Search
Search results
DyCut - Dynamic Cutting Layouts
Productivity and Utilities
App
DyCut calculates 4 dynamic layouts to maximize your materials. Getting the most out of your raw...
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Runner Runner (2013) in Movies
Jun 19, 2019
Many times as a reviewer I watch a film that has so many things going for it that there is every reason to expect that it will be a high-quality product. Sadly the sum of the parts do not always come together and I am left to ponder how such an accumulation of talent went so wrong especially when the concept was strong and intriguing.
Such was the case with the new film “Runner Runner” which stars Justin Timberlake, Ben Affleck, and Gemma Arterton and takes a look at the big money yet seedy and dangerous world of online gambling.
Timberlake stars as Richie Furst, a Princeton student who is seeking his Masters degree and earns his income by getting new clients to sign up for a gambling site. Richie is bitter as he was a player about to get the first of several big paydays on Wall Street who lost it all when the market and the economy turned.
Richie hopes that a Masters from Princeton will get him back on solid footing in Wall Street and dreams of getting back the money he believes was owed to him.
When Richie is told that he must give up his gambling income in order to remain at school after a fellow student complains about him, Richie decides to gamble his last $17K online in an effort to get the $60K he needs to pay for his education.
Richie does well early and despite pleas from his friends to take his $50K and call it good, he presses his luck and loses it all.
Richie then learns that he was cheated and sets out to travel to Costa Rica to meet with the mysterious owner of the site, Ivan Block, (Ben Affleck), and tell him about the cheat program that has been running on the popular site.
Richie is able to meet Block and he in time thanks Richie for being discreet and exposing a problem he did not know about. He offers to restore the money Richie lost and pay him a bonus and then offers him a lucrative job working for him.
Seduced by the lure of big money and the charismatic block, Richie soon moves up the ranks and sets his eyes on the comely associate of Block named Rebecca (Gemma Arterton).
The new found success of Richie soon draws the attention of the F.B.I. and an agent named Shavers (Anthony Mackie), who threatens Richie unless he works for him as an informant against Block.
Now this setup combined with the fact that Block starts to show his darker side as well as the seedy world of corruptions, payoffs, and violence would be an ideal formula for success.
Sadly the film plays out without much drama or tension and gives us very little on the background of the characters and why they do what they do beyond simple greed.
The film does not have any dramatic payoff and plods along in a very methodical way without any real twists or turns.
The finale is fairly underwhelming and is not what audiences deserved after investing their time in the film or the characters.
Timberlake does a good job as the ambitious Richie and Affleck is very good as the charismatic Block. Sadly they can only do so much with their thinly written characters and scenarios that we have seen many times before.
In the end “Runner Runner” is a great concept that is sadly left stalled at the starting line.
http://sknr.net/2013/10/04/runner-runner/
Such was the case with the new film “Runner Runner” which stars Justin Timberlake, Ben Affleck, and Gemma Arterton and takes a look at the big money yet seedy and dangerous world of online gambling.
Timberlake stars as Richie Furst, a Princeton student who is seeking his Masters degree and earns his income by getting new clients to sign up for a gambling site. Richie is bitter as he was a player about to get the first of several big paydays on Wall Street who lost it all when the market and the economy turned.
Richie hopes that a Masters from Princeton will get him back on solid footing in Wall Street and dreams of getting back the money he believes was owed to him.
When Richie is told that he must give up his gambling income in order to remain at school after a fellow student complains about him, Richie decides to gamble his last $17K online in an effort to get the $60K he needs to pay for his education.
Richie does well early and despite pleas from his friends to take his $50K and call it good, he presses his luck and loses it all.
Richie then learns that he was cheated and sets out to travel to Costa Rica to meet with the mysterious owner of the site, Ivan Block, (Ben Affleck), and tell him about the cheat program that has been running on the popular site.
Richie is able to meet Block and he in time thanks Richie for being discreet and exposing a problem he did not know about. He offers to restore the money Richie lost and pay him a bonus and then offers him a lucrative job working for him.
Seduced by the lure of big money and the charismatic block, Richie soon moves up the ranks and sets his eyes on the comely associate of Block named Rebecca (Gemma Arterton).
The new found success of Richie soon draws the attention of the F.B.I. and an agent named Shavers (Anthony Mackie), who threatens Richie unless he works for him as an informant against Block.
Now this setup combined with the fact that Block starts to show his darker side as well as the seedy world of corruptions, payoffs, and violence would be an ideal formula for success.
Sadly the film plays out without much drama or tension and gives us very little on the background of the characters and why they do what they do beyond simple greed.
The film does not have any dramatic payoff and plods along in a very methodical way without any real twists or turns.
The finale is fairly underwhelming and is not what audiences deserved after investing their time in the film or the characters.
Timberlake does a good job as the ambitious Richie and Affleck is very good as the charismatic Block. Sadly they can only do so much with their thinly written characters and scenarios that we have seen many times before.
In the end “Runner Runner” is a great concept that is sadly left stalled at the starting line.
http://sknr.net/2013/10/04/runner-runner/
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Source Code (2011) in Movies
Aug 7, 2019
Following upon his breakout success with the film Moon director Duncan Jones has returned with Source Code and has proven that he is not a one-hit wonder but also a talent on the rise.
The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Colter Stevens who, after waking up on a train, finds himself disoriented and unable to identify his travel companion, the attractive Christina Warren (Michelle Monaghan), who sits across from him eagerly discussing things they appear to have spoken about previously.
Taking a quick survey of his surroundings, Colter finds out that he is on a train heading to Chicago and that he cannot explain how he ended up where he currently is. Colter is not given much time to ponder his situation as the train is suddenly rocked by a massive explosion and he finds himself engulfed in a wall of flame. Shortly thereafter Colter awakens and finds himself upside down and strapped into what appears to be a cockpit of some sort.
A voice soon fills the cockpit, followed by the face of the woman he can’t identify on a video monitor. Unable to ascertain what is going on, a frantic Colter only recalls that he was a helicopter pilot on mission in Afghanistan. The mystery woman (Vera Farmiga) tells him that he is now part of a top-secret project that is attempting to unravel the mystery behind the bombing of the train.
Before he can ask too many questions, Colter once again finds himself back on the train with Christina and the same sequence of events occur before the train is engulfed by devastating fireball. When he once again awakens in his cockpit, Colter learns that the project he’s involved with can send him back in time 8 minutes into the body of someone on the train. He will be sent back time and time again to relive those final 8 min. in an effort to determine who is responsible for the bombing.
Despite his protests, Colter relives the events each time looking for new clues and each time ending up engulfed in the fireball and awakening in his cockpit. Eventually after numerous trips to the past Colter becomes obsessed with not only getting to the bottom of the mystery but with saving Christina to whom he is becoming attached through their numerous 8 minute interactions. Colter is also desperate to determine his exact situation as he has no memory of how he ended up in the program and finds himself not only trying to solve the mystery of the bombing, save Christina, but also fill in the gaps in his memory.
What follows is a fast-paced, character-driven adventure film that relies on the interaction’s between the two leads rather than special effects to carry the film. Gyllenhaal and Monaghan have good chemistry with each other and the film has some nice twists and turns that will keep the audience engrossed even if the concepts of time travel and temporal mechanics escape them.
Jones keeps the film moving at a brisk pace and it does not drag or overstay its welcome. Like Moon, Jones has based the film around a leading man who is facing isolation and questioning his mental state. With what could’ve been a dumbed-down action film, Jones has exceeded expectations and produced a smart and innovative action thriller with a touch of science fiction and romance thrown in, a winning combination that makes for a very enjoyable film.
The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Colter Stevens who, after waking up on a train, finds himself disoriented and unable to identify his travel companion, the attractive Christina Warren (Michelle Monaghan), who sits across from him eagerly discussing things they appear to have spoken about previously.
Taking a quick survey of his surroundings, Colter finds out that he is on a train heading to Chicago and that he cannot explain how he ended up where he currently is. Colter is not given much time to ponder his situation as the train is suddenly rocked by a massive explosion and he finds himself engulfed in a wall of flame. Shortly thereafter Colter awakens and finds himself upside down and strapped into what appears to be a cockpit of some sort.
A voice soon fills the cockpit, followed by the face of the woman he can’t identify on a video monitor. Unable to ascertain what is going on, a frantic Colter only recalls that he was a helicopter pilot on mission in Afghanistan. The mystery woman (Vera Farmiga) tells him that he is now part of a top-secret project that is attempting to unravel the mystery behind the bombing of the train.
Before he can ask too many questions, Colter once again finds himself back on the train with Christina and the same sequence of events occur before the train is engulfed by devastating fireball. When he once again awakens in his cockpit, Colter learns that the project he’s involved with can send him back in time 8 minutes into the body of someone on the train. He will be sent back time and time again to relive those final 8 min. in an effort to determine who is responsible for the bombing.
Despite his protests, Colter relives the events each time looking for new clues and each time ending up engulfed in the fireball and awakening in his cockpit. Eventually after numerous trips to the past Colter becomes obsessed with not only getting to the bottom of the mystery but with saving Christina to whom he is becoming attached through their numerous 8 minute interactions. Colter is also desperate to determine his exact situation as he has no memory of how he ended up in the program and finds himself not only trying to solve the mystery of the bombing, save Christina, but also fill in the gaps in his memory.
What follows is a fast-paced, character-driven adventure film that relies on the interaction’s between the two leads rather than special effects to carry the film. Gyllenhaal and Monaghan have good chemistry with each other and the film has some nice twists and turns that will keep the audience engrossed even if the concepts of time travel and temporal mechanics escape them.
Jones keeps the film moving at a brisk pace and it does not drag or overstay its welcome. Like Moon, Jones has based the film around a leading man who is facing isolation and questioning his mental state. With what could’ve been a dumbed-down action film, Jones has exceeded expectations and produced a smart and innovative action thriller with a touch of science fiction and romance thrown in, a winning combination that makes for a very enjoyable film.
Buy Me a Pie! - Grocery Shopping List for Family
Productivity and Lifestyle
App
***** Featured by Apple App Store in Food & Drink and Productivity categories. ***** The Next Web:...
Dictionary and Thesaurus Pro
Reference and Education
App
Get the world's most comprehensive ad-free dictionary and thesaurus with extensive offline...
Develop your Personal Leadership
Lifestyle and Health & Fitness
App
Develop your Personal Leadership What if you could open doors to a world of possibilities and...
winbank Mobile
Finance
App
Through Piraeus Bank winbank mobile banking App you can easily & quickly perform your banking...
Expedia Hotels, Flights, Deals
Travel and Lifestyle
App
The new Expedia app is your all-in-one travel companion. Save big on hotels, find the perfect...
FITE - MMA, Wrestling, Boxing
Sports and Entertainment
App
Watch combat sports LIVE! NEW: UFC Pay-Per-Views will air on FITE starting with UFC 215: Johnson...