10s Movie Review - Too Big To Fail

Director: Curtis Hanson
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 99 minutes
Year: 2011
Starring: William Hurt, Billy Crudup, James Woods, Bill Pullman, Tony Shalhoub, Topher Grace, Cynthia Nixon, John Heard, Edward Asner, Kathy Baker, Paul Giamatti

Description: Chronicles of the financial meltdown of 2008 and centers on Treasure Secretary Henry Paulson (William Hurt).

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2025 MOVIE CHALLENGE.
WEEK 3: A FILM WITH WILLIAM HURT
 
Review: A fantastic cast who are all perfect for their roles. But the subject matter is the big draw. I’m not very good with financial topics, don’t know much about it nor does it interest me.

Because the dialogues are sharp and the acting is so strong, it did engage me for most of the runtime. But most of it went over my head, because the financial world is just not something that holds my interest for very long.

I would recommend this movie for anyone who wants to know more about this subject or for people who are interested and fascinated by the financial world.

Rating: 3/ 5

00s Movie Review - Almost Famous

Director: Cameron Crowe
Genre: Drama/ Comedy
Runtime: 122 minutes
Year: 2000
Starring: Patrick Fugit, Billy Crudup, Kate Hudson, Frances McDormand, Jason Lee, Zooey Deschanel, Anna Paquin, Fairuza Balk, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bijou Philips, Jimmy Fallon

Description: A high school boy (Patrick Fugit) in the early 1970s is given the chance to write a story for Rollin Stone magazine about an up-and-coming rock band as he accompanies them on their concert tour.

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2022 MOVIE CHALLENGE.
WEEK 49: A MOVIE ABOUT A MUSICIAN
 
Review: It’s 1973. Fifteen-year-old William Miller lives in San Diego and dreams of becoming the best rock journalist ever. His great love of music was born from a collection of records his sister left him four years earlier when she left home. William writes articles for local magazines and also sends them to a rock and roll magazine. The editor of this magazine, Lester Bangs, is in San Diego and William seeks him out. He manages to get an assignment from Lester to write about Black Sabbath who are performing in San Diego. When William is trying to get in, he meets a few groupies, including the mysterious Penny Lane. Moments later, Stillwater’s band members arrive. Partly because of his contact with Penny, William gets in touch with this band, who actually, because he is a journalist, consider him the enemy.

Some time later, William is approached by Rolling Stone Magazine, to write an extensive tour report of Stillwater. And so William, leaving behind a very distressed mother, travels with the band along with Penny.

“Almost Famous” a good film about music. The film describes director Cameron Crowe’s own life as a rock journalist and he says that this film is a love letter to music. Even though the film isn’t very realistic, it does have many layers. The search for success and happiness, the loss of youthful innocence, it’s about love and passion.  

“Almost Famous” is considered to be one of the best film of 2000. I personally wouldn’t go that far, but it’s strong enough to be memorable.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

90s Movie Review - Sleepers

Director: Barry Levinson
Genre: Drama/ Thriller/ Crime
Runtime: 147 minutes
Year: 1996
Starring: Kevin Bacon, Jason Patric, Brad Pitt, Billy Crudup, Ron Eldard, Robert De Niro, Minnie Driver, Dustin Hoffman, Brad Renfro, Bruno Kirby, Joseph Perrino, Geoffrey Wigdor

Description: After a prank goes disastrously wrong, a group of boys are sent to a detention center where they are brutalized. Thirteen years later, an unexpected random encounter with a former guard gives them a chance for revenge.  

Review: With the director of “Rain Man”, an all-star cast and a heavy subject, “Sleepers” looks like a successful film on paper. I don’t think it was successful, but it’s definitely a film that should get more credit.
We meet four kids from ‘Hell’s Kitchen’, a neighborhood in New York. One day the four boys decide to pull a prank, but it goes horribly wrong and they end up in a youth prison. And life isn’t easy for them, because they are abused, sexually, physically and mentally. After they are released, the lose touch. Until two of the friends, John and Tommy, run into one of the guards and kill him. It’s up to the two other friends, Michael and Shakes, to keep them out of prison.
Even though the ending is a bit flat and the characters don’t all get the depth they need, the overall film is pretty strong and I believe it’s very much overlooked and underrated.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

10s Movie Review - Justice League

Director: Zack Snyder
Genre: Action.. Adventure/ Fantasy/ Science Fiction
Runtime: 121 minutes
Year: 2017
Starring: Gal Gadot, Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, Ray Fisher, Amy Adams, Jeremy Irons, Connie Nielsen, Diane Lane, Amber Heard, Robin Wright, J.K. Simmons, Ciarán Hinds, Billy Crudup

Description: Fuled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s (Henry Cavill) selfless act, Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) enlists the help of his new-found ally, Diana Prince (Gal Gadot), to face an even greater enemy.

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2020 MOVIE CHALLENGE
WEEK 45: A DC COMICS MOVIE

Review: I don’t like saying this, but “Justice League” reminds me a lot of “The Avengers”. Not only the tone and the humor, but also the story structure is similar: short introductions of all the team members, the search of a bad guy Steppenwolf, and even the way the team fights against itself. Or take the entrance of Steppenwolf teleports to Earth thanks to a magical cube, and tries to get his hands on it while soldiers try to stop him. It’s not necessarily copied, the so-called Motherboxes do come from the original stories, but they are clearly playing it safe with the intention of “Justice League”. He therefore misses the impact, innovation and own identity that “The Avengers” had.
It turns out to be a successful formula, which proides a significant improvement over the overambitious “Batman V Superman”. Whereas the dark predecessor threw all kinds of subplots, themes and comic strips into a blender and hoped for a form of coherence, Zack Snyder had a clear them for the sequel. The film opens with the meaning of Superman’s emblem, the symbol for hope. This time it’s not a nice one-liner, but the core of the film. Truly every character ans subplot revolves around hope: Flash’s relationship with his father, Cyborg’s resurrection, Batman and Wonder Woman’s struggle with their past and Aquaman’s cantankerous and lonely quest for more. The tone is therefore more consistent than ever in the DCEU.  
Steppenwolf is allowed to join the lon line of uninteresting bad guys. His background as the seconds of Darkseid and his role as a military leader of the Planet Apokolips are hardly explained. Moreover, there is not glimmer of charisma or personality. “Justice League” has more lack of construction. Cyborg, Flash and Aquaman haven’t been able to benefit from a solo film yet, and have to try to develop their characters within some scenes.
The best thin about “Justice League” is, especially for the fans, that the fifth DCEU movie finally has a grip on the source material. The interaction between all the heroes is convincing and strong. And especially The Flash is a pleasant and enjoyable presence.
Compared to the other superhero movies that came out in 2017, “Justice League” is too safe to compete with. “Justice League” feels more like a rectification, mainly due to the optimistic and heroic tone in the last few shots.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2017 - # 84: Jackie

Director: Pablo Larrain
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 100 minutes
Year: 2016
Starring: Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard, Greta Gerwig, Billy Crudup, Beth Grant, John Carroll Lynch, Max Casella, Richard E. Grant

Description: Following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy fights through grief and trauma to regain her faith, console her children, and define her husband's historic legacy.

Review: After president John F. Kennedy was murdered during a parade in Dallas, he got an almost mythical state. But how his wife Jackie experienced this all, no one really knows. What images she was left with. Director Pablo Larrain and leading lady Natalie Portman give us these insights.
It takes a while to get into it. At first because it looks like Portman is just portraying a character. But when the film gets more serious and dramatic, like the depression that Jackie feels after her husband’s death, we can see the amazing performance Portman is delivering.
If you never saw the real Jackie Kennedy, or heard her speak, it looks like a character. But Portman really did a fantastic job portraying her. She looked like that and she talked like that.
The film evolves around an interview that Jackie had with Theodore H. White, for Life magazine. And between we switch to Jackie’s life with Kennedy and everything that happened after the assassination. And the film is really detailed.
“Jackie” is a stunning looking film with an amazing lead.

Rating: 4/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2017 - # 67: Alien: Covenant

Director: Ridley Scott
Genre: Horror/ Science Fiction/ Thriller
Runtime: 122 minutes
Year: 2017
Starring: Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, James Franco

Description: The crew of a colony ship, bound for a remote planet, discover an uncharted paradise with a threat beyond their imagination, and must attempt a harrowing escape.

Review: After a pause of 20 years and a prequel, it’s finally here: a new Alien film. It’s a sequel to “Prometheus” and a prequel to “Alien”. “Prometheus” got mixed reviews, but director Ridley Scott manages to make up for that with “Alien: Covenant”. The spaceship Covenant is on a colonial mission. They are traveling to another planet to start a new civilization there. They have some hiccups, where several people on board die. When they discover another planet, which is closer by, they decide to check it out. Off course, that’s a bad decision.
The film looks amazing, but that’s not a surprise. The film is scary and bloody, but because most of the film is set outside or in larger areas, it doesn’t give you that claustrophobic feel. Only when they are in the spacecraft. We get Xenomorphs and the so called Facehuggers, but also Neomorphs. This is a smaller albino alien, which are just as dangerous as the other two.
The cast is not always convincing. The one that shine are Katherine Waterston, Danny McBride and Michael Fassbender. The last one even has a double role. The rest of the cast is forgettable and their characters never get any depth.
The twist at the end wasn’t as surprising, but I liked the ending anyway. “Alien: Covenant” is a good film, much better then “Prometheus”.

Rating: 4/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2016 - # 24: Spotlight

Director: Tom McCarthy

Genre: Drama/ Thriller

Runtime: 128 minutes

Year: 2015

Starring: Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Live Schreiber, John Slattery, Brian D’Arcy James, Stanley Tucci, Billy Crudup

Description: The true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the local Catholic Archdiocese, shaking the entire Catholic Church to its core.

Review: Marty Baron, the new boss at The Boston Globe, is very honest on his first day: he wants to write a story about the sexual abuse by Catholic priests and he wants the whole world to know about it. That’s easy to say for Baron, because not only is he Jewish, he also has no connection to the conservative and close community that is Boston.

The journalist team Spotlight notices that people have looked the other way for many years, when local priest John Geoghan structurally molested children in various parishes. And when they dig deeper, they stumble upon more priests. The church settled with many victims and their parents, but some priest just joined another parish. It’s clear that the church has power.

Director Tom McCarthy isn’t so much attacking the Catholic church with “Spotlight”, but he is raising questions to why no one did anything, when lots of people clearly knew about it. We also learn that many of the victims didn’t want any publicity or were afraid.

“Spotlight” is very detailed, just look at the hundreds of cubicles at The Boston Globe. And the actors had an eye for detail while preparing for their roles. This film is made with a lot of dedication.

Michael Keaton, who already played a convincing editor in “The Paper”, succeeds again in his role as Walter Robinson in “Spotlight”. His most fanatic journalist is Michael Rezendes who focuses on the legal side of everything. He is played by Mark Ruffalo. This is the best performance in the film. Rachel McAdams plays Sacha Pfeiffer. She gets the tough task to interview the victims. Also a very strong performance.

“Spotlight” is a strong biographical drama about investigative journalism, with strong performances and a disturbing story.

Rating: 5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2016 - # 15: Princess Mononoke

Director: Hayao Miyazaki

Genre: Animation/ Adventure

Runtime: 134 minutes

Year: 1997

Starring: Gillian Anderson, Lewis Arquette, Corey Burton, Jennifer Cihi, Billy Crudup, Claire Danes, Keith David, John DeMita, John Di Maggio, Minnie Driver, Alex Fernández, Jack Fletcher, Julia Fletcher, Pat Fraley, John Hostetter, Leslie ishii

Description: On a journey to find the cure for a Tatarigami's curse, Ashitaka finds himself in the middle of a war between the forest gods and Tatara, a mining colony. In this quest he also meets San, the Mononoke Hime.

Review: “Princess Mononoke” is an animation by Hayao Miyazaki, who also created “Spirited Away” and “My neighbor Totoro”. Those movies were also suitable for children. “Princess Mononoke” is not, due to the theme and the amount of violence. Ashitaka is a prince of an isolated tribe and is cursed after a fight with a demonic boar. To save his life, he has to leave his tribe and find the origin of the demon. On his quest he encounters a mine colony and several animal tribes that have been in war for a while. Both parties are led by strong women: the mine colony is led by Lady Eboshi, and San, also known as Princess Mononoke, leads the animals. Eboshi gives shelter to former prostitutes and tries to give her people a good life. San is raised by wolves and wants to save the forest. Ashitaka tries to get the two tribes together.

“Princess Mononoke” is a beautiful fairytale like story, with strong themes and many layers. I’ve always loved Miyazaki’s style and the music he puts with it. The movie has many things: humor, an original strong story, atmosphere, interesting characters, emotion and it’s all balanced well. The great eye for detail is something I admire in Miyazaki’s work. Another great film from this amazing director. For fans of the genre it’s a definite must-see!

Rating: 4/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 4: Mission: Impossible 3

Director: J.J. Abrams

Genre: Action/ Thriller

Runtime: 125 minutes

Year: 2006

Starring: Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Keri Russell, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Laurence Fishburne, Billy Crudup, Simon Pegg, Michelle Monaghan, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Maggie Q, Eddie Marsan

Description: Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) comes face to face with a dangerous and sadistic arms dealer while trying to keep his identity secret in order to protect his girlfriend (Michelle Monaghan).

Review: Ethan Hunt is sent on another mission. The task sounds simple: save one of their own after being held captive. But it’s a lot more complicated and it leads Hunt and his team to Germany, the Vatican, Virginia and Shanghai.

The raw but perfectly calculated action is probably the best thing about “Mission: Impossible 3”. The intrigues and the bond between Hunt and his team members Luther, Declan and Zhen are also very strong. I love the way how the team manages to outsmart everyone, by dodging cameras, blowing up Ferraris and disguising as their enemy. Hunt’s personal life is a little less interesting though.

Like the first two films, the cast is strong. Off course Tom Cruise and Ving Rhames do great. But Philip Seymour is very convincing as the bad guy. And Simon Pegg, who always manages to add cynicism and dry humor to his scenes.

“Mission: Impossible 3” is a great action thriller, a wonderful addition to the series.

Rating: 4/ 5

Movie Moments: "Big Fish"

"Big Fish" is full of great scenes. This movie is a visual treat and has such great characters. Here are my favorite moments from the movie "Big Fish", in the order they appear in the film.

Moment # 1: The witch
Edward tells his son about the witch. He visits her with his friends and they dare him to bring them the glass eye that belongs to the witch. He does, but the witch comes with him. Whenever you look into the glass eye, it shows you how you’re gonna die. Edward never shares that information with anyone.

Moment # 2: Edward meets Karl
The town of Ashton is terrorized by a monster, or so they say. Edward volunteers to go and meet with the so called monster. He meets Karl, a giant man, and finds out he is harmless. Edward tells Karl that he might be big, but the town is just to small for him. And for Edward. Together they leave Ashton to explore the world.

Moment # 3: Norther Winslow's poem
Norther has been working on his poem for twelve years and all he has are three sentences: The grass so green. Skies so blue. Spectre is really great!

Moment # 4: Spectre dance
In the town of Spectre, Edward joins a party. Together with the other residents he starts dancing. Then he realizes he needs to leave. He would be happy to end up in Spectre some day, but he isn’t meant to end up somewhere just yet.

Moment # 5: Edward sees Sandra
Edward visits the Galloway circus when he first sees Sandra. The world around him literally stops, but she’s gone before he has the chance to talk to him. He makes a deal with Mr. Galloway to work for him and Mr. Galloway will tell him a fact about Sandra every month.

Moment # 6: Daffodils
When Edward finds out her name and where she goes to college, he decided to tell her how he feels. She is already engaged to be married, but that doesn’t stop him. He finally wins her over by giving her a garden full of daffodils, which are her favorite flowers.

Moment # 7: Edward returns from the war
Sandra thinks Edward died in the war. While she's hanging the laundry out to dry, Edward turns up again, in one piece.

Moment # 8: Norther Winslow robbes a bank
Edward goes to the bank where he meets Norther again. He is about to rob the bank and Edward is forced to help him. Because there was nothing in the vault, Edward gives Norther some money so he wouldn’t go home empty handed.

Moment # 9: Edward and Sandra in the bathtub
Edward is in the bathtub, because he thought he was drying out. Sandra gets in the tub with him and says: “I think I’ll never dry out”.

Moment # 10: The thunderstorm
While on the way in his car, he ends up in a terrible thunderstorm. His car gets flooded and he sees the most beautiful woman swim by. When the storm is over, his car ends up in a tree.

Moment # 11: Edward fixes Jenny's house
Edward visits Jenny when she’s older and fixes her house, because it’s all crooked. Together with Karl he makes it into a beautiful dream house.

Moment # 12: Will tells Edward how he goes
Edward is in the hospital. When he wakes up he asks Will to tell him how he goes. Will starts telling him about how they leave the hospital and drive to the river. There they’ll meet all of Edward’s friends. Will carries him to the river, where Edward becomes a really big fish, something he was always meant to be.

Moment # 13: The funeral
After Edward died, Will, Sandra and Josephine attend his funeral. There they see people Edward told them about in his stories. So Edward didn’t only tell lies after all.

Favorite Moment: # 6: Daffodils