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The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
The Best Movie of All Time.
Once again, another year (or Christmas) goes by and this movie is thrust onto the television screen for all to enjoy. And what an enjoyable movie it is - as I've seen it countless times now.
The major theme that runs throughout this film is hope. The main character Andy Dufresne, played by Tim Robbins, is the one who shines a beacon of hope like an Olympic athlete carrying the torch to the cauldron, and this starts from time he enters Shawshank prison. The other main character, Red, played by Morgan Freeman, said he took to liking him from the beginning as "he strolled, like a man in a park without a care or a worry in the world, like he had on an invisible coat that would shield him from this place. Yeah, I think it would be fair to say...I liked Andy from the start." And Andy even inspires Red to "hope" for a life outside of the prison walls and to join him in a free life on a Mexican beach by the Pacific sea.
And the theme of hope is also enforced by a darker side. The prison librarian, Brooks, played by James Whitmore, who has been a resident for 50 years, is given parole and leaves prison to "enter" life outside of the four walls. And upon realising that he can't come to terms with the pace of life and no family or friends to turn to, he loses hope, and ends his life. I think that this theme is the magic that most people like about this movie. It's the glue that joins the friendship between Andy and Red. And its the thing that viewers, like me, can relate our life and experiences to.
Even after so many viewings I still feel that this movie is powerful and a revelation to pretty much every person. Its pretty much a powerful contemporary tale of a Biblical story. A story about hope, friendship, loss, betrayal, contempt (particularly what the antagonist prison warden Norton brings), brutality, injustice, crime and so forth.
I think that this movie deserves to be played on a yearly basis, particularly on Christmas day. It's a modern day retelling of a Biblical story.
I believe everyone should see this movie at least once.
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Great.
I watched this movie for the very first time last night. However it was the Redux version, slightly longer than the original version with a few scenes that were cut from the original that were put into this.
What a great movie! Great acting by Martin Sheen as Captain Willard, Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper, Laurence Fishburne and a small but intriguing performance by the great Marlon Brando.
I loved the camera work and cinematography. Francis Ford Capolla really put his heart and sole into this epic and it really showed. They must have payed a fortune to finance the helicopter and aircraft and pyrotechnics in this flick. Incredible.
10/10
Maniac (2012)
Bits hard to watch.
I was invited by a friend to watch this film at the film festival in NZ due to this film being banned entirely in the country.
First and foremost, the violence is in doses, but it is extreme and graphic, and all that. I had to close my eyes as the butcher work was too hard to watch.
Elijah Wood was great as the main character. I liked him in LoTR trilogy and I didn't seem to dislike/loath this character like other reviewers have after watching this film.
For some reason this movie reminded me of Drive which came out a couple of years ago. Both are quite moody and unsettling. I don't know which is the better movie.
An interesting film, albeit extremely graphic.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
Reasonable.
I've read the books and have seen the other Swedish movies. But this version seemed so confusing and disjointed that it was, at times, hard to watch.
The acting was fine. However, I didn't really get Daniel Craig's role as Mikael Blomkvist. He muttered his way through the first half of the movie and only picked up his game in the second.
Just like most books adapted to the big screen a few thing were not included from the book. The part in the book where Harriet Vanger was living in Australia as a farmer was not included in the movie.
Entertaining, but slightly flawed.
7/10
Avatar (2009)
Average film.
I, like everyone else, went straight away to see this movie on the big screen. I saw it within the week of it coming out. It was a spectacular film from a visuals point of view. But taking into account the storyline and acting, the movie was weak.
The story was clichéd, like everyone else on here has pointed out. Also, the acting was very wooden. The only aspect which saved the movie from being a total failure was the A class special effects and CGI work from Weta workshop in Wellington, New Zealand.
I hope that Avatar 2 will be an improvement on the trollope that was served up.
The King's Speech (2010)
Well done.
I thought that this movie was brilliant. I give it a 10 out of a 10. Why? The story was touching. We get to see the personal side of the royal family before and during WW2: the toing and froing between the two brothers, Edward and George; and of course the main story: King George's very personal battle with his stammer and public speaking. George was constantly stood on and belittled by his brother and his father and thought that he would not fit the 'true' picture of a perfect King. With the help of a speech therapist he finally comes to grips with his speech impediments, and thus gains more control of his fear of public speaking.
The cast was brilliant. Colin Firth, particularly, stole the film. Aided with the speech therapist played by Geoffrey Rush, he steals every scene he is in. Having said that though Rush was brilliant in his role. The cheeky down-to-earth Aussie provided a bit of light relief with the seriousness being shown. Other good performances were Timothy Spall as Winston Churchill and the great Michael Gambon as King George V.
Män som hatar kvinnor (2009)
A well-cast movie.
Now I haven't seen many Swedish movies. If I have, I can't remember them. I got out this movie from the local video store and I watched it last night. I was quite surprised how well done this movie was. I was captivated by the excellent performances by the Swedish actors, all of whom I've never seen before. Every actor was the exact portrayal of the character in the book. Henrik Vanger, Lisbeth Salander, the evil Nils Bgurman and others. At first, I wasn't convinced by Mikael Blomkvist; but as the movie moved on I gradually got to him him better and was enthralled by his performance.
I didn't know how the movie makers were going to tackle the horrific rape scene or scenes in the book. It was unsettling to watch, but it worked. I nearly had my finger on the fast-forward button but managed to get through the gritty scenes.
I've read Stieg Larsson's book, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo about 6 months ago. I loved the book. I thought it would make a great movie but I wouldn't think that a Hollywood blockbuster would do it justice, as this book is obviously set in Sweden. But this movie has done that.
Drive (2011)
Slightly above average film.
I have mixed feelings about this film. The biggest failing is that it is quite slow, bordering on being boring, particularly the first half. The main character comes across as quite complex as he doesn't talk that much. There is quite a lot of attention to his facial expressions.
The second half, however, is quite different. It takes a different turn when the father of the boy is shot dead and the audience reacts with shock. From there it's a bit of a chase after the 'bad' guy. The violence comes, and it is disturbing.
Interesting film.
6/10
Mýrin (2006)
I good yarn.
I have read most of Arnaldur Indridason's novels about Erlendur's murder investigations in Iceland. I didn't read them in sequence: I read Jar City after reading the novels, Silence of the Grave, Voices, The Draining Lake and Arctic Chill. I loved Silence of the Grave and Arctic Chill, but didn't seem to get into his first novel (Jar City). But this book was well adapted to the big screen.
All the characters were as I had imagined them to be. The landscape and background was all there: bleak and featureless; cold and windswept.
But the music was a little off-putting: the music seemed to remind me of old Gothic horror movies.
7/10
I Am Legend (2007)
A movie too short, and lacking in answers
I was somewhat disappointed with this movie. The first aspect was that so much was happening but not much of it was explained in any depth, as a previous user has already commented. The reasons of why a virus spread around the world which killed all but a few of the world's population was only brushed. Why did the virus spread; why did so many people die; how come a wee community of people were spared at the end of the movie? The movie was in some way a bit like War of the Worlds. The movie was so unusual and unrealistic that it didn't make any sense.
Another aspect why I was disappointed was that the movie was very short. I expected it to be a bit longer with the budget of a typical Hollywood blockbuster. It could have been a bit longer if the issues were explained a bit more.
Also, the CGI wasn't very good. The infected people were like the characters out of The Lord of the Rings. What I am trying to say is the computerised effects was at the same level as the LoTR in 2003.
6/10.