John Malkovich

Transformers : Dark of the Moon

Yesterday, I went to see “Transformers : Dark of the Moon“. I’m not a big fan of 3D, but my wife convinced me that that’s the only right way to watch this movie, so I agreed. And I’m glad I did so.

If you like 3D movies, or transforming robots, or action movies, or any of the previous Transformers’ films, or Michael Bay work in general, you absolutely must see this film. And do so in 3D – even for those who don’t like 3D, it is an excellent experience.

As for the film, Michael Bay broke the measuring ruler once again. He is off the scale. The film is bigger, larger, and more than any other film I can think off. It has everything previous Transformers had, and more. And of the things that previous Transformers had, it has more. More robots, more fights, more shooting and explosions. More space travel. More special effects. More 3D. More, more, more. It has so much of everything that I would walk away happy half time into the film. But when the whole thing was over I really was amazed as to how much went into it.

On top of that, both of the items that somewhat annoyed me in the previous Transformers movies were corrected in this part. First was Megan Fox. I don’t know why everybody is so fond of her. I don’t find her beautiful, or smart, or a particular good actress. She’s out and Rosie Huntington-Whitley is in. She wouldn’t be my first choice for the role, but she is definitely an improvement on Megan Fox. Secondly, in previous Transformers, robot transformations and robot fights were too fast. There are too many details to notice them all and they were often done and off the screen before my curiosity was satisfied. In this part, there are more details, more fights, and more transformations. Also, there are a few excellent slow-downs – important moments are slowed down to a crawl with a few humorous touches added.

Actually, I have to mention humor separately. This part is not as serious as the previous ones. There are plenty of funny scenes, situations, and jokes all over the film. I couple of times I was even laughing out loud, which is a rare occasion.

Overall, I think the film provides all the entertainment you could put into a movie and more. It pushes the boundaries of sci-fi cinematography and visual effects. And for that I will of course give it a 5 out of 5.

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.

Changeling

I deliberately avoided going to the cinema to see “Changeling“. Why? Because, I probably knew too much about it and whatever I didn’t know, I assumed. What I knew was that this film was a drama about missing children, directed by one of the most dramatic directors ever – Clint Eastwood, and starring Angelina Jolie and John Malkovich. While I do appreciate drama, it’s had for me sometimes to take all the sadness in the film, especially when there is a beautiful woman who is sad.

With missing children somewhere in the story, I thought, it was almost guaranteed that Angelina Jolie would be sad for a significant chunk of the screen time. That’s hard to watch on its own. Multiply that by Clint Eastwood’s directing, and add to that John Malkovich, who is a sort of actor that can multiply anything happening on the screen ten-folds, and the result would be something so sad that it would border with depressing. That’s why I was trying to avoid this film a bit. But I knew that I’d watch it anyway. And so I did.

This film is a beautiful piece of art. It is an interesting, slowly unfolding, story. It’s an authentic look back at Los Angeles during 1920-1930’s. It’s an excellent cast, with some really talented actors. And its an excellent directorship.

It is a sad movie, yes. But not as sad as I thought it would be. It is in sad in a very sensible way. Plus, it gives a lot to think about. The film brings topics of family, humanity, social responsibility and bureaucracy.

Overall, highly recommended. My rating: 5 stars.

Burn After Reading

I went to see “Burn After Reading” a couple of weeks ago. I had a feeling that it should be rather good, because it was directed by Cohen brothers, who directed, produced, and wrote screenplays for quite a few good movies (“No Country for Old Men”, “O Brother, Where Art Though?”, “The Big Lebowski”, “Fargo”, “The Hudsucker Proxy”, and more). Also, the cast for this film was interesting – George Clooney, John Malkovich, Brad Pitt, and a few other names you know. And, of course, there was a cool trailer.

The film was excellent, but it wasn’t quite what I expected. I thought (based on the trailer) it would some sort of comedy action, with a bit of crime. And it sort of was. But. I don’t even know how describe it. It was funny but very sad film. Or a very sad film, which was funny. I guess that just doesn’t make any sense, but that what it was.

Overall, I really enjoyed it. Especially with all the good acting, interesting story telling, camera work, and even more good acting. An 8 out of 10 and strongly recommended.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Olga and I went to the cinema today to see a long awaited “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy“.

Directed by: Garth Jennings
Genres: Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Cast: Bill Bailey, Anna Chancellor, Warwick Davis, Mos Def, Zooey Deschanel, Su Elliot, Martin Freeman, Stephen Fry, Richard Griffiths, Dominique Jackson, Simon Jones, Thomas Lennon, Mark Longhurst, Kelly Macdonald, John Malkovich
IMDB raintg: 6.8
My rating: 8.0 [rate 8.0]

I really liked the film. It was much better than I expected. Actually, it was kind of difficult to expect anything, because the book seemed to me very unscreenable, so to speak. The book is one of those that I consider very hard to base a movie on. So, I was rather suspecious. But the film turned out to be great.

I don’t know though how difficult it was to find any sense for those who didn’t read the book.

First of all the Vogons. They were absolutely fantastic. They were even more disgusting than described in the book. Both Olga and I exclaimed a loud “Ewww, yuck!” when we saw the first one. That’s a compliment, by the way.

Secondly, I thought that the solution to the “second head” of Zaphod was great. It’d be kind of tough following a two headed guy with all the articulation and random stuff that he was supposed to do, but not having a second head would be unbooky. The way they went about it was creative, original and entertaining.

Thirdly, the whole planet building factory was unbelievable. It rocked. It was my favourite scene by far.

Fourthly, Marvin was something. Using the voice of Alan Rickman was the absolute genious thought.

Overall – the film was great. It is one of those film that keeps the audience glued to the screen. Mostly because the said audience has no slightest idea of what’s going to happen next. Even those few who read the original book. Not many movies do it these days. Eh, Hollywood…

Strongly recommended.