Laurence Fishburne – the one who groomed the one!

Mr Fishburne, the man with the pills and the frameless sunglasses has given a pretty interesting interview to The Guardian newspaper here in the UK.

Joining CSI however isn’t the best move for him I think…

Slumdog Millionaire actor gets beaten up – by his father

And so the improbable but inspiring story of Slumdog Millionaire gets shot to pieces as the father of the little lad who acts in it (and is from a slum himself) gets beaten by his father as he returned home from the Oscars ceremony.

A bleak reminder of how bad things are for young kids and especially how bad things are in India, where a ruthless caste system exists that cements child abuse, abuse of women and of the poor into the society there.

My apologies about the source of course, but more on the slums of India and the caste system can be found here and here.

Doubt – Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Meryl Streep

I just saw the movie. I think it was great. PSH comes up with the goods yet again. Streep was also great; steely, icy and resolute.

8/10

Tristan and Isolde – Movie review

 

Tristan and Isolde (pronounced Izold) is a Romeo-Juliet affair set in pre-unification
Britain. It paints a picture of a marauding Irish King who constantly harasses the English in his bid to take over their land. He has a beautiful daughter Isolde (Sophia Myles) who has a counterpart Tristan (James Franco); a young man adopted by the to-be king of the British Isles Marke (Rufus Sewell).

Charities are set to highlight the problems shown in Blood Diamond

A while back I wrote a review of a really good semi-factual film called Blood Diamond. The film showed all of the human rights abuses and the slave labour that occurs in mining diamonds and taking them from places like Sierra Leone. Well now a number of international charities are planning on raising the profile of these issues and are renewing calls for the dirty industry to clean up. Link

Review: Smokin’ Aces

What can I say; there are certain ingredients that make a good film stand out from terrible films, and a great film stand out from good films. In general crime, the mafia and the police are some of those ingredients. People can relate to many of the themes involved and this makes much of the film “believable”. Certain heists, mafiosa activities and so on become talked about and the skill with which they are portrayed makes them all the more popular as elements in good films. Smokin’ Aces has Ray Liotta, Andy Garcia (two mafia-acting pros), it has Ryan Renolds and Ben Affleck (two established young actors) and it has a plot about the Mafia and the FBI.

The last remaining Mafia clan is being watched. The FBI believe that it now suffers from internal problems and has been divided into two; An ageing and dying Don and a young leader who was his protege – Buddy “Aces” Israel. The protege is talking to the FBI about finding a governmental pardon; he rose too fast too soon and is now suffering the consequences. Talking to the FBI made him prime target for the other half of the mafia who want him dead. But they want him dead and the Don wants his heart. For a million pounds.

Review: Blood Diamond

I am drawn more and more into the emotionally unstable figures that Leonardo DiCaprio can really produce in an engrossing and touching manner. I saw it in The Beach, The Departed and now also in Blood Diamond, a story about the blood diamond industry (illegal diamonds taken from Sierra Leone and other parts of Africa and sold for vast sums around the world). DiCaprio plays an ex-mercenary who nows works in the diamond trade; smuggling diamonds and trying to make his dream of leaving Africa come true.

Whilst under arrest for smuggling diamonds, he overhears a conversation between a rebel leader and someone who worked for him at a diamond mine. They were arguing about a Pink Diamond which he found. Pink diamonds are massively expensive, are usually quite large and are the stuff of legend in terms of the international lust for them.

Helen Mirren leads British legion at the golden globe awards

Nine British awards including: Helen Mirren (2), Sacha Baron-Cohen, Jeremy Irons, Emily Blunt, James Morgan and Hugh Laurie

Full list

But apparently they are pointless!;) article

I reckon they aren’t too bad as they provide somewhat of a balance – I think the Oscars are politically motivated at times.

The Departed – A copy of Infernal Affairs

It is a dark movie about betrayal founded upon trust. It is a fantastic movie. Yet only if you have never had the pleasure of watching Infernal Affairs, the superb Hong Kong offering from Wai Keung Lau and Siu Fai Mak.

Aishwarya Rai engaged to Bachchan

Aishwarya Rai, Bollywood superstar, former Miss World and empty headed bimbo is now engaged to an equally unattractive bollywood star called Abhishek Bachchan who is the son of Amitabh Bachchan. Amitabh is a real superstar in Bollywood and has acted in an absolutely absurd number of films – over 180. He strikes some silly poses alot of the time and they call him Big B. I saw a few Indian movies in my time, some weren’t too bad, they generally have nice, straight forward plots but are just characterised by totally depressing crying and sobbing women at the start and finish of the film, with about three thousand well choreographed dancers jumping around in impossible settings (ontop of moving trains, mountain peaks, rivers, university quads, parliaments etc). For some reason the soundtracks seem to be sung by the same woman. Or else all the bollywood female singers simply sound the same. I knew the daughter of a major bollywood producer at university and she was basially telling me how the whole industry is run by money-laundering criminals and an aristocratic mafia. Except her father of course who was clean. Or so she said.

Even Money – The Movie

A while back I promised to write a review about Even Money a great movie with Danny DeVito and Kim Basinger oh and Ray Liotta and Forest Whitaker. Oh, and Kelsey Grammar too! Well it was really good. It wasn’t the most intellectually challenging movie to date – but it was first and foremost a movie of solid performances by the all-star cast.

The story revolves around gambling and how three different stories link to each other. You have Kim Basinger, a writer with a lovely family who is addicted to gambling and gambles her family’s life savings away. She continues to gamble in hope that she will win them back. You have Forest Whitaker who has a NBA-aspiring brother and is in debt to two bookies. Thirdly comes Kelsey Grammar, a policeman on crutches (disabled from friendly fire) and who is trying to solve a murder mystery.

Danny DeVito is a washed-up magician forced to entertain pensioners who sit in a casino for small change. He meets Kim Basinger and tries to help her win back her money by chasing a dream he has of meeting a big-time crook and taking money off him. Forest is trying desperately to pay back his debtors and so he gambles on his brothers matches. Kelsey tries to put pressure on the other criminals but in reality he himself is a criminal working for the big boss.

It was a fast moving movie. Particularly good scenes were the gambling and the basketball ones. Forest is also a very emotional actor and when expected he can really create sympathy and portray all of the various emotions that make women cry (for want of a better description!). He did it in Ghost Dog and he does it in The Last King of Scotland which I will be reviewing very soon. I also saw Kim Basinger as a really good example of a frustrated addict who keeps getting deeper and deeper into a financial quagmire. Whilst the movie had dark elements to it, it managed to really show a good side of life when everything seems to be getting worse and worse.

8/10

Even Money

Just saw a really good film with Danny DeVito, Kim Basinger and quite a few other famous names. I will post a review of it sometime tonight or tomorrow.

The Good Shepherd

I just watched The Good Shepherd on my Macbook Pro on a train – which wasn’t the most ideal location to watch such a good movie but it definitely made me concentrate more on everything!

The movie charted the setting up of the CIA as well as depicting a few American institutions; the secret Skull and Bones society, racism, discrimination and of course a contempt for the British. Not as bleak as it sounds but I mean to say that throughout its portrayal of different characters it really shows alot of the different unlikeable things about the states. One example which was really memorable is an Italian-American asking Damon’s character: “I don’t get it; We Italians have Italy, the Irish have the Homeland, the Jews have their traditions, even the niggers have their music…what do you guys have?” To which Damon answers: “We have America. The rest of you are just visiting”.

The film itself was great in its detail. Matt Damon has proved again what a class act he is and how mature he is as an actor. Whilst his roles have not been that varied, he remains a deep actor who is able to portray alot of emotions whilst also not going through the standard motions that most actors would. The technical details such as the wardrobe were really spot on apart from an instance where a clearly modern overcoat was being worn by William Hurt. 

The story centres around his induction into a secret society called the Skull and Bones society (an American society that includes presidents, bankers, politicians etc and has its own practices akin to freemasons etc. The film does away with any of the “sinister” talk that tends to be associated with the society but nevertheless does show how it is misused through its promotion of nepotism.

Edward (Damon) then joins American intelligence to work against the Nazis. He himself is going through personal turmoil firstly by marrying a woman whom he did not love and also becoming a father to a son that he is away from for six years. He goes through emotional rollercoasters of trust and betrayal that really are carried off well particularly with the rest of the cast. De Nero did well, as did Baldwin with whom I am really impressed with lately. John Torturro was fantastic. I think he did a great job in The Departed and he did a better one here. Jolie played the part of a desperate girl looking for a husband and then a desperate wife looking for happiness. She did it well but unfortunately her character was rather annoying – plus she looked like a white version of those African women with plates in their mouths – AND she had bizzare bright red lipstick on and it made her look like a greyscale cutout from an old magazine with bright red scribbled over her. I didn’t like her much! I also think that the casting for Edwards son was also a bit weak.

Anyway, another good movie!

8/10

www.thegoodshepherdmovie.com

Apocalypto review

Well now I have seen Apocalypto I can tell you that it had all the makings of what is increasingly becoming a Mel Gibson movie habit – gore, blood, sweat and tears. The movie focussed around a simple tribe which loved its innocence and the harmony it had with the jungle it lived in. In particular a few main characters from that village. Against that backdrop the movie brought in some seriously nasty people from the main Mayan capital who go around ravaging the rural areas to capture the people and turn them into slaves as well as sacrifice the young men and offer them to their gods.

The portrayal of the actual people was fantastic – although I am not sure whether the portrayal was totally accurate or not as I have never met a Mayan but nevertheless the casting and filming in this instance was absolutely superb.

The story then shows how the members of the village are being taken away by the ruthless slave-traders to the capital and how upon reaching their destination an act of nature (a solar eclipse) saves them from being sacrificed. The traders then are at a loss as to what to do with the slaves they have captured and so they devise a rather vicious game whereby they releas two captives at a time and tell them to run, vollying spears, rocks and arrows after them to kill them. One of the slaves manages to escape and in doing so kills the son of the chief slave trader. The chase is now on, and the man runs not only for his life but to save the pregnant wife and child of his whom he had hidden away when the slave traders came to his village.

In terms of concept it was a refreshing film with great camea work and truly gripping acting. However I would have preferred slightly less gore (no need unless the Mayans were seriously brutal people) and also a scene where a woman gives birth whilst trying to keep her head above rapidly rising water should have been deleted for being to OTT.

8/10. Go and watch it.

www.apocalypto.com

Apocalypto…

I am going to see the Apocalypto preview tonight at the Empire Leicester Square cinema which is showing the movie daily a few days before its general release.

I am a big movie person, and I have watched about 600 at least during the past year and a half and those are the ones that I have seen from start to finish…I know that because I have burnt them on DVD (and I only do that after I watch them all). I do sometimes watch the first few minutes of films, find out they are rubbish, forward then play and decide to trash them but usually I read the reviews on imdb.com first. You do end up sometimes reading absolute tosh but by and large the majority vote does lean towards a fair judgement of the film.

Apocalypto seems to be a potentially interesting movie – Its about the Mayan civilisation and bizarrely enough according to http://www.odeon.co.uk/fanatic/film_info/m10172/Apocalypto the language is in Arabic. Why exactly I have no idea. South Americans don’t speak Arabic as far as I am aware and I don’t think they ever did. Nevertheless I will of course keep you posted on what it was like and whether or not Mel Gibsons latest film is a fine addition to his fantastic array of directed movies.