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jinola10
Reviews
A Good Day to Die Hard (2013)
Book Early To Guarantee Disappointment..
A Good Day to Die Hard is a mess of an action movie.
A barrage of near pointless, unintelligible set-pieces melded together with little more of a dental floss thin amount of plot holding it together. Skip Wood's mangled screenplay has little to no care as to what makes it's lead character so appealing in the first place. We remember not only the action beats of the original film, but the affability of John McClane himself - a workaday cop in the wrong place at the wrong time, his intimate chats with fellow cop Al, and his strained but affectionate relationship with his wife displayed his vulnerability.
The original film further highlighted this with its simple moment of having McClane walk barefooted on cracked glass. Much like Spielberg and Lucas' Indy, this man was just like us, we wanted him to get through this. That wasn't just "80's sensibilities" or the like; it was just decent building of character.
In Time (2011)
If only...
Occasionally, a film comes along - you watch it - and the main reason you are disappointed is because it simply could have been so much better.
This is such a movie.
The central premise at the heart this movie is an interesting one - once you hit 25 years old, you have to earn your 'time' - otherwise, you'll be dead in a year. And just as money is key in our society - time is currency in this one. And just like money, it can be earnt, stolen, bought or given easily.
So why would you want to live forever? Because you will always look, and feel, 25. And who doesn't want that? (Unless your mid-20s were pretty crappy)
Pretty good concept, right? Enough material in there for plenty of social comment, right? Don't worry – that does come along later
But the first question your mind is probably spluttering at this point is - 'well
how did this HAPPEN?'
And therein lies the first, and biggest, problem.
That is never explained.
Ever.
And the movie is quite brazen about the fact – Justin Timberlake's voice over says so –" I don't have time. I don't have time to worry about how it happened. It is what it is."
I thought – 'Oh Justin – we're BOUND to find this out later, surely?!'
'No Andrew, you're not', said Justin, improvising brilliantly from the script.
'Okay', I thought – 'No matter – I'm in. I learnt not to question too much with LOOPER. Let's see how this goes'.
And the first half does – at quite a pace, but not so quick that you don't understand what is at stake here. You have a certain amount of time – if you run out – you fall down dead. High stakes indeed. So – two things happen to Justin that makes him angry enough to tackle 'the man'. 'The man' is actually an entire community – barricading themselves in the centre of the city – New Greenwich – with a constant reference to how 'expensive' everything is. 3 days for a cup of coffee? It's not even Starbucks
All of this is quite entertaining, and Timberlake – now back on script – manages to be charming, but also willing to take a risk with his own life – it seems – at the flick of a card. (I know that's not the phrase – but when you see the movie, it will make sense.) Then Justin meets Sylvia – played by Amanda Seyfried. The second half then chooses to almost ignore what makes this film interesting – and instead encourages you to care what happens to Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried as they go on a Bonnie & Clyde/Robin Hood adventure purely because they are NICE PEOPLE. And you'll sit and enjoy it because – hey – everyone loves NICE people, right?
Ultimately, this is not a bad movie. But it could have been great.
Shotgun Stories (2007)
Watch Before Take Shelter..
I watched this movie after watching Jeff Nichols' next movie TAKE SHELTER. One thing that I think Nichols does well - like Paul Thomas Anderson - is creating the atmosphere for a story that has only one possible outcome - a bad one. That sense of dread in a movie means you HAVE to stay and see what happens. In SHOTGUN STORIES, Nichols - along with his cast, including Michael Shannon, manage to capture a futility of American existence - almost Godot-esque. The three men, at the centre of the piece are called Boy, Son & Kid. These boys were not handed out a winning hand at the start.
At the centre of the story is a family dispute - more specifically, a step-family dispute - that comes to the fore at a funeral. In that scene alone you get a great sense of how the actions of one man can still hurt many people down the years.
I enjoyed this film - but I don't think everyone will. Atmospherically, excellent, and the story within is a good one for anyone with skeletons in their own family closet - however - it feels a little long in places - and I'm not sure how satisfied people will be with the ending once it arrives - I wasn't - but I enjoyed it.
Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)
Healthy Paranoia
First of all - I should highlight that I started to watch this film at about 1am in the morning. I was approaching tired, but not sleepy. This was a movie that I wanted to see for a while - any movie that discusses 'faith' on any level, is worth seeing. Unless you already have the answers. In which case, why are you looking to mere mortals for movie guidance? The movie is, obviously, an allegory for religion - but the tone of it, for me, was beautifully paranoid.
If you believed in God, and you did him wrong - wouldn't you sit and worry about when he's going to come knocking?
You'll read, and have read, lots of reviews about this movie - the performances are nuanced, with a constant undercurrent of danger in every scene. Elizabeth Olsen and John Hawkes are incredible.
The use of sound in this movie was excellent. Sounds fade from scene to scene, and across time in an ingenious way that allows you to follow these chronological shifts. In layman's terms - one minute you are in one place, the next you are somewhere else - but unlike during real time travel, you don't feel the bump. Again - you'll know that if you have all the answers.
One final point - I LOVED the ending - once I got it. Without giving anything away - I think some people were confused - including myself - but once I read the actual screenplay for the final scene - all became clear. If you don't get it - seek it out.
See, I don't have all the answers. That's why I like films like this.