Persona (1966)iMDB Rating: 8.1 Date Released : 16 March 1967 Genre : Drama, Mystery, Thriller Stars : Bibi Andersson, Liv Ullmann, Margaretha Krook, Gunnar Björnstrand Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 850 MB
A young nurse, Alma, is put in charge of Elisabeth Vogler: an actress who is seemingly healthy in all respects, but will not talk. As they spend time together, Alma speaks to Elisabeth constantly, never receiving any answer. Alma eventually confesses her secrets to a seemingly sympathetic Elisabeth and finds that her own personality is being submerged into Elisabeth's persona.
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Review :
Love Poem to Liv Ullmann
There are few motion pictures that rely on bodily expression and imagery as most films depend too much on dialogue and speech. Persona(1966) is one of those raw movies that succeeds almost on a metaphysical level. Its about the relationship between an actress who broke down during a stage performance and the nurse who is assigned to take care of her. Bergman's camera has a fascination with Ullmann's figure as most of the film's closeup shots are on her. Liv Ullmann does an outstanding job in playing a character that hardly utters a line of dialogue.
There are a few scenes where the image dominates the screen in a manner that hasn't been done successfully since the silent film period. The director, Ingmar Bergman did an excellent job in presenting powerful images with the use of natural sound. Persona(1966) is a triumph of acting because both Bibi Andersson and Liv Ullmann are terrific in their perspective roles. There is hardly any movie music and this adds to the tension between the two women. Its a film that was deserving of a Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 1966.
One scene that was wonderful is when Alma describes her life to her patient. Another excellent scene is when Mr. Vogler mistakes Alma for his wife(its as if he too has suffered a breakdown and has failed to recognize his own wife). Finally, the sequence where Alma and Mrs. Vogler's image blends together to form one person. Its an errie image because they cease to exist as individual people. Persona(1966) would influence Robert Altman very greatly when he directed the film, Three Women(1977).
The Killing (1956)iMDB Rating: 8.1 Date Released : 6 June 1956 Genre : Crime, Film-Noir, Thriller Stars : Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, Vince Edwards, Jay C. Flippen Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 850 MB
After getting out of prison, Johnny Clay masterminds a complex race-track heist, but his scheme is complicated by the intervention of the wife of a teller (George Peatty) in on the scheme, the boyfriend of the wife, airport regulations, and a small dog.
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Review :
Young Kubrick's triumph
Stanley Kunbrick was still in his twenties when he made this film, yet his confidence and self-assurance are all over it. It is a well-written story, co-written by Kubrick (based on a novel called "A Clean Break"), about a meticulously planned horetrack heist told from the point of view of the several people who were in on the plot. Most of these guys weren't professional criminals, but otherwise honest men who were down on their luck and needed a break. They turned to this audacious plan in desperation, thinking they could do some real good in their lives with their share of the money. I won't give away the ending of course, but keep in mind this is a Kubrick film. That's all I say about that.
Standouts include Sterling Hayden as the ringleader, Marie Windsor as a snide, manipulative woman, Elisha Cook as her milquetoasty husband, Timothy Carey, as creepy as ever, and Kola Kwariani, the thinking man's Tor Johnson, as a chess expert/hired thug.
Speaking of chess, this is the first movie I've ever seen with a scene taking place in a chess parlor. Being from a provincial New England town, and not being a chess afficionado, I never knew such places existed.
A Beautiful Mind (2001)iMDB Rating: 8.1 Date Released : 4 January 2002 Genre : Biography, Drama Stars : Russell Crowe, Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher Plummer Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
A biopic of the meteoric rise of John Forbes Nash Jr., a math prodigy able to solve problems that baffled the greatest of minds. And how he overcame years of suffering through schizophrenia to win the Nobel Prize.
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Review :
Superb Acting and a Gem of a Film
Ed Harris, Russel Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, and Paul Bettany were terrific.
The film had great balance and is worth a viewing.
The story boldly addresses mental illness as a handicap.
Because of the quality of the acting and directing, this movie is a beacon of hope for people of all disabilities. The film illustrates to the viewer how deeply a handicap can infiltrate the domestic, professional, and personal lives of those unfortunate to have these types of issues. I hope Ron Howard and the acting crew can get together again for something similar. This was a great film, that also serves an important role for awareness to people that might not understand how deeply debilitating these issues can be, and also gets the message across that not all should be marginalized.
Donnie Darko doesn't get along too well with his family, his teachers and his classmates; but he does manage to find a sympathetic friend in Gretchen, who agrees to date him. He has a compassionate psychiatrist, who discovers hypnosis is the means to unlock hidden secrets. His other companion may not be a true ally. Donnie has a friend named Frank - a large bunny which only Donnie can see. When an engine falls off a plane and destroys his bedroom, Donnie is not there. Both the event, and Donnie's escape, seem to have been caused by supernatural events. Donnie's mental illness, if such it is, may never allow him to find out for sure.
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Review :
Brilliant mix of black-humour, time-travel and a teen love story.
Donnie Darko (2001) - 9.5 / 10
There are very few movies that hit at such a level 'Donnie Darko' does. It weaves in everything about a movie you've come to love; and it has something different to offer everyone.
'Donnie Darko' tells the story of a young Middlesex guy, Donnie Darko. He's a fairly troubled teenager, who awakes one night to confront the shocking news that the world will end in 28 days time. Over the course of these 28 days we watch as Donnie turns everyone's lives upside down, and witness things only possible in your darkest dreams.
Jake Gyllenhaal (The Day After Tomorrow, October Sky) plays a brilliant troubled teenager. Giving us the best performance of his career. Mary McDonnell (Independence Day) plays Donnie's mother with the same dedication and brilliance any mother would.
If you haven't yet seen 'Donnie Darko', place it at the top of your to see list! If you've seen it, place it at the top of your to buy list! Easily one of the top ten movies of all time.
Three interconnected stories about the different strata of life in Mexico City all resolve with a fatal car accident. Octavio is trying to raise enough money to run away with his sister-in-law, and decides to enter his dog Cofi into the world of dogfighting. After a dogfight goes bad, Octavio flees in his car, running a red light and causing the accident. Daniel and Valeria's new-found bliss is prematurely ended when she loses her leg in the accident. El Chivo is a homeless man who cares for stray dogs and is there to witness the collision.
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Review :
As a director's film it is astounding but as a narrative it has it's highs and lows
A young man gets into the world of illegal dog fighting in order to get enough money together to be able to run away with his brother's wife, but in the meantime he starts tension with another dog owner. A beautiful young model signs a lucrative contract with a perfume company and moves into her new flat with her lover – only for her tragedy to strike and her dog to go missing. Finally an ex-convict and guerrilla mourns the wife he left decades ago and longs to meet the daughter who thinks he is dead – but is also contracted to kill a businessman. These three lives come together in a car crash that acts as a catalyst in changing their lives.
After seeing 21 Grams I knew that I had to get round to seeing this film. With it's appearance on TV (BBC4 showing itself to really be a 'place to think' and a wonderful channel to have) I took the opportunity to watch it, expecting a film that would match the good things I had heard about it. >From the opening car chase that results in the crash that the film spirals outwards from like debris, through for most of the first hour, I was hooked – the pace was great and the story gripping. It was violent, exciting and yet had a human element to it as well. However the second story knocked the wind out of it for a moment, and seemed to lack the emotion of the first. It was based around an urban myth of sorts and wasn't as good – even if it did pick up towards the end.
The third story saw it return to a much more involving story of pain and the grinding out of life (as in 'getting by'). Maybe it was the rich lifestyles of the characters in story two that stopped me caring as much – I don't know but I know that the contrast between one & two made it more obvious how much the pace had dropped – especially when we are left wanted to know what happened to the characters we had spent an hour getting to care about. Anyway, the third story is a satisfying ending to the film and drew me back in emotionally where the second story had cut me off by it's abrupt start. Story two finishes before story three begins, and therefore it was easier to move on.
I think the problem with this film for me was not the fact that three stories were intermingled but that I didn't think they were actually mixed well – the way the film moves away from characters before concluding their section (eg Octavia), the way the stories are actually quite separate from one another, these things and other I felt weakened the films – although each story was strong on it's own I just felt that story 2 was such a change to the film that it hurt it.
However, as a film debut this is an amazing piece of work and is relentlessly impressive. From the opening car chase to the dog fights to the silent pain of the model looking out where her image once hung – in all these different moments I thought he did a great job and visually the film was never dull once no matter if it was set in a penthouse flat or a basement of an old building with the blood of dead dogs. And while we're on the subject, at the time of release I heard critics say they walked out of the film, refusing to watch cruelty to animals even being simulated. I can see their point but also think that they missed the fact that the animals in the film are mostly loved (even if they mostly die!) – however it is love and compassion for other humans that the film shows the characters having difficulty with, and this is where the emotional impact of the film is – not in simulated dogfights, albeit very well simulated dogfights that are hard to hear even if they are mostly unseen.
The cast were all natural but I always find it hard to judge performances when they are not in English. Having said that, there were no bad performances in the whole thing – even if some have better material to work with than others. Of course I still think this is a director's film and the cast often take second place to the style and the feel of the film.
Overall I really enjoyed this film but don't believe it deserves to be considered one of the 'best films ever made™'! The opening hour is superb and it's pace is relentless (even in more sensitive moments) but the sudden stop the film makes when it changes to story two is too much to stand and really caused the film to stutter for me. It gets better and is fully back on track for story three but there are problems running all through the narrative. Even though it has a lower rating on IMDb at time of writing, I'd still say that 21 Grams offer this same fragmented style but with a much more satisfying narrative. Regardless of my nit picking I still think this is a powerful film that makes 150 minutes fly by with a huge amount of style from the first-time director, even if it does not live up to the endlessly gushing praise lavished upon it by many viewers.
A love story between an 18-year-old girl named Sofî, cursed by a witch into an old woman's body, and a magician named Hauru. Under the curse, Sofî sets out to seek her fortune, which takes her to Hauru's strange moving castle. In the castle, Sophie meets Hauru's fire demon, named Karishifâ. Seeing that she is under a curse, the demon makes a deal with Sophie--if she breaks the contract he is under with Hauru, then Karushifâ will lift the curse that Sophie is under, and she will return to her 18-year-old shape.
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Review :
A poetic anti-war cartoon.
In a time of war and falsity here it is a dancing poetry from Japan against all the cruelty and pain. The moving castle leads us to a magic place where life has a strong value and elderly people have an important role to play. Also in an apparent hostility or in a scarecrow, Hayao Miyazaki gives us the chance of finding a friend and not letting the dream go down. The perfect technique and the emotional stream are in complete harmony. If the jury of the Venice Film Festival had been more far-seeing, it would have given a more prestigious prize to this masterpiece.
The 400 Blows (1959)iMDB Rating: 8.1 Date Released : 16 November 1959 Genre : Crime, Drama Stars : Jean-Pierre Léaud, Albert Rémy, Claire Maurier, Guy Decomble Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
A young Parisian boy, Antoine Doinel, neglected by his derelict parents, skips school, sneaks into movies, runs away from home, steals things, and tries (disastrously) to return them. Like most kids, he gets into more trouble for things he thinks are right than for his actual trespasses. Unlike most kids, he gets whacked with the big stick. He inhabits a Paris of dingy flats, seedy arcades, abandoned factories, and workaday streets, a city that seems big and full of possibilities only to a child's eye.
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Review :
Deserved Truffaut Classic Benefits Significantly from Criterion's New DVD Package
As the seminal work of the French New Wave, the 1959 directorial debut of 27-year old Francois Truffaut has such a vaunted reputation that the final film is bound to disappoint. However, the pristine print that comes with the new Criterion Collection DVD really makes me realize what a brave and emotionally resonant film he made ostensibly about his own troubled adolescence. It's worth seeing twice - once for the film itself and a second time to listen to the newly recorded commentary by Truffaut's childhood friend Robert Lachenay (the true-life inspiration for Rene in the film). Speaking in French but subtitled in English, he provides insights into the story and context of the film that no film scholar or even production associate could possibly provide. As a point of comparison, listen to the by-the-numbers commentary by film scholar Brian Stonehill (recorded back in 1992), which is thoughtful and well researched but devoid of the human factor.
The film's title comes from a French colloquialism that translates into "raising hell", an appropriate reference since the story focuses on a thirteen-year old hellion named Antoine, living in a poor section of Paris and neglected by parents downright arrogant in their dysfunctional nature. Antoine consequently lives a street urchin's life as he lies to people in authority - his parents, his teachers, and the police - since he admits rather sadly that the truth doesn't make any difference. Truffaut tracks Antoine's life through a series of dispiriting episodes that ultimately lead him to be sent away to a reformatory after he gets caught returning a stolen typewriter and his mother and stepfather tire of their responsibility over him. To Truffaut's immense credit, the film feels stark and naturalistic without resorting to dramatic manipulation, and he finds the ideal Antoine in Jean-Pierre Leaud, who brings out the confusion, angst and wandering attention of his character in realistic terms. He is especially impressive in an apparently improvised scene where he is interviewed by the school authorities about why his life has come to this. It is heartbreaking to see how bleak his life becomes, yet Leaud imbues the incorrigible, often intolerable side of Antoine with fervor.
There are several interesting extras included with the 2006 DVD package starting with two separate interviews with Truffaut, the first a year after the film's release discussing he film's impact and the second five years later when we see the filmmaker in a more reflective mood about his cinematic influences. Leaud is featured in 16mm screen test footage where his naturally ebullient personality emerges and then after the 1959 Cannes Film Festival where puberty has apparently kicked in and then in 1965 as a comparatively reserved twenty-year old. The screen test of Richard Kanayan (who has a minor role as a schoolmate) is amusing for his Satchmo-inspired rendition of "When the Saints Go Marching In" and his eerie resemblance to Fantasy Island's Tattoo, Herve Villechaize. Be forewarned that the film is relentlessly downbeat, but Truffaut's emotional investment and consummate abilities as a filmmaker, even at this stage of his career, make this essential viewing.
The Big Sleep (1946)iMDB Rating: 8.1 Date Released : 31 August 1946 Genre : Crime, Film-Noir, Mystery, Thriller Stars : Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, John Ridgely, Martha Vickers Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
Summoned by the dying General Sternwood, Philip Marlowe is asked to deal with several problems that are troubling his family. Marlowe finds that each problem centers about the disappearance of Sternwood's favoured employee who has left with a mobster's wife. Each of the problems becomes a cover for something else as Marlowe probes.
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Review :
Classic Noir
Read all of my reviews at www.midnitcafe.blogspot.com This classic film noir has very few of techniques generally associated with noir. It contains no skewed camera angles; and though it is darkly lit, it is not overcome with murky, obscuring shadows. The hero is not down-and-out, poor, or desperate. There is no retrospective narration, or flashbacks. Yet, the Big Sleep is widely considered to be one of the very best of this genre. It is a cynical, perverse, murderous world filled with loads of confusing action and unknown motives. It is, in fact, one of the great films of one of the screens greatest actors (for my personal top 10 actors list, click here), and most talented directors.
It was directed by Howard Hawks fresh off of the successful pairing of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Becall in To Have and Have Not. The two star here again and it is easy to see why they made another two films together. Based on a Raymond Chandler novel of the same name, many people complain that this film is incomprehensible. Somewhat famously it is reported that Bogart and Hawks, after arguing over who killed one of the characters, called up Chandler to get the correct answer. Chandler didn't have the slightest idea, for the novel is rather vague on this point. It's true that both the novel and film leave many plot points as to who did what to whom more than unclear, but there is so much style in both that it's hard to make a convincing argument against them.
A good deal of the confusion within the film comes from the production codes in effect at the time it was produced. Chandler's novel deals with murder, homosexuality, heterosexuality, and pornography. At the time, these things were deemed unfit to show on a movie screen and so Hawks had to hint at them using various subtle methods. For instance, when Carmen Sternwood (Martha Vickers) is found by detective Phillip Marlow (Bogart) in the novel she is completely nude and sitting posed for a hidden camera. Since pornography is explicitly against code, in the movie she is dressed in a silky, Japanese gown. There is still a hidden camera, and its missing film becomes a catalyst for much of the action in the film. We must infer from the exotic nature of the gown that there was more than just pictures of a woman in a gown going on. There are many similar instances in the film like this. For an audience member who has not read the book, they must pay close attention to the subtext, or the film will seem baffling.
Personally, I am very much a fan of the book, and all of Chandler's work. While I appreciate that some of the finer plot points are a bit vague in this film, I also understand that the film succeeds not in the details of the story, but in a sinister sense of style. The film oozes with a dark, disquieting atmosphere. Nearly everyone Marlowe meets is hiding something, and is of less than upstanding moral character. Hawks does a great job of keeping nearly every scene in the dark or in the rain, or both. There are so many characters coming in and out of the shadows and with their own shady character that it is difficult to keep up.
Bogart, of course, does a marvelous job as Marlowe. He seems to understand a lot more information than the audience is ever given. Chandler wrote Marlowe as a detective who sticks by his own set up morals, remaining somewhat of a noble creature trying to stay afloat amongst the muck and sewers of the city. Lauren Bacall does a very good job portraying Vivian Sternwood Rutledge, in a role that is much different than the one in the book. Like many films from this era, they create a romance that wasn't really in the source material. I don't mind though, because Bogart and Bacall really sizzle.
What can I say that hasn't been said before? This is really classic noir at its best. It's got Bogart and Bacall. It was directed by Howard Hawks, written by William Faulkner from a novel by Raymond Chandler. What more could a lover of classic cinema want? More reviews at www.midnitcafe.blogspot.com
The Night of the Hunter (1955)iMDB Rating: 8.1 Date Released : 24 November 1955 Genre : Crime, Drama, Film-Noir, Mystery, Thriller Stars : Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish, James Gleason Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 850 MB
Harry Powell marries and murders widows for their money, believing he is helping God do away with women who arouse men's carnal instincts. arrested for auto theft, he shares a cell with condemned killer Ben Harper and tries to get him to reveal the whereabouts of the $10,000 he stole. Only Ben's nine-year-old son, John and four-year-old daughter, Pearl know the money is in Pearl's doll and they have sworn to their father to keep this secret. After Ben is executed, Preacher goes to Cresap's Landing to court Ben's widow, Willa. He overwhelms her with his Scripture quoting, sermons and hymns, and she agrees to marry him. On their wedding night he tells her they will never have sex because it is sinful. When the depressed, confused, guilty woman catches him trying to force Pearl to reveal the whereabouts of the money, she is resigned to her fate but the children manage to escape downriver, with Preacher following close behind.
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Review :
Beautiful cinematography and an epic tale of the struggle between good and evil
The first time I saw this film was probably more than ten years ago on a late Monday night on the BBC. At such a time on such a day one never expects to be shown something decent. But 'Night of the hunter' proved to be one of the best films I have ever seen. The cinematography is breathtaking, especially the river journey of the two children who are fleeing for the evil and demented preacher who killed their mother. Never have I seen nature being portrayed in such a mysterious and dangerous way. The sharp contrasts of light, the dark church in the distance which symbolises the dangerous preacher. The film made me think of the books of Flannery 'O Connor, especially the strange and mysterious southern tale Wise Blood.
Groundhog Day (1993)iMDB Rating: 8.1 Date Released : 12 February 1993 Genre : Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Romance Stars : Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, Chris Elliott, Stephen Tobolowsky Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 850 MB
A weather man is reluctantly sent to cover a story about a weather forecasting "rat" (as he calls it). This is his fourth year on the story, and he makes no effort to hide his frustration. On awaking the 'following' day he discovers that it's Groundhog Day again, and again, and again. First he uses this to his advantage, then comes the realisation that he is doomed to spend the rest of eternity in the same place, seeing the same people do the same thing EVERY day.
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Review :
An endless day where everyday is like Sunday
Phil Connors, a cynical and unbearable journalist goes like every year in a small town in Pennsylvania to report on "Groundhog Day", it means the beginning of the spring. But, he is out of luck because due to the bad weather, he and his crew (including the pretty Rita) he is compelled to stay at his work place for the night. The following day, he awakes and lives exactly the same day again but he is the only one to realize it. It is like this, the next days again and again! What should Phil do to stop this? Maybe an improvement of his personality would be the wisest solution.
You can easily imagine what a filmmaker like Frank Capra would have done with such a topic but Harold Ramis managed very well and he signs here his most beautiful success to date and one of the finest comedies of the nineties. The main strength of "Groundhog Day" comes from a strong and inventive screenplay which enables Bill Murray to go through all the different states which is logical because if tomorrow is the same day, anything goes for him! The script also draws its comical force from the repetition. This process gives delightful sequences, notably in the first part of the movie. You have to see Murray live the same day again, faced with the same situations and as he despises people, it can only make the spectator laugh. Moreover, Ramis described his main character by mocking at him a little.
Of course, the evolution followed by Murray is a little predictable (scornful at the beginning, he will succeed in becoming nice at the end of the film and in finding love with Rita) and you easily guess the message that Ramis tries to put across. But it remains nevertheless warm and deeply humane. However that may be, the director gave us a pleasant, sometimes funny sometimes moving movie to watch. And it is one of Bill Murray's best performances: fair, never bombastic. What more could you ask from him?
An unknown and lethal virus has wiped out five billion people in 1996. Only 1% of the population has survived by the year 2035, and is forced to live underground. A convict (James Cole) reluctantly volunteers to be sent back in time to 1996 to gather information about the origin of the epidemic (who he's told was spread by a mysterious "Army of the Twelve Monkeys") and locate the virus before it mutates so that scientists can study it. Unfortunately Cole is mistakenly sent to 1990, six years earlier than expected, and is arrested and locked up in a mental institution, where he meets Dr. Kathryn Railly, a psychiatrist, and Jeffrey Goines, the insane son of a famous scientist and virus expert.
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Review :
TWELVE MONKEYS (DIDIER BECU)
The big problem is where to begin as this movie needs your attention the forthcoming two hours and you better not miss some minutes for getting a coke as there is a danger you can't follow. But good there is also a pause-button. Bruce Willis must travel into a timemachine to find out some antivirus for a virus that made animals rule over the world in 1996. Thanks to some mistakes he first ends up in 1990, then in the First World War and how messed up it all might look like, Terry Gilliam comes up with what must be one of the most intelligent scripts ever. This ex-Monty Phyton man knows exactly how genius SF-stories has to be told like and his choice of cast couldn't have been any better, there is the lunatic Brad Pitt (his performance in the asylum is memorable) and a superb Bruce Willis who proves he is more than some Schwarzenegger-wanna be. It's a movie you can watch over and over again as the script is so weird and complicated (and yet you can follow) that every view gives you other surprises. One of my big favourites.
The King's Speech (2010)iMDB Rating: 8.1 Date Released : 24 December 2010 Genre : Biography, Drama, History Stars : Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Derek Jacobi Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 850 MB
Tells the story of the man who became King George VI, the father of Queen Elizabeth II. After his brother abdicates, George ('Bertie') reluctantly assumes the throne. Plagued by a dreaded stammer and considered unfit to be king, Bertie engages the help of an unorthodox speech therapist named Lionel Logue. Through a set of unexpected techniques, and as a result of an unlikely friendship, Bertie is able to find his voice and boldly lead the country through war.
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Review :
One word; Brilliant
The title of the film wouldn't necessarily have caught my eye, but am I glad I went to see this film, courtesy of an advance screening. It was bound to be good with Colin Firth playing the Duke of York who went on to become George VI, and he didn't let the audience down. Let's not forget also the other main characters, Lionel Logue played by Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter as the Duchess of York, Michael Gambon as George V and Timothy Spall as Winston Churchill - all absolutely perfect for their respective roles. Whilst the dates in the film might not have been completely accurate, the film tells the story perfectly, sometimes humorously and and certainly sensitively, and I would like to think in such a way that doesn't cause any embarrassment to any surviving members of our Royal Family or indeed people who suffer from what must be a very difficult condition to live with. Certainly a film I would recommend to my friends.
Stand by Me (1986)iMDB Rating: 8.1 Date Released : 8 August 1986 Genre : Adventure, Drama Stars : Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O'Connell Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 750 MB
4 young friends set out on an adventure. Geordie, Chris, Teddy and Vern go looking for the missing body of a local teenager - found by a gang of older boys. A story of boys hangin' out and growin' up.
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Review :
This classic film is worth a watch!
This film is a brilliant, well-acted masterpiece! What touched me the most was the late River Phoenix's acting, but all of the young actors performances were incredible. They are why you should see this film. 'Stand By Me' is not a bubblegum Disney film, nor a dry Hollywood film; it is a movie that captures childhood in a poignant, non-candy coated manner that is dead on. I saw this movie only a couple months ago and was blown away by it's style and acting. It is rare that you see such fresh, relaxed and deep performances that the actors in this film offered. Although this is not a recent film, it is a genuine, inspiring film that is so refreshing-being so different than the films Hollywood often gives us. I give this film a 100+ and recommend it to everyone. You will benefit from it's message and it's wonderful acting.
Ben-Hur (1959)iMDB Rating: 8.1 Date Released : 29 January 1960 Genre : Adventure, Drama Stars : Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Stephen Boyd, Haya Harareet Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
Judah Ben-Hur lives as a rich Jewish prince and merchant in Jerusalem at the beginning of the 1st century. Together with the new governor his old friend Messala arrives as commanding officer of the Roman legions. At first they are happy to meet after a long time but their different politic views separate them. During the welcome parade a roof tile falls down from Judah's house and injures the governor. Although Messala knows they are not guilty, he sends Judah to the galleys and throws his mother and sister into prison. But Judah swears to come back and take revenge.
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Review :
Still good after 40+ years, but made for a different audience.
Ben Hur, a Tale of the Christ, was hugely popular as a novel, a play and two movies. It was written in a less vulgar time about a very spiritual event. Seen today by moviegoers addicted to constant action and low frequency effects, it will seem ponderous, slow and pretentious. Well, it is a little. You have to pay attention to the dialogue or you won't get it at all. Some of the intimate scenes aren't all that great. Anyone that really pays attention can tell the sea battle is done with miniatures. It's still worth watching. As everyone ought to know by now, the chariot race is one-of-a-kind; nothing else comes close to that real live race where the main actors actually raced most of the time. I just watched this movie after lapse of about 10 years. I still enjoyed it. The sea battle is still fun even if you know the boats are about as big as a man. The few moments which have Christ on the screen are still moving. Just about all of the acting is good with only a few forgettable moments. Just be ready to spend about 4 hours in front of the screen listening to occasionally flowery dialog.
The Terminator (1984)iMDB Rating: 8.1 Date Released : 26 October 1984 Genre : Action, Sci-Fi Stars : Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Michael Biehn, Paul Winfield Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
A cyborg is sent from the future on a deadly mission. He has to kill Sarah Connor, a young woman whose life will have a great significance in years to come. Sarah has only one protector - Kyle Reese - also sent from the future. The Terminator uses his exceptional intelligence and strength to find Sarah, but is there any way to stop the seemingly indestructible cyborg ?
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Review :
Compelling science fiction
For the gift of `Aliens' and `The Terminator' I am willing to forgive Cameron's `Titanic'. The key plot concept is beautifully simple - machines take over the earth in the future. Machines are eventually over thrown by one man. Machines travel back in time to kill man's mother, thus preventing him being born and stopping their own defeat. One human also travels back to stop the machines from killing his leader's mother.
`The Terminator' is a classic good versus evil struggle, with little in the way of greys clouding the issue. The terminator is an unstoppable brutal remorseless killer, and it perfectly suits Arnold Schwarzenegger's limited acting abilities. His few lines, including the infamous `I'll be back' are all well judged and timed, and give a great feeling of precision and inhumanity to his character. Coupled with his chiselled features, he's the best choice for the role. Michael Biehn is playing a character type that he'd reprise two years later in Cameron's `Aliens' - the human tough guy: he's got the fight, but still the ability to love and care for people. His features are well chosen for this and although his delivery of lines is hardly exceptional - they tend to come out in the same tone of voice - he's able to carry his part. Linda Hamilton is the woman-thrown-into-chaos, somewhat reminiscent of Sigourney Weaver's Ripley character in `Alien', although Hamilton doesn't have Weaver's strength of presence. All the actors are, for an action science fiction, above average and so never distract.
It's the script, with Cameron's force behind it that lifts the movie from mediocrity. Yes, there's a certain amount of corniness - the `we loved a life time' element for example - but the movie has a real sense of conviction present. The movie believes in itself and, through its passion, will make you believe too. There's a general sense of darkness in the movie
rarely do we see daylight, and, when we do, it's often the soft light of
dawn. There's a nice sense of tension in the action scenes, helped not only by Cameron's camera work but also by an excellent electronic score (including a fantastic brooding credit sequence). Sure some of the SFX look clunky in these days of `Attack of the Clones' and `The Fellowship of the Ring', but they still work. There's a certain sense of inevitability, intertwined with hope, permeating the picture that creates a mood I particularly enjoyed and that's harder to find in the current crop of science fiction movies.
`The Terminator' is not a perfect picture. The movie lags in some parts, and the romance element is fairly contrived. Despite all that the movie brims with energy and promise, a script that mostly delivers, characters you can enjoy, and the ultimate Arnie role. Well worth catching. 8/10.
There Will Be Blood (2007)iMDB Rating: 8.1 Date Released : 25 January 2008 Genre : Drama Stars : Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Ciarán Hinds, Martin Stringer Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 750 MB
The intersecting life stories of Daniel Plainview and Eli Sunday in early twentieth century California is presented. Miner turn oilman Daniel Plainview is a driven man who will do whatever it takes to achieve his goals. He works hard but he also takes advantage of those around him at their expense if need be. His business partner is his son H.W., who in reality he "acquired" when H.W.'s biological single father, who worked on one of Daniel's rigs, got killed in a workplace accident. Daniel is deeply protective of H.W. if only for what H.W. brings to the partnership. Eli Sunday is one in a pair of twins, whose family farm Daniel purchases for the major oil deposit located on it. Eli, the local preacher and a self-proclaimed faith healer, wants the money from the sale of the property to finance his own church. The lives of the two competitive men often clash as Daniel pumps oil off the property and tries to acquire all the surrounding land at bargain prices to be able to build a ...
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Review :
The Truth Hurts
People did not like this movie for a simple reason: too negative. I can understand that this movie is so depressing in so may ways.
What it shows that Big Fish eats Litte Fish and none of us want to think about that anymore than most of us experience it in our daily life. It shows the battle between the evangelicals and the corporate business man. Or maybe even the battle between evangelicals of today and the non-religious people or atheists of today. Even worse is that this movie shows that religious people, priests are or can be as bad as a corrupt oil man. Maybe why people did not like this movie is because it might have offended them. Especially Paul Dano playing the priest. Both Daniel Day Lewis and Paul Dano are wrong and too extreme on their opinions. People are able to accept this. What people cannot accept is though that these same extremities and same misguided opinions from both characters are very much true in that they are heavily believed still today. Not all Christains are like Paul Dano's character and not all business man are like Daniel Day Lewis's character but many are like them. That is the world we live in.
Now is their any alternative or positive side? The answer is yes and that is H.W. the son of Daniel Plainview(Daniel Day Lewis). He epitomizes hope. He shows that despite being deaf and having a father who uses him as a ploy for better business he can still break free of the chains that he is being tied down by. What separates H.W. from the residents and evangelists of Little Boston? The difference is that he and his father are educated and they are not. That is how Daniel Plainview is able to manipulate and cheat them the Sunday family, even Eli Sunday(Paul Dano) the priest and preacher of Little Boston. From what H.W. sees and experiences he sees that much of what is around him is just wrong. He uses his experience that he had gained as a kid to break free of the corruption and chaos that could have taken over him. That is one aspect of the education I'am talking about: our experiences and understanding of what is happening around us.
Now to get to the technical aspects of There Will Be Blood. It is just truly spectacular in every way. First off the acting was amazing. Daniel Day Lewis gave arguably the best performance of his career playing Daniel Plaiview or ever since movies began to be made. He freaked me out and probably shocked many people. His thirst for power and money was at such a high level that it made me wonder about what people are really capable of. The deceiving, the greed, the thirst for power and the every man for himself attitude actually looked more real than ever to me. Without Daniel Day Lewis I don't think this movie could have achieved what it has. Paul Dano gave a great performance as Eli Sunday though people tend to disagree. I think he gave a great portrayal of an extremist evangelical priest of how he himself had his own thirst for power and how he was more blasphemous then respectful and gracious to god then how you would expect a priest to be. How could people not be shocked by these two characters, I was myself.
Why was the music for this movie not liked. I thought this was among the top five musical scores I have ever heard. The music perfectly gave you the feeling of the corruption and deception setting into the movie. It perfectly intertwined with the rest of the movie as the movie itself was ever growingly becoming more and more chaotic and surreal. Probably too shocking though.
Paul Thomas Anderson I believe gave the best directing job of the year. He was able to show the oil fields and its processes, the rise of an oil man, the way everyone can be bought even a priest and the hope that H.W. represented. This movie was never boring and it was as stunning of a directing job as Daniel Day Lewis gave as a performance for his role in this movie. The intensity of this movie was as high as a movie could possibly be and some of the credit for this has to go to the director. The cinematography and the music seemed to intertwine perfectly like the rest of the movie. It gave the sense of the time period and as said before the greed, deception, etc. The cinematography did not just give you a negative feeling but a feeling as if what you are watching is real.
You should not like this movie just because of the great technical achievements as you should not for any movie but for what it says and how it says it. I'm not even sure if you should enjoy this movie in general but you should not be blinded by your opinions. I applaud you whoever out there who can somewhat understand this movie and get past the lying and deceiving we do to ourselves. This movie really shows the humanity of human beings. Why is this rated-R?It has so many intense scenes that if you get inside this movie it is truly haunting. Now maybe this movie was too powerful for many people, it was probably even shocking for realists. Maybe though its not that surprising that so many people don't like this movie because the truth hurts. Not the truth about corruption or about people but the truth about ourselves.
Network (1976)iMDB Rating: 8.1 Date Released : 27 November 1976 Genre : Drama Stars : Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch, Robert Duvall Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 750 MB
In the 1970s, terrorist violence is the stuff of networks' nightly news programming and the corporate structure of the UBS Television Network is changing. Meanwhile, Howard Beale, the aging UBS news anchor, has lost his once strong ratings share and so the network fires him. Beale reacts in an unexpected way. We then see how this affects the fortunes of Beale, his coworkers (Max Schumacher and Diana Christensen), and the network.
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Review :
One of the best of all time.
I can't put it more perfectly than Turner Classic Movies' Robert Osborne who said "What was originally a satire is a stinging mirror of television news today." I strain to think of a film that is a more brilliant take on society, and all of the flaws it has. It's obedience and entertainment by those who rebel, no matter how insane they are. The exploitation of those in peril for any kind of economic profit. And the fact that everything Beale preaches is completely true and completely bashes the people who are producing him. I was amazed by how much he sells out while continuing to rant about how terrible the people he works for are, and the fact that they just keep him on the air because they want ratings.
It couldn't be more related to today. Turn on the news and you see videos of how horrific the war on terror is and how horrific American society has become, but it stays on the air because people don't want to see the good things in life. They care about the bad and the corrupt. People must have laughed it off back then, but it was such a foreshadow to the near future. The performances are just as brilliant as the social commentary. Each actor becomes so absorbed into their characters that you can't even tell they're acting. It feels like you're watching these people in their daily lives, interacting and becoming more and more corrupt. Finch and Dunaway easily give two of the greatest performances of all time. I could write 20 more pages about it's brilliance, but I'll stop now to keep me from rating. I just have to say that it's so rare to find a film as incredibly flawless as this.
Rush (2013)iMDB Rating: 8.3 Date Released : 27 September 2013 Genre : Action, Biography, Drama, Sport Stars : Daniel Brühl, Chris Hemsworth, Olivia Wilde, Alexandra Maria Lara Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 750 MB
Set against the sexy, glamorous golden age of Formula 1 racing in the 1970s, the film is based on the true story of a great sporting rivalry between handsome English playboy James Hunt (Hemsworth), and his methodical, brilliant opponent, Austrian driver Niki Lauda (Bruhl). The story follows their distinctly different personal styles on and off the track, their loves and the astonishing 1976 season in which both drivers were willing to risk everything to become world champion in a sport with no margin for error: if you make a mistake, you die.
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Review :
Superb all round
Having seen the trailers and TV set-up (BBC as a Grand Prix insert) I was thinking OK so I've probably seen the best of this and it's going to be 'clunky' in parts or too far up it's own a$$.
But hey we can all be wrong, Ron Howard has added depth to a story I knew well, the presentation has a feel for the era the colour's are sometimes harsh and edgy.
The set pieces are well researched, the owners of some of the classic F1 hardware must have had an enjoyable time (not quite so sure about the Insurance Underwriters).
Where the story hits the spot for me is the acting of the main protagonists, they have life and depth. Hemsworths presentation of James Hunt is uncanny it's like a documentary he's almost as good as Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln.
If your not a F1 fan or from the 70's it may not be more than a blokes film, but give it a go it is going to end up being a important as Apollo 13 in the life of Mr Howard and quite frankly is by far the best car racing movie ever
The Avengers (2012)iMDB Rating: 8.2 Date Released : 4 May 2012 Genre : Action, Fantasy Stars : Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 850 MB
Nick Fury is director of S.H.I.E.L.D, an international peace keeping agency. The agency is a who's who of Marvel Super Heroes, with Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow. When global security is threatened by Loki and his cohorts, Nick Fury and his team will need all their powers to save the world from disaster.
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Review :
People are too easy to please
Consider: I am not a comic book reader.
Therefore my opinion probably means little to most of you. I just do not understand the love for this movie. The Avengers has every standard comic movie cliché that any movie goer has seen in the last decade. A typical, tired story arc involving a bland, evil, power-hungry, villain who seeks to make the inhabitants of earth submit to his authority. The only comic villain (or character for that matter) who has really challenged the audience in this age of comic movies was Heath Ledger's Joker. Loki, our villain, has been given nothing interesting to do.
Our heroes are then summoned to meet this threat. Instead of one hero coming to the rescue, The Avengers gives us a coalition of Marvel favorites such as Hulk, Thor, Black Widow, Captain America, and the only intriguing member of the bunch, Iron Man. The rest of our heroes provide little humor nor have anything captivating to say. To top it off, we get a routine showdown in the end involving our heroes against an endless barrage of CGI bad guys summoned by the villain in... guess where? Manhattan, how original.
This humble reviewers opinion is obviously not the norm. Hollywood knows just what people and the box office receipts and IMDb rating indicate just that.
If you are looking for something fresh, smart, and innovate, skip The Avengers.
Million Dollar Baby (2004)iMDB Rating: 8.1 Date Released : 28 January 2005 Genre : Drama, Sport Stars : Hilary Swank, Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Jay Baruchel Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
Frankie Dunn has trained and managed some incredible fighters during a lifetime spent in the ring. The most important lesson he teaches his boxers is the one that rules life: above all, always protect yourself. In the wake of a painful estrangement from his daughter, Frankie has been unwilling to let himself get close to anyone for a very long time. His only friend, Scrap, an ex-boxer who looks after Frankie's gym, knows that beneath his gruff exterior is a man who has been seeking, for the past 25 years, the forgiveness that somehow continues to elude him. Then Maggie Fitzgerald walks into his gym...
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Review :
Sure to be a contender for the Academy's Best Picture of the Year
Saw "Million Dollar Baby" in Manhattan last night. Clint Eastwood, one of the all-time most famous actors -- and directors -- has more than enough money where he could choose to pull the strings on block-buster, mindless action pictures, ala Jerry Bruckheimer, or comic books. Or, hell, in his twilight years he could just lay back and enjoy his millions. But no. He has chosen instead to make quieter, lower-budget, heart-felt, character driven films like "The Unforgiven" "True Crime" "Mystic River" and now Million Dollar Baby. And the world is a better place for it. Eastwood uses his multiple talents to make films that have something valuable to say. In the emotionally powerful, Million Dollar Baby, he tells an allegorical tale of boxing to subtly express themes of hope, redemption, sacrifice, persistence, and belief in one's self. The movie emphasizes that failure is a more honorable and personally fulfilling trait than never having tried, while also frowning upon laziness and leeching off others. But see the movie and judge for yourself. I personally consider great films as the ones where I leave the theater with a better understanding of human nature, or a desire to improve the world by even a little bit. Eastwood's latest more than succeeds on those counts.
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)iMDB Rating: 8.2 Date Released : 3 October 1947 Genre : Drama, Romance, War Stars : Fredric March, Dana Andrews, Myrna Loy, Teresa Wright Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 850 MB
The story concentrates on the social re-adjustment of three World War II servicemen, each from a different station of society. Al Stephenson returns to an influential banking position, but finds it hard to reconcile his loyalties to ex-servicemen with new commercial realities. Fred Derry is an ordinary working man who finds it difficult to hold down a job or pick up the threads of his marriage. Having had both hands burnt off during the war, Homer Parrish is unsure that his fiancée's feelings are still those of love and not those of pity. Each of the veterans faces a crisis upon his arrival, and each crisis is a microcosm of the experiences of many American warriors who found an alien world awaiting them when they came marching home.
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Review :
Dana Andrews
I saw the movie again recently. I always love it. It's touching, has great music, scope and complexity. The film is alive in its human details. But what especially stood out to me this time was how amazing Dana Andrew's performance is. His wife has cheated on him, he's suffering post-war trauma, and can't find a job--but he's still charming and funny. Even though his opinion of himself is pretty low, he keeps going ahead. I love how self-denigrating the character is, how he suspects he's pretty worthless, while his parents, friends and Peggy (but not his wife) see him as extraordinary. And Andrews does it all while being understated and real. Yeah, Dana!
Notorious (1946)iMDB Rating: 8.1 Date Released : 6 September 1946 Genre : Drama, Film-Noir, Romance, Thriller Stars : Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains, Louis Calhern Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
Following the conviction of her German father for treason against the U.S., Alicia Huberman takes to drink and men. She is approached by a government agent (T.R. Devlin) who asks her to spy on a group of her father's Nazi friends operating out of Rio de Janeiro. A romance develops between Alicia and Devlin, but she starts to get too involved in her work.
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Review :
Grant + Bergman + Hitchcock = Chemistry
In Alfred Hitchcock's 1946 film, `Notorious', Cary Grant plays T.R. Devlin, an American agent who employs the assistance of Alicia Huberman, (Ingrid Bergman) a German expatriate whose father has just been convicted as a German spy. Devlin brings Alicia to Brazil in hopes to arrange a meeting with Alex Sebastian (the fantastic Claude Rains); another German spy who just happens to have a history with Alicia insofar that he was in love with her. The plan is to get them together so that she can spy on Sebastian and his colleagues so that the Americans can get a leg up on their mutual espionage. Of course, love develops between Devlin and Alicia, which complicates their operation and of course, their lives.
`Notorious', despite adhering to the chaste Hayes Code of the time has some of the steamiest scenes between two actors that I can recall during that era. While the scenes never get beyond the standard close-ups of their kisses, the chemistry is a heavy physical presence. The acting in `Notorious' is top-notch; Grant and Bergman were at their best during this era. Claude Rains, who is a personal favorite of mine, is absolutely fabulous in this film. He gives his character, who should be hateful, a humanistic quality that makes him an even more complicated figure. Screenwriter Ben Hecht and Hitchcock team up for some pretty intense moments in `Notorious', and compliment each others styles and talents wonderfully. There are not many nail-biting moments in `Notorious', but the script is excellent. Coupled with the superior acting and direction, `Notorious' is certainly a Hitchcock film that should not be missed.
Life of Brian (1979)iMDB Rating: 8.1 Date Released : 17 August 1979 Genre : Comedy Stars : Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
Irreverent satire of Biblical films and religious intolerance focuses on Brian, a Jew in Roman-occupied Judea. After joining up with an anti-Roman political organization, Brian is mistaken for a prophet, and becomes a reluctant Messiah.
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Review :
Stunningly funny
One of my fave films of all time, this film has so many laugh-out-loud jokes and ridiculous thought processes that it would probably be unfair to pick out just a few. Tough - I'm going to: John Cleese as the legionnary Latin teacher rebuking Brian not for daring to use graffiti on the Roman fort but for using the wrong tense, Michael Palin trying to find his place in life as an ex-leper, Terry Jones as Brian's mother trying to protect him from myrrh - let's face it, we've all wondered what myrrh is ! The bit that always makes me laugh without fail is something that isn't always noticed - when Michael Palin is having a go at the guards; "Do you find it risible when I say the name of my friend Biggus Diccus ?" if you look carefully you'll see that Palin is trying really hard not to laugh.
Puerile, silly but also very very clever. This film doesn't criticise religion or Jesus in any way ( what was wrong with the people who tried to ban it ? ) - it's just asking what it could have been like in a society that was expecting the Messiah to show up at any moment, and covering it in a massive coating of comedy.
How to Train Your Dragon (2010)iMDB Rating: 8.1 Date Released : 26 March 2010 Genre : Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Family, Fantasy Stars : Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Craig Ferguson Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
Long ago up North on the Island of Berk, the young Viking, Hiccup, wants to join his town's fight against the dragons that continually raid their town. However, his macho father and village leader, Stoik the Vast, will not allow his small, clumsy, but inventive son to do so. Regardless, Hiccup ventures out into battle and downs a mysterious Night Fury dragon with his invention, but can't bring himself to kill it. Instead, Hiccup and the dragon, whom he dubs Toothless, begin a friendship that would open up both their worlds as the observant boy learns that his people have misjudged the species. But even as the two each take flight in their own way, they find that they must fight the destructive ignorance plaguing their world.
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Review :
Genuinely superb and a step forward in 3D films
HTTYD is the latest in a run of animated 3D films to hit the family market. One might be forgiven for feeling a little weary of this genre as the big production studios churn out one "action-packed film with a cute central character and some pretty effects" after another. But wait...
HTTYD stands apart from these other attempts for a number of reasons. First, the 3D (Odeon digital in this screening) is moving more toward the subtle with fewer "gratuitous" 3D moments than in movies like Bolt and Coraline. As 3D becomes a staple of high street cinema, directors seem to be finding 3D to be more about adding depth rather than a brief focal-point. That's not to say that there isn't effective use of the 3D wow-factor here; it's just not all the film has to hold attention.
Second, a cast of voice talent that does not demand too much consideration of the man/woman behind the microphone is refreshing. Baruchel is not over-playing the sugar or the heroics and, as much as an animated character can be, he is believable and as three-dimensional as the visuals. Butler is not greatly stretched here but manages to stay just the right side of a Mike Myers impression so as not to annoy. How many kids will now think the Vikings were a fearsome race of Americans and Scots? Oh, well!
Third, the plot and dialogue. You may not know the plot and I won't spoil it now. It is straightforward stuff but the pace keeps it interesting for kids and the grown-ups. Younger children may be upset at times and I heard a sob or two at the emotional moments. Nothing too heavy here though, it's just a well-written script with as many actual laughs as I have seen in a kids' film.
This is one of the best films so far in this prolific genre and it has been made with passion rather than thrown together to cash-in on the thirst for these films, right now. I would urge all ages to see this film in 3D as the textures are extraordinary and you can't help but be charmed by it all.
Into the Wild (2007)iMDB Rating: 8.1 Date Released : 21 September 2007 Genre : Adventure, Biography, Drama Stars : Emile Hirsch, Vince Vaughn, Catherine Keener, Marcia Gay Harden Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
Based on a true story. After graduating from Emory University, top student and athlete Christopher McCandless abandoned his possessions, gave his entire $24,000 savings account to charity and hitchhiked to Alaska to live in the wilderness. Along the way, Christopher encounters a series of characters who shape his life.
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Review :
Captured his essence
I read the book in 1996. Like others, it moved me profoundly. I created a series of prints of my interpretation of Chris. I haven't read the book since.
This film transported me right back to the spirit that Krakauer brought to life in the book. I spent a few years traveling alone from 1994-1996. This film reminded my why I left and why I returned. Ten years later, all grown up with all the crap, I'm haunted again by Chris. What a well done job.
Thank you Sean & John. You did it right.
By the way, try to catch Holly Figueroa's song "Dream in Red" inspired by Into The Wild.
Dial M for Murder (1954)iMDB Rating: 8.1 Date Released : 29 May 1954 Genre : Crime, Thriller Stars : Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings, John Williams Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 750 MB
In London, wealthy Margot Mary Wendice had a brief love affair with the American writer Mark Halliday while her husband and professional tennis player Tony Wendice was on a tennis tour. Tony quits playing to dedicate to his wife and finds a regular job. She decides to give him a second chance for their marriage. When Mark arrives from America to visit the couple, Margot tells him that she had destroyed all his letters but one that was stolen. Subsequently she was blackmailed, but she had never retrieved the stolen letter. Tony arrives home, claims that he needs to work and asks Margot to go with Mark to the theater. Meanwhile Tony calls Captain Lesgate (aka Charles Alexander Swann who studied with him at college) and blackmails him to murder his wife, so that he can inherit her fortune. But there is no perfect crime, and things do not work as planned.
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Review :
One of Hitchcock's best thrillers.
1954 was a big year for Grace Kelly. She played in Hitchcock's classic "Rear window" and she won an Oscar for best actress in "The country girl" and most people tend to forget that she starred in yet another classic, "Dial M for murder". Starring Grace Kelly, Ray Milland, and Robert Cummings, it is simply one of Hitchcock's finest movies of all-time. In fact, I would consider it to be my second favorite Hitchcock movie ever, my first being "Psycho" (although I haven't seen "Rear window" yet).
Margot (Grace Kelly) is married to Tony Wendice (Ray Milland), an ex-tennis player. However, she has been seeing another man named Mark Halliday (Robert Cummings). Mark writes crime stories. The two of them think that Tony doesn't know about their relationship but they're wrong; Tony has known about this relationship for one year and seems to have had enough of it. So when Mark, who lives in New-York, comes to London to see Margot, Tony wants to go out with Mark and his wife. But the night of the event, Tony is unable to go. So he tells Margot to take Mark out and to have a good time. The only problem is that Tony doesn't really have something that's keeping him from going out with Margot and Mark. He has another plan, the plan being to blackmail one of his old college friends that has become a small time crook into murdering his wife.
What follows this is pure entertainment at its best. As usual, Hitchcock masterfully directs this movie and has the right actors to do the job. Ray Milland and Grace Kelly deliver very good performances and surprisingly enough, Robert Cummings does a rather good job in his role of Mark Halliday, the American crime novel writer who accidentally stumbles on the answer. But it is John Williams who steals the show with his great performance as Inspector Hubbard, the detective who holds the key to the whole mistery. He is simply excellent and pretty funny when he is supposed to be. Another of his great performances is in "Witness for the prosecution" where he played Brogan Moore, Charles Laughton's very good friend and seconding lawyer in the case. As for "Dial M for murder", well it's one of those movies that anyone should see at pretty much any cost.
High Noon (1952)iMDB Rating: 8.1 Date Released : 30 July 1952 Genre : Drama, Western Stars : Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly, Thomas Mitchell, Lloyd Bridges Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 750 MB
On the day he gets married and hangs up his badge, lawman Will Kane is told that a man he sent to prison years before, Frank Miller, is returning on the noon train to exact his revenge. Having initially decided to leave with his new spouse, Will decides he must go back and face Miller. However, when he seeks the help of the townspeople he has protected for so long, they turn their backs on him. It seems Kane may have to face Miller alone, as well as the rest of Miller's gang, who are waiting for him at the station...
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Review :
The definitive western movie
This is the definitive Western. There are other excellent Westerns of course ("The Unforgiven," "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid," "The Searchers," "My Darling Clementine," and "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" come immediately to mind), but none tops this one. Even though the difference in age between Gary Cooper and Grace Kelley makes the thought of their marriage seem a little kinky, it's easy to buy into the story. Katy Jurado is sexy, Lloyd Bridges is callow, and the townspeople mean well, but when push comes to shove, they reveal their cowardice. (If you remember the scene in "Blazing Saddles" in which Van Johnson says, "Howard Johnson is right," you'll almost certainly laugh at an inappropriate moment in "High Noon." ) "High Noon" is a textbook example of the storyteller's art. The drama begins with the opening credits and doesn't let up until everyone's true character has been laid bare. This one is suspenseful and thrilling, and I find more to admire with every viewing.
Finding Nemo (2003)iMDB Rating: 8.1 Date Released : 30 May 2003 Genre : Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family Stars : Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Alexander Gould, Willem Dafoe Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
A clown fish named Marlin lives in the Great Barrier Reef loses his son, Nemo. After he ventures into the open sea, despite his father's constant warnings about many of the ocean's dangers. Nemo is abducted by a boat and netted up and sent to a dentist's office in Sydney. So, while Marlin ventures off to try to retrieve Nemo, Marlin meets a fish named Dory, a blue tang suffering from short-term memory loss. The companions travel a great distance, encountering various dangerous sea creatures such as sharks, anglerfish and jellyfish, in order to rescue Nemo from the dentist's office, which is situated by Sydney Harbor. While the two are doing this, Nemo and the other sea animals in the dentist's fish tank plot a way to return to Sydney Harbor to live their lives free again.
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Review :
quite a catch
Pixar Studios have done it again. I have to say that these guys are totally good in computer animation, as well as in storytelling. Rarely do those qualities come together but here they are, delivering unto the audience once again something that one can only be drowned with wonder. Such is the marvel of Finding Nemo.
The story is about Nemo (voiced by Alexander Gould), a young clownfish who is fed up with his dad Marlin's (Albert Brooks) excessive paranoia over him. He swims to a place where his dad forbids him and ends up being captured by a scuba diver. He is then placed in a fish tank in a dental clinic somewhere along the harbors of Sydney. Thus the quest of Marlin, along with Dory (a hilarious forgetful blue tang voiced by Ellen DeGeneres) to find Nemo before it's too late.
The story is a simple one but where the film more than makes up is on the overwhelming sense of detail and rich, lavish colors and textures as if we aren't really watching an animated film at all. Scenes such as Marlin bringing Nemo to school while swimming through corals and anemones, to the aquarium where Nemo was taken to, are nothing short of breathtaking, and undoubtedbly one of the most outstanding animation ever to hit the screen.
The world of "Finding Nemo" is simply alive with lovable creatures swimming about their daily lives under the ocean, darting across the screen in playful manners. The viewer almost literally dives into another world for nearly two hours and one cannot help but be completely captivated.
The music and screenplay also blend very well with the visual feast that it produces such a high quality movie. From its basic storyline, to the father-and-son relationship theme, to the wonderful underwater world throughout, this is really an adventure through an ocean of stunning visuals and storytelling.
My Neighbor Totoro (1988)iMDB Rating: 8.2 Date Released : 16 April 1988 Genre : Animation, Family, Fantasy Stars : Hitoshi Takagi, Noriko Hidaka, Toshiyuki Amagasa, Paul Butcher Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 750 MB
Two young girls, Satsuki and her younger sister Mei, move into a house in the country with their father to be closer to their hospitalized mother. Satsuki and Mei discover that the nearby forest is inhabited by magical creatures called Totoros (pronounced toe-toe-ro). They soon befriend these Totoros, and have several magical adventures.
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Review :
The cutest movie I ever saw !
My favorite Miyazaki's movie is "Princess Mononoke" on a graphical scale. But on a "charming scale", this one is really the best.
Even the Disney movies are not so charming than this movie. Poetic, charming, cute, I can't find the words to describe the good this movie made to me. Miyazaki brings us into the wonderlands of the children, better than "Alice in wonderland" or "Peter pan".
In fact, Miyazaki makes us loving children. In the movie, the children run, shout all time, laugh, cry, and so on. In the real world, I hate this. In normal movies I hate this too. But, here, every actions of the two little girls touch us deep in our heart. We learn to love children's world.
Every one of us will have a smile on this face, from the beginning to the end of this movie.
My favorite scene is the first encounter between Mei and Totoro. It's fun, poetic, and charming. Miyazaki succeeds to make a movie enjoyable for the very little kids (4 y.o.) and for the adult audience. It's very rare to succeed doing that !
Warrior (2011)iMDB Rating: 8.2 Date Released : 9 September 2011 Genre : Drama, Sport Stars : Tom Hardy, Nick Nolte, Joel Edgerton, Jennifer Morrison Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 850 MB
Two brothers face the fight of a lifetime - and the wreckage of their broken family - within the brutal, high-stakes world of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighting in Lionsgate's action/drama, WARRIOR. An ex-Marine haunted by a tragic past, Tommy Riordan returns to his hometown of Pittsburgh and enlists his father, a recovered alcoholic and his former coach, to train him for an MMA tournament awarding the biggest purse in the history of the sport. As Tommy blazes a violent path towards the title prize, his brother, Brendan, a former MMA fighter unable to make ends meet as a public school teacher, returns to the amateur ring to provide for his family. Even though years have passed, recriminations and past betrayals keep Brendan bitterly estranged from both Tommy and his father. But when Brendan's unlikely rise as an underdog sets him on a collision course with Tommy, the two brothers must finally confront the forces that tore them apart, all the while waging the most intense, ...
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Review :
Emotions on par with The Fighter, one of the top combat sport movies since Rocky, one of the best of 2011
Every so often you'll come across a combat sport movie that manages to find just the right balance of drama and action – that is, more drama than action. When fights are justified with backstories full of crushing emotion, they become all the more intense and gratifying.
Warrior brings to the table the world of mixed martial arts, where punches, kicks, holds, and everything else goes. The inception of new international tournament "Sparta" puts on a collision course Paddy (Nick Nolte), Brendan (Joel Edgerton), and Tom Conlon (Tom Hardy), all part of an estranged family torn apart in the past by abuse, favoritism, and abandonment. Tom resurfaces in society to enlist the help of his formerly alcoholic father Paddy to train him for the tournament, while at the same time Brendan revisits his UFC training in hopes to win the $5 million purse for his struggling family. The two underdogs face some of the toughest MMA fighters on the planet, but the true struggle appears to lie within them. Paddy battles for forgiveness against the resentment of his sons, Tom fights to prove to himself that he is strong, and Brendan struggles to come to terms with his older family while trying to support one of his own.
The fantastic thing here is two protagonists entering the same tournament. Each brother has his own respectable reasons for fighting, a fact that is sure to divide the audience when it comes time to choose which one to root for. The story truly is gut-wrenchingly powerful and presented in an engaging fashion. Little by little through the film's dialogue, we are allowed a glimpse into the past hardships of the Conlon family, and the characters' motivations for retaining such hatred are revealed gradually. Through the incredible acting talents of Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton, and Nick Nolte, this confused and passionate chemistry really comes alive. All three actors put up some of the most convincing and heartbreaking performances of their careers; and seeing as how The Fighter garnered so many Oscar nominations, I can't see why Warrior will not do the same. My only beef with the movie is its clichéd climax and rather bleak inconclusive ending, though it still does good to the emotional schism the movie intended to create.
Warrior is one of those sports films with a magical mixture of emotional and physical battle. It's a wonderful story showing how sometimes the world's strongest forces are insignificant in comparison to the troubles of a scarred family. Warrior is without a doubt worth a visit to the theater. One of the best of 2011! And whether you're an MMA fan or not, the adrenaline-pumping fights will have you up and cheering and applauding.
