From now on I have my own review thread. My name is mattiasflgrtll6!

→ in
Tools    





Once again you get to the meat of the matter, and this time it's your terrific review of About Schmidt. You've nailed it exactly when you talk about Jack's sensitivity to the part, and his gifted acting in this movie. I saw this in the theatre when it came out, and again at home on one of the movie channels, and enjoyed the movie both times. I think I am sort of drawn to these type of movies: where the character seems so real that it's as if the actor isn't acting at all, where the plot is character driven and not ostentatious, and where there's a thoughtful underpinning to the entire enterprise.

Jack surprises his audience, as you inferred, by playing a sort of washed up middle class, middle American Everyman - who teeters on the verge of discovering he's just a nobody. To his wife, daughter, all his efforts to live a meaningful life seem to be a sham or in vain. And what a simple, yet beautiful, concept it is to discover his redemption is in reaching out to another lost soul-in this case; the boy overseas,

You know I've said it before but I'll say it again; whenever you review a movie I've enjoyed but hadn't seen in a while - you make me want to see it again. You meld a keen insight with an easy conversational tone that makes the whole cinematic experience come alive again.

Sorry I 'm late with my 'review of your review ' ( and I catch heck for this tardiness on another thread. lol ) but been busy a lot lately and don't get to every thread right away. Also summer is my time to be out and about! But you can bet that on the next rainy day, when I have to stay indoors, I'll be rewatching About Schmidt.



Utøya 22. juli



I was afraid to see this movie. But it's one of those cases where I felt I HAD to. I was inevitably drawn to it. I thought there was a risk of it being a little exploitive. But I looked at the cast list, and an actor cast as Breivik was nowhere to be found.

And as soon as you watch the movie, it makes perfect sense. Many of the campers didn't have a chance of seeing who the shooter was, and if they did they were most likely doomed. It makes the situation extremely scary, as there is no visible presentation of the threat. Just shots firing from a gun, with one person after the other getting hit...

I'm sorry, I'm getting too emotional. But it's really hard not to. I felt all the fear, all the dirt and sand and the uncertainty over whether someone was going to make it out alive or not. The fact that it's impossible to know the fate of any of the victims beforehand is particularly horrifying. There are no easy hiding places, not a spot where you can feel completely safe and sound.

It feels weird to point out the acting in a way, since never at any point in the movie did I notice I was watching people acting. But I still have to give props to the especially brilliant performance of Andrea Berntzen as Kaja. Even though her mission to find her sister is extremely dangerous, you understand it from her angle why she would do it. You can sense every heartbeat and emotion that she goes through as she finds herself witnessing things that once you've seen it, it's stuck in your mind forever.

I was bawling my eyes red at the end of it. It's unbelievable that such a tragedy struck a country like Norway, at a nice and homely island, the place where you would least expect something like this to ever occur.

Yes, it's "just" a movie. But this is the closest you will possibly come to experiencing a tragedy at an isolated resort. As horrible as watching it play out in great detail was, be as grateful as you can it never happened to you. And to all the brave people who survived, stay strong and live your lives as happily as you can.

Never heard of it before, added to my watchlist



mattiasflgrtll6's Avatar
The truth is in here
Rated X



Jim Mitchell has a tough childhood. If he's not getting beaten by the principal in school, he's getting beat by his father at home. But through it all, his brother Artie always sticks to him. As he enters film school, he develops his passion for movies. But when presenting his documentary-type of short, his teacher objects to the gratuitous content. "There's nothing artistic about it, it's just smut". Instead of discouraging him however, it gives Jim an idea: making his own pornographical films! Artie is skeptical, but gets convinced to help out. And so begins the tale of the most famous porn directing duo in history...

Directed by and starring Emilio Estevez, along with Charlie Sheen. It's a fascinating story. It presents the industry pretty neutrally, which I thought was a wise move. It's not a morality tale, it doesn't pick any sides one way or the other. Mostly it's about the relationship between these two brothers, and how working so closely can bring two people closer just as much as it can tear them apart. Estevez' portrayal is sympathetic. He shows every side of his character with seamless conviction. He shows a man who had a dream. Not everyone's dream, but his dream. His frustration in having to put with his brother's antics is very authentic, and seeing as how he and Charlie in real life couldn't get along sometimes, it feels very personal. Charlie Sheen shows all the sides of his character flawlessly. As he spirals out of control more and more, we are concerned in the way of seeing a close friend throwing their personal well-being out the window. And he even gets scary sometimes, showing flashes of his performance in Under Pressure. Sheen shows a lot of range, where we think he has to be nuts, but also is hard not to feel a bit bad for. Artie could have a normal, well-working life headed out for him, but as soon as fame got to his head, he changed into a completely different person. And even Jim becomes a different person when he's so scared for his family's safety after getting several death threats
WARNING: spoilers below
that he takes a gun and shoots his brother multiple times. I'm told that this is not exactly how it happened. Even so, it stands out as a very powerful and heart-crushing scene. How could their bond have deteroriated this badly?

We also see Nicole De Boer with a very good turn-out as Artie's wife. She is one of the few really pure people, whose marriage with him goes so sour that she has to fear for her life.

Admittedly, the performances are what mainly make the movie. At times it's very slow-moving, especially in the middle. It doesn't grind to a complete halt, but creates a feeling of restlessness, like they didn't know what to fill the scenes out with. Once Jim and Artie are forced to contront their problems (both have a drug addiction, and Artie is emotionally unstable), it really picks the pace up again. And there's also use of slow motion, which is distracting when it's used so many times.

I have to wonder why this was only produced for Showtime. Right now it at best reaches obscure classic status when it deserves much wider recognition. It's not just a movie about how porn became popular. It's strangely enough, a story about family. Didn't expect me to say that with a title like Rated X, did you?




mattiasflgrtll6's Avatar
The truth is in here
Lethal Weapon



Martin Riggs is an unstable man. He lost his wife a long time ago, and is always on the edge no matter who he encounters.
Roger Murtaugh is a family father who has been in the force for many years. He has a relatively tidy life, but feels a bit anguished over turning 50. When a woman jumps out of a window in what looks like a suicide but might be something else, Riggs and Murtaugh have to work with each other. To their dismay.

This is an iconic staple in the buddy cop genre. The chemistry between Mel Gibson and Danny Glover is said to have rarely been replicated as well, and it's easy to see well. Gibson is impressive as the unstable cop and approaches his character with both a darkly humorous and tragic quality that makes him so engaging to watch. The scene where he's so close to really pulling the trigger on himself is both intense and heartwrenching. He doesn't do it, but you can tell he thinks he might as well. Unsurprisingly, he's not the greatest choice trying to talk a suicidal person out of jumping off a building. They both land happily, but could very well have been fatal. Gibson teasing the guy and telling him to jump if he really wants to is disturbingly hilarious, and such is Murtaugh telling Riggs to kill himself if he really wants to die that badly. Murtaugh anger/fear over his unstable partner is very realistically portrayed, yet you can't help but smile when Glover yells in at the opponent, who is equally compelling as the down-to-earth cop who loves his wife and kids, but doesn't like feeling like a dinosaur.

There's not much mystery around who murdered Michael Hunsaker's daughter even if the movie does a good job hiding it, but the journey there is what grabs you. The two cops slowly learning to trust each other chasing down people who are connected to the murder is very fun watch, and even more so the scene where Murtaugh shows Riggs his home and family. I like how Riggs starts to grow on Murtaugh, but is immediately disturbed again when he talks about how killing has been a part of him since he was a child.

The last third is when the action takes a faster tempo, and Gary Busey gets a time to shine as Joshua, the man who had Hunsaker's daughter murdered. With his cold intimidating stare and playful delivery as he tries to keep control of the situation makes him a memorable villain. The final fight scene where he faces Riggs is gritty and intense, where you can feel the two of them trying to bite each other's ears off.
WARNING: spoilers below
I predicted he would stand back up and getting killed for real after Riggie lets him go with the police to arrest him, but the fact that he was shot by *both* partners is what makes it so cool. In trying to overcome each other's differences, they became one and the same. It's pretty odd though how the other cops just stood there and let the fight play out not knowing who will win. Did they think it was so cool they don't care if it went one way or another?


The final part is Riggs coming to his now friend's home with a present getting ready to leave right away, but Murtaugh insisting he stays and endures his wife's bad cooking with him. It's apparently so bad they used the joke thrice.

As a fan of the genre, this is one of the best in its kind. The action, drama and comedy mix together perfectly and makes it a highly satisfying experience. You can never get too old for this shît.




Hello? Anybody there?
I’m here. I was just wondering why anyone would write a 12-paragraph review of GWTW when surely everyone by now has seen this 1939 movie? Personally, I won’t read anything longer than a very short paragraph about a movie. That’s all I need, if that.

Not attacking you. Just wandered in here.
__________________
I’m here only on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. That’s why I’m here now.



mattiasflgrtll6's Avatar
The truth is in here
Because I loved the movie and want to express why? Your job as a reviewer is to give your thoughts on the movie you've seen in a way that engages the readers. In this case, I couldn't possibly have shortened it down. It wouldn't be right, since there are so many fascinating things to talk about in it. It’s like lenslady said, a good reviewer sometimes make you want to see a movie again.
I had never seen it before myself, and there will always be people who haven't seen even the most wellknown classics. Sometimes your love for a movie can even be a reason itself to read a review for it.



mattiasflgrtll6's Avatar
The truth is in here
Stereo



A couple of people at an experimental clinic are daily practicing their mindreading techniques on each other with a bizarre narrator describing all events.

Yep. That's pretty much the best way to sum up David Cronenberg's feature debut. One thing you'll notice at first it's that it's shot in black-and-white, the only one of his films where that's the case (probably so he could afford to make it). The second thing is that there's virtually no sound. You can actually hear a *little* bit of sound if you really turn the volume up, but it's not recommended lest you get the narrator's booming voice blasting at you.
As with most of Cronenberg's work, it's beautifully shot. The superb use of frog perspective, the pans showing the isolated, lonely hall filled with lonely people. The theme of warped psychology would occur in many of his later movies, and is present here as well. The test subjects turn into manic creatures in the name of science, even getting pills so they'll be able to have sex with anyone regardless of their original sexual preference. The story as you can see is erratic, but it nevertheless is intriguing.

The highlights are quite absolutely the people in the experiment going insane, demonstrating man's tendency of deprivating behavior, another Cronenbergian element. And at first, the odd-sounding narrator might be a source of minor amusement.

Despite having a few things going for it however, this is not a flawless movie. The biggest hurdle for many will be the narration, which is so bundled up in technical jargon that it becomes nearly completely impossible to understand at times. If that's supposed to be the joke, it's a little too inside and not quite funny enough. The problem with it as well is that you don't understand the greater purpose of the experiments the scientist (never onscreen) performs on these subjects. Since this is not your usual silent film, which often has music and an easy narrative flow (which this doesn't), you never really get to know the characters, even though you're always following them. You see them laughing and eating, but you have no idea who they really are besides one woman always acting jumpy and another always looking monotone (who gets to narrate a little as well). The change to different narrators is a nice touch, but they all are equally confusing.

I recommend it if you're curious how the master started and want to see the early stages of the themes he would later explore in more eleborate detail. It's interesting enough to stick out with throughout. If you are about to start checking in Cronenberg however, it might be best saved after you've watched some of his more famous work.




mattiasflgrtll6's Avatar
The truth is in here
Stir Crazy


Look at these two faces. Don't you just love them already?

Skip Donahue and Harry Monroe are two life-long friends whose lives aren't going the way they wanted. Skip isn't making a penny on playwriting, and Harry just got fired from his waiter job. But Skip gets what initially sounds like a very good idea: travel to Hollywood and start over! But just as they get a new job, they are framed for armed robbery when two criminals steal their bird costumes. They go to prison, but they are here and they are Bustin' Loos- whoops, wrong movie.

Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor has to be the most brilliant comedy pairing in cinema history. Their energetic yet very different acting styles mesh together fantastically, and makes this film as memorable as it is.
Already at the start when one of the cooks in the kitchen accidentally gives the guests Harry's hard grass, I am laughing already. His reaction both over how hard it was to obtain and what will happen if the guests get high is hysterical. Gene Wilder's first scene is similiarly uproarious when he keeps following an actress in hopes of casting her in one of his plays, where he's blissfully unaware of the provocative nature of his comments. Wilder showcases such a friendly innocence that he's as endearing as he is hilarious.

But I don't think any part got to me more than when the two of them are going to prison and have to act "tough" to survive. Their over-the-top mannerisms with Harry walking in a very exaggerated manner and Skip making ninja sound effects made me laugh so hard I snorted. That's an accomplishment generated from a truly brilliant comedian.

Skip and Harry's personality differences contrast in really funny ways where Skip is forced to take every beating with a smile on his face but suffers in agony whenever the deputy Ward Wilson is out of sight... while Harry doesn't even try to mask his angst and flips out at every turn.

While Wilder and Pryor absolutely steal the show though, it's helped even more by a great supporting cast. Joel Brooks is likeable as Len Garber, the optimistic lawyer, and JoBeth Williams is cute as a button in the role of Meredith, cousin of the lawyer. We also have Craig T. Nelson, but he's not playing opposite of JoBeth. Instead, he goes against type and plays a real bastard of a deputy who makes Skip and Harry's time in jail hell. He's so entertaining in his sadistic obsession with making sure they don't come out as strongwilled heroes in any way. This guy isn't interested in being a Coach.
Finally, my mentions go to Miguel Ángel Suárez and Erland van Lidth, who later become very important to the plot. I don't want to spoil too much, but Erland was wonderful as the large brute who's hard on first glance, but a very gentle and trusted companion once you get to know him. He makes a memorable entrance in the jail cafeteria, where everyone gets scared shîtless and run away from him.

It's true as with baby plot-heavy comedies however that the laughs are not quite as frequent in the third act. And normally this is a huge draw for me. But in this case, even though I still wish there had been a few more gags thrown in, it works. It actually gets a bit suspenseful and you're wondering if the convoluted plan these pals come up with will work. The directing is very skillful, where you have characters popping in and out of various places seamlessly. Tom Scott's score also helps increase the tension.

The love story between Skip and Meredith works so well even though they only get to see each other on brief visits, simply because he's such a charmer. Who could say no to that sweet face and such genuine, tender affection. When JoBeth jumps up with glee when Skip remembers to invite her to his next play, you smile together with them. Even Len who was confused at first over the blooming connection between them lets out a chuckle.

This is a classic feel-good comedy worth watching whenever you need some cheering up. Don't forget to check out See No Evil, Hear No Evil as well!




mattiasflgrtll6's Avatar
The truth is in here
The Spy Who Dumped Me



If I had only judged this movie by the trailer, I would probably not have gone and seen it, or at least not until it got available online. But I gave it a chance, and in my opinion this is a very fun and wickedly crazy flick. If you're tired of spy movies taking themselves too seriously, this is the one for you. You can tell how much of a blast Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon had making this movie.

I'll sum up the story briefly: Audrey isn't happy on her birthday. Her boyfriend Drew dumps her via a text message, which makes her angry and confused. Her friend Morgan suggests they burn his things as revenge. Audrey later flirt with a man by the name of Sebastian, who unexpectedly throws her into his car and reveals to her that Drew is actually a secret agent. She informs Morgan, and Drew suddenly returns home to instruct them to deliver an important trophy.

I wasn't super familiar with Kate McKinnon before this, but she got a lot of the best lines. Her character's tendency for saying whatever's on her mind, no matter how weird or badly timed it may be, makes the jokes more unpredictable, and you laugh at her ballsy nature and impulsiveness. And you've got to love her go at a British accent.

Mila Kunis gives one of her performances in a while, really managing to live into the wacky situations she gets thrown into. Not to mention she has some pretty funny moments herself. The few quieter moments where she and McKinnon just reflect on their lives are nice to see, and helps you emotionally connect to them. Justin Theroux and not-Chris-Pratt Sam Heughan also give really good performances as agents Drew and Sebastian. I won't spoil too much, but the movie takes some pretty interesting turns with their characters.

Not just the comedy works, it's also surprisingly well-filmed, with intense and very brutal action sequences. You feel the bullets and the impact of the action. It's less Mission: Impossible and more Kingsman: The Secret Service in terms of the violence.

If you're coming to this movie for Gillian Anderson (that was part of the reason I checked it out), she gives a restrained, fairly comic performance as the spy organization boss Wendy. The highlight is when she gets to yell at her two incompetent lackeys. However, this is where I get to one of my criticisms. I wish she would have gotten more to do. In total her screentime equals to a few minutes at the most, and that's not enough. I would have loved to see her play a bigger role, instead she always gets pushed to the side. Then there are also a couple jokes that didn't do it for me, but given the amount of humor in the script, you can't hit the target every time. Plus they are so few and far between that you forget about them quickly.

We don't have enough R-rated comedies nowadays that's not exclusively about partying. This is a light feel-good ride with some darkly comic elements.




mattiasflgrtll6's Avatar
The truth is in here
THE ENTIRE REVIEW IS A SPOILER.

North By Northwest



John Thornhill has a typical busy day of work, and will later go to the opera with his mother. But suddenly he gets kidnapped by two spies, and they continually adress him as George Kaplan, which both confuses and angers him. He's brought into the palace of Lester Townsend. He forcibly gets gin poured into his body, and wakes up in a car driving off towards the end of a cliff. Realizing they are trying to murder him, George steers the car away and tries to drive the best he can while drunk. The police stops him for driving too fast and throw him in a cell to sober up. The police don't believe his story. Neither does the court. How will John escape from his kidnappers, and who is George Kaplan?

The movie introduces John pretty interestingly. You hear him talking so fast it gets hard to keep up, and I'm thinking "Whoa, this is not gonna be the whole movie is it?". But as soon as he gets kidnapped, he starts talking at a more reasonable tempo. Hitchcock gets a funny little cameo where he's about to take the bus, but it closes the door on him. John's irritation and confusion is merged very well by Cary Grant, and you immediately fear what is going to happen to his character. The banter between him and his mother makes for some of the best lines in the movie, Jessie Royce Landis comically depicting the mother's nonchalant and careless attitude. She has such a hard time taking her son seriously that she casually converses with the men chasing him.

Once John says goodbye to his mother, we are introduced to another figure: Eva Kendall. The introduction between them is perfectly done. John is happy to finally talk to a sane person, and a beautiful woman nonetheless. Eva has the blend between cute and sassy that I love. She can tell right away John is lying, but feels sympathetic towards his plight. The part after that when she seduces him is hands down one of the most erotic sensual scenes I have seen maybe... ever. The soft way she talks and slowly caresses him is so irresistably sexy that you'd lose any semblance of skepticism just like John. It wouldn't surprise me if Hitchcock got a little sweaty filming it.
Hitchcock also manages to catch you off-guard by moments after seeing Eva slip a note giving away where she and John are hiding. Yet she also helps him to escape right after. It cleverly instills doubt in a character the audience were tricked into liking at first. Why does she help both sides at the same time? Something's fishy.
It gets even fishier once we found out George Kaplan doesn't exist whatsoever, and yet Eva tells John where to go to "find" him. You find yourself begging for Eva to tell him the truth or for John to see something is wrong. You can tell she doesn't want to do it either, so you realize she's actually just as conflicted as the audience now is.

And as John arrives to the location, we are treated to one of the most iconic and eerie scenes of suspense in history. First it's so quiet... so dreadfully quiet. You see a helicopter hovering ominously in the background. Later, when John is practically ready to give up and call it a day, the helicopter becomes a murder weapon. What can be scarier than right into the open getting chased by a helicopter trying to catch you in its blades, with no one around to help you? The ground perspective with John hiding among the crops with the threat flying above him makes you feel like you're put into the same seat.

The situation gets even scarier when John realizes there is no one left to trust, including Eva. John's underpressed anger over Eva betraying him, and trying to stop her from pulling any more phoney tricks is excellently conveyed both through Cary Grant's acting and the dialogue. "I thought it might be best if we stick together. TOGETHERNESS? Get the picture?" When he heads to the auction Grant shows his comedic abilities as his character tauntingly either raises the bid to unreasonable levels or lowers it so much it's insulting. But there's some sadness in there too. You can tell how hurt and disappointed he is that a lady who might have been the love of his life turned out to be a traitor.

And it only gets weirder and weirder. John is later met by a goverment agent professor, who reveals George Kaplan doesn't exist, and it's just a distraction from Eva Kendall, the real goverment agent, and he has to cover for her. To be honest, I didn't realize at first when Eva shot him at the Mount Rushmore visitor center it was only staged. It was such a shocking turns of events that you think of Eva being just as much of a villain as the spies themselves. Hitchcock has cleverly disoriented me once again.

Eva sadly has to continue going along with the spies (whose names are Philip and Leonard, which first now I remembered to mention), despite the obvious danger she's putting herself into. John is knocked unconscious and brought into a hospital by the professor, who doesn't want him to help Eva, or get any more involved. As soon as his back is turned, John escapes and goes after Eva. The scene of John listening to Philip and Leonard just outside their house is amazingly tenseful, and in the style of Rear Window shows how exciting and scary it can be observing people you just know are up to something. The sweat drops continue when John has to get inside the actual house and warn Eva what the spies are planning to do with her if she goes with them on their private plane.

And equally as iconic as the crop chase is the climax on top of the Mount Rushmore, which despite the odd rule that they were not allowed to show the people climbing on the Founding Father's actual faces, it makes great use of the menace of the mountain, doubling the threat by having to worry about both falling to the ground and getting caught by Leonard and Valerian. Hitchcock makes it look just hopeless enough that when Leo and Val are stopped, you breathe a huge sigh of relief. Interestingly however, John helping Eva up so he won't fall is seamlessly transitioned to getting her up to his bed. It made me raise my eyebrow initially, but I quickly appreciated the original way the tension resolved. And if Hitchcock hadn't angered the censors enough already, he ends the film by simulating sex with a shot of a train driving into a tunnel. It put a huge smile on my face.

North By Northwest is the essential Hitchcock masterpiece. The stakes are as high as they can possibly get, with flawless acting all around the board, a story which takes a lot of thrilling twists and turns, and with a brilliantly crafted score by Bernard Hermann. Hermann compliments his director's talent so massively that it reads like a giant love letter. The cinematography is very colorful and full of personality, which makes the movie very pretty to look at.

Well, having Eva-Marie Saint also helps of course.




Can there really be spoilers for a 60 year old movie?
Unless everyone has seen all the 60 year old movies, then revealing a mystery-thriller ending in a review could ruin the film for others. So good for Mattiasflgrtll6 for using a spoiler warning....You know I've seen North By Northwest twice, and I still can't quite remember how it ends...though the giant gorilla part was silly