Blu-ray thumbs

[Johann]

HULK (2003)


I’ve written about this Ang Lee film here before. I’m one of its Champions.
This is a living comic book!
Ang took the entire of “Hulk Culture” and crammed it into this great movie.
Eric Bana is fine as Bruce Banner and Jennifer Connelly is great as Betty Ross.
Inspired casting with Sam Elliot as General Ross and Nick Nolte as Bruce’s disturbed father.
I loved the Frankenstein-ing of comic panels, flipping and merging images throughout.
When we finally see the Hulk, he definitely smashes… He destroys their lab.
From then on he’s hunted and chased. Great flick. I’m bewildered as to why people don’t like it.
Cameos with Stan Lee and Lou Ferigno.

[Johann]

THE INCREDIBLE HULK (2008)


This is the Louis Letterier reboot, after Ang Lee’s movie got mixed reviews.
Ed Norton stars as Bruce Banner AND he had a large hand in writing the script.
The CGI for the ‘08 Hulk is better, and they tried to give homage to the Bixby TV series.
I don’t know which hulk film I like better-they both have strong points.
William Hurt and Liv Tyler are great as father & daughter.
But it’s Tim Roth as Abomination that really rocks: “Give me a Real Fight!!”
Another Lou Ferigno cameo too.

[Johann]

ARBITRAGE (2012)


Directed by Nicolas Jarecki, this was an intriging thriller.
Richard Gere is the rock of the movie, great performance from him.
He’s a hedge fund magnate, and he’s a huge fraud. He’s also cheating on his wife (a great Susan Sarandon).
He falls asleep at the wheel one night, killing his mistress. He flees the scene and gets a ride home from the son of a friend who gets implicated in the homicide/coverup.
The rest of the movie is Gere in overdrive, doing everything to avoid the law.
Tim Roth shines as a detective on the case.

[Chris Knipp]

Yes I too found it exciting and was pretty favorable in my review here at the time. I did rate MARGIN CALL a bit higher for reasons I give in that review.

[Johann]

Good review! Yes, this was Jarecki's first film and it was slick and polished.

[Johann]

UNBROKEN (2014)


Angelina Jolie produced and directed this WW2 drama and I was impressed.
Based on the true story of Louis "Louie" Zamperini, an Olympic runner turned airman who survived his bomber crashing into the ocean for 47 days. He was captured by the Japanese and sent to various POW camps. He survived multiple beatings and terrible conditions, only to be freed when Japan lost the war. The actors are all unknowns and they do their jobs admirably.
Jolie can really direct!
Inspiring story of survival against all odds.

[Chris Knipp]

Nicolas Jarecki has brothers, Andrew Jarecki, Eugene Jarecki, Thomas A. Jarecki. Can you get them straight? I can't. But two of them made interesting documentaries, When you say ARBITRAGE was his first film... there's only been one since, nine years later.I did not see Angelinna's film, but Jack O'Connell is an excellent actor, from "SKins." And the must-see STARRED UP.

[Johann]

UNBROKEN: PATH TO REDEMPTION (2018)



This is the sequel or companion piece to Angelina Jolie's film.
Directed by Harold Cronk, and starring all-new actors, this is the continuing story of Louie Zamperini, post WW2. We see him drinking alcohol, being angry/short-tempered, dealing with post-traumatic stress, getting back into running, helping sell war bonds and ultimately convert to Christianity after seeing a Billy Graham Crusade in 1949.

This is more sentimental or Hallmark card-ish than the original Unbroken. Not essential, but still a good watch.

[Johann]

ASSASSIN'S CREED (2016)



I've never played the video games, but Assassin's Creed the movie rocks.
It's a medieval Matrix!!
Some heavyweight actors lift this into the realm of action/adventure cinema:
Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Irons, Michael Fassbender, Charlotte Rampling and Brendan Gleason.

The Knights Templar are searching for the Apple of Eden, but they are thwarted by the brotherhood of Assassins.
Great movie. I had a six pack with it and really enjoyed it.

[Chris Knipp]

Justin Kurzel directed.
Generally unfavorable reviews. Metacritic rating 36% - in the RED ZONE .
Maybe if you'd watched it without the six-pack, it wouldn't have looked quite so great. The Glenn Kenny NYFimes review suggests the video game version is much better.

As articulated in video game form, the “Assassin’s Creed” saga is a knotty one that has taken players to revolutionary France, the Italian Renaissance and other historically significant eras. But the cramming of information into an average-length feature film only undermines it in this adaptation.

I guess the big European stars were hired for the video game, which has tons of money, and they were carried over into the feature film offshoot.
Kenny writes:

Ms. Cotillard, Mr. Irons and several other distinguished thespians, including Charlotte Rampling and Michael K. Williams, mostly glower and intone dialogue like “I assured the elders we’d have the apple for London.” For an ostensible action movie, the cast spends an awful lot of time standing around and looking lost. I can only guess that they were following their director’s lead.

I just watched Brendan Gleeson with Colin Farrel in THE BANSHEES OF INISHIRIN. Now showing in theaters.

[Johann]

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (2007)



Pretty much a perfect movie from the Coen brothers.
Josh Brolin stumbles upon a crime scene in 1980 West Texas; several men are dead (including their dog), a truck is loaded with heroin and he finds a briefcase with $2 million next to a dead man.
He takes his gun and the money, setting off a roller coaster ride because the money has a tracker in it.
Anton Chigurh is hired to track the money down, played by a ruthless and excellent Javier Bardem.
Tommy Lee Jones and Woody Harrelson provide solid support.
Brilliant cinematography by Roger Deakins.
See it at all costs. You won't regret it.

[Chris Knipp]

Perfect except not "theirs" because iti's a literary adaptation, from the text by Cormac McCarthy, and all their films were always their own original writing I think, and I think they have that reervation about it.

I wrote about it as part of my coverage of the 2007 New York Film Festival HERE. I wasn't giving release details then, but it was five months after the Cannes premiere. Nonetheless there was just as much excitement around the NYFF press screening, especially since I was a big fan of Cormac McCarthy and loved the book. I say something about that in my review. It's a fantastic book and these were only my 3rd NYFF. press screenings Is it a typical Cormac McCarthy book? No, because he had originally written it as a screenplay and it's simpler.

[Johann]

I’ve never read Cormac McCarthy but I heard The Road was amazing.
The Coens can adapt, or do original stuff.
They’re real filmmmakers.

[Chris Knipp]

All of Cormac McCarthy is amazing. Not just The Road. In fact I'd not put that near the top, personally.

I was mistaken and as you hint the Coen brothers have collaborated with other writers or simply done a few adaptations. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN is the only one for which they were nominated for an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.

TRUE GRIT - Charles Portis.
THE LADYKILLERS - William Rose.

The Coens have written a number of films they did not direct, including Angelina Jolie's biographical war drama Unbroken (2014), Steven Spielberg's historical cold war Bridge of Spies (2015), and lesser-known, commercially unsuccessful comedies such as Crimewave (1985), The Naked Man (1998) and Gambit (2012). Ethan is also a writer of short stories, theater and poetry.- Wikipedia, "The Coen Brothers.."

[Johann]

The Beatles: GET BACK (2022)



Holy Moses, what a first part.
This is the Beatles, Undistilled, from 60 hours of video footage unearthed by Peter Jackson.
Jaw-dropping.
We see the Fab Four at Twickenham studios, rehearsing and laying down tracks for what was to become the LET IT BE album. Champagne to the editor, as he gives us a portrait like no other.

I was happy to be a fly on the wall for this.