Claudia's Talk

Disney's A Christmas Carol

Great special effects,Delightful fun for the family this holiday.

Schindler's List

Beautiful movie. An inspiration to all ages past, present and future.

Steven Spielberg is a pure incredible genius. He used black and white, which made the few things colored more significant and it showed you want Oskar Schindler was feeling.

THE LIST IS LIFE

This movie took you inside Oskar Shindler. You saw that he started out just trying to make money, but he realized that the jews were people too, that they had feelings and thoughts and that they needed someone to save them. He realized that he could do it, and still make money. A win-win situation.

The screenplay was excellent, it put german and english in with mix enough that you felt closer to the story without having to know what they were saying. The camera direction was marvelous, it used angles to tell the part of the story words couldn't.

The violence was well done. The gore and effects were realistic yet it wasn't over the top. It held decency and let you feel how strong each death was.

There was a lot of nudity but it was used to show what it was like to be a jew during the holocoust or because it was nessacary.

The acting was stupendous. Liam Neeson is a wonderful actor for the ages. His approach on Shindler made the movie at least 3/4 of what it was, and how much it affects you. His face, voice, and body-language lets you into his head. It tells you how he changes, how he wants to change, and what he does because he has too.

Ralph Fiennes was amazing, too. His character was a hard one to play because he is a cold-blood-thirsty man who doesn't care about who lives or dies, and will shoot you for not sticking out, or for doing something too 'normal'. Ralph Fiennes did this wonderfully, with a hard jaw line and a sarcastically cold laugh and jokes that only he would find funny.

Ben Kingsley did wonderfully. His character was a thankful and non-caring man. he didn't care if he lived or died as long as his death was something that gave life to others. He recognized what Shindler did and he recognized it by showing us with his eyes. He had such great eyes and a great vocal range, a range filled with different emotions and passion without changing volume.

Every female actress, and every jewish actor added to the film without having to stick out of the crowd. Every jew that died, lived, or was there added to the affect of the film without having to say something loudly or be the center of attention. The little girl in the red coat didn't have to draw attention to herself to have all eyes on her.

The ending will touch you like you've never been touched before. Not only the movie's ending, but the ending with Shindler's grave stone.

This movie will change the way you look at life. It's a movie for the ages.

RATED R FOR:
Violence/ Gore
Nudity
Sexual Content

Crank 2: High Voltage

"Is Doc Miles gonna have to choke a bitch?"


Director: Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor
Starring: Jason Statham, Amy Smart, Dwight Yoakam, Efren Ramirez
Running time: 96 minutes
Country: USA


I was looking forward to seeing this one because I liked the first film with all of the intense, violent action within it. When I saw it, I was slightly disappointed and some of the action sequences were awesome as well. Where I found it disappointing was that almost every single shot within the film had either violence or sex in it. Basically, went over the top with sex and violence whereas they didn?t do that very much in the first film which is why I prefer the first film over this one. There were a few moments of laughter especially the public sex scene because it was a lot more public than it was in the first films.


Jason Statham?s performance as Chev Chelios is once again stupid but kick-ass as well! Because Chev?s heart needs powering up every second he?s living, he takes very dangerous ways of powering it up. In one of the scenes, he put pliers on his tongue, his penis and his nipples. Jason is an actor of entertainment nothing more. I prefer him in Death Race over both Crank films because he was quite an emotional character in that one. Amy Smart wasn?t very good in this film just as she wasn?t in the first Crank but I have got to say that she was damn hot!!


The directing from Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor was absolutely terrific in the action scenes but the thing that I personally think that both films have lacked the believability of what Chev goes through. Both of the Crank films make it sound partly like a science fiction film.


Overall, Crank 2: High Voltage is a good film for entertainment and that?s it. Rather flawed in some ways but still decent to watch. Not as good as the first Crank but could?ve been a lot better.

An Education

carey mulligan is exellent as the oxford hopefull,getting charmed by a older man played by peter sarsgaard, still in school she hastodecide if the relationship, is needed,with oxford so close, butwith himshowing herthebest time of her life,andher parents liking him, he could be the one,a charming 60s set london drama,and showing what it was like forwomen in those days, career or housewife

Law Abiding Citizen

AWESOME!!!! Gerard and Jamie Foxx are a fantastic pair.Intense and twisty,I loved it!!

X-Men Origins - Wolverine

"All the horrible things in your life... Your father, the wars, I can make all this go away. You can live knowing that the woman you loved was hunted down, or you can join me. I promise you will have your revenge."


Director: Gavin Hood
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, Lynn Collins
Running time: 107 minutes
Country: USA


I really like the first two X-Men films but not that keen on the third one so I was nervous about seeing this one incase it was going to be bad. There have been a lot of negative and dreadful reviews of X-Men Origins: Wolverine and because of these two reasons, my expectations weren't very high at all, really. I thought the film was neither good nor bad. The flaws in it were that the story was a bit of a muddle, the beginning was awful! I mean, when did Logan say he was a mutant before the adimantium procedure?! Also, the ending was really lame as well because it became a muddle and rather ridiculous! The middle part of the film was quite enjoyable even though some parts went a bit silly. The action was decent and that?s the only thing, really.


Hugh Jackman's performance as Wolverine/Logan has always been amazing! He was awesome in the trilogy and his return as Logan was amazing! Hugh Jackman, Heath Ledger and Tobey Maguire are the only two actors who play their characters literally perfect where nobody else can play their characters any better. To be honest, I think I would've hated this film if Hugh wasn't in it. Live Schreiber's performance as Victor Creed who later becomes Sabretooth was actually quite good. Too bad he didn't really look like the Sabretooth in the first X-Men film but he played him quite decently. Danny Huston was an awful William Stryker!! Should've brought Brian Cox back to play him because that would've been more interesting! Huston made Stryker like a clueless idiot whereas Cox made him like a cold-hearted villain. Lynn Collins wasn't awesome in this film but she was damn hot!


If they truly wanted to succeed with this film, they could've at least returned either the director of the first two films because Singer knew what he was doing. I thought Gavin Hood was absolutely clueless as director of this film! Bit like Marc Forster was with Quantum Of Solace but he was 10 times worse. The script was very weak! Didn't feel as powerful or as emotional as the trilogy did.


Overall, X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a disappointing film that could've been a lot better! Hope that they don't do the sequel of this film like they are planning to because that will probably kill the series like this one almost did. Only good thing about this film was Hugh Jackman and that was it.

Dead Man Running

enjoyable caper,and a fine leading role for hardman tamar hassan, and interesting idea as a guy has to buidup a 100 grand from nothing in 24 hours, aided by ofcourse his good friend played by cockney geezer andnational treasure himself, dany dyer. some good moments and sometimes logic out the window, but never looses its entertainment value

The Men Who Stare at Goats

mcgregor and clooney are exellent together, in a interesting war satire,mcgregor is a bored reporter, wanting to get into irak, here through some fate set up earliar, he meets lyn, a former soldier of the first earth betallion, sort of hippy trained andnon lethal techniques,brought into us army in the 80s, hes in irak also, a bit unclear why,sothe two hook up, and go on a adventure,and throughflash backs see how this came to be, a interesting story, possibly true, and in parts funny,clooney reliable as ever,and mcgregor,shock horror good as a american, the story is engageing throughout. with a great cast. bridges, and spacey rounding it off. another great thing and funny thing here. cloney telling mcgregor that they were jedis, and mcgregor once a jedi knight of cours, trying to get a grasp of this concept, makes the film film funnier, just because of the casting ofewen mcgregor, exellent

Jennifer's Body

from the mind of diablo cody,who wrote the really good juno, comes another winning script, amanda seyfield plays a geeky girl,whos has a bit of a crush on her sexy schoolmate played exellently by megan fox, but one night her mate,while making it witha up and coming indieband, disapears into the night,and reapears all bloody and acting rather strange and strangethings happening, she has turned into a demon women,due to the band trying to sacrifice her for fae and fortune, as indie bands do. and now she must feed, prefably on young high school males, now its up to the gekky one to get sence ofall thisand put a stop, to it, or not let her feelings destroy things, like heathers some 20 years before, the script by diablo is razorsharp liketarentino, diablo, has a signiture, and throughout, you see her words comeout, speaking the mind of todays youth, the filmis also a great atempt at teen horror, and although not all out gore, there are some moments, andcertainly the best ofthe bunch these.days. fox and seyfield, play there roles well, and shows foxisjust not a object to look at, andthe band also, tell me dont you think they are inspired by the killers, especially the lead singer. so much crap teen horrors come out these days, its good to se one can come along that has great writing andhorror elements

Amelie (Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain)

Loved it! This has been on my see it soon list forever.A film desidned to have the viewer fall in love with the story.I have never really seem anything quite like it.Its amazing what one random act of kindness for a stranger will spark off in another persons life.See this movie if you haven't already!! =)

Amelie (Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain)

Loved it! This has been on my see it soon list forever.A film desidned to have the viewer fall in love with the story.I have never really seem anything quite like it.Its amazing what one random act of kindness for a stranger will spark off in another persons life.See this movie if you haven't already!! =)

Eyes Without a Face

Les yeux sans visage had an irritating repetitive background melody in almost every scene and sometimes went a bit too slow. However this was a movie which left me horror-struck. These deeds are so terrible! I'll leave it to you to find out what I'm talking about.The last scene is a lovely one.
Great horror that stood the test of time...

Oliver Twist

It took me a month to finish that original version of Dickens' novel and finally today I read the last chapter.
Previously I watched the 1948 movie version and the 1968 musical. I think this version by Roman Polanski is the most complete version, the one closest to the novel. However he skipped the entire story about the private life of beadle Bumble and the stay of Oliver at the Maylie family. Oliver Twist's half-brother Monks was nowhere to be seen either. Let's just say Polanski skipped the complicated parts of the novel.
This movie starred a great Ben Kingsley as Fagin and a bunch of skilled English child actors. Lovely scenery, many details, beautiful music. Another Bull's Eye for Polanski!

Traitor

terrorist attacks lead back to samir horn played by don cheadle,a american citizen but with ties in middleeast, we see him deep in it, working for a teror group,planning there latest attack on the u.s,andgetting in closewith the headsof the group,on his tail, is fbi agents lead by guy pierce, aentertaining film dealing with currentevents in the world of terrorism, cheadle is watchable,andalso guy pierce some good moments throughout

Le Donk & Scor-zay-zee

shane meadows follows up somerstown with another slice of british life, here concerning 2 guys, one arap artist wannabee,and another aloudmouth guy taking charge,as they are invited to aarctic monkeys gig, with a chance to perform, while bbeing filmed for a film,again like somers town, a very slim running time which flies by, and paddy considine doing great work, ful ofenergy and dialogue, and like meadows filmsbefore a great improvised script flowing, it be goodto see more of these guys

Colin

shot for a a parent 45 english pounds, on camcorders and mobile phones,we see britain overrun by zombies,and colin recently bitten, now a zombie walking the streets of london, with a past telling him to go somewhere, a fresh look at the zombie genre,and the viewpoint from a zombie is certainly diferent, the low budget on show, you see some interesting moments and production, and the pace and story is enjoyable,and dark and moody, exellent soundtrack also. this is director mark price calling card,and certainly looking forward to anything else he does in fuuture

The Company of Wolves

Neil Jordan should do more fantasy, he has a perfect eye for it. Here he retells Little Red Riding Hood, and then some. It's a gorgeous, sumptuous film with beautiful production design (Furst works the same magic he did with Batman), and some fucking amazing werewolf transformation scenes. Only An American Werewolf In London has done it better.

The Firm

There are a lot of football-violence films, but they're all Spurs, Villa, et al. This film is the Manchester United treble-winning team of '99 - unstoppable. This is mainly all thanks to Oldman going bugnuts and off the wall in one of his best performances as a man who leads two lives, which can only end in tears and bloodshed. It shows both sides of their actions and nicely distances itself from the actual game, proving that these 'firms' are actually nothing to do with football. This film is the King, the Top Dog and the Guv'nor.

Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire

I remember talk to my good flixster friend Riley about "Up" and we mentioned that men don't cry, we just have mist coming out of our eyes during movies. Well ladies and gentlemen, you could be mother f*cking love child of but your going to weep like a 5 year old who just stubbed his toe watching "Precious". The best way to describe this film is a poetic sukerpunch of a masterpiece. Yes I get it the story has been done a million times. Poor, illiterate black girl trying to make life better for herself but trust me nothing prepares you for the sheer power of this film.
Part of the reason for this is that when you look at the cast and director clearly showing a love for the novel and a personal connection with the character that it brings out unforeseen power in everyone involved. Seriously how in all hell does the star of "Glitter" and the host if "Charm School" pull this off? Simply put then cut the bull sh*t out of their performances. Mariah Carey pulling a complete 180 degree turn, proves to have the subtlety and fearlessness that suggests that personally makes "Glitter" nothing but a real bad memory in my eyes as far as her career goes. Also props to Lenny Kravitz for a very solid acting debut.
However, every year there is one performance, that just blows everything else out there, like a hurricane of performance. This year it has to be Mo'Nique as the abusive mother. Why because anyone can play the b*tch from hell and make her an absolute monster and that would be fine. What she does here is go past all of that and finds the tormented and tragic soul Mary and makes us even sympathize to a certain degree. Its a risk not even the majority of Hollywood's A-list is willing to take but Mo'Nique runs with it and excels.
Though lets not take the credit from two less showy but equally powerful performances. Paula Patton is given the most difficult job here, providing the source of light in a film that is about as dark as an Alaskian night and without the big oscar moments is sure to be the most overlooked performance of the year. Which is unfortunate because she is amazing here, there is nothing sugar coated and certain about her teacher role but its her drive and hope that sets up the film's spirit.
Though none of this would be any good if the lead did not deliver and Gabourey 'Gabby' Sidbie is something that cannot even be described, it simply has to be seen.
As for director Lee Daniels, I got to admit this is a huge surprise for me. Not being a big fan of "Shadowboxer" but what he does here is amazing. What is essentially a combination of a black "A Serious Man" and a Tyler Perry, Daniels delivers an amazing understanding for both the darkness and beauty of life and none of it feels either corny or preachy but not overly dark and hopeless. Its amazing accomplishment and I'll be the one of many pushing for the academy to give this man the credit he deserves. As everyone else involved in this masterpiece.
So how do I end this review, simply put "Precious" is not a film I recommend you see or hint that it maybe worth your time depending on your mood. This is a film you MUST see! Seriously can't find a screening near you I'll look, I'll pick you up, hell if it comes down to it I'll even pay for your ticket. Just don't miss this movie!

Gran Torino

Fantastic performance Clint! Great goodbye!
A lot of humour and drama, perfect mix of it and I loved it! I also liked the change from angry man to caring man.
I was really looking forward to watching this movie and I was certainly not disappointed!
Yes, another must-see drama.