00s Movie Review - Don't Say a Word

Director: Gary Fleder
Genre: Drama/ Thriller/ Crime/ Mystery
Runtime: 113 minutes
Year: 2001
Starring: Michael Douglas, Sean Bean, Famke Janssen, Brittany Murphy, Oliver Platt, Lance Reddick

Description: When the daughter of a psychiatrist (Michael Douglas) is kidnapped, he’s horrified to discover that the abductor’s demand is that he breaks through to a post traumatic stress disorder suffering young woman (Brittany Murphy) who know a secret…

Review: When the infant daughter of psychiatrist Nathan Conrad is kidnapped, the abductors do not demand money, but ask Conrad for a service. He must extract a six-digit code from a mentally disturbed teenager.

The story is nicely put together, but you can’t escape the impression that we have seen all this before. The storyline and plot twists will not surprise a seasoned moviegoer. Director Gary Fleder did much better on “Kiss the Girls”, which did have the tension and surprises we all want from a movie in this genre. Nevertheless, the movie is entertaining enough for an evening of suspense.

Rating: 2,5/ 5

00s Movie Review - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Director: Peter Jackson
Genre: Action/ Adventure/ Fantasy
Runtime: 178 minutes
Year: 2001
Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortenson, Orlando Bloom, Sean Bean, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, Liv Tyler, Hugo Weaving, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monoghan, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, John Rhys-Davies

Description: A meek Hobbit (Elijah Wood) from the Shire and eight companions set out on a journey to destroy the powerful One Ring and save Middle-Earth from the Dark Lord Sauron.

Review: “The Lord of the Rings” is an adaptation from the world wide popular fantasy book by J.R.R. Tolkien. Director Peter Jackson took on the challenge to direct this series, starting with “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring”.
In a prologue we are introduced to The Ring, who Saurn was and how that ring eventually got into the hands of a Hobbit in The Shire. That’s also the place where the story starts off, in The Shire.
The reason why people like this franchise so much is of course the fantasy genre, but also the relatable characters and their emotions. The characters are three-dimensional, have depth and you feel connected with them. Look at Gandalf, a man that laughs sometimes, is grumpy at times, is hard to understand and also makes mistakes. Perfectly portrayed by Ian McKellen.
The actors and makers of the film handle the source material as if it was our actual history. That’s how Tolkien did it, that’s how they did it. And everything looks perfect, up to the smallest details. It’s all authentic.
It’s hard not to get sucked into this fantastical world that Tolkien once created and Jackson brought to life. The Orcs are really scary, the eater monster with tentacles though only in it for a brief moment gives you the chills and Balrog looks fantastic. It’s visible that Peter Jackson has a love for movie monsters.
The action is phenomenal. The film starts off quiet and peaceful, but there are a lot of nail biting battles ahead. And they are all filmed brilliantly.
The drama and the emotions really grab you. You would think that fairytale like creatures like wizards and Hobbits wouldn’t do that, but they all become unforgettable characters that you care about.
“The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” was the start of the entire adventure and it had to convince the fans. It definitely did that!

Rating: 5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2016 - # 143: Patriot Games

Director: Phillip Noyce
Genre: Action/ Thriller
Runtime: 117 minutes
Year: 1992
Starring: Harrison Ford, Anne Archer, Patrick Bergin, Sean Bean, Thora Birch, James Fox, Samuel L. Jackson, James Earl Jones, Richard Harris

Description: When CIA Analyst Jack Ryan (Harrison Ford) interferes with an IRA assassination, a renegade faction targets him and his family for revenge.

Review: When you’re looking for the American version of James Bond, we often think of Jason Bourne. But Jack Ryan could also be that man. Writer Tom Clancy passed away in 2013, but a left a great collection of stories. And Hollywood has used them a couple of times already. In “Patriot Games”, Harrison Ford takes on the role of Jack Ryan.
Jack Ryan is a CIA analyst, who works more behind the scenes. But he does have the best insights in certain cases and is very driven to enter the field. He isn’t an action hero, but determined to solve cases. Tom Clancy’s stories are more pollical inspired. “Patriot Games” is about the IRA. One fo the IRA men gets personal, when Ryan kills his brother.
“Patriot Games” is exciting and has a realistic tone. And the story is solid, because of Tom Clancy’s great work. Because of that, the movie rises above average, but it never overwhelms.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

Top 5 Thursday: Epic Moments from "Game of Thrones" Season 1

Because we have to wait a year for new “Game of Thrones” episodes, I decided to rewatch all the old episodes. I’m going to create a series of top fives, where I will share with you the most epic moments in every season. Starting with season 1.

5. The Fall of Bran
Although Catelyn Stark thinks Tyrion Lannister is responsible for the attack on her son Bran, it was actually the older brother, Ser Jaime Lannister who pushed him. Bran was spying on Queen Cersie Lannister, who was intimate with Jaime, who are also siblings. Neither Lannister could afford their secret relationship to get out. So Jaime decided to push Bran out of the tower window. This crippled Bran for life.

4. The Golden Crown
Viserys Targaryen traded his sister Daenerys to Khal Drogo in exchange for an army to conquer the seven kingdoms. And Drogo didn’t exactly seem eager to keep his end of the bargain. It might have been because Drogo Recognized that Viserys was both foolish and insane. And when Viserys threatened the life od Daenerys and Drogo’s unborn child, he went too far. Drogo kept his promise to give Viserys a crown of gold, but in the form of molten gold poured over his head.

3. The White Walker Attacks Jon Snow
After remaining offscreen for most of the season, the White Walkers attempted to make a bold move and assassinate the leader of the Night’s Watch. For Jon Snow this probably couldn’t have come at a better time. With his father accused of treason and his own standing within the Watch also in question, Jon needed some way to prove himself. After stabbing the undead man, the Walker pursued on him again. Thanks to fire, he burned the walker and Jon survived. He earned a new respect from the men on the wall.

2. The Dragons Rise Again
Daenerys lost nearly everything to the witch Mirri Maz Duur. Her son was still born, her Dothraki horde abandoned her and her beloved Khal Drogo lived on only in a vegative state. At the end of the season Daenerys emerges from the flames, nakes and unharmed. And she is also joined by three new born dragons.

1. The Execution of Ned Stark
Readers of the novels knew that this was coming, as did I, but this is definitely the most memorable moment of the first season. Faced with the difficult choice of maintaining his honor in death or attempting to save his daughter Sansa, Ned confesses his imagined crimes in public and declared Joffrey to be the true king. However, this horrible boy king rejected the clemency plans offered to Ned an ordered him immediately beheaded.

They Almost Made the Top 5: Stark Vs. Lannister, The Direwolf saves Bran, The Last Stand of Syrio Forel, Tyrion’s Trial by Combat, Littlefinger Betrays Ned Stark

100 Movie Challenge 2016 - # 47: Pixels

Director: Chris Columbus
Genre: Action/ Comedy/ Science Fictions
Runtime: 106 minutes
Year: 2015
Starring: Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Michelle Monaghan, Peter Dinklage, Josh Gad, Brian Cox, Sean Bean, Jane Krakowski, Dan Aykroyd, Ashley Benson

Description: When aliens misinterpret video feeds of classic arcade games as a declaration of war, they attack the Earth in the form of the video games.

Review: The promising future that Will Cooper predicted for his video game champion friend Sam Brenner didn’t really come true. The roles are actually reversed when they grow up. Sam has to wear an emberrasing orange outfit and installs audio and video equipement, while Will is the president of the United States (played by Kevin James, are you following me?). Being the president isn’t completely going smoothly either and you wonder how he ever got to be president. Their friendship started when they were still playing arcadegames like Pac-Man, Donkey Kong and Galaga. One day this love for video games comes in handy, when aliens attack earth with classic arcade games.
The first part of the film isn’t all that interesting. An introduction to the characters, that you never really care about. The fact that nerds are actually supercool isn’t that believable here, like for instance in “The Big Bang Theory”.
The second act of “Pixels” is a lot more entertaining. This is where all the videogames come to life and a group of videogame nerds fight them. The idea behind “Pixels” is as bizarre as it is interesting. That makes it extra sad that this film isn’t that great. “Pixels” is only fun the second half

Rating: 2/ 5

Movie Battle: Interstellar Vs. The Martian

They are very different movies, but both science fiction and also both happen to have Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain in it. I would like to let those two movies go head to head in this battle. Let’s see who wins the battle: “Interstellar” Vs. “The Martian”.

 

 

ACTORS

Interstellar: Matthew McConaughey is the lead and his has proven over the years that he can easily carry a movie. I haven’t been a fan since the beginning, but I’ve come to love McConaughey. Anne Hatahway not so much though, I just never really liked her acting. Jessics Chastain on the other hand is one of my favorites and she is really good in “Interstellar”. And Michael Caine as well.

The Martian: Matt Damon is fantastic in his role as Mark Whatney. Most of the scenes he is in, he is alone. He gives away a great performance, it might even be his best. Jessica Chastain is good as well, very strong and solid.

STORY

Interstellar: It’s a Christopher Nolan directed film, so it’s anything but standard. A group of explorer’s have to travel through a wormhole in order to save humanity. Time is different there, so what’s in space is seven years on earth (or something like that). I didn’t really like the ending.

The Martian: During a mission to Mars, astronaut Mark Whatney is presumed dead and his crew returns. Not knowing that Whatney was actually still alive. Now he is alone on a planet where nothing grows. He has to ‘science the hell out of it’. It’s a great story and so well executed. It was also a lot funnier than I expected it to be.

EFFECTS

Interstellar: If you know Nolan’s work, you know that he is great with effects. Although he doesn’t overuse CGI, it always looks stunning.

The Martian: The movie looks very good, also not overusing any CGI. Just clean and solid.

WINNER

I think “Interstellar” is a bit overrated, so I’m going with “The Martian” which I absolutely loved and it was one of my favorites of 2015.

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 140: The Martian

Director: Ridley Scott

Genre: Action/ Adventure/ Science Fiction

Runtime: 142 minutes

Year: 2015

Starring: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Michael Peña, Sean Bean, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan, Aksel Hennie, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Mackenzie Davis, Donald Glover, Nick Mohammed, Chen Shu, Eddy Ko, Enzo Cilenti, Jonathan Aris, Gruffudd Glyn, Naomi Scott, Geoffrey Thomas

Description: A limo driver's blind date sparks a tale of love, betrayal, friendship, and grace centered around two working-class New York City couples.

Review: Director Ridley Scott, known for his movies “Alien” and “Blade Runner”, is no stranger to science fiction. “The Martian”, based on the book by Andy Weir, is the perfect story for Scott. It’s a heroic story, has a great cast with big names and a big budget.

With a science fiction movie, there is always a scientific side to it. Hence the word science. At first it looks like it’s going to be a drama, when astronaut Mark Watney is left for dead on Mars after a big storm. When Watney wakes up he has to stay alive with the supplies that are left. It could have gone to fear, sadness and complaining. The fact that it might be the end for him on Mars, makes sure that Watney does everything to avoid that fate. With science. With his botanic background he manages to grow potatoes on a planet where nothing grows. And he is very inventive in ways to stay alive. This strength makes sure Watney doesn’t lose hope and becomes a real hero.

The scientific element can also be less accesable, but “The Martian” manages to use a clever way to explain it to us. Watney keeps a videolog, where he explains what he does and why. He never seems lonely and this makes this film anything but boring. On earth, where they eventually find our Watney is still alive, they discuss the issue in a way the viewer can understand and without any extreme sentiment. Towards the end it does get a bit more dramatic, but that’s understandable.

One thing I didn’t expect to get was humor. “The Martian” is very funny at times and makes this movie a lot lighter than I eventually thought. And Matt Damon is amazing in his role. I really loved his performance, it can easily be called one of his best. I also loved Jessica Chastain, as always.

“The Martian” is a fresh take on science fiction, a movie that was even better than I thought it would be. One of the best of 2015.

Rating: 4,5/ 5