Tag: Ben Kingsley

Shutter Island

Even though I am a fan of both Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio and most of their works together, I didn’t want to watch “Shutter Island“.  Why?  Because of the trailer.

I saw the trailer several times.  And every time I saw it, I thought exactly the same: “It looks nice, but it’s just not my type of the movie”.  Trailer seemed to show full plot and all the highlights of the movie.  And what I saw wasn’t something to bring me in.

And that’s a pity.  Because I nearly missed an awesome movie!  By pure accident did I go to see it yesterday, and, boy, am I happy that I did!  This film is excellent on every level.  There is a twisted, interesting, and engaging plot.  Just when you thought you got it, it turns and changes, and goes the other way.  Even when you think the movie is at the end and you know how it will end, it ends in a totally different unpredictable way.

On top of that there is a rich visual layer.  Scenes go back and forward between a very desaturated, almost grey-and-white setting to very vivid colours and shapes and textures.  And it happens in a very balanced matter.  It’s not a colourful film, but it’s not a black-and-white either.  Colours swing together with plot twists and character moods.  And music.

And speaking of characters, there was some amazing acting.  The cast is fantastic and these are just the people to see in the film like this.

In short, do yourself a favour – go see this film.  You’ll get a little something extra from watching it on the big screen.  5 out of 5.

Fifty Dead Men Walking

Fifty Dead Men Walking

Yesterday I watched “Fifty Dead Men Walking” in the cinema.  As with almost any European movie, there was no promotion of it, no posters, announcements, or trailers.  So I had no idea what was it about when I went to see it.

The film is based on a book, which is based on a real life story of Martin McGartland – a guy who was hired by British police to spy on IRA back in 1980’s.  I haven’t read the book and I don’t know much about Ireland, but that location at that time had a lot of potential for an interesting movie.

However, this movie failed to utilize that potential.  First of all, it was badly executed technically – plenty of reflections, shades, weird lighting, and lots of hand help camera work were quite annoying.   Maybe that’s just me, or maybe that’s what Hollywood movies do to one’s tastes.

While for a real life story is quite impressive, the way it was conveyed in the film was rather slow and sporadic at times.  It was difficult to understand the time frames, as well as some characters in the film seemed to be out of place.

Overall, an average movie for 3 stars.  Perhaps your own opinion of it would be quite different though.  If you want to see this film, try to get it on DVD – it’s a bit painful for the eyes on a big screen.

Lucky Number Slevin

Before I had a long break in movie watching, one of my biggest complains about movies was regarding the stories. It seemed back then that there were three of four main story lines, which all films were aligned along.  That was very sad and boring.  Now that I got back to movie watching, I am glad to report that there are many films with original stories.  Twists, surprises, and more twists. I have troubles guessing how the movie will end every other time.  So, it’s either the movies got a little better, or I got so much worse.

I watched “Lucky Number Slevin“, which I expected to be yet another action, considering there were pictures of Bruce Willis with a gun all over the place.  I thought that it would also probably be funny, since Bruce Willis was pictured in a hat.  And that’s about as much as I expected from the film.

But I was wrong.  It was a really twisted story.  With lots of action.  Lots of really great photography.  And fast paced.  Bruce Willis was accompanied by Josh Hartnett, Lucy Liu, Morgan Freeman, and Ben Kingsley.  There are some really great background characters too.

This film provides good, albeit not family safe,  entertainment, with plenty of good humor and details to look for while watching it for the second, third, or fourth time.  A must see, and a recommend DVD buy.  8 out of 10.