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Dork_knight74 (881 KP) rated Brimstone (2017) in Movies
Aug 26, 2019
Not bad
Dakota Fanning and Guy Pearce syst in this "western". Both give great performances(as do the other actors/actresses. The cinematography is very well done and the story itself plays out well. Normally I don't like when a story "jumps around" in time but this one did it well. Right up to the end. Pearce plays one hell of a villain. This one isn't really for the kids as it involves some violence/sex against children(not graphic). Otherwise, if you like westerns, this one will entertain. Worth a watch!
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Man on Fire (2004) in Movies
Jun 11, 2020
Whatever It Takes
Man on Fire- is a excellent action thriller, that I have seen about 5-7 times. Its a really great movie, not sure why critics didnt like this movie. Cause Denzel is excellent, Dakota is excellent. The action, suspense and drama is excellent. Its only downfall is its slow for the 1st half, than picks up during the 2nd half.
The plot: In a Mexico City wracked by a recent wave of kidnappings, ex-CIA operative John Creasy (Denzel Washington) reluctantly accepts a job as a bodyguard for 9-year-old Lupita (Dakota Fanning), the daughter of wealthy businessman Samuel Ramos (Marc Anthony). Just as Creasy begins to develop a fondness for the young girl, a bloodthirsty gunman (Jesús Ochoa) kidnaps her. Now, Creasy must pick off a succession of corrupt cops and criminals to reach his ultimate object of vengeance.
Its a vengeanful film. Packed with action, suspense and drama.
The plot: In a Mexico City wracked by a recent wave of kidnappings, ex-CIA operative John Creasy (Denzel Washington) reluctantly accepts a job as a bodyguard for 9-year-old Lupita (Dakota Fanning), the daughter of wealthy businessman Samuel Ramos (Marc Anthony). Just as Creasy begins to develop a fondness for the young girl, a bloodthirsty gunman (Jesús Ochoa) kidnaps her. Now, Creasy must pick off a succession of corrupt cops and criminals to reach his ultimate object of vengeance.
Its a vengeanful film. Packed with action, suspense and drama.
Taylor Lautner recommended Man on Fire (2004) in Movies (curated)
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated War of the Worlds (2005) in Movies
Apr 9, 2020 (Updated Apr 10, 2020)
Run From The Spaceships
War of the Worlds- is a good remake of the oringal, taking a different spin on it. Plus you have Tom Cruise running from spaceships which is a plus in my books.
The plot: Dockworker Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) struggles to build a positive relationship with his two children, Rachel (Dakota Fanning) and Robbie (Justin Chatwin). When his ex-wife, Mary Ann (Miranda Otto), drops them off at Ferrier's house, it seems as though it will be just another tension-filled weekend. However, when electromagnetic pulses of lightning strike the area, the strange event turns out to be the beginning of an alien invasion, and Ferrier must now protect his children as they seek refuge.
Its a good sci-fi action thriller.
The plot: Dockworker Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) struggles to build a positive relationship with his two children, Rachel (Dakota Fanning) and Robbie (Justin Chatwin). When his ex-wife, Mary Ann (Miranda Otto), drops them off at Ferrier's house, it seems as though it will be just another tension-filled weekend. However, when electromagnetic pulses of lightning strike the area, the strange event turns out to be the beginning of an alien invasion, and Ferrier must now protect his children as they seek refuge.
Its a good sci-fi action thriller.
Andy K (10821 KP) rated Very Good Girls (2014) in Movies
Jul 22, 2018
Surprisingly sweet
I usually don't have much hope for original Netflix or Amazon Prime movies figuring if they were good a studio would have purchased them or they would have played in theatres; however, I thought this one was sweet. I do enjoy both Dakota Fanning and Elizabeth Olsen so I thought I would give it a try.
Two friends decide they want to have sex before going to college. Unfortunately, they decide on the same guy as their companion without telling the other. Relationships get complicated for sure.
Certainly not going to win any awards, but I thought the acting was solid all around including supporting performances by Ellen Barkin, Clark Gregg, Demi Moore and Richard Dreyfuss.
The dialogue was touching in spots and when things get complicated, you are really rooting for the friendship to ensure.
Two friends decide they want to have sex before going to college. Unfortunately, they decide on the same guy as their companion without telling the other. Relationships get complicated for sure.
Certainly not going to win any awards, but I thought the acting was solid all around including supporting performances by Ellen Barkin, Clark Gregg, Demi Moore and Richard Dreyfuss.
The dialogue was touching in spots and when things get complicated, you are really rooting for the friendship to ensure.
Andy K (10821 KP) rated Please Stand By (2017) in Movies
Jun 18, 2018
Cute and touching
Maybe a cross between Rain Man and Lady Bird or Nebraska, this cute amusing film is about a girl with autism who is devoted to Star Trek (who isn't?) and has the opportunity to write a script for a contest where she could win $100,000.
The script turns out great, but now she has a problem: how to get it to Los Angeles within 3 days to beat the deadline.
I have always been a great fan of Dakota Fanning going back to I Am Sam, War of the Worlds and Man on Fire, and she is excellent and the star of the show here as well. Her portrayal of a young woman on the spectrum is truly believable, touching and sweet.
Some of the situations and people she encounters are a little too strange, unusual and/or only would happen in a movie, but overall her journey to LA is fun and you are really rooting for her to succeed.
The script turns out great, but now she has a problem: how to get it to Los Angeles within 3 days to beat the deadline.
I have always been a great fan of Dakota Fanning going back to I Am Sam, War of the Worlds and Man on Fire, and she is excellent and the star of the show here as well. Her portrayal of a young woman on the spectrum is truly believable, touching and sweet.
Some of the situations and people she encounters are a little too strange, unusual and/or only would happen in a movie, but overall her journey to LA is fun and you are really rooting for her to succeed.
Gareth von Kallenbach (965 KP) rated We Bought a Zoo (2011) in Movies
Aug 7, 2019
From the director of Jerry Maguire and Almost Famous, Cameron Crowe has brought us a great new film starring Mat Damon, Scarlett Johansson, Thomas Hadden Church and up and coming star Elle Fanning. Packed with amazing talent; “We Bought a Zoo” is a heartwarming true story of a man who wants to start over and in doing so, he provides a new life for his young family and his new friends.
Benjamin Mee (Mat Damon), a widowed father of two young children Dylan (Colin Ford) and Rosie (Magie Elizabeth Jones) are in need of a new start. Benjamin’s brother Duncan (Thomas Haden Church) has always provided Benjamin with useless and impractical advice. Only this time he strikes the nail on the head by telling his brother that he has to start over. He teams up with Mr. Stevens (J.B Smoove), a first time real estate agent and his daughter Rosie to find the perfect home to start there new future. When they come across the perfect house it comes with some big responsibilities. The Mee family have just become the new owners of a struggling Zoo (Rosemoore Wildlife Park). The Zoo is run by Kelly Foster (Scarlett Johansson) head zookeeper, Peter, Robin and her cousin Lily (Elle Fanning).They are in need of someone to take charge of the Zoo or it will close forever. With over forty seven animal species, the Zoo is in need of someone with lots of heart and determination to keep it from closing. Although everybody has doubts about Benjamin, even himself, he never gives up. Benjamin and his family are able to start fresh and after an argument here and there among father and son, are able to leave the past behind and look forward to the future.
“We Bought a Zoo” is such a heartwarming true story that will leave you with inspiration. The film is filled with vibrant colors, great cinematography, amazing actors and filled with such inspiration that I would be surprised if it is not in this years Oscar line up. Mat Damon surely delivers in his portrayal of Benjamin Mee. Most children actors don’t go far in the showbiz but great things come in small packages with Magie Elizabeth Jones. At her very young age of seven and her performance in this film I would be surprised if she doesn’t end up being a big star. Elle Fanning and Colin Ford make the perfect young couple and were perfectly paired up as the roles of Colin and Lily and like her sister Dakota Fanning she is becoming a great young actress. I wasn’t very impressed with Scarlett Johansson in this film as she always in my opinion plays the same sort of character in most of her movies with the exception of The Black Widow in the Iron Man films. Though having a somewhat small part in this film, Thomas Haden Church always seems to live up to the characters he portrays especially as Duncan.
This film is one that definitely can not be missed and is a perfect film to kick of the new year. If you love animals and are wanting to see a heartfelt film you will with out a doubt love this film and is definitely Oscar worthy. I left the theater feeling inspired and wanting to help animals that are going extinct. Big cats are disappearing at an alarming rate and with our help we can cause an uproar. To help go to causeanuproar.org to help.
Benjamin Mee (Mat Damon), a widowed father of two young children Dylan (Colin Ford) and Rosie (Magie Elizabeth Jones) are in need of a new start. Benjamin’s brother Duncan (Thomas Haden Church) has always provided Benjamin with useless and impractical advice. Only this time he strikes the nail on the head by telling his brother that he has to start over. He teams up with Mr. Stevens (J.B Smoove), a first time real estate agent and his daughter Rosie to find the perfect home to start there new future. When they come across the perfect house it comes with some big responsibilities. The Mee family have just become the new owners of a struggling Zoo (Rosemoore Wildlife Park). The Zoo is run by Kelly Foster (Scarlett Johansson) head zookeeper, Peter, Robin and her cousin Lily (Elle Fanning).They are in need of someone to take charge of the Zoo or it will close forever. With over forty seven animal species, the Zoo is in need of someone with lots of heart and determination to keep it from closing. Although everybody has doubts about Benjamin, even himself, he never gives up. Benjamin and his family are able to start fresh and after an argument here and there among father and son, are able to leave the past behind and look forward to the future.
“We Bought a Zoo” is such a heartwarming true story that will leave you with inspiration. The film is filled with vibrant colors, great cinematography, amazing actors and filled with such inspiration that I would be surprised if it is not in this years Oscar line up. Mat Damon surely delivers in his portrayal of Benjamin Mee. Most children actors don’t go far in the showbiz but great things come in small packages with Magie Elizabeth Jones. At her very young age of seven and her performance in this film I would be surprised if she doesn’t end up being a big star. Elle Fanning and Colin Ford make the perfect young couple and were perfectly paired up as the roles of Colin and Lily and like her sister Dakota Fanning she is becoming a great young actress. I wasn’t very impressed with Scarlett Johansson in this film as she always in my opinion plays the same sort of character in most of her movies with the exception of The Black Widow in the Iron Man films. Though having a somewhat small part in this film, Thomas Haden Church always seems to live up to the characters he portrays especially as Duncan.
This film is one that definitely can not be missed and is a perfect film to kick of the new year. If you love animals and are wanting to see a heartfelt film you will with out a doubt love this film and is definitely Oscar worthy. I left the theater feeling inspired and wanting to help animals that are going extinct. Big cats are disappearing at an alarming rate and with our help we can cause an uproar. To help go to causeanuproar.org to help.
HLD (99 KP) rated The Alienist - Season 1 in TV
Aug 22, 2018 (Updated Aug 22, 2018)
Superb scenery (2 more)
I imagine a close representation of the time period
Character development is slight in some of the main cast, but it is there
Dakota Fanning never smiles. Not once (1 more)
For all the terrible things that happen, I don't feel, as a viewer, the terrible people got what they deserved
Engaging and thrilling
Much like 'Hannibal', or 'Mindhunter', this show attempts to put our protagonist in the mind of the monster he is hunting. Although it takes him a while to realise that is indeed what he is doing.
This is in interesting idea for a show. Before Psychology was a respected field of medicine, you have alienists. Essentially doing the same job, but categorised differently.
Every character appears to have demons of their own. By the end of the season, they confront those demons simply by talking about them aloud to another person.
Also, was paedophilia as accepted 118 years ago as this show portrays? Is it merely an exaggeration of some historical accounts? Who knows, but it definitely created an unhealthy dynamic within society.
Everyone cares so much about the murders of these young men, but nobody cares about the children living on the streets. Or the people having sex with them.
The filming of the show does out-perform some of the acting, but the scenery added to the storylines that occur are sure to keep you entertained until episode ten.
This is in interesting idea for a show. Before Psychology was a respected field of medicine, you have alienists. Essentially doing the same job, but categorised differently.
Every character appears to have demons of their own. By the end of the season, they confront those demons simply by talking about them aloud to another person.
Also, was paedophilia as accepted 118 years ago as this show portrays? Is it merely an exaggeration of some historical accounts? Who knows, but it definitely created an unhealthy dynamic within society.
Everyone cares so much about the murders of these young men, but nobody cares about the children living on the streets. Or the people having sex with them.
The filming of the show does out-perform some of the acting, but the scenery added to the storylines that occur are sure to keep you entertained until episode ten.
Lee (2222 KP) rated Bad Times at the El Royale (2018) in Movies
Oct 16, 2018 (Updated Oct 16, 2018)
Nice mystery thriller
The El Royale is a bi-state establishment. A painted red line runs straight through the centre of the car park and right through the centre of reception, leading to a jukebox. One half of this hotel lies in Nevada, the other half in California. The rooms on the California side are a little more expensive because.... well, because it's California!
A number of guests arrive in reception - Jon Hamm is a vacuum cleaner salesmen, keen to stay in the honeymoon suite, Jeff Bridges is a priest and Cynthia Erivo a singer. They chat a while as they wait for somebody to return to the reception desk so that they can check in. And then another woman arrives, played by Dakota Fanning. She's not so chatty.
They all head off to their rooms and begin behaving in very different and mysterious ways. One is taking the room apart, removing microphones and phone taps, another is lifting up floorboards, another is singing into the mirror while another is bringing in a body from the boot of a car.
There's not a lot else that can be said without giving things away but much of the movie is spent exploring each of these characters and what they're all up to. We go back in time days, even years, exploring their past a little and discovering what brought them all to the El Royale. Stories within the hotel overlap and affect each other, with twists and turns revealing different motives for various people. It's all very mysterious, very well executed and very enjoyable.
Where I felt the movie falters is in the latter third, with the introduction of Chris Hemsworth. I didn't really buy into his character at all and that's when the pacing, the mystery and the enjoyment fell apart somewhat for me. It picks up with a couple more twists and surprises towards the but at 141 minutes, I feel the movie could have easily benefited from losing 20-30 minutes from its run time. Overall though, this was an enjoyable bit of fun.
A number of guests arrive in reception - Jon Hamm is a vacuum cleaner salesmen, keen to stay in the honeymoon suite, Jeff Bridges is a priest and Cynthia Erivo a singer. They chat a while as they wait for somebody to return to the reception desk so that they can check in. And then another woman arrives, played by Dakota Fanning. She's not so chatty.
They all head off to their rooms and begin behaving in very different and mysterious ways. One is taking the room apart, removing microphones and phone taps, another is lifting up floorboards, another is singing into the mirror while another is bringing in a body from the boot of a car.
There's not a lot else that can be said without giving things away but much of the movie is spent exploring each of these characters and what they're all up to. We go back in time days, even years, exploring their past a little and discovering what brought them all to the El Royale. Stories within the hotel overlap and affect each other, with twists and turns revealing different motives for various people. It's all very mysterious, very well executed and very enjoyable.
Where I felt the movie falters is in the latter third, with the introduction of Chris Hemsworth. I didn't really buy into his character at all and that's when the pacing, the mystery and the enjoyment fell apart somewhat for me. It picks up with a couple more twists and surprises towards the but at 141 minutes, I feel the movie could have easily benefited from losing 20-30 minutes from its run time. Overall though, this was an enjoyable bit of fun.
Andy K (10821 KP) rated Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) in Movies
Aug 14, 2019
I didn't think my face could smile for 2 hours and 41 minutes straight!
Guess what? I ventured out on my day off and went to the theatre for the first time in 2019! (I'm such a loser!)
There are so many QT fans out there and probably just as many who think his films are trashy and pointless. As a true film fan, I can't not love not only his unique approach to film-making, but also his appreciation for the art of film and the constant homages he pays to film of year's past.
The first thing to talk about is the film's perfect tone and look of 1969. The costumes, hairstyles and music of the period was right on, but even more than that was the art direction and cinematography. Almost every scene has a vintage movie poster, retro theatre marquee or period television pram playing in the background. This helps you immerse yourself in this cinematic landscape almost immediately.
Can I also say the movie had opening credits! (Bring them back please !?!)
Basically, a Hollywood television/B movie actor and his personal stuntman navigate their Hollywood lifestyles in 1969 amidst the Playboy Mansion and the Charles Manson cult. The roller coaster goes from movie sets to retro Hollywood and everywhere in between. We also meet Sharon Tate. She loves her world of budding stardom and basks in the opportunity to be famous.
QT takes his usual liberties with historical facts, but can't say too much more than that here. If you are used to this in his other films like Inglorious Basterds, it won't bother you here either. He always seems to manage to make every actor look great and brings the best out of them and this film is no exception. Even actors with smaller roles like Al Pacino, Dakota Fanning and Luke Perry shine in their limited screen time.
As usual, his score was playing constantly throughout the film and complemented the situations remarkably well. I am sure I will be downloading some of them for myself later on.
QT has talked about retiring which would be a shame. I have pretty much loved everything he has ever done so losing a truly one of a kind cinematic voice such as his at such a young age would be truly heartbreaking.
There are so many QT fans out there and probably just as many who think his films are trashy and pointless. As a true film fan, I can't not love not only his unique approach to film-making, but also his appreciation for the art of film and the constant homages he pays to film of year's past.
The first thing to talk about is the film's perfect tone and look of 1969. The costumes, hairstyles and music of the period was right on, but even more than that was the art direction and cinematography. Almost every scene has a vintage movie poster, retro theatre marquee or period television pram playing in the background. This helps you immerse yourself in this cinematic landscape almost immediately.
Can I also say the movie had opening credits! (Bring them back please !?!)
Basically, a Hollywood television/B movie actor and his personal stuntman navigate their Hollywood lifestyles in 1969 amidst the Playboy Mansion and the Charles Manson cult. The roller coaster goes from movie sets to retro Hollywood and everywhere in between. We also meet Sharon Tate. She loves her world of budding stardom and basks in the opportunity to be famous.
QT takes his usual liberties with historical facts, but can't say too much more than that here. If you are used to this in his other films like Inglorious Basterds, it won't bother you here either. He always seems to manage to make every actor look great and brings the best out of them and this film is no exception. Even actors with smaller roles like Al Pacino, Dakota Fanning and Luke Perry shine in their limited screen time.
As usual, his score was playing constantly throughout the film and complemented the situations remarkably well. I am sure I will be downloading some of them for myself later on.
QT has talked about retiring which would be a shame. I have pretty much loved everything he has ever done so losing a truly one of a kind cinematic voice such as his at such a young age would be truly heartbreaking.
