Cate Blanchett

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Watched “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” in the movies yesterday. Excellent film!

First of all, an original story. Secondly, interesting historical recreaction and mix of times from beginning of the last century to these days. Thirdly, impressive technically – acting, make-up, camera work, special effects, etc. Fourthly, the film is both entertaining, as well as philosophical.

And if that all sounds like way too perfect, maybe it is. However there were a few things that could have done better. I thought that the film was a bit too long, and that the ending was somewhat unrealistic – which is fine, but just doesn’t fit the rest of the film.

Overall, an excellent experience. Much recommended. 5 stars.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

I’ve heard a few negative reviews of the “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull“, so I wasn’t particularly rushing to see it. I have the box set DVD collection of all previous Indy films and I’ve seen them a few times by now – they are good, but the age shows. I like them, but you can’t call me a fan yet. With that, I went to the movies today.

I have to say that I really enjoyed the film. It was in exactly the same style as previous ones, but a bit refreshed. I think it feels exactly like the other ones felt back when they were just released. However if this film was shown 20 years ago, it would have blown the minds of a much wider audience.

In short, the film has everything it should have had – Spielberg’s directing, Ford’s acting, tonnes of action, a quest for something cool, much greater scale than anybody can imagine, and a few jokes here and there. Good value for money and not a time waster.

One thing that I particularly liked, how it was done for the PG-13 rating. There is a lot of action and a lot of people get killed in a lot of different ways, but there is no focus on that. There is not much blood or suffering. The scariest of the dead bodies are in bones, all over catacombs full of treasure – something you can’t take away from an adventure movie. Family-friendly and kids-recommended.

Overall, quality entertainment. 8 out of 10.

The Man Who Cried

Watched “The Man Who Cried” on DVD. It is amazing how little this movie missed to be on my favourite list. It has to stay with the average ones now. Pity.

Good things about this movie are: story, pace, casting, acting, photography, and music. I liked how one small girl from the first part of the movie was used to bring in three more main characters. That was an interesting move. I liked the acting of all four main actors – Christina Ricci, Cate Blanchett, John Turturro, and Johnny Depp. All of them did really good jobs, but they weren’t pushed to the limit or anywhere closed. I’ve seen all four of them doing much better.

What I think this movie needs is more dramatism and depth. It almost touched me. But when it almost happend the closing credits started rolling. First half of the movie with the little girl had a lot more sadness and sympathy to it.

I’ll rate it as 6 out of 10. Good, but could have been so much better!

Veronica Guerin

Watched “Veronica Guerin” on DVD.

This is an excellent criminal drama about drug business in Ireland. Main character – Veronica Guerin (excellently performed by Cate Blanchett) is a journalist who investigates the junkie lords and gets killed in the end. The film is based on a true story it seems.

It was a bit slow and boring at places, but overall very dramatic and poweful. It had excellent character development and dialogues. Great soundtrack too.

This film also provokes some thinking on the subject of “Is it worth it?”. Some people would say that what she did was plain stupid. Others would call it courageous. I guess there is no one without another as it has been displayed in many other movies, books, and real life stories. In case of Veronica it was probably worth it – laws changed, many guilty charged, crime levels dropped, many lives saved. And that is probably what she was aiming for and that is what she succeeded with. Same situation applied to another person could have ended with different results. You never know…

Anyway, 8 out of 10. Rent it, it’s worth the time and money. The scene of her walking down the neighborhood was worth the whole movie on its own. Very strong.