Movies

Brooklyn’s Finest

I just came back from the cinema, where I watched “Brooklyn’s Finest“. It’s a rather slow developing drama picturing three separate stories of three New York cops. While there is nothing in particular outstanding about this film, overall it is quite good and enjoyable. Some of the things it shows are more realistic than in many other movies, some – not. It’s not particularly too far-fetched, but probably not something that would happen in real life. Quite close though.

I think this film is trying to give you something to think about. It actually spells out the idea in the first scene, first dialogue. But because the rest of it somewhat slow, the message gets lost in the process. If not completely lost, then for sure it doesn’t sound as clear as it did in the beginning of the film. Maybe it was the idea, maybe it wasn’t – I don’t know. But I thought it would have been better if the message was carried across a bit louder.

This is not a film for a romantic Friday evening or a family Saturday morning, but there is enough good in it for me to recommend it. Either pick a slow day and see it in the movies, or grab the DVD. 4 out of 5.

Green Zone

A couple of weeks ago I saw “Green Zone” in the cinema. I barely heard anything about this film – only that Matt Damon plays the main character and that it was directed by the same guy who did some of the Bourne trilogy – but even that was enough. I wanted to go.

First things first. This film is not like the Bourne trilogy. There are a few moments that bring back the memories, but overall it is a totally different film. The subject is different, the characters are different, the way it was shot is different. Second things second. I enjoyed this movie. As most other Hollywood-made war-related movies it had its share of propaganda, but once I switch on the propaganda filter, there was plenty to enjoy.

Matt Damon acting was awesome as always. He is very natural and very, how should I put it, believable. It is often easy to relate to his characters just because of his acting, and this film is not an exception. The visual content of the film was interesting. While I am not a big fan of handhold shaking camera effect, it works for this film. And gladly not the whole film is shot this way – only the scenes where it adds to the atmosphere.

There was plenty of background work in this film – scenery, decorations, costumes, routine, etc. One of the common ways to avoid this work in a war movie is to switch between a command bunker or Washington office and a blind darkness of the jungle, or something like that. In this film everything is happening in the war zone and story switches between neutral and hostile areas. This creates a nice feeling of being there.

Now, to the important part. The story. While, as I said, it holds plenty of propaganda, I still liked it. At least it attempted to show things from a different angle and explain how things go wrong and what it takes to make them right. There is something to think about and even know, a couple of weeks later, I find myself rethinking parts of the movie. I do want to see it again and probably I will once I get my hands on the DVD.

Overall, a good film. Recommended. 4 out of 5.

The Road

Last Friday I went to see “The Road“. I’ve seen a trailer of it several times before and figured that it would be one of those post-apocalyptic zombie movies that I don’t particularly want to see. But I was with my wife and there was no better choice of a movie in the cinema, so we went.

As I mentioned on Twitter earlier, it’s been a while since I wrote a movie review. But this film is something! It’s such a load of crap! Everything about this film is bad. Not neutral, but bad. The story is extremely shallow. The dialogues are horrible. There is no common sense what-so-ever. The film is boring on so many levels that it’s unbelievable. It is even boring visually. Everything is shot in a greyish colours, with decreased saturation, and with no highlights at all. The images of the post-apocalyptic world don’t touch on any feelings – they are not sad, not horrifying, not inspiring.

I was very surprised to see both Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy) and Charlize Theron (“The Italian Job”, “Sweet November”, and many others) in this crappy movie. They were trying their very best to save it, but there just wasn’t enough ground. Kodi Smit-McPhee, who played a kid, delivered horrible acting and all the dialogues that he had to do weren’t helping at all.

The film is running for almost 2 hours (111 minutes), and I think it is about 100 minutes too long. Overall, I’ll rate it a 1 out of 5 and recommend you avoid it at all costs. It’s just that bad.

Why piracy works

I came across an excellent image which explains (one of the reasons) why movie piracy works. Click the image for the larger, original version.

Inglourious Basterds, art, Haiti

UnrealityMag runs a post with a whole bunch of posters for “Inglourious Basterds” movie. These posters were drawn by various artists and are now collected into an exhibition. But not only that! Quentin Tarantino himself, signs the posters, which are being sold and all the money donated to help with the recent Haiti disaster. Is that cool or what? Check the link for more posters.