Brian Cox

Red

Being a big fan of action comedies, I’ve been waiting for this one – “Red“. Thanks to a whole bunch of trailers on YouTube, I knew pretty early that I’d love this film. And indeed I did.

It’s exactly what it promised to be, and even a bit more – funny, action packed, with brilliant cast, and so on and so forth. Even the story is not totally stupid, like in most action films. And it gives you something to think about. Even though that’s really not the point of the film. The point is entertainment, and the movie tackles that in a great way.

Overall, a 5 out of 5. I had a blast.

Deadwood

I’ve finally finished watching all three seasons of “Deadwood” series. As with most other HBO series, this one is very very good. There are interesting characters, acting, setup, decorations, and such. Many would appreciate the amount of swearing and naked women, considering the rough location and times of the events.

Personally, I would prefer to see much more violence and action. Also, I think the most bright characters weren’t given enough screen time or appropriate matter to deal with. And there were too much of secondary characters who were crowding the episodes.

However, still a good piece of entertainment which would help you to learn a few words and phrases that you wouldn’t use very often. An overall of 4 stars from me.

Sharpe’s Rifles

I spent the weekend watching Sharpe’s movies. I’ve heard a lot of good words about them, but couldn’t get my hands on the copy. Finally, I managed to get 14 films. I’m missing the last two episodes which were done recently, but I’ll get them too eventually.

The series are a collection of full length films – 1 hour 40 minutes each. It’s a history action set back in 1810’s during the Napoleon invasion of the world. A soldier by the name of Richard Sharpe (played by Sean Bean) is making a military career, being raised from the ranks (as opposed to being born a gentlemen). Each episode has some sort of a mission, or a situation to deal with, some romance, and lots of fighting. The films are also full of moral values, setting good examples. Except that one situation involving a French woman, which is of course arguable.

Each film is on its own and the series can be watched in random order, but if you do it sequentially, there is a little bit more to enjoy of it. Also, one thing that I wanted to note is the quality of the films – all of them are done like they are a one really long movie. No episode is better or worse than any other episode.

Overall, really good stuff – 5 stars.

Rob Roy

I just watched “Rob Roy” a truly classic film, which I somehow missed when it came out back in 1995. This is something! I can’t remember the film which would have been so packed with moral, and which would be as engaging to watch. Really.

The film has it all – honour, love, friendship, and more. It shows how hard simple things can be sometimes. And how place, time, age, gender and social status have nothing to do with who you really are, how much of a human being you are. It also touches upon marriage, and the places of both husband and wife in the family. Compared to this film, most of the other modern film seem to be quite empty. Yes, there is plenty of action and special effects these days, but so little of what people are made of and how they are supposed to be. I think that we need more films like this, and this film in particular should be a part of formal education and character development. If it influence me so much, I suspect it’ll have a quite an effect (and a positive one at that) on the teenagers’ understanding of the world. However, it’s been a while since I was a teenager, so I might be wrong there…

There is plenty of good in this film beside moral. The story itself is quite interesting, even if not new. There is lots of good acting by talented cast. The directing and the visuals are also nice. I also remember positively noticing the music score a few times during the film.

One thing I wanted to mention separately are the sword fights. There are a few and they are awesome. The final fight deserves a film on its own. It’s original, dynamic, and powerful. One of the best ones I’ve seen ever.

Overall rating – 5 stars. Highly recommended.

The Escapist

Just watched “The Escapist“. I think all the dramatic prison escape movies are enough now to have their own genre. I also think that I am becoming a fan of this genre. All these films seem to be based on the same simple story, which they twist and turn in many different ways, making it original and interesting enough to watch over and over again.

“The Escapist” is just such movie. Same old story of a few people breaking out of prizon – each of his own reasons. They need to build the team, conceal a plan, and then execute that plan, loosing as few as possible on the way, and avoid getting caught. This film in particular is extra good because of the story telling and some really good acting.

Moving, dramatic, engaging – highly recommended to the fans of the genre. 5 stars.