90s Movie Review - American History X

Director: Tony Kaye
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 119 minutes
Year: 1998
Starring: Edward Norton, Edward Furlong, Beverly D’Angelo, Ethan Suplee, Fairuza Balk, Avery Brooks, Stacy Keach, Elliot Gould

Description: Former neo-nazi skinhead Derek Vinyard (Edward Norton) tries to prevent his younger brother Danny (Edward Furlong) from going down the same wrong path that he did.

Review: After skinhead Derek Vinyard kills two black burglars, he goes to prison, with pride. The so called ideals of the ‘third reich’ can’t save him there, so Derek chooses a different path and doesn’t want to have anything to do with it anymore. His younger brother Danny though worships Derek and is about to follow the wrong path.
“American History X” is a powerful film, with some shocking violent scenes. That one scene, involving a curb, makes me cringe every time.  It’s a drama with a clearly present moral.
The story alternates between the past and present. The part that’s set in the present day, is shot in full color. The scenes where we learn about Derek’s early life and his time in jail, was shot in black and white. By using these two different styles, it keeps your attention at all times.
The acting is excellent and especially Edward Norton shines. This is his best performance to date and he shows how varied he can be. We see him as the relentless and proud neo-nazi, that doesn’t even blink to kill a man and has a strong opinion about people that aren’t white. But also the change he goes through, where he finally realizes what he did. He is no longer proud of his actions and wants to walk away from that life. Norton was nominated for an Academy Award and in my opinion he should have gone home with the statue.
“American History X” is one of my favorite films and gets to me every time. A great film with an extraordinary performance by Edward Norton.

Rating: 5/ 5

00s Movie Review - Ocean's Eleven

Director: Steven Sodenbergh
Genre: Crime/ Thriller/ Comedy
Runtime: 122 minutes
Year: 2001
Starring: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, Bernie Mac, Elliott Gould, Julia Roberts, Scott Caan, Casey Affleck, Don Cheadle, Carl Reiner, Shaobo Qin, Holly Marie Combs, Barry Watson, Joshua Jackson, Topher Grace, Shane West

Description: Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and his ten accomplices plan to rob three Las Vegas casinos simultaneously.

Review: Danny Ocean just got out of jail and he’s already planning his next heist: the simultaneous robbing of three major casinos in Las Vegas. To carry out this daring plan, he assembles ten experts that, after extensive preparation, seems perfectly capable of getting the job done. However, it is questionable whether it will be that easy in reality, because casino owner Terry Benedict is smart and has cameras everywhere.
“Ocean’s Eleven” is a remake of the 1960 film of the same name. although in this case the term remake is very broad. Because Steven Sodenbergh’s version has some common ground with its predecessor it is essentially a completely different film. It starred Franks Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. among many others, and had the right atmosphere. But it lacked atmosphere and action. With Sodenbergh’s take on it, that’s different.
Their mission seems impossible at first, since the safe is very hard to access without being seen. But somehow the protagonists know how to find a surprising wat to bypass all security measures. Of course things go wrong, which add to the excitement of the film. The film has a lot of tension. The slick camera work and high star quality make for a great film. But it’s not perfect. The characters are largely one-dimensional. But don’t let this stop you from watching the film.
“Ocean’s Eleven” is almost two hours of entertainment.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

00s Movie Review - The Cat Returns

Director: Hiroyuki Morita
Genre: Animation/ Family/ Drama/ Fantasy
Runtime: 75 minutes
Year: 2002
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Cary Elwes, Judy Greer, Kristen Bell, Peter Boyle, Elliot Gould, Tim Curry

Description: After helping a cat, the seventeen-year-old Haru (Anne Hathaway) finds herself involuntarily engaged to a cat Prince in a magical world where her only hope of freedom lies with a dapper cat statuette (Cary Elwes) coming to life.

Review: “The Cat Returns” is one of Studio Ghibli’s lesser known films, but it is on that the real cat lovers should not skip. And it contains a lot of magic.
Don’t you ever wonder where those cats wander off to, when to go out? Well, in “The Cat Returns” it’s a secret cat kingdom, hidden behind some narrow alleys. Studio Ghibli plays with this idea, very skillfully. Th concept was conceived by Hayao Miyazako himself, but directed by Hiroyuki Morita, who worked on several other anime and Studio Ghibli films as animator.
Haru’s life is not that different from any other teenage girl. She’s regularly late for school and has a crush on one of the classmates, who unfortunately already has a girlfriend. Haru would like her life to have a little more happiness, since everything seems to go well for others but not for her.
Everything changes after she saves a cat. The cat walks on two legs and talks to her, but of course no one believes her. As if that’s not strange enough, a cat parade appears in front of her door at night. The king of the cat kingdom has come in person to thank her for saving his son, the cat prince. The gift that the cat king has brough is also quite strange… she has to marry the prince!
“The Cat Returns” is a witty film which features The Baron, who we met in “Whisper of the Heart”. This character is the star of the film. It’s a fun, magical and adventurous story that will be perfect for the entire family. Visually is looks good and the soundtrack is atmospheric and fitting. It’s not one of Studio Ghibli’s best film, but certainly one to check out.

Rating: 3,5 / 5

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

Movie Battle: American History X Vs. This is England

The two movie I choose this time, both center a pretty strong theme. It’s about a sub culture, the skinheads. There are similar because of the central theme, but they are both very different movies on their own. “American History X” Vs. “This is England”.

 

 

ACTORS

American History X: Edward Norton plays his best role so far, in my opinion. And Edward Furlong plays his little brother, also very solid. Beverly D’Angelo, Elliott Gould and Stacy Keach also portray very solid roles.

This is England: Thomas Turgoose is good as the boy the story centers around. But most impressive is Stephen Graham as Combo. His best role so far.

STORY

American History X: Norton plays former neo-nazi skinhead Derek, trying to prevend his younger brother from going down the same wrong path he did. I can remember that one scene on that curb…. Crinch!

This is England: Shaun is a troubled boy growing up in England, set in 1983. He comes across a few skinheads on his way home from school. They become his best friends, even like family. One of Britain’s best movies.

EFFECTS

American History X: What I think is most amazing is the contrast. Present day is filmed in full color and the flashbacks from Derek’s past are in black and white.

This is England: The movie got this typical British 80’s feel to it.

WINNER

Close call, because they are both memorable movies. But it’s “American History X” that will always be on my favourites list.

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 24: Contagion

Director: Steven Soderbergh
Genre: Drama/ Thriller
Runtime: 106 minutes
Year: 2011
Starring: Matt Damon, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Laurence Fishburne, Gwyneth Paltrow, Marion Cotillard, Bryan Cranston, Elliot Gould, John Hawkes

Description: The CDC races against time to develop a vaccine against an extremely lethal virus.

Review: It’s very clear what this film is about, the title says it all. Between all the big stars, the style of this film stays cold and sober constantly.
The plot is basically about an epidemic of a life-threatening virus, that kills almost everyone who comes in contact with it. It’s an unknown virus and it takes some time to find a vaccine. This results in panic, desperation and a manic search for a cure.
“Contagion” has several characters and follows some subplots. There is too much going on to give the characters any depth. Soderbergh wasn’t aiming for that. What he did well is showing us how people would react in a situation like this. The most interesting part of the story is where the leader of the CDC, doctor Cheever, and blogger Alan Krumwiede go head to head.
The movie is set up in fragments, which works. You feel the pressure and the panic. Although it was already explained to the viewer what this virus is, Soderbergh decided to put the cause of this virus in the last minute of the film. It feels like the movie is over-explaining itself, which wasn’t necessary. We aren’t dumb.
“Contagion” was a good film, but pretty average and not very memorable for me.

Rating: 3/ 5