Double Feature: Call Me By Your Name (2017) & Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)

Call this a 2017 double feature and a drama as well. Two movies that got a lot of recognition and praise at the beginning of this year so its surely two well-matched double feature.

Call Me By Your Name (2017)

Director: Luca Guadagnino

Cast: Armie Hammer, Timothée Chalamet, Michael Stuhlbarg, Amira Casar, Esther Garrel

In 1980s Italy, a romance blossoms between a seventeen year-old student and the older man hired as his father’s research assistant. – IMDB

I’ve only ever seen one other movie from Luca Guadagnino earlier this year, A Bigger Splash. I’m going to be honest that this director has a very similar way of approaching stories or maybe its the stories that he chooses and the setting that distinguish it apart because while watching Call Me By Your Name, while the story itself is very different, there is this same feeling that I got as I was watching A Bigger Splash and that was before I realized that these two films were directed by the same person. I can’t say that the story itself is particularly unexpected but what works even better is that the story is made really great because of its cast who delivers some fantastic performances.

What this movie does a great job at doing besides yet again giving us a beautiful Italian setting and the love of filming in waterholes or pools or something or another like this (like in A Bigger Splash), is how Armie Hammer’s Oliver and Timothée Chalamet’s Elio deliver a powerful story about first love. One of the most powerful points here though is that it breaks barriers of how romance no matter what gender is still the same. Its as valid and the same for everyone. Oliver and Elio’s first love might be something they try to hide around the people around them which leads Elio to find also a romantic feeling with Marzia (Esther Garrel) and there he finds something different as well. There is a feeling of exploration and getting in touch with their feelings while also having that uncertainty and vulnerability of not being sure how much to show. There is a lot of depth to this story. It kind of is one of those stories that creeps up on us with every scene that in the end when we get the final moments between Elio and his father who has this incredibly touching speech and that final ending conversation with Elio and Oliver, it just tugs on all kinds of heartstrings.

Its been a while since I’ve seen Call Me By Your Name and yet, there is something so beautiful and so raw about how this whole story is set up and told from the details of the setting to the interactions that make this journey, especially for Elio’s first love that makes it so powerful. So many scenes resound in my mind and the story seems to just linger on.

On that note, I’m not exactly sure I’m into watching a sequel or even where this story can go, especially since that seems to be in the works but we will see, I guess.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)

Director (and writer): Martin McDonagh

Cast: Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Caleb Landry Jones, Abbie Cornish, Peter Dinklage, John Hawkes, Lucas Hedges

A mother personally challenges the local authorities to solve her daughter’s murder when they fail to catch the culprit. – IMDB

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is a film that I liked a lot. There is a nice mix between drama and dark comedy. Plus, the film is packed with fantastic performances. Between Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell and Frances McDormand, these three deliver on their characters. The story itself is pretty dark and in some ways, the drama behind it is actually quite heartbreaking to watch in the sense of how the case was treated and the pain of a mother trying to force some justice and action in a desperate way. Call it her way to find closure.

What I like the most about this film is how it is executed. The pacing and the way it is put together works really well. While Woody Harrelson’s character is incredibly dynamic to watch and one that has quite the impactful character where Frances McDormand’s character is more of the dramatic and gritty character, the character that stood out the most to me was Sam Rockwell’s character which had the most layers and growth in this whole story. The heart of the movie lies in these performances and the characters from its many different prejudices towards race, career and other elements. Its these prejudices that create these unnecessary aggression and what causes a lot of these situations that happen. There is a lot to talk about in this film and a lot of depth to the story and its characters which makes it so awesome and one I highly recommend.

Overall, two films that I enjoyed a lot!
Somehow its two that I think the experience of watching it overpowers anything I can say about it.

2012 (2009)

There isn’t much to say about why I chose to see 2012 last night out of all the other nights but I guess I needed a bit of excitement since I’m still on cold meds and its making my brain rather dull.  I’m not sure how many people like to watch apocalypse movies but I like them a lot.  I’ll explain more after a little synopsis.  Plus, what makes this one more appealing is John Cusack doing this sort of movie? Interesting, no?

Director: Roland Emmerich

Cast: John Cusack, Thandie Newton, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Woody Harrelson, Danny Glover, Liam James, Morgan Lily

In 2009, Dr. Satnam in India urgently asks Dr. Adrian Helmsly (Chiwetel Ejiofor) to go see what he has discovered: that the Earth is heating up internally and that within a certain amount of years, it will cause the interior of Earth to melt and eventually displace the Earth’s surface causing the world to end. In 2012, word has broken out the end of the world is near as predicted by the Mayans.  The world’s end is approaching.  a divorced writer, Jackson Curtis (John Cusack), takes his children Noah (Liam James) and Lily (Morgan Lily) out for a camping trip at Yellowstone National Park to realize that something is going on and US Army is patrolling the area.  At the same time, giant crevices are developing back home in California and his ex-wife (Amanda Peet) and her boyfriend are part of that.  Through coincidence, he meets Charlie (Woody Harrelson), an apocalypse radio broadcaster (who seems a little crazy) and as events start matching up to Charlie’s words, Jackson fights against the elements to get his family away safely.

Such a long synopsis for such a simple idea. I’m still getting back into the review world.  I’ve been taking it really easy in this area.  There is no doubt that most of you would agree that when it comes to world apocalypse flicks, its pretty formulaic.  You get the huge effects of mass world destruction usually on an uncontrollable environmental issue.  The grandiosity of it could be one of the reasons that its enjoyable to watch.  Usually, it comes with some cheesy dialogue and a lot of fancy terms explaining the scientific phenomenon thats happening.  All that happens in 2012.  It also points out that California will be its first target.  2012 was released in 2009 and around that same time, we all learned about the rising rumors of how December 27th (I think), 2012 would mark the end of the world.  Some people believed it, some had their doubts and some just laughed at it.  Personally, it didn’t affect me that much.  I lived my life as I would, did the things I normally would because I already learned that making the most of everyday and being grateful was important.  However, I get it.  Its a scary concept to witness the end of the world.

 

Roland Emmerich is known (at least I know him that way) for all his big action and explosions and world apocalypse style movies.  I mean, Independence Day, Day After Tomorrow and now 2012.  All focus around some form of world ending, from aliens to environment.  The man is good at what he does.  I haven’t seen both of those other movies in a long time so I won’t be comparing it in this review.

Visually, this movie offers some over the top CGI and although a bit exaggerated, it does match up to the grandeur that this movie demands.  Everything that happens is pretty captivating to watch.  I can’t imagine the world crumbling like that.  Its a bit crazy because things really turn south quickly.  However, with a lot of these movies, the plot does lean on the thin part.  I’m not saying that there are plot holes but things in these movies all end up with close to death but the most improbably situations always occur and most of the time, you can expect certain turn of events a mile away. Despite that fact, as it winded near the end, I felt like they had built it up to a good level of intensity.  There was a sequence where it was pretty convincing.

2012 has a pretty impressive cast.  For one, we have in the lead, John Cusack who is the guy on the run, figuring out what is going on with the world while trying to save his family and survive this crazy end of the world mess.  As his ex-wife is Amanda Peet who I know I’ve seen somewhere but I can’t pinpoint where.  The kids are not too bad actually.  Sure, they both do some dumb things that movies like this like to lead the children to do but sometimes, it turned out to be intense but helpful, maybe leaning into the unrealistically brave. Plus, I just realize the son, Liam James, is the young Shawn from Psych (which I am currently binge watching) and the little girl was in one of my favorite movies, Flipped.  So yeah, that really helped that I really liked the cast here also.

When we turn the table around and look at the political and government side, we have the leading scientist/environmentalist Chiwetel Ejiofor, the US President is by Danny Glover and we have the First Daughter with Thandie Newton, all of them are very good in their roles.  Although, Thandie Newton had a very limited appearance in the movie, somehow she has a lasting image in my mind.  However, I think one of the better roles was for Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Adrian Helmsly.  He challenged the authority and fought for saving the world in the a more morally correct way.  He was very human, just as the US President was portrayed as well.  Its usually roles like this that shine through in movies like this.

There really isn’t much else to say about 2012.  I have this feeling that I might have enjoyed The Day After Tomorrow a tad more but this one was done very well also.  My expectations are never high for these because the premise is very simple even with all the fancy scientific terms. I enjoyed seeing the cast on screen carrying out their roles and as the movie builds up to the great finale and finding salvation for all humankind, it builds on the intensity and delivers a decent ending.  Thats all I really ask for in a movie like this: to be entertained and to be swept into the whirlwind of crazy and intensity of over the top CGI.  Its had all that. If you’re into this sort of thing, I’d say its worth the watch 🙂

 Are you into these end of the world flicks? Which is your favorite? What do you think of Roland Emmerich?

Valentine’s Marathon: Friends With Benefits (2011)

This year’s start of the Valentine’s Marathon was actually a complete spontaneous choice.  I decided this morning that I wanted to watch a romantic comedy and didn’t want to get out of bed and saw this in my Netflix list so I watched it.

Director: Will Gluck

Cast: Mila Kunis, Justin Timberlake, Patricia Clarkson, Jenna Elfman, Richard Jenkins, Woody Harrelson

Jamie (Mila Kunis) is an emotionally damaged headhunter who just fell out of a relationship and decides to not get emotionally attached in another relationship.  While at her job, she is sent to help connect Dylan (Justin Timberlake) to a art director position for the GQ.  Dylan has his own set of commitment issues and also is single as well.  He also ends up moving to New York City for the job and end up being good friends with Jamie.  Being in similar situation, they decide that to fulfill the desire for sex, they would never want to date each other so it would be easy to keep it simple with a friends with benefits relationship. Except, is it really that simple?

There’s only one specific reason that I’ve been putting off watching Friends with Benefits and thats Justin Timberlake.  I like JT as a singer, more his older stuff but as an actor, he really has a lot of space of improvement.  I mean, a long long way.  Bad Teacher was a disaster, In Time was simply average, was he in something else? Point is, I recently just starting liking Mila Kunis so I was worried that JT would bring this down.  I’m happy to say that he didn’t! Justin Timberlake finally  has a movie that I enjoy.  I think it really has to do with Will Gluck being the director because that man also did Easy A and I have immense love for it, just read my review HERE!

Friends With Benefits is nothing extraordinary in the world of romantic comedies but the chemistry between Justin Timberlake’s Dylan and Mila Kunis’s Jamie is very good. They are entertaining to watch and I found myself laughing quite a bit.  Its an entertaining movie and a fun premise.  I don’t know how feasible friends with benefits actually are in reality but it doesn’t matter because in reality its about being able to be in a relationship with someone that you can be completely straight-forward with and thats besides all the emotions and feelings.

Isn’t that so true? And thats why this movie is so great! Because its just so true. A lot of girls will have fairy tales in their minds.  My best friend will probably give me the “I know you do” look.  Yeah, I’m a romantic but even me, I still remember updating my fairy tale.  Awesome quote, right? But you know, this comes to the point that I love Patricia Clarkson.  She’s an amazing actress.  Even though she is only a supporting role, she always does a great job. Another supporting role that had me laughing out loud was Woody Harrelson. I’m starting to really like this guy.  This guy is just so enjoyable to see on screen.  Love it!

I’m heavily medicated with cough meds right now so I’m going to stop the review here.  Friends With Benefits is an enjoyable and fun romantic comedy.  Its nothing like the best thing I’ve seen but I’d gladly sit down to watch it again.  Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake have great chemistry and the supporting roles help to make it funny.  And they have some amazing quotes.  That sounds like a good rom-com to me. 🙂 Oh wait, and there’s a cameo with Emma Stone and some tribute to Easy A.  Its pretty awesome!

Have you seen Friends with Benefits? What do you think about Mila Kunis?

Being on meds is the best time to watch romantic comedies (and probably Nicholas Sparks movies).  I’d say this Valentine’s marathon kicked off with a decent start (so much better than the Superbowl game at least)…

Now You See Me (2013)

The post for yesterday didn’t really happen but I did manage to squeeze in a movie on my down time and I felt like I needed a little magic in my life so I put in a movie I’ve been wanting to see since it hit the big screen but missed because lets just say, I was the only one that was enthusiastic about it.  Despite the pretty much average reviews, I still have rather high hopes for this one. Lets do it! Back on track with catching up on 2013 flicks 🙂

Director: Louis Leterrier

Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Mark Ruffalo, Melanie Laurent, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine

Four solo magicians (Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Wood Harrelson, Dave Franco) come together to form the Four Horsemen. In their first act in Las Vegas, they attempt to rob a bank and give back to the audience.  This alerts the FBI and the case is handed to  Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) who is forced to team up with Interpol agent, Alma Dary (Melanie Laurent) to try and catch them.  Meanwhile, they seem to always be a step ahead.

Now You See Me is a crime/mystery thriller.  Let me first talk about why this movie drew me in.  First of all, its about magic.  I like that stuff.  I’m one of those really easily tricked people and I can never replicate or figure out how any trick is done so I’m the optimal target audience for this because I’ll just lick it right up and not really think but enjoy the show.  Second, notice the cast up there.  Its full of actors and actresses I like (if not, love).  I’ll elaborate on that point a bit later. Last, its essentially a heist flick, a thriller and a mystery, all of the above is one of my favorite genres.

Now You See Me is very much like watching a magic show.  Everything is flashy and there’s plenty of action.  The first two acts were fun and impeccable to watch on screen.  The effects were not so 2013 but more 2003 but thats okay, I’m not very nitpicky about that sort of thing. Its really just something I noticed.  The action was great and for the most part, I was pretty drawn into the movie.  The only deal was that there was something missing to pull me in completely because right near the finale, I pressed pause and was about to shower and then I noticed I had 15 minutes so I sat back down and continued on.  Usually, I don’t want to leave my chair at the end.  So I acknowledge something wasn’t there, I just can’t pinpoint what. Maybe its the connection to any of the characters…I need to think that one through again.

With that point we head into the characters.  Other than Dave Franco being a new face (which I’ve only seen before in 21 Jump Street) in The Four Horsemen, I really like the other three.  Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson worked fantastic in Zombieland so I was hopeful about their performance here and it didn’t disappoint.  I love Isla Fisher because she is quite good in a lot of the roles. Dave Franco was pretty good too and well, he has charm and style.  The Four Horsemen meshed well together and that carried a good part of the movie to a good level for me.  And then we come to our opposite party, Melanie Laurent and Mark Ruffalo.  I’ve only seen these two previously separately in one other movie before this one, I was alright with them in this.  I can’t help but feel like it could have been better, but I’m no expert at this so its just a feeling I’m getting. Finally, we have two of my favorite actors: Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman.  They may have very small roles but I pretty much have admitted that Michael Caine doesn’t have to do much and he can be totally awesome, the same goes for Morgan Freeman 🙂 Great actors can portray what they want to convey in their facial expressions and these two do it so well.

Now You See Me is really a movie that resembles watching a magic show. You either buy it or you don’t.  For me, my fascination for magic probably made me like this movie a lot more than the majority of viewers.  The cast and their chemistry with each other brings the movie to a more enjoyable level as well.  There are some part of the plot that seems to fall flat, especially nearing the end when it becomes a bit more predictable in some parts where I did guess it but it could have gone both ways.  After these are magicians, so you never know if what happens is what they planned or not.

There is no doubt in my mind that I believe this is a good movie.  I would gladly watch it again, maybe not in abundance but its one that I bought their acts and I had fun and was entertained.  Thats what matters in the end, right?

Have you seen Now You See Me? What do you think about it?

The Hunger Games (2012)

Surprisingly, being the bookworm I am, I didn’t get to see The Hunger Games in theatres.  My boyfriend did however and thats why its taken us so long to actually watch it after I bought it in November, since he got addicted to the novels and wanted to finish it before we watched it.  The Hunger Games is possibly one of the most interesting reading experiences I’ve had.  It was very addictive, especially since it was in first person narration.  I’ll have to re-read those books though.   Sitting through this movie, I started getting glimpse of the novel but was missing details here and there.

Director: Gary Ross

Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Stanley Tucci, Wes Bentley, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Donald Sutherland, Isabelle Fuhrman

In the now ruined North America, Panem is now what the nation is called, because of its past revolution, it is now separated into 12 Districts, each with their own specialty to contribute to the Capitol.  Every year, children are chosen randomly: a boy and a girl to join the Hunger Games from each of the districts, resulting into 24 tributes.  They are put into a designated area where they need to battle each other until there is one tribute remaining.  That tribute will win the games and be rewarded a lot of wealth and comfort for their future.  Some children will have their names in more times than others because in the poorer districts, like the one in District 12, where The Hunger Games start, children use this to trade in for more ration to help feed their families.  District 12, we see the morning of the tribute selection, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Gale (Liam Hemsworth) meet to hunt outside of their boundaries (which is illegal) just before they need to prepare for the selections.

This year, Katniss sister, Primrose is also in the run to be selected.  At the selection, Primrose “luckily” gets selected and to protect her sister, Katniss volunteers to take her sister’s place.  Going with her is another boy who had saved her before, Peeta Mellark  (Josh Hutcherson).  As they get whisked away onto the train heading to the Capitol where the games are held, they meet their mentor, previous winner of District 12 and a man who drinks away his sorrows, Haymitch (Woody Harrelson) and their guardian of sorts, Effie (Elizabeth Banks).  In the Capitol, they need to be prepared to show off and prepare for the games.  In the parade, they end up meeting Cinna (Lenny Kravitz), who is their costume stylist and also from afar, President Snow (Donald Sutherland) who starts off the games.  After a while for preparation with all the other tributes on skills and impressing their possible sponsors, we are lead to where the games begin and as they say, “may the odds be ever in your favor”.

Hunger Games is possibly one of the most gripping movies I’ve seen in a very long time.  Because the Bluray I had seemed to be so quiet and the conversations were so quiet, I ended up moving closer to the TV in order to focus into the movie and not miss out.  That usually is a sign that its something that peaked my interest.  I can’t remember the last time that I did this.  The action, the quiet, the buildup was all very similar because I already had read the novel beforehand.  The fact that it could still capture my full attention and make me feel the tension that the story is definitely a sign that it was made extremely well.  I would have to say that it is one of the better novel adaptations that I’ve watched.

One of the major contributions to the success of this movie has to go to its cast.  I have never seen Jennifer Lawrence before this flick. However, her interpretation of Katniss Everdeen was as perfect as it could be.  She portrayed the emotions right on and it made it even more real.  Her chemistry with her fellow co-actors whether it be Josh Hutcherson when expressing mixed emotions towards her companion and opponent in the games or Woody Harrelson as her mentor.  Her emotions carried us through the movie perfectly.  The outstanding cast can’t be forgotten in this as well.  The rest of the cast really pushed it up to a higher level as the cast itself with Woody Harrelson, Stanley Tucci, and Donald Sutherland just to name a few, are veterans in the business.  Even the younger actors, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth (the little part he was in) did their roles very good.  Aside from that, the supporting role that impressed me the most was Lenny Kravitz who played Cinna.  He gave me the exact impression of the personality of the character that I read.

The actors may be important but the director did a great job at shooting this film.  He managed to capture the environment and tension very well and matched it with the emotions that were all over the place.  The drama and the violence that came from the games itself and the whole process was shown perfectly.  What really helped was the interpretation of the Capitol itself because with the book, it was first person narration and now, they help us by seeing not only through the eyes of Katniss but elaborating what was originally in the novels.

For me to judge this movie as a standalone work is hard, I’ve already read the book and was really drawn into it.  I think this movie is a great adaptation and I look forward to the next movie, Catching Fire coming out this year.

Have you read the Hunger Games novels? Did you think it was a good adaptation or not?

Marathon Intermission: Zombieland (2009)

Everyone needs a little break and just so no one starts getting fed up with my movie marathon for the non-Valentine’s Day avid bloggers.  I took a little breather and watched Zombieland with my boyfriend.  Although, is it really taking a break? Tons of horror movies and slasher flicks get released during Valentine’s time, no? Anyways, its also the newest addition to my movie collection, along with Pirates Band of Misfits.  Movie buying has to be stopped now until my atrociously huge stack of unwatched movies are seen. What do you think? Okay, maybe one more…seeing as Peter Pan just got released from the Disney vault.

Sidetracking again, so back to our main feature…ZOMBIELAND!

Director: Ruben Fleischer

Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin

America has turned into Zombieland.  The nerdy Columbus has survived based on his firm belief in following his set of over 30 rules (as far the movie showed us).  He is on his way to head back to Columbus to see if his parents are still alive.  On the way, he meets Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) who is his exact opposite.  Tallahassee is a fearless man who is on the constant search for a Twinkie and sees the need to go full out destruction mode on zombies and the already destroyed land.  As they both head off together, they meet up two sisters, Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) who have learned to survive in the chaos with extreme measures, while going on their way to Pacific Playground in search for a land with no zombies.

The only reason I bought this movie was because of Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin.  I’m putting straight out right now.  Also, because I enjoy zombie movies.  It never really scares me too much and this one is a horror comedy.   I went into this one pretty much blind and I had no idea what I was getting into.  You know what? I LOVED IT! It was funny, entertaining and the zombies were convincing.  I had one moment that startled me but its just because I’m easily startled.

I loved all the cast.  I don’t think I’ve ever hated any movie with Emma Stone.  Okay, I did dislike one of the movies but I loved her role in that one.  I’m referring to Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, if you were wondering.  Emma Stone is a fabulous actress.  She act the hell out of anything you give her.  So this one is the same director as Gangster Squad which also has Emma Stone and one I haven’t seen yet.  I’m sure that you get my Emma Stone love.  Next up, Abigail Breslin is just a pretty awesome young actress.  I’d like to think she wasn’t part of New Year’s Eve garbage. Back to some good thoughts, she was wonderful here.  Seriously, I can see good things happening to her if she gets some decent roles. As for Jesse Eisenberg, I didn’t see Social Network so this is the first time I saw this guy on screen (I think) and I actually have this thing of watching nerds on screen because they are crazy awkward hilarious, just as much as Woody Harrelson’s Tallahassee grew on me.  Tallahassee was a fun character! Plus, there was even a special appearance of Bill Murray.

The action, the shooting, the humour and the story  matched with witty and fun characters just made this movie super awesome to watch.  I can truly say that I haven’t had this much entertainment watching a movie in a long time.  I’m starting to really enjoy this  horror comedy subgenre (is that what its considered?)

Zombieland? What do you think? What’s your favorite zombie movie? Any Emma Stone and/or Abigail Breslin fans?