Reviews

What is the main purpose of art? Yeah, right, to express yourself and tell the world your story. This is what "Straight Outta Compton" movie is about - to show people the reality as it is and to inspire everyone to fight for their rights and better life, with no fear. And this is what guys from Compton did. They went against the system. They weren't afraid of anything, they just decided to become "the voice of their streets" and change their reality through music and make other people believe they were able to do the same as well, if they didn't like the situation they were in. Of course, it wasn't that easy. There was a lot of misunderstanding, refusals, protests, but at the end it all was worth of that. Guys were accepted and supported by people. But, as it usually happens, nothing good last forever. Within the group there was a lot of controversy, plus dishonest manager who just used the guys to enrich himself. All this affected the group and, as the result, the group stopped its existing. And then everyone went on its own.

I should stress out a great director's work. The way the camera moves, scenes sequences - nothing special, but still it looks so real that you feel like if you were inside the action. Such effect is also due to the great actors' performance and well thought script. I think there could't be any other movie telling N.W.A. story.

I would recommend this movie to everyone, especially to those who appreciate hip-hop music and its culture. The movie makes it clear how hop-hop appeared and what the main message is. And it will also be very interesting for common people, because the film is very tense, it's full of action, drama, it has a real story to tell.

Time is one of the topics touched in Christopher Nolan's Interstellar. But it is not the only one. There are many other themes presented in the movie and that make you reflect on them, such as Nature, space, future of the humankind, simple human feelings, etc. But time theme is the substantial one. You can not only see, but also feel it. Along with the characters you get to know the value of time. Not only years, months, days or hours, but each second counts. And you start to understand that only when you get into some critical situation. Moreover, you never know if this very second is last or not. Only then, you start to appreciate everything you have in your life, you forget about all the negative that happened to you. The only thing you want is to have more time. But time doesn't listen to people. It goes its way and nothing matters to it. Interstellar shows all the cruelty of time, its mercilessness. Especially it's seen in the episode when Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) and his crew land at Miller planet where each hour on the surface equals seven years on Earth.

Of course, this movie wouldn't impress so much without an excellent actors' work. I admit that Matthew McConaughey got a really deserved Oscar (I guess all remember his role in Dallas Buyers Club after which he received it). Indeed, his performance is just brilliant. And amazing Anne Hathaway... Moreover, kinda surprising is Matt Damon's part. It's pretty shocking to see him playing such a coward villain.

I am not going to tell how amazing the visual effects and the whole director work are. Because it doesn't make any sense. We all know that Christopher Nolan knows perfectly how to impress, in all senses of this word. And, yes, the best way to enjoy Interstellar to its full is to watch it in IMAX format. I think the impressions, in this case, will be much stronger.

In general, I should say that Interstellar is one of the best emotional and thought-provoking sci- fi movies I've seen so far. Watching it, you unwillingly become a part of this film. You become so absorbed in it, that you are able to feel what the characters feel, you accept someone's part and oppose to others. Personally I experienced a huge variety of thoughts, feelings and emotions while watching this movie.

Finally, I went to see Fury. I can't say I am a big fan of war films. I wanted to watch it just because of Brad Pitt. Just to see how he would deal with not typical for him role. Plus, there are many positive reviews that also influenced on my decision to watch this film. And, I admit that, I was really impressed. It wasn't waste of time.

The movie tells us a war story placed during World War II. Fury is the name of the tank that is the central figure of the whole movie. But the main role is given to Brad Pitt who plays the tank commander Don Collier (also called Wardaddy) and whose mission is to hold crossroads from Nazi soldiers until US reinforcement arrives. He leads his crew with who he has been fighting for a long time: Boyd "Bible" Swan (Shia LaBeouf), gunner; Grady "Coon-Ass" Travis (Jon Bernthal), loader; and Trini "Gordo" Garcia (Michael Peña), driver. Their original assistant driver/bow gunner was killed in battle and he was replaced by a recently recruited Army typist, Norman Ellison (Logan Lerman). Norman has never been inside of a tank before, he has never killed people in his life. So, getting to the war was like a nightmare for him. And precisely this "freshness" is what makes him another central character in this story.

Norman and Collier are totally opposite characters. Collier is a weathered soldier, who is used to war atrocity in all its aspects. He has no fear nor mercy. He is just like a killing machine. But there are scenes where we can see he is not that tough and fearless. He is a human as well, he has feelings and deep inside he does care about what is going on, he is already tired of this war and it hurts a lot to him to see people dying.

Norman is a newcomer. He is afraid of everything. He can't stand all that blood mixed with mud. He can't kill and he doesn't want to. And all along the movie we see how Collier tries to change Norman, to help him to survive that war. And it's really very interesting to see the development of these two characters.

I should point out the excellent work of all actors. No doubt, Brad Pitt is an amazing actor! I was really impressed by his acting. I remember first time when I felt similar impression was when I watched Fight Club. He is really great! While I was watching the movie, I could feel Pitt's character with all his feelings, emotions and conditions.

And, of course, some words on the whole film-making, how it was shot. Absolutely, Fury is a great director's work! David Ayer, director, managed to transfer that gloomy and terrifying war atmosphere. Bloody action scenes together with the thrilling music makes you feel all that horror reigning on the battle field. I won't tell much about the end because it is very very sad.

In general, the whole movie is very tense and emotional. There are moments when the characters try to make jokes, but it's just because they don't know how to deal with all that pain and tiredness they feel inside. All the battle scenes where people are torn apart and everything is in blood are so horrifying. And due to the excellent acting you feel this atmosphere and you just can't stay indifferent, it's just impossible.

Cynical, bacchanalian, dirty and mean, but at the same time gorgeous and hilarious... This is how I would describe Wolf of Wall Street! And, in my opinion, Leo definitely deserves Oscar! When you watch this movie, you will understand me! His acting is just amazing, he is a brilliant actor! I've been waited for this film for a long time (I guess since last February) and yesterday I finally went to see it. I was impressed; this movie surpassed all my expectations! Wolf of Wall Street narrates Jordan Belfort's (Leonardo DiCaprio) story: the way he made from being a poor guy who had nothing to becoming a rich stockbroker with no limits and then we see how easily he loses all this due to his dirty life full of parties, sex and drugs. I would say this movie represents this story about American dream: America is a land of opportunities. The same was said by Belfort himself. You can get easily everything you want and next moment you can easily lose it all. And the paradox is that you can have it back as easy as you lost it. When I was watching Wolf of Wall Street I noticed the similarity in story line with Aviator also by M. Scorsese: a young man who does everything to get rich, then when he gets it, he starts leading a decadent life, suffers from different types of obsessions/fears, etc and loses everything. But then he restores his reputation. The point is that Martin Scorsese knows how to "serve" his movies: he shows everything how it is with no exaggerations, with all details – good and bad. Martin knows how to reproduce the epoch where the movie takes place. May be, that's why all his movies are so contradictory and receive reviews of different kind. My general opinion is positive. This movie is really great! Even if you don't like the story, you will definitely love Leo's acting!

I, Frankenstein is one of modern interpretations of the old story about the scientist Victor Frankenstein and created by him monster. So far all other interpretations have represented Frankenstein as a cruel and pitiless monster. This time the producers show him not as a monster, but an artificially created creature able to experience human feelings and emotions and trying to find his way in life. They try to represent them from a good point of view.

Here we have a fight between demons and gargoyles that has been lasting for many years already. In order to destroy human race, demon-prince Naberius (Bill Nighy) wants to create the whole army of demons from corpses and for that he needs Victor Frankenstein's notes to know how he reanimated Adam (Aaron Eckhart). Adam has to define for himself what he is and what he should fight for, which side he will belong to. So, the storyline is not original. But what impresses is the graphics, special effects and fights. All this really captures your attention and makes you watch it till the end. I, for example, fell in love with gargoyles and music to this movie.

In general, if you like such movies as Underworld or Van Helsing, you will definitely like this film as well. Don't expect any extraordinary plot, you won't see that, but what you will enjoy is the way it's done, graphics, music and other special effects.

I heard of this movie right after Paul Walker's death, it was his last film. The picture wasn't shown internationally, only at South by Southwest Film Festival, then in the states. I can't say much about it. The story is simple, but at the same time it is very tense and all the time keeps you in suspense. It's a story, placed in 2009 during Hurricane Katrina, about Nolan Hayes (Paul Walker) whose wife dies during childbirth and who is struggling to save his newly born child lying in neonatal incubator. All the action happens inside the flooded hospital where there is no electricity and no food and incubator runs out of the power. We can see how hard it is to fight for someone you love and try to stay alive yourself in a critical situation. This is what makes spectators feel suspense and emphasize the characters at the same time. The movie doesn't represent any kind of blockbuster or outstanding motion picture. I would say it's a movie of "economy class" when you don't have big budget, but you want to intrigue audience. And, in my opinion, it worked.

The Aviator is another Martin Scorsese's movie confirming his genius and unique character in film industry. His movies always has an intricate plot, the cast always consists of great actors and the scenarios are also magnificent reflecting with all details the epoch where the story takes place. All this together makes his films be watched, remembered and talked about.

The Aviator is a story about Howard Hughes (Leonardo DiCaprio), American millionaire, inventor and director. Since his childhood he was passionate about movies and aviation. So, his first movie Hell's Angels was about planes. Its production lasted for several years. During these years Hughes spent a lot of money and efforts on finishing this film. Nevertheless, the final result was amazing, the movie was very successful. Then Hughes made some more films, but at the end decided to dedicate himself to aviation. He also had different love affairs that ended tragically. Howard Hughes is rich, successful, but he, like many other mortals, has his own skeletons. He suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) that gets worse and worse as Hughes grows and reaches new victories. And it's interesting to watch how he deals with this problem: being such a genius and paranoid at the same time and achieve his goals. I guess Leo's character totally proves that no matter what, but he will get what he really wants. By the way, I should point out DiCaprio's brilliant actor performance. He is really great and talented actor. I can't imagine any other person who could present his character how Leo did that! I just don't understand why he doesn't have any Oskar yet.

The Aviator is a movie I would recommend to those people who appreciate film craft and Martin Scorsese's production. I don't mean other audience can't watch it. Everybody is advised to see it. You will enjoy this movie, its story, actors' performance, decorations and the way it was made.

We all know Darren Aronofsky is a specific figure in the world of cinema. His movies are distinguished for their controversy, surreal plots, morality and just the way they are produced. I would say Aronofsky's films are for thinking people, for people who are able to see beyond the obvious things.

My first acquaintance with his production was the movie Requiem for a dream, 2000. I was shocked, impressed and confused at the same time by this film. It is not just a typical movie, it is more than that. It has a strong hidden message that you discover while watching it. Then I watched Black Swan, 2010. Since then I understood that I fell in love with this director. I heard a lot of The Fountain, 2006. There were a lot of both positive and negative reviews. I guess this is one of the factors that indicate the movie is not plain and has something that attracts people's attention and makes them talk about it. Finally, I watched it myself.

During the first scenes you understand you don't understand anything: you see a conquistador fighting against Maya tribe and his queen, then, you see a bald man talking to a tree, this scene is suddenly interrupted by an episode showing the talk between a husband and his wife. When, in the very beginning, you see the change of these episodes, you can barely find out what are they for and what is the main idea of this movie will be. And this is where you want to turn it off and do some different stuff. But if you continue watching, you start seeing what the director wants to show us and you understand all these episodes are connected to each other.

The central idea of the movie is that Tom Creo (Hugh Jackman) is trying to find a cure for his wife Izzi (Rachel Weisz) who is dying from cancer. He tries to fight death. While Tom is busy with his search, Izzy writes a book about Queen Isabella who loses her territories and influence, and her loyal conquistador Tomas Verde goes to the Central America to find the Tree of Life for his Queen. Izzy doesn't finish it. Before she dies, she asks Tom to finish the last chapter of her book. And the third story represents an astronaut Tommy traveling in the space in an enclosed biosphere with the Tree of Life. In all of these story lines the lead roles are performed by Hugh Jackman (Tom Creo, conquistador Tomas Verde, astronaut Tommy) and Rachel Weisz (Izzy, Queen Isabella, Tree of Life). And, in my opinion, these three stories represent Tom's search for the cure, and their message is that no matter how much you try to escape the death, you can't hide from it. The death of the Tree of Life, Conquistador and Izzy shows that very well. It's a natural process that you should accept and don't fight. The refuse of it doesn't make any sense. There can be other interpretations of this movie. It's individual. That was how I understood director's message.

I can't say this is the movie for a broad audience due to its complex and deep plot. If you understand Darren's work and like stories with controversy and hidden sense, you should watch The Fountain. Otherwise, you will be bored by it.

I heard a lot people talk about this movie. Many of my friends recommended it to me. But for different reasons I couldn't find any opportunity to watch it or … may be I just didn't want to spend my time on it. But some weeks ago I heard again the name of this movie and I told to myself I had to watch it. So, I finally did it. And now I feel so disappointed with myself I didn't watch it years ago when I was told to see it for the first time! I am really impressed by this film.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is an exceptional romantic drama. I am saying exceptional because for me it looks more like a romantic psychological thriller because the main idea of this movie is centered, let's say, on the psychology of two main characters Joel Barish (Jim Carrey) and Clementine Kruczynski (Kate Winslet). Or I even would say, the movie shows the fight between the rational aspect of human nature and the emotional one. Watching the Joel and Clementine's story you understand that not always the rational is right. You can ignore your mind, but you can't ignore your heart and what it is telling you and your heart usually tells right things. Well, the plot of the movie is very simple: two different personalities Joel and Clementine meet each other, they fall in love, then they become a nice couple, they have great time together, but then this beautiful story comes to its end. And instead of talking and trying to find a way to amend their relations, they decide to erase all the memories related to each other. Clementine was the first to take such decision. So, she went to Lacuna, Inc., company dedicating to helping people to erase specific memories and let them start new happier life. When Joel knew about this, he decided to do the same, as a revenge, and went to the same doctor Howard Mierzwiak (Tom Wilkinson). And here is where the story starts. The whole movie represents the process of erasure of Joel's memories. So, when you watch the movie, it feels like you are inside of his mind observing his love story with Clementine. But suddenly he realizes he wants to conserve these memories, he doesn't want to lose her because she is the love of his life and starts to stop the erasure. All his attempts fail when Dr. Howard interferes and finishes this process. Along with this story appears another one. It results Mary, receptionist had an affair with Dr. Howard and her memories about it were also erased. When she knew that, she quit her job and stole all the records on doctor's patients and sent those materials to all of them. This is the moment when Joel and Clementine, after listening to their records, understood why they felt so familiar to each other and decide to try to start from the beginning.

You see, the story is pretty simple. But the way it's operated, the way how different stories and different realities cross each other is incredible. Sometimes you even lose the touch with the reality because you think all this is Joel's memories and imagination. Thanks to such s great script and director's work, the movie is watched in one breath, you feel tension and you are totally absorbed by the story. Also, I would like to note the brilliant performance of Jim Carrey. I always thought he could perform only comic roles. But here he shows his abilities to play serious roles too. Honestly, I was shocked by his excellent performance. I believed him from the very beginning of the film till its end.

So, now it's my turn to recommend this movie! If you want to live the story with its main characters, if you want to convince yourself one more time that you can't lie to your heart, so this movie is right for you. You will definitely enjoy it, or at least you will see another not typical Jim Carrey and original movie story.

The only thing that I can say now is that I fell in love with this romantic Walter Mitty. When for the first time I watched the footage of this movie at CinemaCon last year, I thought that it would be a boring and not making any sense motion picture. Honestly, I even didn't have any desire and intention to go and watch the whole movie. But when the release date was getting closer, there were a lot of ads dedicated to it, many people talked about it and, finally, I changed my mind and decided to spend some of my time on this movie. And now I admit this film is incredibly amazing! Walter Mitty is so real and familiar to everyone because, I am sure about that, deep inside we all are Walter Mittys. This movie appeals to all people and personally to everyone at the same time. I guess everyone knows this situation when being children we dream about big, full of events and crazy adventures life, but when we get older, we forget about our dreams and desires, we turn into dull and boring adults who lose their interest for the life. But Walter Mitty, this shy and romantic guy, finally finds courage and breaks out of his gloomy routine and starts living the life he always wanted to live. When you watch this movie, you understand that no matter who you are and where you come from, what really matters is your dreams, your desire to live how you want to and not how others dictate you to live. The problem is that we lack this inner courage and confidence in making first step. And Walter shows us that once you do that, your life change completely. I guess this movie is both inspirational and motivational at the same time. Another aspect I would like to point out is Ben Stiller's work as a director and main character. He dealt excellently with both tasks. The way the film is done is incredible. Sometimes you really lose the touch with the reality, because you can barely distinguish where it is reality and where it is just pure imagination. Moreover, this movie is worth of watching simply because of the unbelievable landscapes. They are really beautiful. All this together make The secret life of Walter Mitty a breathtaking adventure that you live along with the main character and at the same time you feel that this is your story as well. I recommend this movie to everyone. I am sure you will also like Walter Mitty. He will prove you it is never too late to live the life you always wanted to live.

Here we have another dance movie. At first, it seems movies of such genre have exhausted and that there is nothing else to tell about. You expect the story will repeat: there is a huge and important dance event with a fabulous sum of money as a main prize and that can change dancers' life for ever, on the one hand, and there is a dance crew desiring to win this event, on the other hand. Yes, the story is like this, but this time the director have added some moral notions that made this movie acquire some deeper sense and look more interesting and intriguing. Battle of the year is an international b-boying competition where dance crews from all over the world try to get to and get the first place. The point is that for the last 15 years America, homeland of break dance, has not taken any first place. One of the former b-boy dancers (Dante Graham played by Laz Alonso) decides to change this situation. He finds a couch (Couch Blake performed by Josh Holloway) and together they create Dream Team. Couch's main goal is not only to train the guys to win the competition, but his first and principal idea is to make them a team, some kind of dance family where everybody supports each other and ready stand for everyone who is in this crew. Another subtext of this film is "change how you think, change your life". The read line of Battle of the year is that your reality is in your head: you get everything you think about. And the same is about success. If you think about it and act like a successful person, you definitely will get this. And you decide what you put into your head. The movie shows us how their couch tries to change not only his reality, but the guys' one too and how he changes their idea about friendship and other values. At the same time, Blake trains them to be excellent dancers, he doesn't forget about the main purpose why he was hired to train this team. Of course, there are great dance moments, the competition itself is just insane. And it is interesting to see the scale of similar events and different dance techniques. So, if you are a big fan of dancing or dance movies or if you just want to see Chris Brown, his acting, go and watch this movie. By the way, the end is pretty unexpected. I guess very soon we will see the second part of this film.

We all know up to now Fast & Furious has been one of the most successful movie franchises. I remember the time when I watched the first part of Fast & Furious. I really fell in love with this movie! I loved every single detail about it: story line, actors (that was when I knew about Vin Diesel and Paul Walker and got addicted to them), cars, but mostly car races. Then there was the second part of Fast & Furious that was not less interesting and exciting. I thought there wouldn't be any continuation, but deep inside hoped for that. And then, some years later, Universal Pictures announced the release of Fast & Furious 3, then 4, and 5. I was anxious to see those parts and loved them. But, frankly speaking, already starting with Fast & Furious 4 I was getting bored. There were less and less new things in the movie and it looked like this franchise started to be exhausted. With the release of the 5th part, honestly, I hoped it would be the end. But, as you know, this year we saw Fast & Furious 6.

I admit, I expected too much from this part. I believed the director and producer would add some new things, new intrigues, but in reality everything was the same, just like in previous series. Here the story repeats again: in order to get freedom and clear his crew's criminal records Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) has to cooperate with the agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) to help him to take down a criminal organization led by Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) and in which Dom's presumed-dead ex-girlfriend Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) is involved. Of course, there are fights with superman deeds (for example, when Dom saves Letty from falling out of the track), a bit of car races, shoot-outs, some humor scenes. Everything is just like in previous parts. But at the same time there are some attempts, unexpected though, to insert into the story line moral and human notions, such as love, feeling, freedom, betrayal, friendship. I can't say it worked. For me it looked a bit awkward. Imagine the scene where the fight is at its highest point and suddenly a jockstrap declares his love to the girl (the moment when Dom is talking to Letty when he finally meets her). And there are lots of such scenes. What I am trying to say is that for many people Fast & Furious is an action movie where people are not only used, but they require action, a lot of action. And now the director in order to prolong the existence of this franchise tries to turn it in some kind of soap opera by adding all this moral and emotional elements that don't match at all even with the characters. When you expect tough races and fights, but instead you get gentleness and tears – this is a bit confusing and disappointing and even boring.

Well, my general opinion is that Fast & Furious has exhausted. It doesn't have anything new to suggest to its audience. Now, this movie is not about the cars and action, but about the morality. So, if you want to see a film full of fights and intrigues, you'd better chose something different. And I don't think the 7th part will be different, don't have any expectations from it. But we will see

No matter what people say about Walt Disney Studio and its production, it is obvious they are the best in everything they do, especially it is refers to the animation. And Frozen is an excellent demonstration to that. Frozen is one of those animated movies that can be attached to the specific season and that leave nobody indifferent after their viewing. In this case Frozen can be seen as a Christmas movie because the story takes place in winter (I don't think this animation would be that popular in summer or autumn), and winter, as we know, is usually associated with Christmas time. Moreover, while watching it you have this feeling of Christmas miracle that something good is about to happen, there is some kind of hope for the better, let's say.

The plot of this movie is not that complex. There are two sisters: Elsa, elder sister gifted with icy powers, and Anna, younger sister but with no magic powers. Elsa tries to hide her magic abilities not only from other people, but mostly from her sister because when the girls were children, Elsa almost killed Anna with her powers. But Elsa's attempts to keep her secret safe fail after all. And in order not to hurt anyone she runs away and creates her own icy kingdom. But she even doesn't suspect that when she left her native city where it was summer suddenly becomes covered by snow and icy and it's getting colder and colder there. Anna thinks it is her fault that Elsa revealed her secret and she also believes the only way to stop the winter is to get back Elsa. So, Anna goes in search of her elder sister. During her adventure she meets her real love, rude mountain guy Kristoff who was raised by trolls and whose best friend is a funny reindeer Sven. Later they meet Olaf, snowman created by Elsa. All together they try to find Elsa and stop the winter.

Of course, there are some obstacles on their way that they must overcome to achieve their goal. Some of those trials are funny, even hilarious, but some of them are dramatic. I guess the most memorable moment is when Anna meets Kristoff. They don't get on well at first, there are some disputes between then, but then things turn different. Besides, all along the story there are lots of hilarious situations where Olaf is involved. I guess he and his future friend Sven lessen a bit the tension that from time to time appears in the movie. In my opinion, without them the movie wouldn't be that interesting and enjoyable.

Like any other movie Frozen also has some points that I didn't like. The main of them is that there are too many songs performed by the main characters. Sometimes I even thought that it was a musical.

Another interesting moment is that while I was watching this movie, I remembered a Danish animated movie called Snow Queen by G.H. Anderson that has practically similar story line. There are two kids – Kai and Gerda. One day Kai was kidnapped by Snow Queen and Gerda went in search of her friend who by that time became frozen. Gerda also had to overcome a lot of difficulties in order to find Kai. But she did it. I can say that the red line of both movies is that real love, hope and faith will help to overcome any life obstacles and will save the world from becoming frozen.

So, in general Frozen is a great movie that has a nice story. If one of the winter evenings you want to relax and see cute characters, so go and watch Frozen. I guarantee you will enjoy it!