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The Rainmaker (1997)
The Rainmaker (1997)
1997 | Drama, Mystery
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
As a CJUS major and a future lawyer, this movie made me nerd out. Obviously, Matt Damon is a hottie and the film is worth watching for him alone, but Danny DeVito and Jon Voight too? This cast is phenomenal. The story was so good too! Johnny Whitworth's performance, though short, was super incredible, heartbreaking, and solid. He roped you in so well and just made you feel for him - even though it wasn't that hard.

I could watch this a million times over and even though there were definitely mistakes (the legal ones), it was worth overlooking and still an enjoyable film, no doubt.
  
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)
2016 | Fantasy
Great acting (1 more)
Wonderful special effects
An adult version of Harry Potter
I have a soft spot for the Harry Potter series, a guilty pleasure. So I was hugely elated when this film came out. And more than anything, it felt like a grown-up version of the HP series, which is perfect timing for all the now adults who grew up with these films. It's beautiful in terms of CGI and graphics, especially the world of the fantastic beasts, and the abuse is much more graphic. The acting is by far on another level with Eddie Redmayne, Jon Voight, and Colin Farrell and the story is engaging. Looking forward to the next instalment!
  
Transformers (2007)
Transformers (2007)
2007 | Action, Sci-Fi
It came as a complete shock to me that I LOVED this movie! Granted, I would consider myself to be a Michael Bay fan, but certainly not a Transformers fan. Yes, I played with toys as a kid and the concept is good, but I never really bought into the TV shoes etc… But there’s very little wrong with this film.

Great script, dialogue, action, music and pacing. I now some may scoff at my great dialogue line, but the core to this films’ success is the fact that it knows exactly what it is. It’s an action blockbuster about living alien robots that transform in to various vehicles … How seriously can you take this concept??? But it manages to take it seriously enough to draw in the audience and keep our attention for almost 2 and half hours.

My only two quibbles with this movie are Jon Voight, always a problem in my opinion, and that Australian chick and the fat black guy. The most irritating comic relief ever…? Possibly…
  
Mission: Impossible (1996)
Mission: Impossible (1996)
1996 | Action, Mystery
Exploding Bubble Gum: The Start
Mission: Impossible- you cant have the month of "Tom Cruise" without this film franchise. This one started it all, the one with exploding bumble gun, the one with the close call, the one with a different face mask. The one that intudces Ethan Hunt and Luther Stickell. Such a excellent film, and franchise as a whole. Personally my favorite is the 3rd one, but i get to that eventually. For now lets start at the beginning.

The Plot: When U.S. government operative Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his mentor, Jim Phelps (Jon Voight), go on a covert assignment that takes a disastrous turn, Jim is killed, and Ethan becomes the prime murder suspect. Now a fugitive, Hunt recruits brilliant hacker Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) and maverick pilot Franz Krieger (Jean Reno) to help him sneak into a heavily guarded CIA building to retrieve a confidential computer file that will prove his innocence.

Like i said before a excellent film, a excellent start for a excellent franchise.
  
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Taika Waititi recommended Coming Home (1978) in Movies (curated)

 
Coming Home (1978)
Coming Home (1978)
1978 | Drama, Romance, War

"Another one’s Coming Home, by Hal Ashby. I mean, I love all of his films — if there’s any filmmaker I would love to be, it would be him. It’s just an amazing film. You think about something like Harold and Maude, which is to me one of the most flawless films there is. There’s always the great films, like Harold and Maude, sure; but then there’s ones that people kind of forget about, you know, or they sort of get swept to the side a little — and I think Coming Home is one of those films. Even The Last Detail is one of those films. But Coming Home: amazing performances, it’s about something, amazing emotional stuff, and it’s just about people — people trying to connect. There’s a simplicity to it, but it’s really engaging the entire time. Waldo Salt wrote the script. I saw a documentary on him. I think just knowing how a film’s made makes me love it as well. He wrote a 200-, 300-page script for this thing, and went and talked to vets and recorded them for like a year. Jon Voight went and lived with paraplegics and war vets who had been injured and stayed in his wheelchair the entire time. It was just a good commitment to making a film, you know, whereas these days it’s like, “I’ll get my double to do it.” I feel like that was made at a time when people still had passion."

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Ali (2001)
Ali (2001)
2001 | Drama
Needed more...
Contains spoilers, click to show
I used to have this in my collection but passed it on few years ago. It's not a bad film by any means but to put it simply, it is preaching to the converted, the fans of Mohammed Ali, and those who are old enough to remember him at his prime. I am neither.

This was a biopic that simply didn't offer enough information for the indoctrinated to take in, instead focusing, and very well, on the atmosphere and nuance of the day. The key events of his career are played out as the political unrest of the 60′s, and the race movement unfold.

But in the end, this is an actors film, and for that I might call it flawless. Will Smith as the titular Ali, is pitch perfect, as he proves once and for all that his can be a great actor, and the transformation of Jon Voight into Howard Cosell, is suburb. Mann is a top flight director in my book, able to convey nuanced situations and craft his films in a style unto his own, but sometimes, I feel a little short-changed, as I do here.

I wanted to learn about a man and a fighter from an era that I wasn't born into and was only given so much. But on the other hand, for those who were there, who do know him, the response has been very favourable.

A good film for those who know and half a film for those who are not so lucky.