00s Movie Review - The Lovely Bones

Director: Peter Jackson
Genre: Drama/ Thriller/ Crime/ Fantasy
Runtime: 135 minutes
Year: 2009
Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Rachel Weisz, Mark Wahlberg, Susan Sarandon, Stanley Tucci, Michael Imperioli

Description: Centers on a young girl (Saoirse Ronan) who has been murdered and watches over her family - and her killer - from purgatory. She must weigh her desire for vengeance against her desire for her family to heal.

Review: “The Lovely Bones” sows that last days of Susie Salmon’s life and her first steps into heaven. Susan is a 14 year old girl, who dreams of becoming a photographer. Her life abruptly ends when she is brutally murdered. Her parents start a search for the killer. Meanwhile, Susie is in the ‘inbetween’, a place where the dead end up when they aren’t ready for heaven yet. And she watches how her father becomes obsessive in his search for the man who killed his daughter.
The film looks magical, the ‘inbetween’ looks beautiful.
Stanley Tucci and Saoirse Ronan are the two highlights of the film. Both performances are solid and strong. Ronan fits the dream world perfectly and Tucci is creepy as the sinister Harvey. He gets totally lost in his role and it’s really hard to imagine someone else in this role.
The tempo of the film is not that solid though. Sometimes it’s fast paced, sometimes it’s a bit of a drag. And the tone of the film sometimes switches too, which makes it a bit messy here and there. This doesn’t fit the dreamy world at all.
It’s really hard to rate this film, because it’s a really beautiful movie. It looks gorgeous and has some really good performances. And the story is beautiful as well. But there are some inconsistencies here and there. A case of ‘the book was better’ is in place here, but I still really enjoyed the film.

Rating: 3,5 / 5

100 Movie Challenge 2017 - # 42: About Ray

Director: Gaby Delal
Genre: Drama/ Comedy
Runtime: 87 minutes
Year: 2015
Starring: Naomi Watts, Elle Fanning, Susan Sarandon, Tate Donovan

Description: After Ray (Elle Fanning) decides to transition from female to male, Ray's mother, Maggie (Naomi Watts), must come to terms with the decision while tracking down Ray's biological father to get his legal consent.

Review: Worldwide acceptance maybe a long way, but transsexuality reaches a bigger audience nowadays.
In “About Ray” Elle Fanning plays Ramona, Ray. She is sixteen and wants to make the transition from girl to boy, because she always felt more like a boy. Fanning’s performance is really strong. For the testosterone therapy Ray has to go through, she needs consent from both of her parents. But Ray’s father left the family when she was just a baby. Mother Maggie wants the best for Ray, but why does she need to dig up the past.
“About Ray” is a charming drama with little hints of comedy here and there. The cast does a great job, but the film overall never manages to convince completely.

Rating: 3/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2016 - # 135: The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Director: Jim Sharman
Genre: Comedy/ Musical
Runtime: 100 minutes
Year: 1975
Starring: Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Richard O’Brien, Patricia Quinn, Nell Campbell, Jonathan Adams, Peter Hinwood, Meat Loaf, Charles Gray, Jeremy Newson, Hilary Labow, Perry Bedden, Christopher Biggins, Gaye Brown, Ishaq Bux, Stephen Calcutt, Hugh Cecil, Imogen Claire, Tony Cowan, Sadie Corre, Fran Fullenwider, Lindsay Ingram, Peggy Ledger, Annabel Leventon, Anthony Milner, Pamela Obermeyer, Tony Then, Kimi Wong, Gina Barrie, Rufus Collins, Petra Leah, Frank Lester, John Marquand, Koo Stark, Henry Woolf

Description: A newly engaged couple have a breakdown in an isolated area and must pay a call to the bizarre residence of Dr. Frank-N-Furter.

Review: When “The Rocky Horror Picture” was released, the audience ignored it and the movie was taken out of the theaters after a few weeks. It wasn’t until the early eighties that this movie got fans and praise. It’s one of the most extravagant, provocative and strange musical ever made.
The story itself isn’t very special. A newly engaged couple has car trouble and ends up in a castle, where they are trying to find a phone. It belongs to Frank-n-Furter.
The film is filled with catchy songs and dance routines, like “Time Warp” and “Sweet Transvestite”. “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” is a celebration of sexuality, glitter and glamour.
Dr. Frank-n-Furter is played by Tim Curry, who shows how versatile he actually is. He steals every scene and has a surprisingly good singing voice. Meatloaf also shows up for one song, which is my highlight of the film. But for the rest “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” is a weird mess. It’s a daring musical, that I was exciting to finally seeing. But I didn’t enjoy it as much as I hoped I would. It’s very kitschy and feels incoherent. Maybe this is one of those movies you have to experience on the big screen or as a live action stage musical.

Rating: 2,5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 41: Cloud Atlas

Director: Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski
Genre: Drama/ Science Fiction
Runtime: 164 minutes
Year: 2012
Starring: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Jim Sturgess, Hugo Weaving, Hugh Grant, James D’Arcy, Ben Wishaw, Susan Sarandon, Doona Bae, Keith David

Description: An exploration of how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present and future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and an act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution.

Review: I finished the book by David Mitchell in 2011 and I remember thinking this would be impossible to make into a film. The book has six separate stories, all in different eras and told in its own unique way. Directors Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski and Lana Wachoswki decided to give it a go.
The stories in “Clous Atlas” shift in time, where some elements from one story return in the other. The makers took a huge risk to change one important element . The book has five unfinished stories and the sixth is told completely. Then the other five stories are completed. De movie shifts between those stories in pretty much every scene. It’s a miracle that this doesn’t bother you, because you’re literally going from one point to another very abruptly.
Another risk is the cast. The most important actors play five or six different roles. Ýou can easily trust actors like Tom Hanks, Jim Broadbent and Hugo Weaving with that task, because they did a great job. The décor and make-up is just sublime.
“Cloud Atlas” could have been a masterpiece, but I stand with my first thought: It’s really hard to turn this magnificent book into a film. It didn’t capture the power of the novel. But that doesn’t take away that you can’t miss “Cloud Atlas”.

Rating: 4/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 19: The Big Wedding

Director: Justin Zackham
Genre: Comedy/ Romance
Runtime: 89 minutes
Year: 2013
Starring: Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton, Susan Sarandon, Katherine Heigl, Topher Grace, Amanda Seyfried, Robin Williams, Ben Barnes

Description: Don (Robert De Niro) and Ellie (Diane Keaton) were once married and have three children: Lyla (Katherine Heigl), Jared (Topher Grace) and adoptive son Alejandro (Ben Barnes). Eventually they divorce, Ellie moves away and Don hooks up with Bebe (Susan Sarandon), Ellie's best friend. When Alejandro is about to get married, he informs Don And Ellie that he never told his natural mother, who is so traditional,that they got divorced. And she is coming for the wedding so he asks them if they can pretend to still be married.

Review: You know that a first meeting starting with a lie never works out. That’s exactly what happens when Alejandro wants his divorced parents to pretend they are still together for his very religious biological mother.
It’s a cast with a lot of big names, but that doesn’t necessarily mean success. And “The Big Wedding” isn’t. Basically because of the chaotic script, which can’t seem to find a balance between sentimental clichés and corny jokes. It’s very predictable, some twists I could see from a mile away.
Acting veterans De Niro, Keaton, Williams and Sarandon never seem to carry this film to a higher level. Katherine Heigl seems like she was forced to do this movie, she has lost the charm she had when she was still on “Grey’s Anatomy”. And the storyline that Topher Grace has, is simply ridiculous. The wedding, which should be the highlight of the film, is also disappointing. Off course someone falls into the water and some punches are given. All you can do as a viewer is sigh of boredom.
“The Big Wedding” is an uninspired comedy that couldn’t be saved by the big actors. The movie feels forced and is very disappointing.

Rating: 1,5/ 5