Shoot em up - 2008

I heard some mixed reviews regarding this one starring Clive Owen. Some said it worked while others said it was not so good and seem overly crass. So, I gave this movie a whirl just to see which group I fell into. Well I guess I fall into the second group of people. I was out looking for a few good laughs unfortunately I did not find any and in fact sad to say I fell asleep a few times during the movie! I could hardly force a laugh out! Take a lesson from some Stephen Chow's movies please Mr Davis. Somehow the supposedly funny scenes did not work for me and what I was left with was this dis-engaged feeling from the whole proceedings.

Well, let me just get some of Mr Davis's earlier efforts later and I will see if his earlier efforts are better than this doozer.

The whole thing felt false to me and even the combined forces of both the movie's leads, Clive Owen and Monica Belluci failed to raise me from my mid way movie slumber. Hubba Hubba though for Monica Belluci. If you are forced to watch this movie at gun point, just forward to the love making scene between Owen and Belluci and get it done with. The words "Rolling around like a Bollywood movie" will never have the same meaning anymore after that.

Trailer :



Imdb Page:

Shootem up

So, only watch this one if you are having a really slow afternoon or you are a die hard Clive Owen fan.

Before the devil knows you are dead

Since last week I did an old Sidney Lumet gem, I thought this week I would do one of his newer ones. It's Sidney's 2008 effort, Before the devil knows you are dead. BTDKYAD stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Albert Finney and Marisa Tomei just to mention a few. This movie is a testament of how a simple plot can be lifted into realms of greatness deftly in the masterful hands of director such as Lumet.

It examines the downward spiral of two brothers life after a foiled robbery attempt on their parents jewelery shop in which their mother gets shot. What I like here is the Vantage-Point style story telling where the story is seen through the eyes of everyone involved. What to notice here is Sidney's great camera angle and how each character seems to play out differently just from a different camera angle. Well done! This one point alone lifts it above the garden variety thriller to a classic! I am also a sucker for those Fight Club story rewind scenes which is kinetically done here which really helps to tighten up the story line. I LIKE!

Editing and directing aside the acting here is top notch! Philip and Ethan carry their roles really well and their fear and sense of loss is conveyed well on screen. Albert Finney's character as their father although a bit understated is also very well done. Shades of Miller Crossing's Albert Finney here still shines through and he can still carry that tough guy persona well as he proceeds to open up a can of whoop ass on his sons.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one and have no problems giving it a 9.5/10. One of the better movies I a have seen this year!

Imdb

Torrent

A trailer:

12 Angry Men (1973)

When it comes to new movies and old ones, I am in between. I like oldies because of the generally better acting and move developed plot while on the other hand I like the newer releases for the tighter editing.

12 angry men is the latest golden oldie that I came across. This one is directed by the venerable Sidney Lumet. For those who haven't heard of Mr Lumet, he is the director behind the great "Before the devil knows you are dead".

This is a really good show and unlike some older movies I have seen, this movie does not suffer any dated feel to it. The mix of 12 men are a concoction interesting mix. Henry Fonda plays the cool analytical head while Lee J. Cobb plays the hurting hot head with his own personal motivation for calling the guilty card. Both actors are outstanding in this movie and play their parts very well. Henry Ford's character gives Grissom from CSI a run for his money any time of the day. The contradiction to their temperament and their interaction makes for a interesting and carries the movie along. Talking about older actors, this is the first time I am lucky enough to come across the work of Ed Beagley instead of his son. He carries off his role as the cynical old man convincingly and he is very believable.

About the only weak scene I can pick out of this movie is the scene where all the jurors boycott Ed Beagley character displaying a personal bias. This did not work so much for me and seems a bit heavy handed followed by the personal bias speech by Henry Fonda.

12 angry men also shows how personal biases of jurors colors the decision they make. Personal biases and assumptions are brought into the decision making. On another side, this movie also explores the seriousness jurors are supposed to put into their decision making especially those involving the death penalty, rather than coming up with a decision that brings them home the fastest, here shown by Jack Warden's character, trying to catch the ball game, nicely put in his place in the duration of the movie.

I think this movie is really really good and heartily recommend it. 10/10 !

Hmm ... digging a bit deeper, I found from imdb there is actually a remake for TV movie of 12 angry men starring people like Tony Danza, William Petersen and Jack Lemmon standing in for Henry Fonda! Well ... thanks but I shall politely decline.

A preview for you here:

Glengary Glenn Ross

All I can say for this one is wow oh wow oh wow and wow!

Great performances all round by a capable ensemble of a cast! Spirited performances by all the "lead" roles the two most memorable for me being Jack Lemmon's Shelly Levene and Al Pacino's Roma. They could have easily stole the whole show just with the tour de force showcase of the ingenious acting in the last 30 mins of the show. This however is not to sneeze at the performances of the rest of the group ... sorry I seemed to have been carried away espousing my love for this show that I forgot to give a proper introduction to the movie ... tsk tsk tsk.

This movie is a snapshot of a not so typical day in the lives of a few real estate salesmen trying to making their quota. In the span of the 100 minutes or so of the movie, the plot thickens. There is a robbery, who is responsible?! The plot is forwarded just by the sheer performances of the leads here. While Al and Jack have the lion share of screen time here, the supporting cast are not push over either. The likes of Kevin Spacey (trust me ... tolerably good here), Alec Baldwin, Alan Arkin all hold their own with their wonderful performances. The feel is not entirely unlike the feeling one would get watching something like Reservoir Dogs where in the movie the atmosphere is taut and tight riding on the performances of the actors alone.

If I could give this movie an alternate title I would give it "Shut up and just act". All the actors turn up an artistic notch in their acting without relying on cgi or special effects to further the plot. I don need no steekin' special effects!!! Good job guys. A special mention about Alec Baldwin's acting here... it is at least at par or even better than what Tom Cruise did in Magnolia. Watch out for it.

This is definitely a must watch for all aspiring directors!

Score: 9/10

Check this out for Alec Baldwin's almost oscar performance here:



The good news is ... you are fired! Oh? Did I get your attention now? :) Good stuff!