30 Minutes or Less (2011)

Genre

Action | Comedy

Director

Ruben Fleischer

Country

USA

Cast

Jesse Eisenberg, Danny McBride, Aziz Ansari, Nick Swardson, Dilshad Vadsaria, Bianca Kajlich, Michael Peña, Fred Ward, Brett Gelman, Rebecca Cox, Rick Irwin, Torey Adkins

Storyline

Nick (Jesse Eisenberg) is a small town pizza delivery guy whose mundane life collides with the big plans of two wanna-be criminal masterminds (Danny McBride and Nick Swardson). The volatile duo kidnaps Nick and forces him to rob a bank. With mere hours to pull off the impossible task, Nick enlists the help of his ex-best friend, Chet (Aziz Ansari). As the clock ticks, the two must deal with the police, hired assassins, flamethrowers, and their own tumultuous relationship.

Opinion

Are we sure this is the same Ruben Fleischer who did Zombieland? Because it didn't feel like it. I had high expectation for it given the cast, director, and plot. I don't really know what happened.

Slightly entertaining, 30 Minutes or Less is an action comedy with some action and a tiny dose of comedy. 

The plot sounds intriguing and with a lot of potential, but the problem is the way it's executed. It starts out very slow, and it never really take off. The screenplay is just bad. I can't say anything to save it. Also, I don't think making a producer write a script would be a good idea. The romantic subplot doesn't get along with the film.

Vulgar and with continuous sexual references, most of jokes feel too forced, and they lose of effectiveness - only a couple of jokes worked for me, and that's not enough to carry a comedy, even if only 83 minutes long.

The characters are also bad. First, they are not well developed. Second, regardless from being the duo of protagonists or the duo of antagonists, they all are bad people, and you don't know who to root for since they all are bad. At some point in the movie Nick and Chet say they are a perfect match because they are terrible people. I think there's nothing more to add.

The acting is pretty poor. Jesse Eisenberg succeeds in his usual awkward role - I wonder why he wasn't in This Is the End. But besides from that, everybody sucks. Danny McBride is back with another of his annoying roles, and he is just trying too hard to be funny. Aziz Ansari doesn't have comic timing, and his performance is flat. Nick Swardson is not better than the previous mentioned. I wonder how Michael Peña got involved in this. At least, there is a quite good chemistry between Eisenberg and Ansari, and McBride and Swardson.

Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011)

Genre

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Director

Glenn Ficarra | John Requa

Country

USA

Cast

Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, Analeigh Tipton, Jonah Bobo, Joey King, Marisa Tomei, John Carroll Lynch, Beth Littleford, Kevin Bacon, Liza Lapira, Josh Groban, Crystal Reed, Karolina Wydra, Julianna Guill

Storyline

Cal (Steve Carell) and Emily Weaver (Julianne Moore) have the perfect life together... until Emily asks for a divorce. Now Cal seeks to rediscover his manhood with the help of a newfound friend, Jacob (Ryan Gosling), learning to pick up girls at bars.

Opinion

If you've been reading me for a while, you know usually I am not into romantic comedies, as nowadays they all look the same. After watching it for the first time, my reaction was that this film is one of the best romantic comedies of the past decade. Multiple views later, and lots romantic comedies later, I still think that way.

Though there is nothing Oscar worthy in it, Crazy, Stupid, Love. is a spectacularly funny, very entertaining, touching romantic dramedy.

The great writing by Dan Fogelman combines a team of interesting characters - each of them dealing with love - and an interesting journey at the discovery of the word love. In fact, the film not only speaks of love as a feeling, but it also tells every shade of it - I know it may seem like an already-seen thing, but I promise it is not - focusing on divorce, as the end of a feeling and the beginning of another - for example Moore's character asking for divorce, yet being jealous of her ex-husband as she finds out about his new playboy life.

The whole thing is enhanced by the spectacular cast. Steve Carell, which I usually find extremely annoying, finally portrays a human being, and he can act goddamnit - as he has also shown recently in "Foxcatcher". Ryan Gosling is not one of my favorite actors, and definitely not the reason I watched the film in the first place, but I cannot deny the fact that he is an astonishing actor, and he perfectly nails his character this time as well. The comedic chemistry between Carell and Gosling is quite impressive. Julianne Moore is wonderful as always, even though her character is much enjoyable. Emma Stone, one of my favorite actresses, is great as talkative Hannah, and her sarcasm fits the film perfectly. And the chemistry between her and Gosling is great. Analeight Tipton and Jonah Bobo well-play their teenagers infatuated characters. Marisa Tomei doesn't have much of screen time, but she does great as the alcoholic schoolteacher. Kevin Bacon, who plays Emily's co-worker and lover, is great too.

Quotes

Robbie: You wanna talk about The Scarlet Letter, Ms. Tafferty? All right. Well, the A they're both wearing - I think it stands for "asshole." Wanna know why? Because they fell in love and love is for stupid assholes. And this book is just about a bunch of assholes who fell in love, like assholes, then had to die, like assholes. I'm sorry about all the "assholes."

A Separation (2011)

Original Title

جدایی نادر از سیمین Jodaí-e Nadér az Simín

Genre

Drama

Director

Asghar Farhadi

Country

Iran

Cast

Leila Hatami, Peyman Moaadi, Shahab Hosseini, Sareh Bayat, Sarina Farhadi, Ali-Asghar Shahbazi, Shirin Yazdanbakhsh, Kimia Hosseini, Merila Zarei

Plot

Simin (Leila Hatami) wants to leave Iran with her husband Nader (Peyman Moaadi) and daughter Termeh (Sarina Farhadi). Simin sues for divorce when Nader refuses to leave behind his Alzheimer-suffering father. Her request having failed, Simin returns to her parents’ home, but Termeh decides to stay with Nader. When Nader hires a young woman (Sareh Bayat) to assist with his father in his wife’s absence, he hopes that his life will return to a normal state. However, when he discovers that the new maid has been lying to him, he realizes that there is more on the line than just him marriage.

Opinion

A Separation is a compelling and excellent drama – foreign language film or nor - and a flawless domestic portrait – although the prohibition for women to appear bareheaded distorts a little the reality. Set in contemporary Iran, the film starts and ends focusing on the separation of Simin and Nader, and how this affects their daughter. However, the main themes are the strength of a doctrine and the difficulty of a woman to be part of a male-dominated society.

Opposed to the characters of the two women, both having inner conflicts, there are the men’s, which cling to preconceptions that prevent them from perceiving reality with clarity.

Asghar Farhadi did a brilliant job both on the writing and the directional side. The unwritten ending offers each viewer the chance to decide. However, I am not sure it works fine with this film.

The cast is just marvelous. When the tension is high, they are more than convincing.

If you haven't seen any Iranian film, I suggest you to made of this film your first time.

Quotes

Termeh: If you don’t say a lie, why you should be careful?

Nader: What is wrong is wrong… No matter who says or where it’s written.

Rating

9.0/10

Footnote (2011)

Original Title

הערת שוליים He'arat Shulayim

Genre

Drama

Director

Joseph Cedar

Country

Israel

Cast

Shlomo Bar Aba, Lior Ashkenazi, Alisa Rosen, Alma Zack, Daniel Markovich, Micah Lewensohn, Yuval Scharf, Nevo Kimchi, Yona Elian, Tsipi Gal

Plot

Eliezer (Shlomo Bar Aba) and Uriel Shkolnik (Lior Ashkenazi) are father and son as well as rival professors in Talmudic Studies. When both men learn that Eliezer will be lauded for his work, their complicated relationship reaches a new peak.

Opinion

Donald Clark, The Irish Times, said, "It remains painful to live in a world where Jack and Jill makes it into commercial cinemas and this superb Israeli film gets kicked into the underbrush.", I could not agree with someone more. Footnote is an outstanding Israeli film, whose topic differs from what the international audience is accustomed. Joseph Cedar does not deal with the Palestinian conflict or terrorism, but with the rivalry between father and son, both Talmudic scholars, taking, in my opinion, a huge risk because this film could get stuck in the Jewish community, or be boring to outsiders.
The performances from Shlomo Bar Aba, who plays the father, and Lior Ashkenazi, who plays the son, are incredible. 

Quotes

Eliezer: That's a very nice idea, very nice... but wrong.

Uriel: I will tell you something that my father told me once: Your work has many things correct and many things innovative. Unfortunately, the innovative things are not correct and the correct things are not innovative.

Rating

9.0/10

The Iron Lady (2011)

Genre

Biography | Drama | History

Director

Phyllida Lloyd

Country

France | United Kingdom

Cast

Meryl Streep, Alexandra Roach, Jim Broadbent, Iain Glen, Olivia Colman, Anthony Head, Nicholas Farrell, Richard E. Grant, Susan Brown, Martin Wimbush, Paul Bentley, Robin Kermode, John Sessions, Roger Allam, David Westhead, Michael Pennington, Angus Wright, Julian Wadham, Nick Dunning, Pip Torrens, Ronald Reagan, Reginald Green

Plot

An elderly and prisoner in her own home Margaret Thatcher (Meryl Streep), Britain's first woman Prime Minister, talks to the imagined presence of her recently deceased husband (Jim Broadbent) as she struggles to come to terms with his death while scenes from her past life, from girlhood to British Prime Minister, intervene.

Opinion

The Iron Lady is not as good as I thought. The storytelling is a huge misfire. Boring at first, enhances a bit, and it gets boring again. This film is mostly about an elder and mentally unbalanced Margaret Thatcher, which remember her life through flashbacks. I would have liked a deeper insight into how she run the country.
Meryl Streep is outstanding and mesmerising as always, but she slightly uplifts the film.

Buy on Amazon.com | Buy/Rent on Amazon Instant Video

Quotes

Margaret Thatcher: Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Watch your words, for they become actions. Watch your actions, for they become habits. Watch your habits, for they become your character. And watch your character, for it becomes your destiny. What we think, we become. My father always said that. And I think I am fine.

Airey Neave: If you want to change this party, lead it. If you want to change the country, lead it.

Rating

6.0/10

Horrible Bosses (2011)

Genre

Comedy

Director

Seth Gordon

Country

United States

Cast

Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, Jennifer Aniston, Colin Farrell, Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx, Donald Sutherland, P.J. Byrne, Lindsay Sloane, Julie Bowen, Ioan Gruffudd, Bob Newhart

Plot

Three friends, Nick Hendricks (Jason Bateman), Dale Arbus (Charlie Day) and Kurt Buckman (Jason Sudeikis), hate their bosses.

Nick works at a financial firm for the sadistic David Harken (Kevin Spacey), who implies the possibility of a promotion for Nick for months, only to award it to himself.

Dale, engaged with Stacey (Lindsay Sloane), is a dental assistant being sexually harassed by his boss, Dr. Julia Harris (Jennifer Aniston).

Kurt enjoys working for Jack Pellit (Donald Sutherland), but after he unexpectedly dies of a heart attack, the company is taken over by Jack's son Bobby (Colin Farrell), an apathetic and incompetent cocaine-addicted.

At night, over drinks, Kurt jokingly suggests that their lives would be happier if their bosses were no longer around. Initially hesitant, they eventually agree to kill their employers.

Opinion

Horrible Bosses is a hilarious and never boring black comedy. The script is good and the jokes are so spontaneous, that give the idea of being improvised by the actors.

Jason Bateman again shows the world he can act; Charlie Day was amazing. Jason Sudeikis does his work, but I still don't like him. Seeing Kevin Spacey play the asshole was amazing, and no matter what role is, he always nails it. Colin Farrell is also great as the cocaine-addicted jerk. Jennifer Aniston delivers plenty of laughs but still she can't act. 

Quotes

David Harken: Life is a marathon and you cannot win a marathon without putting a few bandaids on your nipples!

Rating

7.5/10

The Art of Getting By (2011)

Genre

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Director

Gavin Wiesen

Country

United States

Cast

Freddie Highmore, Emma Roberts, Michael Angarano, Blair Underwood, Rita Wilson, Elizabeth Reaser, Sam Robards, Alicia Silverstone, Jarlath Conroy, Ann Dowd, Marcus Carl Franklin, Sasha Spielberg, Maya Ri Sanchez, Ann Harada, Dan Leonard, Sophie Curtis 

Plot

George (Freddie Highmore), a lonely teen tormented about the big questions of life, who's made all the way to his senior year without ever having done a real day of work, is befriended by Sally (Emma Roberts), a beautiful and complicated girl who recognizes in him a kindred spirit.

Opinion

The Art of Getting By is a good film with a good story far from guaranteed. After meeting Sally, George slowly becomes a different person, but things between them don't goes as the viewer may imagine. The situation is more complicated and more real than usually - in movies. 

The excellent performances by Freddie Highmore and Emma Roberts themselves make this worth your time.

Quotes

George Zinavoy: I read a quote once when I was a kid "We live alone, we die alone. Everything else is just an illusion." it used to keep me up at night. 

George Zinavoy: I just feel like I'm full of shit, like I'm trying to be something that I'm not.

Rating

7.0/10

New Year's Eve (2011)

Genre

Comedy | Romance

Director

Garry Marshall

Country

United States

Cast

Halle Berry, Jessica Biel, Jon Bon Jovi, Abigail Breslin, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Robert De Niro, Josh Duhamel, Zac Efron, Hector Elizondo, Katherine Heigl, Ashton Kutcher, Seth Meyers, Lea Michele, Sarah Jessica Parker, Til Schweiger, Hilary Swank, Sofía Vergara

Plot

On New Year's Eve 2011, Vice-President of the Times Square Alliance Claire Morgan (Hilary Swank) is making the final arrangements for the ball drop into 2012 with the help of her friend Sam (Josh Duhamel). 
Meanwhile Ahern Records secretary Ingrid Withers (Michelle Pfeiffer) quits her job and offers the deliveryman Paul Doyle (Zac Efron) tickets for the Ahern Records Masquerade Ball if Paul helps her complete a series of New Year's resolutions before midnight, which he accepts.
Paul's sister Kim Doyle (Sarah Jessica Parker) is having trouble with her teenage daughter Hailey (Abigail Breslin) who wants to spend New Year's Eve with her friends and her boyfriend.
Paul's friend, comic book illustrator Randy (Ashton Kutcher), who hates New Year's Eve after his girlfriend left him on a date, gets stuck in an elevator with Elise (Lea Michele), an aspiring singer who will be providing back-up for musician Daniel Jensen (Jon Bon Jovi) in his show at Times Square. He also prepares to perform at the Ahern Records ball, where he rekindles his feelings for his ex-girlfriend, Laura (Katherine Heigl).
At a nearby hospital, Stan Harris (Robert De Niro), a man in the final stages of cancer, is kept company by Nurse Aimee (Halle Berry) and Nurse Mindy (Alyssa Milano) after his doctor (Cary Elwes) reveals he will not last much longer. In the same hospital, a young couple named Griffin (Seth Meyers) and Tess Byrne (Jessica Biel) are about to have their first child, and they compete with another couple, James (Til Schweiger) and Grace Schwab (Sarah Paulson), for a bonus offered to the family of the first child born in the new year. Elsewhere, Sam, a businessman from Ahern Records, attempts to go to the Ahern Records Ball, where he is to deliver an important speech, after his car malfunctions outside New York City, all the while wondering if he should attend a meeting with a mysterious woman he met and fell in love with on the previous New Year's Eve.

Opinion

New Year's Eve is just another romantic comedy. I am a fan of Til Schweiger, and that is the main reason I watched this film. Unfortunately for me, he wasn't one of the "main" characters.
Anyway, if you like those romantic comedies where, at the end, everyone finds love, even the cynics, New Year's Eve is for you.
The Big Apple atmosphere is beautiful, as always, and makes you want to spend the new year's eve right there.
In this film, studded with many of the most known American actors, stands the unquestionable skills of Robert De Niro.

Quotes

Stan Harris: Nothing beats New York on New Year's Eve.

Rating

6.0/10

Drive (2011)

Genre

Art house | Crime | Neo-noir | Thriller

Director

Nicolas Winding Refn

Country

United States

Cast
Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks, Oscar Isaac, Ron Perlman, Christina Hendricks, Kaden Leos, James Biberi, Jeff Wolfe, Russ Tamblyn, Andy San Dimas

Plot
The driver (Ryan Gosling), who lives in Los Angeles, works repairing cars and as a part-time movie double.
Managed in both jobs by auto shop owner Shannon (Bryan Cranston), the duo also provides a getaway driver service.
Thank to Shannon, the driver has a new job opportunity: race in professional circuits. However, things go quite different.
The driver meets and falls in love with his neighbor, Irene (Carey Mulligan), and becomes friend of her son, Benicio (Kaden Leos). When Irene's husband, Standard Gabriel (Oscar Isaac) is released from prison, everything goes wrong.

Opinion
From the title and the plot it would seem to be a film in Fast & Furious style, with car chases, explosions, robberies and revenge, but actually tells the story of a man who identifies himself in what he does.
Drive is an original and ruthless film, surprising in many ways, from its first act through its violent and unexpected ending. Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn is excellent in his Hollywood debut.
Great screenplay by Hossein Amini, where each conversation plays a role. Loved the cast, Ryan Gosling was incredible. Fantastic music.
The best scene of the film is the definitely the elevator scene, where love and death meet giving birth to the most romantic and at the same time violent scenes of cinema.

Quotes
You give me a time and a place, I give you a five minute window. Anything happens in that five minutes and I'm yours. No matter what. Anything happens a minute either side of that and you're on your own.

Rating

8.0/10

The Intouchables (2011)

Original Title

Intouchables

Genre

Biography | Comedy | Drama

Directors

Olivier Nakache | Éric Toledano

Country

France

Cast
François Cluzet, Omar Sy, Anne Le Ny, Audrey Fleurot, Clotilde Mollet, Alba Gaïa Bellugi, Cyril Mendy, Christian Ameri, Grégoire Oestermann, Thomas Solivéres

Plot
Inspired by the true story of Philippe Pozzo di Borgo (author of Le Second Souffle) and his caretaker, Yasmin Abdel Sellou, the film tells of the encounter between two seemingly distant worlds.

After Philippe (François Cluzet) becomes a quadriplegic from a paragliding accident, the aristocrat hires a young man (Omar Sy) - called Driss in the film - from the projects to be his caretaker.

Opinion
A must watch. I gotta say I particularly like French comedies because they are usually good (e.g. Le dîner de cons, Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis).

The Intouchables is able to arise the two most genuine reactions of each human being: laughter and tears. The directors and screenplay writers Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano are able to balance both.

This film is also a wonderful example of goodness without being banal, and shows the great value of friendship.

Quotes
My true disability is not having to be in a wheelchair. It's having to be without her.

Rating
9.0/10

This Must Be the Place (2011)

Genre

Drama

Director

Paolo Sorrentino

Country

France | Ireland | Italy

Cast
Sean Penn, Frances McDormand, Judd Hirsch, Eve Hewson, Kerry Condon, Harry Dean Stanton, David Byrne, Olwen Fouéré, Shea Whigham, Liron Levo, Heinz Lieven, Simon Delaney, Kristine Graverson, Er Li Deng

Plot
Cheyenne (Sean Penn) is a wealthy former rock star, now bored and jaded in his 20-year retirement in Dublin. He retired after two of his teenaged fans committed suicide.

He travels to New York to reconcile with his estranged father during his final hours, only to arrive too late. After reading a few of his father's diaries, Cheyenne realizes how the life of the father has been in the last thirty years: he devoted himself to obsessively seek a Nazi criminal who took refuge in the United States.

With a relentless slowness and no investigator ability, Cheyenne decides to continue the research for his father and, therefore, to go seek, through the United States, a nonagenarian German probably already died.

Opinion
This Must Be the Place is entertaining and occasionally very moving. The lyrics of the Talking Heads song that gives the title to the film, plays a role in one of the most important and intense scenes and represents a kind of summary of this film.

The directory of Sorrentino is good; the wide shots, which suggest the characters' moods, are alternated with intense close-ups, which focus on the characters' wrinkles and face's lines. The music of David Byrne emphasizes perfectly every single moment. The performance of Sean Penn is good.

Quotes
The problem is [...] without realizing it, we go from an age where we say, "My life will be that" to an age where we say, "That's life".

There are many ways of dying, the worst of them, is to continue living.

Rating
8.0/10

Puncture (2011)

Genre

Drama

Directors

Adam Kassen | Mark Kassen

Country

United States

Cast
Chris Evans, Mark Kassen, Brett Cullen, Marshall Bell, Michael Biehn, Vinessa Shaw, Kate Burton, Jesse L. Martin, Roxanna Hope, Tess Parker, Jennifer Blanc

Plot
The films tells the true story of Mike Weiss. Mike Weiss (Chris Evans) is a young lawyer and a drug addict. Paul Danziger (co-director Mark Kassen) is his longtime friend and strait-laced law partner. 

They decide to take a case involving Vicky (Vinessa Shaw), a local ER nurse, who is pricked by a contaminated needle. As Weiss and Danziger dig deeper into the case, a health care and pharmaceutical conspiracy teeters on exposure and heavyweight attorneys move in on the defense. 

Out of their league but invested in their own gain, the mounting pressure of the case pushes the two lawyers and their business to the breaking point.

Opinion
This is a well-made film, and I really liked it, especially since the story was written by Paul Danziger, Mike's real life partner. The screenplay, though has been written several times, is good, but the ending is a bit abrupt: I wouldn't mind if it was longer. 

Chris Evans takes the role very seriously and does a great job. If you are a fan of him, you can't miss this film.

Quotes
Sometimes the brightest light comes from the darkest places.

At least I have to courage to lose for what's right.

Rating
7.7/10