100 Movie Challenge 2016 - # 144: Elle

Director: Paul Verhoeven
Genre: Drama/ Thriller
Runtime: 130 minutes
Year: 2016
Starring: Isabelle Huppert, Laurent Lafitte, Anne Consigny, Charles Berling, Virginie Efira, Judith Magre, Christian Berkel, Jonas Bloquet, Alice Isaaz, Vimala Pons, Raphaël Lenglet, Arthur Mazet, Lucas Prisor, Hugo Conzelmann, Stéphane Bak, Hugues Martel, Anne Loiret

Description: A successful businesswoman (Isabella Huppert) gets caught up in a game of cat and mouse as she tracks down the unknown man who raped her.

Review: The film opens with a brutal rape scene. It can go into two directions from there: it’s either going to be a revenge story or a tearjerking drama. But director Paul Verhoeven took a completely different path. “Elle” is a daring, somewhat perverted dark movie, which provokes.
Michèle is a tough business woman who wants tob e in control at all times. She runs a successful gaming company and wants no back talk from her employees. That Michèle turns everyone against her, is no surprise. When she is attacked and raped in her own house, she even picks up her daily routine, without calling the police. When het attacker starts to stalk her, she decides t take the matters in her own hands.
“Elle” is anything but polically correct. Michèle is surrounded by dubious characters: from her sexually active mother and her gigolo slash fiancée to her whimpy son and his aggressive pregnant girlfriend.
Michèle is portrayed by Isabella Huppert. She shows guts, both physically and emotionally. Huppert obviously carries this film, without any trouble The rest of the cast sort of fades because of her great performance.
“Elle” tries to balance between dark humor, thriller elements, satire and tries to shock. But one is standing in the way of the other. There never is a balance.

Rating: 3/ 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

Movie Trailer Sunday (266)

Here are this week's trailers.

Life
Director: Daniel Espinosa
Description: An international space crew discovers life on Mars.
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Reynolds, Rebecca Ferguson
Trailer: Trailer "Life"
Comment: I love space stories.

Gifted
Director: Marc Webb
Description: Frank (Chris Evans), a single man raising his child prodigy niece Mary, is drawn into a custody battle with his mother.
Starring: Chris Evans, Jenny Slate, Octavia Spencer, Lindsay Duncan, McKenna Grace
Trailer: Trailer "Gifted"
Comment: I like to see Chris Evans in a more emotional role.

La La Land
Director: Damien Chazelle
Description: A jazz pianist (Ryan Gosling) falls for an aspiring actress (Emma Stone) in Los Angeles.
Starring: Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling, J.K. Simmons, John Legend
Trailer: Trailer "La La Land"
Comment: THE 2016 I'm looking forward to the most!

The Lego Batman Movie
Director: Chris McKay
Description: Bruce Wayne (Will Arnett) must not only deal with the criminals of Gotham City, but also the responsibility of raising a boy he adopted.
Starring: Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Rosario Dawson, Ralph Fiennes, Zach Galifianakis, Jenny Slate
Trailer: Trailer "The Lego Batman Movie"
Comment: This looks like so much fun!!!

Pet
Director: Carles Torrens
Description: A psychological thriller about a man who bumps into an old flame and subsequently becomes obsessed with her, leading him to hold her captive underneath the animal shelter where he works. But what will the victim have in store for her assailant?
Starring: Ksenia Solo, Jennette McCurdy, Dominic Monaghan
Trailer: Trailer "Pet"
Comment: A creepy and twisted film.

Top 5 Thursday: Movies I Watched For My Challenge (October 2016)

I didn’t see many great film. But I did manage to create this monthly top 5 for you. Here are my favorite films I watched in October, for my challenge. (Sorry, I'm a day late)

5. Black Water
I always like creature features. It’s not spectacular, but with the low budget they had it looks really good and professional.

4. Trick ‘r Treat
A surprisingly fun and original horror flick, didn’t expect that. This could be one of those films that I will see every Halloween.

3. Sully
Not one of Tom Hanks’ best film, but again a fantastic performance. If the movie was longer, it would’ve been boring, but the film had the perfect length to stay interesting the entire runtime.

2. The Monster Squad
A film that every eighties kid will love, guarantee. It’s “The Goonies” meets “The Lost Boys” meets “Ghostbusters” meets “The Little Rascals”. It’s full of nostalgia.

1. The Neon Demon
This movie had been on my to-watch list for a while, because I’m a big fan of director Nicholas Winding Refn’s “Drive”. The movie is stylish, intelligent, scary and disturbing. Definitely a movie you should give a go.

They Almost Made the Top 5: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, The Danish Girl

100 Movie Challenge 2016 - # 142: Goosebumps

Director: Rob Letterman
Genre: Adventure/ Comedy/ Family/ Fanstasy/ Horror
Runtime: 103 minutes
Year: 2015
Starring: Jack Black, Amy Ryan, Jillian Bell, Ken Marino

Description: A teenager teams up with the daughter of young adult horror author R. L. Stine (Jack Black) after the writer's imaginary demons are set free on the town of Madison, Delaware.

Review: Jack Black is the perfect actor for a scary family film like “Goosebumps”, so it’s no surprise that he portrays writer R.L. Stine. He plays a fictional version of the real life author of the book series “Goosebumps”. Here he is a hermit, protecting his daughter Hannah. The new neighbor Zach is very curious about Stine and his daughter and just simply can’t accept that she can not leave the house. But when releasing Hannah, he releases a lot more.
From the beginning the movie is fast paced and has humor. Jillian Bell, as Zach’s aunt, brings some awkward family humor to the show. The young actors are solid and Jack Black is just enjoyable as R.L. Stine.
We don’t have to wait long for the first monsters to appear, that we all know from the populat books. It’s a bit like “Night at the Museum” or “Jumanji”. The horror is mild, because it’s supposed to be suitable for a younger audience. But it can get scary for the really young kids.
Zah and Hanna are the heroes of the story. Their nerdy companion Champ is not as fun. He is supposed to make it all a but lighter, but instead he’s a pretty annoying character that overreacts to every situation. At least Zach and Hannah act more realistic.
It’s actually very smart to use this story for the movie, because how do you pick from all those books. Instead the most iconic monsters from Stine’s book come to life and it works surprisingly well. I liked “Goosebumps” more than I expected and it wasn’t as bad as I thought. It’s an entertaining film, especially if you read the books as a kid.

Rating: 3/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2016 - # 141: Beasts of No Nation

Director: Cary Fukunaga
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 133 minutes
Year: 2015
Starring: Idris Elba, Abraham Attuh, Ama K. Abebrese, Opeyemi Fagbohunge, Richard Pepple

Description: A drama based on the experiences of Agu (Abraham Attuh), a child soldier fighting in the civil war of an unnamed African country.

Review: “Beast of No Nation” is the first original drama film for Netflix. And it’s a big gamble. It isn’t just a serious arthouse film, but also an expensive production with risky shots. And the cast is relatively unknown. But the talented director Cary Fukunaga, known for the first season of “True Detective” and the movie “Jane Eyre”, is someone you can trust with a project like this.
“Beasts of No Nation” opens in an unknown African country. There is a civil war going on, rebels are fighting the government. The country has safe zones, like the village of leading character Agu. He hardly notices anything of the war going on. But that safe feeling ends. The rebels are getting closer and there is decided to evacuate women and children. In all the chaos, Agu is left behind with his father and brother. The government troops mistake Agu and his family for rebels and his father and brother are killed. Agu manages to escape, but ends up in the hands of the rebels. There Agu is trained to be a soldier.
The main theme is the dehumanization of child soldiers. It appears that there are still almost a half million child soldiers on our planet, which makes this film topical. The film is focusing on one boy going through the process of becoming a child soldier.
Agu is played by Abraham Attah. He manages to touch us and projects his emotions very well. But Idris Elba, who plays Commandant, is phenomenal. He is scary in his presence, but he is also a man you will understand and respect. Elba created a fascinating character.
Netflix made a great choice to make “Beasts of No Nation”. The film shows the horrors of war and the sad truth about child soldiers. The result is impressive.

Rating: 5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2016 - # 140: The Girl on the Train

Director: Tate Taylor
Genre: Thriller/ Drama
Runtime: 112 minutes
Year: 2016
Starring: Emily Blunt, Haley Bennett, Justin Theroux, Rebecca Ferguson, Luke Evans, Laura Prepon, Allison Janney, Edgar Ramirez, Lisa Kudrow

Description: A divorcee (Emily Blunt) becomes entangled in a missing persons investigation that promises to send shockwaves throughout her life.

Review: “The Girl on the Train” has been compared to David Fincher’s “Gone Girl”. Both movie are adapted from books and are psychological thrillers, where the disappearance of a young woman is the focus. A comparison like this is dangerous, because you go in with very high expectations. For this reason alone, the movie will disappoint.
Rachel Watson is a divorcee that drinks away her tears. A happy couple that she passes every day on the train, is the only comfort in Rachel’s life. She fantasizes about their life. One day, Rachel wakes up coverend in scratches, bruises and blood. She has no idea what happened. And then the police show up, telling Rachel that Megan Hipweel went missing. The woman she has been watching on the train.
“The Girl on the Train” is a thriller that works best when you have no clue what’s it about. I read the book, so I knew what was going to happen. And director Tate Taylor stayed very close to the novel. The only difference is the location, he changed out London for New York. The movie is told from different perspectives, chapters and jumps in time. Thre is really no other way to tell this story, without giving away the twists the story has. So for the people who read the book, there are no surprises.
“The Girl on the Train” is more a plot drive film than a character drive film. The characters sometimes feel like pieces in a chess game, that are moving from one place to another until we get to the climax. The credibility of those characters is a bit lost sometimes.
Luke Evans, Edgar Ramirez and Rebecca Ferguson have strong supporting roles, but it’s without a doubt Emily Blunt that steals the show.
I read and saw so many bad reviews of “The Girl on the Train”. I liked the movie a lot, I just didn’t love it. Like I said before, it’s always dangerous to have such high expectations of a film.

Rating: 4/ 5