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It's thickly sliced and piled high!
Worth a watch though.
Starring Pierce Brosnan, Mila Jovovich, Dylan McDermott, Angela Bassett, and Robert Forster.
Plot with Spoilers
It's a spy thriller based in London primarily, with a little bit in NYC. Mila's character, Kate, works for the American Embassy in London, responsible for Visa control with special focus on possible terrorists trying to get into the US. Her suspicions about a certain group of individuals leads her afoul of bunch of unsavoury baddies, who hire the Watchmaker (Brosnan in an uncharacteristic role as an assassin), an internationally renown & wanted hitman, to take her out. His first attempt fails but kills her entire team and leaves her as the prime suspect. Kate spends the rest of the film on the run in London trying to find out what the terrorists are trying to accomplish, with the Watchmaker closely on her tail. She eventually thwarts the plot in NYC.
Brosnan is quite good as an assassin. He doesn't have much to say in the film, but is suitably chilling nevertheless, although his watchmaker never gets the better of Kate, which becomes quite tiresome after while. Jovovich is ok as an analyst on the run, if a little uncharismatic, & a little too adept, channeling her Alice in the Resident Evil series when she should be more fearful. Forster and Bassett, two greats, are totally wasted in the film sadly. McDermott is serviceable as Kate's boss, one of the few who believes her.
All in all this film is a huge missed opportunity imho. With this cast, they should have done a better job of bringing it all together. Despite some suspenseful moments at the start, it is mediocre overall and doesn't have the necessary tension. There's a 'man or woman on the run' deja vu element from better films as well (bits of Salt, 3 Days of the Condor, Fugitive etc.) and it sort of has that cheap made for TV look to it that characterizes some of Seagal, Lundgren or Snipe's straight to video East European (I believe this is a Bulgarian production) financed later entries.
Recommended only for fans of Jovovich or Brosnan.
Overall, a solid movie. Gyllenhaal and Whitaker were fantastic in it, but the whole thing was slightly spoiled by the trailers and the fact that it tends to be pretty generic and predictable throughout. Still, wasn't a total waste of time, I enjoyed it a good bit.
That is one of Kubrick s very best. The score is fantastic, too.
I'm glad you like the film, @Thunderfinger and @FoxRox. Very often Barry Lyndon is considered one of Kubrick's lesser films. I strongly disagree. It's a well shot film with an interesting story and Kubrick had some balls casting a lesser known actor for the lead part.
It's an utterly amazing piece of cinema.
But Barry was a dick.
Starring Sean Connery, Gina Lollobrigida, Ralph Richardson. Directed by Basil Dearden
This hard to find classic has recently been released on Blu Ray in region 1. I came across it many years ago on Amazon and purchased a terrible (and I mean really bad) DVD copy. I then bought another DVD version from the UK but even that was of dubious quality. I was very disappointed because the film is excellent. So when I heard it had finally been released on Blu Ray, I had to get it. One of my favourites from that era.
Plot
Ralph Richardson is an ailing cranky widower multi-millionaire, Charles Richmond.
Gina Lollobrigida plays his nurse, Maria.
Sean Connery is nephew, Anthony.
Anthony has his eyes on Richardson's fortune, and hires Maria to seduce Richardson and marry him, in order to facilitate a change in his will. For this, Anthony will receive 1 million pounds. Things go according to plan until Richardson passes suddenly and sooner than expected. Then it gets interesting.
---
I absolutely love this film. It's somewhat Hitchcockian in tone. Lollobrigida looks great and is convincing as the conflicted Maria. Connery is just incredible as the villain of the piece. He is at his peak in this one, and looks just like he did in FRWL. The suits he wears are superb (and he wears them like only he can - arguably better here than in some Bonds) and he plays Anthony like he plays Bond.....just a little more devious and cruel. It makes you realize how close his early Bond was to being this way.....this is the other side of the coin (the Hyde that was always under the surface in his portrayal) and it's fascinating to watch. His screen charisma is tremendous and he holds his own against Richardson and Lollobrigida. It's lavishly filmed in London & in Majorca.
The print is much better than I've ever seen, but still not that great. Probably as good as we'll get.
Highly recommended, and not only for fans of Connery. A great film.
5. 2001: A Space Odyssey
4. A Clockwork Orange
3. Barry Lyndon
2. Dr. Strangelove
1. The Shining
I actually wasn't crazy about 2001 like most people. Too confusing for me.
I couldn't possibly turn up the chance to see Jena Malone as a femme fatale (though not a typical one). With all the cutting back and forth, I lost track of what was going on. I mean, I got the general gist, it's just the specifics that i'm a little fuzzy on. A re-watch will be needed.
Pixar has done it again. Childish fun and intellectual faire go hand in hand. All emotions covered in this one, quite litterally.
My 11 year old niece enjoyed it very much, too. The short film LAVA is also a beauty.
HITMAN AGENT 47
Surprisingly good, I really went to see it because there was nothing better that I haven't already seen.
Lightyears better than the first quite mediocre Hitman.
Closer to the game I'd say and the action is high octane and quite bloody.
The story is simple, but that's even a plus with such a movie.
The movie looks much more expensive than the mere 35 million USD it has cost.
I guess it will make a nice amount of profit and therefore a direct sequel is practically guaranteed.
First, a quick look at the films seen so far:
- Commitment (2013)
- Man On High Heels (2014)
- The Divine Move (2014)
- For The Emperor (2014)
- Confession of Murder (2012)
- A Company Man (2012)
- Nameless Gangster (2012)
- New World (2013)
- Gangnam Blues (2015)
- The Terror Live (2013)
- A Dirty Carnival (2006)
- The Yellow Sea (2010)
- The White Storm (2013)
- Killers (2014)
- The Con Artists (2014)
- Secretly, Greatly (2013)
- Hwayi: A Monster Boy (2013)
- Monster (2014)
- Juvenile Offender (2012)
- Tazza: The High Rollers (2006)
- Tazza: The Hidden Card (2014)
- Rough Cut (2008)
- Nightfall (2012)
- Cold War (2012)
- The Constable (2013)
- The Suspect (2013)
- The Berlin File (2013)
- The Youth (2014)
- Public Enemy (2002)
- Another Public Enemy (2005)
The latest films:
Public Enemy Returns (2008), the last film in the ‘Public Enemy’ trilogy. After a more tame 2nd outing, this one returns to the badassery of the original film, as the main characters are now back in the police (after a one-off as lawyers). In this one, the main bad guy enlists high school kids in his army of mobsters, so you can expect many huge fights between groups of young villains and the police force. All in all a fitting end to this trilogy and vast improvement after the 1st sequel.
Big Match (2014), a south korean action/comedy film. If you liked Kingsman and ‘Gamer’ (with Gerard Butler), this film is for you. A fighter athlete will have a very hard day as the villain creates a ‘game’: the hero will have to navigate through Seoul to take part in several challenges, while trying not to get taken down by the police force or by an army of gangsters set to kill him. Lots of humour and bad ass chase and fight sequences. This films is very entertaining - non stop action for 2 hours.
Fists of Legends (2013). This film is about a televised game of cage fighting, where people who were in high school 20 years ago get to participate to be crowned ‘legendary fighter’. The film concentrates on 3 high school friends that will have to fight against each other in this game. The fighting is very intense (lots of brutal punches), and it features a lot of flashbacks of the hero when they were in high school. And these flashbacks are my favorite part of the film (but the cage fighting is very good too): lots of fighting against other high school students and gangsters. All in all a very intense and entertaining sports/crime drama.
No Tears For The Dead (2014), the latest film from the director of ‘Man From Nowhere’. If you enjoyed that film and ‘A Company Man’, this film is just for you. Lots of intense fist and gun fights, and the hero is extremely badass and cool/charismatic. The last 30 minutes of the film if wall-to-wall heart-pumping action. So, another great film from this south korean director.
Why Don’t You Play In Hell (2013), a Japanese crime/gangster action/comedy. This film is batsh*t crazy, and makes Kingsman look very tame in comparison. If you love asian gangsters involved in brutal fights, you will love this film. The last 30 minutes of the film makes the church scene in ‘Kingsman’ look like a Disney movie: it has to be the most insane, entertaining, crazy, epic fight sequence I’ve ever seen. Litterally dozens of mobsters going at each other with swords and guns. In conclusion: this is one of the most epic and entertaining films I’ve had the pleasure to see in my life so far.
Denzel Washington as an alcoholic pilot. Excellent movie and i have to say i don't think i have watched a movie of his and come away disappointed.
Starring: Owen Wilson, Lake Bell and Pierce Brosnan
Plot: A young couple and their children find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time as they arrive in an Asian country (after the husband gets a job there) just as a violent coup takes place.
My take: I won't spoil it because it's in the theatres now, but it's getting much worse reviews than it deserves for some reason. I found it suitably decent and was on the edge of my seat throughout. It's got a very good but sadly all too brief supporting performance from Pierce (if you liked his Andy Osnard in TOP, you'll love him here - it's the kind of role he's best at).
As a kid I lived in an African (rather than Asian as in this case) country with my parents (who were expats) when there was a military coup, and this brought back some memories...
Recommended.
It was the last one of his I had never seen up until about 15 years ago, but so far this century I've rewatched it more than any other Kubrick. Totally transcends the period=usually lousy cliche I had built up in my mind.
NEVERLAND is really good, but STRANGER THAN FICTION is for me, Forster's ticket to heaven. Casting Will Ferrell and not letting that hurt the movie -- shoot, he enhances it! -- is one neat trick. Forster told me he talked with Ferrell about Tati and Ferrell 'got it' right away as a key to playing the role.
I actually wish I hadn't read the novel. As an SF novel, it is excellent, but it is almost a companion piece to the movie, rather than an explanation for same. The attitudes of the players are much different (compare the russian/american interaction between novel and film), and clearly Kubrick has different objectives than Clarke. ACC was my favorite SF writer for years, but his work is clearly just providing an ingenious and reliable superstructure for what Kubrick does in the film.
I've seen the movie over 20 times in the theater and there's no way to know how many times on laserdisc, dvd & blu-ray, so I absolutely share your joy of it - about 75% of the time it is my alltime favorite movie too, though whenever I rewatch Fincher's Se7en or CHILDREN OF MEN, I tend to waiver ...
Thief (1981)
Really liked this one. James Caan was badass and i also thought that the dialogue was very good. Always liked these kinda mob movies.
7/10
Manhunter (1986)
This one had me really interested from the beginning, but i kinda fell off as the movie progressed. I think that they found out of things too easy and too fast. And i wasn't a fan of Brian Cox performance as Hannibal Lecktor. The Climax was also a bit wacky with the heavy editing. But all in all, i found the film interesting and weren't bored with it.
5,5/10
Michael Mann ranking
1. Heat
2. The Insider
3. Collateral
4. Thief
5. Public Enemies
6. Manhunter
Batman Begins (2005)
The Dark Knight (2008)
The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
I've never seen anything in IMAX before, so I was interested in that aspect, too, and yes, the movies looked great, at times I was just all oooh, ahhh = bliss = breathtakingly beautiful. I have obviously seen them several times before, but it was wonderful to experience them in this way ^:)^ and I would happily do this again. Felt a bit emotional several times, had goosebumps twice, and for me there's just so, so much to love. :x
I did wonder beforehand if Christian Bale in IMAX on "the biggest screen in Britain" might be a bit dangerous for me, but I handled his awesomeness pretty well, I think. :P The presentation made me pay attention even more to how much he conveys with his eyes. (I would like to say that I immediately loved him in this role already back in 2005 when I knew nothing about him as a person, or even his other work, really, and so was not yet biased in any way. ;) ) Great casts in general, for most part perfect. (I have some minor issues with 4 main cast members, but I'm kinda used to them in their roles by now.) I love Bruce Wayne's story arc throughout the trilogy, and a lot of the writing and dialogue. I love the scores by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard. I love Wally Pfister's cinematography. And so on. I will forever be grateful to Nolan for making these movies and getting the people he got to work with him on them. They aren't perfect movies, but it's a brilliant trilogy and I love it.
I wasn't in any hurry to leave for breakfast, so I decided to watch TDKR credits at least until Sibi (seeing her name there makes me smile every time), but then decided to watch the rest, too, just for the heck of it, and, besides, I love the music. It was an exceptionally short night, I must say, even though I was there well before midnight and it was a bit past 9 am when I checked the time just after leaving, when walking over the Waterloo Bridge. A thoroughly entertaining night - apart from the guy sitting beside me trying to fiddle with his mobile during the first movie... naturally I told him off and he at least had enough sense not to continue that idiotic behavior. And btw, it's kinda cute that people applaud at movies. For me that was unusual but lovely.
I've never had the privilege of seeing them all in IMAX. Good for you. I would have been clapping too.
I'm not a big Star Wars fan. I should probably re-watch those three, it's been years and years.
As mentioned on another thread, I trudged over to the theatre to watch the latest installment of the Transporter series primarily out of respect for Ray Stevenson, a man who I believe could have been Bond in his prime, and who has immense screen charisma. He lived up to my expectations, once again stealing every scene he was in, despite this film being clearly beneath his talents.
Review - I'll keep it brief. This franchise keeps going from bad to worse. Jason Statham was quite smart to bail on it when he did.
Ed Skrein takes over duties as Frank Martin, the driver who takes on perilous assignments. Skrein demonstrates that acting is actually a difficult job, and that he is not up to it. Wooden to the extreme.
A threesome of beauties, serving as baddies (Severine types), prove that, despite their looks, they should have considered other careers. Anatole Taubman (Elvis from QoS) once again gets the short end of the stick, so to speak, by showing up in the first few minutes, only to be unceremoniously dispatched. Several other actors with thick east European accents and limited facial expressions do their best auditions for a role as the next baddie in a Bond film or a Hollywood blockbuster (wait.....Radivoje Bukvic already did that in the last Die Hard, where he was much better than here....and that's saying something).
All in all this is best avoided. There are much better ways to spend your time.
The star of the show. The latest model Audi A8