaton, John Goodman, Alan Arkin, Amanda Seyfried, Olivia Wilde, Ed Helms, Marisa Tomei, and Anthony Mackie. Plus, the, ahem, voice of Steve Martin. It's pretty good dramatic stuff with comedy and romance thrown in, with Wilde co-star Jake Lacy doing fine together and Alan Arkin being his usual great self. Some people may find the last scene at a hospital fairly sappy and I'll cop to that, but the only scene that made me groan was the very last scene involving the family dog. Wait through the credits if you're so inclined and see some short scenes from the middle of the movie that were cut out.



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Christine (4 out of 4)


The fact that Rebecca Hall isn't sweeping awards season right now for her performance is a mystery.
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Recent Viewings (rewatches noted with an *)
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Midnight Special (2016)


Jeff Nichols really can do no wrong at the minute. I've yet to see Loving, which I'll correct soon, but if its anything like the rest of his filmography then stick me down as a fan. Midnight Special has a great case that put in very good performances, especially Shannon. Its well made, emotional and despite it slower pace I was hooked throughout.


This director has a great future alright.


+



Er ist wieder da / Look Who's Back (2015) -


What if Hitler comes back to modern Germany?

So I was in the mood for a laugh tonight after having a rough day and decided to pop this little gem in after seeing the amusing trailer. It wasn't quite what I expected. On the surface, it looked like a quirky comedy akin to Borat, but reaching the end, it took a very dark turn that bordered on disturbing and uncomfortable - not that it's a bad thing, of course.

The parallels with modern day politics in this film is an inevitable subject that's difficult to avoid when talking about this film, regardless of whom you supported in the latest political campaign. At risk of invoking Godwin's Law, I personally find that the Hitler in this film is charismatic and compelling, convincing the people to "make Germany great again". It's an interesting perspective even if you might it an inaccurate and delusional analogy. Would people surely be so foolish as to be swayed by such obvious propaganda? It's a scary thought, but I would hope that people would be wiser than that, and let such pessimism lie in the realm of fiction, entertainment, and Larry Charles mockumentaries.

Regardless of its chilling conclusion, however, the film doesn't take itself too seriously most of the time. There's even an amusing parody of that famous "Downfall" scene, so that should inform you what kind of self-aware humor that's in store for you.




Labyrinth (1986) dir. Jim Henson


A sweet nostalgic trip in a time machine back to the 1980s - those were the days!

I was going to give it 3 stars but I had to take my rating up a notch just to give credit to the sheer amount of creative genius that went into the film and how it all was put together without CGI. The bonus features on the new Blu-ray edition definitely led me to appreciate the movie a lot more than I had expected.



Westworld (1973)




I'm probably one of the only members who hadn't seen either this movie, or some of the TV show. Strangely enough, I enjoyed it more before the robots went crazy. It's a cool concept and a cool movie.



Welcome to the human race...
If they wanted to paint him as an over line extremist, then choose a torture method that doesn't jar me out of the movie by making me ask "what the hell is this." That whole scene was too silly. Even in a galaxy far far away
Maybe that jarring approach is the point. The idea is to show Saw as being the Rebels' answer to Darth Vader - not only does he have physical similarities like artificial limbs and breathing problems, but he has no problem with torturing people for information. What really makes it jarring is how radically his method differs from Vader's - while the Empire has its own array of custom-built torture machines designed for maximum efficiency (that are painful but don't completely break either Leia in ANH or Han in Empire), Saw's use of a tentacle monster that leeches people's brains to the point where they can forget who they are comes across as barbaric thanks to its primitive witch-hunting logic (and amply demonstrates the mindset that the Rebels need to evolve past in order to become the true force of good in the galaxy). What wrecks it for me personally is that it's the second Star Wars movie in a row to feature a tentacle monster, which sucks because at least this one serves a purpose compared to the completely pointless tentacle monster scene from TFA. Every Star Wars movie has to have at least one freakish monster in it, so it's just a shame that they effectively recycled the one from the last movie because instead of going "what the hell is this" (in a good way) I'm just left thinking "another tentacle monster? Really?"

Anyway...

The Verdict -


No snarky one-liner, this is just a good meat-and-potatoes legal drama.
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Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0



Maybe that jarring approach is the point. The idea is to show Saw as being the Rebels' answer to Darth Vader - not only does he have physical similarities like artificial limbs and breathing problems, but he has no problem with torturing people for information. What really makes it jarring is how radically his method differs from Vader's - while the Empire has its own array of custom-built torture machines designed for maximum efficiency (that are painful but don't completely break either Leia in ANH or Han in Empire), Saw's use of a tentacle monster that leeches people's brains to the point where they can forget who they are comes across as barbaric thanks to its primitive witch-hunting logic (and amply demonstrates the mindset that the Rebels need to evolve past in order to become the true force of good in the galaxy). What wrecks it for me personally is that it's the second Star Wars movie in a row to feature a tentacle monster, which sucks because at least this one serves a purpose compared to the completely pointless tentacle monster scene from TFA. Every Star Wars movie has to have at least one freakish monster in it, so it's just a shame that they effectively recycled the one from the last movie because instead of going "what the hell is this" (in a good way) I'm just left thinking "another tentacle monster? Really?"

Anyway...

The Verdict -


No snarky one-liner, this is just a good meat-and-potatoes legal drama.
And had there been a torture machine like in Empire, maybe I would have taken the torture seriously. Instead it was just silly. My exact reaction was why the hell do we have another tentacle monster?



Welcome to the human race...
Yeah, I won't argue that. Like I said, I think I'm more willing to hold the tentacle monster thing against TFA than against Rogue One. The latter actually made it feel necessary (if not that well-executed in the end), whereas the former made it into an unnecessary action beat.



I thought the tentacle monster was stupid too. First off, I didn't find it intimidating or whatever either, but furthermore, I kept hoping or at least thinking it would have a point later on, because the scene - indeed largely because of its execution - felt so unneccessary. When I heard it screwed up people and ruined their minds or whatever, I thought the dude would be effected by it throughout the movie or maybe have it play a role in the finale when he suddenly would turn on his team or something like that. But nope. It was forgotten almost as quickly as it was over and he was totally fine again like 10 minutes later.