♥ ♥ Amy ♥ 's Talk

Empire of the Sun

"Learned a new word today. Atom bomb. It was like the God taking a photograph. "

Beautiful film - I loved it. A very good screenplay by Tom Stoppard, an interesting story (semi-autobiographical), and brilliantly directed by Steven Spielberg. I believe Christian Bale was the highlight of this film, however. You can clearly see that he was a superstar already at 13 years old. He just did a stellar job. Definitely worth watching, and rewatching.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

The sixth chapter of the adored Harry Potter series is certainly not a dissapointment, as Harry comes into the possession of an old book previously owned by the Half-Blood Prince. Great action!

Le Scaphandre et le Papillon (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)

The moving story of Jean-Do Bauby, a successful man who suffers a stroke and then learns to communicate (and write The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) by blinking. In a word, beautiful.

The Fountain

"All these years, all these memories, there was you. You pull me through time."

I have to be honest here that I didn't understand the film at all whilst watching it. I thought things would be explained by the end, but was still lost when it finished. I picked out the themes of life, death and rebirth that were apparent throughout, but overall think that the film is heavily open to interpretation by its viewers and generally quite unclear. I liked the idea of how once we die, we feed the soil that creates more living things, and so we are all, through death, creating life. I also enjoyed the idea of a love that transcends time and space.

Director Darren Aronofsky (director of 'Requiem for a Dream') said about the film: "It's about this endless cycle of energy and matter, tracing back to the Big Bang. We're all just borrowing this matter and energy for a little bit, until it goes back into everything else, and that connects us all."

I did also think that Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz both gave very powerful performances throughout, and the visuals were beautiful. There were some very moving scenes within the film (particularly loved the bath scene near the beginning). They made a good on-screen couple and it was well cast. Overall, it's worth watching because it's a very different film to most of the stuff that is reproduced on a loop in Hollywood today - you might just have to research it a bit further after to understand it more!

Magnolia

"This happens. This is something that happens."

A very powerful, moving and gripping drama. The film is 3 hours long, but I wasn't bored for a fraction of it. This is a film that tells the story of several interconnecting characters in a very real way. I think I may have to watch it a second time to truly appreciate all its nuances. Also brilliant performances by the cast - particularly Tom Cruise. He is definitely underappreciated as a good actor right now.

Insomnia

An L.A. detective investigates the murder of a teenaged girl in a small Alaskan city; only problem is it never gets dark out and he can't sleep. Great story of black mail from Christopher Nolan.

The Brave One

Excellent thriller. Great cast. Erica (Jodie) is a radio presenter who is viciously attacked and her partner is killed in a random attack in the park. She finds herself on a killing spree, defending herself and others in a supermarket, subway and on the streets. She has a police officer (Terrence) on her tail as she hunts down the gang of youths who attacked her.

Public Enemies

Gangster movie set in the 1930s. John (Johnny) is a notorious bank robber who escapes jail and evades the police. Hoover sets up the new FBI with Christian Bale leading the agency to hunt down John. Very violent but exciting. My favourite scenes are the scene in the theatre when the FBI commerical comes on and where John walks into the police station and wanders into the investigation room. You get to see two great actors together - Johnny and Christian.

Public Enemies

Gangster movie set in the 1930s. John (Johnny) is a notorious bank robber who escapes jail and evades the police. Hoover sets up the new FBI with Christian Bale leading the agency to hunt down John. Very violent but exciting. My favourite scenes are the scene in the theatre when the FBI commerical comes on and where John walks into the police station and wanders into the investigation room. You get to see two great actors together - Johnny and Christian.

The Lucky Ones

A funny and touching story about three soldiers on leave from Iraq who must drive from New York to St. Louis when their flight home is cancelled. Along the way, some interesting things ensue.

Public Enemies

An interesting telling of the story of notorious gangster and bank robber John Dillinger and his accomplices. The shootout scenes are very nerve-wracking! Well-casted and well-executed.

Mystic River

Clint Eastwood directs an all-star cast in this brilliant film about finding a young girl's murderer. Dennis Lehane's stories are as twisted as they are remarkable! Robbins and Penn are great!

Dead Man Walking

Beautifully adapted by Tim Robbins, this film about a nun comforting a man on death row, demonstrates a touching story and powerful performances by Penn and Sarandon. Excellent!

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

I was so looking forward to the next installment and it is great. Good storyline and full of adventure. Autobots live and work alongside the US military to protect humans But Megatron's dead body has been stolen from the US Military by Skorpinox and he revives him using his own spark. There starts another battle between good and evil against the backdrop of the pyramids. Excellent graphics and action. Megan Fox is probably paid a lot to be eye candy but that is all she is. She's like a poor man's Angelina Jolie. All body, lips and very wooden.

Fargo

A man in debt hires two thugs to kidnap his wife so he can collect ransom money from her rich father. When things go awry, sweet Margie is called to save the day. McDormand is brilliant!

The Hangover

Very funny movie about the day after a batchelor party. Four guys go to Vegas for a batchelor party. They wake up the next day to find Mike Tyson's tiger in their hotel room, a baby, a missing tooth, someone got married (not the groom), a hospital wrist band and the groom is missing. They have to try to piece together the night before to find the groom and get to the wedding on time. I love the police car scenes and the poker scenes. This movie is a bit like Dude, Where's My Car and Very Bad Things. Great cast. Stay on at the end to watch the snaps from the night before. Hilarious.

Falling for a Dancer

A story that's happened thousands of times to many young girls. Young love, young pregnancy. Credit to the whole cast for bringing it to life. This was pretty good. Elisabeth Dermot Walsh and Liam Cunningham did a great job. Colin Farrell looks so young! His performance wasn't too bad. I won't say who dies but such a sad death and grave scene. Again, wonderful performances from Elisabeth and Liam.

He's Just Not That Into You

A funny romantic comedy about coming to terms with the mess of love, lust and loathing and discovering whether you are the rule or the exception in the "dating pool." A brilliant cast!

Body of Lies

A strong action film about a CIA operative attempting to take down a major terrorist leader, all the while working with iffy allies. A good watch. Anything with Leo DiCaprio is golden!

The Hangover

A funny comedy about a group of guys who go to Vegas for a bachelor party only to get wasted and forget the past 24 hours come the morning. Good cast. A really entertaining watch.