3DD!3

A quality movie, but not such a massacre as promised in the trailers. The characters receive the same care as the unbelievably tangible fights with metal and organic monsters. Beautifully followable and ingenious brawls are the icing on the cake, held together by a perfectly functioning world whose natural laws are strange, but most of the time make more or less sense. Locating most of the plot in Hong Kong was also really fine, because it provides a perfect backdrop for those monumental punch-ups. People who like monsters and robots have made a movie for people who like monsters and robots.

Bay in his best form. A twisted story about how a bunch of bodybuilders decided to take a path to riches and glory. And God heard their pleads. Pain and Gain are down to earth Bad Boys 2, where reality (the plot is based on a true story) is often more incredible than even the worst Hollywood kitsch. Uncle Mike still shoots popcorn entertainment, this time cheaper, but, well… more entertaining. Mockery of the American dream was never this cruel and satirical. The actors handled their characters excellently, the Rock rules in his role of a dumb religious junkie (it’s a shame that we didn’t see him ride on that skateboard) and Marky Mark as a slick “man with a plan" of the gang definitely gets him some recognition. Ed Harris “merely" enjoys his role of a detective past his prime. The multi-angled storytelling, at some moments giving the viewer insight into the world behind the main characters’ brain curtains, all the way into their muddled thought processes, offers an opportunity to sympathize with each of them, because all of them have valid and very justifiable reason for their actions (hands on the grill).

A great semi-documentary. These two maniacs on motorbikes have grown on me in the course of their journey and in the end they turned out to be excellent guides on this bizarre journey. The best episodes were the ones about Mongolia, but overall the whole thing was high quality. You can feel the enthusiasm and commitment to the project in this. In the face of all of the disasters to continue forward, that was what this was about. Highly recommended. P.S.: And it’s inspired me to go on some trips closer to home.

A slow and very personal drama that loses it toward the end when it turns into the comic far too heavy-handedly. A shame that Aronofsky didn’t make it. Not that Mangold didn’t do a good job, but his signature isn’t as pronounced, tending too much toward the mainstream. But maybe the producers wanted just that. The shift to Japan, where Wolverine is a little out of his depth (but doesn’t try to adapt), is like manna for the viewer. Although we aren’t bombarded with the exotic (was it a problem to film the chase at night with the neons switched on?), but it adds to the scope of the X-Men universe. Jackman is awesome and after the thirteen years he’s been playing his role, it’s become second nature, and worked out for this movie and looks like a huge, invincible gorilla in the fight with Sanada. All the more I was disappointed with the very cursory encounter with the seven hundred ninja’s which I almost didn’t notice. The finale, if a little over the top, had its moments and overall I took utterly positive feelings away with me. Hype can be harmful.

Superb. Vaughn is talented and serves up this great genre piece excellently. Camera tricks, great music, focus on actors... Today these are the creme de la creme of British actors and you can see that Craig put a lot of Mr. Into Bond. The story is well-thought through, has some surprises in store and, most importantly, it’s entertaining.

Nature vs. technology. Ford excels in the role of a fanatical scientist who sacrifices everything for his vision. His sociological experiments don’t work out as well as his work concerning mechanics. The adventures of the Fox family (with the excellent River Phoenix as the oldest son) takes them through various situations even the idyllic ones have their dark sides. Weir shows Honduras in all its beauty, as virgin nature that has suffered from the touch of the white man only sporadically. Maybe too beautiful. Where are the minor threats? The dark message about human generation and degeneration of man that Ford delivers at the end of the picture has logic to it. It makes you start to think. Very effective. See you all on Mosquito Coast. Father sat at the end of the towline...his back turned to us. I hated his shoulders, the greasy hair, the slant of his spine. I imagined how it would be to stick a knife in it, just below his ragged collar.

Statham still has some surprises up his sleeve. All the run-of-the-mill punch-ups have started blending into one and it’s nice to see baldy act a little again. Statham’s PTSD, constantly replaying the horrors of war, including hummingbirds, to our stoically calm hero, gives necessary depth to the story. Marianelli’s music plays on the emotions so discreetly that you don’t even realize that you’re watching an action thriller. The romantic storyline between a gangster and the nun all of a sudden doesn’t appear that funny anymore. Everything fits perfectly into a place and the ending, even tho it could have been shallow and optimistic, resisted becoming that kind of ballast. An unexpectedly humane drama that reflects all of the woes of London, from class differences, thru international multiethnic friction, to domination of a Chinese crime empire.

Pilot: Fail, a complete fail. Things that were entertaining in the book like Juniors tantrums and the subsequent brutal murder spree (I probably won’t see the scenes where he talks with his girlfriends’ rotting bodies), mayor Sanders and Scarecrow Joe were cut or utterly ruined - Big Jim - a character of genius (in the book he’s liked a stoned Gollum with a swastika) was incredibly trampled down. Barbie - the cook - turns out to be some sort of secret agent/murderer or whatever, but these are wasted words. The first episode of this series is just embarrassing and it’s like post-lobotomy. A skeleton of the book where only that insignificant dome remained.

Fairytale realism, where he represents the almost fantasy romantic element and she represents rational life, full of fear and uncertainty. All three of Linklater’s pictures are as deep as humanity itself, in this case our three screenwriters (director and main roles) quite chillingly reflect on the cruel truths of life. The dialogs are sincere, well-thought out and there is such a build-up during last third that you start to get scared. You’re scared because you know how it might turn out. And after everything you have seen, you don’t want that. After all these years that you know these people you want to enter the story, take a time machine and go back and tell them to stop it. To look back and think. Life isn’t perfect, but it’s up to us to make the best of it.

..., Now You Don't. Entertainment that doesn’t offend your brain that is a huge advertisement for illusionists. One big advantage is that the gradation of the screenplay copies the gradation of the tricks in the movie and follows the rules of magic divulged in advance. Magic has always kept up with trends and, because we are a greedy generation interested only in having fun, our four (five) horsemen go at it cleverly and steal and then hand out money. A very pleasant cast, all of them with a good part to play and they enjoy the “moment", supplemented by the two old men, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine, who gratefully accepted their roles of the biggest assholes of the entire charade. Leterrier is on top of kinetics, so all of the tricks are extremely dynamic and easy to see (during the performance), + not forgetting his favorite car chases. A seriously well-done popcorn movie with a twist that even I was surprised about.