Movie Review: Sicario (2015)

Plot: An idealistic FBI agent is enlisted by a government task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the U.S. and Mexico.

Rating: 8.5/10

Sicario is a tensely packed thriller that does not let its’ audience relax for the duration of the two hours. It is harsh on the eyes and does not shy away from violence, but I didn’t find it gratuitous and that works fine for me in a film. I don’t appreciate senseless violence that serves only to shock and not to further the story. Sicario’s gritty crime scenes will undoubtedly stay with you but it is more because of what it indicates of the world than the violence itself.

I was under the impression and still am that the entire cast delivered a stellar performance. The most outstanding is without a doubt Benicio Del Toro. He was incessantly praised for his work as Alejandro and after seeing him at it I am not in the least surprised. Alejandro’s motives aren’t clear and he’s not your average black or white character. Is he a good guy? Is he a bad guy? It is obvious that you shouldn’t mess with him and that he is dangerous and well versed in drug trafficking. Up until the very end you still don’t know whether you can trust him. Hell, I’m still not even sure whether he is GOOD or BAD. I really liked that he was so short with Kate in the beginning and eventually thawed towards her, yet never deviating from his overall mission.

It would be easy to overlook Josh Brolin, who played his character with cockiness that was wildly appealing. It would also be quite unfair because there were times where I really wanted more of him on screen because he was every bit as shady as Alejandro, only more good natured about it. It is also impossible to trust him one hundred percent. He and Alejandro are clearly thick as thieves and they share trust, but are they who they say they are?

Then there was Kate who is brought to the screen by Emily Blunt. I am always onboard with watching a drama that has Blunt in, she is exceptionally good in dramas and action films. I know some people thought she was a bit hyper emotional. Was she emotional? Yes. Was she also a young, optimistic FBI agent that got pulled in deep very quickly? Also yes. I won’t say that I wish the character had had the balls to fight back at her enemies, but I did enjoy her.

There are a lot of other actors I enjoyed – Victor Garber, Jon Bernthal, and Daniel Kaluuya had their time on screen here and I loved them for it. I am such a major fan of Victor Garber. You can’t watch Alias and not be, he is one of the very best in there. I really haven’t seen Bernthal in anything actually, although I have heard of him and for the few moments he was here I was highly appreciative. Daniel Jaluuya was Kate’s partner, and he had perhaps even a more optimistic opinion of the law enforcement world. They had a sweet relationship full of friendship and support and genuine care.

I have to say one of this film’s greatest accomplishments is that it kept my attention. For the two hours I was engrossed and didn’t want to stop watching once. I can’t tell you how rare that is, as I am fully convinced I have some adult ADHD because I get bored and distracted quite easily. That, combined with how boring movies can get these days, makes it just short of a miracle that I was engaged the entire time. The last half an hour had me holding my breath. It was tense and up until the very end I really couldn’t predict who would walk out alive.

If I had taken the time to watch Sicario in 2015, it probably would have ended up really high on my 2015 TOP TEN films. I was immensely pleased to hear that director Denis Vileneuve is planning to to make this a franchise by directing Soldado, in which, Soldado in which Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro reprise their roles. I’m raising my hand here in the “Who can’t wait” department, and I will be first in line to buy a ticket. I will also commit to watching Prisoners – I’ve been hounded by people to watch this film for ages now, but now that I know how good director Vileneuve is I will definitely give it a try.

February 13, 2017February 3, 2017 by Natasha Categories: 2015, Movies, movies, Review, Reviews, UncategorizedTags: Benico Del Toro, Daniel Kaluuya, Denis Vileneuve, Emily Blunt, Jeffrey Donovan, Jon Bernthal, Josh Brolin, Movies, Reviews, Sicario, Victor Garber 11 Comments

Watched, Read, Loved: January 2017

I’m not going to bless you with that whole “how quick did this month go” crap, because let’s face it; January 2017 took its sweet time being done. At this stage I’m so deliberately avoiding bitching about politics on here, but please note that I do a whole lot of bitching in private about that man who is committing genocide.

I had my birthday on the 25^th. I am now officially on the wrong side of 25. I’m 27, so I’ve already been on the wrong side for a whole year, but I was ignoring that at 26. Apart from suddenly stressing about retirement plans and the meaning of my entire existence, I’m not too stressed. I have decided that 27 good things WILL happen to me this year, so I will keep you in the loop.

Here is what I got up to this month, which is an impressive amount! #GoMe

Movies watched:

10 Things I hate about you:

Confession time: if I had to go live on an island indefinitely with only ten movies to watch, I’d very likely pack 10 Things I Hate About You in.  I love everything about this film – how 90’s everything is: Julia Stiles’ hair, the clothes everyone wore, the music and the cars. I die every time Heath Ledger gifts us with that smile; it is equal parts pain and pleasure. The quick bantering and the ridiculous teenage humor make me laugh every single time. I actually wrote a post about how much I love this film, so I won’t turn it into a whole review here, but I’m sure you are getting the point here that I love this film.

How to lose a guy in ten days: Kate Hudson used to be my ultimate girl crush as a teenager – she’s so pretty and preppy and blonde. I’m now at a point where I want actresses to be more than pretty, preppy and blonde, but I still find her a good romantic comedy lead. She wouldn’t hold up in more serious roles, but these? I’ll cast her any day. It also contains the delicious Matthew M.

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962): I finally managed to finish up my Blindspots for 2016. To round the year of with To Kill A Mockingbird was a great idea – what an incredible film.

Passengers (2017): These films with the strange release dates make it impossible to put them in the correct year. I watched in this year, hence this year will be referenced. I actually really liked it and think that the Oscar nod for set design is well deserved. I know it didn’t go down well with everybody, but I actually quite enjoyed it despite the numerous flaws.

Fool’s Gold (2008): This falls in the time frame where Matthew McConaughey became the romantic comedy guy, something which still grates on a lot of people today. I do think that Fool’s Gold lacks certain important things like a proper plot, but I didn’t hate it at all.

Scream 4: I finished up my run on the Scream franchise this month. I am so sad! Because while I can definitely watch it again, I won’t ever be able to watch it for the first time again. I’m only posting this for Halloween, because I’d love to actually do a Halloween month this year, but please know that I did love this so much!

Sicario (2015): Don’t you just love when a film is good enough to inspire you to read up on what you are watching? Shortly after the film ended I read up all about Juarez, Mexico, and the increasingly dodgy sounding CIA. Sicario is a great film that stays with you after you watched it and I will definitely be revisiting Denis Vileneuve’s film in the near future.

The Princess Diaries:A Royal Engagement (2004): I remember this as a decent movie, which it was NOT. I adore the first Princess Diaries, but the sequel suffers from the sequelitis and it is rampant with bad acting, bad pacing and general badness. The years have been kind to Chris Pine – he is so much more attractive right now than he was in 2004.

Love, Rosie (2014): I’m still trying to formulate some thoughts on Love, Rosie. Did I like it? Moderately so. I know for a fact that it contains some of the most awkward of scenes ever invented, and I was horrified and cringed so much. It gets a little drawn out and the story is never really strong. I do think that Sam Claflin is simply beautiful and that if just smiled all the time the world would be a better place.

Vrou Soek Boer (2014): I got my fix of Afrikaans films with Vrou Soek Boer in January. It translates to “A woman is looking for a farmer” but it was a much cuter film than that translation suggested. I enjoyed it very much!

Sisters (2016): This is surely the biggest waste of cash of 2016 for me. I bought this on DVD, sure I would at least like it okay. Nope. I hated it. What a stupid, unfunny film.

The Accountant (2016): To embrace my mood of needing to watch people beat up things I picked up the Accountant. Ben Affleck’s hit of 2016, where he is an autistic superhero, fulfilled that need on some level but I was also left feeling vaguely unsatisfied with the ending.

Series:

The X-Files Season 1: I am having so much fun with the X-files. There is nothing better when you discover a series and along with the discovery is the fact that there are so many seasons with a lot of episodes per season. SCORE! It took me a few episodes to get used to the layout of the show as well as the whole 1992 vibe the first season has going for it. It is pretty good and smart, as well as some funny conspiracy moments going on.

Alias Season 3: Alias has been great to me. I still need to finish Seasons four and five. I had some issues with the third season such as Sydney being a complete psycho, but overall still really great.

True Blood Season 1: I’ve been in the mood torewatch this for a while now. After watching a few episodes that need was cured because True Blood has some grating characters in that I somehow softened in my memory. I might still finish it, but right now there are other better shows that deserve attention.

Books:

The Collaborator (Margaret Leroy): Few books have stayed with me like this book has. I’ve had the worst book hangover since then and such troubles finding another book to seek my teeth into.

The Road to the Sea (Ciara Hegarthy): I’m going to go rampant on this book when I finally review it. Overly descriptive and insanely boring, this is one of the least favorite novels I’ve picked up in a while.

The Power of Six (Pittacus Lore): I’m almost done with Book Two in the Lorien Legacies. Although I am still enjoying, the first read and progressed a whole lot better.

What have you been up to?

February 7, 2017February 7, 2017 by Natasha Categories: 2017, Movies, reading, Review, Series, UncategorizedTags: 10 Things I hate about you, 2017, Alias, Amy Poehler, Anna Kendrick, Anne Hathaway, Ben Affleck, Benico Del Toro, Bok Van Blerk, Chris Pine, Chris Pratt, Ciara Hegarthy, Emily Blunt, Fool's Gold, How to Lose A Guy In Ten Days, January, Jennifer Lawrence, JK Simmons, Jon Bernthal, Josh Brolin, Kate Hudson, Lika Berning, Lily Collins, Love, Love Rosie, Margaret Leroy, Matthew McConaughey, monthly rundowns, Nico Panagio, Passengers, Pittacus Lore, Sam Claflin, Sicario, Sisters, The Accountant, The Collaborator, The Power of Six, The Princess Diaries, The Road to The Sea, The X-files, Tina Fey, To Kill a Mockingbird, True Blood 11 Comments

Movie Review: The Accountant (2016)

Plot: As a math savant uncooks the books for a new client, the Treasury Department closes in on his activities and the body count starts to rise.

Rating: 7/10

What I’ll say off the bat is this: Of the two films that released in 2016 casting Affleck as a lead, The Accountant is infinitely superior to Batman Vs. Superman. Everyone, including Affleck apparently, is ready to forget all about that blunder. Ben Affleck is something of an anomaly to me. He is A-list, very famous and considered incredibly successful, and for the life of me I have no idea why. He’s a decent actor, but where does this level of fame come from? I really liked Gone Girl but that is pretty much the only film I can pin on him that went really well. In The Accountant he proves that he is worth his paycheck and works hard to give a credible portrayal as an autistic accountant. What bothered me is that his face is so tightly controlled at times it looks like he has toothache. Apart from that, I liked the character. He is meticulous and well programmed and highly functional, yet there are times when the empathy with his lonely life becomes overpowering.

I particularly enjoyed Jon Bernthal. He seems to excel when he is playing someone cocky and arrogant, and he looks to be enjoying himself quite a lot.

Anna Kendrick did a fine job of not being a pain in the ass. I’m still flabbergasted by her current success. It is not that I think she’s a poor actress, I just never expected her to keep going from Twilight. She is also consistently cast in the same role and that becomes tiring quickly. Dana wasn’t her typical role and it is clear that when she is given a chance, she takes it and works hard to do well. Can I just say a quick thanks here that the character at least attempted to defend herself and didn’t just curl into a ball and cry about her problems? Whoever had the balls to write a woman who would defend herself, thank you.

JK Simmons. All I see when I see this guy is Whiplash. It was good to watch him as a friendlier, saner man. Despite the excellent acting I failed to see the reason to include the treasury department in The Accountant. They served only as narrators and poor ones at that.

The story has a very interesting premise. An interesting premise is null and void if there is no proper execution though. I was not surprised by the big aha moment in the film. If you paid attention from the start any person who has watched movies previously would have caught that. The different parts of the story failed to properly mesh – Chris has to solve who is taking out a hit on him and Dana, the mysterious man who is appearing and killing shady characters, and the Treasury department director trying to find Chris for some unclear reason. I truly think the Treasury department was only included to be the vocal part of who Chris is, because they lacked any other driving force for the film.

That stupid ending. It was nice to see what Chris did with his money and that there was a great well of caring under the tightly controlled exterior. The rest felt so rushed. It was as if the director suddenly decided they had had enough and just wanted it finished in one scene.

 

February 6, 2017February 3, 2017 by Natasha Categories: 2016, Movies, movies, Review, Reviews, UncategorizedTags: 2016, action, Anna Kendrick, Autism, Ben Affleck, films, JK Simmons, Jon Bernthal, Movies, Reviews, The Accountant 7 Comments

Movie Review: Me, Earl and the Dying Girl (2015)

Plot: High schooler Greg, who spends most of his time making parodies of classic movies with his co-worker Earl, finds his outlook forever altered after befriending a classmate who has just been diagnosed with cancer.

Rating: 7.5/10

In hindsight it might not have been the best idea to watch a movie about cancer when I just lost someone to cancer. If you want your opinions to change about cancer movies, see someone die because of it. In hindsight, that is such a stupid statement, but you know what I mean.

Movies involving cancer are most often idealistic and I don’t blame the producers for it. It is a very hard topic and by injecting some optimism here and there it can bring some happiness back into the world – for people who haven’t survived it / haven’t seen what the disease does.

Me, Earl and the Dying girl is the best it is going to get without killing everyone’s happiness. I have great love for Sundance and this movie is so typical Sundance – relatively low budget, quite quirky and good enough to watch. The dialogue is very fast and hilarious. Greg Gaines (fantastic performance here by Thomas Mann) is a unique and entertaining character. It is easy to miss that this child obviously suffers from a crippling self-loathing and probably has a ton of social anxiety as well because he is intelligent and does not hide in his room – dangerous qualities in any teenager with problems. Greg’s friendship with Earl (RJ Cyler) is endearing, and Earl’s spot on assessment of Greg’s personality just shows that they will be friends forever.

Oliva Cooke is Rachel, the leukemia patient. She is talented and memorable (I just had to substitute rememberable for memorable, because it is actually a real word). She did a good job with playing a cancer patient – it can’t be easy, and some of the things the character says will stay with me for a long time.

Nick Offerman plays Greg’s father, and it was nice to see him in something. Albeit strange, his character isn’t just another Ron Swanson knock-off, so it was good to see him be another character.

Jon Benrthal as Mr. McCartney is a character I really liked. Can we just get more of these teachers in school, please? Mr. McCartney wasn’t overbearing and he supplemented the story quite well.

I think the quirk and the originality of the film carries a lot of weight. It does well in addressing the genre, it isn’t this romantic film that is total bull. I enjoyed it, more than I thought I would, because it is funny and sad and has a lot of truth in it. Definitely recommended.

PS: Total LOLZ for the Hugh Jackman voice over. Was great.

October 14, 2015October 11, 2015 by Natasha Categories: 2015, Movies, ReviewsTags: 2015 Movies, Cancer, Greg Gaines, Hugh Jackman, Jon Bernthal, leukemia, Me Earl and the Dying Girl, Nick Offerman, Olivia Cooke, Rachel, Reviews, RJ Cyler, Sundance, Sundance Movies, Thomas Mann 7 Comments

Blinspot 2015: Fury (2014)

Plot:April, 1945. As the Allies make their final push in the European Theatre, a battle-hardened Army sergeant named Wardaddy commands a Sherman tank and his five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. Outnumbered, out-gunned, and with a rookie soldier thrust into their platoon, Wardaddy and his men face overwhelming odds in their heroic attempts to strike at the heart of Nazi Germany.

Rating: 9/10

I’m going to keep this as short as I possibly can, because the gushing will be unbearable and irritating for you all at some stage. This movie is AMAZING. For over two hours you are nailed to your seat and drawn into WWII at a stage where the war isn’t quite done yet, and the men on the ground are still battling nonstop with the Nazis, especially aiming to shoot the SS soldiers. Wardaddy (Brad Pitt) and his crew Boyd Shawn (Shia LaBeouf), Grady Travis (Jon Bernthal) and Trini Garcia (Michael Pena) are dealing with the loss of one of their team when they are given Norman (Logan Lerman), a clerk who has been drafted as an assistant driver. Norman is dragged into the warfare he never thought he would enter, and in time he starts seeing Wardaddy not as a monster but someone who takes the task of keeping his men alive very seriously. Facing unspeakable horrors together, Norman quickly finds his guts and becomes part of the team.

The directing is sharp, clear and brutal. It shows how merciless the war was – children hanged for not fighting for Hitler, bodies being driven in by trucks piled on top of each other, men burning alive, starvation and innocent people dying for just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It is thus more than your average war movie addressing the lives of the brave soldiers (I actually always see that as War Propaganda) – this movie takes you to ground level and reminds you of what the men of the previous generation went through.

The relationship between the characters is intense and intricately portrayed. I couldn’t help but speculate on the intensity of the relationships formed between those four men who have been in the inside of a tank together for three years. At the start of the movie they don’t seem all that close, but the reason is obvious: they are dealing with the death of one of their own. As the movie progresses the sense of brotherhood is really strong and the knowledge that these men are cemented together despite their vastly different characteristics.

The performances are all top notch, but most notably I would have to say Brat Pitt, Logan Lerman and Shia LaBeouf stood out above the rest. Brad Pitt just stunned me by this gut wrenching performance and the layers he added to the character. The grief on his face every time he witnessed more death was excruciating. The battle weary way he carried himself whilst still being the leader was very significant to the success of his role.

Shia LaBeouf… I am not the world’s biggest fan to his personal life because he wants attention so bad. However, in roles like this and Lawless he reminds me how capable he is as an actor. Boyd “Bible” Shawn was such a sweet man and the horrors of the war reflected so clearly in him. I think that he managed to hold onto his religion all the time during the war was powerful, as I think most men just dump it along the way because they simply see too much to still believe in a higher power.

Logan Lerman had me thinking all the time “What an amazing kid”. That said, he is only two years younger than I am but he seems much younger than the rest of the war weary team members. I felt such sympathy with his character and his struggle to adjust. It’s obvious that he wasn’t planning in being part of the fighting in the war and is by nature a kind person who would rather spare human lives. He is initially treated very roughly by Wardaddy but the reason why makes sense – he needs to toughen up if the others want to survive.

I’ll just quickly mention that I also really enjoyed Michael Pena and Grady Travis as the remaining two main characters, and really enjoyed seeing faces like Jim Parrack and Scott Eastwood in here.

The story flows well and keeps a good pace – I really couldn’t detect any dip in the story. The ending is magnificent and so suspenseful – I was cringing and yelling and filled with admiration for our boys.

I’m sure it is very obvious that I really enjoyed this film and I am exceptionally glad it was on my Blindspot list! HIGHLY recommended, although sensitive viewers should probably steer clear.

July 7, 2015July 5, 2015 by Natasha Categories: Blindspot, Movies, ReviewsTags: Blindspot, Brad Pitt, Epic, Fury, Jim Parrack, Jon Bernthal, Logan Lerman, Michael Pena, Movies, Review, Scott Eastwood, Shia LaBeouf, War Movies 10 Comments