100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 97: Rear Window

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Genre: Thriller

Runtime: 112 minutes

Year: 1954

Starring: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey, Thelma Ritter, Raymond Burr

Description: The wheelchair bound photographer L.B. Jefferies (James Stewart) spies on his neighbours from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.

Review: Alfred Hitchcock is pushing the boundaries of his own thriller genre with “Rear Window”. He sets you on the wrong foot and in this unique setting he does this in an excellent way.

In the opening scene the blinds are opened in L.B. Jefferies’ apartment, while looking out on a New York courtyard. Because he is bound to a wheelchair, all Jefferies does is watching his neighbors and we see everything through his perspective. Jefferies is a gloomy man and even his beautiful girlfriend Lisa can’t get him out of that shell. The subtle sarcasm that Hitchcock uses to tackle the man-woman relationship in the fifties, hits every mark. And the character of nurse Stella, a cynical, bossy woman, works perfect as a counterweight. The black humor and the thriller elements are seamlessly interwoven.

You wouldn’t expect a movie set in only one location to be exciting, but the tension is added by the powerlessness of the handicapped Jefferies. This limits the field of view. Even to the day, when people are more focused on detail and hardly have any patience, this is a joy to watch. The actual confrontation may look a bit outdated, but doesn’t bother me personally.

“Rear Window” is a must-see for every mystery and thriller fan and is one of Alfred Hitchcock’s pearls.

Rating: 5/ 5

Me & 3 Amy Adams Movies

I’ve come to love Amy Adams over the years. She is so vibrant on the screen, you just can’t go around her. Adams has actually grown out to be one of my favourite actresses. Here are the three movies I picked and what I think of them.

Trouble with the Curve

Genre: Drama

Year: 2012

Director: Robert Lorenz

Cast: Clint Eastwoord, Amy Adams, Justin Timberlake, John Goodman, Robert Patrick, Matthew Lillard, Bob Gunton

Description: Gus (Clint Eastwood) is a baseball scout. The team he works for thinks he should retire. He asks them to let him do one more scouting job to prove himself. His friend, Pete (John Goodman), asks Gus’ estranged daughter, Mickey (Amy Adams), if she could go with him to make sure he's okay as his eyes are failing.

Opninion: It could have been a lot better, but what I loved the most is the father/ daughter relationship between Eastwood and Adam’s characters.

Favorite character: Mickey (Amy Adams)

Most memorable quote: “I know I'm as blind as a slab of concrete, but I'm not helpless. I'll put a bullet in my head when that happens.” –Gus-

Best scene: The scene where Micky and Gus are showing off the new player, who can throw a curveball.

American Hustle

Genre: Drama/ Crime

Year: 2013

Director: David O. Russell

Cast: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner, Jennifer Lawrence, Alessandro Nivola, Louis C.K., Robert De Niro

Description: Con man Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) and his seductive partner Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) are forced to work for wild FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper). He pushes them into a world of Jersey powerbrokers and mafia.

Opinion: Good story and great acting by especially Bale, Adams and Renner. Nice job on making it look like the actual ‘70s.

Favorite character: Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner)

Most memorable quote: “You're nothing to me until you're everything.” –Sydney Prosser-

Best scene: Irving and Sydney dance to Duke Ellington.

Julie & Julia

Genre: Comedy

Year: 2009

Director: Nora Ephron

Cast: Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Chris Messina, Stanley Tucci, Jane Lynch

Description: Julia Child's (Meryl Streep) story of her start in the cooking profession is intertwined with blogger Julie Powell's (Amy Adams) 2002 challenge to cook all the recipes in Child's first book.

Opinion: The perfect movie for foodies, dont watch it if you haven't eaten yet. Although Amy Adams is a bit overshadowed by Meryl Streep, both ladies are great in their roles.

Favorite character: Paul Child (Stanley Tucci)

Most memorable quote: “These damn things are as hot as a stiff cock!” –Julia Child-

Best scene: Julia Childs hears that her book will be published.

Favorite of the 3: “American Hustle”

Top 5 Thursday: Live-Action Disney Movies

Disney will always be known for its animated features, with the cute characters and sing-s-long songs. But there are also a lot of great live-action, some of them may include animated sequences . Here are my favourites.

5. Mary Poppins

This definitely deserves a spot in the top 5. What kid doesn’t want someone like Mary Poppins to be their nanny? And I still know the lyrics to the songs!

 

4. Enchanted

You know how Disney can be over the top? Well, “Enchanted” does the perfectly. And Amy Adams does is fantastically. I love this movie, which catchy Disney songs.

 

3. Honey, I Shrunk the Kids

The movie Rick Moranis is best known for. A fun, adventurous film that is enjoyable for the whole family.

 

2. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

This is still the best in the series, the one that introduced us to the very memorable and iconic character Jack Sparrow, played by Johnny Depp. It’s easy to think of him, while thinking of Depp.

 

1. The Muppets

Who doesn’t love the Muppets, they are such a loveable bunch of critters. I was so excited to finally see them in a movie again. The first one since they’ve been adopted by Disney.

 

They Almost Made the Top 5: Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey, Remember the Titans, The Santa Claus, Cool Runnings, Bridge to Terabithia

Video of the Week (15)

I stumbled upon this video and I just adore it. A couple is toying around with some Coca Cola cans, you know the ones with names on it. And this is their way of announcing that they are having a baby. So awesome!

 

 

Marry, Kiss, Cliff - Round 4

Round 4: Guy Patterson (“That Thing You Do”), Ian Malcolm (“Jurassic Park”) and Jerry Dandridge (“Fright Night”)

 

Marry: Guy Patterson is husband material, very caring and loves his music. I think we would have a lot of fun going to concerts and music festivals together.

Kiss: I know he’s an evil vampire, but can’t you blame me for thinking this? Just look at him!

Cliff: I really like Ian Malcolm, but he’s a mathematician. He would drive me nuts.

DVD Collection Update (17)

Ten new ones in my collection. So pleased with them and some lukcy breaks as well. Here they are.

 

First I got a movíe I've been wanting to see it since I saw its trailer. It never played in our theaters, but when it was released on DVD I immediately bought it. And I loved "Nebraska", especially Bruce Dern. He's just great.

"Philomena" is also a movie I've been waiting to see and it also didn't disappoint me. Judi Dench is so good and together with Steve Coogan she forms an amazing duo.

This is just amazing!!! "The Grand Budapest Hotel" is a true art piece. Wes Anderson has become one of my favorite directors.

Finally my country released it! The second part of season 13 of my most beloved show "CSI". That great episode, where Sara is suspected of murder, is on this. I think that's a great episode. And the one where Neal McDonough guest stars, is also awesome.

This was the Lucky break. I bumped into it, knowing I really forgot about this comedy series. "The IT Crowd" is so hilarious, I watched the entire series in just three days. Don't you just love Moss and Roy?

Finally saw it yesterday. I think I expected more, but it was still an amazing movie. I especially liked Amy Adams and Christian Bale. Great performance by Jeremy Renner too.

I'm craving to see "Jurassic World" but because I have to wait for that, I decided to still that hunger by getting "The Lost World: Jurassic Park". Off course not as great as the first, but I love this as well. I just love dinosaurs!

Don't know if "Premium Rush" is any good, but I bought it because of Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Yeah, guilty!

"Julie & Julia" is such a feel good film, it makes me smile. I like both Meryl Streep and Amy Adams in their roles, but also Stanley Tucci (who I wish I knew in real life). And all that delicious food....

Last I got season 6 and 7 of "Waking the Dead". Only two more to go and my collection is complete.

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 96: A.C.O.D.

Director: Stu Zicherman

Genre: Comedy

Runtime: 90 minutes

Year: 2013

Starring: Adam Scott, Richard Jenkins, Catherine O’Hara, Jane Lynch, Amy Poehler, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jessica Alba

Description: Carter (Adam Scott) is a grown man caught in the crossfire of his parents' 15-year divorce discovers he was unknowingly part of a study on divorced children and is enlisted in a follow-up years later, which wreaks new havoc on his family.

Review: In America the chance of a marriage ending is fifty percent. At least that’s what the beginning of this movie tells us. A.C.O.D. stands for Adult Children of Divorce and the successful Carter is the classic example of that. Always the mediator between his parents, trying to get their approval and always insecure. Then he discovers a book written by a child psychologist, and he is one of the subjects. When Carter’s brother is getting married, he needs his parents to act civil around each other.

Carter’s personality crisis is told in a light fashion and is never dull. This is director Stu Zicherman’s debut film and scenarist Ben Karlin wrote episodes of “Modern Family”. Together they manage to get some good jokes and funny dialogues. Adam Scott fulfills his leading role very well, but it’s his on screen parents Richard Jenkins and Catherine O’Hara that give “A.C.O.D.” the living color. And also Jane Lynch, as psychologist Dr. Judith, steals the show.

There is a good balance between comedy and drama, but towards the end it’s losing that balance. It gets more serious and is trying to go a bit deeper. The humor doesn’t have the edge like a satire, so it doesn’t work.

“A.C.O.D.” is an enjoyable film, a pretty good debut by Stu Zicherman. Sadly it didn’t manage to keep that same level the entire runtime, but it’s still a fun film.

Rating: 3/ 5