10s Movie Review - First Man

Director: Damien Chazelle
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 141 minutes
Year: 2018
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Claire Foy, Kyle Chandler, Jason Clarke, Corey Stoll, Patrick Fugit, Ciarán Hinds, Ethan Embry, Brian D’Arcy James

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2023 MOVIE CHALLENGE
WEEK 24: A MOVIE FROM A DIRECTOR YOU LOVE
 
Description: A look at the life of the astronaut, Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling), and the legendary space mission that led him to become the first man to walk on the Moon on July 20, 1969.

Review: The true story of Neil Armstrong, the astronaut who became the fist man to walk on the Moon.
Director Damien Chazelle mainly tries to show that Neil Armstrong was a man of heart and feeling. A man who has a trauma to deal with in the form of a child death. That the loss and the almost obsessive drive for ambition and accomplishment also took their toll is elaborated somewhat less accurately. Armstrong’s family had to put up with a lot by having to put up with a father who only looked after his family with one eye.

With that, “First Man” does stumble on two minds. Space fans, above all, want to know how Armstrong and his men pulled it off. In this respect Chazelle does not disappoint and the fans are amply served. The director shows us creaking cockpits, makeshift repairs, predicaments and roaring rocket engines.
At the same time, the personal drama surrounding this achievement is flat. There could have been a lot more interaction between Ryan Gosling’s Armstrong and his wife Janet, played by Claire Foy. What effect this all has on Janet and their children isn’t shown much.  

Visually this movie is amazing, it proofs why Damien Chazelle is one of the great of his generation. “First Man” is nothing like his previous films “Whiplash” and “La La Land”, completely different theme, based on a true story, no focus on music or Hollywood.

This movie was tough to get through because of the pace. It’s extremely slow and I felt that the entire time. So, overall, it looks good, has a great performance by Ryan Gosling and an interesting story. But the drama lacks and the pace was way too slow for my liking.

Rating: 3/ 5

10s Movie Review - Breathe

Director: Andy Serkis
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 118 minutes
Year: 2017
Starring: Andrew Garfield, Claire Foy, Tom Hollander, Hugh Bonneville

Description: The true story of Robin (Andrew Garfield) and Diana Cavendish (Claire Foy), an adventurous couple who refuse to give up in the face of a devastating disease.

Review: “Breathe” is about British Robin and Diana Cavendish, who fell in love in the 1950s, got married and built a new life in Kenya. Robin worked as a tea importer and they were looking at a bright future together. Especially when Diana became pregnant. But then fate struck. Robin gets polio and becomes paralyzed from the neck down. Robin has no will to live at all, now he sees he can’t do anything anymore. But due to Diana’s determination, Robin keeps fighting.
Diana never gives up on Robin and, against doctor’s advice, makes sure that Robin can return to England. Diana decides to take care of Robin herself, in their new home. And thanks to a befriended professor, Robin can improve the quality of his life with a designed wheelchair with a built-in respirator.
It’s an inspiring story and I love the couple. Of course, it’s all a bit romanticized and there aren’t many big surprises. The story is told with great respect and a lot of humor as well. Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy work well, together and apart.
Even though the theme of the film is rather depressing, the movie is mostly cheerful. And although “Breathe” is not a ground-breaking film, it’s still worth watching: because of the great cast and because it’s an inspiring story.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

10s Movie Review - The Girl in the Spider's Web

Director: Fede Alvarez
Genre: Drama/ Thriller/ Crime
Runtime: 115 minutes
Year: 2018
Starring: Claire Foy, Sverrir Gudnason, Lakeith Stanfield, Sylvia Hoeks, Stephen Merchant

Description: Young computer hacket Lisbeth Salander (Claire Foy) and journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Sverrir Gudnason) find themselves caught in a web of spies, cybercriminals and corrupt government officials.

Review: A new introduction to Lisbeth Salander, it takes some time to get used to. The main character from the popular “Millennium” book series by Stieg Larsson and David Lagercrantz is blown up to almost mythical proportions in “The Girl in the Spider’s Web”. Standing in front of a big screen she seems like an avenging angel. Her face covered up partially by her hoodie, nonchalant lighting a cigarette. Her mission: punish men who (sexually) abuse women. She even added some white makeup around her eyes, like some sort of superhero mask.
The title seems to refer to the network of predators (pedophiles, rapist, abusers), but “The Girl in the Spider’s Web” hardly deals with this theme. The film is based on the fourth book in the series, which wasn’t written by author Stieg Larsson, but by journalist David Lagercrantz. And to be honest, it’s noticeable that the material has gone from Larsson to another writer. Especially when we’re looking at Lisbeth Salander, she is further from the character’s origin.
The ‘spiders’ appear to be leaders of a crime syndicate. The do everything to get codes from an online nuclear weapons program, byt masterfull hacker Lisbeth is trying to stop them. In this film she sometimes even feels like a female James Bond.
This cyberthriller has lots of bizarre twists, but has a high tempo and is well shot. And director Fede Alvarez manages to create some stylish scenes. Most attention goes to Lisbeth, and not to Mikael Blomkvist. His character is not very prominent in this film and sometimes even feels like he didn’t need to be there. When Stieg Larsson wrote the first books, they centered around Lisbeth and Blomkvist and their relationship. Claire Foy had big shoes to fill. Noomi Rapace portrayed Lisbeth Salander in the Swedish trilogy and Rooney Mara played her in the American version of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”. Foy does a good job, but not as good as her predecessors. We can see Foy is a very versatile actress, since she also plays the role of Queen Elizabeth in series “The Crown”.
It's a given that the original series from Sweden is the best and I don’t think that will even change. “The Girl in the Spider’s Web” is a good effort, but since the books have been written by someone other then Stieg Larsson and it already feels different, the movie suffers from that too.

Rating: 3 / 5

10s movie Review - Unsane

Director: Steven Soderbergh
Genre: Thriller
Runtime: 98 minutes
Year: 2018
Starring: Claire Foy, Jay Pharaoh, Juno Temple, Joshua Leonard, Sarah Stiles, Amy Irving, Matt Damon

Description: A young woman (Claire Foy) is involuntarily committed to a mental institution, where she is confronted by her greatest fear--but is it real or a product of her delusion?

Review: In 2013, director Steven Soderbergh announced his retirement and become a painter. But that didn’t last long. First with the TV-show “The Knick”. He realized that film making is what he loves most. Even before he returned with “Logan Lucky”, he announced the movie “Unsane”, which he filmed in secret.
Not only did he film it in secret, he did it within a month in 2017. Soderbergh filmed the entire movie with an iPhone 7 Plus in 4k. You would think that this film would have terrible quality, but that’s not really true. It’s visible in a few moments, but overall this way of filming adds to the realistic and raw feel of the film.
Sawyer Valentini tries to start a new life, with a new job in a new city. But the trauma of the stalker in her past life, still haunts her. So she talks to a therapist. Sawyer has to fill in some standard forms. And before she knows it, she is committed to a mental institution. Sawyer goes through a personal hell, between people who are completely mad and people who are, like her, healthy. And one of the nurses seems to be her stalker. Or is it just in her head?
Soderbergh leaves it to question for a long time, if Sawyer is really losing her mind or if she is sane. We find out the truth, but I think they should’ve waited later in the film. The film still does have some elements of surprise, things you didn’t see coming.
“Unsane” is a strong thriller, where you constantly have that realistic feel where it could happen to you too. Claire Foy is really good in her role, she carries this film.

Rating: 3,5 / 5