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And Now My Love (1974)
And Now My Love (1974)
1974 | Drama, Romance
(0 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"I’m trying not to go the obvious route, but I do love Citizen Kane and I can’t leave that off here. It’s an incredible movie and the story’s told in this ingenious way and I never get tired of looking at it. It’s like visual fireworks and the sound is incredible — everything about it. But if I had to watch a movie that means something to me — and I did see it in my childhood — it’s And Now My Love by Claude Lelouch. It is a story told over the 20th century that is told stylistically as a history of film, so the film style changes throughout. It starts off in silent movie and goes through cinema verite and goes through everything. The gimmick is it’s the story of love at first sight and you follow two family lines through the couple meeting. It was very influential on me in many ways; it’s got a lot of the highlights and influences of European cinema. It’s about a criminal and a spoiled brat who belong together, and it also has a bigger thing which is that you’re learning the story of the 20th century. Its depiction in particular of the 1960s, definitely had an impact on me in terms of how to portray an intimate experience in the midst of history. I saw it in a second-run movie theater. All those movies were being released in the United States and they would end up on the weekend in double features and I can tell you right now, I was 12 years old when it was in the theater and I went back and saw it. It’s super-romantic. It’s got this incredible depiction of France and it’s got this great love story and it’s really ingenious. All the themes with reference to film style and film genre. One of the characters actually turns out to be a filmmaker. It’s incredible."

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Dredd (2012)
Dredd (2012)
2012 | Action, Sci-Fi
I'am the law
Contains spoilers, click to show
Dredd- is a non stop action film from beginning to end. Karl urban was the perfect choice for dredd.

Mega City One is a vast, violent metropolis where felons rule the streets. The only law lies with cops called "judges," who act as judge, jury and executioner, and Dredd is one of the city's most feared. One day, Dredd is partnered with Cassandra, a rookie with powerful psychic abilities. A report of a terrible crime sends Dredd and Cassandra to a dangerous area controlled by Ma-Ma, a drug lord who will stop at nothing to protect her empire.

Once dredd and his parter are stuck inside a building no way in or out, thats when the real action begins, killing everyone in the way to reach ma-ma and stop her from releasing the slow mo drug to the world.

Its sad to see that dredd didnt do well in the box office or in theaters, because dredd was a great movie. Its also sad that we havent gotting a sequel to dredd.

Dredd is a highly reccomendation.
  
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)
2018 | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
The music is back, the dinosaurs are back, the chaos is back!
Jurassic Park is one of my all time favorite movie series. There are so many iconic moments in the original movie and I love that this latest addition to the series makes some of those moments come alive for both long-time fans and a new generation of fans. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom brings fans all of the music and action they've fallen in love with over the years and mixes into that a whole new conundrum. With an active volcano threatening to wipe out all of the dinosaurs that have been abandoned on Isla Nublar, the world must decide if they want to step in and rescue the dinosaurs or let nature run its course.

Jeff Goldblum returns to the franchise as the famous mathematician, Dr. Ian Malcolm, and if you've seen any of the original movies you can probably guess where he stands on the matter. Chris Pratt and Dallas Bryce Howard also resume their former roles, Owen Grady and Claire Dearing respectively. The pair disagrees on what the outcome for the dinosaurs should be, but they team up nonetheless and their romantic tension provides a lot of comic relief throughout the movie.

Overall, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom does a wonderful job of blending the old with the new (in terms of themes, characters, etc). A number of well-placed twists keeps the audience in suspense. There are heart-wrenching moments that make you want to cry, celebratory moments that make you want to cheer, action-filled moments that make your heart rate skyrocket, and plain old funny moments that make you laugh. What more can you ask for in movie? Flock to a nearby theater, hold onto your butts, and watch it today!
  
4 Minute Mile (2014)
4 Minute Mile (2014)
2014 | Drama
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Once again, Skewed & Reviewed has granted me the good fortune to screen another film for
you. An ‘underdog story’ that gives most others a ‘run for their money’ but keeps us, the
viewers’ glued to our seats with it’s drama and intensity. What makes the film more unqiue
is that not only does it take place in the city of Seattle but was also film in the great
city!

‘4 Minute Mile’ premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival on June 5th and is
set for a theatrical release on August 1st. ‘4 Minute Mile’ stars Kelly Blatz, Richard Jenkins,
Analeigh Tipton, Cam Gigandet, Rhys Coiro, and Kim Basinger. Directed by Charles-Oliver
Michaud, ‘4 Minute Mile’ tells the story of Drew (Blatz). An smart teenager from the wrong
side of the tracks doing his best to help his mother (Basinger) while doing everything
possible to avoid the fate of his older brother, an ex-con out on parole who pressures
Drew into running ‘errands’ which are presumably illegal in nature. Drew also happens
to be a fast runner. He runs like hell. The very same day he quits his school’s track team,
a reclusive track coach (Jenkins) scouts him and agrees to train him. The two soon form a
‘Rocky/Mickey’- like bond. However, tragedy soon strikes and Drew finds himself facing
the fear of losing everything hes’ worked and fought for.

I honestly don’t think I can describe how amazing I thoughtnthis movie was. I really can’t
see myself writing anything that would do it justice. It’s like ‘Good Will Hunting’ meets
‘Rocky 1′. This is no major hollywood production. This film is an intense drama with A LOT
of heart in it. These folks obviously believed in the film and it shows in every aspect from
the story, to the acting, and the way it was filmed. Theres’ also ‘realism’ to it. It doesn’t
have a ‘perfect ending’. Drew, the main character, overcomes tragedy after defeat after tragedy
and in the end … he succeeds but at great cost. It’s like with an quest or journey. You’re
not going to succeed without lose. Being from the Pacific Northwest, I also have to give
the film mad props for actually shooting the film in Seattle where the movie takes place
rather than saying it takes place here and then going to shoot it in Canada which has
sadly become ‘standard procedure’ for Hollywood to the dismay of many.
My recommendation? If you like a down-to-earth movie with heart, go see this one.
See it in the theater, see it at home, but go see it. It’s worth seeing and its worth
spending your hard-earned money in my opinion. I personally give the movie 4 out of 5 stars.
The film is PG-13 and it clocks in at about an hour and 36 minutes.

On behalf of my fellows at Skewed & Reviewed, this is your fellow movie fanatic ‘The CameraMan’
thanks for reading, and i’ll see you folks at the movies ….
  
Lights Out (2016)
Lights Out (2016)
2016 | Horror
When The Lights Are Off
Lights Out- is a scary movie. Its terrorfying, horrorfying, suspenseful and twisted.

The plot: When Rebecca (Teresa Palmer) left home, she thought that her childhood fears were behind her. As a young girl growing up, she was never really sure of what was real when the lights went out at night. Now, her little brother Martin (Gabriel Bateman) is experiencing the same unexplained and terrifying events that jeopardized her safety and sanity. Holding a mysterious attachment to their mother (Maria Bello), a supernatural entity has returned with a vengeance to torment the entire family.

is based on Sandberg's 2013 short film of the same name and features Lotta Losten, who starred in the short.

Special effects of having the ghost appear and disappear were mostly done by using a split-screen technique as also used in the short. Sandberg said "Whenever she's in frame with another character, it's basically just a split screen. So you shoot it with her and without her. You turn the camera on with her, you turn it off and she walks off, and then you turn it on again. It's super simple, actually." Sandberg also made a list of what he called the "light gags", or different ways to create light sources from flashlights to cell phones and gunfire. In the scene when Diana appears in Rebecca's room, James Wan suggested replacing passing car headlights in an early treatment with the flashing neon sign that appears in the final film.

Sandberg originally based the character of Rebecca on a real girl that he knew who was suffering from depression, and who was engaging in self-harm, which is why Rebecca has scars on her arms, but the development of the film made it less about depression and more of a ghost story in which Diana would have been the real person who died and became a ghost. Wan came up with the idea of making Diana the ghost. Rebecca's boyfriend was also given a twist of being a rocker, but is actually committed and responsible, even driving a safe car like a Volvo. Another twist Sandberg liked was making the imaginary friend for the mother rather than the trope of having the friend be for the child

Its a excellent supernatural movie.
  
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David McK (3687 KP) rated Star Trek (2009) in Movies

Aug 23, 2020 (Updated Jan 22, 2023)  
Star Trek (2009)
Star Trek (2009)
2009 | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
JJ Abrams prepares for Star Wars
"Space. The Final Frontier. These are the voyages ..."

2009 big screen reimagining of the iconic 60s TV series, and I use that as the touchpoint deliberately: we're back to a (recast) Kirk and co instead of the Next Generation crew, or even those from Voyager/Enterprise/Discovery.

In retrospect, it also somewhat comes across as director JJ Abrams pitch for making a Star Wars movie: this is also lens flare and slow motion, with the action ramped up considerably from the TV series or even most of the previous movies. it's also the first of the three Kelvin-verse Star Trek movies: I'm unsure whether we'll get any more in that timeline, what with the tragic death of some of the (young) key actors - I'm looking at you, Anton Yelchin (Chekov) - and with others of the cast moving on to other bigger (?) sci-fi things - yep, that's you Zoe Saldana (Uhura).

The plot, as alluded to above, involves time travel, with the events thus kicking off an entire new timeline, that here sees Chris Pine taking on the role of James T Kirk - initially introduced as a kid, driving his step fathers classic car off a cliff (talk about setting out your stall early!) - and Zachary Quinto (then more famous as the villain Sylar from TVs 'Heroes') talking on the role of a younger Spock.

Most of the cast, I felt, was pretty much spot on - the only one that really rubbed me up the wrong way was Simon Pegg as Scotty, although even he grew on me a bit (I'm also not entirely sold on the aesthetics of the USS Enterprise here - more like USS Chibiprise!). We also have the 'passing of the torch' (as it were) from one character to another, with the inclusion of a certain key half-human actor who will forever be associated with that role ...
  
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Awix (3310 KP) rated The Viking Queen (1967) in Movies

Mar 1, 2018 (Updated Mar 2, 2018)  
The Viking Queen (1967)
The Viking Queen (1967)
1967 | Action, Drama, International
5
6.0 (2 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Wildly historically inaccurate, wholly absurd Hammer exploitation movie based on the events of the Iceni revolt led by Boudicca in 1st-century Britain. Roman governor (American) falls unconvincingly for Briton queen (Finnish); their imminent marriage promises to be bad for the business of the local merchants and their corrupt ally, a Roman general (Scottish), so a conflict is provoked, leading to rebellion...

Problems are mostly with the script, which appears to be only vaguely familiar with the concept of historical research, although a lot of the acting and staging is also pretty poor. Some usually reliable actors (Andrew Keir, Patrick Troughton) do the best they can with the material they're given. Probably best viewed as a high-camp piece of unintentional comedy. The widely-circulated story that one of the Roman actors can be seen wearing a wristwatch appears to be apocryphal.
  
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Awix (3310 KP) rated Sleeper (1973) in Movies

Mar 11, 2018 (Updated Mar 11, 2018)  
Sleeper (1973)
Sleeper (1973)
1973 | Classics, Comedy, Sci-Fi
One of the best of Woody Allen's early pure comedies. Allen (basically playing the same character as always) wakes up in 2173 and is recruited by rebels seeking to bring down an oppressive totalitarian regime.

Simply a very funny film; a much more visual comedy than you would expect from Allen - I have seen suggestions that the whole thing is intended as a homage to Benny Hill - but there are the usual one-liners (also a few slightly dodgy stereotype-based jokes). Very much a spoof of late 60s/early 70s SF movies like THX-1138 and 2001; the SF content is surprisingly solid courtesy of uncredited script consultancy from Isaac Asimov (this may well be the first SF movie to deal with the concept of cloning). Worth watching just for the sequence with the banana and the chicken.
  
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Andy Garcia recommended Serpico (1973) in Movies (curated)

 
Serpico (1973)
Serpico (1973)
1973 | Classics, Drama, Mystery

"Then I would have to — and it’s hard to pick just one of his — but I would go with Sidney Lumet’s Serpico. Again, a performance-driven film, but there’s a sort of a reality to Sidney Lumet’s movies. I had the great pleasure of working with him, and there’s a reality, a sort of documentary quality to his films, you know? And it’s hard to pick from the lot of his films, whether it be Network or Dog Day Afternoon or Serpico. But there’s something about Serpico that has an emotional depth to it that was very touching. And also, it’s easy to identify with someone who’s trying to fight against the system and rise above it and do well, and the price that he pays for doing that. And Al Pacino’s performance in that movie is quite extraordinary."

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The Goldfinch (2019)
The Goldfinch (2019)
2019 | Drama
I read the book so this story of loss and longing cut down inside of me. On the way to a meeting with the principal at his upper crust private school, Theo and his mother visit the Met. Unfortunately, a bomb inside the museum turns Theo's life upside down as his mother is killed and he steals a beautiful painting. This rash decision will affect the rest of his life.

The movie has a lot of pretension trying to maintain the loyalty to the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. It also moves glacierly and is hard to sit through if you can't follow everything. The frame of the film is full of artistic art direction and spectular cinematography. A lot of care went into the production, but very little thought was given to "juice" the story into something that nonreaders could enjoy.