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12 Angry Men (1957)
12 Angry Men (1957)
1957 | Classics, Drama
Contains spoilers, click to show
Story: 12 Angry Men starts with our jury being taken to the jury room to make their verdict. Early conversations discuss the idea that the case being cut and dry, but when the first vote goes up only eleven men pick guilty while one man stands up and votes not guilty. He wants to discuss the case before making it quick decision on whether to send the accused the death row.

As the 12 men discuss the case the solo juror that stood up against the guilty verdict slowly starts to talk the rest of the jury into looking at the facts of the case and slowly starts to turn the jury.

12 Angry Men is one of the simplest stories you will ever see, it also takes a fresh turn on a trial film. On paper this could sound very boring, and it would be hard to talk anyone out of that, but once you watch this you will not be able t look away. When you look at what this film achieves you will bee impressed too a new level and even with this film being nearly 60 years old it hasn’t dated a single bit. (10/10)

Actor Review

Full Cast: 12 Angry Men only uses the 12 actors and I don’t think it would be fair to judge each individual performance because this could easily be the best ensemble cast of all time, each character has their different background and opinion on what is the outcome of the case. Every single cast member does a brilliant job showing just how intense being stuck on a jury can be.cast

Director Review: Sidney Lumet – Sidney gives us one of the greatest films ever put onto film, end of discussion. (10/10)

Crime: 12 Angry Men shows the 12 juror discussing a criminal case while making final verdict, this is a great insight into how they would have got to the final out come. (10/10)

Drama: 12 Angry Men gets top marks for this brilliant piece of work. (10/10)

Settings: 12 Angry Men uses just the jury room for the whole setting giving us an insight to just the conversation between the jurors. (10/10)

Suggestion: 12 Angry Men is a must watch for all the film fans out there I do still think casual film fans might find it not their cup of tea. (Watch)

Best Part: The performances are all brilliant.

Worst Part: No, isn’t one.

Believability: While I have been on a jury and understand how the discussion take place this cold very well be how intense it gets in there. (10/10)

Chances of Tears: No (0/10)

Chances of Sequel: No

Post Credits Scene: No

Oscar Chances: Nominated for 3 Oscars

Budget: $350,000

Runtime: 2 Hours 1 Minute

Tagline: They have twelve scraps of paper… Twelve chances to kill!

Overall: One of the greatest films you will ever see.

https://moviesreview101.com/2015/08/25/12-angry-men-1957/
  
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Lenard (726 KP) rated The Post (2017) in Movies

Jan 16, 2018  
The Post (2017)
The Post (2017)
2017 | Biography, Drama, Thriller
Acting (3 more)
Directing
Production Design
Editing
Costumes (0 more)
Burying the Lead
Meryl Streep is an American institution. Yet again, she proves that she is not finished finding new dimensions to her characters. In "The Post," she plays pioneering publisher Katherine Graham from The Washington Post. The film itself somehow manages to bury the lead in its own story. In an early scene, Streep playing Graham is at a meeting of the Board Of Directors voting whether The Post should go public. Graham never utters a word. Her advisor/attorney makes every statement for her. This is an indictment of the times, referred to later when Ben Bradlee makes an off-the-cuff remark about why her husband was given the paper in the first place. It is also a subtle clue about the quiet authority Katherine actually had, pulling all the strings though she had no voice in her own company. A later scene in which she retires to the drawing room with the other women while the men talk politics is another sign on the backward thinking times of not-so-long-age. It is here that the obstensible plot starts. Former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara pulls Katherine away from the other women to reveal a story that is about to appear in the New York Times. A classified Pentagon report was leaked that detailed how the American government knew the conflict in Vietnam was unwinnable, kept the war going as a facade, and had been lying to its constituents. Nixon and Attorney General Mitchell threatened the free press with injunctions, restraining orders, and incarceration. In the resulting Supreme Court case, Justice Black found that the press is responsible to protect the governed and not the governors. Buried within is the story of the inequality of men and women and the small strides women made to exist in this patriarchal society.
  
The Father (2020)
The Father (2020)
2020 | Drama
1st half is GREAT! The 2nd half? Not so much...
THE FATHER is one of those types of films that, generally, I would not seek out - except at Oscar time. A small, “drawing room” type of drama, based on a stage play and starring a couple of Oscar winning performers at it’s core.

And that is enough to make this film very entertaining and interesting…but, unfortunately…this piece of entertainment falls flat at the end, so one will have to be contented to watching a decent drawing room drama (based on a Stage play) starring 2 strong Oscar winning actors at it’s core.

Written and Directed by Florian Zeller, THE FATHER tells the tale of a…well…FATHER, who is aging and mentally deteriorating. His daughter is trying to aide him and bring him comfort, but his befuddled mind begins to see things (conspiracies) that are not there…or are they?

Zeller wrote the lead role, specifically for Anthony Hopkins and it is a very good thing that Hopkins agree to this role for he is in EVERY scene and commands this picture as only a performer of Hopkins stature and abilities can. Hopkins is, rightfully, nominated for this performance and could pull the upset (but I highly doubt it).

Strongly supporting him - in an Oscar nominated turn herself - as Olivia Colman as his daughter. She has the much less flashy - but no less important - role in this drama and Hopkins would not be as good as he is without her to play against.

Zeller (who was nominated for an Oscar for his Screenplay adaptation of his Stage Play) was smart to cast a strong ensemble of British Stage Actors for this film - Mark Gattis, Olivia Williams, Rufus Sewell and Imogen Poots are all strong, interesting people to watch on screen and they help bring an air of seriousness and gravitas to the proceedings.

The first half of this film is extremely fascinating to watch and I was intrigued by the premise, the direction, the script and the direction it seemed to be headed. But…unfortunately (at least for me) the 2nd half of the film (and I would imagine, the Stage Play) never, really capitalizes on the promise of the first half and THE FATHER just sorts of peters out in the end.

Which, I guess, you could say for the poor souls who suffer from dementia, but I don’t think that was the point that Zeller was trying to make.

Letter Grade: A- (did I mention that I really, really liked the first half)

8 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
  
Escape Room (2019)
Escape Room (2019)
2019 | Action, Horror, Thriller
Better than expected
Having seen a previous film effort about an escape room, I went into this with very low expectations but I actually came out pleasantly surprised.

Yes it's a little bit predictable, and the flashforward of the ending right at the start of the film really doesn't help matters. However I found most of this film ridiculously tense and I was completely enthralled and entertained. This may just be because I've played quite a few escape rooms and recognised a lot of familiar things, but I don't really care as it was very enjoyable to watch. I was also glad that it didn't rely on jump scares or over the top gore like other films, which was quite refreshing. Some of the rooms are great, others not so but the film passes by so quickly it's difficult to find time to dwell. Other than some of the rooms not being as well thought out, my only other issue is the ending itself. Whilst i can tell it was trying to be interesting, it came across as a little bit much and too farfetched. Didn't ruin the film completely, but did take something away from it. But aside from that this is a surprisingly good and tense film.