00s Movie Review - The Incredibles

Director: Brad Bird
Genre: Animation/ Comedy/ Action/ Adventure/ Science Fiction
Runtime: 121 minutes
Year: 2004
Starring: Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Samuel L. Jackson, Jason Lee, Michael Bird, Spencer Fox, Sarah Vowell, Eli Fucile, Maeve Andrews, Wallace Shawn

Description: A family of undercover superheroes, while trying to live the quiet suburban life, are forced into action to save the world.

Review: Pixar has an almost flawless reputation. It all started with “Toy Story”. And with the superhero hype, Pixar couldn’t be left behind. And “The Incredibles” is also one of the best superhero movies ever made.
The story is about a family of superheroes. The film opens with Mr. Incredible and his girlfriend Elastigirl, who manage to capture villain Bomb Voyage. But besides doing so many good things, the superhero also did some bad stuff and citizens start to complain. All superheroes have to live a normal suburban life.
For fifteen years Bob and Helen Parr live as that average married couple. Bob works at an insurance company and Helen is a stay at home mom. They have three kids. Violet is an insecure teen, Dash is hyperactive and baby Jack Jack. And the Parr kids also have super powers. All they want is to use them for the good.
As always, the film looks amazing. All the characters are just great, especially Edna Mode with her ‘no cape speech’. The film is fun, dynamic, visually stunning, humorous, inventive and pure entertainment for the entire family.  Fans of Pixar and/ or superheroes should definitely watch “The Incredibles”.

Rating: 5/ 5

90s Movie Review - Copycat

Director: Jon Amiel
Genre: Thriller/ Drama/ Crime
Runtime: 118 minutes
Year: 1995
Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Holly Hunter, Dermot Mulroney, William McNamara, Harry Connick Jr., John Rothman, J.E. Freeman, Will Patton, Shannon O’Hurley, Bob Greene, Tony Haney, Danny Kovacs, Tahmus Rounds

Description: Agoraphobic psychologist Helen Hudson (Sigourney Weaver) and female detective MJ Monahan (Holly Hunter) must work together to take down a serial killer who copies serial killers from the past.

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2020 MOVIE CHALLENGE.
WEEK 44: A MOVIE WITH A SERIAL KILLER

Review: There are over four hundred potential serial killers in America, criminal-psychologist Helen Hudson states during her lecture. “Maybe there’s even one in the room right now”. And this turns out to be right, since one is waiting for her in the ladies’ room.
Years later, a number of women in San Francisco are murdered within a short period of time. Each under striking circumstances, but detective MJ Monahan can’t detect a pattern. She asks Helen for help, who is now an agoraphobic who locks herself in her own home. At first, Helen doesn’t seem to keen on helping MJ. But files left at her home make for Helen to join MJ in the investigation.
Helen discovers there is a connection between the murders: they imitate the methods of America’s most illustrious serial killers. With this knowledge they can predict with a high degree of probability the killer’s next steps.
For the time this movie was made, the mid-90s, it has a refreshing take on the detective genre. Since the two leading characters are women and they lead the investigation. Both Sigourney Weaver and Holly Hunter offer us solid performances.
Director Jon Amiel has paid a lot of attention to character building, which is a good move. This way the viewer can empathize with them so much more. Amiel makes frequent use of the suspense. The term ‘less is more’ really goes for “Copycat”. Even in seemingly boring moments, Amiel knows how to raise tension. For example, there is a scene in the film which Helen wants to get her newspaper. The paper is in a corridor, tow meters away from her door. Because of her phobia, Helen doesn’t want to walk out the door. Desperately she grabs a broom and try the newspaper. The threatening music and the angle of the camera turn this scene into an oppressive and exciting moment.
“Copycat” is an exciting, skillfully made thriller. The film does everything it’s supposed to do and does it really well. The only thing I didn’t like, is that the identity of the serial killer is revealed earlier on in the film. It doesn’t take away from the tension though, but I always enjoy a climax with a face reveal.

Rating: 3,5 / 5

10s Movie Review - The Big Sick

Director: Michael Showalter
Genre: Drama/ Comedy/ Romance
Runtime: 119 minutes
Year: 2017
Starring: Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe kazan, Holly Hunter, Ray Romano, Aidy Bryant, Kurt Braunohler, Anupam Kher, Zebonia Shroff, Adeel Akhtar, Bo Burnham, Vella Lovell, Myra Lucretia Taylor

Description: Pakistan-born Kumail (Kumail Nanjiani) and grad student Emily (Zoe Kazan) fall in love but struggle as their cultures clash. When Emily contracts a mysterious illness, Kumail finds himself forced to face her feisty parents (Holly Hunter, Ray Romano), his family’s expectations and his true feelings.

Review: Stand-up comedian Kumail Nanjiani was busy making plans. He was about to break through and has also met a nice woman. And then fate struck.
The originally Pakistani comedian tells his life story in the autobiographical feel-good drama, with some small adjustments here and there. He plays himself. Kumail has a group of his friends around him with whom he not only lives together, but also performs. After a show he always has some drinks in the pub, where he meets the charming Emily.
Their relationship, which starts off as a one-time-thing, doesn’t really get a chance to flourish. Just when it all seems to go in the right direction, there are difficulties. Kumail’s family, who believe in marriage, has a potential bride for him almost every day who always 'just happen to be in the neighborhood’. But as if misunderstandings and miscommunications aren’t complex enough, fate strikes as well.
Short after Emily finds out that Kumail is supposed to marry a Pakistani woman, she gets a mysterious illness which leaves her in a coma. Kumail is forced to call her parents.
Without going into too much detail, the title isn’t a guess as to which dilemma Kumail is confronted with. How far does your responsibility go when a relationship that actually seems to be dead already? And how great are the sacrifices you want to make when the future seems hopeless? “Th Big Sick” starts out as a sweet love story, with the necessary struggles and bumps in the road. But later turns into more complicated matter. On top of that, Kumail has to deal with Emily’s parents.
Director Michael Showalter lets you deal with the change of the tone without a problem. He achieves this because he has writer his characters well and adds the new characters he gradually introduces with sufficient unpredictability and sympathy.
If “The Big Sick” has only been a comedy about difficulties and setbacks, a bit in the tone of Judd Apatow, then two hours of runtime really would have been too much. Bu Showalter’s good balance of drama and lighter moments makes it easy to keep your attention and stay entertained. The real Kumail, who was co-responsible for the screenplay, has not only written his own experiences with this very successful feature film, but also knows how to look back on it with proper self-reflection. His dialogues are subtle and are a hit and the casting of Zoe Kazan as his opponent is a master move.
“The Big Sick” is a true breath of fresh air. I loved the story, the cast, the whole tone of the film. I can recommend this to anyone.

Rating: 4,5/ 5

Movie Reviews - Incredibles 2

Director: Brad Bird
Genre: Animation/ Action
Runtime: 125 minutes
Year: 2018
Starring: Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Catherine Keener, Bob Odenkirk, Sophia Bush, Brad Bird, Isabella Rossellini, Samuel L. Jackson, John Ratzenberg, Barry Bostwick

Description: Bob Parr aka Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) is left to care for the kids while Helen aka Elastigirl (Holly Hunter) is out saving the world.

Review: “Incredibles 2” takes off where the first film ended in 2004. The ‘Underminer’ attacks the city with a giant machine. Frozone manages to make sure it doesn’t crash a monorail and the Incredibles protect a safe in a bank, rescue a helpless granny and try to catch the Underminer. But they also have to look after Jack-Jack. “Incredibles 2” is a great joy to watch and very entertaining, but it’s never as good as the first.
Even before the golden age of superhero films, director Brad Bird showed us that the ‘Fantastic Four’ kind of film works. “The Incredibles” embraced strange super powers and payed an ode to the spy film. With bombastic music, retro futuristic cities, transforming vehicles, heroes running over water and super robots.
“Incredibles 2” brings us the same kind of spectacle. This time, Elastigirl gets all the big action scenes. Highlights are the vehicle Elasticycle, a chace with a flating train and a fight with Screenlaver. Pixar did it again with amazing animation techniques.
While Elastigirl is being a hero and hunting the mysterious Screenslaver, Mr. Incredible stays at home to take care of the kids. It’s cliché, the way Bob underestimates being a stay-at-home dad, while Helen is enjoying her new freedom. Both storylines are saved by the many action sequences. And the confrontation between Jack-Jack and a stubborn raccoon is something to mention. No word is said, but the creativity put into to this sequence is fantastic.
The villain Screenslaver isn’t as interesting as Syndrome from the original. Screenslaver is a bit more predictable and the motivation is a bit superficial.
The focus is mostly on Elastigirl and Jack-Jack, the rest is overshadowed a bit.
When it comes to action, great music and excellent animation, this film is perfect. The entertainment level is very high. But the story doesn’t add much more.

Rating: 4 / 5

10s Movie Review - Song to Song

Director: Terrence Malick
Genre: Drama/ Romance
Runtime: 129 minutes
Year: 2017
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Michael Fassbender, Rooney Mara, Natalie Portman, Cate Blanchett, Holly Hunter, Bérénice Marlohe, Val Kilmer, Lykke Li

Description: Two intersecting love triangles. Obsession and betrayal set against the music scene in Austin, Texas.

Review: Again a cinematographic meditation by director Terrence Malick, about love and life. He takes the audience on a poetic journey to finding the meaning of life. As always, Malick doesn’t work with a straight forward screenplay and the (amazing group of) actors improvise.
Malicks style is very recognizable. It’s more a chain of images, because there are no real scenes. He creates a series of situations and it’s clearly his intuition that make his montage choices. The randomness of these images make me think of perfume commercials on TV. And that’s really not a compliment here. “Song to Song” kind of feels like a commercial, but then with the length of a film. And I think we could take off an hour, without losing any important moments.
There is no focus, because we see so many characters. And we don’t get to understand them, there is barely any development and their motives are unclear. Hardly any communication between the characters. Whispering voice-overs tell us some philosophical things and a lot of existential questions are asked.
The camera work is a big plus though. No steady images, always moving. The camera is constantly with the characters and switches between warm close-ups and distant shots. And the camera looks for the little things in the surroundings.
I never really understood Terrence Malick and I really don’t get why so many actors want to work with him. He always gets such big names to work with him and all the performances are really good by the way. But “Song to Song” is just a lot of improvising. Maybe that’s it, that the actors can let go of the rules for once. But all that cuddling and stroking, after a half hour I’m done! “Song to Song” is just not for me I guess.

Rating: 2/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2017 - # 1: Crash

Director: David Cronenberg
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 100 minutes
Year: 1996
Starring: James Spader, Deborah Kara Unger, Holly Hunter, Elias Koteas, Patricia Arquette

Description: After getting into a serious car accident, a TV director (James Spader) discovers an underground sub-culture of scarred, omnisexual car-crash victims who use car accidents and the raw sexual energy they produce to try to rejuvenate his sex life with his wife.

Review: The film is set in Los Angeles. James and Catherine are a married couple drwn into an underworld where people try to get sexual satisfaction through automobile crashes. James discovers this when he is in a car accident himself. Weirded out yet? Well, I was. It’s a weird film, violent and explicit. Definitely not for everyone.
It is a fascinating premise and it starts off quite promising. However, James Spader’s character never really shows a spark of life. Not do any of the other characters. In the end we don’t really care about any of these characters. It becomes a game of guessing who will sleep with who next.
The film is risky and I can see what director David Cronenberg wanted to do, but this film didn’t really get me. Probably because I was weirded out most of the time. Cronenberg is known for his violence and provocative style of storytelling. And I usually like his films. “Crash” sadly isn’t one of them.

Rating: 2/ 5