Triangle

(Movie, 2009)

Melissa George is one face I’ve always liked to see on TV. She’s great in this movie. The story is not groundbreaking but still appealing.

Just curious, who names his yacht “Triangle”? If not for the name of the yacht, I could have thought the title of the movie is “cycle” or “circle” just like the plot. 

I don't think they are even in Bermuda Triangle, are they?

Casting & Acting:           9.0

Cinematography:           9.0

Overall Production:        8.0

Plot/Story:                   7.5

Rating:                      8.375

Shutter Island

(Movie, 2010)

I knew from the beginning Leonardo DiCaprio was a patient in Shutter Island. It’s kind of obvious. The plot is generic. But still I commend Martin Scorcese for making it interesting enough that although I already knew what’s going to happen, you still can’t stop watching. I believe this movie is based on a novel, so I won’t comment on the story as I have not read it. The cast is great. Scorcese always get the right people. 

Casting & Acting:           9.0

Cinematography:           9.0

Overall Production:        9.0

Plot/Story:                   7.0

Rating:                      8.50

J Edgar

(Movie, 2011)

Someone should give Leonardo DiCaprio an Academy. Not for this movie though but I believe he should have one. Perhaps someday… I have no doubt about it! Someday, Leo will win an award.

Leo’s voice as an old J Edgar is too strong for me. I don’t know if the real man sounded like that back in his days but Leo sounded too strong and too young as an aged man. Same as Naomi Watts, I don’t know if it is just my copy or do their makeup and prosthetics seem unconvincing. It’s always in the eyes. No matter how good the makeup is, you can still see the real age in their eyes.

There are only two actors so far that I applaud for acting as old people: Merryl Streep in The Iron Lady and Orson Welles in Citizen Kane. It is probably because they are close to the age of their roles. Armie Hammer looks unpersuasive at first as an old man but after the stroke, he sounded and looked real. I bet Armie Hammer will soon get an Academy. He has only made a few movies so far yet the acting is always impeccable. Can’t believe he only had one line, three-second appearance in Arrested Development back then.

 

Casting & Acting:           8.0

Cinematography:           8.0

Overall Production:        9.0

Plot/Story:                   9.0

Rating:                      8.50

No Country for Old Men

(Movie, 2007)

My curiosity aroused on this film when I realized Javier Bardem won an Academy for his role in this movie. He was the antagonist. Rarely does an antagonist win a prestigious award. He was creepily good in this movie. I thought it was a cowboy drama when it was shown five years ago. That time, I seldom watch movie trailers on YouTube. Though this is a good film, it is not the kind that I’d repeatedly watch. But you certainly wouldn't miss a classic, “friendo”.

Casting & Acting:         10.0

Cinematography:           8.0

Overall Production:        9.0

Plot/Story:                   8.0

Rating:                      8.75

Magnolia

(Movie, 1999)

My brother liked this movie so much he’d been referring this to me. I got interested because my brother and I share the same weird taste on movies. However, it is three hours long so I kept on putting it off. The movie was good. Everyone (the cast) was good. There’s just one thing that bugs me: what is the essence of the raining frogs? I know it's Biblical but, why on this movie?

Maybe I just lost focus because of the length of the movie. Well, there a lot of movies that are three hours long. However, most of them are interesting enough that you wouldn't mind the time or that you won't notice the time that passed. It wasn't the case for me on this movie.

Casting & Acting:         9.0

Cinematography:         8.0

Overall Production:      9.0

Plot/Story:                 8.0

Rating:                    8.50

The Butterfly Effect

(Movie, 2004)

This movie is on my all-time favorites list mainly because it’s story about changing past incidents affects subsequent events is interesting. Plus the ending was kind of not the usual they-lived-happily-ever-after affair.

I first saw this when I was still in Makati maybe 8 years ago. I rented the vcd on a video store just around the corner where I was staying. After watching it again (after a very long time), I was surprised to see that the ending was different. I remembered it ended with Ashton Kutcher walking along Manhattan when he crossed path with Amy Smart but did not approach her. The song while he was walking was catchy, too. As I checked on YouTube, it was Stop Crying Your Heart Out by Oasis. 

This new copy that I got has a different ending. It showed Ashton Kutcher going back to his mother’s womb and killed himself with his umbilical cord. When I checked online, I found out the movie has several alternate endings. Though I wish my copy was of the first version I watched, I could say that this new ending (director's cut) fits better.  

Casting & Acting:         9.0

Cinematography:         8.0

Overall Production:      9.0

Plot/Story:                 9.0

Rating:                    8.75

The Rite

(Movie, 2011)

I will not talk about the subject, religion, of this film as God knows I do not have the right to do so. Religion, faith or belief is a very sensitive topic and it’s the one issue I hate to confer.

As always, Anthony Hopkins is terrific! The young priest (I don’t know what his name is) needs a little more push, probably some acting more acting workshops and he’ll be great.

Casting & Acting:         9.0

Cinematography:         8.0

Overall Production:      8.0

Plot/Story:                 9.0

Rating:                    8.50

An Education

 (Movie, 2009)

My brother has always told me about this movie but I never had the interest to actually watch it because I thought it was a depressing drama. Well, it is a drama but it’s not so gloomy. My brother has a big crush on Carey Mulligan. I think this is the movie where she lost the Academy to Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side). I love Sandra Bullock and I think she was great in The Blind Side but I think Carey Mulligan deserves the award, too. I don’t know if she will be given another movie where she can vie and get an Academy for she oh so deserves it. As Sandra said in her Acceptance speech that time, “Carey is young”, so I guess she will get a lot of chances. As for Peter Sarsgaard, he also deserves an award. Not only for this movie, but for everything he did in the industry. Peter is a good actor. Maybe one of those underrated in Hollywood. I sure hope he will get an Oscar soon.

The story per se is not that ground-breaking as we have seen a lot of similar stories in real life. I just can’t believe how effective the main actors were because I get goosebumps everytime Carey and Peter are together. 

Casting & Acting:         10.0

Cinematography:         9.0

Overall Production:      8.0

Plot/Story:                 7.0

Rating:                    8.50

Hex

(TV Series, 2004-2005)

I only downloaded this series because of the luscious Michael Fassbender. The depiction online is not bad either. But when I watched the pilot, boy did I get really disappointed! I know British TV shows are different from Americans: they have a clever sense of humor and they are not slapstick (mostly). If you are a visual kind of viewer and you only notice the action and exaggerated remarks, you should probably not watch British shows as you really need a high IQ to catch up on things. I’ve watched Martina Cole’s The Take and The Virgin Queen (mainly because of Tom Hardy), some episodes of Extras and The Office and they were amazing. When I watched Hex’s pilot episode, I instantly gave it two-thumbs down. However, I gave it a chance. I watched (in agony) the remaining for episodes of season one. I really thought Hex is a cool medieval mystery/love story. Nuh uh! When I saw the first episode of the second season, that’s it! I gave up! I can’t take it anymore. It’s like a Mills & Boon story turned into a mishmash of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Charmed. It looked like even the writers are confused of what they were trying to put in the picture. Verdict: a total waste of time and computer space. 

Casting & Acting:         4.0

Cinematography:         6.0

Overall Production:      5.0

Plot/Story:                 3.0

Rating:                    4.50

The Silence of the Lambs

(Movie, 1991)

I’ve always wanted to watch this movie ever since I’ve learned about Anthony Hopkins’ portrayal of Hannibal Lecter. The bad thing about hearing good feedback about a movie, you set your expectations so high that you feel utterly disappointed even with a slightest shortcoming. First of all, Jodie Foster looked marvelous 20 years back. But I am not completely satisfied with her performance in this film. There is something missing… Mystery? Conviction perhaps? I can’t quite point it out myself. Anthony Hopkins is bafflingly creepy. I don’t know how he did that. 

Some other actors are satisfactory, while some of them and most extras were inadequate. By the way, what’s with the very big white and black lettering at the intro? Maybe the staff wants to make a statement? I don’t actually catch. And the sound mixing makes feels like I’m watching a 60‘s movie.

Casting & Acting:         8.5

Cinematography:         9.0

Overall Production:      8.0

Plot/Story:                 9.0

Rating:                    8.625

The Five-year Engagement

(Movie, 2012)

I love romcoms. They always uplift my mood. However, a five-year story told in a two-hour movie is just too long. There were a few romcoms in the past that are longer than this film but the writers and the director were able to keep the storyline interesting that you won’t notice the time. Unfortunately, this movie failed in that matter. It was dragging. I kept checking the time every 10 minutes.

Casting & Acting:         8.0

Cinematography:         7.0

Overall Production:      6.0

Plot/Story:                 6.0

Rating:                    6.75