Movie Review: Anna Karenina (2012)

Plot: In late-19th-century Russian high society, St. Petersburg aristocrat Anna Karenina enters into a life-changing affair with the dashing Count Alexei Vronsky.

Rating: 5/10

This post today is going to be written in bullet points, because I am simply too disappointed in the film to write out complete sentences.

Things I did not like about this film (and it is a lot):

• It was a complete and utter waste of my time. Ugh. I will never have the two hours and odd minutes back that I allotted to this.
• It is confusing, and not in that nice intelligent way where everything makes sense eventually, but in that way where you get to the end of the film and you are still like “what the fuck was that?” and like I said, not in a good type of way.
• The directing. I get the angle they took here, trying to emultate that the film originates from a theatre production. The only thing they achieved this way was to ensure that the film never gelled.
• The absolute complete lack of Russian accents. This is a film about Russians, right? Because it was British accents everywhere, and it is not something I usually complain about, but sheesh, the film is about a Russian lovestory.
• The fact that this is NOT a love story. It is a story about two exceptionally selfish people who did not think for one second the impact their “love” would have on the world. Selfish and petulant, Anna Karenina deserves no sympathy. Although I do take into account how hard it must have been to have married someone proper rather than someone you love, it does not justify cheating on your very sweet husband and ignoring the child you claim to desperately love.
• Aaron Taylor Johnson’s ridiculous moustache. I mean have you EVER?
• Keira Knightley. She’s a hit and miss for me if I have to be perfectly honest. The problem is her adeptness to portray extremely unlikable characters, exactly like she did in Anna Karenina. Anyone who does that with such excellence must have some fundamental flaws. I love Knightley in Pride and Prejudice but her role in Never Let Me Go is enough to put you off her for life, let me assure you. Karenina is as well. There is simply no way I can justify her behavior by claiming she loved her lover.

 

What I did like:

• Jude Law’s character and performance. I do not understand why such a handsome man would ugly himself up so deliberately, but I truly found the character and portrayal without fault.
• Alicia Vikander and Domnhall Gleeson, their love and the work they achieved. These two actors deserve so much praise. I really do like them a lot and find them extremely talented. Their love story in here is certainly better for Gleeson’s character than what happened in Ex Machina (hehehe) and how perfectly they ended up together and suited each other.

The film is a bunch of overdramatic nonsense and main characters that do not deserve any sympathy whatsoever.

February 9, 2016February 6, 2016 by Natasha Categories: Movies, Reviews, UncategorizedTags: Aaron-Taylor Johnson, Alicia Vikander, Anna Karenina, Domnhall Gleeson, Jude Law, Keira Knightley, Leo Tolstoy, Movies, Reviews 13 Comments

Movie Review: The Man from U.N.C.L.E

Plot: In the early 1960s, CIA agent Napoleon Solo and KGB operative Illya Kuryakin participate in a joint mission against a mysterious criminal organization, which is working to proliferate nuclear weapons

Rating: 8/10

Things I liked:

The Score

Let’s start out with the score – it was absurdly fantastic. It was a compelling mix of weird Russian/USSR songs and 1960’s style songs perfectly supplemented the action.

The Fashion

So much love. The Twiggy style fashion worked to perfection and Vikander’s beehive made me want to do it myself (I fortunately restrained myself). I love that time period fashion!

I really wish men could wear suits all the time. I really appreciate a good man in a good suit, and especially these old fashioned suits just work. Such class.

Directing& Storyline

Guy Richie is a master. I love the split screens and the way action was choreographed, as well as the rich tone that the film had. The story itself was fun. It is well thought out, clearly developed and mixes humor and action very well. The little plot twist had me fuming –that bitch! – then forgiving her and going back to admiration. It gets so preposterous at times – two highly trained secret agents bitching about which outfits their female counterpart should wear, Solo having a little drink and snack while the whole world is crashing down around him and the constant competition between the Allies.

Casting:

This brings the movies I’ve seen with Alicia Vikander in up to two and I am impressed here as I was in Ex Machina. She’s a very good and talented woman, as well as incredibly beautiful, and she held up very well against Hammer and Cavil.

I’ll do a whole other post about how delicious the men were in this movie, but let’s just say here that if Armie Hammer walks up to me and speaks in that Russian accent I will jump his bones after the fainting that was a direct result of his sexiness. OMFG.

I really did enjoy him also on a non-pervy level, he is talented and I found the character layered and hilarious. The way his temper was just waiting to boil out and take people down with it was something I found very amusing.

Henry Cavil. Sigh. This cast was purely chosen on the genetic lottery, because this man – how can he be so perfect? Did they copy and paste his genetic sequence specifically for “Chiselled Chin”, “Dreamy Eyes”, “Perfect Mouth”, “Perfect Build” and “General Breath Taking Beauty”? I’m sure they did, I’m sure they did.

Solo was also a really fun character, so full of debauchery and completely fine with it. No doubt about it, Solo is an extremely talented criminal that is using his talents currently to keep him out of jail – so respectable.

Hugh Grant comes in, classes things up because he is British, adds another amount of hilarity and plot twists, heads out again, just to return later. I haven’t seen him in anything for a while, and it was nice to spot him.

Elizabeth Debicki was a fantastic villain. I am happy that they chose a woman to be the villain, and how cold she was. So cool.

Conclusion:

The Man from U.N.C.L.E is very enjoyable to watch. It has great laughs, some surprising touching moments and good performances by the entire cast, but especial note to Cavil, Vikander and Hammel. Cavil’s performance is especially important – the man needs to show he can be more than Superman if he wants a career after his run as the Kryptonite-intolerant superhero. Definitely recommended and a really good addition to the 2015 repertoire of movies.

November 17, 2015November 15, 2015 by Natasha Categories: 2015, Movies, ReviewsTags: 1960s, 2015, action, Alicia Vikander, Armie Hammer, Elizabeth Debicki, Henry Cavil, Hugh Grant, Movies, Nazi, Reviews, Spy, Spy Film, The Man from U.N.C.L.E 15 Comments

Movie Review: Ex Machina (2015)

Plot: A young programmer is selected to participate in a ground-breaking experiment in artificial intelligence by evaluating the human qualities of a breath-taking female A.I.

Rating: 8.5/10

2015 is turning out to be such a mediocre year for entertainment. I’ve only seen four (including this one) movies that I thought to even deserve consideration for ending up in my top ten at the end of the year (and yes, I fully realize how pretentious I sound with that sentence).

Ex Machina is the so far the best thing that waltzed out of Hollywood that wasn’t an animation. It is original, brilliantly directed, thought out and produced and is an all-round excellent watching experience. I don’t even particularly enjoy sci-fi because it often has great pace then collapses at the end or contains too much romance. Ex Machina did neither. I wouldn’t want to spoil it to anyone who hasn’t seen it, but it keeps pace throughout the movie, is well thought out and intellectualized and is exactly how I think AI would pan out if it ever happened.

The cast is small and all gave stellar performances. Alicia Vikander, Domhnall Gleeson and Oscar Isaacs have the three available leading rolesand Sonoya Mizuno with the only other cast member as the particularly odd Kyoko. Gleeson plays Caleb, the lonely programmer who wins the chance to intern at a research facility for AI started by Nathan, the CEO of the world’s largest search engine company, Bluebook.

Caleb is introduced to humanoid robot Ava. She seems to have every single human emotion and interactive skills a human might possess, and Caleb is tasked to check if she can pass the Turing test.

I can’t really say more of the plot without ruining it, but it is tightly written and well thought out. Oscar Isaacs is phenomenal as Nathan – he is so weird and isolated and it is obvious that his seclusion from society has messed him up.

Ava’s design is fascinating and the way they brought her together is impressive. Everything about that research facility is thought provoking out of this world.

Ex Machina is a movie that stays at the back of your consciousnessand returns to make you think about the consequences of technology should we ever progress to that level. I would highly recommend a watch if you can get your hands on it.

August 17, 2015August 16, 2015 by Natasha Categories: Movies, ReviewsTags: 2015, AI, Alicia Vikander, Artificial Intelligence, Domnhall Gleeson, Ex Machina, Future, Movies, Oscar Isaacs, Reviews, Sci-Fi 9 Comments