Blue Jasmine (2013)

Genre

Drama

Director

Woody Allen

Country

USA

Cast

Cate Blanchett, Sally Hawkins, Alec Baldwin, Bobby Cannavale, Louis C.K., Andrew Dice Clay, Peter Sarsgaard, Michael Stuhlbarg, Max Casella, Alden Ehrenreich, Daniel Jenks, Max Rutherford, Tammy Blanchard, Annie McNamara

Plot

Jasmine (Cate Blanchett), a gorgeous classy woman, disembarks in San Francisco after a flight from New York.

Jasmine takes a taxi to her sister Ginger's (Sally Hawkins) sleazy apartment, where Ginger is shocked to learn that Jasmine travelled first class despite claiming to be broke.

In San Francisco, Jasmine reflects on her life and tries to find a way to start a new life. Through flashbacks we see her past with her rich husband, Hal (Alec Baldwin).

Opinion

Despite tons of people didn't like it and said good acting it's not all, I believe Blue Jasmine is a wonderful film wrote by a brilliant Woody Allen, maybe his best film in recent years. He is able to bring the viewer into the film and make him feel like the main character. Loved cast, love all the performances, but Cate Blanchett was incredible. She took the character and put all the possible emotions in it. As Letterman told Blanchett, even if he had directed the film, the result would still have been a masterpiece because of her.

Quotes
Anxiety, nightmares and a nervous breakdown, there's only so many traumas a person can withstand until they take to the streets and start screaming.

Her (2013)

Genre

Drama | Romance | Sci-Fi

Director

Spike Jonze

Country

United States

Cast
Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson, Amy Adams, Rooney Mara, Olivia Wilde, Chris Pratt, Portia Doubleday, Luka Jones, Matt Letscher, Laura Kai Chen, Gracie Prewitt

Plot
Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) works for a company which write personal letters through the Internet on behalf of other people, a job he does amazingly and sometimes passionately.

After his wife (Rooney Mara) left him, instead of starting a new life, he refuses to sign the divorce papers. 

When a new generation of OS, with an AI surprisingly human, reaches the market, Theodore will start a relationship beyond imagination with it, named Samantha (Scarlett Johansson's voice).

Opinion
Her is being considered by many to be one of the greatest films of 2013 and one of the best love stories in recent years. I really wish I could agree, but it isn't different from the other love stories with a bad ending. I struggled to watch the whole film, it was just terrible. The "sex scene" was creepy and pathetic. The OS, which is supposed to be super intelligent, falls in love with a depressed man with mental issues? That's beyond science-fiction! I highly do NOT recommend it at all.

Quotes
The past is just a story we tell ourselves.

Rating
5.5/10

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

Noah (2014)

Genre

Action | Adventure | Drama

Director

Darren Aronofsky

Country

United States

Cast
Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ray Winstone, Douglas Booth, Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, Anthony Hopkins, Leo McHugh Carroll, Frank Langella, Dakota Goyo, Marton Csokas, Finn Wittrock, Madison Davenport, Nick Nolte, Mark Margolis, Kevin Durand, Nolan Gross, Adam Griffith, Ariane Rinehart, Gavin Casalegno, Skylar Burke

Plot
Noah (Dakota Goyo as a kid, Russell Crowe as an adult), the last descendant of the lineage of Seth, is the one chosen by the Creator to execute his will: he has to build an ark sufficient to carry a pair of each animal's species to safekeep them by the arrival of a flood that will submerge all the lands for a long time.
After building the ark, with the help of the Watchers - fallen angels confined on Earth as stone golems - he, his wife Naameh (Jennifer Connelly), their sons Shem (Gavin Casalegno as a kid, Douglas Booth as a young-adult), Ham (Nolan Gross as a kid, Logan Lerman as a young-adult) and Japheth (Leo McHugh as a kid) and Shem's wife Ila (Skylar Burke as a kid, Emma Watson as a young-adult) will board as the last of the men. When they find out Ila, which was supposed to be sterile, is pregnant, Noah will have to make a huge sacrifice: if the child is a girl, he will kill her to satisfy the Creator's wish to destroy humanity.

Opinion
My expectations were quite high and I've been disappointed, I felt no thrill for it. It's visually spectacular - I loved the creation of life sequence - the cast is brilliant - I loved Emma Watson - and the direction is fantastic but the script sinks like the Titanic.

Quotes
Fire consumes all. Water cleanses. It separates the foul from the pure. The wicked from the innocent. And that which sinks from that which rises. He destroys all, but only to start again.

Rating
5.5/10