10s Movie Review - Concussion

Director: Peter Landesman
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 118 minutes
Year: 2015
Starring: Will Smith, Alec Baldwin, Albert Brooks, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, David Morse, Eddie Marsan, Hill Harper, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Stephen Moyer, Richard T. Jones, Paul Reiser, Luke Wilson

Description: In Pittsburgh, accomplished pathologist Dr. bennet Omalu (Will Smith) uncovers the truth about brain damage in football players who suffer repeated concussions in the course of normal play.

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2021 MOVIE CHALLENGE.
WEEK 30: A MOVIE RECOMMENDED BY A FRIEND
 
Review: Mike Webster was one of the best center players in the National Football League (NFL) in America. He played professional American Football for sixteen years, mostly for the Pittsburgh Steelers. After his career, he soon declined. He lives in a pickup truck and suffers from dizziness, forgetfulness and insomnia. Not surprisingly, he dies. A heart attack is soon the official reading. Nigerian forensic neuropathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu is assigned to investigate Webster. He discovers that something is wrong with the brain, but can’t quite pinpoint what it is. When another former football player dies, Omalu notices the same brain abnormalities. Could there be something more going on with football players after all? Omalu tries to bring this to the attention of the NFL board, but his research is dismissed as nonsense. In fact, since then Omalu has only been thwarted in his investigation and even received death threats.
Jeanne Marie Laskas wrote the article Game Brain for the men’s magazine GC in 2009. In it, she describes the story of how Nigerian Dr. Bennet Omalu discover what effect the hard hits and collisions of American Football players have on their brains. And how Omalu is opposed by the entire NFL after this discovery. Peter Landesman is a director and writer, but also a journalist. He has written a number of articles on human and gun trafficking for New York Time Magazine, The New Yorker and other leading magazines. His first feature film, “Parkland”, dealt with the aftermath of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. He made the follow-up “Concussion” in response to Jeanne Marie Laskas’ article. His background as a journalist came in handy for the structured telling of the story surrounding Dr. Bennet Omalu and his investigations. A story that is structured according to fairly standard principles, but contains poignant moments. Its distressing that a large organization like the NFL considers entertainment interests more important than the health of its players. Somehow it’s understandable, because the stakes are high. The NFL desperately needs the players to keep the entertainment going. The chances that young people will stop playing American football when they hear that it can cause brain damage are high, so the sport will eventually cease to exist. Yet it is strange that people do not want to look for a solution, but continue to deny the danger Omalu points out.
As a sub-line in the story, there’s Omalu’s personal struggle to adapt to the American system as an immigrant. He wants to succeed at all costs in the promised land. But as a Nigerian, he has his own ideas and principles and they do not always correspond to what is expected in America. This leads to misunderstanding on both sides. Omalu is portrayed by Will Smith, who is very convincing, inspiring and strong in his role. Another actor I need to point out is David Morse. He only has a minor role at the start of the film, but he really leaves an impression.
“Concussion” doesn’t really color outside the lines. The film is made according to standard movie laws. But a film like “Spotlight” had already shown that you can still make an interesting film this way, because the content is so well done. “Concussion” can’t match that film, but is intriguing enough to keep you interested the entire runtime.

Rating: 4/ 5

90s Review - The Green Mile

Director: Frank Darabont
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 181 minutes
Year: 1999
Starring: Tom Hanks, David Morse, Bonnie Hunt, Michael Clarke Duncan, James Cromwel, Michael Jeter, Graham greene, Doug Hutchison, Sam Rockwell, Barry Pepper, Jeffrey DeMunn, Patricia Clarkson, Harry Dean Stanton

Description: The lives of guards on Death Row are affected by one of their charges: a black man accused of child murder and rape, yet who has a mysterious gift.

Review: Director Frank Darabont is at his best when filming adaptations of Stephen King novels. His directorial debut, “The Shawshank Redemption”, hit every mark. With “The Green Mile” he’s on trusted territory, because it’s also set in a prison. It does introduce a new element: the paranormal. “The Green Mile” is set in a death row cell block, led by Paul Edgecomb, in 1935. They call it the green mile. He runs it with his best friend Brutus Howell, the young Dean Stanton, veteran Harry Terwilliger and newcomer and sadistic Percy Wetmore.
All prison guards, except for Percy, want the prisoners the end their life in the most humane way possible. The silent Native American Arlen Bitterbuck and the joyful Eduard ‘Del’ Delacroix are both waiting for their judgment day. One day, the gigantic John Coffey is brought in. He is sentenced for the rape and murder of two young girls. But he looks more dangerous then he actually is. Coffey is afraid of the dark and has a gentle character. Soon Paul discovers that something special is going on and that John Coffey has a gift.
Like “The Shawshank Redemption”, “The Green Mile” is a film that’s carried by the actors. Tom Hanks is perfect for his role as sympathetic protagonist and through his eyes we see the story. Doug Hutchison is very convincing as the exasperating Percy. Sam Rockwell goes nuts as crazy inmate Wild Bill, David Morse is likeable as the goodhearted Brutus and James Cromwell portrays his role as prison boss very well. But it’s Michael Clarke Duncan that impresses the most. He grabs viewers and it’s really hard not to like him.
“The Green Mile” is a powerful film with a good message, that will leave many people in tears. The characters get all the room to exploit. Darabont puts the focus on the characters and not on the plot.

Rating: 5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2017 - # 73: Horns

Director: Alexander Aja
Genre: Thriller/ Horror/ Fantasy/ Drama
Runtime: 120 minutes
Year: 2013
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Max Minghella, Juno Temple, Kelli Garner, James Remar, Kathleen Quinlan, Heather Graham, David Morse

Description: In the aftermath of his girlfriend's (Juno Temple) mysterious death, a young man (Daniel Radcliffe) awakens to find strange horns sprouting from his temples.

Review: He’s come a long way since Harry Potter. Daniel Radcliffe has done some more controversial stuff after his iconic role. He appeard naked on West End, portrayed a homosexual poet and now this devilish film called “Horns”.
After his girlfriend Merrin is murdered, Iggy’s life turns into a nightmare. He is suspect number one, but there are also two horns growing on his forehead. Not only is it very unpractical, but it brings something else. People decide to share their deepest and darkest secrest with him. This gives some dark humoristic moments. But also secrets from his family he didn’t want to know about. But Iggy’s new ‘gift’ is also the perfect tool to find Merrin’s killer.
The film is very original and offers lots of opportunities to be interesting. And it is. But director Alexander Aja didn’t choose, whether “Horns” is a dark comedy or a drama. There are many examples where both genres worked perfectly together, but for “Horns” it’s an obvious two way street. It’s hard to define it.
“Horns” is still interesting enough to finish and very original. And it’s great to see Radcliffe in a role like this too.

Rating: 3/ 5

Movie Moments: "The Green Mile"

One of the best movies with Tom Hanks, directed by Frank Darabont and based on a Stephen King novel. I recently rewatched it and it made me cry… again. Here are the best moments from “The Green Mile”.

Moment # 1: Meet John Coffey
After Paul Edgecomb has unsuccessfully tried to urinate, with a very bad blather infection, colleague Percy is bringing in a new prisoner. His name is John Coffey and he is enormous. He looks scarier than he is, because he’s afraid of the dark.

Moment # 2: Little guest
Brutus calls in his colleagues to inform them about an unwanted guest: a little mouse. He hides away in the isolation cell. To catch the mouse, they have to clean out the cell because they never use it.

Moment # 3: Mr. Jingles
The mouse is back and has made a friend. One of the inmates, Del, has taught him some tricks and even gave him a name: Mr. Jingles.

Moment # 4: Wild Bill strikes
Another new inmate, Bill Wharton aka Wild Bill. He’s been brought in and he’s seems to be on a lot of medicine. But he’s only pretending, because he strikes and grabs Dean. Percy has the opportunity to do something, but doesn’t. Eventually the other guards help Dean and manage to overpower Bill.

Moment # 5: Miracle
Paul is still battling with a blather infection and it’s killing him. When John Coffey calls for him, he tells Paul he can help him. Coffey grabs Paul by the crotch and light bulbs start to flicker. Coffey has taken the infection away from him.

Moment # 6: Percy pees his pants
After being rattles by Del, Wild Bill grabs Percy. He’s so scared that he pees himself. Something that Del laughs about. Something he shouldn’t have done.

Moment # 7: Mr. Jingles’ death and resurrection
Del is about to get is payback for laughing at Percy, because mean Percy steps on Mr. Jingles. John Coffey wants to heal him and Paul hands Mr. Jingles over to Coffey. After he brought the mouse back to life, Paul and the other guards want to see Percy’s reaction to seeing Mr. Jingles alive again.

Moment # 8: Del’s execution
It’s judgment day for Del and unfortunately Percy is leading the execution. As for preparation, the person on the chair needs to have a wet sponge on his head so the electricity goes through the body easily. Percy knows it, but he decides not to wet the sponge. The other guards don’t see it until it’s too late. Del gets the most painful death and is literally fried. Percy sees what he has done.

Moment # 9: Paul has an idea
Paul has his collegues over for dinner and talks to them about John Coffey and the gift he has. They all witnessed the mouse miracle, but Paul also tells them about how Coffey cured him. Paul now suggest that Coffey can help Melinda, Hal’s wife.

Moment # 10: Melinda
They are going through with the plan to take John Coffey to Hall Moore’s house. Hall doesn’t want him inside the house at first, but he trusts Paul. John takes the decease away from Melinda.

Moment # 11: John Coffey’s execution
It’s the day. The day of John Coffey’s execution. Clearly everyone is upset by the situation, especially because Paul know that he didn’t kill anyone. Because it can’t be proven, they have to go through with it. They are all very emotional, Dean even cries.

Favorite Moment: Moment # 11: John Coffey’s execution (not because I’m cruel, this scene really touches me and hits every nerve in my body)

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 28: World War Z

Director: Mark Forster
Genre: Action/ Thriller
Runtime: 116 minutes
Year: 2013
Starring: Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, David Morse, Matthew Fox, James Badge Dale, Fana Mokoena, Moritz Bleibtreu

Description: United Nations employee Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) traverses the world in a race against time to stop the Zombie pandemic that is toppling armies and governments, and threatening to destroy humanity itself.

Review: When a mysterious pandemic breaks out in the big cities of the US, the complete country panics. We see it through the eyes of the Lane family. Father Gerry is a former researcher for the UN and he needs to help out. But not just in America.
“World War Z” was filmed in 3D, but there is only a few scenes that need this. Some of the action sequences could be cooler in 3D, because the CGI is very nice. But in general it doesn’t really add anything extra.
The movie has some good scare effects, but it never really shocks. For instance, there is not one child that gets hit by the pandemic. The movie does immediately drag you into the story, because there is no time for introduction. The movie gets to the point very quickly.
I always like zombie – and apocalyptic movies, and “World War Z” gave me that. There are a couple of critical notes, but they aren’t big enough to bother me while watching this film.

Rating: 3,5/ 5