Blog of Leonid Mamchenkov

It’s always a pity to see a movie with a nice idea, which hasn’t been fully developed.  “Unknown” is one such movie.  It started off pretty good, but there was just not enough suspense and acting to pull it through.  It became boring and unimportant pretty soon, but the idea shined through the whole movie.  I wish there was more work done on this but now it’s a bit too late.  Maybe someone else will pick it up and redo.

6 out of 10.

“The Pelican Brief” is one of the older movies (around 1993).  I guess, conspiracy fans and theorists would love it.  It is about yet another government conspiracy.  There seems to be some sort of conspiracy (coincidence? I think not!) in the cast for this film.  The director, Alan J. Pakula, did at least another film about conspiracy before - “All The President’s Men“, back in the 1970s, together with Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford.  Two leading actors in “The Pelican Brief” did conspiracy movies before too.  Denzel Washington played a part in “The Manchurian Candidate” and Julia Roberts played in “Conspiracy Theory“.

I, myself, am not a big fan of conspiracy movies unless they have plenty of action and surveillance technology.  “The Pelican Brief” didn’t have much in terms of technology and could use some more action.  Despite that, though, I have to say that it wasn’t too boring or anything.  I enjoyed it.  And, yes, both Denzel and Julia performed good and made them movie so much better.  Without them it would have been a total loss.

6.5 out of 10 (make it 7, if you need an integer).  Recommended, if you like conspiracy mysteries and scared Julia Roberts.

The other day I watched “Cloverfield“. It was slightly boring, as it was supposed to be, assuming it was filmed somewhat amateurish. It was a bit tiring on the eyes as well. The “Blair Witch Project” kind of tiring. It had some suspense in it, and even some special effects, but it was missing something. I can’t put my finger on it just yet…

Overall, it was pretty good. If you decide to watch it, I’d recommend to get it on DVD or something and watch it on smaller screen (TV/computer). It really doesn’t need all the size of the cinema screen. And it won’t tire your eyes as much.

I’ve seen “Meet Joe Black” so long ago, that I decided to watch it again. I remember that I liked that film a lot and was wonderign if it was really that good.

Directed by: Martin Brest
Genres: Fantasy, Mystery, Romance, Drama
Cast: Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Claire Forlani, Jake Weber, Marcia Gay Harden, Jeffrey Tambor, David S. Howard, Lois Kelly-Miller, Jahnni St. John, Richard Clarke, Marylouise Burke, Diane Kagan, June Squibb, Gene Canfield, Suzanne Hevner
IMDB raintg: 6.6
My rating: 9.0

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Random choice of a movie for today - “Blueberry“. The only thing I knew about it before watching is that Michael Madsen is in it.

Directed by: Jan Kounen
Genres: Adventure, Western, Action
Cast: Vincent Cassel, Juliette Lewis, Michael Madsen, Temuera Morrison, Ernest Borgnine, Djimon Hounsou, Hugh O’Conor, Geoffrey Lewis, Nichole Hiltz, Kateri Walker, Vahina Giocante, Kestenbetsa, Tchéky Karyo, Eddie Izzard, Colm Meaney
IMDB raintg: 5.1
My rating: 8.0

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