I don't use e-mail anymore. If you want to get a hold of me, facebook messenger is best.
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I don't use e-mail anymore. If you want to get a hold of me, facebook messenger is best.
I see, okay, I'll keep that in mind from now on.
I sent the email to you there instead.
THE INVASION (2007)
Tepid horror movie loosely based on "Invasion of the Body Snatchers".
Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel and starring Nicole Kidman & Daniel Craig.
An alien virus creates a pandemic, whereby people's DNA is altered to turn them into quasi-zombies. Nicole Kidman basically runs around, panic-stricken, crying and shrieking, trying to protect her child. Jeffrey Wright also stars, and despite the acting talent this movie doesn't really go anywhere. There's maybe two legit scares in the whole film. The ending was ridiculous too; after being helicopter evacuated from a swarm of zombies, life is supposedly back to normal, with no further mention of them except in a news scrum with Wright. (?) Its left open to a sequel.
A shame. I admire Jeffrey Wright. I loved him in BASQUIAT. A charming picture of the Eighties art scene. I recommend it.
Check your Facebook.
I sent you a message that I tried to send as an email.
BASQUIAT is a fantastic film.
NO FB message received....
I'll have to find your new account. How did you change them? Is it like Amazon?
I see you did find my message. When I found your name on FB, the old account came up, apparently. Thank you for your support. I have no plans of retirement from reviewing. Watching movies is what I like to do! Some of us who traveled regularly have found it hard to get back into the groove after the shutdown periods from Covid. People didn't want to wear a mask for hours. Now very few do.
Glad you like BASQUIAT - so brilliant, funny, and accurate, and about a very exciting time in contemporary art.
Masks are a pain in the ass, but necessary.
BASQUIAT was a brilliant film about a brilliant artist. His paintings fetch a fortune.
Indeed never stop reviewing movies!! You're the go-to for many of us!
People are not wearing masks much anymore. I don't know about Canada. The infection rate is greatly reduced, but still someone said, 7% in NYC, whatever that means. Maybe less, maybe 3%, and decreasing. They wear them more in the San Francisco Bay Area than elsewhere in the US, apparently. Very little in NYC.
I have books about Basquiat. I am a fan. Indeed his paintings do fetch a fortune. My fascination with him goes back 35 years. His genius is unique and a mystery.
NON-STOP (2014)
A great thriller from Jaume Collet-Serra. (UNKNOWN).
Liam Neeson does what he does best, making great action movies.
Here he plays Bill Marks, an alcoholic Federal Air Marshal.
He boards a transatlantic flight and soon after gets cryptic messages over his secure federal account, demanding $150 million or people onboard will die.
The twists and turns are fast and furious, with Bill killing a fellow air marshall, finding a bomb, the pilot mysteriously dying and all sorts of other dire scenarios.
Riveting movie, not a dull moment.
Co-starring Julianne Moore as a passenger who stands by Bill.
47 RONIN (2014)
I enjoyed this film from Carl Rinsch; lots to admire visually. The story isn't particularly engaging. I forgave that in lieu of splendid costumes and powerful production design.
47 Samurai are banished to be Ronin, only to be led by a half-breed (Keanu Reeves).
Reeves is Kai, a formidible fighter that the samurai treat well even tho he's not one of them.
He's the only "name" actor in this movie, and I couldn't help but wonder what the Japanese think of this film. All english? With a white leader?! Just like the Last Samurai with Tom Cruise!
ENDER'S GAME (2013)
Gavin Hood adapted and directed this sci-fi spectacle, originally written by Orson Scott Card.
Visually it's amazing but the story bites off more than it can chew.
Keep your eyes on Asa Butterfield- he impresses as a gifted kid/cadet who's recruited by Harrison Ford to train for a future alien war. For a young man, Asa can really act his butt off. He's totally believable as "Ender" Wiggins. He's a leader with a conscience.
Ben Kingsley also lends great weight to this busy movie.
The real star of the show is the special effects, and I recommend it for that alone.
I wish I could've seen this on the big screen- it was like Star Trek for kids.
SNOWPIERCER (2013)
This was an original take on the post-apocalyptic thriller by Korean Bong Joon-Ho.
The earth has become a giant snowball due to climate change, and a train carrying the last remnants of humanity hurtles down a track that circles the globe. The third class or steerage passengers want to revolt, led by Chris Evans.
The elites are at the front of the train, including Tilda Swinton and Ed Harris.
John Hurt is in the rear with the gear...
I appreciated the original concepts, but ultimately the movie bored me.
I don't plan on seeing it again.
RED EYE (2005)
Directed by Wes Craven, this was a mildly entertaining thriller.
Rachel McAdams stars as a rape survivor who works at a Miami hotel.
She meets Cillian Murphy at the airport in Dallas, while waiting for her flight home.
He seems charming, and they share a drink at the bar. She's surprised to learn he's seated next to her on the plane, and he quickly turns into a sinister S.O.B.
He's involved in a plot to assassinate Homeland Security's top man, who happens to be staying at Rachel's hotel. This movie is tense, but not as entertaining as a similar film- Non-Stop with Liam Neeson. I can't say I cared about all the drama.
EX MACHINA (2014)
Helmed by Alex Garland, this won an Oscar for best visual effects.
Domhnall Gleason plays Caleb Smith, a programmer at search engine "Blue Book".
He wins a contest to visit the CEO at his swank home/retreat in the mountains.
The CEO is Oscar Isaac (great actor!), and he's a narcissist who likes to drink.
Caleb is introduced to a high-tech A.I. robot named Ava, we're told he's there to test her consciousness capabilities, but the CEO has other plans...
I thought Ghost in the Shell was THE A.I. movie....Nope.
It's EX MACHINA.
Ava's abilities are astounding, and she behaves exactly like a real human.
She's been compared to Frankenstein and HAL from 2001 by various reviewers.
I say she's amazing, and her responses are more human than anyone could hope for.
Great movie that sustains as an intellectual thriller until the end, when it becomes a slasher.
UNFORGIVEN (1992)
"I'm here to kill you Little Bill. For what you did to Ned".
Clint Eastwood's masterpiece.
See it at all costs. It's the story of a farmer with a bad past who does one more killing job for money.
This won 4 Oscars, including best picture and director and supporting actor for Gene Hackman.
Hackman is thoroughly loathsome as Sherriff "Little Bill" Daggett.
Morgan Freeman shines as Ned, Eastwood's pal. And even the guy who plays the Schofield Kid is great.
One of the best westerns you'll ever see.
TAKERS (2010)
One of the best heist films you'll ever see.
A group of professional bank robbers pull off spectacular robberies- the opening one is great, the last one unbelievable.
Idris Elba is the leader, and they make a hasty plan with "Ghost", an ex-con to pull off a major heist involving C-4 and armoured trucks. Problem is Ghost involves too many people, including the russian mob. The heist gets pulled off, but not without hitches; 2 LAPD cops are on their trail and the russians are seriously pissed off, leading to a bombastic (slow-motion!) shootout at the Roosevelt Hotel.
Of note is a really exciting hot pursuit chase of Chris Brown- very well shot and edited!
Well worth your time.
I'd never heard of this film until today.
I'm glad you liked it. I went to it for the cast which included Hayden Christensen, Matt Dillon. It didn't get particularly good reviews at the time, to put it mildly: Metascroe 45%.
It was great. Hayden Christensen proves he can do more than play a Jedi. Matt Dillon is the big star cop, and what happens to him at the end surprised me- the movie did not end the way I thought it would!
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL (2014)
This is a marvellous comedy from the great Wes Anderson.
F. Murray Abraham stars and narrates his version of the history of the GB hotel.
Ralph Fiennes is Mr. Gustave, the effete and weird concierge (?), and we get a hilarious and quirky cavalcade of episodes he's involved in.
This film is impeccably shot, with neat camera tricks and perfect compositions- it looks like a trillion bucks on blu-ray. Wes Anderson is a singular genius, nobody makes a movie like him.
His films have the same consciousness as Kubrick had, and the editing is fast-paced. It may bowl a viewer over.
Plenty of stars here: Jude Law, Ed Norton, Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel, Jeff Goldblum and Adrien Brody.
Can't recommend it enough.
CONTACT (1997)
An interesting film that fictionalizes making first contact with alien intelligence.
Jodie Foster stars as Ellie, a gifted woman who monitors radio emissions in Puerto Rico.
Her small team makes first contact and records it, which has an embedded video clip of Adolph Hitler's speech at the 1936 Berlin Games.
Matthew McConaughey is the love interest, a "Man of the Cloth without the cloth", and he serves as the moral compass, because Ellie doesn't believe in God.
Long story short, she's selected to travel light years in a gimballed machine financed by the great John Hurt.
Thought-provoking movie based on Carl Sagan's book of the same name.
PHANTOM THREAD (2017)
Suave masterpiece from P.T. Anderson.
Daniel Day-Lewis plays Woodcock, a famous dress maker/designer in 1950's London.
He never married, and he meets his muse, Alma, who is working as a waitress.
He's got exacting standards and can be gruff and rude. He resists the love from Alma
And she ultimately poisons him. Twice.
Beautifully shot on film and impeccably acted, it proves Anderson can do anything.
INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS (2013)
The Coen bros. gave Oscar Isaac his big break.
This movie is great, but kinda bleak. It's one week in the life of Llewyn Davis, singer/songwriter in 1961.
All songs are performed live, and The Village in NYC is the place to be.
Llewyn has a record recorded, but it isn't selling. He's sleeping on friends' couches, aimlessly making his way.
The Coens admitted that the film has no plot, hence them adding scenes with the cat...
This won the Grand Prix at Cannes and I enjoyed the music.
Also starring Carey Mulligan, Adam Driver, Justin Timberlake and John Goodman.
http://www.chrisknipp.com/newpictures/isaac.jpg
OSCAR ISAAC IN THE COEN BROTHERS' INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS
This was featured at the 2013 NYFF, which I covered for Filmleaf. Find it HERE. The photo above and caption are from that coverage.
It certainly did put Oscar Isaac on the map (but who really knows him now?) and it was exciting to have the Coen bros. at the press screening. But it's their most blah movie, isn't it? Imagine it winning a big prize at Cannes! The French see something I don't see. I wrote then "beware -- it's a head-scratcher and a bit of a downer, despite its mild manner." Loosely based on Dave von Ronk. But this was when Bob Dylan was living on West Fourth Street in the Village, which I've just been reading about. I'd rather see something about him.
You were right. It is a downer. It was criticized for deadening the liveliness of the Village back then.
It was a much happier time and place.
I agree a movie about Dylan's time there would be better.
I'm not jazzed to see it again but it was worth a one-time watch.
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI (2017)
Excellent film with wild twists and turns from Martin McDonough.
Frances McDormand stars as a grieving mother to a daughter who was raped and murdered.
She's frustrated with the police over the lack of an arrest, and she puts up incendiary ads on 3 dilapidated billboards to express her outrage.
The police chief is Woody Harrelson, and he says the billboards are unfair, that there's been no break in the case. The townsfolk seemingly side with the Chief, who also is dying of cancer.
In a wild twist, he commits suicide and leaves notes, saying he paid for the next month for the billboards to be up. There's another angle with a corrupt cop named Jason Dixon, who changes his ways after a series of unfortunate events.
Crazy movie with totally surprising plot twists- the ending is unexpected for sure.
Martin McDonagh made his name originally as a playwright and I'm not as convinced by his movies, also not a fan of Frances. I felt he was out of his element here doing a story set outside the UK.
I would never have known he was British-seemed like a U.S. production all the way.
I loved the twists and turns. If a movie is so unpredictable that I can’t see things coming, I’m all for it.
But you're not American. To me it rang false. He is English-born Irish. I guess I'm an outlander. But to me his plays are far better than his films. People love IN BRUGES. I thought A BEHANDING IN SPOKANE rang false when I saw it too, due to the American setting. You can't just change cultures like turning a switch. (Maybe in absurdist drama, you can.)
The first thing I saw was THE LIEUTENANT OF INNISHMORE in London with an English friend attuned to what's going on in the theater. THE PILLOWMAN seems a lot more serious. It's a different kind of thing.Quote:
He started his career in the Royal National Theatre with The Pillowman in 2003. He has since written many plays which have been produced on the West End and on Broadway. His acclaimed plays include The Beauty Queen of Leenane (1996), The Cripple of Inishmaan (1996), The Lonesome West (1997), The Lieutenant of Inishmore (2001), A Behanding in Spokane (2010), and Hangmen (2015).
THE PILLOWMAN is brilliant. I saw it on Broadway back then. He's had a hard time maintaining the level of his early plays in what's come later. That's my two cents. He's talented. I'll grant you that. And for me to debunk is films when he got the Oscar for best live action short film in 2004 is going against the facts.
I’d never heard of him.
The acting won Oscars, and his short film SIX SHOOTER is a bonus on the blu-ray.
It stars Brendan Gleason and I didn’t find it that great.
You'll hear of him now.
I suffered through three of the new JJ Abrams STAR TREK movies.
They were terrible. Not even worth reviewing.
JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH (2008)
Enjoyable movie in the vein of The Goonies from Eric Brevig.
Starring Brendan Fraser, this is loosely based on the Jules Verne novel.
Fraser and a kid travel to Iceland, to follow in their relatives' past work at a volcano.
They meet an Icelandic woman who escorts them there when a storm hits and seals them in an old abandoned mineshaft.
From there, they free-fall to the Center of the earth, encountering luminous birds, venus flytraps, and dinosaurs.
Implausible but fun movie.
So now you must watch THE WHALE?!
I'll see it sometime.
It's Aronofsky, and he said he wanted to get back to working with actors more deeply.
It garnered gold for Brendan.
TOP GUN: MAVERICK (2022)
If you were a fan of the '86 movie you'll love this sequel.
Myself, I didn't find it all that great, despite superb aerial photography.
It was nice to see Val Kilmer back (as Iceman), and they gave him an onscreen funeral!!
The story is simple. Maverick is a hotshot test pilot, and they get him to teach a new batch of aviators. The opening credits were a throwback to the original film, making all the gen-X'ers happy...not to mention the shirtless game of offence/defence football we see in the surf later on.
Fast editing of the scenes in jets, thrilling for some, meh for me. It just seemed like a video game to me. Jennifer Connelly is good, and Tom Cruise is looking his age.
Again I completely agree. I didn't review it - not much to say - but did see it in a theater. Why it was mentioned so much at Oscars time I didn't quite see.
Nothing oscar-worthy about it.
It made over a billion at the box office. Mind-boggling.
Was covid keeping people from the theatres?
This film was hyped pretty large, and I don't see much to write home about.
JURASSIC WORLD DOMINION (2022)
Are people still thrilled by dinosaur attacks? They must be, cuz they keep making these movies.
This movie has no plot. Dinosaurs run amok everywhere. And these dinos are real keen on chases.
They can outrun motorcycles! They can jump between buildings!
Almost nothing can hold them back, and the silly chases here are almost non-stop.
There's too many characters in the movie too- you don't care about any of them!
Stalwarts Howard and Pratt are here, along with veterans Dern, Neill & Goldblum.
Kids may like this, adults may tune out.
GET SMART (2008)
One of the worst movies ever made. All involved should be ashamed.
Directed by garbage man Peter Segal of Adam Sandler shit-movie fame.
There is not one single funny thing in this movie.
I was expecting big laughs- it's got Steve Carell.
Nada. It was just cringe worthy dialogue and cringe worthy stunts.
I was thinking this might be good, a spy spoof! Great!
Based on a classic TV show! Great!
So then what was this shit sandwich?
What is it with spy spoofs sucking?
Mellissa McCarthy's SPY BLEW CHUNKS TOO.