Movie Review - Juror # 2

Director: Clint Eastwood
Genre: Thriller/ Drama/ Crime
Runtime: 114 minutes
Year: 2024
Starring: Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, Chris Messina, J.K. Simmons, Kiefer Sutherland, Leslie Bibb, Zoey Deutch
 
Description: While serving as a juror in a high-profile murder trial, family man Justin Kemp (Nicholas Hoult) finds himself struggling with a serious moral dilemma, one he could use to sway the jury verdict and potentially convict or free the wrong killer.

Review: Clint Eastwood has stated that “Juror # 2” is his last directorial job. Should this really be the case, he will end his career on a strong note.

Justin is called as a juror in a murder trial. As it unfolds, a memory emerges and gives Justin a serious moral dilemma. Justin begins to influence the other jurors to lean them into a certain direction, which can potentially convict or free the wrong killer.

I didn’t know much about this film, and a huge plot twist is presented to us very early on in the film. It’s best not to know this beforehand, it makes for a better viewing experience. A masterful conflict forms the foundation of the drama, which makes you as a viewer also question what the right thing to do would be, if you were in the position of certain characters.

The film has a slow pace, which works perfectly here. Jurors begin to adjust their opinions, panic grows for other characters. We learn that some of them have specific motivations for forming and maintaining their opinions.

Nicholas Hoult is the lead and does an excellent job. He portrays a likeable family man, who is struggling with morals and ethics, that you can relate to as a viewer. What would you do in his situation? He is strongly supported by Toni Collette, J.K. Simmons, Chris Messina and Zoey Deutch, and even a small role by Kiefer Sutherland.

“The Juror # 2” is not your typical court room drama. It has a good twists, makes you questions your morals and makes you think. And the ending will make you talk about it even more.

Rating: 4/ 5

20s Movie Review - Call Jane

Director: Phyllis Nagy
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 121 minutes
Year: 2022
Starring: Elizabeth Banks, Sigourney Weaver, Chris Messina, Kate Mara

Description: Joy (Elizabeth Banks) is a married woman with a pregnancy endangering her life, in a time in America when she can’t get a legal abortion and works with a group of suburban women to find help.

Review: 1968. Joy is an exemplary housewife. She married her college sweetheart, a lawyer, a lives in the suburbs of Chicago, together with their 15-year-old daughter. She is pregnant, but the pregnancy endangers her life due to a heart condition. Being pregnant might cost Joy her life. Terminating her pregnancy is the only way to make Joy better, but in 1968 this was still illegal. Only if it was a life-threatening situation, she is allowed to have an abortion. The hospital board, all men, are the ones to decide if Joy’s pregnancy can be terminated. But the 50/ 50 chance of her surviving this pregnancy, is not urgent enough. She is denied the abortion. Joy takes matters in own hands.

Jane rolls into a network of activist women, who arrange women with unwanted pregnancies to have an abortion.

The message of the film is very clear. I loved that about “Call Jane”. Especially since the current elections, it’s still a very topical film. Many Americans are still strongly against abortion and in several states it’s still illegal. By creating a fictional main character, a model housewife, the creators try to reach a broader audience. I don’t think this message will sit well with the more conservative Americans. The story is based on the real “The Jane Collective”, but the characters are fictional and not based on specific people.

The ending of the film feels a bit rushed, but the overall message and the story is very gripping, powerful and strong. I really loved this film that sadly still is very topical.

Rating: 4/ 5

Movie Review - The Boogeyman

Director: Rob Savage
Genre: Horror/ Thriller/ Mystery
Runtime: 98 minutes
Year: 2023
Starring: Sophie Thatcher, Chris Messina, Vivian Lyla Blair, David Dastmalchian
 
Description: Still reeling from the tragic death of their mother, a teenage girl (Sophie Thatcher) and her younger sister (Vivian Lyla Blair) find themselves plagued by a sadistic presence in their house and struggle to get their grieving father to pay attention before it’s too late.

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2023 MOVIE CHALLENGE
WEEK 44: A HORROR MOVIE
 
Review: Horror movies come in all shapes and sizes, but the ones that really like to scare you often follow the same pattern: in the first half a series of terrifying scenes and in the second half figuring out the mystery and defeating the evil. Usually there is some breathing room to recover from the tension. “The Boogeyman” refuses to follow this pattern and keeps the horror in until the very end. the pauses in between are very short and that works.

Sadie’s mother has recently died, and despite the fact that she and her younger sister Sawyer are very eager to talk about it, their father, himself a noted psychologist, sends them to an outside therapist. He himself gets a man at the door who tells them that his children have been murdered by a monster in the closet. Shortly thereafter, strange occurrences begin to take place in Sadie’s house as well, especially around Sawyer.
That brief conversation between Sadie’s father and the help-seeking intruder is all that matters in Stephen King’s short story. The makers of this film use it as the basis for a plot and build on it. King’s 1973 story has been made into a short twice before, and a stage play. For this new adaptation, with a runtime of over and hour and a half, a lot has been successfully made up.

First, it’s about more than just a monster under the bed. The boogeyman symbolizes the dark, consuming power of grief. The harper family is immersed in grief that the sole remaining parent does nothing about, because he is not yet ready to fully face the truth. That festering infection is displayed in the form of a creature that can even mimic the voice of the deceased mother. Until the very end, this theme is present.

Secondly, it’s just creepy. All the cheap tricks are skillfully used to sink viewers deeper into the chair. They are not given rest to recover from that. This causes the unpleasant experience that a horror film is supposed to produce.

Besides unnerving shots of dark corners and corridors, the monster’s voice is highly disturbing. It is a kind of demonic impression that varies between flawless imitation of someone who knows the characters and animal sounds from the deepest caverns of hell. The idea of hearing such a sound in the darkness of the bedroom is pure horror. And it’s what you can’t see that scares the most.

Where the story has that extra layer, the characters are a bit flatter. The younger sister is just a little girl who likes to sleep with the light on. Fatherly love is a little more complex, but isn’t focused on that much. Sadie is the teenager who has no desire to be seen at school as “that girl whose mother died”. And some of her friends act so antisocial towards her and her situation that it feels implausible. But Sadie is the only character that gets a but more depth.  

“The Boogeyman” is definitely a contender of the most scary film of the year, because scary and effective it certainly is.

Rating: 4/ 5

TV Show Review - Sharp Objects (Mini Series)

Season: Mini Series
Genre: Drama
Number of episodes: 8
Year: 2018
Starring: Amy Adams, Patricia Clarkson, Chris Messina, Eliza Scanlen, Elizabeth Perkins, Sophia Lillis, Matt Craven, Henry Czerny, Taylor John Smith, Lulu Wilson, Miguel Sandoval, Barbara Eve Harris   

Description: A reporter (Amy Adams) confronts the psychological demons from her past when she returns to her hometown to cover a violent murder.  

Review: “Sharp Objects” make is painfully clear that this is a psychological drama series, with a hint of mystery. Admittedly, Camille Preaker is sent to Wind Gap, her hometown, by her employer Frank Curry, to report on the murder and disappearance of two teenage girls. However, we only learn the reason for this decision as the series unfolds.
“Sharp Objects” is not for people who like fast-past whodunits. The HBO series choose a bold path of looking back to the past and a killer who targets young girls. The series, with its protagonist wonderfully played by Amy Adams, is a portrait of a damaged woman who sees words as pain, as an enemy and a friend in the world she lives in.
You need to pay attention to detail since there are words you can see along the way, that have a certain meaning or effect on Camille. In the street, in her car, on her body. And there are many theories of why Camille is the way she is.
Amy Adams is, a I mentioned before, amazing as the lead. You really feel her emotions and her performance is so strong, it blows off the screen. And she is accompanied by some really strong people. Patricia Clarkson, as her mother Adora. Her performance gave me the chills. She scared me in some way. And Eliza Scanlon, who plays Camille’s younger sister Amma. What a performance by this young rising star.
The slow pace does not bother me one bit, since the characters are all very complex and there is time needed to develop them and make them realistic. Bit by bit you are discovering why Camille didn’t want to go back to Wind Gap in the first place, why her younger sister acts the way she does and why Adora is so cold towards Camille.
“Sharp Objects” is not an easy watch, it’s a pretty depressing series. But well worth your time, since the performances and the story that unravels are really good. And that ending, it left me in awe. No happy ending here I can tell you.

Movie Review - Birds of Prey

Director: Cathy Yan
Genre: Action/ Drama/ Crime
Runtime: 110 minutes
Year: 2020
Starring: Margot Robbie, Rosie Perez, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ewan McGregor, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Chris Messina, Ella Jay Basco, Ali Wong

Description: After splitter with the Joker, Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) joins superheroes Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez) to save a young girl (Ella Jay Basco) from an evil crime lord.

Review: We met crazy anti-hero Harley Quinn in the essemble film “Suicide Squad”. Margot Robbie, as Harley Quinn, was the one that made this film better. And we all looked forward to seeing a movie about Harley. Again, Robbie is what makes “Birds of Prey” worth watching. But this is not a Birds of Prey movie, it’s a Harley Quinn movie.
In an animated intro we see some history on Harley, who was born as Harleen Quinzel. We see how she grew up with nuns and didn’t have a great childhood. Still she manages to go to college and become a pshychiatrist at Gotham City’s Arkham Asylum. That’s where she fell in love with the Joker, who dragged her to the dark side.
Back to the here and now. Harley Quinn broke up with her Joker. And there isn’t a lot of time to let that rest. Quinn has made a lot of enemies along the way and police detective Renee Montoya is also breathing down he neck.
“Birds of Prey” is not a standard origin story, of how the group got together. Because as I stated before, this movie is mostly about Harley Quinn. They get together and work together almost at the end of the movie. We are introduced to the other characters, through narration by Quinn and flashbacks. But any other characters beside Quinn don’t get that much attention. Their development is rather seen through lightning-quick flashbacks and don’t get too much depth. For instance, the main villain Black Mask, is an evil man, he is more evil then Quinn and her companions. But there is hardly any backstory.
I like Quinn narrating the story, sometimes even breaking the fourth wall, but it happens very often that Quinn stops in the middle of her story and goes back in time with a flashback. It sometimes takes some time for the film to get back to the original story, which makes the film a bit messy at times.
Despite the profusion of madness and witty dialogues and one-liners, “Birds of Prey” excels with its action and fight scenes. They don’t only pop off the screen visually, but are also very original.
“Birds of Prey” is slightly better than “Suicide Squad”. Its power is in leading lady Margot Robbie and the amazing action sequences. That is enough reason to watch this film. But character-wise and story wise it is lacking substance.

Rating: 3/ 5

Movie Battle: (500) Days of Summer Vs. Ruby Sparks

I’m not a very big fan of romantic comedies, unless they are a bit unconventional. The two I can think of are going to battle it out in today’s movie battle: “(500) Days of Summer” Vs. “Ruby Sparks”

ACTORS

(500) Days of Summer: This was one of the films that brought us back Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who is now one of the more successful actors in Hollywood. Together with Zooey Deschanel he forms an amazing couple. Their performances are amazing.

Ruby Sparks: Paul Dano is an extraordinary actor, I really like him. He does a great job in “Ruby Sparks”. And Zoe Kazan, as Ruby Sparks, is amazing! Fun supporting roles by Annette Bening, Antonio Banderas, Chris Messina and Steve Coogan.

STORY

(500) Days of Summer: When Tom meets Summer, he falls far her immediately. Summer doesn’t believe true love exists, Tom does. We see the 500 days Summer is in Tom’s life. It sounds like your average rom com, but it’s anything but that.

Ruby Sparks: The story doesn’t sound straight forward and isn’t. It’s about a struggling writer, who writes about a woman who can love him and actually coming to life. It’s an original story (written by Zoe Kazan) and executed very well.

EFFECTS

(500) Days of Summer: The cinematography of “(500) Days of Summer” is magnificent. First off, the story isn’t told chronologically, but there are also some great effects used. Like the split screen, where we see Tom’s expectations and reality of a moment.

Ruby Sparks: The film looks beautiful, but more straight forward then “(500) Days of Summer”.

WINNER

Although I really loved “Ruby Sparks”, “(500) Days of Summer” has been one of my all-time favorites ever since I first saw it

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 91: Ruby Sparks

Director: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris

Genre: Comedy/ Romance/ Drama

Runtime: 106 minutes

Year: 2012

Starring: Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan, Chris Messina, Annette Bening, Antonio Banderas, Steve Coogan, Elliot Gould, Wallce Langham, Alia Shawkat

Description: A novelist (Paul Dano) struggling with writer's block finds romance in a most unusual way: by creating a female character he thinks will love him, then willing her into existence.

Review: Make up your ideal woman and then all of a sudden she is in standing in your house. This is the story in “Ruby Sparks”. Calvin is an ordinary young man who wrote a successful book in his high school years. He lives in a beautiful apartment and still holds lectures and presentations about that book. Everyone is waiting for his next novel, but Calvin is struggling with writer’s block. When he dreams about a beautiful girl, his psychologist advices Calvin to write about her. He names her Ruby Sparks and starts writing about her. And she comes to live. Calvin starts a romance with Ruby and whenever he wants something from Ruby, he just writes it down. It looks like the ideal situation, but it isn’t.

Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris already made “Little Miss Sunshine” together, a movie that won over a lot of hearts. This time the duo creates another comedy, with a romantic touch. The script is by Zoe Kazan, who plays Ruby.

Zoe Kazan and Paul Dano form a great couple with great chemistry. In the first hour of the film it’s more comedic and Dano shows of his comedic talent. Kazan didn’t only write a fun and original script, but she is also a really pleasant actress to watch. Chris Messina, as Calvin’s brother Harry, is also great in his role and has some great scenes. With them there is also Annette Bening, Antonio Banderas, Elliot Gould and Steve Coogan, all in relatively small roles.

The high level the movie has the first hour, gets lost a bit in the second half, because the comedy has to make room for more drama. That drama doesn’t work as well as the comedy. It feels forced. In “Little Miss Sunshine” it did work.

“Ruby Sparks” is a fun and sweet film, that sometimes feel like a fairytale. It’s never overly sweet or cliché and it is very original. An unconventional love story.

Rating: 4/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 14: Argo

Director: Ben Affleck

Genre: Drama/ Thriller

Runtime: 120 minutes

Year: 2012

Starring: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Victor Garber, Scoot McNairy, Rory Cochrane, Christopher Denham, Kerry Bishé, Kyle Chandler, Chris Messina, Zeljko Ivanek, Titus Welliver, Keith Szarabajka, Bob Gunton, Richard Kind, Richard Dillane, Omid Abtaho, Page Leong, Farshad, Cea DuVall, Sheila Vand, Ryan Ahern, Bill Tangradi, Jamie McShane, Tate Donovan, Matthew Glave, Roberto Garcia Christopher Stanley

Description: Acting under the cover of a Hollywood producer scouting a location for a science fiction film, a CIA agent (Ben Affleck) launches a dangerous operation to rescue six Americans in Tehran during the U.S. hostage crisis in Iran in 1980.

Review: November 1979, Iranian students occupy the American embassy in Teheran, to enforce extradition of the Shah. Over fifty Americans were taking hostage and were released after fourteen days, after the Shah died. Six embassy staff members did manage to flee on that same day to the Canadian embassy. With a science fiction movie as a cover, they managed to escape after three months. In 1997, Bill Clinton released information about this mission, with a big role for CIA man Tony Mendez. This is a perfect story for a movie.

Director Ben Affleck choose Rodrigo Prieto as his cinematographer, who is known as the cameraman for Alejandro Gonzálex Iñárritu. This makes all the images authentic. This sets the film of to a good start and the thriller plot can develop. “Argo” looks perfect as a time period piece, with the characters constantly smoking, big glasses and televisions with buttons. In the second half of the film, the pace gets faster. This is a good thing. The movie is build slow and then picks up the pace.

“Argo” does have its weak points. Director Affleck is great, leading actor Affleck, who looks like Al Pacino in “Serpico”, doesn’t manage to convince you completely. As a CIA man he does, but the demons he has (drinking, failed fatherhood) don’t really reach the audience the way it should have. A strong opponent could have covered it up a bit, but the powerful performances are given by John Goodman and Alan Arkin, who have supporting roles.

I understand the success of “Argo”, it’s a true story about a heroic escape plan, and I liked it. The change of pace works well and Ben Affleck did a good job as a director. “Argo” is a good film.

Rating: 3,5/ 5