Movie Reviews on good movies that are compulsory viewing

This is a brilliant drama following the lives of several different characters, with stellar acting all through.

Harrison Ford plays a good natured ICE (Immigration Customs and Enforcement) officer Max Brogan, who along with his partner
the brilliant Cliff “The Chameleon” Curtis, plays his partner (he has played a number of varied roles, a fluent speaking arab in Three Kings, a Colombian terrorist in Collateral Damage, as well as Pablo Escobar in Blow, a Polynesian in Rapa Nui(Easter Island).
In this He plays an Iranian Hamid Baraheri whose brother and sister are citizens, but his father is about to take his citizenship oath shortly, however their sister, an american born has her own ideas of how she would like to live her life, as opposed to the strict lifestyle her father would like for her.

Ray Liotta plays Cole Frankel who works for the Immigration Bureau and decides if an application has merit, he bumps into the lovely Claire Shepard(Alice Eve) a struggling actress, unable to find work as she has no permit, he makes a deal to help her, but it comes at a price, Claire’s on off boyfriend Gavin Kossef (Jim Sturgess, 21) is trying to get a permit based on religious grounds, that he is a practicing Jewish teacher, even though he really is an atheist.

The warm hearted Denise Frankel(Ashley Judd) plays Cole Frankel’s wife, who is an immigration lawyer, she cannot help but get closely involved with a particular case, she happens to run into the superb Summer Blishi (Towel head), who plays a 15 year old Bangladesh girl, who happens to write an essay sympathising with the 9/11 terrorists that has terrible implications for all involved.
Justin Chong(Twilight) plays Yong Kim, about to be naturalised, but really not caring what it means, and his friends are about to drive him into a whole lot of trouble.

Amongst the regular raids on illegal workers, Max Brogan (Harrison Ford) encounters a Mexican lady Mireya Sanchez (Alice Braga) who pleads with him to make sure her little boy is ok, as he is staying with a neighbour, he at first tries to reject her pleas but it is not in his nature
to do so, he seeks the little boy out, and takes him all the way back to Tiguana to his grand parents, on reaching there, he is told by the parents, that Mireya has gone back to the States to bring back her boy.

The acting is superb, and the scenarios believable, several scenes will have you moving and seeing the plight of many we never hear about.

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This is a romantic comedy of interconnecting lives starring Ginnifer Goodwin (Margee from Big love), Jennifer Aniston, Ben Affleck, Justin Long (from Die Hard 4.0), Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Connelly and Bradley Cooper.
Goodwin plays Gigi Haim, who has just come from a date, where she is misreading every sign, that this could be “the one“, despite protests from her friends she insists the date was really into her, and tries to find him. In the process she happens to meet Bar Steward Alex(Justin Long) who enlightens her on what guys really mean by their behaviors during a date.
Alex on the other hand has his own problems committing to a relationship. Ginnifer happens to work with Beth Bartlett(Jennifer Aniston) who is reaching the end of her tethers after seven years with her current boyfriend(Ben Affleck)and his lack of commitment; and Janine Gunders(Jennifer Connelly) who may have rushed her husband (Bradley Cooper) into marriage, he happens to stumble into Anna Taylor (Scarlett Johansson), who is keen exploring their “friendship” regardless of his straightforward proclamation of his marriage. Their friendship leads to him having to decide if he believes on a chance meeting or be true to his overbearing wife.
Anna is currently in an on off relationship with Conor Barry(Kevin Connolly) an estate salesman, who is trying his best to win her heart, while Mary Harris(Draw Barrymore) is into the world of online dating.

There are superb performances notably from Justin Long, and Ginnifer Godwin. Goodwin steals the show in almost every scene, her chirpy smile, and vivacious attitude lights up the screen, her infectious attitude definately grows on you.
It is a nice warm romantic comedy that is sure to tickle the fancy of all with a romantic inclination, with some drama we can all identify with.

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The Wrestler is a heartrenching tale of many a wrestler through the world of the professional wrestling circuit, it tells the story of Randy “The Ram” Robinson, a wrestler who was one time at the top of his game, but now battling on the small time circuit to make ends meet, along with his weekday job at a meat market.
Some of the wrestling scenes involved in this circuit are not for the faint hearted, some of it involves being stapled numerous times, (the scene where the staples were being removed was extremely discomfitting), a fork used to on the forehead, being dropped on to a table full of glass to name a few.

I heard Mickey Rourke due to his extremely realistic performance is to be invited to one of the key invents from WWE where he will wrestle, and I must say the performance is mesmerising, you instantly believe from his visage alone he has led a life where the world has pounded non-stop on his body, from the steroid injections to maintain his performance, to trying to make amends with his daughter Stephanie played superbly by Evan Rachel Wood, and trying his luck with a local stripper, who only sees him as a customer at first, but his lovable heart makes her realise he is one soft hearted ram. Marisa Tomei plays the love interest, and I am not alone wondering how she has the body of a teenager even though she is approaching middle age.

Mickey Rourke does a superb performance capturing the mannerisms and attitudes of many a wrestler, if you are a fan of WWF through the early 80’s through the 90’s you will recognise a few of the cameos and their references.

You will find yourself rooting for “The Ram” throughout, and you will literally be pleading with him not to get in the ring that inevitable one more time.

It is a superb movie that does a little justice behind the scenes of many wrestlers from a by gone era, the haunting score and lyrics of Bruce Springsteen’s “The Wrestler” brings it home.

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This is a powerful movie, with terrific acting by one of the most underrated Irish actors in James Nesbitt, and the always stalwart Liam Neeson.

It is a poignant tale taking into account the troubles in Northern Ireland from the 70’s and fast forwarded today, and told from the point of the two protagonists Joe Griffen and Alistair Little.

James Nesbitt plays Joe Griffen who has had to live with the aftermath for over 30 years witnessing his brother being gunned down by a 17 year old Alistair Little, the older
part played by Liam Neeson.

The two parties have been brought together for a Truth and Reconciliation commission that is to be filmed, but Joe Griffen far from wanting a truth and reconciliation, would rather exact his own brand of revenge complete with a hidden shank on his way to meeting Alistair Little for the first time, which he deems his “five minutes of heaven” for the hell he has had to endure all this time.

The lovely Anamaria Marinca plays a dogsbody for the film crew, who offers a conscience for James Nesbitt’s character.

All in all the acting was absolutely first class, and you will be hooked from the get go, fascinating to find out how it all unfolds.

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After watching the cartoons as a kid it feels great to go nostalgic once in a while (which let’s face it is one of the fundamental attractions of movies, to dream), to see if it is the same as you remembered them.
This is a retelling of the original series.
The autobots’s planet has been destroyed, and Artemus Prime(voiced by Laurence Fishburne, Morpheus in the Matrix) along with a few other autobots have come in search of a device that could give life back to their planet, unfortunately, a bad autobot has already arrived first, Megatron, but was frozen in the process, discovered by the military, and responsible for all major technological advances, mobile phones e.t.c.
In their search for the device, the autobots find the only human Sam WitWicky(Shia Leboeuf)with a map to the whereabouts of the device, given to him by his grand father, he is discovered as a trader on ebay, and being autobots, can transform into any electrical device, one of them transforms into his car, which is where all the fun starts.

It is a nice fun film, especially the scenes with the US military up against the bad autobots.

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I wanted to watch this movie as I heard it was close to the book, albeit a few changes, as most adapted books inevitably go through for the big screen. I also wanted to watch it as it starred America Ferrara( from Ugly Betty and Ugly she is not!). It is a story of friendship amongst four lovable girls as they turn 17 on their summer holidays. Carmen (America Ferrara) the writer, Tibby (Amber Tamblyn) the rebel, shy and beautiful Lena (Alexis Bledel), and wild and unstoppable Bridget (Blake Lively). It surrounds a pair of jeans that fits them all perfectly (hence the name), and the ‘sisterhood‘ decide to wear them each in turn during their summer holidays and to make a mention if anything of any note happens whilst they have these ‘magical‘ pants on. As they have never been apart from each other all their lives, the pants immediately represent their angst as they go on separate lives from each other for the first time, a kind of focus point to remember each other by. Bridget (Blake Lively) has the most energetic role as she is a soccer star, going to a girls training camp in Mexico or as Libby put it (el campo del futbol). However Bridget has lost her mother, and although her friends and extra activities have helped her avoid it, she has never come to grips with such a monumental loss, and the movie brings this bad episode as a stark reminder of the void she is missing. Lena I found was the most lovable of the lot, her shyness, and innocence (and apparently she is really that shy in real life) makes her adorable, and those lovely puppy dog eyes makes her even moreso, she is visiting her eccentric greek grand parents Yaya and Papou played magnificently by Maria Constadadou, and George Touliatos respectively. Bridget visits her seperated father in a development, and comes to the shocking knowledge that he is about to be married to another woman with kids of her own, the biggest change has to be for Tibby, whilst “her friends jetoff on their little adventures” she is stuck at Walmall (Walmart anyone?) trying to raise enough money for new video equipment, as she is an aspiring documentary director, she meets 12 year old Bailey (played superbly by Jenna Boyd) who really steals every scene she is in, it is impresive such a presence from such a little girl. This is a nice family movie, and you see their world through their eyes as they are forced to confront some painful issues.

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I didn’t know what to make of this movie, thought at first from the title and my intitial impression hearing the director Michel Gondry did music videos for thefoo fighters, I was expecting a science fiction drama. What I certainly did not expect was this kind of a movie, I don’t know where to begin, it is a psychodelic enchanting vision through the main lead, played by Gael Garcia Bernal (unrecognisable from the angry mexican in Babel). He plays Stephane, staying in his mother’s apartment in France as he starts a new job, Stephane sees and interpretes the world around him through his vivid dreams, and this is the magic of the movie, it involves animation, special effects and psychodelic images to bring those dreams vividly to life, not to mention it is also a love story with Stephane having a crush on his neighbor (Stephanie), played enchantedly by Charlotte Gainsbourg, who Stephane realises is the only one who truly understands him and his dreamy take on life. I haven’t seen anything quite like it, and you may either love it or loathe it, but what is clear is it captures vividly the dreamy world we have been to.

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I Wanted to see this movie particularly because of Charlotte Gainsbourg(The Science of Sleep), she has one of the softest, yet commanding angelic voices on the screen.

This is an adaptation of one of the Bronte’s sisters’ famous Jane Eyre Novel, Gainsbourg plays the title lead, an orphan mistreated by her aunt and eventually becomes a governess to the child of a very moody and unrecognisable by his upper class english accent William Hurt(The Accidental tourist).

She takes the role of governess in her stride, strict but firm as governesses in those era were. Her soft doe vulnerable eyes, surrounded by an english reserved masked by an expressionless face; makes her perfect for this role.

It is a love story as told from the 19th century, the scenery and acting reflects the book and this is widely acclaimed to be one of the best adaptations of the book. There are superb performances from the stellar cast, and one would be hard pressed to believe Charlotte Gainsbourg is conscious about her english, seeing she lives and spends most of her life in France, and is to all effect French.

It also stars the lovely Anna Paquin(Rogue in X-men) as a young Jane Ayre.

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I wanted to watch this movie, since it was a channel 4 production, and they are usually more like Independent labels; something enchanting and a little offbeat, and this was no exception. At first I didn’t know what to make of this movie, from the initial previews I had the impression it was patroitic racism from a few ignorant individuals. Half way into the movie I got the impression this was more a mod and punk scene celebration, coupled with the political events around the late 70’s and early 80’s in the UK, with the Falkland’s war, and high unemployment, and the feeling of rage and anger. About an hour into the movie my initial impression about it focused on racism from a few ignorant individuals came full throttle, the movie is part biographical from the director Shane Meadows, it is told through the eyes of 12 year old Shaun played effectively by Thomas Turgoose (whose real life mother died a fewmonths after the movie was made, and in the end credits is dedicated to her). Shaun has just lot his father to the falklands, and is being picked on at schooland by all the kids his age, for his fashion sense, which is dedicated to his father, as a proud little fella, he inevitably gets involved in a few scuffles until he meets a bunch of laid back punk/mods, they take him under their wing, until Combo (played mesmerisingly by Stephen Graham, complete contrast from his character Tommy in Snatch) comes on the scene, just out from 3 and a half years in the penetentiary, unemployed and angry, he takes Shaun under his wing, and steals the scene with every performance. The final scene was eerily effective, you could sense the feeling of rage, and uncontrollable anger about to be unleashed on the poor individual who he feels crossed his path.
Altogether this is an eye opener, and has parallels to the war in Iraq, as then as now many felt the government was wrong, and the UK had no business in the Falklands, but this was not what the movie was generally about, but how hearts and minds could be influenced, when impoverishment, and ethnic hatred is let loose looking for a scapegoat disguised as national pride.

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I was surprised by how much I liked this movie, it tells the story of a 300 spartans war against a million persians, it is based on a Frank Miller’s comic fiction about the true story, of 300 of the Greek King Leoniades fight against a foe of ginormous proportions in a million Persians, although in reality the 300 were supported by a few thousand locals, reality aside, this is a fascinating movie, the callousness of war and murder, are put aside in the spirit of freedom, and the fight from slavery, being seen as a prelude to the era of indepence and democracy we enjoy today. Released when the war following September 11 was at still in it’s most fearsome this movie no doubt fueled the surge in many joining the war effort in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The lead is played effectively by Gerald Butler( Dracula 2000), and the lovely Lena Headley(The Sarah Connor Chronicles) plays his queen Gorgo, David Wenham (Faramir in Lord of the Rings the two towers)plays Dilios, as well as Michael Fassbender(Azazel in Hex) as Stelios, and Rodrigo Santoro(Scarface the world is yours) as the arch nemesis Xerxes.

I was impressed by the direction, and the beautiful pictureque scenery. It seems everybody in there were in tip top physical shape, as I don’t recall a movie where everybody had a six pack. The ability to pump your blood in the mood of the spartans ultimate war with impossible odds against the Persians is what makes this enthralling.

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