Rick's Talk

A Hard Day's Night

An influencial film starring and revolving around the much more than just influencial "The Beatles".

A comedy on one level and a stark depiction of rebellion and newly found freedom in the 60's on another. The four Beatles members; John, Paul, George and Ringo not only have a laugh on screen and invite us along to laugh too but help portray a serious message the film is gives out. It shows that you should be yourself, do what you want and not answer to anybody who tries to control you.

The screenplay (although not ad-libbed as thought) by Alun Owen (who is almost certainly using lines the members would have said as he hung around with them as he wrote it) is fun and wild and nver gets boring as the pace is nevr slowed. Being chased on foot by some uptight policemen is one classic scene that is a good example of both the comedic side and the anti-establishment side the film presents to us.

The four members act well, as they are ffectibly playing themselves and I would havr to say Ringo gets the best scenes. When he has a conversation with a young boy by the river about getting out and living life is both touching and observent of the times and what was changing.

This is a great film. It helps to have prior knowledge (and I mean more than just knowing the four members) to enjoy this film and should have at least sampled some of the songs first (I can't see why you would watch this film before doing so anyway) and is a real delight to watch and has some great use of Beatles songs throughout. Who doesn't love the title song A Hard Day's Night and that immortal guitar cord that starts off the song AND the film?

Othello

The difficult thing with a Shakespeare adaption is that it is often hard to tell what it is you really love.The fantastic dialogue or the film itself. Although I'd say this is a pretty good mix, I believe the reason why I am rating it slightly higher is because of the Shakespeare's script. However, the actors are cast finely and they speak the hard lines almost fluently.

Othello is one of the most famous stories and tragedies of all time, that is as relvent today as it was 400 years ago. Although the actual context may not be clear for everyone today, since the story is set in a conflict between Cyrpus, Turkey and Venice (then not Italy) that happened in the mid/late 16th Century, the gist is easy enough to follow. Besides, this is very much belittled by the powerful tragedy that unfolds.

The relevence may have changed slightly. Some may view the story as portraying racism and the effects it has. Yes, this works today but back in the 1600's it was not as rife and therefore I doubt that was the main point. This is very much second nature to how the classes are portrayed. Othello is not turned against for skin colour but because he is of a different class, especially compared to his rich and younger wife, Desdemona (the age difference seems to have been overlooked in this version, instead focusing more on jealousy). Although his age is dismissed for the other, more prominant themes (he and his wife could be the same age for all we know), Othello's insercurities at his class status are still adressed and from this we see how easily he can be manipulated, which all appears very clearly in the film, avoiding much confusion that often comes with Shakespeare adaptions.

The centre villain, Iago, a cold man who acts nice to fool everyone close to him to continue his plan to bring down Othello, is portrayed in this way perfectly by Kenneth Branagh and is the way Shakespeare probably envisioned him. This unpleasent two faced mixture of personalities makes Iago seem even more hatable and a heightens sense of dramtic irony is effectivly achieved through this portrayal as we get to see both sides and how manipulative he can be by constantly changing his person; he is nice to the characters but evil when he has soliloquies, giving hints to the audience that his character is not what he is or as he famously quotes "I am not what I am".

The rich dialogue and fantastic story is what makes this film. The directing is above average but is nothing spectacular and some of the performances aren't that noteworthy. Only Fishburne and Branagh stand out amongst the main cast and some people in minor roles (Michael Sheen is Lodovico is fantastic) and Michael Maloney as Roderigo is great.

The high rating is for the script adaption, some well cast actors, intense editing (when Othello has a fit is highly memorable in this aspect) and a score that suits every scene from calm to loud and menacing. A great adaption for many reasons and a poorer one for others but definitely worth a watch for the story alone, of which it stays mostly faithful and does good justice.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon

Ambitiously titled sequel to Twilight (it's a saga now?) follows the continuing adventures of Bella and Edward, with a third key character, Jacob, thrown in for good measure. Stale soap opera plot is just like every love triangle story you've ever seen. I kept thinking I was watching an episode of Days of Our Lives except with vampires and werewolves, of course. On a positive note, the cinematography is stunning as the whole film has the look of quality. However, as in the first story, there are several unintentionally funny parts. Apparently Jacob and his crew seem to be allergic to wearing clothing. Fans of the series will probably be interested in these characters, but all others will be bored

Mishima - A Life in Four Chapters

"Poetry should be written in a splash of blood." Anyone who enjoys a challenging, highly stylized movie about the intersection of art and life should see this. It's a superbly directed film from Paul Schrader about infamous Japanese writer Yukio Mishima, who committed seppuku in November 1970. Schrader entwines Mishima's fiction with his personal life, his need to express himself not only in prose but also through his body. Mishima tried to live the ancient way of the Japanese samurai in a culture he thought was becoming debased by Western modern values. MISHIMA has a stunning climax, a fantastic score by Philip Glass, terrific acting from Ken Ogata in the lead role, and a cool (uncredited) voiceover narration by Roy Scheider. It is truly one of a kind, and Schrader's personal favorite among his films.

Daens

A gripping story about politics, religion, poverty, corruption, greed and society. The directing is just outstanding, you really get into the movie, you feel real hate, compassion, understanding,.. and allot more due to Stijn Coninx's fantastic directing job. And the movie has Jan Declair's best performance, i might even call it one of the best performances ever! It was really amazing. Definitely one of the best Belgian movies ever !!

The Tenant

a dark , psycho dramatic film ...maybe the only film , i had nightmares after watching ...

Kramer vs. Kramer

What a performances by Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep even the boy Justin Henry was terrific ! They definitely deserved they're oscars. And the editing is great to, they didnt got stuck to long in a scene but they jumped at the right time to the other which made it very amusing to watch. The fantastic screenplay and the great directing turned this into one of the best drama's ever !!

Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire

Emotionally uncompromising portrait of an overweight, illiterate inner city teen who has just become pregnant with her second child. Unflinching study is so raw and harrowing, it?s difficult to watch in parts. Be warned, this is grim stuff. Director Lee Daniels wisely lightens the proceedings with sporadic fantasy sequences that provide some relief, even humor, to the cruel details of her life. Extraordinary newcomer Gabourey Sidibe as Precious heads up a cast that is uniformly excellent. Also of special note is standup comedian Mo'Nique in a courageously grotesque performance as her abusive mother. Impressive drama takes the viewer to places that will make you uncomfortable, but it presents her circumstances honestly and with humanity.

2012

This is a movie of epic proportions. Like the whole world goes down. Overall it was an okay/average movie. First thing is that it wasn't a great movie, but it certainly wasn't bad like a lot of people said it was.
Obviously, the first positive of this film was the special effects it had. The CG was amazing, like the best I've ever seen. Everything was so massive, it's actually quite scary to think about it, how they created and destroyed the earth so realistically. Los Angeles was ruined so amazingly, it just stuns you. The acting and character development wasn't that good. The movie was very emotional since of course this movie is about the apocalypse, but the main characters themselves didn't show too much emotion. At least not as much as expected. Storyline wasn't too original and was seen before, but the super cheesy dialogue actually fit in very well with the scenes.
For those people who rated it under a 4 or something because of character development, one bad aspect doesn't bring down an entire movie, and if you rated it because of that, it's probably just a rant.

Play It Again, Sam

"I'm short enough and ugly enough to succeed on my own."

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Zombieland

Harry Brown

following gran torino, another old man, taking law into his own hands, but where eastwood dealt with, the question of foreigners, and his dislike, but getting to like and ge on, here caine is fed up with his own kind and there total disrespect in hisarea, when his only close friend is murdered, he takes law into own hands,and with a back ground in special forces and northern ireland behind him, takes action, even though out of depth and breath. caine is exellent, aglimpse of get carter in there. the situations feel real, the hoodie kids genuinly realistic and scary, and showing the britain today. with the cops trying but not getting far. harry is told, but you were in northern ireland, yes he said, they were fighting for a cause. these kids are just bored. too true

Cold Souls

like in eternal sunshine of the spotless mind,we see a world where theres a company specialising in brain work, here taking your soul and storing it, paul giamatti plays himself who takes up procedure when a play hes doing isnt working, and from here goes on a journey, without his soul, trying other souls and of course wanting soul back,but soul is stolen, giamatti is great here, playing up his self a bit, and on his status as not exactly a list, al pacino is the actor whos soul is wanted here,and many more actors after. if anything its not eternalsunshine in greatness down to direction, its not as inventive, but seems to borrow from kauffman, im not sure the sauce material, if its original or based on book, but do see influences, a enjoyable film throughout, especially for giamatti performance, check it out

2012

The movie lost allot of it's originality because of the typical hollywoord cliches and bullshit but yet it stayed very suspenceful, but after a while you might get sick of see-ing that everything happens our that they escape everything at the last second.

The performances where overall 'watchable', no good performances but no bad ones either. Altho i think John Cusack would fit better in a comedy then in a disaster movie.

The special effects where amazing, the best ive ever seen. Roland Emmerich keeps suprising me with his talent of directing disasters with great cinematography, extremely good effects and great lightning but unfortannaly thats the only thing that he can direct with style.

As the maya's actually did predict the end of the world and that the screenwriters where able to turn that into a great suspencefull movie like this is amazing. But the comedy is highly missplaced, watching somebody die, even if it happens in a funny way is still not funny.

2012

Big, loud and obnoxious. But we already knew that, right? I had to admit the first hour or so is quite entertaining and the first big action sequence was very cool, John Cusack remains the most likeable person in the world and seemed like it might be a fun movie... but then 37 hours and 89 disasters later it was all dull, boring and typical. By the time the movie turns into The Poseidon Adventure I cuoldn't stop looking at my watch.

Fireworks (Hana-bi)

An ex cop tries to spend time with his dying wife during her final days, but a Yakuza loan shark refuses to leave him in peace. A typically understated marriage of violence and poetry from Beat Takeshi, Hana Bi examines loss and mortality in a deeply personal way. It shares many of the themes of Sonatine, but is not as brutally nihilistic; there is much warmth in the often wordless scenes with his wife which have far more humanity than the contrived schmaltz we are used to from most mainstream film making. Takeshi's laconic persona is taken to the extreme in this film as he silently deals with the loss of his child, his wife's illness and his guilt over his suicidal ex-partner's crippling injury, although he still manages to find humour with the use of some oddball supporting characters. In other words another typically brilliant and artful Beat Takeshi film.

2012

Ludicrous disaster film details details how the people of earth react after an explosion on the surface of the sun starts events that bring about the end of the world. Hackneyed script full of inane dialogue is hilarious in the extreme. Audiences will have fun counting how many times a character assures everyone that things are fine, only to be struck with another disaster immediately following those words. There isn't one genuine emotion in this entire overblown 158 minute film. These aren't characters, but rather devices which exist solely to recite poorly written dialogue while everything around them blows up in beautiful demonstration of CGI technology. However you have to admire director Roland Emmerich. Not only does he have the chutzpah to rip off other people's films like Armageddon, but even his own The Day After Tomorrow. Film's sole entertainment value is the stunning display of special effects which are indeed impressive.

Fantastic Mr. Fox

"I don't trust this guy. Anyway, set up the ambush!"

Doubtless, a family film that appeals equally to children and grown-ups is probably not the easiest thing in the world to make. It has to be smart enough to amuse the adults without being so clever that it disenchants the kids. Having stumbled upon the winning formula with Toy Story, Pixar has been churning out exactly this kind of movie for the past fifteen years. Unfortunately, Wes Anderson does not strike the right balance here; his movie is much too clever for its own good and there simply isn't enough in it for the kids. I can't recall exactly what I was interested in seeing when I was seven or eight years old but it almost certainly it wasn't knife fights, ugly death scenes and foxes talking about existentialism! Fantastic? Not really. On the plus side, this is exquisitely animated, the voices are excellent and there are one or two surprisingly touching moments along the way. In particular, I thought the fox cubs mesmerised by the train set and the mystical late appearance of the wolf were beautifully done.