Jamesy Boy (2014)

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Genre : Biography/Crime
Country : USA
 
Cast :
Spencer Lofranco : James
Mary-Louise Parker : Tracy
James Woods : Lt. Falton
Ving Rhames : Conrad

Director :
Trevor White

Summary
The true story of James Burns who, as a teenager goes from the suburban street gangs of Denver to a maximum-security prison cell surrounded by hardened criminals. In this unlikely setting, will James emerge with hope and a brighter future?

My opinion

Now you keep writing.
It don’t matter about what,
it don’t even matter if it’s good or not.

Yet another moralizing "boy-on-bad-path-comes-to-reflection" story. There are probably several such individuals of whom a story could be told. Despite the fact that this is a story based on true events, it is a film stuffed with cliche elements. It will be an inspiration for some, but that was the movie "Life of a King" with Cuba Gooding Jr.. too. Only the latter was more convincing and credible. James Burns looks more like a member of "The Backstreet Boys" or a modern parody of James Dean, with his clean-shaven appearance and perfect hairstyle. Hopefully the air conditioners worked on maximum in the cinema, so that they didn't need to evacuate massively fainted teenage girls.

James Burns ( Spencer Lofranco ) is a troubled boy who has spent most of his youth in institutions and already running around with an ankle strap at the age of 14. He has an impressive long criminal record, including threatening his mother's boyfriend with a knife. His single mother Tracy (Mary - Louise Parker) does everything to get him back on a by society accepted track. Only James feels misunderstood, and he lacks the will to tackle his life in a different way. As a result, he derails soon and begins again with loitering, truancy, smoking joints and eventually participate in robbing a local store. There he meets Crystal (Rosa Salazar), the local mattress of the neighborhood, who introduced him to Roc (Michael Trotter), a local gang leader and drug trafficker. Because of his sturdy and apparently fearless attitude, James gets more respect from Roc who is promoting him to his right hand after a certain period of time. Yet James tries to get his life back in order and he meets Sarah (Taissa Farmiga), the daughter of the owner of the local store they have previously robbed. Eventually it goes wrong anyway and James ends up in jail. His tough and self-destructive attitude crumbles there slowly. Partly caused by Conrad (Ving Rhames) who's been sentenced to life and tries to convince James not to end up in the same way.
 

Besides the cliche content, also the implausible performance of Lofranco is a setback. He doesn't look like a self-destructive and menacing mobster. Several times I found it a bit ridiculous as this good-looking teen idol waves around with a heavy gun at a fierce looking gangster. Immediately I associated it with the arrest pictures of "Justin Bieber". Also such an angelic face. In general, the acting performance of Lofranco wasn't that bad. Just his looks didn't fit. Obviously we have a mother who'll never give up and still has a little hope that her son will still come to his senses, but eventually realizes it's hopeless. Also a girlfriend appears and naturally she introduces him to the wrong friends and drags him into his downfall.
 

Prison life is of course a battleground with different rival gangs and a rather impressive tough gang leader (Taboo from The Black Eyed Peas) of whom, how is it possible, James isn't impressed. That makes that they end up in a fight regularly. The pathetic newcomer also has to be present. Again it's  someone who looks like he wouldn't even hurt a fly and the tough guys start harassing him. James of course comes to the rescue for this weakling. And then there's the savior in the form of Ving Rhames. A figure that looks like a steamroller who would crush you effortless to serve as fillings between his sandwich, but repentance came while in prison and he dreams of Rio de Janeiro and the huge statue with spread arms on top of a mountain ... sigh . Eventually, he manages to convince James to change gear. So James subsequently emerge as a future poet and he starts to write down deeply human rhymes. We get the well-known images of someone writing down something diligently, then thoughtfully looking into infinity for a few seconds and then writing enthusiastically again.

"Jamesy Boy" is a typical story. You start wondering if it really was necessary to make a movie about it. There are so many other like James in the world. The only beautiful moments were the quiet and fragile ones with James and Sarah. Tomorrow I'll forget all this and in the future as it is broadcasted once again on some television-channel, I will think deeply whether I've seen it or not.
 

My rating 5/10
Links : IMDB

Goodbye World (2013)

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Genre : SF//Drama
Country : US
 
Cast :
Caroline Dhavernas : Becky Snyder
Adrian Grenier : James Palmer
Kerry Bishé : Lily Palmer
Ben McKenzie : Nick Randworth

Director :
Denis Hennelly

Summary
James and Lily live off the grid, raising their young daughter in a cocoon of comfort and sustainability. When a mysterious mass text ripples its way across the country, triggering a crippling, apocalyptic cyber attack, their home transitions from sheltered modern oasis to a fortress for the estranged old friends that show up at their door for protection and community. The unexpected reunion--abundant with revelry and remembrances, generously enhanced by organic wine and weed--is quickly undermined by the slights of the past, the spark of lingering flirtations and the threat of a locally grown new world order. Balancing tense confrontations with slivers of levity, director Denis Henry Hennelly pinpoints a future where ideology explodes into action in every area.

My opinion  

If I ever have to go through an apocalypse during my brief existence here on earth, I hope it's one that takes the form as shown here in "Goodbye World". The apocalypse, which was triggered by a rapidly spreading virus in a text message, looks pretty harmless. A few fragments of a panicking and rebellious population. Actually these are images that we get to see everyday in the media. In the distance you can see a huge cloud of smoke. Then two lost soldiers show up who supposedly want to set up a base camp and there is a commune in the vicinity who claim the right to get some medicines. It's rather the relationships between the key players that are apocalyptic. It looks like this movie is the final year assignment from "The Philosophers" , applied in practice.

"Goodbye World" is actually about a reunion of some 30'ers who grew up together but eventually went their own way over time. James (Adrian Grenier) and Lilly (Kerry Bishe) are two modern hippies who anticipated that such a global catastrophe would happen and have withdrawn themselves, along with their lovely daughter Hannah, somewhere in the mountains and build a kind of eco-house. An ordinary house with enough stock, medicine, horticulture and energy facilities. The day that the text message "Goodbye World" is sent around the world and a global cyber attack begins so all telephone communications, data communications and electricity supplies fail, Nick (Ben McKenzie) and Becky (Caroline Dhavernas) arrive. Nick is a former business associate of James and had a relationship with Lilly in the past. They also welcome the following old friends : Benji, a radical who did some time in prison for arson and in the meantime gives spirited lectures, Ariel (a sort of groupie of Benji) accompanies him, Laura is an associate in politics and apparently had a sex scandal with some senator and Lev is an intellectual computer expert who could well be the cause of this global cyber attack.

Everything starts in a relaxed and friendly way. It looks like an ordinary reunion with quite a bit of drinking during dinner, while raking up old memories. Also, it seems as if they are constantly making use of the home-grown marijuana out of the greenhouse. At times it seems like everyone is looking high after smoking cannabis. After a while tempers start to rise and the mutual conversations become snappy and razor sharp. Everyone is starting to realize that the other changed over time in a certain way and the opinions are no longer synchronized. Eventually we end up in a cacophony of endless drivel and philosophizing about political opinions and personal issues.

I found it strange that despite the fact that there is apparently a society falling apart, a motorcycle gang has taken over the local grocery store and charge abnormally high prices, plus two soldiers show up waving their weapons frightfully around and use threatening language, they nevertheless spend their time in a hot tub in the garden and chat about the growth of hair on a testicle. The apocalypse that is going on at that time, suddenly seems a banal and trivial event. I could not get rid of the impression that a cyber attack will not be the cause of our world going down, but rather the terrible navel-gazing and the enlargement of personal issues of some narcissistic individuals will do it.

"Goodbye World" is roughly not more than a boring movie with lots of discussions and a conflict that is more situated in the restricted group than in society itself. There is a grand total of five minutes of action in the whole movie, so little toothpicks for the eyes can be useful and necessary.

My rating 4/10
Links : IMDB

Her (2013)

Summary
Theodore is a lonely man in the final stages of his divorce. When he's not working as a letter writer, his down time is spent playing video games and occasionally hanging out with friends. He decides to purchase the new OS1, which is advertised as the world's first artificially intelligent operating system. Theodore quickly finds himself drawn in with Samantha, the voice behind his OS1. As they start spending time together they grow closer and closer and eventually find themselves in love. Having fallen in love with his OS, Theodore finds himself dealing with feelings of both great joy and doubt. As an OS, Samantha has powerful intelligence that she uses to help Theodore in ways others hadn't, but how does she help him deal with his inner conflict of being in love with an OS?

Genre : SF/Romance/Drama
Country : US
 
Cast :
Joaquin Phoenix : Theodore
Scarlett Johansson : Samantha 
Amy Adams : Amy

Director :
Spike Jonze


My opinion  

"The past is just a story we tell ourselves.”

Feeling lonely. Abandoned. And then there is that moment you get to know someone. The chemistry that is created. The moments you will experience together. The laughter and tears. You discover things together. The other one makes you discover yourself. A trip. A night out. The passion. The confidence that starts to grow. The good times and the less pleasant moments. The moment you realize that you can't live without the other. The moment you get the impression that you've outgrown each other. The gnawing feeling of jealousy. Realizing that she's cheating on you. The reconciliation time. The final separation ... The older you get, the more you are familiar with some of these facets of a human relationship. Some won't agree herein. For young people it's usually unknown territory. For them this is probably a boring and ridiculous film. To me, all those human emotions appeared in "Her". A brilliant compelling film which shows what human feelings are and what the consequences are. Magisterial, masterful, magical and subtly portrayed.
 

The sensitive and single Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix) works for a "dot-com" company that posts handwritten letters to family members, friends or partners on all sorts of things. Apparently an item that is missing in this future society, as all communication is done electronically . He himself is in a fairly emotional stage. He's still dealing with the fact that his wife left him recently. In an impulse , he buys a new artificial intelligent system from Element Software. OS1. An intuitive entity that listens to you , understands you and knows you after a while. This entity is revealed as Samantha. An understanding, gentle and charming sounding computer voice (Scarlett Johansson), which nestles itself in the daily life of Theodore. A computer program that starts to create an awareness and passes the boundary between artificial intelligence and human awakening after a certain time. The image of Samantha that Theodore has, gradually changes from a gimmick or gadget into a soul mate and someone with whom he could share his life. He's falling in love in other words.

Is "Her" a romcom, a SF or a comedy ? Basically it's a mix of all three, with a generous portion of ingredients from every genre. Of course there are elements in this film that are known from a romcom. An impossible love with the necessary consequences. There are clearly SF elements in it such as a constant connection with the available information-technology, the IT devices used and the wall-to-wall 3D game that Theodore plays all evening. Even Samantha can be compared with the famous current "Siri" application. It's a selfish and really lonely society where every individual lives in his/her own virtual world. It's kind of creepy since this future world is almost as similar as our society nowadays. Today, no one can live without their smartphone, personal computer with email capabilities and social media. The computerized world as we know it today, can't live without the artificial intelligence. And occasionally the film is also quite laughable in a hilarious way ( the cyber-sex that Theodore has with Sexy Kitten and a dead cat playing a key role in it) and sometimes in a mocking, biting, sarcastic way ( the picnic where everyone converses with Samantha as if she was there in the flesh) .
 

Joaquin Phoenix plays in an outstanding way the emotionally distraught Theodore. Not an easy task as his role mainly consists in showing emotions just with the use of facial expressions. Yet I found it masterly and sometimes moving to see him swinging back and forth between different emotions. Ditto for Scarlett Johansson. Despite the fact that we only hear her voice, she manages to show the proper emotion. The only visual thing we see, is the reaction of Theodore. And what a beautiful voice she has. Peppered with the right key and timbre that matches the feeling at that time. From cheerful and funny, to troubled, hurt and jealous. All this with a warm, sultry and sometimes hoarse voice. You fall in love instantly. Had my GPS such a voice, I would make a lot of mileage on my car.
 

Conclusion: A great movie. A compelling film. A film that touched me. A film about the relationship between a man and a piece of software. But also a warning for the evolution towards a lonely society which threatens to dilute the real deep human contacts. A must-see movie anyway!
 

This is a beautiful description I found on a website called "Rutger in de filmclub". I couldn't resist to quote it:

"Her" is totally implausible if you can't surrender to the movie. If you do that, you just get lost in this dreamy world of Jonze, which combines subtle sci-fi with an old-fashioned atmosphere. When you believe in Samantha, you will naturally begin to see this OS as a woman. Scarlett Johansson's voice is enough to melt a man's heart. Try not to fall in love. You lose. 

My rating 9/10
Links : IMDB

 

Last Passenger (2013)

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Genre : Action/Thriller
Country : UK
 
Cast :
Dougray Scott : Lewis Shaler
David Schofield : Peter Carmichael
Iddo Goldberg : Jan Klimowski

Director :
Omid Nooshin

Summary
A small group of everyday passengers on a speeding London commuter train battle their warped driver who has a dark plan for everyone on-board.

My opinion

"Speed", but this time a train in a leading role somewhere in England, instead of a bus. That means that there definitely won't be one surprise element and that is the sudden swerve to another lane or turning into a different road. This train drives its predetermined route from point A to B. No person will or can intervene. The only thing that possibly could occur is an unexpected obstacle on the track. This also occurs exactly once in "Last Passenger". This event doesn't even threaten to derail the onrushing train. In other words, this film is as exciting as a pair of old underpants worn by some grandmother.

The train with which Lewis and Max return home, is unexpectedly hijacked by a crazy person with suicidal tendencies. You will only see this suddenly emerging new driver, in a flash. The reason that brought him to this action is something you can only guess about. There's not even a brief explanation about that. An ill-disposed politician perhaps, or a peace protester who wants to make a statement? I haven't got a clue. What you get as a result is a group of 6 people who rush from one end of the train to the other end, looking for a solution and a way to get the moving train to stop.

And then we get a kind of incredibly implausible "Die Hard" ending as apotheosis, when Lewis has a heroic moment in which he remains miraculously intact. I can' reveal too much of course, otherwise there remains absolutely nothing from this slight average action thriller.

Is there really nothing positive to say about this tiny film? Of course! In the first place, it's a relatively short film of about 97 minutes. So it's a kind of an evening filler when there's nothing on the tube. And the interaction between the six remaining passengers is further elaborated in a proper manner and it's interesting to get to learn the different characters in the course of the film. Surgeon Lewis Shaler (Dougray Scott) is together with his son Max (Joshua Kaynama) on the way home with a night train. He is a single father and during the journey he gets a call that he should report to the hospital to operate a victim of a traffic accident. Max accidentally bumps into Sarah Barwell (Kara Tointon) and this lovely lady spills her coffee all over herself. That is the beginning of a budding romance between Sarah and Lewis.

Kara Tointon has a graceful appearance with the most charming smile ever. That's the least you can say. She has such charisma most men fall immediately for. In other words, Kara is a tasty looking girl. Then we get to know the quite arrogant Jan Klimowski (Iddo Goldberg) who looks very suspicious in the beginning, the distinguished Peter Carmichael (David Schofield) who's lecturing all the time and Elaine Middleton (Lindsay Duncan) who is a kind of stoic lady and only would be surprised about the fact that she dropped a stitch in her knitting . With this company of six people, we have to put up till the end of this crazy ride.

"Last Passenger" is an attempt to present an exciting action but doesn't succeed in this. Ultimately, it is only an abnormal train ride with a group of people who are forced to put up with each other and gradually get to know each other better. It's just a matter of killing time during a train ride ... How appropriate ...

My rating 4/10
Links : IMDB

Dead Man Down (2013)

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Genre : Action/Drama/Thriller
Country : USA

Cast :
Colin Farrell : Victor
Noomi Rapace : Beatrice
Dominic Cooper : Darcy

Director :
Niels Arden Oplev

Summary
Victor, a rising gangland player, has infiltrated the crime empire run by ruthless kingpin Alphonse, with the single purpose of making Alphonse pay for destroying his once happy life. As he meticulously orchestrates his vengeance from his high-rise home, Victor watches and is watched by Beatrice, a mysterious young woman who lives in the apartment across from his. On the surface a fragile woman-child, Beatrice seethes with a rage of her own. When she uncovers Victor's dark secrets, she threatens to expose him unless he helps her carry out her own campaign of retribution. Each fixated on avenging the past, they devise a violent and cathartic plan that could change their worlds forever.

My opinion

“I didn't kill you because they've got you.”

A squared revenge. You could summarize this crime/drama like that. Victor (Colin Farrell) is a man who has already infiltrated some time in a corrupt gang, run by Alphonse (Terrence Howard), a not so kosher developer. They are responsible for the death of his daughter and asked an Albanian gang to scare them a bit, after the couple wanted to take legal actions. His wife is killed by the Albanians and they leave him for dead behind. The only goal in Victor's life is to make the gang , and mainly Alphonse, suffer with as much pain as possible, for the death of his family.However all his planning gets deranged by the hands of his opposite neighbor Beatrice (Noomi Rapace), who had a severe traffic accident in the past which was caused by a drunk guy. The drunk guy got a light sentence and merrily continues his dissolute life. But Beatrice is maimed for life and has painful scars, both physically and mentally, as a result. Beatrice has evidence in the form of a film on her cell phone that shows how Victor strangled someone in his apartment. She uses this to blackmail Victor, so he would murder the man responsible for the accident.

"Dead Man Down" has a promising start with the gloom, despair and the feelings of revenge as a central subject. It all looks gloomy and mysterious. Not only the two characters Victor and Beatrice take credit for that , but also the used environment and images. The apartment Victor that looks poor and sober, the fragments in the cemetery where the light from a flashlight is used while searching for the graves of a Hungarian family, the phone call in the evening of two neighbors on their balcony on the top floor. Everything is soaked in a pool of melancholy and deep-rooted sorrow out of which arises an ​​intense feeling of hate.

Colin Farrell is ideal for this role. He has such a sad look that perfectly suits the person Victor. He must be extremely cold-blooded and reserved so he can empathize with his role as a member of the criminal gang. The sad and silent part of him is again an expression of his immense grief over the loss he has suffered. At times he reminded me of Ryan Gosling in "Drive". A strong piece of acting was when he rejects Beatrice in such a way that he can complete his mission. The combination of determination and helplessness was wonderful to see.

Noomi Rapace, who plays Beatrice, is a kind of replica of him. Just as Lisbeth Salander in "Män som hatar kvinnor" she's a tormented and emotionally marked woman who wants to take revenge on those who have done something to her. Salander took revenge on a perverse and abusive lawyer, while Beatrice on a drunk driver who despite the heavy facts escapes from a heavy punishment. Beatrice is not only scarred emotionally, but also physically . The heavy traffic accident has caused scars in her face, and some surgical procedures were necessary to make her presentable. Initially she seems to be an unperturbed and ruthless person, who is not afraid to extort Victor and use him as a tool to reach her goal. Gradually she evolves into this compassionate and concerned person. The somewhat bizarre relationship that ultimately flows between these two people is touching. However, the friendship shared with Victor Darcy was much more convincing than those with Beatrice . The opening and closing scene was a clear proof of that.

Niels Arden Oplev also happens to be the director of "Män som hatar kvinnor". It was the breakthrough for Noomi Rapace as an international star playing Lisbeth Salander. Also an honorable mention for Isabelle Huppert who played the half-deaf mother of Beatrice. A fairly annoying nosy woman who tried to hook up Victor with her daughter all the time. A terrible moment when she pulls out the photo album to show what a beauty Beatrice actually was. Superbly played anyway.

How convincing and sometimes impressive the beginning of this film was, so terribly quickly it went downhill towards the end. There were some things I had second thoughts about. First, I didn't think the mutilations of Beatrice were that severe that you could see her as a freak or a monstrous person. In my eyes there was still something sweet about her and she was an amiable woman who looked charming. A bit exaggerated to my findings. The moment the recording, that Victor made ​​of a brother of one of the Albanians, was played, was so coincidental and terribly well-timed that it turned out to be completely implausible and ridiculous. That such a dark and melancholy film with a perfectly balanced morbid atmosphere can turn into a purely cheap action-packed monstrosity with all the clichés of a Schwarzenegger / Stallone action-movie of the 80, was a huge disappointment for me. The end was like an A-team fragment of a jeep crashing into a mansion with huge explosions as a result, an exaggerated display of guns shooting around and loads of ammunition being used with gang members falling down everywhere, a terribly hilarious scene where the two leaders shot each other at the right time and the obvious ending with two bosom friends looking each other in the eyes like rivals. A typical Hollywood spectacle not worthy for this kind of movie. Like in the old musketeer films it was one-against-all again.

"Dead Man Down" had a promising start but dug his own demise by a lousy and rattling end. Oplev was hoping for an American success like his compatriot Refn, but this will not happen with this ordinary film.

My rating 5/10
Links : IMDB