Top 5 Thursday: Movies I Watched for My Challenge (March 2014)

I didn’t have as many choices as the previous two months, because the amount of movies I watched that I haven’t seen before was minimal. I rewatched a lot of films this month. Here are my favourites of the month march for my challenge.

5. Hesher
A little weird, but a good kind of weird. I really loved both Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Natalie Portman in this film and was surprised by Rainn Wilson. “Hesher” was surprisingly good.

4. Chimpanzee
Such a heart-warming documentary. Oscar is such an adorable chimpanzee. My brother actually interviewed the maker of the film when “Chimpanzee” came out.

3. Cloud Atlas
It’s really wonderful to see how amazing this book was made into a movie, because that wasn’t easy. Sure, the movie had its flaws, but still it was executed very well and I enjoyed it.

2. Captain Phillips
AS you might now, Tom Hanks can hardly do anything wrong in my eyes. His performance is phenomenal and it’s one of his best. “Captain Phillips” is an amazing film that kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time.

1. The World’s End
I’ve already told you a couple of times, on my blog, how great this film is. I was really happy that “The World’s End” met my expectations and that it was as funny as I hoped. My brother and I really enjoyed every minute of it.

They Almost Made the Top 5: The Last Stand

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 43: Chimpanzee

Director: Alastair Fothergill, Mark Linfield
Genre: Documentary
Runtime: 78 minutes
Year: 2012
Starring: Tim Allen (narrator)

Description: The 3-months-old chimpanzee Oscar is separated from his troop and is then adopted by the fully-grown male Freddy.

Review: There are only a few animals on our planet that have more in common with us humans then chimpanzees. Their mimics, skills and behavior are all very close to ours. In “Chimpanzee” it’s the very adorable baby chimp Oscar and alpha male Freddy we follow. In the first part of the film we learn about the interaction between Oscar and his caring mother Isha. From far a rivaling group of chimpanzees is lurking to strike. When that happens Oscar and his mother get separated and he finds a surrogate in Freddy. It’s very unusual for a male chimp to care for a baby that isn’t his own.
“Chimpanzee” is a beautiful film. The visuals are stunning, everything is very clear. Especially the night scene with Scar and his group, with thunder and lightning in the background. The story is also vibrant and engrossing. The behavior of these interesting creatures is well captured in detail.
It’s very Disney to create an opposition between huggable heroes and sardonic villains. Scar and his companions are invariably described as an unrestrained mob that is out plundering in the territory of Oscar. The contrast between the ‘good’ group of Freddy and Oscar and the villainous gang of Scar is too heavily exaggerated, because terms like good and bad in nature are barely usable and basically non-existent.
Still “Chimpanzee” is a stunning documentary that will grab people from all ages and keeps your attention at all times. Even with the few little flaws it has, it’s a film I would highly recommend.

Rating: 4/ 5

Movie Trailer Sunday (13)

This weeks trailers are about a Disney rerelease in 3D, chimpanzees, corruption, a serial killer and and alien invasion.

Beauty and the Beast 3D
Description: Originally released in 1991, "Beauty and the Beast" is a classic "tale as old as time" that follows the adventures of Belle, a bright young woman imprisoned in the castle of a mysterious beast and his enchanted staff, who must learn the most important lesson of all that true beauty comes from within.
Director: Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise
Starring: Paige O'Hara, Robby Benson, Richard White, Jerry Orbach, David Ogden Stiers, Angela Lansbury, Bradley Pierce, Rex Everhart, Jesse Corti, Hal Smith, Jo Anne Worley
Trailer: Trailer "Beauty and the Beast 3D"
Comment: My favorite Disney movie ever!

Chimpanzee
Description: The world is a playground for little Oscar and his fellow young chimps, who'd rather make mayhem than join their parents for an afternoon nap. But when Oscar's family is confronted by a rival band of chimps, he is left to fend for himself until a surprising ally steps in and changes his life forever.
Director: Alastair Fothergill, Mark Linfield
Starring: Not available
Trailer: Trailer "Chimpanzee"
Comment: This looks so beautiful...

Rampart
Description: Officer Dave Brown (Harrelson) is a Vietnam vet and a Rampart Precinct cop, dedicated to doing "the people's dirty work" and asserting his own code of justice, often blurring the lines between right and wrong to maintain his action-hero state of mind. When he gets caught on tape beating a suspect, he finds himself in a personal and emotional downward spiral as the consequences of his past sins and his refusal to change his ways in light of a department-wide corruption scandal seal his fate. Brown internalizes his fear, anguish and paranoia as his world, complete with two ex-wives who are sisters, two daughters, an aging mentor dispensing bad advice, investigators galore, and a series of seemingly random women, starts to unravel. In the end, what is left is a human being stripped of all his pretense, machismo, chauvinism, arrogance, sexism, homophobia, racism, aggression, misanthropy; but is it enough to redeem him as a man?
Director: Oren Moverman
Starring: Woody Harrelson, Ice Cube, Sigourney Weaver, Robin Wright, Steve Buscemi, Ned Beatty, Anne Heche, Ben Foster and Cynthia Nixon
Trailer: Trailer "Rampart"
Comment: Woody Harrelson is flirting with the Academy.

Gone
Description: Jill Parrish (Amanda Seyfried) comes home from a night shift to discover her sister Molly has been abducted. Jill, who had escaped from a kidnapper a year before, is convinced that the same serial killer has come back for her sister. Afraid that Molly will be dead by sundown, Jill embarks on a heart-pounding chase to find the killer, expose his secrets and save her sister.
Director: Heitor Dhalia
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, Jennifer Carpenter and Wes Bentley
Trailer: Trailer "Gone"

The Darkest Hour
Description: Five young people find themselves stranded in Moscow, fighting to survive in the wake of a devastating alien attack.
Director: Chris Gorak
Starring: Emile Hirsch, Olivia Thirlby, Max Minghella, Rachael Taylor, Joel Kinnaman
Trailer: Trailer "The Darkest Hour"