5 stars

Alpha Dog

I just watched “Alpha Dog“. It wasn’t the movie I was looking for, I just grabbed it by accident. It had a cheesy title, way too many people on the cover, and an overall B-movie feel to it. I got it anyway, just to have some extra movies to watch over the weekend. I’m glad I did.

I think there should be more movies like this. And then, hopefully, there will be fewer cases such as the one shown in the film. Nobody wanted for things to go bad. But those people who could have kept the situation under control, weren’t near enough. Then things started spinning down. Then they continued. Then nobody knew what to do and how to get out. The result – dead teenager and a few more broken lives. Who’s fault? Everybody’s. The kids themselves are guilty of what happened. Most of their parents are guilty. The society as a whole has the part of that guilt…

The film like this, with all its messages, thoughts, and story developments could have easily survived with weaker technical sides. Gladly, the film was done excellent on all levels. The cast was very good, and even though Bruce Willis, Sharon Stone, and Justin Timberlake are in, they aren’t the highlights of the film. OK, maybe with the exception of Justin. The photography was very interesting at places, and helped to create the atmosphere (especially that scene with parents waiting for the kidnapped child at home). The soundtrack was great too.

Overall, a strong 8 out of 10. A must see for parents with kids, fans of criminal drama, and those who simply like good movies.

The Last Samurai

I am not a big fan of Tom Cruise. In fact, I passively try to avoid his movies. He is not a very good actor and there is something negative about the guy. When I saw the trailer for the “The Last Samurai” in the movies back a few years ago, I didn’t like it, and missed the movie on purpose. I though it would be some historical non-sense about an American getting into Japan, learning centuries of samurai traditions and skills in a couple of month and then showing them how real people fight. Or something along those lines.

Today I rented the film because I was really bored, because there weren’t much else to rent, and because I thought the time has come to finally watch it. Once again it seems I missed watching a really good movie on a big screen. Boomer!

There are quite a few things that would have made the experience so much better for if I went to see it in the cinema. First of all, the battle scenes and all the small fights. Secondly, some really amazing scenery and photography. The film was shot mostly in New Zealand, which has been proven many times to be one of the most beautiful countries. At least, on the big screen. Thirdly, this film has an excellent soundtrack and it would have been a bigger pleasure listening to it in something other than a pair of cheap headphones.

I also really liked the story in the film. Not that it shows something that I haven’t seen or heard of before, but it rather reminds of quite a few subjects which are very good to be reminded of. The film has its way around such topics as honor, discipline, loyalty and friendship. These should be talked about more often in the movies for the sake of making the world a better place. (Yes, the whole world, including yours truly.)

Being a complete moron in history, cultures, and traditions, I can’t judge the historical truth of the film. However, Wikipedia, as usual, has an excellent article which describes how the story is relevant to the things that took place in real life.

Overall: 9 out of 10.

Road to Perdition

I’ve seen “Road to Perdition” when it came to the movies. A couple of years later I bought the DVD and saw it few more times. But somehow it happened that I never described on this blog how beautiful this movie is.

It’s a piece of art. Nothing more, nothing else. It feels like nothing happened by itself in this movie. Everything has its reason, and everything has been placed appropriately by the makers of this film. The story, the acting, the directing, the sound and visuals – all of these work in harmony with each other. And like any other talented piece of art, “Road to Perdition” can be watched over and over and over and again.

I particularly enjoy the atmosphere of the 1930s. Clothes, hats, cars, buildings – these all worked very well for the film. It was also interesting to see how modern faces could be transformed into personalities of the past – Tom Hanks, Daniel Craig, and even Paul Newman, although he is a bit of a veteran.

Overall, a solid 9 out of 10.

V for Vendetta

I just watched “V for Vendetta“. Back when it came out in 2006, I was a busy parent, and used any excuse I had to hate the movie. Just so that I didn’t feel very bad about not going to the cinema to see it. I saw a brief trailer of this film on TV and thought that it was yet another comics-based movie about another superhero or somebody like that. Definitely, not something I wanted to see, especially back then. So I passed.

I have to say that I am really glad that I rented it yesterday. I picked it up just by chance. I already had two other movies in my hand, and when I saw this “V” thing, I thought maybe I’ll grab three movies today, since the weekend is upon me.

Brilliant movie! It has all the easy parts – the photography, acting, directing, special effects, etc. Many films do these days. But, this one goes beyond that. It has a really good story. An interesting one. And the one that needs more attention. I’d go as far as call it a political movie. It is about the role of government and mass media in our lives, how it used to be, and how things are changing, and how they aren’t changing for the better right now. It’s a brave story too – not that many films are willing to risk the ensured profits of the entertainment industry by bringing in strong political discussion into a film. But, as it has been proven many times, Wachovski brothers aren’t afraid of risks.

I really enjoyed how this political story was prepared and told. It’s interesting, and it’s very human. If I had to describe it in terms of other movies, I’d say that “V for Vendetta” is a very good mix of “Brazil” (think George Orwell’s “1984” ), “The mask of Zorro“, and “Invisible Man” (any version you like). Yes, something like that.

This is also a film that can be watched over and over again. The photography is beautiful, the soundtrack is great. There are plenty of small details all around. And there is this sense of style and class to it.

10 out of 10 (I know I’ve been giving away too many of high ratings recently, but it appears so that I missed a lot of really good movies)

Deja Vu

When I am looking for a movie to rent or watch in the cinema, I usually check a few things about the title – IMDB rating, cast, director, genres, awards, etc. I try not to read any reviews or plot descriptions, but everything else I usually do. Why am I doing this? Because there are so many crap movies out there that are not worse spending any time or money on. However, there are a few actors, who are like good brands. If I see that actor on a DVD cover, I will rent the movie without any other additional information. I might not even check the title of the film, or try to remember if I saw it before or not.

Denzel Washington is one of such actors. So, when I saw his face on a box of “Deja Vu“, I rented it right away. And, once again, I was right. The film is excellent. It has all to it – excellent story with a lot of twists, excellent acting, suspense, action, great photography, humor, food for thought, and so on and so forth. An extra point goes to those people who picked the cast. Everyone was good. But Paula Patton was really beautiful. Really.

If you are sensitive to spoilers, then don’t read this paragraph. There was a scene in the movie, where an FBI surveillance team is spying on this lady. They are watching her on a huge screen. She is at home, getting dressed or something. But the way she moves around, the way she looks, the way she smiles, it’s so beautiful that they are all stunned. They are watching her in silence for a few moments. Almost without blinking. Well, when the scene is over, I realized that it was like I was there, together with them, watching her. Truly amazing. It was a long time since I watched someone like that in the movie.

Anyway. The film is really good and if you like other Denzel Washington movies with action, drama, and crime, “Deja Vu” is truly recommended. 9 out of 10. Solid.