Showing posts with label Meryl Streep. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Meryl Streep. Show all posts

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Movies

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

I finally saw this for the first time. I laughed and laughed and laughed. It's just a really fun movie with great characters and great writing. And it's set in Chicago!

Sherlock Holmes

This movie was extremely entertaining. Robert Downey Jr. is a brilliant actor, one of my absolute favorites. Guy Ritchie and Hans Zimmer were pretty good. Big win here.

Up

An hour into this movie, I was skeptical. But Pixar won me over in a big way yet again, mixing imagination, creative humor, and one of the most heartwarming moments in Pixar history together to form another masterpiece.

The Fog Of War

This movie was centered on Robert McNamara and his 11 lessons of war. I found it exquisitely done, fascinating, and eye-opening. It's definitely one of the best documentaries I have ever seen, and lent a public eye to the mainly private and intensely human situations, reasoning, and decisions involved in running a country, especially through wartime.

Public Enemies

This was a fantastic movie. The music, though used minimally, was unbelievable. There were a few scenes that could be considered among the best of the year for their cinematography. Johnny Depp was brilliant once again; Christian Bale was great; Marion Cotillard was fantastic and beautiful. I loved it.

A Serious Man

Classic Coen Brothers. Dark, extremely witty, with some of the best writing in the business. If you like the Coen Brothers, this is a definite must-see.

Angels & Demons

This movie was visually stunning, cinematically wonderful, with a great score. The plot, while suspenseful and possessing a few twists, did leave much to be desired. Overall, it was a very entertaining movie. The shots of the Vatican lit up at night were awe inspiring.

Julie & Julia

It was entertaining enough, especially since I love food so much. Meryl Streep was downright hilarious as Julia Child. The shortfall of this movie was Amy Adams, which I think everyone is finding out is not a whole lot more than a pretty face.

Extract

Funny; not a whole lot of depth; good, not great acting; good not great characters. So, a little above average.

The Goods, Live Hard Sell Hard

It's an entertaining, crass comedy with shallow writing and partly interesting characters. The few scenes with Will Ferrell brought the whole movie up.

Paper Heart

This was a cute movie with an interesting concept. I did enjoy it, but won't be seeing it again.

Transformers

This movie was completely dumb. The acting was poor all around. Just terrible. I do understand some of the fuss about Megan Fox now.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

I guess I should be embarrassed that I watched this, but we all need to care less about what people think of us. On the movie, this was one of the most epic failures of writing and cinematography I have ever witnessed on the silver screen. Line after line of the most cliche dialogue; scene after scene of complete amateurism; scene after scene of the least believable acting ever. Did even the target demographic enjoy this?

One side note: I was watching a few scenes from Casablanca last night. Some call old movies boring, I rather find them fascinating. Without the aid of all the cheap thrills of the modern day, old movies relied on writing and dialogue, exquisite cinematography, and excellent acting. The scenes featuring "As Time Goes By" have to be among the most captivating in film history.

On another side note, I just saw that "Smokin' Aces 2" was released on dvd. The first one wasn't any work of genius, but to go straight to dvd is quite a fall.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Movies

Fargo-A classic Coen-Brothers directed film. Sure the humor is dark, and a few scenes are downright gruesome, but Kristin Rudrud keeps you laughing whenever she opens her mouth. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Doubt-Driven by the fantastic performances of Philip Seymour Hoffman, Meryl Streep, and Amy Adams, Doubt rivets you to your seat with excellent dialogue. Add in the brilliant monologue by Viola Davis and you have a great film.

Air Force One-I'd never seen this one until now. Classic plot, classic Harrison Ford, classic action. Great entertainment.

Bottle Rocket-An early Wes Anderson film starring Owen Wilson and Luke Wilson. I did not enjoy this one as much as later Wes Anderson films. The quirky humor and catchy songs were not as present. Still a good watch if you're a fan of Wes Anderson.

Milk-No one can doubt the acting prowess of Sean Penn. And the cinematography was captivating. But let's be honest. This film was met with such critical acclaim because of the thematic material. The film is too long, with many lulls. Perhaps it's an "important" film to watch, but definitely not one of the best of 2008.