Sudden Impact (1983)

Genres

Action, Crime, Thriller

Director

Clint Eastwood

Country

USA

Cast

Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Pat Hingle, Bradford Dillman, Paul Drake, Albert Popwell, Audrie J. Neenan, Jack Thibeau, Michael Currie, Michael V. Gazzo, Mark Keyloun, Kevyn Major Howard, Bette Ford, Nancy Parson

Storyline

Jennifer Spencer (Sondra Locke), a rape victim has turned into a vigilante killer and kills her attackers one by one and Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) is assigned to the case.

Opinion

Right after the first film, Dirty Harry, the franchise started to drop in quality and given the level it has reached with The Enforcer, I was expecting another terrible film. But I guess a change of direction was what the series needed because Sudden Impact is quite good. Sure, it's far from being the best film of the series, but it's a solid-ish cop movie.

When I said change of direction I wasn't only talking about the director, but also about the tones of the film. It is moody and dark (as a matter of fact, there's almost no humour) and it's more focused on the characters, not only Callahan's, and they are better written, especially the bad guys.

There are two main storylines, Callahan's and that of the rape victim, the latter being the main focus of the film which is great since it's also the most interesting. It does take a while to take off, but when Callahan and Spencer finally meet it gets more engaging. Still, it's very clichéed and predictable.

The major difference between Sudden Impact and The Enforcer is easily the direction. Clint Eastwood clearly knows how to direct and, although there are some pretty dull scenes, for the most the film has a good pace and some suspense as well. Clint Eastwood is also a problem though. He is too old to play Harry Callahan and, while he does his best, he doesn't have the age or ability to make the action sequences look realistic and believable.  

Epic (2013)

Genres

Animation, Adventure, Fantasy

Director

Chris Wedge

Country

USA

Voice Cast

Colin Farrell, Josh Hutcherson, Amanda Seyfried, Christoph Waltz, Aziz Ansari, Chris O'Dowd, Pitbull, Jason Sudeikis, Steven Tyler, Beyoncé Knowles, Blake Anderson, Judah Friedlander

Storyline

Teenager MK (Amanda Seyfried) is transported into a tiny civilization and finds herself caught in the middle of a battle between good and evil forces. 

Opinion

I don't know if someone other than me has seen Epic Movie, but that movie sure wasn't epic. Same goes with Epic. While it's pretty to look at, it's far from being epic.

Slightly enjoyable, the story lacks originality (it's basically a clone of Luc Besson's Arthur and the Invisibles, from the war between the two tiny population to the impossible/predictable love story), it's not very developed, it's pretty bland, and, in top of that, it has a terrible pacing. At times it's fast and flows well; at times it's slow and feels like it's dragged forever.

The characters aren't that good either. They are pretty bland and clichéed which makes it harder to care for them, especially when you have a villain so weak that makes MCU's look like the best villains ever. However, the main characters are likeable and a few of them are funny (the snail and the slug).

Another issues with Epic is the voice cast. What bothered me the most was the casting of Beyoncé. She is a great artist and I love her voice but voicing an animated character just isn't her thing. Every single line she delivers is flat. Not a single emotion is conveyed by her. But it's not like the rest of the cast does a better job.

Then there's the animation. While it's yet another non-epic aspect of the film, it's good. Everything, from the setting to the characters, is beautiful and so rich in detail it almost looks real.

Old School (2003)

Genre

Comedy

Director

Todd Phillips

Country

USA

Cast

Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, Jeremy Piven, Ellen Pompeo, Juliette Lewis, Leah Remini, Perrey Reeves, Craig Kilborn, Patrick Fischler, Sara Tanaka, Simon Helberg, Seann William Scott, Elisha Cuthbert, Patrick J. Adams

Storyline

Three friends, Mitch (Luke Wilson), Frank (Will Ferrell) and Beanie (Vince Vaughn), disillusioned with their personal lives try to recapture their glory days by forming their own fraternity in Mitch's new house that happens to be on a college campus.

Opinion

If there’s something I’ve learned from watching a lot of movies is to expect nothing good from a comedy starring Will Ferrell. And that’s exactly the case with Old School. It is a demential and moronic film, but you know what, it works as a comedy.

The story isn’t very original; it’s pretty much the typical frat house story meaning it doesn’t have much depth, there’s a lot of nonsense going on and it’s pretty lame, and there are also some annoyingly predictable subplots – as if the main plot wasn’t predictable enough – and yet it manages to be engaging and fun.

And the credits for that entirely goes to the cast. There isn’t much you can do with flat stereotypical characters completely lacking development, but the leading trio, Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell and Vince Vaughn, is hilarious, especially Ferrell. And it was nice seeing actors such as Sean William Scott making an appearance.

At last, there’s the humour. It isn’t great. Actually, it’s pretty shitty – yes, I’m talking about the toilet humour -, and vulgar – I would have never expected anything different, to be honest – and some jokes are really worn, but there’s plenty of laughing-out-loud moments and that’s exactly what a comedy like this one needs.  

Adventureland (2009)

Genres

Comedy, Drama, Romance

Director

Greg Mottola

Country

USA

Cast

Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Ryan Reynold, Martin Starr, Matt Bush, Margarita Levieva, Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Mary Birdsong, Josh Pais, Jack Gilpin, Wendie Malick

Storyline

In the summer of 1987, college graduate James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) takes a job at Adventureland, his local amusement park, where he meets and falls in love with a co-worker,  Emily (Kristen Stewart).

Opinion

Although I’ve recently come to appreciate her acting, I’m still not a fan of Kristen Stewart, and I still don’t like Jesse Eisenberg – actually, I’m starting to believe nobody does – which is why I’ve been putting off Adventureland forever. However, I read good things about it in last week’s Thursday Movie Picks and decided to watch it; I’m glad I did because it isn’t bad for a teen movie. 

Although there’s barely a plot, everything moves very slowly, there are most of the clichés of a coming-of-age and there’s no such a thing as a twist – so it’s pretty predictable -, the story is interesting to follow and quite enjoyable. The ending though, it didn’t really work for me.

Anyway, this is one of the few (maybe only) times when I did not find Jesse Eisenberg's character utterly annoying. Actually, he was very likeable. It’s probably because it’s easy to relate to his character, he’s decently written and the performance isn’t bad. Also, the character feels real. It’s the same with the other characters. They are not that developed, but they aren’t as shallow as I was expecting either.

The most enjoyable part, however, is the quirky and at times awkward humour. Although it’s nothing new, the cast delivers it nicely, especially Ryan Reynolds who once again blesses us all with his amazing sense of humour. 

Thursday Movie Picks: Television Edition: Non-English Language TV Series

Hello there, it's Thursday Movie Picks's time, the weekly series hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves where you share three movies to fit the theme of the week each Thursday.

Wow, this week was hard. There are so many non-English TV series I've seen in my short life I did not know which to pick. So, to make my life easier, I'm going theme within a theme, and I'm picking three German language TV series I love. Now that I think about it, it's a double theme within a theme since they all are about cops.

Kommissar Rex (1994-2004)

In Vienna, a cop and his colleagues solve crimes with a German Sheppard named Rex. I grew up watching this series and it's pretty good. I've seen the episodes so many times I know them by heart and still they manage to keep me interested until the end. They made an Italian version too recently but I never got into it because I didn't like the cast. I only watched an episode because it was set in Vienna and it had one of my favourite characters of the original series. 

Der letzte Bulle (2010-2014)

A cop reawakens from a 20-year-long coma only to find out that the world has changed completely. This one is awesome. It's the kind of cop who doesn't like playing by the rules and doesn't care about laws. Along with his younger partner, he gives the show the perfect balance between humour and seriousness. And those 80s/90s songs? Absolutely amazing! 

Alarm für Cobra 11 - Die Autobahnpolizei (1996- )

In Koln, two police inspectors and their team fight all sort of criminals they encounter daily on the highway. If this was a film, I'd probably give it 1.5 stars because of all the nonsense, plot holes, impossible stunts and because basically every single car explodes, but it's fun. The leads have a great chemistry which is incredible since Erdogan Atalay's (he's in the series since the second episode of the first series) partner keeps dying or moving and a new character/actor arrives every two or three series. 

Quo Vado? (2016)

Genre

Comedy

Director

Gennaro Nunzinate

Country

Italy

Cast

Checco Zalone, Eleonora Giovanardi, Ninni Bruschetta, Sonia Bergamasco, Maurizio Micheli, Paolo Pierobon, Lino Banfi, Ludovica Mudugno, Azzurra Martino, Lilia Perno, Diego Verdegiglio

Storyline

All Checco (Checco Zalone) wanted as a child was a guaranteed job as a public servant and all the privileges that come with it. And his dream has come true, but when a new reformist government vows to cut down on bureaucracy, he is forced to accept terrible conditions in order to keep his job.

Opinion

When Quo Vado? hit theatres back in January 2016 everybody was talking about how great this film was. Still, I didn't care much for it because I have seen some other Checco Zalone films and, while they were funny, they weren't comedy masterpieces. And neither is this. Actually, this one is not even as funny as I was expecting it to be.

The first reason why I didn’t care much for this film was the plot. The story of the average Italian man who only cares about his guaranteed state job and the privileges that come with it and does everything to keep it didn’t appeal me much simply because that’s the ugly truth, that kind of person is everywhere here in Italy and nobody *politicians* does anything about it. Eventually, the story turned out to be very flat, quite boring and predictable – so I guess I was right.

Also, Zalone’s mockery of the average Italian man does not work as it should. If there’s something I’ve learned watching Italian comedies is that we are usually great at making fun of our flaws. Quo Vado? fails at that. The satire is indeed pretty flat.

The humour just doesn’t work here. There’s a terrific lack of comical elements. Most of the jokes fall flat and, overall, the film just isn’t funny. I had some laughs here and there, but that’s not enough in a comedy.

The characters and acting are terrible as well. In spite of that, Checco Zalone is able to make you kind of care for him, and you’ll eventually end up rooting for him.

Still, in my humble opinion, this film is widely overrated and the only thought of it being the highest grossing Italian film of all time makes me sick. 

To the Bone (2017)

Genres

Drama, Comedy

Director

Marti Noxon

Country

USA

Cast

Lily Collins, Keanu Reeves, Carrie Preston, Lili Taylor, Alex Sharp, Liana Liberato, Brooke Smith, Leslie Bob, Kathryn Prescott, Ciara Quinn Bravo, Maya Eshet, Lindsay McDowell, Retta, Joanna Sanchez, Alanna Ubach

Storyline

20-year-old Ellen (Lily Collins) enters a group home run by an unconventional doctor (Keanu Reeves) as her latest attempt at healing from anorexia. 

Opinion

To the Bone came to my attention a couple of weeks ago when the media across the world labelled it as a movie promoting anorexia. Having suffered from an eating disorder myself, I was very curious to see it. And frankly, I don't think it does such a thing. If anything, it can be an eye opener for those suffering from this illness.

Though the story of Ellen and through her eyes, the film offers a good insight on anorexia and eating disorders in general. It is quite hard to sit through, especially if you have gone through something similar - watching Ellen obsessively doing all those sit-ups to burn calories, scrapping the bread of the chicken breast, well, I went through that and it was almost unbearable for me to watch. All I could think of was, I cannot believe I used to do this to myself. It's experience that tells me this movie has the potential to help.

Truly astonishing is the lead, Lily Collins. Although at times her character is making fun of the illness, laughing about spitting food or using laxatives, and it doesn't seem to have a lot of depth or care for the illness - I have to say though that Noxon crafted a very detailed character -, it's thought Lily Collins's eyes that Ellen's suffering transpires. She is really excellent.

However, To the Bones isn't perfect. While it is interesting and engaging and it has a nice balance of dark humour and drama, the story is a bit flawed. The romantic subplot has too much room and takes away the focus from the main storyline. Also, the ending is pretty terrible. It feels like Noxon was out of time and had to finish as soon as possible. It's just not the right ending for the film.

That said, overall this is a pretty good film, so, if you have Netflix, I do recommend you give it a chance.

Annabelle (2014)

Genre

Horror

Director

John R. Leonetti

Country

USA

Cast

Annabelle Wallis, Ward Horton, Tony Amendola, Alfre Woodard, Kerry O'Malley, Brian Howe, Eric Ladin, Ivar Brogger, Gabriel Bateman, Geoff Wehner, Shiloh Nelson, Keira Daniels, Robin Pearson Rose, Camden Singer, Morganna Bridgers, Amy Tipton

Storyline

The lives of Mia (Annabelle Wallis) and John Gordon (Ward Horton) are turned upside down when they bring home a vintage doll.

Opinion

When I was younger, I used to be a huge horror movies fan; Annabelle is one of the reasons I am not anymore. I'm pretty sure this is one of the worst horror movies I've ever seen. Even worse than the Friday the 13th franchise. This film is Terrence Malick boring and the only reason I managed to watch the whole thing without falling asleep is that I didn't watch it at night.

The storyline was okay and could have been turned into something interesting. However, some brainless person "wrote" and "developed" it and it ended up being a huge pile of shit. So the overall story is incredibly weak, there is no such thing as development, and nothing about it makes sense. I'm still trying to figure out why would Mia want that creepy doll in her house. It's not a pretty doll, it's a beyond creepy doll. I wouldn't even walk in a room if that doll was in it. And I'm not scared of dolls. And don't believe in supernatural stuff.

To that, add a bunch of uninteresting, bland, clichéed, stereotyped characters that have no development whatsoever. No wonder the actors were terrible too. 

But it's not fair to blame only the writer - although most of the fault is his. The direction is terrible as well. I don't know what John R. Leonetti was doing while shooting this, but I'm pretty sure he wasn't doing what a director is supposed to do, direct.

Annabelle doesn't have a single scary sequence/moment, it doesn't have a climax, it doesn't have the right atmosphere and therefore completely fails on the task of building suspense. How do the filmmakers even dare to pass this as a horror movie? Ah, the mysteries of life.

HOLY SHIT I'm still doing this

The Enforcer (1976)

Genres

Action, Thriller

Director

James Fargo

Country

USA

Cast

Clint Eastwood, Tyne Daly, Harry Guardino, Bradford Dillman, John Mitchum, DeVeren Bookwalter, Abert Popwell, John Crawford, Robert Hoy, Michael Cavanaugh, Jocelyn Jones, Dirk Durock, Samantha Doane, M.G. Kelly, Terry McGovern, John Roselius, Rudy Ramos, Joe Spano

Storyline

Inspector Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) teams with a new partner, Inspector Kate Moore (Tyne Daly), to take down a terrorist group.

Opinion

After the average Magnum Force, the Dirty Harry franchise keeps going down with The Enforcer, a pretty weak and barely fun cop movie.

The most surprising aspect of this film is the writing. Considering all the people involved in the creative process - two people to write the story, two people to write the characters and two people to write the script -, this is a real mess. The story is bland and boring, it doesn't have anything original, the twists can barely be called twists. In addition, it has a whole battle of sexes plot that is quite offensive and sexist.

The characters aren't any better. I was actually excited about Callahan's female partner but the character is terrible. Same goes with Callahan himself, who is now nothing more than a caricature of the Callahan in Dirty Harry. And Clint Eastwood really does a great job at doing a parody of himself. The character ended up being so unlikable, you'll probably side with his supervisors.

James Fargo's direction is bland, to say the least. The film looks lifeless. It lacks tension, an atmospheric score, and good action. It only has violence and it's not enough to make the film exciting.

The Pagemaster (1994)

Genres

Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy

Directors

Joe Johnston, Maurice Hunt

Country

USA

Cast

Macaulay Culkin, Christopher Lloyd, Patrick Stewart, Whoopi Goldberg, Frank Welker, Leonard Nimoy, George Hearn, Jim Cummings, Phil Hartman, Ed Gilbert, B.J. Ward, Ed Begley Jr., Mel Harris

Storyline

Richard Tyler (Macaulay Culkin), a young cowardly boy, enters a library to escape a storm only to be transformed into a cartoon and transported into a world of books, and he has to conquer his fears to return to real life.

Opinion

I watched The Pagemaster a lot as a kid and yet if it wasn't for Brittany's Thursday Movie Picks post, I wouldn't remember about it. Why? Simply because this film is forgettable.

I have to admit that up to this day I still love the storyline. I find the whole kid being transported into a world where books come to life thing quite fascinating - actually, I'd love if that could happen in real life. Also, I loved how the writers incorporated literary classics such as Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Moby Dick into the story, not to mention how I loved spotting on the shelves some books I love, like The Shining and Death in Venice. But that's pretty much it. The plot is terrible. There aren't real plot points, just things happening. And the literary classics are just there. What I mean is that at the end of the movie, a kid won't nothing about those famous characters.

But at least they will (maybe) have some fun with the original characters of the movie, three books: Adventure, Fantasy and Horror. They make a good team and teach the frightened kid how to be brave. By the way, Whoopi Goldberg as Fantasy completely steals the show.

And now there's the worst part, the absolutely horrifying part, even more horrifying than Horror. The animation. I cannot believe this film is only 23 years old. I cannot believe it. The animation is bland and looks cheap. And the colours are terrible. I think a kid would do a better job. 

2:22 (2017)

Genre

Thriller

Director

Paul Currie

Countries

USA, Australia

Cast

Michiel Huisman, Teresa Palmer, Sam Reid, Simone Kessell, Maeve Dermody, Kerry Armstrong, John Waters, Zara Michales, Richard Davies, Mitchell Butel, Jessica Clarke, George Papura

Storyline

An ominous pattern of events starts repeating itself, in the same manner, every day and Dylan (Michiel Huisman) must solve the mystery before it's too late.

Opinion

For some reason, the trailer actually, I had low expectations for 2:22 and I was right. This film is a mess from (a little after the) start to finish.

And what's really bugging me is that it actually had some potential. The storyline was very interesting - the whole pattern thing is why I watched the movie - and could have resulted into a pretty good thriller; the problem is the development, or better, the lack of development. After starting off quite well the film loses its focus and decides it wants to be a romantic sci-fi film. So instead of exploring that potentially fascinating concept, the writers decided to gift us, the audience, with a terrible love story that eventually turns into a terrible love triangle.

And it's all put together in a very contrived and uncompelling way, with twists that aren't that twisted and that only keeps you wonder when the real twists will come. Spoiler alert, they never come.

Just like the suspense a thriller movie should deliver. After a quite tense beginning where two planes almost crash, there's nothing resembling tension.

For what matters, there aren't even decent characters. They all are paper-thin and terribly portrayed by good-looking (and supposedly good) actors. Also, the connection between them is beyond far-fetched. Not to mention the stuff they say, completely out of this world. In a bad way though.

Prisoners (2013)

Genres

Drama, Thriller

Director

Denis Villeneuve

Country

USA

Cast

Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Terrence Howard, Melissa Leo, Paul Dano, Dennis Christopher, Dylan Minette, Zoe Soul, Erin Gerasimovih, Kyla-Drew Simmons, Wayne Duvall, Len Cariou, David Dastmalchian, Jeff Pope

Storyline

When his daughter (Erin Gerasimovih) and her friend (Kyla-Drew Simmons) go missing, Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) has no choice but to take matters into his own hands as the police don't really do anything to find the two girls. 

Opinion

Despite the cast, watching Prisoners never crossed my mind. I barely acknowledged its existence, to be honest. But then Margaret posted "Prisoners" is still so very stupid, a post filled with spoilers. And since I really wanted to read it I figured I should watch the film first. And I'm glad I did it because if I read her post prior to viewing the film I'm pretty sure I would have never given it a chance, and it would have been a shame because Prisoners is a tight and incredibly tense thriller and I loved it.

The story arguably plays a huge role in the film. Although it's far from being believable, it does have some plot holes, some clichées and some parts don't make a lot of sense, it is one of the most gripping and absorbing kidnapping stories I've ever seen. It also raises a discussion on what is right and what is wrong.

Although it unfolds at a very slow pace, this is the kind of story that has the ability to keep you glued to the screen and on the edge of your seat from start to finish because of Villeneuve's direction and some good characters.

The characterization is indeed quite impressive. Both the father, played by Hugh Jackman, and the cop, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, are complex and well developed. Still, I would have loved a little backstory on the cop to understand the character better. But it isn't really the writing that makes them good, it's the actors, especially Jackman who truly delivers the despair of a man whose daughter has been kidnapped. Also worth of a mention is Paul Dano playing the young man who supposedly kidnapped the girls.

However, that's all subjective. Anyone could disagree with me. Something it's impossible to disagree on are the film's cinematography by Roger Deakins and score by Johann Johannsson. The first is simply breathtaking; the second is mesmerizing and adds even more tension.

Thursday Movie Picks: The Chosen One

Hello there, it's Thursday Movie Picks's time, the weekly series hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves where you share three movies to fit the theme of the week each Thursday.

This week we have the typical cliché of the sci-fi and fantasy genre, the chosen one. That sole person chosen by an invisible force to stop a disaster from happening. Usually, it's saving the world from a super villain, or fighting the system. Or why not, die for everybody's sins. Oh, look, I've just described my three picks. I won't blame you if you stop reading. 

Life of Brian (1979)

It follows Brian of Nazareth, an unwilling prophet who wants to free his land from the oppression of the Romans. It's basically the story of Jesus but hilarious. My-stomach-is-hurting-like-crazy hilarious. I dare you, I double dare you to watch this and not laugh, especially during that Biggus Dickus scene. A classic.

The Matrix (1999)

Computer hacker Neo joins Rebel warriors Morpheus and Trinity to fight the Matrix, a machine ruling humans, and set humanity free. It's one of the best sci-fi ever made and one of those few that actually have a deep meaning. In this case, it addresses the human obsession to create smarter and smarter machines that will eventually rule us.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)

Harry and his friends search for Voldemort's remaining Horcruxes (objects in which he has hidden fragments of his soul) in their effort to destroy him. I haven't seen it in a while, but I loved it. And I went with this one because the chosen one finally fulfils his destiny.

Dead Snow (2009)

Original Title

Død snø

Genres

Comedy, Horror

Director

Tommy Wirkola

Country

Norway

Cast

Vegar Hoel, Stig Frode Henriksen, Charlotte Frogner, Lasse Valdal, Evy Kasseth Røsten, Jeppe Laursen, Jenny Skavlan, Ane Adhl Torp, Bjørn Sundquist, Ørjan Gamst

Storyline

A group of medical students decides to spend their vacation in an isolated cabin in the wilderness of Øksfjord and find themselves confronted by Nazi zombies.

Opinion

Complicit the heat wave that hit the small town I live in, I watched Dead Snow hoping that it would refresh me. Both physically and mentally because nothing is more appealing than snow when it's so freaking hot and nothing is more appealing than Nazi zombies when you want to shut down your brain and laugh your ass off. But I guess I put too much pressure on this demential Norwegian film because it didn't really work. 

Don't get me wrong, I had some fun when the students were chased around by those Nazi zombies, but it wasn't as fun as I wanted it to be. But I think it's my fault because apparently I can't do so-bad-it's-good kind of movies. And Dead Snow, well, it is that bad.

If you take the Nazi zombies away, the film completely lacks originality. It has the same storyline of every single slasher movie, it barely has a plot and all the stuff that happens is as predictable as a wasp on speed. 

The characters are also your typical slasher characters. Dumb guys, checked. Hot chicks, checked. You-are-all-doomed guy, checked. They are clichéed, stupid, annoying and as flat as a board. In other words, you couldn't care less for them. 

Which brings me to the next point, I was rooting for the zombies who, by the way, are not your typical zombies. They climb trees and run. And stab people. Aka a hell of a good reason to root for them. And the only enjoyable thing about the film. But also bad because I was rooting for the Nazis and something is telling me that's not cool.

6 Years (2015)

Genres

Drama, Romance

Director

Hannah Fidell

Country

USA

Cast

Taissa Farmiga, Ben Rosenfield, Lindsay Burdge, Joshua Leonard, Dana Wheeler-Nicholson, Peter Vack, Jennifer Lafleur, Molly McMichael, Alysia Lucas, Jason Newman

Storyline

Although they only are in their 20s, Dan (Ben Rosenfield) and Melanie (Taissa Farmiga) have been in a relationship for 6 years. Their romance, however, gets monotonous and is put to test when Dan receives an attractive job offer.

Opinion

Monotony is boring, right? Then I guess 6 Years is a masterpiece because it's an unbelievably boring drama about a monotonous relationship. Well, that's what the film is supposed to be about.

The plot is a bit of a mess. It's unengaging and predictable right from the start, except for that part where the monotonous relationship turns into an abusive one. It's kinda refreshing thought because it's not the boy being abusive but the girl. She physically hurts him and he also goes to prison because of her. It's more of a toxic relationship where, for some reason I didn't really understand, none of the lovers wants to get away from. 

If I have to be honest, the two of them shouldn't even be in a relationship in the first place. They are completely different people. He's responsible and thinks about his future; she pretty much drinks all the time. This is, however, the film's way of being realistic by showing that most young relationships end because of such behaviours. It's obvious the responsible one is going to get tired of being the responsible one all the time.

Anyway, what I really hated about 6 Years is that it tries really hard to be a character study, but all it does is throw in a bunch of stereotyped characters I couldn't help but hate. There's the wasted white girl kind of character and the hipster kind of character. There's not development whatsoever.

So it came to me as a huge surprise that Taissa Farmiga and Ben Rosenfield, the leading actors, managed to do a fine job here. They actually give quite good performances. They might be worth the watch. 

Raging Bull (1980)

Genres

Biography, Drama, Sport

Director

Martin Scorsese

Country

USA

Cast

Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Cathy Moriarty, Nicholas Colasanto, Theresa Saldana, Frank Vincent, Johhny Barnes

Storyline

It follows two decades of the life of middleweight boxing champion Jake La Motta (Robert De Niro) involving a lot of violence, not only inside the ring, and jealousy.

Opinion

After putting off Raging Bull for years because I wasn't in the mood, I finally decided to give what critics call Martin Scorsese's finest film a shot. And I do not agree, this is not Scorsese's finest. I do agree, however, that it's painful to watch and powerful. While the powerful is a good thing, the painful is not as it's referred to how boring the film eventually gets.

The biggest problem is arguably the story. It's based on the true story of boxer Jake La Motta, a man so horrible that does not deserve a movie. A story about a man who self-destructs for no apparent reason, and that I struggle to find something interesting about. There is barely a plot, it's tedious and hence hard to follow. 

The characters are equally boring and uninteresting (most of them don't even have a reason to be in the film), although I have to admit Jake La Motta has some impressive characterisation and development. If done right, De Niro's obnoxious and unlikable character could have been very fascinating. The lack of proper writing did not prevent De Niro from giving a great performance though. He delivers La Motta's violent temper and obsessive nature beautifully and you can really see what a disturbed man La Motta is - or was. I hope he got better with age. Like wine.

But, now that I've mentioned several times how boring and uninteresting Raging Bull is, let's talk about the good stuff. Like the cinematography and the graceful camera movements. The use of black and white instead of colour is just brilliant and proves what a great filmmaker Scorsese is. It's perfect to put even more emphasis on the violence, and the fighting scenes come off more brutal and shocking than ever. 

Magnum Force (1973)

Genres

Action, Crime, Mystery

Director

Ted Post

Country

USA

Cast

Clint Eastwood, Hal Holbrook, David Soul, Tim Matheson, Kip Niven, Robert Urich, Felton Perry, Mitchell Ryan, Margaret Avery, Bob McClurg, John Mitchum, Albert Popwell, Richard Devon, Christine White, Tony Giorgio, Maurice Argent

Storyline

As a mysterious vigilante kills criminals who have managed to avoid the punishment by the courts, San Francisco Police Inspector Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) begins to investigate.

Opinion

I had a pretty good time watching Dirty Harry and I was hoping it'd be the same with Magnum Force. No, I didn't enjoy it much. It wasn't much more than an average cop movie and it felt more like a parody than a sequel.

The storyline was interesting and it started off pretty good. There's suspense and it's pretty tight. But that lasted like 5 seconds since it's pretty obvious who's behind the murders, the twists aren't that smart nor impressive, and there are lots of useless and irrelevant subplots whose only purpose is to show what a badass Harry Callahan is and to glorify him. And the story eventually gets boring and unengaging.

The great thing about Dirty Harry was the character of Callahan. Magnum Force doesn't have that either. Callahan is still the main character, but he's becoming annoying because everything he does is overworked and overemphasises so like I said before, it looks like Eastwood is doing a parody of his character. The supporting characters manage to be even worse, especially Callahan's flat and pointless love interest.

That said, there's still something interesting and good about this film. The action. The action sequences are pretty exciting, and while they are not at Dirty Harry's level, they still manage to make up for the boring story and make the film a little more enjoyable.

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

Genres

Animation, Adventure, Comedy

Director

Wes Anderson

Country

USA

Voice Cast

George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, Owen Wilson, Wallace Wolodarsky, Eric Anderson, Michael Gambon, Jarvis Cocker, Wes Anderson, Karen Duffy, Robin Hurlstone, Hugo Guinness, Helen McCrory, Adrien Brody

Storyline

Many years after giving up the criminal life, Mr. Fox (George Clooney) cannot resist raiding the three nastiest and meanest farmers, but it ends up in a horrible way and the lives of the entire animal community are put at stake.

Opinion

Although I've only seen a couple of Wes Anderson's films, I've always been intrigued and fascinated by his quirky directorial style. So when I found out he was the man behind Fantastic Mr. Fox, a movie that has been on my watchlist for a very long time, I had to watch it. And it was exactly as I was expecting it to be, a brilliant and fun stop-motion animation film. 

I never read Roald Dahl's book upon which the film is based, but to my understanding, the two couldn't be more different. What I do know is that the story Anderson brought to the screen is incredibly gripping, engaging and well developed. Also, despite the short running time, Anderson was able to incorporate several interesting subplots.

The most astonishing aspect of Fantastic Mr. Fox is the characters. The characterisation is impressive. Each character has its own rich personality and an actor/actress giving a great vocal performance, but what makes each one of them truly memorable is that something, that special feature they have thank to the wonderful animation. Let's think of Mr. Fox's grinding his teeth, the rat clicking his fingers, or the opossum's hypnotized eyes. These are the kind of things, in addition to their quirky personalities, that are truly mesmerising.

Which brings me to the fantastic stop-motion animation. It's beautifully crafted and fits Anderson's style and sense of humour to perfection.

Very fascinating is the way Anderson was able to incorporate his typical dysfunctional family in a movie that targets kids. And he delivers also some good messages, like the importance of family, people together are better and stronger.