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Dean (6921 KP) rated Gone Baby Gone (2007) in Movies
Jan 22, 2018
An impressive directorial debut from Ben Affleck, I really like The Town as well which he directed and starred in. Based on a novel by Dennis Lehane he also wrote @Mystic River (2003) which was a great entertaining if gritty and harsh film. This has many similar themes running through it. The cast is an amazing line up and all give good performances. It's the harshness, grim reality in terms of the setting, characters and subject matter that make the film intriguing as well as compelling viewing. A very interesting film, go and see it and Mystic River!
Whatchareadin (174 KP) rated Scrappy Little Nobody in Books
May 10, 2018
I was first introduced to Anna Kendrick from the movie Pitch Perfect. She was a cute little nobody who made a place for herself in the acapella world. Although my favorite movie of her is The Accountant with Ben Affleck. I really enjoyed this book which I think was made even better with her reading it. It chronicles her life from growing up in Maine to getting jobs in low budget movies, and theater productions. I didn't know she had done so much before Pitch Perfect. The book was funny and she made you feel like you were sitting down to talk to your best friend.
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Good Will Hunting (1997) in Movies
Jul 9, 2021
Well Deserved Oscars for Williams, Damon and Affleck
One of the benefits of “Secret Movie Night” is that it forces me to watch (or rewatch) a film that I would not seek out on my own. Such is the case with this month’s selection - GOOD WILL HUNTING - the film that made Matt Damon and Ben Affleck stars and earned the late, great Robin Williams his only Academy Award.
Leaning hard on the mantra “write what you know”, GOOD WILL HUNTING tells the tale of a generationally talented math prodigy, who grew up in South Boston and fights his demons to find his place in this world.
Famously, the screenplay of this film earned Damon and Affleck Oscars for Best Original Screenplay and it is well deserved. They paint a picture of life of these “Southies” that appears to me real and genuine. The “family” feel of the friendship of the main characters rings true and Damon and Affleck have real chemistry with each other - like old friends playing off each other.
However, the relationship between Affleck and Damon’s character in this film is only the 3rd best relationship in this film. The best, of course, is the relationship between Will Hunting (Damon) and the shrink that is assigned to him, played by Robin Williams. It is a haunting, raw, emotional and REAL performance by Williams - one very deserving of the Oscar - and I was more than a little sad to watch this performance knowing that this uniquely talented performer is no longer with us.
The surprise to me in this rewatch of the film is the performance of Minnie Driver as a young lady that becomes emotionally attached to Will. Driver’s performance as Harvard student Skylar is also real and the struggles of her character to get a connection with Will was heartbreaking to watch.
Good Will Hunting also features strong supporting work by Stellan Skarsgard as the MIT Math Professor who discovers - and then becomes jealous of - Will’s talents and Ben Affleck’s younger brother, a then unknown Casey Affleck, who steals almost every scene he is in.
All of this would not have worked without the magnificent, Oscar nominated, Direction of Gus Van Sant (DRUGSTORE COWBOY). He was the perfect choice to direct this intimate, personal drama and he has a way of drawing out the emotions and rawness of the characters on the screen without being cloying or overdramatic. He was a strong contender for Best Director that year (as was Good Will Hunting for Best Picture) but it ran into a roadblock that was James Cameron and TITANIC.
If you have never seen this film - or if you haven’t seen this in quite some time - check out GOOD WILL HUNTING, it is well worth your time.
Letter Grade: A
9 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
Leaning hard on the mantra “write what you know”, GOOD WILL HUNTING tells the tale of a generationally talented math prodigy, who grew up in South Boston and fights his demons to find his place in this world.
Famously, the screenplay of this film earned Damon and Affleck Oscars for Best Original Screenplay and it is well deserved. They paint a picture of life of these “Southies” that appears to me real and genuine. The “family” feel of the friendship of the main characters rings true and Damon and Affleck have real chemistry with each other - like old friends playing off each other.
However, the relationship between Affleck and Damon’s character in this film is only the 3rd best relationship in this film. The best, of course, is the relationship between Will Hunting (Damon) and the shrink that is assigned to him, played by Robin Williams. It is a haunting, raw, emotional and REAL performance by Williams - one very deserving of the Oscar - and I was more than a little sad to watch this performance knowing that this uniquely talented performer is no longer with us.
The surprise to me in this rewatch of the film is the performance of Minnie Driver as a young lady that becomes emotionally attached to Will. Driver’s performance as Harvard student Skylar is also real and the struggles of her character to get a connection with Will was heartbreaking to watch.
Good Will Hunting also features strong supporting work by Stellan Skarsgard as the MIT Math Professor who discovers - and then becomes jealous of - Will’s talents and Ben Affleck’s younger brother, a then unknown Casey Affleck, who steals almost every scene he is in.
All of this would not have worked without the magnificent, Oscar nominated, Direction of Gus Van Sant (DRUGSTORE COWBOY). He was the perfect choice to direct this intimate, personal drama and he has a way of drawing out the emotions and rawness of the characters on the screen without being cloying or overdramatic. He was a strong contender for Best Director that year (as was Good Will Hunting for Best Picture) but it ran into a roadblock that was James Cameron and TITANIC.
If you have never seen this film - or if you haven’t seen this in quite some time - check out GOOD WILL HUNTING, it is well worth your time.
Letter Grade: A
9 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
Erika (17788 KP) rated Justice League (2017) in Movies
Nov 24, 2017
I've been a huge fan of the Justice League since I was a child, watching the old cartoons, so I was excited to see this. Bad stuff first: The CGI was whack. It also took them way too long the revive Superman (sorry not sorry, you can't have Justice League without Superman). The pacing was a little off too. I'm sure it was due to Whedon coming in at the last moment, but Snyder has been the problem in the DC universe. Hopefully they get a better director in there for the subsequent movies.
But, Wonder Woman, the Flash, and Aquaman saved it. I do like Ben Affleck as Batman, but something was off.
But, Wonder Woman, the Flash, and Aquaman saved it. I do like Ben Affleck as Batman, but something was off.
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Live By Night (2017) in Movies
Sep 29, 2021
“Sleep by day…”.
Ben Affleck’s new movie could best be described as “sprawling”. In both directing and writing the screenplay (based on a novel by Dennis Lehane), Affleck has aimed for a “Godfather” style gangster epic and missed: not missed by a country mile, but missed nonetheless.
Morally bankrupted by his experiences in the trenches, Joe Coughlin (Affleck) returns to Boston to pick and choose which social rules he wants to follow. Not sociopathic per se, as he has a strong personal code of conduct, but Coughlin turns to robbery walking a delicate path between the warring mob factions of the Irish community, led by Albert White (the excellent Robert Glenister from TV’s “Hustle”), and the Italian community, led by Maso Pescatore (Remo Girone). Trying to keep him out of jail is his father (“Harry Potter”’s Brendan Gleeson) who – usefully – is the Deputy Police Chief. Life gets complicated when he falls in love with White’s moll, Emma Gould (Sienna Miller). The scene is set for a drama stretching from Boston to the hot and steamy Everglades over a period of the next twenty years.
Although a watchable popcorn film, the choppy episodic nature of the movie is hugely frustrating, with no compelling story arc to glue all of the disparate parts together. The (often very violent) action scenes are very well done and exciting but as a viewer you don’t feel invested in a ‘journey’ from the beginning of the film to the (unsatisfactory) ending. In my experience it’s never a good sign when the writer considers it necessary to add a voiceover to the soundtrack, and here Affleck mutters truisms about his thoughts and motives that irritate more than illuminate.
The sheer volume of players in the piece (there are about three film’s worth in here) and the resulting minimal screen time given to each allows no time for character development. Unfortunately the result is that you really care very little about whether people live or die and big plot developments land as rather an “oh” than an “OH!”.
Affleck puts in a great turn as the autistic central character whose condition results in a cold, calculating demeanor and a complete lack of emotion reflecting on his face. Oh, hang on… no, wait a minute… sorry… I’ve got the wrong film…. I’m thinking about “The Accountant”. I don’t know whether he filmed these films in parallel. I generally enjoy Ben Affleck’s work (he was excellent in “The Town”) but for 95% of this film his part could have been completed by a burly extra with an Affleck mask on. In terms of acting range, his facial muscles barely get to a “2” on the scale. Given the double problem that he is barely credible as the “young man” returning mentally wounded from the trenches, then in my opinion he would have been better to have focused on the writing and directing and found a lead of the likes of an Andrew Garfield to fill Coughlin’s shoes.
That’s not to say there is not some good acting present in the rest of the cast’s all too brief supporting roles. Elle Fanning (“Trumbo”, “Maleficent”) in particular shines as the Southern belle Loretta Figgis: a religious zealot driving her police chief father (Chris Cooper, “The Bourne Identity”) to distraction. Cooper also delivers a star turn as the moral but pragmatic law-man.
Sienna Miller (“Foxcatcher”) delivers a passable Cork accent and does her best to develop some believable chemistry with the rock-like Affleck. Zoe Saldana (“Star Trek”) is equally effective as a Cuban humanitarian.
In summary, it’s sprawlingly watchable… but overall a disappointment, with Affleck over-reaching. One day we surely will get a gangster film the likes of another “Godfather”, “Goodfellas” or “Untouchables”. Although this has its moments, unfortunately it’s more towards the “Public Enemies” end of the genre spectrum.
Morally bankrupted by his experiences in the trenches, Joe Coughlin (Affleck) returns to Boston to pick and choose which social rules he wants to follow. Not sociopathic per se, as he has a strong personal code of conduct, but Coughlin turns to robbery walking a delicate path between the warring mob factions of the Irish community, led by Albert White (the excellent Robert Glenister from TV’s “Hustle”), and the Italian community, led by Maso Pescatore (Remo Girone). Trying to keep him out of jail is his father (“Harry Potter”’s Brendan Gleeson) who – usefully – is the Deputy Police Chief. Life gets complicated when he falls in love with White’s moll, Emma Gould (Sienna Miller). The scene is set for a drama stretching from Boston to the hot and steamy Everglades over a period of the next twenty years.
Although a watchable popcorn film, the choppy episodic nature of the movie is hugely frustrating, with no compelling story arc to glue all of the disparate parts together. The (often very violent) action scenes are very well done and exciting but as a viewer you don’t feel invested in a ‘journey’ from the beginning of the film to the (unsatisfactory) ending. In my experience it’s never a good sign when the writer considers it necessary to add a voiceover to the soundtrack, and here Affleck mutters truisms about his thoughts and motives that irritate more than illuminate.
The sheer volume of players in the piece (there are about three film’s worth in here) and the resulting minimal screen time given to each allows no time for character development. Unfortunately the result is that you really care very little about whether people live or die and big plot developments land as rather an “oh” than an “OH!”.
Affleck puts in a great turn as the autistic central character whose condition results in a cold, calculating demeanor and a complete lack of emotion reflecting on his face. Oh, hang on… no, wait a minute… sorry… I’ve got the wrong film…. I’m thinking about “The Accountant”. I don’t know whether he filmed these films in parallel. I generally enjoy Ben Affleck’s work (he was excellent in “The Town”) but for 95% of this film his part could have been completed by a burly extra with an Affleck mask on. In terms of acting range, his facial muscles barely get to a “2” on the scale. Given the double problem that he is barely credible as the “young man” returning mentally wounded from the trenches, then in my opinion he would have been better to have focused on the writing and directing and found a lead of the likes of an Andrew Garfield to fill Coughlin’s shoes.
That’s not to say there is not some good acting present in the rest of the cast’s all too brief supporting roles. Elle Fanning (“Trumbo”, “Maleficent”) in particular shines as the Southern belle Loretta Figgis: a religious zealot driving her police chief father (Chris Cooper, “The Bourne Identity”) to distraction. Cooper also delivers a star turn as the moral but pragmatic law-man.
Sienna Miller (“Foxcatcher”) delivers a passable Cork accent and does her best to develop some believable chemistry with the rock-like Affleck. Zoe Saldana (“Star Trek”) is equally effective as a Cuban humanitarian.
In summary, it’s sprawlingly watchable… but overall a disappointment, with Affleck over-reaching. One day we surely will get a gangster film the likes of another “Godfather”, “Goodfellas” or “Untouchables”. Although this has its moments, unfortunately it’s more towards the “Public Enemies” end of the genre spectrum.
Erika (17788 KP) rated Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) in Movies
Aug 26, 2017
If I ever have to see Bruce Wayne's parents die on screen again, I'm never watching another Batman movie. It was so unnecessary. I didn't mind Ben Affleck as Batman (my unpopular opinion=Christian Bale was an awful Batman). Henry Cavill was the quiet, conflicted Superman, as he was in Man of Steel. No comment on Amy Adams as Lois Lane (because I have nothing nice to say). The shining moment: Wonder Woman. Though, if I didn't know who Wonder Woman was, I wouldn't have had any idea of who she was, because they never actually introduce the fact that she's Wonder Woman. Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg, I mean, Lex Luthor, was, well... interesting?
Hey, it was a better movie than Suicide Squad.
Hey, it was a better movie than Suicide Squad.
Darkwriter1408 (8 KP) rated Armageddon (1998) in Movies
Jun 12, 2019
Brilliant! Utterly brilliant!
So I admire the writers and directors for this movie almost as much as the actors and actresses. Despite absolutely remarkable performances the storyline for me was a little bit of a long shot. The whole plotline of splitting a meteor in half with a bomb and it perfectly going either side of the earth. I mean come on!
That being said, the performances from actors like Bruce Willis, ving rhames and Ben Affleck all brought this film to life.
As for the soundtrack, it went down in history almost straight away as one of the greatest power ballads to date.
That being said, the performances from actors like Bruce Willis, ving rhames and Ben Affleck all brought this film to life.
As for the soundtrack, it went down in history almost straight away as one of the greatest power ballads to date.
David McK (3194 KP) rated Pearl Harbor (2001) in Movies
Oct 24, 2021
Movie set around the events of the surprise Japanese attack on the US naval base of Pearl Harbo(u)r in 1941, that mixes the action around that attack with a love triangle between Kate Beckinsale, Josh Hartnett and Ben Affleck with the latter two playing two best friends in love with the same girl, and with both Hartnett's Danny and Kate's Evelyn believing Ben's Rafe to be dead - at least, for about the first half hour or so - after he is shot down in Europe.
Of course, he returns from the dead after Danny has fallen for Evelyn and she for him, and just before the attack on Pearl Harbour begins ...
Obvious how said love triangle is going to end.
Of course, he returns from the dead after Danny has fallen for Evelyn and she for him, and just before the attack on Pearl Harbour begins ...
Obvious how said love triangle is going to end.
Sarah (7798 KP) rated Triple Frontier (2019) in Movies
Mar 15, 2019
Dull
Considering the very decent cast and a not entirely unintriguing plot, I was hoping this might actually be quite good. Sadly, it wasn’t. The soundtrack was pretty good and the film started off well throwing us right into the action, it just went downhill after that. The cast are quite decent, and Oscar Isaac is always good to watch (although I really don’t rate Ben Affleck, as usual). The problem is that the film itself is fairly dull and predictable. It takes well over an hour (half of the run time) to get into any action whatsoever and even then it isn’t particularly entertaining. There was no tension or real intrigue, and it played out exactly as you’d expect. I was hoping for something similar to Sicario, but sadly this was nothing like it.
Erika (17788 KP) rated Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan- Season 1 in TV
Sep 7, 2018
I watched all 8 episodes in one sitting, which is something I rarely do. I was super pumped to see Jack Ryan on screen.
I liked how they modernized it, and the story was all new. Well, as new as the standard foil a terrorist plot. Of course, if you've seen/read anything about Jack Ryan, you know certain characters are bound to show up... e.g., Cathy.
The last episode was definitely fan-fare, and riffed off all of the previous films.
I'm just not sure I'm sold on Krasinski as Ryan. I thought he did a better job than Alec Baldwin and Ben Affleck, but definitely wasn't as good as Harrison Ford.
I'm just glad Amazon is going ahead with a second season.
I liked how they modernized it, and the story was all new. Well, as new as the standard foil a terrorist plot. Of course, if you've seen/read anything about Jack Ryan, you know certain characters are bound to show up... e.g., Cathy.
The last episode was definitely fan-fare, and riffed off all of the previous films.
I'm just not sure I'm sold on Krasinski as Ryan. I thought he did a better job than Alec Baldwin and Ben Affleck, but definitely wasn't as good as Harrison Ford.
I'm just glad Amazon is going ahead with a second season.
