The Normal Heart (2014)

June being Pride Month, I finally decided to watch an LGBTQ+ film that has been on my list for a very long time, Ryan Murphy's The Normal Heart. If you know me, then you know that I never read plots, and I went in assuming it was a gay romance starring Mark Ruffalo and Matt Bomer (please don't ask me where this notion came from). It took me less than five minutes to realise the film would be so much more than that, and it indeed was — a tough, brutally honest, and incredibly emotional film about the tragedy of AIDS. 

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Spoilers ahead! I never cared much about superhero movies, but then the Marvel Cinematic Universe happened and, every year for the past eleven years, they've been the movies I was looking forward to seeing the most. No matter how disappointingly awful some were, I was still excited to see what would come next. And after Avengers: Infinity War ended with that huge cliffhanger, Avengers: Endgame became my most anticipated Marvel film ever. And boy, I was not disappointed. 

The story picks up after the devastating events of the previous film, with the remaining Avengers — Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson), Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), James Rhodes (Don Cheadle), and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) — joined by Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), and Nebula (Karen Gillan) to track down Thanos (Josh Brolin), steal the Infinity Stones and reverse his action. Unfortunately, they learn upon finding him that he had destroyed the stones, and Thor kills him. Five years later, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) comes back from the Quantum Realm and proposes the others to travel back in time and prevent Thanos from finding the stones in the first place.

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Though I couldn't wait to see all those characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe to meet in one film directed by the Russo brothers (and to see Chris Evans and his glorious beard on the big screen), I had some reservations about the Avengers: Infinity War. Instead of getting part 1 and part 2 as we were promised years ago, we got only one movie. Actually, we got two movies squeezed together and the result isn't that good.

Intergalactic despot Thanos (Josh Brolin) is determined to collect all of the Infinity Stones in order to bend reality to his will and the now-torn-apart Avengers must team up with the Guardians of the Galaxy to stop Thanos before he puts an end to half the universe.

Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

I'm a sucker for Marvel and I'd watch anything they make. Those terrible movies with Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garden and whoever played the Punisher are the proof.  What I'm trying to say is that's pretty obvious I was excited for Thor: Ragnarok. However, this time there wasn't just the fact that it's an MCU flick, but especially the fact that Taika Waititi directed it. Last year, he left me speechless, in a very good way, with Hunt for the Wilderpeople, and that's the real reason why I was really looking forward to seeing this. And once again he left me speechless. This indeed is the most entertaining, exciting and fun Marvel film since Deadpool.

Foxcatcher (2014)

Genre

Biography | Drama | Sport

Director

Bennett Miller

Country

United States

Cast

Steve Carell, Channing Tatum, Mark Ruffalo, Vanessa Redgrave, Sienna Miller, Anthony Michael Hall, Guy Boyd, Brett Rice, Samara Lee, Jackson Frazer, Jane Mowder, Daniel Hilt, Lee Perkins, David Bennett

Plot

The film tells the dark and fascinating story of the unlikely and ultimately tragic relationship between an eccentric multi-millionaire and two champion wrestlers.

Opinion

Finally released in Italy last Thursday, I went to see it last night. I don't like wrestling and I wasn't expecting much from this film, but it disappointed me in a good way. Foxcatcher is a story about defeat, that goes beyond the sport, and delves into the complexities of the protagonists' psychologies.

The acting is excellent. Channing Tatum proves that he is not just a pretty face, but he act and he is quite good. The way his character punished himself reminded me of "Of Mice and Men"'s Lennie. Forget about the sex comedies guy, because this Steve Carell is different and unrecognizable - great job on the make up - and he delivers an excellent performance, definitely his best so far. Mark Ruffalo gives a superb performance.

Quotes

John du Pont: You're going to do great things, Mark.

Mark Schultz: I'm gonna give you everything I have.

Rating

8.5/10