00s Movie Review - 8 Mile

Director: Curtis Hanson
Genre: Drama/ Music
Runtime: 110 minutes
Year: 2002
Starring: Eminem, Kim Basinger, Mekhi Phifer, Brittany Murphy, Taryn Manning, Omar Benson Miller, Anthony Mackie, Michael Shannon

Description: Follows a young rapper (Eminem) in the Detroit area, struggling with every aspect of life, wants to make it big but his friends and foes make this odyssey of rap harder than it may seem.

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2023 MOVIE CHALLENGE.
WEEK 18: A MOVIE ABOUT MUSIC
 
Review: “8 Mile” tells part of the life story of Marshall Mathers, made famous as Eminem, and more or less plays himself in his film debut. It is the story of a white boy in Detroit, who hangs out mostly in black circles, within a community defined by rap culture and neighborhood rivalries. B-Rabbit, the character Eminem plays, belongs to this community because he is actually just as disenfranchised as the black youth: he lives in a trailer, barely educated, poor, with an alcoholic mother and an estranged father.

The few bright spots in his life are his little sister, his loyal group of friends and his remarkable rap talent. Encouraged by his best friend Future, Rabbit ventures into the exclusively black rap battles, rap duels in which opponents must verbally beat each other up. And the audience decides who the winner is.

It’s pretty straight-forward how the story will largely unfold, no surprises here. Eminem does do a fine job and has enough conviction to keep us interested. And these rap battles are the highlight of the film. It’s a solid film with an equally solid story, but nothing spectacular.

Rating: 3/ 5

00s Movie Review - Dawn of the Dead

Director: Zack Snyder
Genre: Action/ Drama/ Horror/ Thriller
Runtime: 100 minutes
Year: 2004
Starring: Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Mekhi Phifer, Jake Weber, Ty Burrell, Michael Kelly, Kevin Zegers, Michael Barry, Lindy Booth, Jayne Eastwood, Boyd Banks, Inna Korobkina, R.D. Reid, Kim Poirier, Matt Frewer, Tom Savini, Ken Foree

Description: A group of survivors of a worldwide plague that is producing aggressive, flesh-eating zombies, take refuge in a mega Midwestern shopping mall.

Review: In 1978, George A. Romero created a classic in the horror genre with “Dawn of the Dead”. While American society is collapsing due to the large-scale appearance and multiplication of zombies, four people get stuck in a large shopping mall, surrounded by a large number of living dead. For a while they manage to survive there by using the facilities there, while the building is surrounded by an increasing number of zombies. “Dawn of the Dead” distinguished itself from the bulk of the horror genre by its unique blend of suspense, action, humor, horror, satire and humanity. In that sense, the film remains unsurpassed to this day, and absolutely does not need a remake. The remake, then, is not really a remake, but rather a revision of the original that goes its own way. The question then, of course, is: does it remain a good film?
The film begins with a mini-portrait of the life of nurse Ana, which can be called somewhat monotone and routine. Soon, however, her quiet little life is disrupted by the fact that Ana’s blood-stained neighbor girl sinks her teeth into Ana’s husband, causing him to turn into a zombie as well and then attack Ana. She just barely manages to escape. When she’s outside, she sees that the entire city is in chaos. Buildings are on fire, people are fleeing or being eaten by zombies. The entire country and possible the entire world is in turmoil and dead creatures are roaming everywhere.
The opening titles underscore the chaos in which humans find themselves. Ana meets other survivors and together they decided to hide in a huge shopping mall, trying to survive there.
The zombies in “Dawn of the Dead” are fast and strong and have developed a slight hunting instinct. Partly because of this, the pace of the film is fast too. Other features include the obligatory, clichéd scare moments, which fortunately do no dominate the film and are limited to a modest number. Debuting director Zack Snyder does a great job with the suspense and scare and even added footage during the credits, which give a different spin to the story.
“Dawn of the Dead” manages to keep the tension, which is not hindered by the humor and action that also appears in the film. What is most preserved from the original film, is the humanity. While the zombies surround the mall, all sorts of things are happening inside the mall that barely have anything to do with the threat outside: power games, betrayal, selfishness, cynicism, bravery, compassion, love, you name it. The credibility of the characters allows the viewers to identify with them and experience their fears.
Fear and suspense is therefore what “Dawn of the Dead” delivers, the film is very effective and in that sense a successful horror film. It’s actually one of the best horror film of its decade.

Rating: 4/ 5

10s Movie Review - Insurgent

Director: Robert Schwentke
Genre: Adventure/ Science Fiction
Runtime: 119 minutes
Year: 2015
Starring: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Miles Teller, Jai Courtney, Naomi Watts, Ansel Elgort, Kate Winslet, Maggie Q, Zoë Kravitz, Ray Stevenson, Octavia Spencer, Suki Waterhouse, Daniel Dae Kim, Mekhi Phifer

Description: Beatrice Prior (Shailene Woodley) must confront her inner demons and continue her fight against a powerful alliance which threatens to tear her society apart with the help from others on her side.

Review: The fact that many have had enough of the seemingly endless stream of Hollywood movie sof successful YA books is not incomprehensible. However, the current young adult hype has a pleasant downside: the similarities of the many productions force comparisons to be made. For example: “The Divergent” series is very easy to compare to the series of “The Hunger Games”. Both series have a lot in common in terms of story and design, but where “The Hunger Games” addresses some relevant contemporary issues, “Divergent” has no much to offer than what can be seen on the surface. The latter inadvertently contributes to the foundation of the throne on which “The Hunger Games” currently sit.
However, when the first film released in 2014 was it turned out to actually be pretty good and quite enjoyable. After all, “Divergent” was a lot better to digest than “The Host” or “Mortal Instruments” and also a lot more lucrative, even if it was not a resounding success. Enough basis to film the remaining books of Veronica Roth’s trilogy. Because there’s no time to waste, the film’s first follow-up is released just one year after the first.
At the start of “Insurgent”, Tris, her boyfriend Four, her brother Caleb and former opponent Peter appear to have been blamed by the responsible oppressors for the massacre that ended the first film. This leaves them nothing but fugitives through post-apocalyptic Chicago, constantly searching for new hiding places. That brings them to some factions that haven’t been seen before, as well as to the Factionless, which turns out to be not nearly as helpless as previously suggested.
Although this second part still doesn’t reach the level of any of “The Hunger Games” movies, “Insurgent” is on many points a good quality film. Now that all the explanations are behind us, the story movies into a higher gear, resulting in a pleasantly smooth movie that hardly repeats itself in the first part. There is plenty of visual spectacle, but fortunately the characters all get a little more to do this time as well. Not every development works equally well, but thanks to some fine surprises, replacement director Robert Schwentke holds the viewer’s attention well. Perhaps the most pleasant element of “Insurgent” is that it’s not just another typical interlude that only serves to set things up for the grand finale. This part is mainly about the aftermath of the previous film and the makers don’t seem to want to occupy themselves too much with future films. This means, among other things, that some plot lines are already neatly ended and some characters disappear from the stage for good as a result.
I think “Insurgent” did a pretty good job in continuing in this series.

Rating: 3/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 44: Divergent

Director: Neil Burger

Genre: Action/ Adventure/ Science Fiction

Runtime: 140 minutes

Year: 2014

Starring: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Miles Teller, Kate Winslet, Ansel Elgort, Zoë Kravitz, Ray Stevenson, Maggie Q, Ashley Judd, Tony Goldwyn, Mekhi Phifer

Description: In a world divided by factions based on virtues, Tris (Shailene Woodley) learns she's Divergent and won't fit in. When she discovers a plot to destroy Divergents, Tris and the mysterious Four (Theo James) must find out what makes Divergents dangerous before it's too late.

Review: The young adult film has, in a short period of time, settled down in Hollywood. Movies like the “Harry Potter” series and “The Hunger Games” series started this all. The movies, mostly adaptations from books, focus on young adults. Friendship, love and the battle between good and evil are central themes in these stories. “Divergent”, based on a book by Veronica Roth, isn’t an exception.

In a futuristic Chicago, five factions fight for power over the city. The factions are divided based on virtues: abnegation, candor, amity, dauntless and erudite. The choice for your faction is made when you’re sixteen. Tris is at that point in her life. Is she going to stay in the faction she grew up in or will she choose another faction? During her test something unusual happens. It appears she doesn’t fit in any of the faction. She is divergent.

Not a lot happens in “Divergent”. A thin plot between political power between the different factions and the place the divergents take in that society. Friendships are made and enemies are formed. Tris has to undergo a tough training and the underdog becomes the hero. And there is also a love story. Not a lot of originality, but time does fly. This is a good sign, because the movie is very entertaining.

That the book is often better than the movie, is also the case here. I feel that some important scenes are cut down. For instance the test. It’s a very important part of the story, but it goes so fast in the film. For people who haven’t read the book, it could have gone too fast.

Shailene Woodley does a good job and is a good leading lady. “Divergent” is a movie that you can’t help to compare to “The Hunger Games”. It’s not as good, but still very entertaining and I did enjoy it.

Rating: 3/ 5