Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Alison Doody, Denholm Elliott, John Rhys-Davies, Julian Glover, Michael Byrne, Kevork Malikyan, River Phoenix, Alex Hyde-White, Robert Eddison, Vernon Dobtcheff, Alexei Sayle, Michael Sheard
Storyline
When Dr. Henry Jones Sr. (Sean Connery) goes missing while pursuing the Holy Grail, an art collector (Julian Glover) approaches Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) with a proposition to continue his father's search. Once accepted, Jones must find his father and stop the Nazis.
Opinion
Definitely the best Indiana Jones film yet, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is more comedic, emotional, and spiritual than its predecessors, still plenty of superb action and thrills.
The great story, written by George Lucas and Menno Meyjes, begins with an introduction to a younger Indy, that finally gives the audience something about his background, such as the roots of his taste for adventure, the determination to put artifacts into museums, his fear of snakes, and, less important, how he got the chin scar. Back in 1938, the story is related to God in a beautiful way, without disrespecting religion - thing that happened in The Temple of Doom.
The introduction of Indy's eccentric father, played by Sean Connery - couldn't really get any better than that -, is one of the highlights of the film. Most of the fun is delivered by him, and along with Ford, he also provides a great father-son dynamic.
Having most of the action of the film, Harrison Ford is amazing and charismatic as Indy. New entry Sean Connery does a wonderful job in portraying Indy's father, making a perfect duo with Ford. John Rhys-Davies is back as Sallah, and he is wonderful as ever, so is Denholm Elliott, returned as Marcus Brody. Alison Doody does a good job with her interesting character. Julian Glover is probably the best of Indy's villains so far.
Quotes
Fedora: You lost today, kid. But that doesn't mean you have to like it.
This week I watched Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, Inherent Vice, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, I Know That Voice.
I watch movies every week and then write down my thoughts. Read my previous reviews! My rating is simple, Watch It, It Depends, Skip it.
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior -The precursor to Mad Max: Fury Road
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1982) Watch Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior Written by: Terry Hayes & George Miller (screenplay), Brian Hannant (screenplay with) Directed by:George Miller Starring: Mel Gibson, Bruce Spence, Michael Preston Rated: R
Plot: Max comes across a small town and agrees to help them ward off a hoard of post-apocalyptic outlaws.
Review: It's hard not to compare it to Mad Max: Fury Road. It's very similar, this just has a much lower budget. The Mad Max films really capture a wasteland world where people struggle just to survive. With great action and great characters, it's thoroughly entertaining with a solid ending. It depends.
Inherent Vice - Much like Doc, I don't remember what happened.
Inherent Vice (2014) Watch Inherent Vice Written by:Paul Thomas Anderson (written for the screen by), Thomas Pynchon (based on the novel by) Directed by:Paul Thomas Anderson Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson Rated: R
Plot: Doc Sportello gets involved in a sprawling mystery after a visit from an ex-girlfriend.
Review: Incredibly well-acted, directed, and great looking, it weaves a modern film noir story. Unfortunately the ending wasn't very satisfying. This big conspiracy that would typically wrap up at the end is just a series of semi-related cases for Joaquin Phoenix's character Doc. While it was convoluted, it seems to capture the craziness of the seventies. This movie very well could be how Doc experiences the crazed world. Despite how well made this movie is, the story doesn't click. Upon a second watch, I may very well change my mind. Until then... Skip it.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes -The monkey has a gun!
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) Watch Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Written by: Mark Bomback and Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver (written by), Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver (characters), Pierre Boulle (novel "La Planete des Singes") Directed by:Matt Reeves Starring: Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Andy Serkis Rated: PG-13
Plot: Conflict arises between apes and humans, resulting in war.
Review: Amazing CGI is the real spectacle. The decision of humans upon encountering apes, is too cliche, and thus unrealistic. They must kill them. Can the movie persuade people to suspend their disbelief long enough for horse riding, machine gun carrying monkeys? Not for me, it just isn't compelling. Is it due to the uncanny valley quality of the apes? Humans at odds may have worked better, but it's a story we've seen far too many times. Skip it.
I Know that Voice - By the end you'll be trying voices.
I Know That Voice (2013) Watch I Know That Voice Written by: Brandon Sonnier Directed by:Lawrence Shapiro Starring: John Dimaggio, Kevin Conroy, Jim Cummings Rated: --
Plot: What do voice actors do? Find out in this documentary.
Review: It's a informative and interesting. I like to know how people work and this provides that insight. I couldn't help but try my voices (and paling in comparison). It's a great documentary that shows the work voice actors put into their craft. While actors get to express emotion through their body and voice, voice actors have only sound. Watch it.
Theodora Goes Wild is our third and last Romantic Comedy from the 1930s. This film is an absolute delight from start to finish. Irene Dunne and Melvyn Douglas give sparkling performances not to be missed.
Theodora goes to New York to visit her publisher (she tells her aunts she's visiting her uncle). He wants her to do some publicity for her book, which of course she can't do without revealing who she really is. During her meeting she meets the illustrator of her book cover, Michael Grant (played with zest by Melvyn Douglas). He finds it funny that the author of such a racy book is so unworldly. This of course makes Theodora mad and she sets off to prove him wrong. First she gets drunk and then she goes up to his apartment, where he scares her off - and proves his point - by his advances.
Next we find Theodora back in her hometown when who should show up by Grant. He gets himself hired as her aunt's gardener, under the name of Dubarry. Naturally the two end up falling in love, shocking Theodora's aunts in the process.
My favorite scene, and the scene that made me a Melvyn Douglas fan, is when Theodora visits him in his room in the back yard.
My favorite scene
When Grant realizes he is in love with Theodora, he goes back to New York. Theodora follows, only to run into his father and find out that Grant is already married! She also finds out that he can't divorce his wife as it would ruin his father's career. Theodora decides to do something about it. First, she moves into Grant's apartment, causing him to move out. Then she has her publisher reveal her identity as an authoress. This shocks her aunts and her entire hometown. What has become of their church-going, Sunday school teaching, organ playing Theodora?
Theodora's actions lead Grant's wife to file for divorce. Then she returns to Lynnfield - with a baby! Her aunts are shocked but ready to take her back in. In all the confusion, Grant shows up. He also thinks the baby is Theodora's!! She straightens them all out by telling them that the baby belongs to her friend, who had secretly married her sweetheart at Theodora's urging.
This film is a must to watch, especially if you are an Irene Dunne fan! Dunne almost turned down the role because she was afraid it might damage her good-girl image. I'm glad she didn't! She is perfect in this role (which incidentally was her first comedy) and received an Oscar nomination for it (she lost to Luise Rainer for The Great Ziegfeld). Douglas is the perfect leading man (he has been compared to William Powell but never achieved the star status that Powell did). Some people find his silliness in the film annoying but it was that aspect that made me love him in this part.
Dunne's Wardrobe by Bernard Newman
Behind-the-Scenes
Douglas and director Richard Boleslawski touching up Dunne's make-up
In Douglas's autobiography, he recounts a story about Dunne - she wasn't excited enough on one of her entrances. Boleslawski crept up behind her just as she was about to enter and fired a blank cartridge from a hand gun. If you watch the movie, you will "be rewarded with one of the most breathless, bewildered on-camera entrances ever recorded" (See You at the Movies: The Autobiography of Melvyn Douglas. Melvyn Douglas & Tom Arthur. 1986. 110).
Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid, Dennis Haysbert, Patricia Clarkson, Viola Davis, James Rebhorn, Michael Gaston, Celia Weston, Barbara Garrick, Bette Henritze, June Squibb, Ryan Ward, Lindsay Andretta, Jordan Puryear, J.B. Adams, Olivia Birkelund
Storyline
Cathy Whitaker (Julianne Moore) is the perfect 50s housewife, living the perfect 50s life: healthy kids, successful husband, social prominence. Then one night she surprises her husband Frank (Dennis Quaid) kissing another man, and her tidy world starts spinning out of control. In her confusion and grief, she finds consolation in the friendship of their African-American gardener, Raymond Deagan (Dennis Haysbert).
Opinion
I really had high hopes for this film based on the plot, on the cast, and on the Oscar nominations received. Unfortunately it was a huge disappointment.
While the photography, the set decoration, and the colour are excellent, and the musical score by Elmer Bernstein is outstanding, the film turned out to be a waste of time.
Dull at some points, Far from Heaven not only doesn't have an original idea, but it also deals with two major issues - homosexuality and interracial relationship - in a very shallow way. And God, so much could have been made with those two.
Living in a world full of prejudice, both Cathy and Frank go against the mainstream, the first having a colour-blind heart in a white world, the second being homosexual in a bigot society. Still, instead of supporting each other - they are wife and husband after all - they are disgusted from each other.
Fortunately, the acting is great. Julianne Moore gives a stunning, and touching performance as Cathy Whitaker, and really deserves the acclaim she's received for this role. Dennis Quaid gives a fantastic performance as Cathy's husband - definitely his best performance. Dennis Haysbert is also fantastic as Cathy's gardener. Patricia Clarkson gives a delightful performance as Cathy's friend.
That was the day I stopped believing in the wild ardor of things. Perhaps in love, as well. That kind of love. The love in books and films. The love that tells us to abandon our lives and plans, all for one brief touch of Venus. So often we fail at that kind of love. The world just seems too fragile a place for it. And of every other kind, life remains full. Perhaps it's just we who are too fragile. - Cathy Whitaker
Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Max von Sydow, Michelle Williams, Emily Mortimer, Patricia Clarkson, Jackie Earle Haley, Ted Levine, John Carroll Lynch, Elias Koteas, Jill Larson, Ken Cheeseman, Ruby Jerins, Robin Bartlett, Christopher Denham, Matthew Cowles
Storyline
In 1954, Federal Marshal Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his new partner, Chuck (Mark Ruffalo), travel to Shutter Island to investigate the disappearance of a patient, Rachel Solando (Emily Mortimer). As Teddy quizzes Dr. Cawley (Ben Kingsley), the head of the institution, he begins to suspect that the authorities in charge might not be giving him the whole truth, and that a terrible fate may befall all the patients in the spooky Ward C, a unit devoted to the most heinous of the hospital's inmates.
Opinion
Based on Dennis Lehane's fantastic novel, Shutter Island is a great psychological thriller - indeed one of the best after "The Silence of Lambs" - that finally manages to scare you, not because it has some sadistic person, but because it really messes with you.
The brilliant story gathers memories, visions, and paranoia, to arrive at the final twist, though not very unpredictable if you have seen films such as "The Sixth Sense" or "The Others".
Director Martin Scorsese perfectly recreates the dark atmosphere of the island, relying also on the stunning, and gloomy cinematography by Robert Richardson, on the high tension that keeps you company throughout the film - clearly influenced by Alfred Hitchcock -, and on the music perfectly chosen to increase the sense of mystery.
Unfortunately, while on one hand, Scorsese puts the audience in the position of accepting reality for what it is, as brutal it may be, on the other hand, among the detailed memories, there are also the corpses in the snow, in the Dachau concentration camp. Now the problem is that somebody may think - some people actually think that already - that the horrors of World War II never happened, and that they are the result of mental insanity.
However, the acting is excellent. Leonardo DiCaprio gives a spectacular performance - once again not recognized in an appropriate way. The supporting cast is also terrific. Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Max von Sydow, Michelle Williams, Jackie Earle Haley, Patricia Clarkson, Emily Mortimer, Ted Levine, they all are.
Mention-Worthy Quotes
Teddy Daniels: Which would be worse - to live as a monster, or to die as a good man?
Dr. Jeremiah Naehring: Did you know that the word 'trauma' comes from the Greek for 'wound'? Hm? And what is the German word for 'dream'? Traum. Ein Traum. Wounds can create monsters, and you, you are wounded, Marshal.
Jason Statham, James Franco, Winona Ryder, Kate Bosworth, Chuck Zito, Frank Grillo, Rachelle Lefevre, Clancy Brown, Christa Campbell, Stuart Green, Omar Benson Miller, Izabela Vidovic, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Marcus Hester, Austin Craig
Storyline
Former DEA agent Phil Broker (Jason Statham) moves to a small town for the sake of his 10-year-old daughter Maddy (Izabela Vidovic). The is only one problem: he picked the wrong town.
Opinion
Based on Chuck Logan's novel, and with a quite good cast - I'm not talking about Statham of course -, the film was promising. Then I read Sylvester Stallone wrote the screenplay, and the house of cards fell apart.
As mentioned before Jason Statham is in it, and his films are pretty much the same thing. This time, he is a quiet guy in need to use his exceptional fighting skills against the bad guys, and he also happens to be the fastest in the west, as usual.
Having said that, Homefront is an action film Statham's style - his fans are gonna love it -, with no climax, still the action and violence keep you entertained, and it gets a little bit thrilling at the end. Kind of.
Agreeing on the fact that Statham is good at fighting, he is not good at acting. His performance is substanceless, just a smile here, and a smile there. Izabela Vidovic very well plays Statham's daughter. James Franco does a great job as the main bad guy - finally a role that suits him. Winona Ryder does good with his small screen time. Kate Bosworth is pretty good too. I would have like to see more Frank Grillo in here.
Quotes
Phil Broker: Whatever you're thinking, rethink it.
Check the new trailer for the POINT BREAK remake and while there are similarities, I would have preferred if they had left the original branding alone. Just title it something else. Few of the younger generation will have a connection with the original and that's most of your audience here.
Regardless, here it is and it is in 3D so I'm covering it. The trailer itself looks quite good in fact. Gorgeous action. I like the premise - though thinking that a complete stranger can break into an extreme sports group that look like top 5 in the world in what they do is a bit much; but hey, I can deal with it. Loving the colorization that they've used and it's my style - lots of contrast to me. It's polarizing I know (no pun intended), but personally I love it.
I'll comment further when more marketing is made available. For right now, I cringe at the title but I'm loving the visuals - so bring it on Warner Bros!
Here's the boilerplate for the movie:
In Alcon Entertainment’s fast-paced, high-adrenaline action thriller “Point Break,” a young FBI agent, Johnny Utah (Luke Bracey), infiltrates a cunning team of thrill-seeking elite athletes – led by the charismatic Bodhi (Edgar Ramirez). The athletes are suspected of carrying out a spate of crimes in extremely unusual ways. Deep undercover, and with his life in imminent danger, Utah strives to prove they are the architects of this string of inconceivable crimes. The film is replete with the most daring athleticism ever seen in a motion picture. These action adventure feats are performed by elite athletes representing the world’s best in class in big-wave surfing, wingsuit flying, sheer-face snowboarding, free rock climbing, and high-speed motorcycling. The film stars Édgar RamÃrez (“Zero Dark Thirty,” “The Bourne Ultimatum,” “Carlos the Jackal”) as Bodhi, and Luke Bracey (“G.I. Joe: Retaliation,” “November Man”) as Johnny Utah, along with Ray Winstone (“Noah,” “The Departed”), Teresa Palmer (“Warm Bodies”) and Delroy Lindo (“Sahara,” “Gone in Sixty Seconds”), under the direction of Ericson Core (“Invincible”). Core directed from a screenplay by Kurt Wimmer (“Salt,” “Law Abiding Citizen”). Alcon principals Broderick Johnson and Andrew A. Kosove produced, along with John Baldecchi, Chris Taylor and Kurt Wimmer. Studio Babelsberg also co-produced. RGM Media principal Devesh Chetty and investor John McMurrick, Chairman of Marloss Entertainment, served as executive producers. Renowned extreme athletes performing stunts in the film include surfers Laird Hamilton, Sebastian Zietz, Makua Rothman, Billy Kemper, Brian Keaulana, Ahanu Tson-dru, Ian Walsh, Laurie Towner, Dylan Longbottom, Albee Layer, Bruce Irons, Tikanui Smith and Tuhiti Humani; snowboarders Xavier De Le Rue, Louis Vito, Christian Haller, Lucas DeBari and Ralph Backstrom; skateboarders Bob Burnquist and Eric Koston; motorcyclists Riley Harper and Oakley Lehman; wingsuit stunt pilots Jon Devore, Julian Boulle, Noah Bahnson, Jhonathan Florez and Mike Swanson, and consultant Jeb Corliss; and free climber Chris Sharma, among others. Making cameos in the film are DJs Steve Aoki, Seth Troxler and The Art Department, as well as sports commentator and TV host Sal Masekela. Director Ericson Core, who served as director of photography on such films as “Invincible,” “The Fast and the Furious” and “Payback,” also serves as director of photography on “Point Break.” Other behind-the-scene team members include Oscar-winning editor Thom Noble (“Thelma & Louise,” “Witness”), production designer Udo Kramer (“North Face,” “The Physician”) and Oscar-nominated costume designer Lisy Christl (“Anonymous,” “White House Down”). “Point Break” is inspired by the classic 1991 hit starring Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves. It is scheduled for release in 3D and 2D in select theaters on December 25, 2015, and will be distributed in North America and in select territories around the world by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.
Yes, Chris Pratt's character gives off some Jedi vibe here in the latest JURASSIC WORLD clip. He's fending off a certain raptor attack against a poor soul who falls into their paddock - and it looks like this may be the start of a beautiful friendship.
Remember these creatures have intelligence. Still, it's hard to check the disbelief at the door for this one. I truly hope director Colin Trevorrow is successful in this endeavor because I'm dearly looking forward to a kick-butt JURASSIC PARK revisit. I can't coun how many times I've seen the original and I'm sure a lot of you are in the same boat... errr, electric Jeep.
Here's the storyline for the movie: Steven Spielberg returns to executive produce the long-awaited next installment of his groundbreaking Jurassic Park series, Jurassic World. Colin Trevorrow directs the epic action-adventure from a screenplay he wrote with Derek Connolly. Frank Marshall and Patrick Crowley join the team as producers.
