Kevin Bacon

Sleepers

A few days ago I watched “Sleepers“. I guess the title of the movie makes it sound like a horror film and that’s why I missed it for all these years. Somehow this time I decided to check the cast and was very surprised to find so many celebrities in – Kevin Bacon, Brad Pitt, Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, and a few others.

The film turned out be excellent. First of all, the story, which is fascinating. It is said to be based on a true story, however there are only so many people who can back it up. But it’s not really important if it is true or not. It’s realistic enough and has enough unexpected twists and turns.

Secondly, plenty of good acting. There was enough freedom given to each of the actors, and there was enough to explore and enough screen time to show the results.

Thirdly, the technical part. While the film didn’t need as much of special effects as any modern action film (which it is not), there were quite a few challenges, which were solved nicely. The back in time feeling, boys’ memories, and the atmosphere for each scene, varying from childish fun to adult sadness – all were done excellent.

Overall, a highly recommended movie with 5 stars from me.

Frost / Nixon

A few days ago I went to see “Frost / Nixon“. A movie with the one of the USA presidents in the title? Just a few days since the whole world has watched the most hyped up inauguration of the USA president in history? And just a few days since I’ve watched another political movie about yet another predisent of the USA – “W.“? Yes, of course. Plus there was a surprisingly high rating over at IMDB.

And it happens to be a really good movie. I’m a total loser when it comes to history, so I can’t really say how accurate the film is, but from the movies point of view it was excellent. I really liked the simplicity of the overall setup – it felt like everything happened in the single room, even though it is not true. It also felt like there were only two people in the film, even though that wasn’t true either. It felt like there was nothing else, even though that again wasn’t true. It’s just that type of a movie which has a lot of tiny details which are unnoticable on their own, but which build up the film to be what it is.

Another thing which I thought was done really well, was the drama. A big man with the weight of his mistakes and, seemingly, the whole country pointing fingers at him – yet resistent to accept his guilt, finding ways to see everything from other perspective, however feeling the burden deep inside. And then another man, much smaller one, but with his head high due to all the publicity and success around him. And like they say in the film, there is this moment in the ring where a challenger receives the first punch from the title holder and suddenly, in split second, understands the seriousness of the situation. This was built up and shown very well.

As noted above – tonnes of work went into making of this film and the result is great. Because of all the acting, camera work, light, make-up, sound work, etc, etc, etc this film is one of those fresh breezes even though it has an “oldish” touch to it.

5 stars. Recommended, even if you are not into politics.

A Few Good Men

“A Few Good Men” is the film that I’ve seen many times, but never blogged about it. Therefor I could never remembered what it was about and had to refresh my memory with yet another watching.

Directed by: Rob Reiner
Genres: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Cast: Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore, Kevin Bacon, Kiefer Sutherland, Kevin Pollak, James Marshall, J.T. Walsh, Christopher Guest, J.A. Preston, Matt Craven, Wolfgang Bodison, Xander Berkeley, John M. Jackson, Noah Wyle
IMDB raintg: 7.5
My rating: 7.0 [rate 7.0]

This is one of those predictable Hollywood movies that nicely mixes together law and courtroom them with military and adds a personal drama. The film would have been lost on the shelves of history if it wasn’t for the exceptional cast.

Almost every face in the film is familiar. Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore, Kevin Bacon, Kiefer Sutherland, Kevin Pollak, J.T.Walsh, Noah Wyle… the list goes on. Even Cuba Goodings Jr. appears in a short cameo. These are the people who delivered excellent performance and not only saved the film but made it very capturing. Yes, even Tom Cruise was good. And you don’t here me saying this that often.