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Reviews
The Book Thief (2013)
movie is good
First things first: I haven't read the book. This despite the fact that, I've worked in a bookstore for nearly eight years. I've always meant to, read it, but when I won tickets to the Mill Valley Film Festival, premiere, I had less than 24 hours until the screening. The Book Thief is a grand film, nuanced and thoughtful, and buoyed, by strong performances from Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson, and newcomer, Sophie Nélisse. We watch as Germany falls under the storm of war, the, country slowly descending into madness as we follow one girl who finds, a home in the care of a couple at odds with the Fascist ideologies, sweeping the nation. Soon Liesel (Nélisse) meets Rudy, a neighborhood, boy, and Max, a young Jewish man her new parents must hide in their, basement. Built around the external drama of the war and its consequences is, Lisel's discovery of reading and books. Words are a worthful commodity, in her ravaged society, and the care paid by the filmmakers and actors, to accentuate the importance of stories to Lisel's survival makes this, movie all the more compelling. The cinematography, editing, and script, are all excellent as well. In short, The Book Thief is the kind of film you could show your, children as a way to first begin a discussion of World War II and the, Holocaust, but it never takes shortcuts from darker subject matter to, reach this role. An excellent movie.,
Out of the Furnace (2013)
waste of talent
It's a shame that Casey Affleck's best performance to date has to be bony in a film that has little else to recommend it. The photography and music are so pedestrian that we never find ourselves absorbed in the film, and the acting, by some fine actors, can best be described as, phoned in. Sam Shepard, Willem Defoe, Zoe Saldana, Forest Whitaker et, al are all wasted. Woody Harrelson and Christian Bale, as the two protagonists, have all done much better work elsewhere. The script is not only slow, but the real tension is removed halfway in the film leaving us with little more than a by-the-numbers revenge flick that offers no surprises. What a waste of talent and resources.
Hours (2013)
amazing film
If you watch the movie, you'll get what I mean with the summary line., Maybe it's adequate if you know what it will be about, but I won't spoil, that. You might feel like me and might not want to know any story, details, before you watch the movie. One thing is for sure: This movie, will stand or fall with Paul Walker and Paul Walker alone! Your, feelings towards him might influence your viewing experience. Your perspective of him as an actor will play a major role too. If you, think he's just good doing Action (Fast & angry mostly), than you, might want to stay away/clear of this movie. It is far removed from, that agenda. He's trying to act in this! Like it or not the stabs he's, taking are not that bad. And while the movie might have some slow, moments (slower than the rest that is), it still works! Tension is, there, even if predictable! And all during an event that actually, happened! Based on true events then?,
Homefront (2013)
good movie
While this may not be a great movie, and it had some boring spots, it, definitely delivers on action, what I'm sure most of us came to see. Jason Statham is bad**s as usual, kicking a** and taking names like, it's nobody's business. James Franco is great as the main bad guy., Izabela Vidovic was also great as Statham's character's daughter, I can, definitely see her appearing in many more movies in the future. I liked how it seems like the whole town is in on something, conspiring, against Statham's character for whatsoever their reasons are, I was, really interested to see what was going to happen next. While not perfect, this is pretty much your typical Jason Statham movie, (that's a good thing), with a nice father-daughter relationship thrown, in. Worth watching for anyone who enjoys watching Jason Statham, repeatedly beating the crap out of various assorted scumbags.
Frozen (2013)
like toy story
Upon viewing this film, the first thing I noticed and I believe anyone, else did/will notice, is the utterly stunning visual effects &, animation. I don't believe I've ever seen an animated film look so, beautiful. When I saw the commercials for this movie, I thought it, would be something an adult audience could laugh at too. Not so much, like the film 'Shrek', with mature humor around every corner, (I'm not, bashing Shrek, it is one of my all-time favorites) but more like 'Toy, Story.' A movie with tons of child humor, and just enough to make the, parents laugh too. Although, 'Frozen' is more of a juvenile film. Sure, it has a few points were the adults will giggle, but it is mainly a, child pleaser, which is still not a problem, given this is the point of, a kids movie. All around, Disney's 'Frozen' is a beautiful masterpiece., An first-class add on to their list of great works.