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Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (1997)
7.0
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Movie
Astonished to find the Beast has a deep-seeded hatred for the Christmas season, Belle endeavors to...
The Magnificent Seven (2016)
7.4
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Movie
Star spangled re-make of the original guns for hire western. Denzel takes the lead and rounds up his...
The Girl on the Train (2016)
6.8
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Movie Watch
Commuter Rachel Watson (Emily Blunt) catches daily glimpses of a seemingly perfect couple, Scott and...
The Equalizer (2014)
7.8
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Movie Watch
McCall (Denzel Washington) has put his mysterious past behind him and is dedicated to living a new,...
Russ Troutt (291 KP) rated The Devil All the Time (2020) in Movies
Sep 23, 2020
Brothers and sisters, let me preach to ya for just a moment, and give praise to The Devil All The Time. I haven't read the good book, that the screenplay is based off of, but I can tell you the movie is great; one of my favorites I have been able to bear witness to this year. Amazing perfromances from the killer cast of Tom Holland, Bill Skarsgard, Haley Bennett, Kristin Griffith, Jason Clarke, Riley Keough, Robert Pattinson, Sebastian Stan, and many more. There may be a lot of no-good sons of bitches out there in this world, but I can tell you who's not not one of them and that's Antonio Campos, the director of The Devil All The Time. He photographed one helluva movie and I cannot wait to see more of his work.
LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Swallow (2019) in Movies
Jan 13, 2021 (Updated Jan 13, 2021)
To be fair, I'd rather swallow a screwdriver than hang out with rich white people too. Gorgeous, nasty, and mean - but never disrespectful. Medically accurate? Perhaps not, but these seldom ever are anyhow so what can you do? In fact I found this to be much more compelling and satisfying as a depiction of obnoxious old-money business whities having their perfect little synthetic image destroyed by people who refuse to shape themselves around it than a portrait of pica. As everyone has already pointed out, Austin Stowell and in particular Haley Bennett are just astounding - easily not only her best performance to date, but the type of galvanizing role that should propel her star-power vastly beyond just Jennifer Lawrence comparisons considering that this is way better work than anything J-Law has done in years anyhow (excluding đźđ°đ”đ©đŠđł! [I'm a simp for stupid, manic arthouse cinema I know you don't have to tell me]). Deeply, deeply, *deeply* unsettling - can pleasantly report that its reputation is as airtight as claimed. Super messy but I think that gives it more character tbh, and what an excellent use of music. A bit too on-the-nose at times but also the type of movie that's destined to be misinterpreted by morons everywhere.
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Hillbilly Elegy (2020) in Movies
Apr 14, 2021
Decent - with 3 strong female performances
Glenn Close is one of the most lauded Actresses of our time and her current streak of 7 Academy Award nominations without a win is a record. It would be ironic, indeed, if she would win her first Oscar with this, her 8th Oscar nomination, this time as Best Supporting Actress in HILLBILLY ELEGY.
Written by Vanessa Taylor and based on the book (and true story) by J.D. Vance, HILLBILLY ELEGY tells the tale of J.D. (naturally enough), who overcomes his impoverished roots and dysfunctional family background to become a star Law Student at Yale.
Gabriel Basso plays J.D. as the Law Student and he is just not charismatic enough to shine in this role especially as he goes up against 3 talented actresses that have PLENTY to sink their considerable acting chops into.
Close plays âMamawâ, the grandmother of the clan. She is a no-nonsense, pragmatic matriarch that lives and breathes (through cigarette clogged lungs) âFamily Firstâ. Itâs an interesting and strong performance by Close, but she does teeter into âGranny Clampettâ territory at times for me. Itâs a good performanceâŠbut the one that will finally get Close her Oscar? I donât think so.
Amy Adams steals the movie as J.D.âs mother (and Mamawâs daughter), Bev. She is (as we say in these parts) âa whole thingâ. Her Bev is self-centered, clawing, desperate and constantly wondering why the world doesnât give her the things that she is deserved. Nothing is EVER her fault and if you donât believe me, just ask her. Adamsâ performance is the strongest in this film and she never crosses the line into caricature.
One last moment of credit needs to be given to Haley Bennett as J.D.âs sister Lindsay, who is often the one stuck taking care of their Mother. When I first saw Bennett a few years back in 2016 in back to back strong performances in THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN and THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, I thought we were watching the emergence of a star. Itâs good to see her on the screen again.
Credit for these performances must go the unlikely person helming this film, good olâ, reliable Ron Howard whoâs workmanlike Directorial instincts and style lends itself very well to this, often told, type of story. Itâs nothing flashy, but gets the job done.
And that pretty much sums up my feelings towards this film ânothing flashy, but gets the job doneâ, not the greatest film to come out in 2020 - but it is layered with 3 strong female performances by Adams, Bennett and Close so that makes this film one good enough to check out.
Letter Grade: B-
6 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
Written by Vanessa Taylor and based on the book (and true story) by J.D. Vance, HILLBILLY ELEGY tells the tale of J.D. (naturally enough), who overcomes his impoverished roots and dysfunctional family background to become a star Law Student at Yale.
Gabriel Basso plays J.D. as the Law Student and he is just not charismatic enough to shine in this role especially as he goes up against 3 talented actresses that have PLENTY to sink their considerable acting chops into.
Close plays âMamawâ, the grandmother of the clan. She is a no-nonsense, pragmatic matriarch that lives and breathes (through cigarette clogged lungs) âFamily Firstâ. Itâs an interesting and strong performance by Close, but she does teeter into âGranny Clampettâ territory at times for me. Itâs a good performanceâŠbut the one that will finally get Close her Oscar? I donât think so.
Amy Adams steals the movie as J.D.âs mother (and Mamawâs daughter), Bev. She is (as we say in these parts) âa whole thingâ. Her Bev is self-centered, clawing, desperate and constantly wondering why the world doesnât give her the things that she is deserved. Nothing is EVER her fault and if you donât believe me, just ask her. Adamsâ performance is the strongest in this film and she never crosses the line into caricature.
One last moment of credit needs to be given to Haley Bennett as J.D.âs sister Lindsay, who is often the one stuck taking care of their Mother. When I first saw Bennett a few years back in 2016 in back to back strong performances in THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN and THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, I thought we were watching the emergence of a star. Itâs good to see her on the screen again.
Credit for these performances must go the unlikely person helming this film, good olâ, reliable Ron Howard whoâs workmanlike Directorial instincts and style lends itself very well to this, often told, type of story. Itâs nothing flashy, but gets the job done.
And that pretty much sums up my feelings towards this film ânothing flashy, but gets the job doneâ, not the greatest film to come out in 2020 - but it is layered with 3 strong female performances by Adams, Bennett and Close so that makes this film one good enough to check out.
Letter Grade: B-
6 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
Gareth von Kallenbach (965 KP) rated Hardcore Henry (2016) in Movies
Aug 6, 2019 (Updated Aug 6, 2019)
Hardcore Henry is unlike anything weâve ever seen on film before. Its fast, action packed, gratuitous and downright fun. The story is simple. The avatar character Aken wakes up and doesnât quite know what is going on.
He sees a friendly face (Haley Bennett) and everything seems to be fine. Until unexpectedly all hell breaks loose. Now he is on a constant fast paced run for his life from one point to anther being led by Jimmy (Sharlto Copley) presumably someone who understand what is going on.
The film is shown through us entirely in the first person perspective of Aken. There is no steady cam work which may cause some to become a little nauseated. I am someone who has gotten motion sickness from a lack of steady cam in movies before, however the film has a fisheye lenses style which breaks the ârealismâ view just enough to cause the constant first person motion to become tolerable and less nauseating. I did not get sick at all and neither did two other friends who watched the film as well. So if that is your concern, give the film a chance as it may not be as bad as you think.
In the end, Hardcore Henry isnât something for everyone. I would not recommend this to my mom. And I would not equate this to a first person shooter videogame like most others are. If you were to compare this film to a videogame, it feels more like playing Mirrors Edge than a first person shooter. Still, if you are looking for a fun, action packed, fast paced experience that has better plot points than Batman vs Superman, then give Hardcore Henry a shot. You have never experienced something quite like this before.
He sees a friendly face (Haley Bennett) and everything seems to be fine. Until unexpectedly all hell breaks loose. Now he is on a constant fast paced run for his life from one point to anther being led by Jimmy (Sharlto Copley) presumably someone who understand what is going on.
The film is shown through us entirely in the first person perspective of Aken. There is no steady cam work which may cause some to become a little nauseated. I am someone who has gotten motion sickness from a lack of steady cam in movies before, however the film has a fisheye lenses style which breaks the ârealismâ view just enough to cause the constant first person motion to become tolerable and less nauseating. I did not get sick at all and neither did two other friends who watched the film as well. So if that is your concern, give the film a chance as it may not be as bad as you think.
In the end, Hardcore Henry isnât something for everyone. I would not recommend this to my mom. And I would not equate this to a first person shooter videogame like most others are. If you were to compare this film to a videogame, it feels more like playing Mirrors Edge than a first person shooter. Still, if you are looking for a fun, action packed, fast paced experience that has better plot points than Batman vs Superman, then give Hardcore Henry a shot. You have never experienced something quite like this before.
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated The Girl on the Train (2016) in Movies
Sep 29, 2021
You wonât uncork a bottle of Malbec again without thinking of this filmâŠ
âThe Girl on a Trainâ is the film adaptation of the best-seller by Paula Hawkins, transported from the London suburbs to New Yorkâs Hastings-on-Hudson.
Itâs actually rather a sordid story encompassing as it does alcoholism, murder, marital strife, deceit, sexual frustration, an historical tragedy and lashings and lashings of violence. Emily Blunt (âSicarioâ, âEdge of Tomorrowâ) plays Rachel, a divorcee with an alcohol problem who escapes into an obsessive fantasy each day as she passes her former neighbourhood on her commute into the city. Ex-husband Tom (Justin Theroux, âZoolander 2â) lives in her old house with his second wife Anna (Rebecca âMI:5â Ferguson) and new baby Evie. But her real fantasy rests with cheerleader-style young neighbour Megan (Haley Bennett) who is actually locked in a frustratingly child-free marriage (frustrating for him at least) with the controlling and unpredictable Scott (Luke Evans, âThe Hobbitâ). A sixth party in this complex network is Meganâs psychiatrist Dr Kamal Abdic (Ădgar RamĂrez, âJoyâ).
In pure Hitchcockian style Megan witnesses mere glimpses of events from her twice-daily train and from these pieces together stories that suitably feed her psychosis. When âshit gets realâ and a key character goes missing, Megan surfaces her suspicions and obsessions to the police investigation (led by Detective Riley, the ever-excellent Allison Janney from âThe West Wingâ) and promptly makes herself suspect number one.
Readers of the book will already be aware of the twists and turns of the story, so will watch the film from a different perspective than I did. (Despite my best intentions I never managed to read the book first).
First up, you would have to say that Emily Bluntâs performance is outstanding in an extremely challenging acting role. Every nuance of shame, confusion, grief, fear, doubt and anger is beautifully enacted: it would not be a surprise to see her gain her first Oscar nomination for this. All the other lead roles are also delivered with great professionalism, with Haley Bennett (a busy month for her, with âThe Magnificent Sevenâ also out) being impressive and Rebecca Ferguson, one of my favourite current actresses, delivering another measured and delicate performance.
Girl on a Train, The
Rebecca Ferguson as Anna â âthere were three of us in this marriage so it was a bit crowdedâ
The supporting roles are also effective, with Darren Goldstein as the somewhat creepy âman in the suitâ and âFriendsâ star Lisa Kudrow popping up in an effective and pivotal role. The Screen Guild Awards have an excellent category for an Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture, and it feels appropriate to nominate this cast for that award.
So itâs a blockbuster book with a rollercoaster story and a stellar cast, so what could go wrong? Well, something for sure. This is a case in point where I suspect it is easier to slowly peel back Rachelâs lost memory with pages and imagination than it is with dodgy fuzzy images on a big screen. Although the film comes in at only 112 minutes, the pacing in places is too slow (the screenplay by Erin Cressida Wilson takes its time) and director Tate Taylor (âThe Helpâ) is no Hitchcock, or indeed a David Fincher (since the film has strong similarities to last yearâs âGone Girlâ: when the action does happen it lacks style, with the violence being on the brutal side and leaving little to the imagination.
Itâs by no means a bad film, and worth seeing for the acting performances alone. But itâs not a film I think that will trouble my top 10 for the year.
Itâs actually rather a sordid story encompassing as it does alcoholism, murder, marital strife, deceit, sexual frustration, an historical tragedy and lashings and lashings of violence. Emily Blunt (âSicarioâ, âEdge of Tomorrowâ) plays Rachel, a divorcee with an alcohol problem who escapes into an obsessive fantasy each day as she passes her former neighbourhood on her commute into the city. Ex-husband Tom (Justin Theroux, âZoolander 2â) lives in her old house with his second wife Anna (Rebecca âMI:5â Ferguson) and new baby Evie. But her real fantasy rests with cheerleader-style young neighbour Megan (Haley Bennett) who is actually locked in a frustratingly child-free marriage (frustrating for him at least) with the controlling and unpredictable Scott (Luke Evans, âThe Hobbitâ). A sixth party in this complex network is Meganâs psychiatrist Dr Kamal Abdic (Ădgar RamĂrez, âJoyâ).
In pure Hitchcockian style Megan witnesses mere glimpses of events from her twice-daily train and from these pieces together stories that suitably feed her psychosis. When âshit gets realâ and a key character goes missing, Megan surfaces her suspicions and obsessions to the police investigation (led by Detective Riley, the ever-excellent Allison Janney from âThe West Wingâ) and promptly makes herself suspect number one.
Readers of the book will already be aware of the twists and turns of the story, so will watch the film from a different perspective than I did. (Despite my best intentions I never managed to read the book first).
First up, you would have to say that Emily Bluntâs performance is outstanding in an extremely challenging acting role. Every nuance of shame, confusion, grief, fear, doubt and anger is beautifully enacted: it would not be a surprise to see her gain her first Oscar nomination for this. All the other lead roles are also delivered with great professionalism, with Haley Bennett (a busy month for her, with âThe Magnificent Sevenâ also out) being impressive and Rebecca Ferguson, one of my favourite current actresses, delivering another measured and delicate performance.
Girl on a Train, The
Rebecca Ferguson as Anna â âthere were three of us in this marriage so it was a bit crowdedâ
The supporting roles are also effective, with Darren Goldstein as the somewhat creepy âman in the suitâ and âFriendsâ star Lisa Kudrow popping up in an effective and pivotal role. The Screen Guild Awards have an excellent category for an Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture, and it feels appropriate to nominate this cast for that award.
So itâs a blockbuster book with a rollercoaster story and a stellar cast, so what could go wrong? Well, something for sure. This is a case in point where I suspect it is easier to slowly peel back Rachelâs lost memory with pages and imagination than it is with dodgy fuzzy images on a big screen. Although the film comes in at only 112 minutes, the pacing in places is too slow (the screenplay by Erin Cressida Wilson takes its time) and director Tate Taylor (âThe Helpâ) is no Hitchcock, or indeed a David Fincher (since the film has strong similarities to last yearâs âGone Girlâ: when the action does happen it lacks style, with the violence being on the brutal side and leaving little to the imagination.
Itâs by no means a bad film, and worth seeing for the acting performances alone. But itâs not a film I think that will trouble my top 10 for the year.
Darren (1599 KP) rated The Red Sea Diving Resort (2019) in Movies
Aug 6, 2019
Story: The Red Sea Diving Resort starts as Ari (Evans) an American Ari (Evans) working for the Israel Mossad agents rescues refugees from Ethiopia with his latest mission seeing Kabede (Williams) rescued. Ari does become grounded, but isnât willing to let more innocent people murder, he comes up with an idea that could see thousands rescued.
Ari puts together a team including Rachel Reiter (Bennett), Jake (Huisman), Max (Hassell) and Sammy (Nivola) with the plan to lease a hotel known as the Red Sea Diving Resort to use it to get refugees out of Africa back to Israel. This is one of the riskiest rescue attempts tried and one that will bring history to life.
Thoughts on The Red Sea Diving Resort
Characters â Ari Levinson is leading an Israeli group of agent, who are trying to rescue Ethiopian refugees by taking them through Sudan, giving them their only hope to make it out alive. He is willing to risk everything to make it happen by taking a mission which will risk their own lives to lead them out to see, remaining calm through the operations which will see them become targets of the local generals. Rachel is one of the team, just by being a woman she is risking even more than the rest, though her language skills are key to the whole operation. Kabede Bimro is the connection with Ari that leads the refugees to him, he becomes one of the most wanted men because of his actions, but will risk everything for his own family. Ethan Levin is the one that tries to control Ari on his mission, he doesnât agree with most of what he does, knowing if he was to get caught it could create an international incident.
Performances â Chris Evans takes his first major role since leaving the role as Captain America, he does show he can handle the serious side of acting even though his character does feel like branch of what Captain America stood for. Haley Bennett is strong throughout, in a world that her character shouldnât feel safe in. Ben Kingsley does what you would expect in his authority role, while Michael Kenneth Williams is the most interesting character though we could have spent more time with his character.
Story â The story here follows an Israeli agent that risked everything to try and rescue as many Ethiopian refugees as he could using a Sudanese hotel as a cover to hide them and move them through to safety despite heavy pressure from the military forces in the country. This is another incredible story of how somebody and their team would do the right thing for the human race that would be left facing a future which would see them killed or forced into slavery if they couldnât get free. It should be seen to highlight the continuing problems in the world along with the incredible work that was done. We are kept waiting to see how many will get rescued and how they will overcome the obstacles placed in their way, though it would be fair it wouldnât be a story if they had failed.
History â This is a moment in history which showed a country reaching out to help in secret when another country would rather butcher their own people.
Settings â The film creates the realistic settings that only make this feel like we are part of the era it is set in, we see how much was being risked in what could be considered a calm location of a hotel.
Scene of the Movie â Runway.
That Moment That Annoyed Me â The fact that his behaviour actually still happens in the world.
Final Thoughts â This is a highlight on just what was risked to save thousands of stranded refugees, it has top class acting and shows that we can achieve great things if we worked together.
Overall: Brilliant look at bravery.
Ari puts together a team including Rachel Reiter (Bennett), Jake (Huisman), Max (Hassell) and Sammy (Nivola) with the plan to lease a hotel known as the Red Sea Diving Resort to use it to get refugees out of Africa back to Israel. This is one of the riskiest rescue attempts tried and one that will bring history to life.
Thoughts on The Red Sea Diving Resort
Characters â Ari Levinson is leading an Israeli group of agent, who are trying to rescue Ethiopian refugees by taking them through Sudan, giving them their only hope to make it out alive. He is willing to risk everything to make it happen by taking a mission which will risk their own lives to lead them out to see, remaining calm through the operations which will see them become targets of the local generals. Rachel is one of the team, just by being a woman she is risking even more than the rest, though her language skills are key to the whole operation. Kabede Bimro is the connection with Ari that leads the refugees to him, he becomes one of the most wanted men because of his actions, but will risk everything for his own family. Ethan Levin is the one that tries to control Ari on his mission, he doesnât agree with most of what he does, knowing if he was to get caught it could create an international incident.
Performances â Chris Evans takes his first major role since leaving the role as Captain America, he does show he can handle the serious side of acting even though his character does feel like branch of what Captain America stood for. Haley Bennett is strong throughout, in a world that her character shouldnât feel safe in. Ben Kingsley does what you would expect in his authority role, while Michael Kenneth Williams is the most interesting character though we could have spent more time with his character.
Story â The story here follows an Israeli agent that risked everything to try and rescue as many Ethiopian refugees as he could using a Sudanese hotel as a cover to hide them and move them through to safety despite heavy pressure from the military forces in the country. This is another incredible story of how somebody and their team would do the right thing for the human race that would be left facing a future which would see them killed or forced into slavery if they couldnât get free. It should be seen to highlight the continuing problems in the world along with the incredible work that was done. We are kept waiting to see how many will get rescued and how they will overcome the obstacles placed in their way, though it would be fair it wouldnât be a story if they had failed.
History â This is a moment in history which showed a country reaching out to help in secret when another country would rather butcher their own people.
Settings â The film creates the realistic settings that only make this feel like we are part of the era it is set in, we see how much was being risked in what could be considered a calm location of a hotel.
Scene of the Movie â Runway.
That Moment That Annoyed Me â The fact that his behaviour actually still happens in the world.
Final Thoughts â This is a highlight on just what was risked to save thousands of stranded refugees, it has top class acting and shows that we can achieve great things if we worked together.
Overall: Brilliant look at bravery.