Triple 9 (2016)

Genre

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Director

John Hillcoat

Country

USA

Cast

Casey Affleck, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Woody Harrelson, Kate Winslet, Anthony Mackie, Aaron Paul, Norman Reedus, Gal Gadot, Clifton Collins Jr., Teresa Palmer, Michael K. Williams, Luis Da Silva

Storyline

A gang of criminals and corrupt cops plan the murder of a police officer in order to pull off their biggest heist yet across town.

Opinion

Check out the cast, who wouldn't want to see a film that features all those actors? And that's the reason I went to see the movie, and why I had high expectations. You know where I'm going, don't you? The film was a let down. But "Triple 9" is not a terrible film, it's just not brilliant, and will easily be soon forgotten.

The problem with the film is the script. It is quite a mess. Even though it is yet another heist film involving cops and dirty cops, the plot was quite intriguing, and it sure had a lot of potential, but the poor execution ruined it all. What could have been an intriguing web of lies and double-crossings turned out to be a quite boring story. It was interesting at first, but then everything became confusing and very uninteresting, and the story feels rushed at times.

The script doesn't even provide a little backstory of the characters, so it's hard to pick sides, and doesn't developed the characters enough to actually make you care for their outcome. The film doesn't even seem to be able to decide who the main character is, and all the subplots don't have time to develop properly.

But like I said before, it is not a terrible film. The opening robbery scene, for example, is quite good and engaging throughout, and the same goes for the other action scenes that are very entertaining and well shot. Seriously, kudos to director John Hillcoat for his camera angles' choices, simply spot on.

Also, the cast that tricked me into watching the film does a wonderful job. Everyone gives a good performance, especially Woody Harrelson and Kate Winslet, and I was very, very happy to see Chiwetel Ejiofor again on screen.

Thursday Movie Picks: Wedding Movies

Welcome to Thursday Movie Picks, a weekly series hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves where each Thursday you have to pick three films to match the week's topic.

This week's theme is weddings. Who doesn't like weddings? *immediately raises both hands* okay, it's not like I hate weddings, I just don't believe in them. Like Mr. Pink doesn't believe in tipping. But when it comes to wedding films, that's a whole different thing, especially comedies. So without further ado, here's three of my favourite wedding comedies. 

The Hangover (2009)

Three friends wake up from a bachelor party in Las Vegas with no memory of the previous night, a missing bachelor, a tiger in the hotel's bathroom and a baby in the closet. Hilarious chaos results as they try to retrace their steps to find their friend before the wedding. This is a real comedy, one of those movies that really makes you laugh out loud. I've seen this film like a million times, and it gets better each time.

Bridesmaids (2011)

Annie's life is a mess - she is broke and in a dysfunctional relationship -, but when she finds out that her lifetime best friend is engaged, she must serve as her friend's maid of honor which means expensive rituals and competition with a bridesmaid over who is the bride's best friend. I really don't get why this film gets so much hate. It may not be Paul Feig's best, but it's hilarious and full of heart, and I really liked Kristen Wiig's character.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)

30-year-old Toula, who has been brought up to be strictly Greek for all her life, falls in love with a non-Greek and struggles to get her family to accept him. I grew up watching this film over and over again with my mother. It is probably the only film we both like, so I guess that's the reason I picked it today. Anyway it is a decent comedy, and it's quite enjoyable. 

Quantum of Solace (2008)

Genre

Action | Thriller

Director

Marc Forster

Country

UK | USA

Cast

Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko, Mathieu Amalric, Gemma Arterton, Giancarlo Giannini, Jeffrey Wright, Judi Dench, Anatole Taubman, David Harbour, Joaquin Cosio, Fernando Guillén Cuervo, Jesper Christensen, Rory Kinnear, Paul Ritter, Tim Pigott-Smith, Neil Jackson, Simon Kassianides, Stana Katic

Storyline

James Bond (Daniel Craig) descends into mystery as he tries to stop a mysterious organization from eliminating a country's most valuable resource. All the while, he still tries to seek revenge over the death of his love.

Opinion

A week ago "Casino Royale" made me a very happy person, because after weeks and weeks I finally fully enjoyed a Bond flick. It was a different Bond than the one I was used to, but I loved it/him. Unfortunately I cannot say the same about "Quantum of Solace", a direct sequel that immediately drops quality mainly because of its sloppy direction and poor writing.

The plot to this film really allows James Bond to show his darker side which isn't necessarily a bad thing - actually, a lot of sequels are darker than the previous film - but the problem is that the human-ish Bond I got to love in "Casino Royale" is gone, and once again he is nothing more than a killing machine: the invincible, invulnerable and infallible Bond. He is bulletproof, he is fireproof, he is everything-proof, I actually surprised he doesn't fly.

The plot itself isn't tremendously bad if you consider "Quantum of Solace" only as an action film. But when it comes to Bond films, you can't simply consider them as action flicks as espionage should play a huge part in the story. Unfortunately here there is not spy material.

As for the action, there's plenty of it, but it completely lacks any excitement. And here comes Marc Forster's direction. While he quite knows his way around quieter moments, he completely loses it when dealing with action sequences, which are really nothing more than short random bursts from different angles, filmed and edited in a very poor way which makes the scenes hard to follow.

Daniel Craig still does a nice job as James Bond, and I still don't get all the hate. It's not like he doesn't deserve to play Bond, it's that this Bond doesn't deserve to be played by him in my opinion. Mathieu Amalric - who I loved in "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" - does pull off a nice performance as the villain, but he was a bit of a disappointment after the brilliant LeChiffre - the writers don't seem to care much for his character. Judi Dench gets more screen time this time around, and she still does a good job as M.

Young Goethe in Love (2010)

Original Title

Goethe!

Genre

Drama | Romance

Director

Philipp Stölzt

Country

Germany

Cast

Alexander Fehling, Miriam Stein, Moritz Bleibtreu, Volker Bruch, Burghart Klaußner, Henry Hübchen, Hans-Michael Rehnberg

Storyline

After aspiring poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (Alexander Fehling) fails his law exams, he's sent to a sleepy provincial court to reform. Instead, he falls for Lotte (Miriam Stein), a young woman who is promised to another man (Moritz Bleibtreu).

Opinion

I love Goethe's poems, and I've been meaning to read "The Sorrows of Young Werther" for such a long time, I thought it would have been great to see the biopic that narrates the events that lead up to his famous book. Instead I have been disappointed. "Young Goethe in Love" isn't by any means a terrible film, but drowns in clichés and isn't much more than just a romantic drama.

While the original title - Goethe! -, especially the exclamation point, sums up the film's approach, which is emphatic and silly, the English title highlights the focus of director Philipp Stölzt: the romantic misadventure of one of the most acclaimed German writers ever.

Unfortunately when making a biopic chances are the film is going to be boring, so the filmmakers decided to bring on screen a fictionalised version of real life events that blends Goethe's life with the ongoings of his debut novel, and for some reason felt the need to over-dramatize it.

The doomed love story is very well-structured, but everything else feels left behind. Goethe's colleague, for example, commits suicide, but we don't get to know the character enough to care about it. Sure, it's sad because the character is nice and a friend of Goethe, but we almost even know he is madly in love, yet he kills himself over the woman he loves.

But it isn't all bad. The settings and the costumes are absolutely gorgeous. For the first, the beauty of Europe has to be thanked; for the latter the dressmakers because the costumes look like actual clothes, not like brand new outfits made specifically for the movie.

A good reason, and probably the only one, to watch the film is the performances by Alexander Fehling, best known as one of the doomed German soldiers in Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds", who gives the character of Goethe the charm and likability he needed, and Miriam Stein as his love interest, Lotte, who manages to pop on the screen with her exuberance and innocence.