Gambit (2012)

7.5/10 [highly recommended]

I stumbled upon this film quite accidentally as I was searching for the superhero "Gambit". My initial excitement that there was a film based on the comic-hero Gambit was quickly shot down when the film turned out to be a comedy/crime about a con by an art curator. HOWEVER, before quickly switching the page I was quickly drawn in by the cast and plot of this film and decided to give this film a shot. Boy, am I glad I did.

TOP NOTCH acting from Colin Firth accompanied by extremely witty dialogue (via the Coen Brothers) and some extremely funny scenarios.

I completely and utterly fell in love with Gambit. I am shocked at the 5.6 rating on IMDB. This film has everything I wanted in a comedy and avoided being crude.

HIGHLY recommended

Pawn (2013)

5.5/10

Great cast but too much coincidence made Pawn weak


For a low budget film, Pawn is succeeded in captivating and grabbing attention with the plot in the first 2 acts. The amazing ensemble (Stephen Lang,Michael Chiklis, Forest Whitaker, Marton Csokas, Ray Liotta) also helped strengthen the captivation of Pawn.

Sadly, despite these aspects, Pawn fell short at being completely epic. The film moved a bit too quickly, not allowing you much time to connect with the characters and completely grasping the complicated use of flash-backs, present time and flash-forwards. Pawn felt like it was going uphill in the first 1/3 as everything was coming together, but just before the climax was reached, it felt they ran short on budget and the story began moving fast paced. Dialogue was boarder-line cliche and somewhat entertaining.

--Spoiler below--
One of the biggest disappointment was the use of the character lying in the hospital bed. He played a major role in the entire cafe robbery set up as being 'the mole', but spent most of the film lying half unconscious in the kitchen. His character ends the film describing what went down in the cafe, but was half bleeding to death for a good 50% of the film. This might have been intensional, but being such an important character in the final reveal, I felt no attachment and couldn't relate to him at all.

-----

The Door (Die Tür) (2009)

7/10

A second chance in life...but comes at a price.

The Door (Die Tur) 2009 is about a successful artist who loses control of his life after his young daughter's death. A chance for a new start appears, but all is not what it seems.

Intriguing idea that is well shot but with some loop holes.

The movie begins in what appears to be an innocent/peaceful residential street, which gives this film a very spooky feeling as it is nothing near innocent. The film's most important event, the death of the child, occurs in the first 10 minutes of the film, which sets the tone for the rest of the film.

Mads Mikkelsen was fantastic in the lead role as the father, who took his life for granted and wants to redeem himself. Mikkelsen is great playing a role that is fairly dynamic.
There are a few events in the film that brought up more questions than answers, but the overall effect of the film is fairly good as it keeps you pondering. I would recommend you to check it out and judge for yourself.

Jack Reacher (2013)

6.5/10

Ok, so I have said before that I didn't like Tom Cruise action films but this one was quite enjoyable. Putting aside how true this film stayed to the book, I felt it was a decent.

Reasons why I enjoyed this fim: 1) stars one of my favourite actresses Rosamund Pike 2) the witty dialogue 3) the very slight undertone of humor. Rosamund did a wonderful job, she's the demzel in distress, not too difficult role but I like her portrayal. The dialogue in the film is worth a closer inspection, it is witty and at times quite funny. There was one incidence where Jack (Tom Cruise) was examining the weapon he was lent and his reaction to it left me laughing. This slight use of humor made the film stand out a bit, and reminded me a bit of Lethal Weapon.

Now as for elements that I didn't like. As usual Jack Reacher has the very typical cliche of hero who's ever so lucky, damzel in distress and different teers of bad guys.
Jack Reacher (played by Tom Cruise) is a military veteran who gets involved in a sniper investigation, and now must fight all odds to save the day. He is able to fend of bad guys left and right, and eventually [oh look this includes a spoiler] save the damzel in distress, Helen [portrayed by Rosamund Pike] after fighting off the group of bad guys.  If you're angry that spoiled it for you, I don't apologize because this is a fairly obvious part of this film.

Jack Reacher has all the elements of the typical action film with the different levels of bad guys. As you can see there is always one big boss, who in most cases is the weakest but has a lot of power/money. Next after the big boss is the right hand man, he is usually the strongest fighter, toughest to beat and will be the last fight sequence in the film. In most cases the bad guy would hold up a weapon to the the hero and talk for a while, but thankfully this was kept out of this film. This film also included the lowest form of bad guys, the goons and idiots who would try to kill the hero but each failing miserably. What this film does do quite nicely, is the fact that it makes fun of the goons and idiots with this one scene in the bathroom...for those who have seen the film will know what I mean, it is VERY humorous.

 So if you're into James Bond, Die Hard or Lethal Weapon...and have actually read everything I just wrote....then you have just made me really happy, and deserve my blessing to go enjoy this film.

The Call (2013)

6.5/10

Great acting, thrilling but overdone with the final act.

Plot: When a veteran 911 operator takes a life-altering call from a teenage girl who has just been abducted, she realizes that she must confront a killer from her past in order to save the girl's life.

The Call was definitely thrilling and keeps you intrigued. However, the story becomes quite violent and twisted towards the end, which works well to support the maniac that is the killer.

The first 2 acts of the film was better, as it shows a very real portrayal the desperation 911 operator experiences. Their hard work everyday on the end of the phone lines does not get recognized enough. As the film progresses the story takes a crazy turn, the 911 operator Jordan (played by Halle Berry) makes a couple bizarre-superhero-braze decisions that results in the conclusion of the film (I won't say more as it will give the ending away). I felt the story was a bit too crazy at the end, but I understand that it was a necessary in order to make the film more suspenseful and striking. Also, the ending is very twisted...and leaves you wanting a bit more.


Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine, Zombieland) and Halle Berry (X-Men) makes a great team. But Breslin absolutely stole the show, as she was amazing in capturing the terror and panic of her character. Bravo.

A Midnight Clear (1992)

8.5/10 [Highly Recommended]

A wonderful masterpiece!!

Plot:Set in 1944 France, an American Intelligence Squad locates a German Platoon wishing to surrender rather than die in Germany's final war offensive. The two groups of men, isolated from the war at present, put aside their differences and spend Christmas together before the surrender plan turns bad and both sides are forced to fight the other.

What I loved about this film:

The unique start of the film, that drops you right into the world of the soldiers. The way this film present each character gives me instant connection with them.

Superb acting! Ethan Hawke, Kevin Dillon, Frank Whaley, Arye Gross are amazing together. Their dialogue and emotions compliment each other perfectly and . I felt drawn to each character and the mission they drew for themselves. If I had to be in that forest, I just hope Will Knot (Ethan Hawke),Cpl. Mel Avakian( Dillon), Paul 'Father' Mundy (Whaley), Bud Miller(Peter Berg) and Stan Shutzer (Arye Gross) has my back.

A story that captures. At no point of this film did I think about any behind the scenes or filming technique. I was so engrossed by the dialogue, story and engulfed by the decisions the squad took. (spoilers follows) Though the ultimate occurrence made me sad, as I direly wanted it all to have worked out.

Very believable filming locations and acting. Like I mention before, the story and approach at presenting this story is so unique and compelling that I might need to rewatch it again, just so I can observe the filming technique.

A Midnight Clear is probably on my top 5 favourite war movies, beating Saving Private Ryan

Oblivion (2013)

6.5/10

Good graphics but poor plot

Plot: A veteran assigned to extract Earth's remaining resources begins to question what he knows about his mission and himself.

I was captivated by the plot but this didn't last long as the film rolled to its conclusion. I have a serious love/hate relationship with this Oblivion, and I'll summarize it:

Love: I'll start off on a positive note, the graphics of Oblivion is well done. I, having scene and worked in VFX, know how difficult it is to do a simple scene let alone an entire film. From my past experience (though brief) felt the landscape of the CGI is a good one.

Hate: The story wasn't that captivating and left many unanswered questions life what happened to the other "clones" on earth. Also the big reveal at the climax didn't really lead to a bit twist that left me in awe, rather it was a lull.

Love: The colour filter is classy and the filming style reminds me of Minority Report and IRobot. The fact that I was more distracted by the visual appeal than the story line tells you a thing or two of this film.

Hate: LONG and dragging. IMDB users giving it a 7.2 rating boggles the mind, this film wasn't that great!