Top 5 Thursday: Movies I Watched for My Challenge (August 2015)

It was a great month for my movie challenge. Saw some awesome films this month, so here we go with the monthly top 5.

5. Eyes Wide Shut

I never watched this movie completely, I knew about that orgy scene and I kind of refused to watch it. But I’m glad I did now, because it’s an amazing film. The suspense and mystery is its strong point.

 

 

4. Still Alice

Wonderful performance by Julianne Moore in this touching story about a woman with Alzheimer’s disease. It really grabbed me.

 

 

3. Gosford Park

I reminded me of “Downton Abbey”, but then as a movie. I loved all the intrigue and secrets between the different characters.

 

 

2. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

A movie that has been on my watch list for quite some time, and I finally got to see it. It was fun, mostly because of Peter Sellers. Man, that guy is funny!

 

 

1. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation

I was so looking forward to seeing this movie and it met every expectation I had. It was freaking awesome. I just love Tom Cruise….

 

 

They Almost Made the Top 5: Shaun the Sheep, Trainwreck, Far From the Madding Crowd

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 111: All the President's Men

Director: Alan J. Pakula

Genre: Drama/ Thriller

Runtime: 138 minutes

Year: 1976

Starring: Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman, Jack Warden, Jason Robards, Hal Holbrook, Martin Balsam, Jane Alexander, Meredith Baxter, Stephen Collins, Penny Fuller, John McMartin, Robert Walden, Frank Wills, F. Murray Abraham

Description: Reporters Woodward (Robert Redford) and Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) uncover the details of the Watergate scandal that leads to President Nixon's resignation.

Review: This movie is probably the base for many journalists and their ambitions, but any upcoming reporter is obligated to see this. “All the President’s Men” is about some fine journalism. Protecting your sources, creative games to get information from people. And this all to reveal one of the biggest scandals in American history.

The movie is based on the book written by the two journalist Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. They wrote about the Watergate-affair. The fact that this scandal is real maeks the movie legendary, but Alan J. Pakula made good thriller. You have to pay attention though, because you get a lot of information from various people in different organizations. Although most people know what happened during the Watergate-affair, many will still be shocked by it and what it did to people.

The camera work isn’t extraordinary and sometimes it feels a bit repetitive. The setting is cold and sober, not much has been done to make it look better. But the acting by Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford makes up for it. Sometimes a bit too much, sometimes very thoughtless, it feels natural.

“All the President’s Men” is a pretty slow film that should be viewed for its contents. It’s an interesting film about an interesting topic.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 110: Funny Games

Director: Michael Haneke

Genre: Drama/ Crime/ Thriller

Runtime: 111 minutes

Year: 2007

Starring: Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, Michael Pitt, Brady Corbet, Devon Gearhart

Description: Two psychopathic young men take a family hostage in their cabin.

Review: “Funny Games” is a remake of the thriller from 1997 by director Michael Haneke. This German version of “Funny Games” gained Haneke international fame and was pretty controversial. Ten years later Haneke remakes his own film.

The movie is pretty much the same as the original. What would have been shocking back in 1997, is probably not that shocking anymore today. The actual confronting effects aren’t explicitly visible by the way.

The story starts pretty standard. Ann, George and their son Georgie are on their way to their cabin, to enjoy some sailing and golf. Their neighbors are acting a bit strange when they arrive and they are accompanied by two young men. Ann and George don’t really pay any attention to it, until those two young men visit them at their cabin. They ask for some eggs, for their neighbor, but Ann’s starts feeling uncomfortable. When George comes home, he tries to send the boys home. That’s when the situation escalates and the boys are starting to terrorize the family. They are going to play a game of life and death.

Especially the performances of Naomi Watts and Michael Pitt are strong and convincing. Tim Roth is solid, but his role is not as present. Also the young David Gearheart, as son Georgie, manages to act scared.

Like stated before, the violence is mostly off screen, but it gives you the chills anyway. You know what’s happening. Haneke also choose to let Michael Pitt’s character break the fourth wall. He talks to the audience, to start a discussion. This takes the tension out of the movie a bit and for me it didn’t fit in with the rest of the film.

For fans of slasher films, this is a pretty tame movie. Although the happenings in the movie are brutal, you hardly see anything of it. But fans of suspense movies will love it. The strong acting and the setting created by Haneke are reason enough to go see this film. A confronting film with a sinister atmosphere.

Rating: 4,5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 109: The Town

Director: Ben Affleck

Genre: Drama/ Crime/ Thriller

Runtime: 125 minutes

Year: 2010

Starring: Ben Affleck, Jeremy Renner, Rebecca Hall, John Hamm, Blake Lively, Pete Postlethwaite, Chris Cooper

Description: As he plans his next job, a longtime thief (Ben Affleck) tries to balance his feelings for a bank manager (Rebecca Hall) connected to one of his earlier heists, as well as the FBI agent (John Hamm) looking to bring him and his crew down.

Review: Since his directorial debut “Gone Baby Gone” everyone agrees that Ben Affleck is a better director than actor. The crime thriller, based on a book by Dennis Lehane, showed us he had a sense of timing and he knew what he wanted his actors to do. Wisely he let other actors do the work on camera. For his second film “The Town” he decided to give himself the lead role. Again the movie is based on a crime thriller, this time written by Chuck Hogan. “The Town” is definitely a good story and film, but sadly there isn’t the depth that “Gone Baby Gone” did have.

The story is set in Charlestown, a neighborhood in Boston. It’s a criminal town. Doug MacRay leads a gang of masked robbers, who often strike in the better parts of the neighborhood. During a bank heist, Doug’s aggressive partner Jem decides to take the bank manager hostage. They find out that the woman, Claire, lives in their neighborhood and to make sure she doesn’t tell on them, Doug accidentally meets her in a laundromat. Claire obviously doesn’t know Doug and the two go out. Doug also starts doubting his life as a criminal.

With “The Town”, Ben Affleck proofs again he is an excellent director. It’s a good crime thriller and it’s definitely worth watching. But a deeper layer is missing. There are scenes with more depth, like when Doug visits his father in jail, the introduction of the drug lord, played by Pete Postlethwaite and the FBI agent played by Jon Hamm. Off course, people love seeing car chases and flying bullets, but the lack of depth makes this movie not as good as it could have been.

The acting is great. Pete Postlethwaite and Chris Cooper only have small roles, but manage to impress in the few scenes they have. Jeremy Renner is the one to watch, because his character is very interesting and his performance strong. Rebecca Hall and Blake Lively are good as well. Jon Hamm’s character hardly has an interesting thing to do, he was underused. And Ben Affleck is overshadowed by most of the actors. His character is interesting, his acting mediocre.

“The Town” is a solid thriller, but don’t expect too much depth. Ben Affleck should keep on directing, but maybe with someone else in the lead. (In “Argo” it didn’t work that great either)

Rating: 3/ 5

Monthly 4: August 2015

ANother month went by. Itwas a month woth ups and downs. I did one super amazing thing, and some bad things happened. Like my dad who was in an accident and me going into surgery.

 

 

1. In August me and my brother traveled to the Galapagos Islands. What an amazing place to be. We saw so many islands, not one island is the same. And there are so many beautiful animals, who you can get really close to. For travel fans and nature lovers, I can recommend the Galapagos Islands.

2. In the Galapagos, we also went snorkeling a couple of times. I never thought I would do that though. It was a bit scary, but I’m glad I did it.

3. I love arts and crafts and hand lettering is one of my recent new hobbies. I doodles this happy birthday card for my friend Inge and send her this pic.

4. Okay, maybe this is not one of my favorite things, but I had surgery this month. They removed vascular veins and now I have to wear this ugly sock for three weeks.

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 108: Drinking Buddies

Director: Joe Swanberg

Genre: Drama/ Romance

Runtime: 87 minutes

Year: 2013

Starring: Olivia Wilde, Jake Johnson, Anna Kendrick, Ron Livingston, Jason Sudeikis

Description: Luke (Jake Johnson) and Kate (Olivia Wilde) are coworkers at a brewery who spend their nights drinking and flirting heavily. One weekend away together with their significant others proves who really belongs together and who doesn't.

Review: Ever heard of the term ‘mumblecore’? No? It’s a movie with a low budget, cheap montage, improvisation by the actors and focus on the dialogue. “Drinking Buddies” is a movie that falls in the subgenre of the Indie flick.

Director Joe Swanberg is one of the founders of mumblecore. His movies are about the reflection of life. No special effects, because life itself is spectacular enough. “Drinking Buddies” is a bit different, because he had more budget. So he could have actors like Olivia Wilde and Anna Kendrick star in it.

“Drinking Buddies” follows Kate and Luke. They are co-workers at a beer brewery and are perfect for each other. One problem: they are both in a relationship. Luke is about to marry his girlfriend Jill, with whom he has been with for six years, and Kate is dating music producer Chris.

Wilde shines in this film and shows us she is a very good actress. She is charming, witty and sharp. Kendrick doesn’t show that though, the way she did in movies like “Pitch Perfect” and “50/ 50”. In those movies she really showed what she was made of. Ron Livingston and Jake Johnson are both very solid and likeable. All the characters are realistic, sympathetic and there is always one you can identify with.

The movie is sometimes a bit slow, just like in real life. I think if the pace was higher, more people would have loved this movie. I didn’t mind that by the way, this is my sort of movie. I like this mumblecore genre.

Rating: 4/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 107: Escape Plan

Director: Mikael Håfström

Genre: Action/ Drama

Runtime: 116 minutes

Year: 2013

Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jim Caviezel, Amy Ryan, Sam Neill, Vincent D’Onofrio, Vinnie Jones, Curtis Jackson

Description: When a structural-security authority (Sylvester Stallone) finds himself set up and incarcerated in the world's most secret and secure prison, he has to use his skills to escape with help from the inside.

Review: After “The Expendables” there is another movie starring two of the biggest action stars: Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger. It follows the story of Ray Breslin, who tests prisons on security. He gets locked up voluntarily and then tries to break out to show the prison’s weaknesses. When Ray gets the offer to test a new prison, he doesn’t doubt one second, but the minute they take him in he does start to doubt it. The warden says he doesn’t know him, Ray’s evacuation code doesn’t work and it seems impossible to escape without knowing the blue print of the prison or help from the outside.

“Escape Plan” starts like a typical prison break movie. Like the stereotypical prisoners: the man who can get things, the white Aryan, the sadistic guard. More important than the actions is the interaction between them and the ingenious way to escape. The movie has many imperfections and the solutions are sometimes so far-fetched, it doesn’t help its credibility. Besides, the most secure prison in the world looks very futuristic. It could have been a cinematographic good looking piece, with the feeling you’re always watched and more depth and perspective. The first 20 minutes weren’t all that great. Once Arnold Schwarzenegger enters the stage, it becomes fun. It’s just fun to see Schwarzenegger and Stallone together, because I grew up with those guys. The planning of the break out and the interaction between the two is entertaining as hell. The scenes in the prison were cool, as soon as they cut away from the prison I was bored.

You get what you expect from Stallone and Schwarzenegger, and I think that’s we love about them. Every movie fan is just thrilled about the idea of those two together, and so was I. I would pay money to see a movie with the dumbest plot ever if Stallone and Schwarzenegger star in it. Jim Caviezel, as the warden, was a pretty good bad guy by the way. That surprised me. Other characters and actors didn’t impress me very much.

I didn’t expect anything good and this movie isn’t very surprising. But it’s enjoyable to watch and it entertained me.

Rating: 3/ 5