Displaying Review 6 - 10 of 17 in total

• The Brothers Grimm - A Grimm Story — for The Brothers Grimm
  Written by Asmodai on 13.06.2009

  What do you get when you mix a highly respected fantasy writer and ex-python, with such great acting talents as Heath Ledger, Peter Stormare and Jonathan Pryce? The answer is, unfortunately, a disappointment.

  The Brothers Grimm is a movie about Will and Jake Grimm (Matt Damon & Heat Ledger), who perform fake exorcisms in 19th century French occupied Germany. When arriving in a town, they use theatrical tools to trick the village into thinking there is a demon/ghost near, and use lots of effects and shiny props to “exorcise” that same supernatural creature.
  When they are captured by an Italian mercenary named Cavaldi (Stormare, with a toupee and a over-the-top accent), and brought before the French General Delacombe (magnificently played by Pryce), they are ordered to investigate the disappearance of ten little girls in a village called Marbaden.
  They arrive at Marbaden, and convince a huntress to show them the road through the forest, where they discover an ancient tower, with no entrance. Jakob suspects that the tower houses an 500-year old queen, who used black magic to stay alive, but who will need the blood of twelve young women to get her beauty back. Until then, her beauty only survives as an illusion in a mirror, the source of her life.
  When another girl gets kidnapped, Cavaldi takes the brothers back to Delacombe, who threatens to kill them and Angelika (the huntress). They manage to convince the general, however, that the disappearances are not the result of black magic, but of German rebels, hiding in the forest, and they are allowed to continue their work.
  Just as Jake manages to enter the tower in the forest, another girl in the village is kidnapped, completing the twelve needed. The Brothers manage to rescue the girl, having to fight a wolfman with a magical axe, and escape to the village. When they get to the village, they find that Delacombe brought his army, and intends to burn the forest, Grimms included. They are however, saved by Angelika, who manages to get herself kidnapped by the Wolfman (who turns out to be her father), and becomes the new twelfth girl.
  The queen uses her magic to put out the burning forest, and to wreak havoc on the French army, which makes Delacombe and Cavaldi travel to the tower, where the Frenchman attacks the Grimms. After a fierce fight Cavaldi refuses to kill the brothers, after which Delacombe shoots him, but gets killed himself by Will.
  Will and Jake enter the tower, where they fight the queen’s magic, and finally beat her, with some help from Angelika’s wolf-father, by destroying her magic mirror. Cavaldi managed to survive, by wearing one of the Grimm’s “magical” shiny armors, and recites a curse that breaks down the tower, after which he helps resurrecting the girls.
  The brothers and the girls get back to the village, where they party and the Grimms decide to start a new living. In the final shot, a crow flies off holding a small part of the Queen’s mirror, with her eye still living in it.

  When I first heard of this movie, it promised great things: it had Gilliam, action, good actors, beautiful scenery and a plot (which is not a certainty in most fantasy movies). It was, however, a huge letdown. The acting is mediocre at best (not including Pryce, who stars as magnificent as always), the scenery is impressive, but gets boring after a while, the plot is farfetched, and the brothers Grimm (who are given some weird backstory including a died sister and some magic beans) are just plain annoying.
  The references to all the fairytales by Grimm are fun, but don’t make the movie any more enjoyable.
  If this film was made by another, lesser, director, with actors who have got less of a name, it would be good entertainment, but this is just a huge waste of some great talents.
  I would recommend this movie only to the die-hard Gilliam fan, who needs it to complete the collection.

• The Deer Hunter — for The Deer Hunter
  Written by Asmodai on 13.09.2009

  This is a film about the Vietnam war, made in a time when that war was still fresh in everybody’s memory. Directed by Michael Cimino and starring heavyweights Rober de Niro, Christopher Walken, John Savage, Meryl Streep and John Cazale, it is a story about three friends from a small Russian community that are drafted to join the army.

  This film has some tremendous acting, by every member of its cast, and contains some scenes that are still referenced today. Who never heard of the scene where De Niro and Walken are forced to play Russian Roulette against each other.
  Just because of the sheer performance of everyone involved (even the extra’s during the wedding ceremony considered it an actual wedding instead of acting), be it cast or crew, this film can be considered one of the greatest Vietnam movies ever made, next to Platoon and Full Metal Jacket, and is the best in its kind in telling how war changes people, and how differently people are changed by war.

  Still notorious because of its portrayal of Russian roulette as a torture technique by the North Vietnamese, and a “sport” that can be bet on, and showing it with great accuracy and bluntness, I would not recommend this film to people with a weak stomach or to them that are easily distressed, but I can absolutely recommend it to everyone else. This film is an absolute masterpiece.

  This film is also known for being the final part that John Cazale played before his death, which was weeks before they finished shooting. Knowing that he was dying, the shooting schedule was changed so all of Cazale’s scenes could be shot first. The production company tried to fire Cazale, but when director Cimino and Cazale’s then-girlfriend Meryl Streep threatened to walk out, he was allowed to remain and play his final part. Cazale is considered one of the finest actors ever, having only played in six films (five during his lifetime, and the Godfather III from archive footage), but having the sole honor of having all his pictures nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award (of which 3 were won).

• Changeling — for Changeling
  Written by Asmodai on 22.09.2009

  Changeling is a 2008 drama film directed by Clint Eastwood, and starring Angelina Jolie (in an oscar-nominated role) and John Malkovich.
  Angelina Jolie is a single mother whose son gets kidnapped. When the police brings him back she is convinced that they brought back the wrong boy, but the police insists they did not make a mistake, and try to shut her up.
  This film is another great work from a very talented director, even though it does not reach to the same rank of masterpiece as Million Dollar Baby, Unforgiven and Mystic River. Most of the acting performances are solid, and I consider it to be one of Jolie’s finest performances ever. The story, however, is sometimes somewhat confusing and unfortunately tries too much to prove itself to be taken from a true story.
  Set decoration and cinematography are downright stunning, with a beautiful Los Angeles from the 20’s being shown, next to the proper make-up and costumes for that period. Eastwood again proves himself to be a brilliant director, and gives his actors free reign to try out new ideas for their characters; and with his calm style of directing made himself loved by the whole cast.

  In short, just a good film, that I can recommend to all people besides haters of character-detectives starring Angelina Jolie and directed by Clint Eastwood.

• All Quiet on the Western Front — for All Quiet on the Western Front
  Written by Asmodai on 31.10.2009

  When one watches All quiet on the Western front, he/she will not just watch an action or even a war movie, but a protest against war in general.

  The plot roughly describes how a group of German students who, after seeing a military parade and being given a patriotic speech by their teacher, decide to join the army and save the fatherland in world war 1. They are being followed through basic training until they arrive at the front, where quickly their high hopes are being shattered by their experiences and the tales of the older and more experienced soldiers.
  Throughout the film most of the young recruits turn into grizzled veterans, and die one by one. When one of the still living men returns home for a week, he finds the people in his town to be unaware of the true feelings and actions of war, and he is asked over and over again to tell people about the 'glory of war'. He quickly returns to the front, where he finds out that only a few survivors of the original group are left. When he goes out to find a friend of his who is looking for food, he finds him, but on their way back the friend is first wounded and then killed by enemy fire.
  The young man, who lost all his friends, ends up seeing a butterfly in a trench, reaching out to grab him, and getting shot at the last second by a sniper. The film ends with a still of a cemetary.

  Every single line in this movie ends up as part of the true moral, which is, however interesting war looks for naieve minds, it really is a horrible thing, which destroys everyone that is enveloped in it, even if they physically survive (for a while). This film also would work for any other war, be it the first or second world war, Korea, Vietnam or even the Gulf Wars; it shows what war does to people.
  Cinematically, the movie is a true classic, which is filmed brilliantly and directed just as great; from the small scenes such as discussions in a trench, to great battle-scenes.

  I can recommend this to anyone who can stand a bit of criticism and likes films with morals, do not let the fact that this is an almost 80 year old film discourage you, for it still is truly great.

• The Dark Knight — for The Dark Knight
  Written by Asmodai on 08.11.2009

  Introduction:
  Lewis Wilson, Robert Lowery, Adam West, Olan Soule, Michael Keaton, Kevin Conroy, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Rino Romano, Diedrich Bader and now Christian Bale. All these men have one thing in common: They all played or voiced the hero Batman, with Bale taking the role in the latest installment: The Dark Knight.

  This long expected sequel to Nolan's reboot of the film series Batman Begins tells the tale of the rise of the Joker as Batman's arch-nemesis, and the "creation" of another future enemy: Harvey Two-Face. Add to this lots of cool action sequences, a gripping musical score, a love triangle and some good, great and in one instance even legendary performances and voila: The Dark Knight is born.

  Plot:
  The film starts off with Joker robbing a mob bank, and tricking his accomplices to killing each other. When investigating the robbery, Batman and the police under James Gordon discuss if they should bring the new district attorney Harvey Dent (who is also dating Batman/Bruce Wayne's love Rachel) into their plan. When Wayne runs into Rachel and Harvey, he gets convinced that Dent is serious about eradicating crime, and decides to host a fund-raiser for him
  In the meantime, Gotham's crime bosses meet to discuss the problems of Dent and Batman, and discover that their accountant (a Chinese man named Lau) has hidden their money safely and fled the country. The discussion is interrupted by Joker, who offers to kill Batman for half the money of the mafia, which they refuse.
  Batman travels to Hong-Kong and captures Lau, who he delivers to Gotham Police where they get him to testify against the mob. Shortly after the arrests of the mob, Joker announces an ultimatum: every day people will die untill Batman reveals his identity. This starts with the an assassination attempt on Harvey Dent at Wayne's party, and the murders of the police commissioner and the judge residing over the mob case.
  When the crowd starts blaming Batman for the deaths, Wayne decides to reveal his identity, but Dent cuts him off by saying he is Batman, and is arrested. When Dent is being transported to prison, Joker attacks the convoy, but Batman intervenes, and (with some help from Gordon) manages to capture him.
  In the aftermath, Dent and Rachel disappear, which prompts Batman to torture Joker to find out where they are taken. Joker gives them two locations, both on the other end of town, and tells Batman he has only the time to save one; Batman leaves to save Rachel and Gordon leads the police to the address that holds Dent. Batman manages to save Dent, who survives with terrible facial burns, as it appears that the Joker switched the addresses, but the police are unable to save Rachel before the bomb goes off.
  When everyone returns to the police station, they discover that Joker managed to escape with Lau, by using a bomb smuggled in in one of the Mob gangsters stomachs. He burns his half of the Mob money (with Lau on top).
  Meanwhile, an accountant at Wayne Enterprises by the name of Reese, figures out the identity of Batman, and tries to go public by going on tv. The broadcast is interrupted by Joker, who says that if Reese is not dead within the hour, he will blow up a hospital. In the chaos that follows, the police try to evacuate every hospital (including the one where Dent is treated for his burns), and Gordon tries to protect Reese his life, which almost fails if it was not through an intervention by Bruce Wayne, who nods at Reese.
  Joker breaks in into the hospital, and discusses himself and life with Joker, and convinces him to get his own revenge for Rachel's death. Dent decides to leave everything to chance now, and starts flipping coins for every enemy he has. The Joker is spared, blows up the hospital and kidnaps a bus full of hospital patients. Dent pursues the corrupt cops and mob bosses that led to his fate, and flips his coin one by one for each.
  Joker broadcasts another ultimatum: At nightfall everyone in Gotham will be at his mercy. He also warns them that the bridges and tunnels out of the city are mined. The authorities start using ferries to evacuate prisoners that might help Joker, as well as civilians. Two of these ferries, one with prisoners and one with civilians, are suddenly stopped in the middle of the river, where Joker gives them each a detonator for a bomb on the other boat. If they will not blow up the other boat before midnight, he will detonate bombs on board of both ships.
  Via a new echo-location system, Batman manages to locate Joker and sees through the trap that he set for the SWAT teams, he is forced to attack Gordons man, but eventually manages to capture Joker yet again, stopping him from destroying the ferries. Joker taunts Batman to kill him, which he refuses, after which he is told what Dent has been doing since his release from the hospital.
  Batman leaves Joker for Gordons men to capture, and goes on the hunt for Dent, who he finds holding Gordon and his family at gunpoint. Dent judges the innocence of Gordon's son, Batman and himself with coin cosses. He spares himself, shoots Batman through the stomach, but when he flips a coin for the boy is tackled by Batman, and in the struggle falls off the building to his death.
  Knowing that Dents death will lead to the loss of all hope and morale in Gotham, Batman decides to pretend he is responsible for the murders, and flees. The film ends with images of Dent's funeral and the smashing of the Bat Signal.

  Judgement:
  While this movie absolutely is a good movie, with some great effects and thrilling action sequences, there is only one reason why one would want to see it more than once or twice; you guessed it: it is the absolutely legendary performance of Heath Ledger as The Joker. This stunning piece of performance truly was Ledger's magnum opus and even beats the earlier performance of Jack Nicholson in Batman. The rest of the acting is quite solid, with such big names as Christian Bale, Aaron Eckhart, Gary Oldman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman, but they are all easily played away by Ledger.
  Bale sets a more grim and serious Batman than the kinda gay'ish Kilmer and Clooney, but just does not manage to convince as playboy Bruce Wayne. Every shot of him in his normal life, I expect him to grab a chainsaw and kill somebody. That, and the weird over-the-top rasping voice of Batman turns this performance down for me.
  The visual effects in this film are downright great, with explosions here, there and everywhere; and there are some great visual highlights in this film, with masterful lit shots.
  The film has been scored by big names Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, and that you can hear; from the eerie violin noises that accompany Joker, to the brass blasts that play during major scenes, this score is absolutely worthy of all praise.
  Storywise, this film is quite good; even though it runs a bit long at 152 minutes, you will not be bored a lot. Some side-plots are a bit far-fetched, but in the end, everything comes together, and it sure is way better than Batman Begins, which left me a bit empty after seeing it.

  In conclusion: This film is great because of Ledger's performance, and otherwise also quite good, if you haven't seen it I can absolutely say that this is a must-watch, and for the rest of you it still is a great pop-corn movie to rewatch.