16 aprīlis, 2016

Demolition

As I watched and listened I felt for characters, I could relate to different parts of the story and most importantly - I laughed and I cried.
This movie is about a guy who loses his wife and something clicks, so his way of dealing or understanding different things in his life is quite interesting and unique I would say.
From the beginning I was in and interested in what happens next...And then what happens, and what happens after that scene you know.
I don't really want to say much (but about this one I could) because I don't want to slip and give something away, I think you have to go and see it for yourselves and experience it for yourselves. What I will say is that it was a nice but sad piece throughout but what Bryan Sipe (screenplay) and Jean-Marc Vallée (directing, also known for Dallas Buyers Club, Wild and The Young Victoria, if these ring a bell) did was when it got dark, they brilliantly found a way how to lighten the mood by cleverly sliding in some good punch-lines or just making my number one actor (Jake Gyllenhaal) do something that will make you smile.
And if I mentioned Jake I can continue with glorifying him. Oh, Jake, once again you amazed me and took me in your world and I didn't want to get out of there. And your face is pleasant to look at as well. Thank you for being born and deciding to show yourself publicly. 

Okay and I can't finish without giving a shout-out to all the main characters and their execution by Mr. Gyllenhaal, Naomi Watts, Chris Cooper and Judah Lewis who all were excellent at showing these different (some where more or less typical, some were interesting and some - likeably strange) people and their different personalities.

This will be a good movie to see when you want something realistic, something with substance and without sci-fi or thrillery-action. This is a film you go and see. Period. A nice movie with a lot of heart.

Rating: ★★★★½

12 aprīlis, 2016

Mr Right

Excellent movie to play when making a meal and not really watching it. The thing I don't do ("watch" while preparing food) and so this was once again - a bad choice.
Plot is a bit messy and there are scenes when you are not sure why is something happening. Jokes are not funny, the vibe of the movie is mixed and not in a good way - all in all it is quite light but then it's supposed to be tense but still funny (and really isn't) and action scenes are weird...Well, I guess I found it chaotic. And annoying sometimes.
The good thing: it's only 1hour and 30minutes short and can be used instead of a radio. Who am I kidding, you should go and see this movie for yourselves and then come back and tell me that I can tell you - I told you so. Or maybe not?
It's starring: Anna Kendrick (lovely, quite funny lady with bad movie choices lately and from time to time), Tim Roth (main lead from Lie To Me, guy in Reservoir Dogs, 4 Rooms, Pulp Fiction and other good movies..I don't get it why he was here, really) and Sam Rockwell (have seen him in on-average rated movies mostly).
If anyone's interested why I even wanted to watch this in first place? Well I just had a teeny tiny (very tiny) hope that MAYBE it will make me laugh and make my day better...Because it's a comedy. Nope.

Rating: ★½

27 marts, 2016

Get A Job

What a bad movie with fine actors!
I didn't find it funny, didn't find it smart (wasn't expecting to), didn't find it....anything. Felt like I've seen it already. Knew how it was going to end at the beginning of the movie.
Everything felt rushed, felt like they were trying to get to the end as fast as possible. No real character developments so they all seemed quite shallow and uninteresting people to watch.
There was nothing, nothing good in this piece except for some of my favorite actors, not their characters (Alison Brie, Anna Kendrick, Miles Teller, Bryan Cranston).
What the movie is about? It's about youngsters who are fresh out of college and trying to find their place in work-world.
I'm feeling a bit sad right now. I wasn't expecting a masterpiece but still wanted something better than I got to experience.
Who should When to watch this? When you want to consume lots of alcohol and be in front of the TV. Can't think of a better time for this movie. 

Rating: ★½

24 marts, 2016

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

What a blow-up, fight filled blockbuster with lots of loud noises and crashes and explosions!
And that's about it.
This movie lacked so many things (character development for almost every character, emotional connections, explanations for other characters for being there at that time), I also didn't appreciate the choice for Wonder Woman and her clothing as Wonder Woman. No offense to Miss Universe 2004 participant Gal Gadot, she's cool, but if I think about little girls who will most probably look up to this person and this character, I can imagine lots of bulimias and anorexias in the future - I believe there are other women who are more fit and could teach young girls about working out, not just being skinny and stuff. Or at least put some short shorts or skirt on, girl! Anyways, where was I...
Lois Lanes' (played by Amy Adams) actions were also in question at some points and direction or screenplay wise - dumb. Pumps in very tense scenes, really? Really? Can she really pull a 100+ kgs' of a man? Really? Really?  Sorry. 
Lex Luthor...I really do like Jesse Eisenberg and I don't think it's his fault that the audience (me) couldn't really get why Lex was doing what he was doing so again: good actor, not a good screenplay.  
Ben Affleck as Batman - no thank you from my side (Bale was the best for me...then Keaton with his weirdness).
Henry Cavill as Superman - VERY appropriate. This role fits him so well. 
What I did like where some operator work, some fight scenes, soundtracks from Junkie XL (not so much from Hans Zimmers' side but those weren't bad too. I'm more of a drum-girl) and one unexpected scene I won't tell you about.
The ending was
just so blah and played out that it let me down even more overall.
The movie was like 2hours and 20 minutes long...For such a time I'm sure they should've been able to make it more structural - it was too long when it shouldn't have been and too short or left unexplained when it should've been.
However, I'm still looking forward of seeing Suicide Squad, newest X-Men and Captain America movies, Wonder Woman and even more later - Aquaman and Justice League (and others). 

So, it wasn't like I was looking at my clock and waiting for this movie to end but overall I was disappointed without watching all the trailers (had seen the first one) and other teasers. 


Rating: ★★½

03 marts, 2016

Triple 9

Action packed movie which to my mind brings nothing new to the table (some not important, tiny elements took me by surprise, in a good way).
Good casting (12 Years A Slave Chiwetel Ejiofor, Falcon Anthony Mackie, Kate Winslet, drug guy Aaron Paul, Woody Harrelson and soon to be Wonderwoman Gal Gadot and others like Ben Afflecks brother).
What this story is about? It's about corrupt cops doing some nasty jobs for other evil "guys" in order to get something for themselves. Like I said - nothing new, really.
However, time flew by and I didn't notice that it was like 2 hours long (good thing).
I can't guarantee a spectacular time with this movie. But I did like it. Just didn't find it awesome. As "I have heard this story before" I don't have much to say.

P.S. SPOILER: Kate Winslet does a funny Russian accent. Like Scarlett Johansson once (or more) did in Captain America (or Avengers, sorry, don't remember specifically). 


RATING: ★★★½

27 februāris, 2016

The Hunting Ground

Wrote the review in Letterboxd, this is a copy of it.
I was laughing from sadness on how unfair and just wrong it can get. This movie exposes rape crimes on U.S. college/university campuses and how victims are being treated by these institutes.
What I learned:
1) According to U.S. universities, if you're sexually assaulted, don't say anything. Nobody likes bad reputation. If you say anything, you most probably won't be heard. So, college statistics over rape/rape-related crimes.
2) Sports over rape. Let's just wait until some sort of season is over to MAYBE act on what happened...like a year ago..or maybe the victim will forget about it or just give up..
3) If you're a decent person and working at university and will hear and stand for victims, you most probably won't be working at that university soon enough. Nobody will go to a college where there is high assault statistics, right? Reputation, reputation (parallels with point No.1).
4) Money over everything. No explanation needed.
It's not bad enough that rape exists it is just terrifying to see what happens (or more accurately - what doesn't happen) afterwards. And for deans to discourage you and to try to turn it that it most probably was your own fault that you were sexually assaulted, just bad and wrong.

Actually this is why I don't watch documentaries everyday - they almost always make me very sad and upset. I don't know what is better - to know what's happening and live life in half=depression most of the time or not to know almost anything and to live happily like a fool.

And sorry, but Florida you still look like a really bad state to me.

Rating: ★★★★

25 februāris, 2016

The Dressmaker

I will start by saying The Dressmaker was almost a perfect fit to my movie taste. I even didn't really notice that 50's vibe.
IMDb says it fits into "drama" category. I will agree and add that it was also a comic and detective-ish piece.
It's a story told in a very interesting way. So a woman (played by Kate Winslet. I'll get back to amazing her later.) returns to her hometown, practically village, to make some excellent dresses with her sewing machine and do other things I won't tell you about. Watch the movie.
I'm a big believer of karma and this movie also was showing some "what goes around comes around" themes, so that must be another plus for me liking this film quite a bit.
Drama parts were neat, detective-ish parts good, the humor was excellent (I appreciate British and Australian comedy which you will be able to see in The Dressmaker. Americans rarely impress my laugh-longing soul) and what also pleasantly surprised me was these unexpected twists and turns here and there. I really did have a nice and lovely time.
Oh, KATE WINSLET! In my eyes, she just gets better and better with time (and practice maybe?). I'm very pleased somebody thought she would be good in this part. To me she was marvelous.
Camera and direction wise I can't say much because I was consumed in what was happening..or I was just giggling.
I should also add that this movie most probably isn't for everybody. I can suggest it to my friends who know my taste and have a similar one and also to people who are looking for something easy-going after a hard days work but who still want something with substance and a story to follow.
I know I shouldn't praise movies like I just did so you don't make up high expectations but I have warned you before - I write my afterthoughts and I do not want to hold back if something has made me quite happy.

Rating: ★★★★½

P.S. Liam Hemsworth was there, if somebody's interested in seeing him wherever he is in.