The Jungle Book

The man-cub Mowgli flees the jungle after a threat from the tiger Shere Khan. Guided by Bagheera the panther and the bear Baloo, Mowgli embarks on a journey of self-discovery, though he also meets creatures who don't have his best interests at heart.

Director: Jon Favreau
Writers: Justin Marks (screenplay), Rudyard Kipling (book)
Stars: Neel Sethi, Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley.

Storyline

The man-cub Mowgli flees the jungle after a threat from the tiger Shere Khan. Guided by Bagheera the panther and the bear Baloo, Mowgli embarks on a journey of self-discovery, though he also meets creatures who don't have his best interests at heart.

User Reviews

To those who still hold any degree of skepticism for Jon Favreau's The Jungle Book—Disney's live-action adaptation of the Rudyard Kiplingclassic—I say just sing along to "Forget about your worries and your strife…" That's a guaranteed earworm from this really good film. Complete with splendid sound design and flabbergasting CGI wizardry, director Favreau, with cinematographer Bill Pope, deftly crafts this spectacle not only to dazzle viewers but also to enhance its dramatic agenda.

With an excellent voice cast, The Jungle Book presents a colorful array of memorable characters. Idris Elba as Shere Kahn is chillingly formidable with his guttural threats. Ben Kingsley brings nobility and wisdom in the sleek jungle cat Bagheera. In her short sequence as the python Kaa, Scarlett Johansson delivers the film's backstory with a magnetic voice. Giancarlo Eposito's Akela and Lupita Nyong'o's Raksha supply the fierce patriarch and protective maternal vibes needed by their characters. Christopher Walken as the mafia-king orangutan waiting for extinction is an oddly delightful sight, especially when he starts to sing. Bill Murray as the manipulative sloth bear Baloo is a crowd favorite as he blurs the line between being annoying and adorable. Even the lesser animals (porcupine, pygmy hog, squirrel, etc.) manage to steal the show as sources of comic relief.

In his first feature appearance, Neel Sethi as young Mowgli is tasked with selling the wonder and portraying the humanity of this tale. Considering that he is basically working within the confines of his imagination and a green screen room for the entire film, he manages to make everything believable: the beauty and danger of the jungle, his kinetic and charismatic character, and his deep connection with the animals. Of course, this is owed in large part to Jon Favreau's direction's too. A magical scene in the film (and my favorite!): an infant Mowgli and Bagheera's innocently touches Bagheera's face. It's a sweet moment, a reminder that the there's a seed of humanity in each of us.

Although the film comes a bit dark, fans are not robbed of iconic songs such as "The Bare Necessities", "I Wanna Be Like You," and a jovial musical scoring for the film (thanks to John Debney). Old as it may, the story of The Jungle Book remains an affecting contemplation on the virtues of family, self-growth, and man's progress at the expense of nature. The Jungle Book successfully opens a new chapter in cinema's visual storytelling prowess. It deserves to be seen, and unequivocally needs to be experienced in 3D or better, an IMAX theater. It is immersive, it is enchanting, and it is wonderful.

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13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

As an American ambassador is killed during an attack at a U.S. compound in Libya, a security team struggles to make sense out of the chaos.

Director: Michael Bay
Writers: Chuck Hogan (screenplay), Mitchell Zuckoff (book)
Stars: John Krasinski, Pablo Schreiber, James Badge Dale.

Storyline

As an American ambassador is killed during an attack at a U.S. compound in Libya, a security team struggles to make sense out of the chaos.

User Reviews

The overall experience of the World Premiere was incredible, but this Movie in any venue would be worth the price of admission.

Like most, I've seen hoards of "Action Movies", but the compressed time line and episodic nature of this one puts you into a pressure cooker that leaves you drained at the end. Probably more firepower per minute than in any true life account ever shown on the Big Screen.

In the final moments, though, you realize just how much these men lost. Few if any other team of six would have survived such relentless and massive assaults. But more than anything, it will force you to ask yourself why our government literally left these men and the people they saved, to die.

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The Martian

During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive.

Director: Ridley Scott

Writers: Drew Goddard (screenplay), Andy Weir (book)

Stars: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig.

Storyline

During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive. Millions of miles away, NASA and a team of international scientists work tirelessly to bring "the Martian" home, while his crewmates concurrently plot a daring, if not impossible, rescue mission. As these stories of incredible bravery unfold, the world comes together to root for Watney's safe return.

User Reviews

I am a bit of nerd of this kind of realistic science fiction movies and therefore I had high expectations of this movie. I regret to say I was disappointed.

The movie tells the story of how the main character struggles to survive on Mars and how the space agencies work to get them back. But I was missing the emotions, the human touch. The main character never displays any signs of loneliness, despair or fear. He is more like "oh, looks like I'm stuck on Mars, let's grow potatoes". He makes a one- off reference to his parents in an electronic communication, but nowhere in the movie is it made clear what his main drive is to want to return to Earth. It appears as nothing ties him there. Maybe the directors wanted to avoid the cliché of the eight months pregnant and terminally ill wife eagerly awaiting her husband's return from a dangerous mission, but even a cliché had been better than nothing. His character is also too flat. The only character trait that is highlighted slightly in the movie is that he may be a bit too smug about himself. Nothing else to make me identify or sympathize with him. To be honest, I couldn't have cared less if he had not survived.

The Mars landscape is beautifully rendered en very credible with dust clouds and all. This is the main attraction of the movie.

The main problem that there is nothing novel about this movie. There have been better movies for every aspect of the film:

Human aspect/psychology of being marooned in a strange place: Cast Away did it so much better; set in space: Matt Damon's role in Interstellar was more credible than his performance here. Space action scenes: Gravity had me on the edge of my seat Ground control scenes: Apollo 13 already set the standard

In summary, the movie is a beautiful, but hollow shell.

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The Revenant

A frontiersman on a fur trading expedition in the 1820s fights for survival after being mauled by a bear and left for dead by members of his own hunting team.

Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Writers: Mark L. Smith (screenplay), Alejandro G. Iñárritu (screenplay).
Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Will Poulter.

Storyline

While exploring the uncharted wilderness in 1823, legendary frontiersman Hugh Glass sustains injuries from a brutal bear attack. When his hunting team leaves him for dead, Glass must utilize his survival skills to find a way back home while avoiding natives on their own hunt. Grief-stricken and fueled by vengeance, Glass treks through the wintry terrain to track down John Fitzgerald, the former confidant who betrayed and abandoned him.

User Reviews

The Revenant falls into the same category as Aronofsky's "Requiem for a Dream" and Spielberg's "Schindler's List" for me, in the essence of being a terrific movie but not something I think I can sit through a second time. In all these movies there are brutal sequences that cause emotional stress and disgust just watching because it is so REAL and GRIPPING. To think that events in these movies actually happened or that they could very well happen is too much for me to think about. Not to say that I did not enjoy this film thoroughly. 

The Revenant is a technical masterpiece that left me wondering "How the hell did they do that?" after many scenes and sequences. With beautiful cinematography and adroit camera movement this film is a visual magnum opus. It is apparent that the great minds that put forth this film are none other than the same ones that brought us Birdman: Lubezki and Inarritu. There are many long shots without cuts that are sprinkled throughout the film that add a sense of sophistication to it with the added bonus of predominantly location based shooting and natural lighting for the film , that can even make a novice film watcher raise an eyebrow at its complexity. 

The camera work is not the only noteworthy aspect of the film; The actors did a superb job executing their rolls. Many are raving about DiCaprio's performance but I was more of a fan of Hardy's brutal and gritty character Fitzgerald. Granted, half the words that came out of his mouth were unintelligible but he left no doubt in my mind that he was fully devoted to his role and bringing Fitzgerald alive instead of just Hardy playing a character named Fitzgerald. He was simply amazing.

With all this said, there are still flaws in the film. At some points it was dragging on and moving too slow. It gave the impression that the film itself was cocky and wanted to show off all of its beautiful scenery and camera work too much. Then there was the "he shouldn't be alive" situations. Hugh Glass was a real guy that really did survive a bear mauling but in the film they make this guy practically immortal. There were too many instances where I was thinking "he should be dead three times over right now, for me to enjoy the film as much I should have. 

All in all a great film that I only recommend to seasoned and mature film viewers.

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Southpaw

Boxer Billy Hope turns to trainer Tick Wills to help him get his life back on track after losing his wife in a tragic accident and his daughter to child protection services.

Director: Antoine Fuqua
Writer: Kurt Sutter
Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rachel McAdams, Oona Laurence.

Storyline

As tragedy strikes him in his prime, famed boxer, Billy Hope, begins to fall into a great depression. Once the decision regarding the custody of his daughter is under question, Billy decides to get his life back on track by getting back into the ring.

User Reviews

I was lucky enough to catch an advance screening of this movie, and I was extremely glad I did. After watching the previews I felt as though a lot of the movie was given away, but I was blown away by the performances on screen. The movie was centered around a champion prize fighter hitting rock bottom, and slowly climbing his way back into the ring. It was an emotional journey that cannot simply be categorized as a movie about boxing, but rather, an inspiring and riveting tale of parenthood and a father's love for his daughter. The cast was excellent and everyone excelled in their roles. I wouldn't have expected to like Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson in a role as much as I did. Jake Gyllenhaal and Forest Whitaker had Oscar worthy performances. Everyone did a great job with their roles. The cinematography was fantastic, and the fight scenes gave some great first person shots that made you feel as though you were there in the ring fighting along side the actors. Overall, this movie is an experience that is not to be missed. 9/10

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Sicario

An idealistic FBI agent is enlisted by a government task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the U.S. and Mexico.

Director: Denis Villeneuve
Writer: Taylor Sheridan
Stars: Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, Benicio Del Toro.

Storyline

When drug violence worsens on the USA Mexico border, the FBI sends an idealistic agent, Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) on a mission to eradicate a drug cartel responsible for a bomb that had killed members of her team. 

User Reviews

"Sicario" describes, with surgical precision, the fatal and bloody desecration of Mexico as a result of its decades long cartel war. And it does so by compressing this almost endless tragedy into a two-hour tour-de-force of filmmaking. 

At its center we find idealistic FBI-Agent Kate Macer (Emily Blunt), who is recruited to pursue a Mexican drug-baron. She is being guided by a seemingly untouchable covert assassin named Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro). Their investigation and methods are pushed further into unknown territory where justice and morality are no longer valid. The end not only justifies the means, it requires them.

Denis Villeneuve's masterful piece exemplifies not only filmmaking of the highest order, but carves out a place alongside the terrible news reports as a deeply regretful, angry and at times almost unbearable look into the abyss of a socio-political nightmare that is fueled by first world-habit and global economics.

Through the powerful performances by Blunt, Del Toro and Josh Brolin in the leads as well as the excellent supporting cast, do we get a sense of the human cost (physical and psychological), which the war on drugs has caused.

From an exploding prison population, to the destruction of Mexican agriculture, to refugees and a cycle of violence that is beyond barbarity; the pull that "Sicario" exerts over the viewer is undeniable and by skirting the limits of bearable tension, without ever becoming exploitive, it is never giving an inch concerning its subject matter.

Few movies this year will have such a clear and defined structure and unflinching approach towards a situation that appears to be beyond salvation, while showing at the same time that life nevertheless continues.

Taylor Sheridan's script doesn't miss a single beat and without sidestepping anything frees itself from beaten movie conventions by using them in an extremely skillful manner.

All these themes, stories and characters are captured through the lens of veteran Roger Deakins (Skyfall, No Country for Old Men) who lets us always know how the micro- and macro-particles of any conflict are inextricably intertwined. We share the vistas of beautiful sceneries while having to witness their downfall. 

Whatever ideals the likes of Emiliano Zapata once had, their country has now, as it is described in the movie, become „the land of wolves". 

Fifteen years ago Steven Soderbergh's „Traffic" which earned numerous Oscars, not the least of which went to Benicio Del Toro, made a clear statement about the various strands the drug trafficking business touches. Now, all those years later we see in „Sicario" that even the faintest of hopes that „Traffic" held onto have been eviscerated. 

What now? One might ask.

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Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

A growing nation of genetically evolved apes led by Caesar is threatened by a band of human survivors of the devastating virus unleashed a decade earlier.

Director: Matt Reeves
Writers: Mark Bomback, Rick Jaffa.
Stars: Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Andy Serkis.

Storyline

A growing nation of genetically evolved apes led by Caesar is threatened by a band of human survivors of the devastating virus unleashed a decade earlier. They reach a fragile peace, but it proves short-lived, as both sides are brought to the brink of a war that will determine who will emerge as Earth's dominant species.

User Reviews

I hated RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES so much that I refused to even see DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES when it was in theaters. Last night I saw it on a rented library DVD and I was absolutely amazed!

Let me explain where I'm coming from. I saw the original PLANET OF THE APES on television as a 10 year old in 1973. I waited months to see each sequel as it came on TV. The apes and their world were the center of my childhood. I am an old school Apes purist and I loved the culture, philosophy and political commentary of the original films so much that I truly dreaded the new series. 

But this time around, they got it right. From the first few minutes I was mesmerized by the intensity of the apes, the beauty of the scenery and set design, the power and simplicity of the dialogue, even when (especially when) it was mostly delivered in sign language. 

From a purist's point of view, DAWN is not so much a sequel to RISE as a brilliant re-imagining of the fifth and final film in the original series, BATTLE FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES. The plot is basically identical. Having won equality and a new start, Caesar attempts to create a simple, rural civilization where humans and apes can peacefully coexist. But when an evil ape consumed by race hatred (species hatred) decides to take the law into his own hands, both Caesar's life and his family's future is at stake. 

The thing that impressed me so deeply is that the same plot was far more powerful and dramatic the second time around. The characters are more nuanced, and the performances more tragic. General Aldo, the gorilla bully in BATTLE, plays much the same role as Koba in DAWN. But the two characters are so different. Aldo was a big, dumb bruiser, and nothing more. He was a bully, and he saw himself as superior to humans. Basically he came across like the mean, redneck sheriff in a Burt Reynolds movie. Koba, with his scars, his blinded eye, and his horrible memories of life as a lab specimen, is a far more tragic figure. His sly, Machiavellian cunning and his utter lack of remorse remind me of Shakespeare's classic villains. Watch the scene where he infiltrates the human settlement and gets two redneck survivors to lower their weapons with fatal results. The ease with which the embittered, scarred ape becomes a clowning, playful monkey (just for as long as it takes to get his hands on a gun) literally sent shivers down my spine. This level of subtlety and the darkness it evokes is reminiscent of Herman Melville's work in stories like BENITO CERENO. Everyone remembers Andy Serkis as Caesar, but I think Toby Kebbell's performance as Koba was just as remarkable. And though many other reviewers have surely mentioned it, I was struck by the fact that the name Koba was used quite intentionally by the film makers. Koba was Joseph Stalin's first alias when he was a young revolutionary in Czarist Russia!

The first hour of the movie is absolutely riveting. Only the final half of the movie drags, a little bit, because the film makers couldn't resist the big battle scene with the machine guns and the explosions. Frankly, my impression was that Koba would have overcome the human colony without even needing a battle. He was that clever, and that chilling. But I want to say that as brilliant as the ape performances were, the humans, particularly Gary Oldman as the corrupt colony leader and Keri Russell as the caring human doctor, were solid and convincing as well. 

This movie was a wonderful surprise. It has restored my faith in the Planet of the Apes as both a sub culture and a way of life.

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Fury

April, 1945. As the Allies make their final push in the European Theatre, a battle-hardened Army sergeant named Wardaddy commands a Sherman tank and his five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. Outnumbered, out-gunned, and with a rookie soldier thrust into their platoon, Wardaddy and his men face overwhelming odds in their heroic attempts to strike at the heart of Nazi Germany.

Director: David Ayer
Writer: David Ayer
Stars: Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman.

Storyline

April, 1945. As the Allies make their final push in the European Theatre, a battle-hardened Army sergeant named Wardaddy (Brad Pitt) commands a Sherman tank and his five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. Outnumbered, and out-gunned, Wardaddy and his men face overwhelming odds in their heroic attempts to strike at the heart of Nazi Germany.

User Reviews

The thing that instantly attracted me to the film was the claustrophobic atmosphere.I can not even imagine how it feels to be in a place like a tank while enemies are shooting from all over the place. Just the thought that a few inches of steel are separating me from death, is enough for my stomach to tighten up and force me to huddle myself to the fetus position and cover my self with a blanket. I think the greatest strength of this film lies in the creation of this divided vision of tank. The tank initially seems bulletproofed and a massive iron fortress, until the moment when we realize that the big hill of steel can be blown up and destroyed to the ground. What is definitely the most interesting in the characters is their attitude about the war, which is actually a great paradox. Although they were discussed with what they were doing but we can see that the heroes of this film show in many moments how really proud they are of what they do.

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Lone Survivor

Marcus Luttrell and his team set out on a mission to capture or kill notorious Taliban leader Ahmad Shah, in late June 2005. Marcus and his team are left to fight for their lives in one of the most valiant efforts of modern warfare.

Director: Peter Berg
Writers: Peter Berg, Marcus Luttrell (book).
Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch.

Storyline

Marcus Luttrell, a Navy Seal, and his team set out on a mission to capture or kill notorious Taliban leader Ahmad Shah, in late June 2005. After running into mountain herders and capturing them, they were left with no choice but to follow their rules of engagement or be imprisoned. Now Marcus and his team are left to fight for their lives in one of the most valiant efforts of modern warfare.

User Reviews

I read some reviews about "Lone Survivor" where it was mentioned alongside to a "Saving Private Ryan" - you can throw a rock at me if this comes close to "Saving Private Ryan" which is beyond many moons and seas compared to "Lone Survivor". 

"Lone Survivor" is good action movie, with some heroic stuff (they definitely couldn't avoid that...), and i know that it's based on real events, thats why i'm giving it 8, because many of things displayed in picture were sadly true, many, but definitely not all. When someone is being killed in this movie (exept for bad guys from Taliban), it's shown in a similar way as Jim Caviezel aka.Jesus was suffering in "The Passion of the Christ" - only true American heroes die like that, not afghans who are more or less just a meat between bullets and Americans in this movie.

Overall, i liked this action picture, the sound design and sound editing were really top notch (no wonder it got 2 Oscar nominations) - you can hear every detail in the forest, every breaking bone (ye, the fall from cliffs scene was gripping). Actors were just OK, nothing special. The gunfight was terrific at least in the beginning of battle, truly terrific sound design and camera work. Later, well, when bad guys were shooting with RPG's every 2 min to our heroes, and they were suffering real good but still were able to do some heroic stuff, the tension was kinda lost.

Overall, 8/10 for me because of good production values and for that it is based on real events

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Django Unchained

With the help of a German bounty hunter, a freed slave sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal Mississippi plantation owner.

Director: Quentin Tarantino
Writer: Quentin Tarantino
Stars: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio.

Storyline

Former dentist, Dr. King Schultz, buys the freedom of a slave, Django, and trains him with the intent to make him his deputy bounty hunter. Instead, he is led to the site of Django's wife who is under the hands of Calvin Candie, a ruthless plantation owner.

User Reviews

Quentin Tarantino's 8th film "Django Unchained" is one hell of a movie. A brutal, bloody, terrifying, hilarious and awe-inspiring western disguised as a buddy movie that is so great that if John Wayne and Sergio Leone were alive now, they would've approve of this movie. It's designed to shock you, polarize you, test you and maybe even surprise you. But let me clear on this: If you are not a fan of bloody violence and the running length of 165 minutes, see a shorter movie. But if you love to see what Tarantino can do with movies like this, then you're in for a treat. Set during slavery in 1858, the movie follows Django (Jamie Foxx), a slave who is found by a bounty hunter disguised as a dentist named Dr. King Schultz (The always reliable Christoph Waltz) who hires him as a bounty hunter and a free man to find the Brittle Brothers. After finding them and hunting them down at a plantation run by Big Daddy (a remarkable Don Johnson), they relax for the winter only for them to go on a mission to find and rescue Django's wife, Broomhilda (Kerry Washington) who is owned by Calvin J. Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio) a man who runs a plantation known as Candieland. He even has a renegade slave as a servant named Stephen (A nearly recognizable Samuel L. Jackson, hidden in makeup and some prosthetics), who will have a part to play in the last half of the movie. I think Quentin Tarantino has outdone himself once again. Being in the filmmaking game for 20 years now, you can't deny and even reject his style in what he is bringing to the screen (He also has a cameo in here as well). His dialogue is like reading a book that grabs you and makes you want to know what happens next. The look and scope of the film is magnificent, thanks to a brilliant Oscar-winning cinematographer Robert Richardson and the late production designer J. Michael Riva. The performances in this film are brilliant. Having won an Oscar for "Ray", Jamie Foxx continues with his breathtaking performances that wows us. Here as Django, he is certainly fearless, baring his soul (and body) playing a man who is free from slavery, but can't be free by the rules and limitations of slavery. Christoph Waltz looks like he was born to be a part of Tarantino's entourage after his Oscar-winning performance for "Inglorious Basterds". Here, once again he brings humor and vulnerability to Dr. King Schultz. Never before have I ever seen an actor go that far and doesn't go over-the-top like Leonardo DiCaprio. As Calvin Candie, DiCaprio is certainly Oscar-worthy as a man who runs a tight ship by running a place where male slaves fight to the death and female slaves are being prostitutes and he seems to be the kind of guy to like even though he is a villain and he speaks Tarantino's dialogue like a pro. When he has a scene in which he reveals three dimples from a skull that belongs to his father, he is literally terrifying. Kerry Washington is superb as Broomhilda and Samuel L. Jackson is the real scene-stealer. The supporting cast is great from Walton Goggins, Jonah Hill, Michael Bacall, Michael Parks, James Remar, Robert Carradine to a small cameo by Franco Nero. "Django Unchained" has a lot of things to say about slavery and how cruel it is. But at the same time, it provides the fact that if Tarantino rearranged history by shooting Adolf Hitler to a pulp while everything blows up at a movie theater, he can do it again by having a former slave whipping a man who used to beat him and his wife. Now, that's entertainment. This movie really is off the chain. It's not only one of the most captivating films of the year, it's one of the best films of the year. Go see it, it will be worth your time. Keep in mind though, there are characters, especially Django, Stephen, Candie and Schultz that uses the N-word numerous times in this movie. That seems relevant to the time period, don't ya think?

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Drive

A mysterious Hollywood stuntman and mechanic moonlights as a getaway driver and finds himself trouble when he helps out his neighbor.

Director: Nicolas Winding Refn

Writers: Hossein Amini (screenplay), James Sallis.

Stars: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston.

Storyline

A mysterious man who has multiple jobs as a garage mechanic, a Hollywood stuntman and a getaway driver seems to be trying to escape his shady past as he falls for his neighbor - whose husband is in prison and who's looking after her child alone. Meanwhile, his garage mechanic boss is trying to set up a race team using gangland money, which implicates our driver as he is to be used as the race team's main driver. Our hero gets more than he bargained for when he meets the man who is married to the woman he loves.

User Reviews

You might hear one comparing this to a Tarantino film, but leave all worries at the door, this is an absorbing and tremendously unique piece of cinema from Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn. The reason it works so exquisitely well is because the film grabs hold of you and takes you inside this often dark and dream-like LA setting. So, when the end of the film hits, you feel apart of this film, and it's there to stay.

This film also offers a Ryan Gosling like you've never seen him, speaking only when necessary, with tension and fury in his eyes. He's silent, caring, and ridiculously tough. Every line is delivered perfectly and every gesture is natural.

I saw this at the LA Film Festival on a mammoth screen with booming speakers. The music only makes this film more unique. It is catchy and synchronized perfectly with the TRULY beautiful cinematography.

This film is the BEST of its genre. I honestly cannot compare it to any other film, for it is truly that different. "Drive" is already the best of the year, because I'm POSITIVE no other film will haunt and invade me quite like this film has. This is not just a classic for its genre, but a beautiful and bold classic in general.

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Rise of the Planet of the Apes

A substance, designed to help the brain repair itself, gives rise to a super-intelligent chimp who leads an ape uprising.

Director: Rupert Wyatt
Writers: Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver.
Stars: James Franco, Andy Serkis, Freida Pinto.

Storyline

At the story's heart is Caesar (Andy Serkis), a chimpanzee who gains human-like intelligence and emotions from an experimental drug. Raised like a child by the drug's creator, Will Rodman (James Franco) and a primatologist Caroline Aranha (Freida Pinto), Caesar ultimately finds himself taken from the humans he loves and imprisoned in an ape sanctuary in San Bruno. Seeking justice for his fellow inmates, Caesar gives the fellow apes the same drug that he inherited. He then assembles a simian army and escapes the sanctuary - putting man and ape on a collision course that could change the planet forever.

User Reviews

There are so many things right about this movie, the little things that are wrong are easily forgiven. Some slight plot holes, but the film and characters make up for it. The chemistry between Franco and Pinto is weak, however Franco plays his part. Lithgow is always a great asset to any production, and does a great job here.

Albeit you know the chimps are CGI, their eyes look amazing, with depth and personality, and along with their body language and facial animations, you really do forget they are CGI. The music is powerful and tense, and I loved the way it builds up through out the movie. Starting with light orchestra at the beginning, while starting to feel very tribal without overdoing it towards the end.

There are moments that are truly gratifying, and Caeser really steals the show with his evolution through out the movie. The journey Caeser takes really connects and you feel his plight. With moments of thought, heart and action, Rise really hits the mark for the audience it's aiming for.

Excellent entertainment all round!

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Inglourious Basterds

In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a plan to assassinate Nazi leaders by a group of Jewish U.S. soldiers coincides with a theatre owner's vengeful plans for the same.

Directors: Quentin Tarantino, Eli Roth (uncredited)
Writer: Quentin Tarantino
Stars: Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger, Eli Roth.

Storyline

In Nazi-occupied France, young Jewish refugee Shosanna Dreyfus witnesses the slaughter of her family by Colonel Hans Landa. Narrowly escaping with her life, she plots her revenge several years later when German war hero Fredrick Zoller takes a rapid interest in her and arranges an illustrious movie premiere at the theater she now runs. With the promise of every major Nazi officer in attendance, the event catches the attention of the "Basterds", a group of Jewish-American guerrilla soldiers led by the ruthless Lt. Aldo Raine. As the relentless executioners advance and the conspiring young girl's plans are set in motion, their paths will cross for a fateful evening that will shake the very annals of history.

User Reviews

I had the PRIVILEGE of attending the UK premier of Inglorious Basterds this evening! Having seen the trailers i had high hopes but had doubts due to a string of self indulgent films (c'mon lets be honest, self indulgence is his tarantinos middle name)

I was surprised to find though that he had pulled the cat out of the bag with this one. The film is rich with interesting dialogue, Perfect timed comedy with a dash of brutal assassination.

The crowning glory of this film though lies with Christoph Waltz whom no fault or error can be found. He manages to create a real tension in the audience whilst remaining quite "theatrical" (couldn't think of a better word). He definitely deserved his prize at Cannes and is heading for an Oscar no doubt!!!! Hoping to see him in something again soon!

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Love Exposure

A bizarre love triangle forms between a young Catholic upskirt photographer, a misandric girl and a manipulative cultist.

Director: Sion Sono
Writers: Sion Sono (screenplay), Sion Sono.
Stars: Takahiro Nishijima, Hikari Mitsushima, Sakura Andô.

Storyline

Three emotionally abused people from the fringes of society get locked in a convoluted love triangle. Yuu, a Catholic boy searching for true love ends up taking erotic photographs of women in public until he discovers Yoko, whom he sees as his Virgin Mary. Yoko, an antifamily, misandristic girl finds that her foster mother will be marrying Yuu's father. Koike, an "original sinner", coordinates a plan to convert Yuu's family to her cult. Under her careful direction, their lives come crashing together in one fateful street fight.

User Reviews

Love Exposure is Sion Sono's first truly great film. As much as I was truly creeped out and disturbed by his previous modern horror classic "Suicide Circle" I was equally bored and repulsed by his "Strange Circus", so much so I had written Sonno off as a hack who got lucky. Love Exposure continues Sono's themes of alienated youth on the fringes of cults and the extremes of pop culture, but here he gives himself the freedom to be funny, sweet, frail, absurd, and exciting. 

The story begins with a catholic boy named Yu whose mother dies, but not before asking to him to swear that he will find a woman like the Virgin Mary to make his wife. His father out of grief dedicates himself to the priesthood, and all is well until a romantic "detour" in his life, leaves him a sin obsessed and emotionally vacant shell whose Jeremiah's and interrogations of his son become his only solace.

He insists Yu make daily confessions, and though Yu wants to oblige, he cant think of any wrongs he might possibly have committed, that is until he begins committing some sins of his own. His small sins are quickly not enough for his father who thinks he's just making it up and not really concerned with sin and thus his immortal soul.

It is only when he meets a group of street kids, and begins learning the secret art of up skirt panty photography (peek-a-panty), that his father reacts and beats him, finally not acting like an impartial priest but an enraged father.

This backfires a bit for Yu when his father moves out of the house completely, to live in the church and be "closer to God". This is all played out in black comedy fashion, the peek-a-panty training sequence which uses elements of kung-fu and acrobatics to capture the naughty pics, being some of the most especially funny.

Yu's incorruptibility while he performs these increasingly corrupt acts is another thing that keeps this movie from wallowing in its transgressions. Yu only wants his father to love him and really does believe his sins will please him and bring them closer together. In fact none of the characters even the film's villain, the young leader and "criminal mastermind" of the Zero Church (a Scientology/Aum inspired cult; the Aum carried out the deadly Serin gas attacks in a Tokyo subway in 1995, an event which seems central to much of Sono's work) named Koike, who strokes a small green parrot like a James Bond villain, is motivated throughout the havoc she wreaks, not by a desire for world domination, by her love for Yu.

Yu out one day in drag after losing a bet, encounters a group of inexplicable street toughs harassing a girl, who comes to resemble "his Maria" the girl he has been searching for all this time (and who he insists he will know because she will be the first to give him an erection). What ensues is a kung fu fight in town square, that ends with a sweet if confusing kiss, exchanged by the star crossed lovers.

Confusing because Yoko (his Maria), believes her first kiss was with a woman (Ms. Scorpion) and that she may now be a lesbian, which coincides nicely with her understandable "hatred of men" stemming from her abusive father. To make a four hour story short, Yu and Yoko become step brother and sister, and Yu is put in a Tootsie/Spiderman like position of having created an alter-ego the love of his life is more interested in than "the real him".

Then things heat up, dramatically and under the collar, when Koike whose been observing impassively for the first hour or so, enters the picture claiming to be Ms. Scorpion (Yu's alter ego, the spitting image of Blank Blank in Lady Prisoner), and seducing Yoko (in many a lesbian school girl make-out session) in order to get closer to Yu.

I'll stop there with plot, because there are still two and half more hours I would have to describe. 

Goodness and perversion are the two twin themes throughout the film, just as I've said each character is motivated in some ways by love, but they all different definitions of what love is. These definitions are more often than not imposed by some social barrier or psychological scar from childhood.

Some may be bothered by the "weirdness", "perversity", or sacrilege in the film, but everything is in its right place, in its right measure, and nothing is exploitative. The immersion in perversion and the obscene recalls another great modern spiritual film Abel Ferrara's "Bad Lieutenant" where bodies are used and abused with drugs and degraded sex, in order to make the contrast between the spiritual and non physical more clear.

Ken Russell's The Devils and Dreyer's Passion of Joan of Arc, both focus on the material, hostile, and outrageous, to show the pure spirit; God struggling in the world, as the spirit/mind struggles with the body. For Sono the material world is one of porn, guilt, self flagellation, but above all love. Though love may lead take on one on many a strange "detour" in life, it ultimately really does conquer all (see Corinthians 13).

For these reasons and too many more to write down, Sonos up-skirt peek-a-panty ninja quest for the Virgin Mary as Holy Grail is one of the best love stories, coming of age tales, and movies of the decade. This movie is a strange brew of the theatrical and the uncommonly sensitive, in a way that truly has to be seen for yourself. I hope when it gets released stateside it comes with its full run time intact, because it's the first four hour movie I've ever seen that I sincerely didn't want to end.

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Ip Man

A semi-biographical account of Yip Man, the successful martial arts master who taught the Chinese martial art of Wing Chun to the world.

Director: Wilson Yip
Writers: Edmond Wong (screenplay), Tai-Li Chan
Stars: Donnie Yen, Simon Yam, Siu-Wong Fan.

Storyline

In 1935 in Foshan, south China, there are martial arts schools on every street corner. Ip Man is the undisputed martial arts champion, yet he has not devoted himself to teaching. Despite this, it seems that all the kung fu masters of the city are eager to fight him to improve their reputation.

User Reviews

Ip Man has quenched our thirst of a real good martial art movie where we don't just watch man kicking asses but where we can appreciate the man's moral and virtues.

The movie flows well, from the view of the kungfu street of Fo Shan, to the introduction of Ip Man, and so on. Scene by scene are there in a well done play, and when someone had to display martial art act, they don't just throw bunch of minions out from nowhere to have him beating them all over. I think the scenario is well written.

Fight choreography is great. Different approach from what we usually see, people doing flashy flying kicks and sorts; since it is about wing chun, feet hardly ever leave the ground but it doesn't decrease the beauty and flashiness of the fights.

People may complain about bits that might not fit the real condition of those era. Well, I think producers have to make sure they made entertaining movies, not documentaries.

Last words, Donnie Yuen has always been a good martial art actor, he just never get the spotlight. And finally as Ip Man he gets to stand on where he deserves.

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The Dark Knight

When the menace known as the Joker wreaks havoc and chaos on the people of Gotham, the caped crusader must come to terms with one of the greatest psychological tests of his ability to fight injustice.

Director: Christopher Nolan
Writers: Jonathan Nolan (screenplay), Christopher Nolan (screenplay).
Stars: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart.

Storyline

Set within a year after the events of Batman Begins, Batman, Lieutenant James Gordon, and new district attorney Harvey Dent successfully begin to round up the criminals that plague Gotham City until a mysterious and sadistic criminal mastermind known only as the Joker appears in Gotham, creating a new wave of chaos. Batman's struggle against the Joker becomes deeply personal, forcing him to "confront everything he believes" and improve his technology to stop him. A love triangle develops between Bruce Wayne, Dent and Rachel Dawes.

User Reviews

Batman has always been my favourite superhero ever since the first time I heard about him because he his human with no powers, also he is much more questionable than any other superhero. The story of the film is about Batman, Lieutenant James Gordon, and new district attorney Harvey Dent beginning to succeed in rounding up the criminals that plague Gotham City. They are unexpectedly challenged when a mysterious criminal mastermind known as the Joker appears in Gotham. Batman's struggle against the Joker becomes deeply personal, forcing him to "confront everything he believes" and to improve his technology (which introduces the recreation of the Batcycle, known as the Batpod and the Batsuit was redesigned) to stop the madman's campaign of destruction. During the course of the film, a love triangle develops between Bruce Wayne, Dent and Rachel Dawes.

There are now six Batman films and I must say that The Dark Knight is the best out of all of them. The title is good because that is what Batman actually is. It has been 3 years for the adventure to continue from Batman Begins but that entire wait was worth it. Gotham city is very Gothic looking and is very haunting and visionary. The whole movie is charged with pulse-pounding suspense, ingenious special effects and riveting performances from a first-rate cast especially from Heath Ledger who gave an Oscar nomination performance for best supporting-actor. It is a shame that he can't see his terrific work on-screen. The cinematography is excellent which is made so dark & sinister that really did suit the mood for the film. Usually sequels don't turn out to be better than the original but The Dark Knight is one of those rare sequels that surpasses the original like The Godfather 2. I also really liked the poster where the building is on fire in a Bat symbol & Batman is standing in front of it. Christopher Nolan is a brilliant director and his film Memento is one of my most favourite films. He hasn't made 10 movies yet and 3 of them are already on the IMDb top 250. Overall The Dark Knight is the kind of movie that will make the audience cheer in the end instead of throwing fruit & vegetables on the screen.

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