Cinemaafficionado's Movie Portraits

Many great reviews! Many films I didn't even know of or was hesitant about. Very helpful!

I need to watch a bunch of these. Lots of interesting titles that might go unrecognized or get forgotten in the shuffle. I love getting recommendations on movies like these that aren't discussed much elsewhere.

Oh, and Cold Fish was great, CA. Thanks. Still need to watch Rainbow Eyes.

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#31 on SC's Top 100 Mofos list!!

Thanks Deadite and Exist. It makes it all worthwhile when shared and enjoyed.

Detachment

We are all born alone and some of us will die alone. Through our brief journey in this sphere we will all carry a loneliness, somewhat diminished by significant others in our lives.
Detachment is a sad but wonderfull movie that brings out this point to the forefront.
The innocence that we are born with should be guided by caring parents and fostered by schools and institutions that also strive to make us be the best possible that we can be. Unfortunately, we live in a world that has lost sight of those goals.
In Detachmnet, Adrian Brody gives a remarkable performance as a caring substitute teacher, that tries to make the best of the little time he has to impact and positively influence the students around him.
Coming from a dysfunctional background himself, he has the necessary empathy to make a difference and when he sees a teenage prostitute on the street, his heart gives out with compassion and he tries to give her a fresh start .
Alas, the road to hell is paved with good intensions and one of his students, mistaking his kindness for somnething else and then dealing with the dissapointment with extreme prejudice - ends her own life.
The movie leaves us with a question and an answer: how much can we really do to change or save someone that is allready damaged and if can only save one life in the process, then we've achieved our goal.This is a vey insitefull movie into the school system: the teacher, student and parent interaction that can make all the difference in the world.
James Caan, Marcia Gay Harden and Lucy Liu all give excellent performances.
More than anything this movie sends a message that the feeling of isolation that permeates our lives does not have to keep going on.


EXCEPTIONAL

Fightville

So you want to be a UFC stud? So you want to wreck someone's dreams under the neon lights? Not so easy, my man.
First you have to pay your dues in smaller, local venues and fight not for the glory and the money but because you were born to do it and maybe it's the only thing you ever did good and felt good about. The God like, spiritual , invincible, primal feeling as you step into the ring, mano a mano, and oblitirate the one standing opposite you, can not be described, unless you've been there.
So, Fightville, a documentary about the small show - USA MMA- out of Louisiana, tries it's best to show you the brutal reality of the MMA world.
It follows a a few fighters, promoter and trainer through their thing and reveals their combat and thinking processes as they engage in the small show.
One the prospects, Dustin " Te Diamond " Poirier, makes it to the UFC and fights at 145 pounds.
So you want to be an MMA fighter. Watch Fightville. You won't regret it.

EXCEPTIONAL

Free Men (2011)

During WWII, France was paritioned into a Nazi collaborating territory (Petain) and German occupied territory.
It was in Marshall Petain's France that the hunt for the Jews was intensified, helped by the local French police.
Amidst this turmoil there were a score of Algerians that had immigrated to France in 1939. They worshiped in a Muslim Mosque from Morocco, that interestingly enough, was responsible for saving Jewish lives by making forged identification papers and helping hide the Jews in the mosque.
One young Algerian, that made his living selling goods on the black market got recruited by the the French police to spy on the mosque.
Over there he meets an extraordinary singer of Arab songs that just happens to be a Jew. The Muslims like him and protect him, irregardless.
The Algerian also takes a liking to him and falls for a girl that's in the French Ressistance movement. All that makes him convert and join the French Ressistance, himself.
This is a very well made Fench movie, directed by Ismael Ferroukhi.
Given the pesent tension between Israel and the Arab world, they could both certainly draw some friendly inspiration from this movie.

Excellent

In Darkness (2011)

During WWII Poland was especially hard hit by the war. First a part of it was occupied by the Russians and then all of it by the Germans, starting end of June 1941.
The population that suffered the most were the Jews. About 3, 000, 000 were killed in Poland alone.
The Poles themselves were Catholic and didn't particularly care for the Jews, which made it easier for the Germans, who organized numerous ghettos and concentration camps on that territoty.
One such ghetto was in the city of Lvov, who at the time the Nazis occupied it had about 160,000 Jews living there.
When the Soviets reoccupied the city in July of 1944, there were less then 300 Jews remaining alive.
In Darkness, focuses on a a dozen Jews, that hid out in the underground severs of Lvov for 14 months, starting from the liqudation of the Lvov ghetto to the Soviet entry in July of 1944.
Not all Poles were Jew haters as was the case of Leopold Socha, who as a black marketeer knew the sewers intimately and wound up hiding, protecting and supplying the dozen or so Jews that escaped the ghetto.
At first, it was strictly for the money ( although he did use most of it for their food ) but later, his human compassion kicked in when he realized that Jesus was a Jew.
This is a remarkable movie about the tenacity of the human spirit and the will to survive under any circumstances. It is also a movie about courage, hope and compassion.
In 2012, it was nominated for Best Foreign Film (Poland) at the Oscars.
This movie was directed by Agniezska Holland best known for her wonderfull movie Europa Europa (1990).

Excellent

That sounds really good. Definitely gonna try to see it.

Also Detachment. I really could watch Adrien Brody in just about anything.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

It's not over till it's over.
A bunch of British senior citizens wind up going to India to stay at what they think is a very affordable but exclusive retirement home.
When they get there, each in their own way, try to make adustments with the reality of the situation: a run down old hotel, surrounded by squalor and noise and run by an inept but idealistic and likeable young Indian man.
The positive among the bunch find light and color in their new beginning and the pessimist and negative find only the reasons for a quick return to the comfort and emptyness of what they know.
This movie sheds some light on the Indian cast system as it takes us on a journey of discovery as seen through the eyes of various characters.
Bill Nigthy shines as the thouroughly henpecked husband, Douglas, of the bitter and always critical, scolding Jean, viciousy portrayed by Penelope Wilton. Dames Judy Dench and Maggie Smith deliver their usual solid performances as do Tom Wilkinson and Ronald Pickup.
This is a delightful movie about hope and inspiration and the fact that there is always light at the end of the tunnel.

Excellent

Good review on Detachment, I found that one very melancholy and interesting.

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Transit (2012 )

A rip-roaring, take-no-prisoner, chase through the Louisianna swamps.
As far as action goes, it's very well done and non stop and that's the way I like it.
The problem is the story line.
Nowadays anyone can be a super hero, as it turns out for a meek suburban family ( miraculously transformed into special ops ), who take on three cut throat desperadoes and a damsel, after they rob a bank and use them to transport the loot.
Never mind the plot holes, just relax and enjoy the well-shot action.

Enjoyable

Act Of Valor

Not your Mission Impossible fantasy, the Navy Seals show you what it takes to execute a mission.
The planning, timing, resourses, the courage and conviction are all there to see, appreciate and discourage all those foolish enough to oppose us.

EXCELLENT

Noticed this title on cable a few days ago but passed it by because I never heard of it. Going to watch it this week after seeing it on your list.

Bedevilled (2010 )

In 2004, Korean director Chul Soo Jang apprenticed as assistant director to Ki-Duk Kim ( who went on to make The Isle, " Spring, Summer Fall, Winter....And Spring", 3-Iron ) in the making of Samaritan Girl.
He learned well from his mentor and in 2010 directed his first feature Bedevilled, an instant success.
Part psychological drama, part horror story, the movie starts following the cold urban life of Hae-won, a bank employee in Seul.
Stressed out, she is forced to take a vacation and meet up with her childhood friend, Bok-nam, on a remote island.
The two women had remained in touch, mostly at Bok-nam's urging, and Hae-won finally used the opportunity to get some needed rest.
As the story unfolds, it is clear that Karma is at work here.
The two had parted after Bok-nam got gang raped by a bunch of boys, defending Hae-won.
Now, some twelve years later, Bok-nam and her daughter are living with a man and his brother and suffer inhumane cruelty.
Bok-nam is beaten daily by her husband and raped by her husband's brother. She is treated like a slave by the rest of the island people, who are mostly of her husband's clan, older females led by an all powerfull matriarch.
After years of unquestioned abuse, Bok-nam finally snaps when she finds out that her daughter is being molested by her husband.
Hae-won is there to witness the ensuing carnage.
This movie is masterfully directed, with plots and sub-plots, and with a typical Korean twisted and tragic ending.
It's a must see for horror enthusiasts.
I don't know why, but Koreans seldom take prisoners.

Excellent

I thought this movie was great, even though it wasn't exactly subtle and the acting wasn't always the best. Really kickbutt military action movie.

Haywire (2011)

Just watched Haywire and was surprised by the number of good actors in supporting roles.
Although the plot was somewhat convoluted, the action was good and I was impressed with Gina Carano's stunts and fight choreorgraphy.
She's really made a good transition from boxing to movies and if I was to guess who the next super female action heroine will be, she has my vote.

Enjoyable

The Edge (2010)

In 1945, when Russian prisoners of war came back from Germay, they weren't treated too kindly by Stalin, who believed that they had collaborated with and been contaminated by their captors. He believed that they posed a threat to Soviet Russia, so he sent most of them to camps in Siberia.
This movie's story deals with one such camp asnd the unexpected things that happen with the arrival of a new train conductor, a war hero who got punished for wrecking his train.
He is a complex individual, still haunted by the war and in one of his trips away from camp he stumbles on a German girl that had managed to survive four years in tha Taiga all by herself.
The cinematography is excellent and the movie an acurate portrayel of an era. Very interesting to watch.

Excellent

Invisible Target (2007)

Right off the bat, the action in this Chinese movie jumps at you. Some really cool villians take the city by storm spectacularly robbing an armored truck in the midst of a busy daylight shopping cowd.
Unfortunately for them, the fiancee of a police detective is collaterall damage and what ensues is a riveting cat and mouse with some great action and fight choreography, when that detective teams up with another hard nosed one. Along the way, a likeable, earnest rookie joins them, as it appears that his brother, a long missing detective, is envolved in the robbery.
This is one of those Chinese flicks that is worth it's action in gold.

Excellent

Savages (2012 )

I remember when Oliver Stone made Natural Born Killers, Quentin Tarantino felt real bad and felt that he should have been the one to make that movie. Well Quentin, you are probably going to wish that you made Savages.
Call me crazy but this movie will go into my most remembered movie list.
I just saw it, so I have to give it some time.
The storyline, the cinematography, the action and most of the acting and directing all came together to make a very relevant portrait of today's drug wars.
Ben and John are young enterprenuers growing the best pot south of Afghanistan. They are best friends in love with the same woman who also is in love with both of them and they all live together in Laguna Beach in an almost idylic setting. Ben's a modern throwback to the hippies and John is a warrior, coming off two tours in Iraq and Afghanistan an bringing back the seeds to start their empire. They are high tech and have developed the best strain of marijuana and they have the computer experts to run their operation as well as the ex-military buddies to back it up.
Right out recent headlines, comes La Madrina ( played to the hilt by Selma Hayek) . She is in charge of The Baja Cartel and wants a piece of the action. Her underboss, beautifuly vicious Benicio Del Toro is very convincing as a sadistic psycopath. Thrown into the frey is a corrupt DEA agent that his has hands in both pies, sleasily portrayed by John Travolta.
What makes this movie excellent but not great is the casting of the three main characters. Beautiful savages but rookie actors. Had those rolles been given to some of our accomplshed younger actors, this movie could have rivaled Scarface and become a cult film.
Nevertheless, props to Oliver stone for his cohesive and wonderfull directing.
I love this movie and find it EXCELLENT.