mydistracteduniverse Reviews

Live by Night (2016)

A bit long winded at times, but otherwise not bad

[9/10 · 21 January 2017]

Live by Night is a old style gangster movie, that plays out in the height of the prohibition era on the east coast and the south of the Untied States. It features Ben Affleck, Sienna Miller and Zoe Saldana amongst a whole host of other stars.

When Joe Coughlin comes back from serving in the First World War he is done taking orders. He's seen too many good people die senseless deaths following other people's directions.

After he returns to Boston he decides to become an outlaw. For the next ten years he sleeps by day and lives by night, robbing anyone worth stealing from. But, robbing banks and gaming parlours had to bring him to the attention of the wrong people at some stage.

His life style eventually catches up with him when he finds himself caught between the Italian mob, lead by Maso Pescatore, and the Irish mob, lead by Albert White. Joe's lover is the girlfriend of Albert White, a fact that hasn't gone unnoticed by the Italians. Maso Pescatore tries to blackmail him with that fact into killing White.

Coughlin refuses as he still resents taking orders from anyone and also does not want to be associated with the mob. Pescatore rats him out to White, landing Joe first in hospital and then in prison. His lover is killed in the mayhem following the events that lead up to Joes incarceration.

A new Start

When he gets out he decides to join the Italian mob after all, hoping to be able to avenge Emma's death. Maso sends him down to Tampa, Florida to wrestle the city from Albert's hands, who has taken over the rum distribution in Florida. That first task accomplished Joe sets out to build en empire, taking full advantage of the illegal booze trade during the height of the prohibition.

While in Tampa he forms an alliance with Cuban siblings, one of them is Gabriella Corrales, whom he eventually marries. Being in a relationship with a black woman however, brings a whole new set of trouble in form of the Klu Klux Klan to his doorstep. After some initial set backs, Joe disposes of local splinter group the Italian way.

In the end there is a big show down between Joe, Albert White and Maso Pescatore.

I really like Live At Night. It is an good old fashioned gangster movie, something you don't see often anymore. The script is great, although it did feel a little long winded at times. At some points I could not believe that there was yet another twist in the story. But in the end it all made sense.

Ben Affleck was a busy man with Live By Night. He wrote the screenplay, directed the movie and starred in it. Leonardo DiCaprio and Affleck are listed as producers. It's not the best movie ever made, but it is definitely worth watching.

Silence (I) (2016)

Silence - Martin Scorsese opens 2017 with a bang

[10/10 · 7 January 2017]

Google Image It is 2017 and Martin Scorsese starts the year with a bang. Or rather with Silence. I am usually not one to make predictions but if that movie doesn't get an Oscar nod then I don't know what will.

Never have I seen a movie theatre full with people turn absolutely still. Nobody moved. Nobody breathed. Something akin to an electric current ran through me. The silence in the room when the pivotal scene came up was absolute. To experience anything like this is an incredible feeling and an homage to the director.

Andrew Garfield was never an actor I paid much attention to in the past. In Silence he gave an outstanding performance. He incidentally also plays in Hacksaw Ridge, a role for which he got nominated for a Golden Globe. That movie is on my watch list and at last it will soon be released in Ireland. I am very much looking forward to seeing it.

The Mission

Two Jesuit priests learn that their mentor Father Cristóvão Ferreira, who is living in Japan to spread the word of God, denounced his faith and committed apostasy. We are shown the torture of his followers by the Japanese in Nagasaki. The story is set in the 1630s and 1640s, when Japan is trying to root out all foreign influences in religion and Christians in the country are killed by the tens of thousands.

Father Sebastião Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) and Father Francisco Garupe (Adam Driver) feel in their hearts that God needs their help. Despite the danger that awaits them they head out to Japan to find Father Ferreira and see if the allegations are true. They are committed to continue the missionary work in a country that has become so dangerous for Christians.

Upon their arrival they are found by some villagers who follow the Christian faith in secret. Hidden from the inquisitors during the day, the two priests come out at night to perform church services, hear confessions and baptise the people. They give hope to the villagers and give them strength to continue with their faith in the face of great peril.

Keeping the faith

The two priests are forced to witness the torture and prosecution of the villagers. Only their faith helps them through those dark times. Eventually though they are captured. Father Garupe is killed and Father Rodrigues finds that the harder he prays the less answers he gets from God. God has become silent. In this silence he struggles to come to term with what he witnesses barely holding on to his believes.

Until he meets Father Ferreira. As it turns out the rumours were correct. Father Ferreira is now studying at a Buddhist temple and has a Japanese wife and family. How will Father Rodrigues cope with this new revelation?

Final Thoughts

As someone who does not and never has subscribed to any kind of religion I don't understand this kind of faith or the willingness to kill and die for something as abstract as a deity. To me it is quite horrific to see what people are willing to do to other beings in order to force their own ways and believes upon each other. I watched Silence days ago but I really struggled with putting all of this into words on short notice.

Belief and faith or not, even to me the struggles that Father Rodrigues went through seem so real. I can certainly appreciate the emotional conflict he went through having to see his fellow Christians being tortured and killed. To watch this being done to another being must provoke some reaction in anyone. Andrew Garfield's performance is just incredible. His grief, his doubts, his brush with insanity. It is all so real.

Martin Scorsese's vision for this film has famously had about 25 years time to develop and the end result really shows the passion he put into the movie. Silence certainly opened the new movie year in a spectacular fashion.

The Accountant (2016)

One of the top 2016 movies!

[31 December 2016]

The Accountant cooks the books for some of the biggest criminals on the planet. His clients pay him big bucks for his services until one wants him dead. That is the point when things turn interesting.

I'll watch me some Ben Affleck any day of the week. Actually I had been planning to see a different movie, but when I saw the listings the mind was changed in an instant.

When I first heard they are shooting a movie called The Accountant I was ever so slightly confused. Why would anyone make a movie about the most boring profession on the planet? Why would you make a movie that sounded … well … boring?

Now I know!

Rest assured, there is no boredom to be found in anywhere near this film. Not even close to boring. In fact its one of the best movies I have seen this year so far. It has never been more fun to watch a criminal go about his business whilst rooting for him to make it to the other side of the story in one piece.

Christian Wolff is a forensic accountant, who operates out of a small office in small town, no where. He is cooking the books for some of the biggest criminals on the planet. How he got into this line of business will be forever a mystery, but he seems to be good at his job and his clients pay him big bucks for his services. And they have not killed him yet, which has to mean something.

As a child he was diagnosed with high functioning autism, which lead eventually to his mother leaving him, his brother and his father, a military officer. His father believed that autism could be overcome by physical exercise and so he arranged for his sons to be trained in different martial arts throughout their childhoods. His only constant throughout this trauma was his brother, who trained with him. He was sometimes the only only who could bring young Christian down from his outbursts.

As an adult Wolff is taking jobs given to him by a mysterious computerised voice. Behind the voice seems to be a person who knows him extremely well and looks out for him. The voice gets him his latest job that brings him to a company that produces robotics with an application on humans who lost their limbs. A lot of money has gone missing and they need to find out who took it.

At the same time the National Treasury Agency has set their eyes on Wolff. They start an investigation into his business and whereabouts.

While he is at the robotics company he works together with the house intern accountant who found the gaps in the finances, Dana Cummings. Thanks to Wolff's OCD of having to finish a task before he can relax, he quickly discovers that $ 61 million US dollar were filtered out of the company. Then people end up dead and all of a sudden he and Dana find themselves running for their lives, when a hit-man enters the scene. They form an uneasy alliance and get as close as Wolff's condition will let them be. He feels very protective of her. In his attempt to guard her he often goes against the advice of the computer voice. The movie ends in a big showdown and a family reunion.

Ben Affleck plays the title role of the autistic Christian Wolff. I suppose his experience he gained while of shooting action scenes for Batman Vs Superman came in handy for The Accountant. The fight scenes looked incredibly smooth and he was very convincing.

Wolff's detached persona is brilliantly offset by the incredibly talented Anna Kendrick. I really enjoy watching her. She has a completely unique style that I find fascinating and endearing. With her quirky attitude she offers the perfect balance point to the cold and detached character that Ben Affleck plays.

The Accountant is a movie that has it all. Substance and drama. Action and comedy. There are several scenes of very dark humour in the movie, that had the cinema in stitches.

The characters are interesting and the story moves along swiftly. It's entertaining from start to finish and fun to watch. I know the movie got a lot of slack from the critics. I really don't understand why. One would guess they didn't have anything else to moan about that day. I certainly liked the movie and so did everyone else I spoke to, who had seen it.

Ben Affleck is like a bottle of good wine. Her was good when he was young, but he certainly improved to greatness with age. The turning point came with Argo. Since then he hasn't really set a foot out of place. Just think of Gone Girl and Batman Vs Superman. I can't wait to see his next movie which will be Live By Night, I believe. I saw the trailer and I can't wait to see the movie. And lets not forget that Batman Returns one day. Ugh exciting!

Collateral Beauty (2016)

Collateral Beauty - Critics be quiet, it's a wonderful movie!

[9/10 · 31 December 2016]

It is no coincidence that Collateral Beauty is set around the Christmas time and hit the cinemas during the festive season. As beautiful as the story is, it would have a hard time working at any other time of year.

We meet Howard at the height of his game. He is an advertising executive with a loyal group of friends and business partners around him. Together they just opened a new office in New York and life is good.

Fast forward three years and the picture has changed. Howard has changed. Two years ago he lost his daughter and is unable to process the grief that consumes him. He is no longer able to cope with his surroundings. Instead of working he stopped talking to people and spends his days building elaborate domino structures.

This, of course, threatens the wellbeing of the firm and it's staff and his friends are slowly running out of options. Whit, Claire and Simon worked hard to keep the ship afloat but big contracts depend on the connection that Howard had with the clients. Without his input the business has taken a turn for the worse. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel. They have an offer to sell the company but Howard won't hear any of it.

In their desperation Whit suggests to hire a private detective to help gather evidence that Howard is unfit for business. At first hesitant, Claire and Simon eventually agree and the PI discovers that Howard wrote three letters: one each to Love, Time and Death.

They decide to hire three actor to portray Love, Time and Death. The actors are at first supposed to interact with Howard to shake him out of his stupor. That failing they go on to the next steps in the plan.

All the while Whit, Claire and Simon are directing Love, Time and Death they also struggle with their own personal problems and how to deal with them. Whit gets a lesson in love, that he desperately needs because his daughter hates him after his divorce. Claire has dedicated her life to the company and made the staff her priority. Now feels she ran out of time to create her own family. And Simon is in dire need of advise from death himself.

Meanwhile Howard spends his evenings watching a support group for bereaved parents through a window. One night he gathers up the courage to go inside and join. The group leader is a woman called Madeleine, who lost her daughter to a rare form of brain cancer. Although he is unable to speak about the loss of his own child, this together with the appearances of Love, Time and Death are the begin of the healing process he so desperately needs.

With Collateral Beauty there will be no middle ground. It's like Marmite. There will be people who love it and there will be people who hate it. I love it. It is such a beautiful story. Will Smith is giving one of the best performances of his life. Considering that his character doesn't speak for most of the time all his emotions are portrayed by facial expressions and body posture. The man is a terrific actor!

Helen Mirren is a brilliant as always. She can do no wrong in my mind. Her portrayal of Death could have been awkward, but in fact is was just the right balance between serious and light hearted.

Kate Winslet is a wonderful actress. Unfortunately the role didn't do it for me. It didn't do her acting ability justice. It's almost as if the actress was bigger than the role. Although, on the occasions when her talent could be shown - show it she did.

I was disappointed with Keira Knightley's performance. Not quite sure if she was meaning to play a bitch, but she certainly came across that way. Not very nice for someone supposed to portray Love.

Naomie Harries plays Madeleine, the woman that Howard meets at the support group. She gives a stellar performance in her portrayal of the heartbroken mother who lost her little girl in such a cruel way.

I can certainly see, where the critics are coming from. There aren't any ups and downs and in a way, the story is also quite predictable. Yet, I really loved it. I can see myself pulling Collateral Beauty out every Christmas together with all the other Christmas movies such as Love Actually & Co.

Collateral Beauty is a very moving film. It took me several days of mulling it over in my head before I was able to put my thoughts into words. In fact I actually went to see it when I first came out here in Ireland on December 26. But I felt that I wanted to keep it close to me for a while, before talking about it. That in itself makes it special to me, because I don't get this feeling very often.

It also is a very sad movie but it also is full of hope. In so many ways. It gives hope that we have enough Time and Love before Death comes and gets us. And hope that we will be able to see the Collateral Beauty all around us in those we lost.

Passengers (I) (2016)

I really quite liked the movie! Go see it!

[9/10 · 26 December 2016]

We start off with spaceship Avalon travelling through space on the way to Homestead II, a new colony that gives people from Earth the opportunity to get away from the overcrowded planet. There are 5000 passengers and 258 crew on board, all sleeping in hibernation pods. About thirty years into the journey the Avalon is hit by a massive asteroid field and sustains some damage. Most of the damage is not visible straight away, but will prove to be crucial later on.

Unfortunately for mechanic Jim Preston this incident results in his hibernation pod malfunctioning. He wakes up and soon realises that something is way off. For the next year and three weeks he lives on this spaceship all by himself amongst thousands of sleeping people. At first he keeps himself busy with various tasks around the ship and his efforts to get onto the bridge of the ship. Slowly the loneliness is getting to him though. His only companion is a bar tender android, played by Michael Sheen who is brilliant in the role. His performance quite outshines Chris Pratt, I hate to say.

Jim sinks into a deep depression and even contemplates suicide. He faces isolation and loneliness literally for the rest of his life. And that amongst of a sea of people. The spaceship will only arrive at the homestead in ninety years. Well after he will have died. During a particularly dark time he comes upon the pod of Aurora Lane. He is intrigued and starts reading up on her. The more he learns the more he fancies himself in love with her.

The next part has been called many things all over the internet from dark to selfish to downright murder. And perhaps that is all true. But I challenge anyone of those people to deny that they would not have sought a companion and done the same thing. If you faced spending the rest of your life without contact to another person ever again, surely that would makes anyone try and find a solution.

Anyway, after months of trying to talk himself out of it he tampers with Aurora's hibernation pod and wakes her up. In the beginning she believes that her awaking is also due to a pod failure. She is not happy about it but once she realises that there is no going back she settles into life on the ship.

Before too long all of Jim's dreams come true and they become an item. The bar tender has now two clients. Life is good for a while. Jim and Aurora are happy. Her travel gold member status gives them access to all kinds of perks on the ship.

As to be expected the truth comes out eventually and the romance comes to an abrupt stand still. At first Aurora is shocked and enraged when she finds out that she is stuck on the ship for the rest of her life. Then she blocks Christ and gives him the silent treatment. Her reaction is quite understandable considering that someone else altered the course of her life for his own selfish reasons. Jim sentences her to a life on the spaceship without her own choosing.

By then the technical incidents on board add up and a third person wakes up, this time one of the crew. Gus is the Chief Deck Officer of the Avalon. Together they discover that the nuclear power plant is overheating. The malfunctioning of the ship gets worse, threatening to end in disaster for all on board.

Gus' awakening has unexpected and deadly side effects and soon Aurora and Jim find themselves alone again, racing against time to safe the spaceship and everyone on it. They are forced to work together to survive. During the attempts to cool down the power plant, Jim leaves the ship for a dangerous spacewalk that could mean his death. Aurora realises that without him she would be in exactly the same position as he was before waking her up. She realises how she loves him and how very much she does not want to be alone either.

There are a few tense moments, but in the end they make it. When the crew wakes up 88 years later they find the space ship partly transformed into a giant greenhouse. Jim and Aurora learned a valuable lesson, as hopefully will have the viewer. People are always on the way somewhere, instead of living in the moment. They want to be somewhere else, instead of being happy where they are with the people in their lives.

In the end, was it murder to wake up Aurora? I don't think so. She and Jim lived a long and happy live. They made the best of their circumstances and grew old together. What more could you possibly want from life? Does it really matter where you are as long as you are loved and happy?

I found it fascinating that the entire movie was basically held by only three people. Apart from the brief cameo of Laurence Fishburne and an even briefer one by Andy Garcia at the end, the only people in the movie were Jenifer Lawrence, Chris Pratt and Michael Sheen. Jennifer Lawrence is such an amazing actress. Her characters reaction when she found out the truth was spectacular to say the least.

Chris Pratt played his character very well. He started out as this happy go lucky guy who sank into despair at the prospects ahead of him. It was a great performance on his part.

Only Michael Sheen could play a legless android in such a manner. I was once again so impressed by him. He is a wonderful actor.

Overall I really enjoyed Passengers. There was a lot more romance in the movie than I would have thought, but I quite liked that. The action scenes were great.

The Girl on the Train (2016)

An excellent story

[9/10 · 26 December 2016]

You must have been living under a rock not to at least have heard of the movie The Girl On The Train. Well, I wasn't living under a rock and I had in fact heard of the film. I even saw the cinema listings. But for some reason the movie never really registered with me. I saw no ads or trailers anywhere and subsequently I had no idea what the movie was all about either; it was just quietly sitting on the shelf so to speak.

Which is a shame really, as I discovered almost by accident. In search of something to watch this week I went through the listings and saw that the movie was still running. So, I quickly checked out the trailer. It looked reasonably interesting and the decision to watch the film was made.

It's decision that I am very glad about, because it is an excellent movie.

Spoiler Alert!

This is an in depth review of the movie. Please be aware that I discuss the story, therefore some spoilers are inevitable. Read on at your own discretion.

Who is the girl on the train?

Rachel Watson is a chronically drunk girl, who rides on the train into New York every day. She constantly nurses a bottle of what seems to be water at first. We later learn that the bottle is actually filled with alcohol instead of water. This explains why she is getting drunker by the hour as the day progresses.

The train passes the house she used to live in with her now ex-husband. She obsessively stalks said ex-husband from the train, and as it turns out otherwise, who lives in the house now with his new wife and their baby daughter.

While she's at it, she also keeps track of the young couple next door to her ex. She envies them their perfect life, which she perceives to be full of love, romance and passion. Rachel wants this kind of life for herself, but she realises that in her broken alcoholic state she is nowhere near of getting it.

The story is very cleverly told from the perspective of all three women: Rachel Watson (Emily Blunt) - the girl on the train, Anna Watson (Rebecca Ferguson) - the new wife and Megan Hipwell (Haley Bennett) - the girl next door.

The disappearance

One day Rachel witnesses Megan on the balcony of her house with another man. They seem close, kissing. Rachel gets upset, because she feels that the other woman is about to throw her perfect life away. In her drunken stupor she gets off the train to confront Megan.

The next morning she wakes up with blood and bruises all over her face and body. She realises that she can't remember anything that happened the previous evening. To her horror she is then interviewed by the police about her whereabouts that night because Megan has disappeared.

Rachel realises that she is unable to recollect important points in her life. Up until her divorce her husband told her what she's been up to in her drunken fit. But now she just has gaps in her memory. She decides to sober up and joins the AA for help. In an effort to gain back her sanity and to find out what really happened that fateful night she starts her own investigation into Megan's disappearance, which turns all the more urgent when Megan's body is found in the nearby woods.

Final thoughts

Emily Blunt is putting on an incredible performance in her portrayal of Rachel Watson. I can only imagine the emotional drain of filming some of the scenes. The wobbly and shaky camera work really supports the drunken stages of the character, slowly becoming steady and into focus as Rachel sobers up.

As it turns out neither Anna nor Megan have perfect lives, which comes as no surprise to anyone watching. But the realisation of the truth about this undeniable fact in life helps Rachel to cope with battling her own demons.

The role of the ex-husband Tom Watson is played by Justin Theroux. I have not seen much of him yet. To be honest I only know of him because of his marriage to Jennifer Aniston. And while I'm sure that he is a perfectly nice person in real life, Mr. Aniston plays a creep worryingly well. His performance turns from protective husband to creep to sinister in one big smooth sweeping motion.

A small but pivotal role is played by Lisa Kudrow. She plays Martha, the wife of Tom's ex- boss, who's input sets events in motion that eventually lead to solving the mystery.

Overall I am really glad I watched this movie, because it is an excellent story told in a really interesting and brilliant way.

Allied (2016)

Positively surprised by Allied

[9/10 · 26 December 2016]

When I saw the trailer for Allied for the first time I knew I had to watch the movie. The story sounded intriguing and lets face it – its no hardship to watch Brad Pitt on the screen, big, small or otherwise. The man certainly is ageing well.

As I sat down to watch the movie I thought that I knew what was going to happen. I was wrong. I did not know. It is a beautifully scripted and executed story with multiple layers that are interwoven to complete the picture in an unexpected way.

The story

Set in a time of great peril Allied tells the story of Max Vatan (Brad Pitt) and Marianne Beausejour, played by Marion Cotillard. They are thrown together on a secret mission to assassinate the German Ambassador in Casablanca, Morocco in the midst of World War 2. Their cover story has them pose as husband and wife.

While they prepare for their mission they grow close and fall in love. Once the Ambassador is out of the way Max asks her to come to London with him to be his real wife. He serves in the army head quarter as a wing commander with the Canadian Air Force. Their daughter is born during an air raid, with debris flying all around them. They settle into a blissfully happy life. Nothing seems to stand in the way of their happiness.

Until the day when Max gets called into the office and is informed that Marianne is suspected to be a German double agent. He is tasked to run a 'blue dye' on her or face to be executed for treason himself. He is to feed her false information and entrap the woman he loves so desperately.

The two characters met on a secret spy mission. It is ironic that their happiness is threatened by the accusation of her being a double agent for the enemy.

Final thoughts

Brad Pitt gives an outstanding performance in his portrayal of a man who is about to loose everything he holds dear. At first disbelieving he battles his arising doubts and distrust as he sets out to prove Marianne's innocence.

Marion Cotillard is wonderful in her role of the beautiful and brave resistance fighter who wants nothing more than to settle down with her husband and their child. It is the first movie I have seen with her in, as far as I am aware of, and I am really impressed by her performance I have to say. I am looking forward to seeing her next in January, when she has a role in Assassin's Creed together with Michael Fassbender.

Allied is about the age old saying that love conquers all. It is a story about a time full of violence and war. In a time when enemies are fierce and stakes are high, we see the story unfold in front of a haunting background. It reminds me a bit of the iconic movie Casablanca, in more ways than one. They don't make movies like that anymore very often.

Luckily Paramount made Allied. It is a timeless story that will become a classic one day. I'm sure of it. It certainly deserves it.

The Light Between Oceans (2016)

Biggest surprise of 2016

[10/10 · 26 December 2016]

The Light Between Oceans is a beautifully shot film set in a stunning landscape. It tells the heartbreaking story of lighthouse keeper Tom Sherbourne and his wife Isabel, portrayed by real life couple Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander.

The Story

They live on their own on a small island called Janus Rock, where Tom keeps the lighthouse going in every weather.

He took the position after returning from the war, hoping that the isolation of this deserted abode will be the perfect place to escape his demons. He meets and subsequently falls in love with Isabel, a local girl from the main land. After they get married they live together in the little cottage next to the lighthouse. Life would be perfect if it weren't for two miscarriages that Isabel suffered over the next few years. Shortly after the second pregnancy ended prematurely, they find a small boat washed up on the shores of the island. Inside they find the body of a young man and a crying baby girl.

Isabel sees the baby's arrival as a sign and as her only chance of ever being a mother. She convinces a reluctant Tom to keep the girl and raise her as their own. Tom is not convinced but he does see the life coming back into Isabel, the woman he loves more than anything. He eventually agrees and buries the man in the dunes. They name the little girl Lucy.

Tom, Isabel and Lucy are a happy family over the next few years. Life is good and they manage to all but put their secret out of their minds. Until they meet the Lucy's real mother. Tom's conscience and his old doubts return. Was it right of them to withhold the child from her birth mother?

A moral dilemma

The movie deals with the moral dilemma that rises from this situation. Tough decisions will have to be made by everyone before long to ensure that Lucy's best interests are met. Both Tom and Isabel are portrayed as good people who genuinely love each other and the child they have come to regard as their own. That makes it difficult to outright condemn them for their actions. Seeing the devastation they face at the prospect of losing Lucy, one can't help but feel for them.

Only in the second half of the movie do we really get to meet the the real mother and with this the other side of the coin. The producers could not have found a better actress than the ever so beautiful Rachel Weisz for the role of Hannah Roennfeldt. Her portrayal of the sorrow and heartbreak after losing both her husband and daughter haunts the viewer.

In fact all three actors gave outstanding performances. I have never seen so much emotional turmoil in a movie. They must have felt drained after every day of shooting. The pain they portrayed was so real that I ended up feeling sorry for all of them. There was never going to be a winner, no matter what outcome.

Even the landscape and the weather were used to convey the mood of the scenes. Shots of rough seas and stormy nights are sparring with calm waters batched in warm sun light.

Final Thoughts

There have not been a lot of great movies with a lot of substance in recent years. We all have grown used to mindless action with lots of CGI and special effects for entertainment. Throw in a bit of humour and you are halfway sure to have a success. The bigger the budget the bigger the movie. The Light Between Oceans did not have a big budget or a lot of action scenes. There is certainly nothing funny about the subject. Instead it tells a beautiful story about people. It talks of feelings and struggle. And about doing the right thing, even if it breaks you heart and endangers yours and other people's lives. It tell the story of happiness and heartbreak, of loss and redemption.

The Light Between Oceans makes you stop and reflect on what is important in life. It is ultimately telling one truth: the love of a mother never dies. No matter how you became to be a mother.

Arrival (II) (2016)

What? No!

[5/10 · 26 December 2016]

Lets starts honest

I really liked Arrival. Until it turned weird. Then, not so much anymore.

With a class A cast including Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker this should have been a great movie all the way to the end. Except that it wasn't. It was a great movie until it stopped being that. I had high hopes for it and as such I was left slightly disappointed.

Arrival is a good story with a ton of potential for greatness until it got whacked on the head and it all went belly up. For some reason I can't help comparing it to the 1997 movie Contact, starring the iconic Jodie Foster, which kind of had the same problem. Great movie with a great story until the moment it went all pear shaped.

The Story

Twelve pods of unknown makeup and origin have appeared overnight at seemingly random locations around the globe. As to be expected the media goes nuts and social services break down. School is out. Louise Banks (Amy Adams) is a successful linguistics professor who stands in from of an empty class room the next day. She highly regarded in her field and has done highly classified consultancy work for the government in the past. Because of this it comes as no big surprise when she gets approached by the military. They need her help in decoding the language of the aliens and once that is done they want her to establish communications with the visitors. For this mission she gets a team of people and works closely together with Ian Donnelly, a theoretical physicist, portrayed by Jeremy Renner.

All twelve pods have positioned themselves at seemingly arbitrary coordinates all over the world. The local governments are scrambling to establish contact with the aliens and try to learn as much as they can about 'their' pods. They all have a fall out about how to proceed and one by one they end up shutting down communication with the rest of the world. Everyone is now acting isolated without knowing what the others are doing or how far they are with their work to decipher the purpose of the visit. This of course creates an explosive situation that threatens to get out of hand when gossip has it that the Chinese are contemplating to nuke their pod in search for answers. This of course is not an ideal situation for anyone, as no one knows if and how the aliens or the neighbours, for that matter, will retaliate.

Here is where it went wrong

In between her work Louise has these strange flashbacks to her family, mainly her daughter. Except that we learn she doesn't have a family nor a daughter. These flashbacks are just that, but that the events have not actually happened yet. They will happen in the future. And that, because she now speaks the aliens language, time doesn't follow in a straight line for her anymore but in parallel strings all mixed up.

Say what?

This is where is turned south for me. I am good with weird and strange. But that was too much for me. In that moment the movie lost its credibility in my eyes. I know there are concepts out there about time and space and astro physics. In fact I am very interest in the subject. I have read several read books and listened to countless podcasts about it. But the way it was done in the movie is just ridiculous. I am very sorry.

Final thoughts

I suppose we can draw similarities to today's society, which is rather trigger happy. We constantly on the cusp of a global catastrophe even without the presence of aliens. This raises the question of what will it take for humankind to step back from the abyss. What is needed for people to start working together instead of against each other?

Arrival also touches on another question. A moral one that people ask themselves daily. If you knew the future and the way your life would turn out to be, would you change anything? If you knew that by accepting the greatest gift and joy you would ever get, you would also set yourself up the the most desperate pain. Would you still chose the same path?

Its a powerful message. I just wish they would have found a different way to convey it.

Inferno (I) (2016)

Was that really necessary?

[6/10 · 26 December 2016]

I had been meaning to watch Inferno when it first came out in the cinemas, but circumstance kept me from doing that for several weeks. If I had known then what I know now, I would have skipped the cinema altogether and waited until the movie is out on Netflix.

The Book

I listened to the book version earlier this year and it took me months to finish. It was just really not that good. Something about the story kept me from putting it aside and listen to something else in between several times. The story just drags on and on. Dan Brown really tries hard to recreate the success of the Da Vinci Code. But he doesn't quite get there. I think he needs to get away from the Robert Langdon stories and come up with something new.

I listened to Deception Point awhile back and that was brilliant. It is one of his earlier books, pre Langdon era. I reckon after The Da Vinci Code it was a logical step to keep the momentum going. Angels and Demons and The Lost Symbol where still okay, although already declining in that order. I may need to take a break from Dan Brown for a while. Maybe I start enjoying his books again in the future.

With all of that in mind I was wondering why I was so eager to watch the movie Inferno in the first place. I suppose the answer is I read the books and I saw the other movies. Might as well keep going.

Mixed Feelings

Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of the story. There is something intriguing about it. Why I had such a hard time finishing it I don't know. Maybe they're we're just too many twists and turns. The momentum got lost along the way. Movies are never as detailed as books; how could they be, and that partly appealed to me in this case. Plus I really do enjoy watching Tom Hanks. The previews for the movie looked halfway interesting and that settled it for me in the end. So, when I finally got the chance I went ahead and booked my ticket.

With all that in mind however, I didn't have very high expectations for the movie and thus I was not disappointed. It is by no means terrible, but it is definitely not the best movie ever made.

The Movie

Tom Hanks once again resumes to role of Robert Langdon, a Harvard university professor, who specialises in religious iconology and symbology. In this installment he finds himself waking up with a head wound in a hospital in Florence, Italy with no idea of what happened. He does not know why he even is in Florence nor does he remember how he got there.

From here on the story develops pretty close to the book for a while. The ending has been changed to conform more to a Hollywood style finish, which is a shame. It's a disease in the movie industry to change stories, sometimes almost beyond recognition. It didn't go quite that far with Inferno but still. I rather liked the book ending.

The Story

Robert Langton wakes up in the hospital in Florence Italy struck with a head wound and partial amnesia. He has no recall of the past two days and no idea how he got to Florence and why he is there. When a fake police officer attempts to show to him he is rescued by his doctor Sienna Brooks. They find a bio hazard tube in his belongings that turns out to be a projector for the scene of Dante's Inferno. Together Langdon and Brooks race to put the pieces of the puzzle together to find out who wants to kill him and what is behind those strange visions that Langdon has. In the end it come down to saving the world from a major catastrophe. We would not expected anything less.

It's fascinating how the movie incorporates the weird dreams and flashbacks that Langdon has. That part was very well done and is as disorienting to the viewer as it must have been for the character himself.

Overall, Inferno is not a terrible movie, but in my opinion its also nothing to get excited about. I guess that is why it has taken me quite a while to write the review.

Sully (2016)

A must see!

[10/10 · 26 December 2016]

I have watched plenty of movies this year. Sully is one of the best. It will stand out for a long time. I am not a person who gets overly emotional while watching movies. Well, most of the time. But I did have to wipe the one or the other tear surreptitiously away while watching Sully - Miracle on the Hudson.

We all saw the TV footage and we all read the news stories about the US Airways plane that landed on the Hudson River in New York on January 15, 2009. But we were never told the story around the incident, from what went wrong to what happened in the aftermath of the emergency landing.

The captain of US Airways Flight 1549 was being hailed a hero for saving all 155 lives on board the plane. We read the newspaper articles, applauded the captain and then we moved on. At least I did. Until the movie brought that heroic act back to me. It made me think about the people on the plane, about the crew and the passengers.

Who ever took a moment to think of the rescue teams that were out there on that fateful day, helping to get everyone to safety? It was a icy cold January day. Without the help of the coast guard and all the other helpers, people may have died of hypothermia. Yet, thanks to the heroic efforts of every single person out there, everybody made it out alive. All of a sudden all these people were not an article in the newspaper, they were real people. What made them real? Their story. Why? Because it is a very powerful story.

The Story

Sully - Miracle on the Hudson tells the events around the emergency landing from the perspective of the pilot, Captain Chesley Sullenberger. The crash is re-enacted as is the rescue operation that ensued afterwards. As a nice touch the rescue crews in the movie are portrayed by the real life heroes who were actually on duty when the plane came down. From the captain of the boat to the frog man who jumped into the water - these guys are the real deal. Its nice to have a face to them.

The movie deals with the emotional trauma that comes from such an experience. Not many people would have stopped to think how this near tragedy affected those onboard afterwards. We are witness to the nightmares and the PST symptoms that the pilot suffered from in the days after the crash. The stress must have been immense.

Also part of the aftermath was the investigation in the crash that followed. Such investigations are a crucial part of the process, as things learned will hopefully aid the prevention of future disasters. The investigator in the movie are portrayed as heartless and cold people, devoid of compassion. They were sent by the corporation to find out why the plane ended up on the Hudson River and not on an airport runway.

I don't know if this is exactly how it happened or if some Hollywood screen writing liberties were taken with that part. It certainly made for a lot of drama as the movie progressed. The truth lies probably somewhere in the middle.

The Cast

Tom Hanks was as usual on top of his game with his portrayal of Sully. He is such a great actor. Although, a few times he reminded me of Forest Gump in his mannerism. I don't know if that intentional; I would not think so but what do I know.

The very strong supporting cast was lead by Aaron Eckhart and Laura Linney. Both were just incredible.

As a woman and a wife, I really felt for Laura's character of Lorraine Sullenberger. Her husband had just been in a place crash. He was far away, both physically and emotionally, and there was no way for her to be there. She had no option to see with her own eyes that he was OK, or to hold him. She had to deal with the sudden hype around his person to an extend she was completely unprepared for. The media parked in front of her house, making such noise that conversations inside were almost impossible.

Sully, her husband, was under pressure and fighting his own demons. He was also far away. It is hard to be there for someone if that someone isn't there. It is also hard to draw strength from someone how isn't there. She almost lost her husband and the father of her children. She must have been a very strong woman to be able to deal with all of this on her own.

Aaron Eckhart plays first officer Jeffrey Skiles, who copiloted the plane. His outrage and disbelief at the way the investigation was handled will resonate in many who are watching the movie.

Final Thoughts

Overall Sully - Miracle on the Hudson is an extraordinary and powerful movie. The courage of the captain and his crew are awe inspiring. It is easy to forget that this is a story about real people. The passengers, the crew, the rescue people, the guys in the control centre in the radio tower at the airport. The movie makes them real to the viewer.

Saving 155 lives is a miracle. It was made possible by many people. One of them is Sully.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

I'm officially on the Star Wars wagon!

[9/10 · 26 December 2016]

Rogue One is everything you would expect from the 8th installment of the Star Wars saga.

We have incredible CGI and special effects that make this epic film larger than life. Fast paced space and ground battles with all the necessary trimmings and space troopers galore. Not to mention the funny android with an attitude problem and more personality than most humans. It is all there.

The music score is very much in line with the series, yet still unique in its own way. This only adds to the overall feeling and knowledge that this is a self contained movie.

The opening of Rogue One departs from the big score and introduction scrolling across the screen. I found this part a tiny bit disappointing - it is kind of a Star Wars thing after all. Even I know that, and admittedly I don't know much.

The Story

Set between Episode III and IV Rogue One tells the story of a band of rebels who are trying to get the plans for the Death Star. They are lead by Jyn Erso, who is the daughter of Galen Erso, the man who reluctantly developed the machine.

During the construction Galen had secretly built in a weak spot at the core, hoping that the rebellion would be able to destroy the deadly weapon before the Empire had a chance to use it.

His wish did not exactly come true, because the evil Orson Krennic uses it to destroy Jedha City in order to show its power to the Empirial Senat. This makes the task at hand all the more urgent and the rebels are prepared to sacrifice everything to complete their mission.

The final showdown happens on the planet Scarif where the plans are stored. Star Wars fans who have been with the franchise for a while will probably know or at least guess the outcome of the movie. In my opinion that does not take anything away from the glory of watching it all happen in such a spectacular fashion on the big screen in 3D.

Sequel yes / no?

Rogue One is a stand alone movie but rumours continue to linger that there may be works in the pipeline to continue the story. I guess only time will tell. It is a very profitable franchise after all, so nothing is really unthinkable.

Disney revamped the Star Wars tale with The Force Awakens in 2015. They are currently working to get the chapter of that out in 2017. If the trend continues then the next movies after that is not due until 2019, which leaves the perfect open spot in 2018 for something else. But that is just speculation on my part.

Final thoughts

I have never been a Star Wars fan. To tell the truth the first movie in the franchise I ever saw was Episode I, and that only partly. I watched it years ago and the only part I remembered is the pod race. The first Star Wars movie I consciously watched was indeed The Force Awakens last year. After watching Rogue One now I am determined to make a marathon session over Christmas out of watching the entire series in one go. I will be off work for a few days, so that will give me the perfect opportunity to do that.

There are two reasons for that. First is my newfound appreciation for the story. And secondly there is the knowledge that I am missing the overall picture. I can't really place any of the events around those two movies within the timeframe of the entire story. As I am certain, that there will be more films coming and I am also certain that I am going to watch them, I want to be able to see the whole picture when I do that.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)

What a wonderful movie - the magic is alive!

[26 December 2016]

I am the first to admit that I was sceptical about the movie Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them. How could you make a movie about the world of Harry Potter without Harry Potter?

I needn't have been worried. Clearly, J.K. Rowling knows what she is doing. In a departure from the conventional first writing the story in form of a novel, she skipped a step and went on straight to writing the screenplay instead. With an incredible movie as a result.

The story is about Newt Scamander, played by Eddie Redmayne. Newt is a British wizard who comes to New York in the 1920s. In his possession he has a suitcase filled with magical creatures. He has collected those fantastic beasts all over the world and stopped over in America to release the Thunderbird into the wild to be with other creatures of its kind. After that he is on his way back home to write a book about the fantastic beasts and where to find them. Or so he thought.

A chance encounter with 'no-maj' Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler) leads to a mix up of their suitcases and ultimately results in some of the creatures getting out. Newt has lost one little critter already. This one is obsessed with anything shiny and sparkly. And he found all the shiny coins in the local bank very much to his liking. Newt follows him into the bank in an effort to catch him. Jacob is also at the bank because he applied for a loan. He works in a factory and feels his life slowly being sucked out of him. Instead he wants to open a bakery and brings samples of pastries made with his grandmothers recipes. He doesn't get the loan because he has nothing to give as security. Instead he meets Newt and a strange new chapter in his life starts.

New York at the time is rife with angst about the possible existence of wizardry and witchcraft amongst the general no-maj population. This is stirred considerably by radical individuals such as Mary Lou Barebone. She spends her time standing at street corners and handing out pamphlets. She also 'adopted' several children, most of them she treats rather poorly.

Newt is picked up and arrested by Porpentina Goldstein, a fellow witch who works at the Magical Congress of the USA. She has observed him since he came to the city and feels that his behaviour threatens to expose their existence. She tries to bring Newt in front of the presidential council where she gets blocked due to her low status and rank within the ministry.

Tina opens the suitcase and finds the pastry baked by the unfortunate Jacob, whom Newt had met earlier. They realise that the suitcases were swapped and head out to find him. Eventually they track him down in his flat with a bite mark on his neck and the mild side effects of the bite.

She takes the two men to her apartment, where they meet her sister Queenie Goldstein. Queenie is a fellow witch with the ability to read people's minds. She and Jacob hit it off immediately in a really sweet and innocent old fashioned style.

Later that night Newt and Jacob sneak out to find some of the escapes beasts that are threatening to cause mayhem all over the city.

Trouble brews in form of Percival Graves (Colin Farrell), a powerful wizard and the Director of Security at MACUSA. He appears to have an agenda of his own, which is not quite clear as of yet. But he does meet Credence, a teenage boy and one of Mary Lou's adopted children in some back alleys to task him with finding a child witch who supposedly possesses unimaginable powers.

The events take the group of new friends all across New York in an effort to catch the escaped creatures and to return them to the magical world Newt has created in his suitcase for them,

The story ends in an epic show down wizard style, with grown men waving their wands like it's no ones business. There are sparks flying and buildings crumbling.

Unfortunately Jacob's memories are erased together with those of all the other people in the city. Him and Queenie have grown quite fond of each other. But thanks to an anonymous gift he is able to put down a security for the loan he needed and is able to open his bakery after all. This bakery turns out to be a huge success. One day Queenie stops by to visit him and it seems that the chemistry between them is still sparkling.

Tina and Newt say their goodbyes and he promises to bring her a copy of his book once it is finished.

The CGI effects throughout the movie are spectacular. I highly recommend watching the movie in 3D. The creatures and their world look incredibly real and close enough to touch. It is rather fascinating to watch a tiny little blue insect flapping its wings right in front of your nose.

The story itself is thought provoking and beautiful. It touches on the age old subject of comparing people of different backgrounds against each other. People who lead different lives and people who have different abilities. Who is right and who is wrong. Who is better and who is not. And how do they treat the creatures around them?

Similarities with today's society is clearly visible to anyone willing to look passed the story of wizardry and transfers the values into the everyday life of the modern world.

We can all learn something from a suitcase full of magical creatures.

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016)

No matter what JAck Reacher is always fun!

[7/10 · 26 December 2016]

Jack Reacher - Never Go Back Jack Reacher is back. This time he returns to Washington and he finds himself in a bit of a predicament. In his own special way he goes about setting things right.

Spoiler Alert!

This is an in depth review of the movie. Please be aware that I discuss the story, therefore some spoilers are inevitable. Read on at your own discretion.

Initial Thoughts

Let's face it. When a short dark haired man pretends to be a tall light haired giant then something's gotta give and someone is losing out. Unfortunately in this case it's the audience who is losing.

I have loved Tom Cruise since I first saw him in Legend all those years ago. He is a great actor and he made some great movies. But he should stick to playing Ethan Hunt. Because he's not Jack Reacher. I'm sorry.

Having said that - it's not all bad. In fact it is a great movie. I enjoyed watching it. Actually I had planned on seeing a different movie but quickly changed my mind when I realized that Jack Reacher was out because I had been looking forward to the film since I saw the first trailers.

The Story

Jack Reacher heads back to Washington to meet up with his successor in the 110th, Major Susan Turner. They've spoken on the phone a few times and he is curious. And as he does not have much else to do, being a drifter and all, he decides to make his way to D.C. and check her out. Maybe invite her for dinner. That's the plan anyway.

But we all know - the best laid plans never really work out and so it is not surprising that Reacher does not find Turner on his arrival. What he finds is trouble. And he finds himself slapped with a paternity suit.

Turner is in jail on charges of treason, which Reacher's gut tells him is a big pile of baloney. When he begins to ask questions he finds himself re-enlisted and with the possibility that he has a child he didn't know of.

After springing Turner from jail they go on the run, trying to figure out who is after them. Reacher finds the girl who is supposedly his daughter. She is a street smart kid with a habit of recreational shoplifting. As it turns out now she is in danger too and they take her with them. As they move along several people they were in contact with end up dead.

Bit by bit they piece the story together. Turner had send a team to Afghanistan to investigate the disappearance of a truck load of weapons, that should have been shipped back to the US as the troops pulled out of there. Unfortunately the team got killed by what Turner assumed was someone on the inside. When she started to investigate the murders someone higher up stepped in and had her arrested on trumped up charges of treason.

From Washington they move on to New Orleans for the big show down. The bad guys get what they are due and then some. The big boss is almost getting away; luckily Reacher and Turner get help from an unlikely source when it counts and all is well that ends well. Hollywood style.

Verdict

One thing is certain. Tom Cruise may not be six foot five but he is in great shape. And he still knows how to do awesome stunt and fight scenes. He and Cobie Smulders bounce the story beautifully off each other.

Jack Reacher - the movie is about as far removed from Jack Reacher - the book as possible, without having to change the name. It's a good movie though. It would have been a better one if I hadn't read the book, together with all the other books in the series. The story moves along swiftly and is filled with action from start to finish. I kind of hope they'll make another movie one day. I'm sure Lee Child still has got a few stories up his sleeve. After all he just released Jack Reacher 21. Although I haven't read that one yet. Keep your eyes peeled for a review in the future.

Overall I will give the movie about 7 out of 10. Its not the greatest movie ever made; nonetheless it is very entertaining. Do you have to watch it in the cinema? Probably not. It will come out on Netflix soon enough I imagine.

One question remains though. Why does Jack Reacher in the movie never gets the girl?