3DD!3

A return to Middle Earth with all the trimmings. The movie is sometimes a little slow, but not enough to get boring. In places it’s merry and playful, like the bunny-girls, elsewhere it’s dark and fateful with a sub-plot about the rise of Sauron and the principles of the ring. The dwarves keep on blending into one, but they will have their chance again. Primarily, Richard Armitage, alias Thorin, is outstanding, mainly because he’s the hardest nut ever. I was very satisfied with Bilbo. (Thanks also to Elijah Wood) Frodo was almost always a whiney maggot in Lord of the Rings, while Martin Freeman gives the elder Baggins balls. Overall he’s more charismatic, more fun and you want to be on his side. I like the supporting characters and also the alternative shots of Rivendell and Gollum and his jolly songs rock the most of all of the familiar characters. There’s still a lot more of the story waiting for us and I am looking forward like a child to Smaug the Terrible opening his eye. "This thing all things devours: birds, beasts, trees, flowers. Gnaws iron, bites steel, grinds hard stones to meal, slays king, ruins town and beats mountain down."

A hopeless story and miserable dialogs. But in formal terms there is nothing to fault here. Flawless editing, drive, action and JGL does his bit. The ever-ready "road map" vision of the main protagonist made for the best scenes of this movie.

I enjoyed this immensely. This mosaic of stories all linked by the theme of screenwriting and... erm, murders, has all the ingredients necessary. Every psychopath has something special about them and you’ll love absolutely all of them. The stories layer up, link together and all the time you have no idea what will happen over the next ten minutes. Sam Rockwell acts his heart out, Christopher Walken is simply awesome and Colin Farrell is pleasantly passive as the possible incarnation of the director. To shake his writer’s block, Martin McDonagh has written a story about writer’s block and he was even allowed to retain the terrible title. The dream sequences (even though they usually appear in movies for faggots) are more than just well-filmed. Otherwise, I bet that nobody is able to “retell" this movie, you simply have to see it. Shake.

To start with a rather naive idyll about a love triangle, entwined in ganja roots. But Stoney couldn’t leave it at that. Visual refinement goes without saying, the bloody brutality of the unrated version (could have been a fuck or two richer) adds a good two stars. Taylor Kitsch downright found himself in his role. Del Toro plays the biggest possible asshole with obvious delight and Travolta landed another fine role. The action scenes are right up there with the best, old school quality. Another picture like that, but with a better screenplay next time, please. P.S.: The cellphone ringing tone with “Three Blind Mice" is annoying, but pleasing. Please don’t kill me, I have three young children.

A precise picture. Ben leaves nothing to chance, unlike the Yankees on this operation. He knows very well what he can and can’t get away with. It’s not such a blockbuster as for instance The Town, but even so, Argo is pretty original, ingenious and historically accurate. Ben’s acting is rather dry, not attracting attention to himself (maybe a bit of a shame), but he’s still cool. In terms of acting, no problems with this movie. De-restricted material about how some non-existing dumb sci-fi saved lives will shut the mouths of people who badmouth sci-fi fantasy movies for being irrelevant. Argo is one of those irresistibly cheap combos of Star Wars and John Carter that has something to say to people in this century too. A bit of a problem is contrasting sprightly Hollywood (still with the old, tumbledown sign - the period accuracy is spot on) and Iran where a city-slicker hangs from the crane by his necktie. In any case, it’s a quality genre movie and I can’t wait for another movie with Ben. Argo fuck yourself.

An outstanding cast, fairly ordinary scenery. Eric Bana enjoys playing a bad guy and you just have to root for him, Olivia is wonderful here and everybody else’s acting is just great. The story certainly isn’t predictable, but it’s sort of... nothing out of the ordinary. The message is nothing new, just that blood isn’t any thicker than water. But positive impressions dominate. Thumbs up.

Daring and spectacular. The Wachowskis and Tykver have pulled off a great feat by linking together this jigsaw of stories and themes. The actors in all different types of roles have something to pay (I was very pleasantly surprised by Tom Hanks) even under a ton of makeup. The story seems occasionally to trip up in places. The absolutely senseless, farcical escape from the nursing home by the senior citizens really disrupts the killer’s gripping hunt for the nosey journalist. A bit like the music of a sextet, Cloud Atlas has little to offer. And honestly the melody didn’t seem to me to be at all rousing. Of all of the timelines, I liked the last two the most. These, the suspense and a certain mysterious element best balanced to the overall message of the picture.

A sincere movie about police work. Ayer doesn’t make movies otherwise than excellently. A series of various raids, crowned by the final massacre, boyish squabbling and family. Don’t expect anything more from this story. On the other hand Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña make a perfect team. Form here has undergone extensive change. POV shots bring everything closer to reality (even though as such they aren’t very realistic) and wonderfully spice up these fajitas. The cool soundtrack helps too. Full marks from me. I am a consequence. I am the unpaid bill.

Mr. Boogie and his collection of home movies, like “mowing the lawn" and “barbeque" in action. A wild soundtrack, then primarily an excellent atmosphere and a twist for all mystery fans. The couple of references to Stephen King are also very fine, the same applies to the actors. Ethan Hawke acts precisely in between nice guy/madman who never gives up and his wife and kid are also really fine. The high point of the picture of course was watching the movies filmed on Super 8. P.S.: The extended version is sometimes seriously better than the original.

A depraved picture that will seem even weirder when they release Spielberg’s Lincoln later on this year. The digital action scenes like where the bad guy throws a horse at Abe, or when the steam engine explodes are so “OTT" that they are entertaining, while the rest is a waste of time. The hero has no charisma and the only thing interesting about him is his shooting ax.