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Sarah (7800 KP) rated Ford v Ferrari (aka Le Mans '66) (2019) in Movies
Nov 26, 2019
Great watch
I've always been a bit of a car person (or at least I like driving fast...) and it was watching Rush at the cinema back in 2013 that really got me into racing films, and is also probably to blame for my F1 interests. Le Mans '66 appealed to me exactly for these reasons and it really is a great film, and not just for the racing.
The main appeal of this film is the relationship between Bale and Damon's characters. These two work so well together and it really pays off on screen. They're funny, heartwarming and serious and you really want to spend the whole 2.5 hours watching them. This isn't just a racing film after all, it's about the relationship between Miles and Shelby. There's a great supporting cast too, although I did think Josh Lucas was a little too slimy and Jon Bernthal was hugely underused. But this is mainly the Bale and Damon show and rightly so.
The film itself looks great and fits in with the era it's set, and the racing scenes are so well done and considering you're just staring at Christian Bale's face most of the time, the races are still surprisingly exciting and thrilling. I do think the 2.5 hour run time is a little long, and there are a few (admittedly brief) occasions in the middle where this does drag just a little, mostly when Bale and Damon aren't on screen together. There's also Bale's questionable accent, which seems a little too put on and not quiet natural.
Despite these few niggles though, this is a very enjoyable, excellent film with some potentially Oscar worthy performances. I knew nothing about the true story behind this, so for me this was also hugely informative. The only problem is that it made me want to drive like a racing driver on my way home, which isn't good for either my car or my license...
The main appeal of this film is the relationship between Bale and Damon's characters. These two work so well together and it really pays off on screen. They're funny, heartwarming and serious and you really want to spend the whole 2.5 hours watching them. This isn't just a racing film after all, it's about the relationship between Miles and Shelby. There's a great supporting cast too, although I did think Josh Lucas was a little too slimy and Jon Bernthal was hugely underused. But this is mainly the Bale and Damon show and rightly so.
The film itself looks great and fits in with the era it's set, and the racing scenes are so well done and considering you're just staring at Christian Bale's face most of the time, the races are still surprisingly exciting and thrilling. I do think the 2.5 hour run time is a little long, and there are a few (admittedly brief) occasions in the middle where this does drag just a little, mostly when Bale and Damon aren't on screen together. There's also Bale's questionable accent, which seems a little too put on and not quiet natural.
Despite these few niggles though, this is a very enjoyable, excellent film with some potentially Oscar worthy performances. I knew nothing about the true story behind this, so for me this was also hugely informative. The only problem is that it made me want to drive like a racing driver on my way home, which isn't good for either my car or my license...
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Get Out (2017) in Movies
Feb 3, 2020
Psychologcally Disburing
Jordan Peele goes from comedy to horror, as his directorial debut, he does a excellent/fantasic/phenomenal job. Going from one genre to anethor is hard, but Jordan Peele did the impossible, and he successed, all expectations. This film is psycologically twisted, horrorfyng, suspenseful and thrilling till the very end.
So this movie does have a theme, This disturbing film ... is really about how white America has mastered its relationship with black America. Within all of the interracial tension is the white American’s strange envy of the grim determination, melancholy humor, and creative strength of the black race. ... But Peele’s irony is that white America will continue to do what it does despite these truths, and, sadly, so must black America remain hypnotized.
The film also depicts the lack of attention on missing black Americans compared to missing white females. Slate's Damon Young stated the film's premise was "depressingly plausible ... Although black people only comprise 13 percent of America's population, they are 34 percent of America's missing, a reality that exists as the result of a mélange of racial and socioeconomic factors rendering black lives demonstratively less valuable than the lives [of] our white counterparts.
Peele does a excellent of this theme, of the world that we live in today and his views on it.
The Plot: Now that Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) and his girlfriend, Rose (Allison Williams), have reached the meet-the-parents milestone of dating, she invites him for a weekend getaway upstate with Missy and Dean. At first, Chris reads the family's overly accommodating behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter's interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to a truth that he never could have imagined.
This film is a must watch, if you havent seen it, than go and see it. Its psycologically twisted, horrorfying, thrilling, suspenseful and overall excellent.
So this movie does have a theme, This disturbing film ... is really about how white America has mastered its relationship with black America. Within all of the interracial tension is the white American’s strange envy of the grim determination, melancholy humor, and creative strength of the black race. ... But Peele’s irony is that white America will continue to do what it does despite these truths, and, sadly, so must black America remain hypnotized.
The film also depicts the lack of attention on missing black Americans compared to missing white females. Slate's Damon Young stated the film's premise was "depressingly plausible ... Although black people only comprise 13 percent of America's population, they are 34 percent of America's missing, a reality that exists as the result of a mélange of racial and socioeconomic factors rendering black lives demonstratively less valuable than the lives [of] our white counterparts.
Peele does a excellent of this theme, of the world that we live in today and his views on it.
The Plot: Now that Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) and his girlfriend, Rose (Allison Williams), have reached the meet-the-parents milestone of dating, she invites him for a weekend getaway upstate with Missy and Dean. At first, Chris reads the family's overly accommodating behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter's interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to a truth that he never could have imagined.
This film is a must watch, if you havent seen it, than go and see it. Its psycologically twisted, horrorfying, thrilling, suspenseful and overall excellent.
JT (287 KP) rated Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes (2014) in Movies
Mar 3, 2020
Exciting action (1 more)
Tension and drama
Enjoyable summer blockbuster
No question that this sequel went straight into my top ten films for 2014. Exceptionally shot with astounding special effects in part thanks to performance capture king Andy Serkis this is a film that delivers.
Ten years on and with the epidemic wiping out most of the world’s population humans are very much becoming the minority species. A small band of immune survivors still hold out hope that there are others out there and look to make contact with anyone who might be listening.
The apes have now settled deep in the San Francisco forests building their own fully functioning civilisation led by chimpanzee Caesar. What makes this film rise above (sorry) the first is much of the attention focuses on the apes and deep-rooted character development.
Caser is supported by fellow performance-capture actor Toby Kebbell who plays Koba. An ape with a chip on his shoulder after years of being tested on. His dislike for the human race is made obvious to his best friend.
Their simmering relationship is one of the highlights of the film as they battle they decide whether to stay hidden in peace or go to war. With James Franco gone (albeit making a cameo via archived footage), the human-ape relationship is centred on Malcolm (Jason Clarke) and Caeser, who are bonded by a begrudging truce for peace.
It’s a film that soaks up tension extremely well. Grand battle sequences are cut between emotional and compelling moments interlocked by a very well written script.
The technical aspects of the film are simply stunning and the large set-pieces make for cataclysmic viewing. Caeser’s army arriving on horseback in a show of force to their human foes is captivating. As is the vertigo wincing finale and attack on the human stronghold.
This is was everything a summer blockbuster should be and is most certainly a template to follow.
Ten years on and with the epidemic wiping out most of the world’s population humans are very much becoming the minority species. A small band of immune survivors still hold out hope that there are others out there and look to make contact with anyone who might be listening.
The apes have now settled deep in the San Francisco forests building their own fully functioning civilisation led by chimpanzee Caesar. What makes this film rise above (sorry) the first is much of the attention focuses on the apes and deep-rooted character development.
Caser is supported by fellow performance-capture actor Toby Kebbell who plays Koba. An ape with a chip on his shoulder after years of being tested on. His dislike for the human race is made obvious to his best friend.
Their simmering relationship is one of the highlights of the film as they battle they decide whether to stay hidden in peace or go to war. With James Franco gone (albeit making a cameo via archived footage), the human-ape relationship is centred on Malcolm (Jason Clarke) and Caeser, who are bonded by a begrudging truce for peace.
It’s a film that soaks up tension extremely well. Grand battle sequences are cut between emotional and compelling moments interlocked by a very well written script.
The technical aspects of the film are simply stunning and the large set-pieces make for cataclysmic viewing. Caeser’s army arriving on horseback in a show of force to their human foes is captivating. As is the vertigo wincing finale and attack on the human stronghold.
This is was everything a summer blockbuster should be and is most certainly a template to follow.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Focus (2015) in Movies
Aug 6, 2019
Focus, a new film starring Will Smith, Rodrigo Santoro, Margot Robbie, and Gerald McRaney seems like it ‘should be’ predictable, but I didn’t find it to be predictable at all.
I only caught one of the tricky story line twists at the last minute, at the very end, and the whole entire movie, I really thought that the leading lady Jess (Margot Robbie) was up to something other than what she was.
The movie overall, after watching it, reminds me a bit of Oceans 11, with twists and turns and surprises and things I just didn’t see coming.
I felt Will Smith as Nicky Spurgeon did a great job, and portrayed his relationship, or the fact that he was bothered by his lack of a relationship with Jess very believably.
The story moves along quickly, flowing well, for the most part. We watch Jess try to con Nicky, and watch him school her on ‘how it’s done’.
This sets the tone for the rest of the show which follows Nickys’ path as a con man and him working with his crew in one job after another.
He is supposed to be the best of the best and we watch him successfully carry off con after con in the first half.
The second half of the movie takes place after a number of years have passed, and more closely details Nicky’s feelings or apparent feelings for Jess.
Without revealing too much, I can only say everything is not as it appears, but the action of what is happening is fast enough that it distracted me from being able to concentrate too hard on what the deceptions might be.
I think this might be Will Smiths ‘comeback movie’ after a series of recent films over the past handful of years with him as a headliner have been really, really bad.
I have already encouraged a handful of friends to see the film when it comes to regular release, and I would gladly see it again.
I would give this movie 4 out of 5 stars.
I only caught one of the tricky story line twists at the last minute, at the very end, and the whole entire movie, I really thought that the leading lady Jess (Margot Robbie) was up to something other than what she was.
The movie overall, after watching it, reminds me a bit of Oceans 11, with twists and turns and surprises and things I just didn’t see coming.
I felt Will Smith as Nicky Spurgeon did a great job, and portrayed his relationship, or the fact that he was bothered by his lack of a relationship with Jess very believably.
The story moves along quickly, flowing well, for the most part. We watch Jess try to con Nicky, and watch him school her on ‘how it’s done’.
This sets the tone for the rest of the show which follows Nickys’ path as a con man and him working with his crew in one job after another.
He is supposed to be the best of the best and we watch him successfully carry off con after con in the first half.
The second half of the movie takes place after a number of years have passed, and more closely details Nicky’s feelings or apparent feelings for Jess.
Without revealing too much, I can only say everything is not as it appears, but the action of what is happening is fast enough that it distracted me from being able to concentrate too hard on what the deceptions might be.
I think this might be Will Smiths ‘comeback movie’ after a series of recent films over the past handful of years with him as a headliner have been really, really bad.
I have already encouraged a handful of friends to see the film when it comes to regular release, and I would gladly see it again.
I would give this movie 4 out of 5 stars.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Red 2 (2013) in Movies
Aug 6, 2019
RED was such a great movie that it was inevitable a sequel would be made. And here we have it, RED 2. In this follow up to the 2010 film, we find Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) and Sarah Ross (Mary-Louise Parker) trying to adjust to life in a relationship. Only this is not your typical relationship. Frank’s goal is to keep Sarah safe, while Sarah just wants to get into the thick of things, which quickly happens as Frank and Marvin Boggs (John Malkovich) are being hunted due to their involvement in an old operation only known as Nightshade.
The humor is quick to come from Malkovich, Parker and Willis who have an incredible chemistry together on screen. We then add in some notables such as the returning characters of Victoria (Helen Mirren) and Ivan Simonov (Brian Cox), and more with new characters such as Katja (Catherine ZetaJones), Bailey (Anthony Hopkins) and the brilliant performance of Byung-hun Lee as Han Cho Bai. This movie is cooking from start to finish.
There is a lot that is recycled from the first movie, including a new twist on the famous scene where Willis steps out of the moving car smooth as butter. But the great thing about this movie is it doesn’t take itself too seriously. The film makers did a great job of not trying to make the film a hardcore action flick or a cut-up comedy, but rather a great blend of the two. The comic timing combined with the action scenes is fantastic, and the cast of characters interact remarkably well with each other.
Is this movie going to be something everyone can enjoy? Probably not. But if you were a fan of the first movie, and you do not mind when film makers take a proven formula and apply it again, then you will enjoy the film. I would recommend it, and hope that we see another one. It was definitely left that way.
The humor is quick to come from Malkovich, Parker and Willis who have an incredible chemistry together on screen. We then add in some notables such as the returning characters of Victoria (Helen Mirren) and Ivan Simonov (Brian Cox), and more with new characters such as Katja (Catherine ZetaJones), Bailey (Anthony Hopkins) and the brilliant performance of Byung-hun Lee as Han Cho Bai. This movie is cooking from start to finish.
There is a lot that is recycled from the first movie, including a new twist on the famous scene where Willis steps out of the moving car smooth as butter. But the great thing about this movie is it doesn’t take itself too seriously. The film makers did a great job of not trying to make the film a hardcore action flick or a cut-up comedy, but rather a great blend of the two. The comic timing combined with the action scenes is fantastic, and the cast of characters interact remarkably well with each other.
Is this movie going to be something everyone can enjoy? Probably not. But if you were a fan of the first movie, and you do not mind when film makers take a proven formula and apply it again, then you will enjoy the film. I would recommend it, and hope that we see another one. It was definitely left that way.
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