Category Archives: Movies

Biography, Drama, Movie Reviews, Movies, Romance

++REVIEW: “THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING” (2014) Universal U.K. & Focus Features U.S.

12/01/2014 Peggy Marie 6 Comments

“The Theory of Everything” is the story of genius, of vision, and the determination and courage of “Stephen Hawking” (Eddie Redmayne), along with the woman who stood by him through most all of it “Jane Hawking” (Felicity Jones)and on whose memoir, “Travelling to Infinity ~ My Life with Stephen” this film is based.

First of all this is a love story, if a rather special one as it’s a beautiful, poignant and quite incredible story of Stephen and Jane Hawking’s life, including all the trials and tribulations that they endure during their time together. While it maybe not be the best movie of the year, I think it is destined to be one of the most remembered. It’s a sweet, touching portrait of the complicated life of both it’s main characters, along with all their imperfections. It is something to be seen by all as it sells itself and, if not altogether realistic, it’s smart considering its main character, anyway, is considered one of the greatest minds of all time.

I will admit that while I’m no genius, hate math with a passion and still secretly count on my fingers at times for quick addition, I completely understand Stephen Hawking theologies as they are could be taken for some of my own ideas/thoughts/beliefs regarding the universe. Not that what I believe in has anything to do with this movie, but I honestly didn’t know much about Stephen’s life before he was incapacitated at all.. In my lifetime, I’ve only ever known about a man who though one of the most brilliant minds to ever exist, couldn’t speak except through a machine due to the fact he had Lou Gehrigs disease.

But this story is Jane’s, or rather her version of it, and so it begins at where else..the beginning..with them meeting at a party at Cambridge. The film’s early scenes show charming 1950’s England, which makes the way the pair are immediately attracted to each other all the more touching. They both come from St. Albans, but with major other differences. She’s in lit, focused on Spanish medieval poetry and a devout member of the Church of England. He’s an atheist and a burgeoning cosmologist, which he explains to her as someone who works out a “theory of everything.” In another wonderful little early period touch, Stephen picks her up in an adorable little multi-colored car in which the two go to a dance and fall in love.

Following we see the quite lazy albeit super-smart Stephen, who was one of those who could goof off with best friend “Brian” (Harry Lloyd), study about an hour a day while at Oxford, where he was a cox on the rowing team, and hardly needs to do more at Cambridge, while still being able to be held high in the estimation of the leading Cambridge physicist mentor “Dennis Sciama” (David Thewlis). This is the beginning though of him starting to stumble and drop things. Then he falls, hard, on his face, is tested, and is diagnosed with motor neuron disease (Lou Gehrig’s disease, now, but not then, known as ALS), and given two years to live. Thinking he had only this predicted time frame to live, Stephen set out to prove mathematically the black hole theory of his thesis. As he went on with his bold thinking and was able to more than defy that life sentence prediction to an extraordinary extent as he could’ve just sat back and let the predictable happen, but he didn’t and his clearly difficult but courageous story, is what is told here.

This is also where Redmayne’s physical performance really kicks in mimicking as he does the strange walk, the curled hands and the slump, the struggle up and down stairs, the first fall into a “provisional” wheelchair, the progressively declining ability to speak. In an almost iconic sequence, Stephen walks on his own with two canes to defend his Ph.D. thesis, and stands up for his triumphant acceptance as one of his last times being able to do so. Many of his ideas here are simplified for us as again, most probably wouldn’t be able to decipher his math equations. Mind you they are not dumbing it down so to speak, but it helps as we even see years later, even though Jane doesn’t switch over to science, we find her explaining his concepts in detail that again, we all can understand.

A huge turning point comes on Stephen’s trip to CERN, in Switzerland, in 1985, when he falls ill with pneumonia and he can only be kept alive and allowed to return home by having a tracheotomy, which Jane fights for. As heart-wrenching as it is to watch as all I could think of was that Stephen himself had no say in whether he wanted this procedure done or not. And Eddie Redmayne’s truly remarkable imitation of Hawking’s increasingly hard-to-follow speech ends here, because Stephen can no longer speak at all. At first, he’s given a board of coded letters to communicate with by blinking an eye and stubbornly refuses to do so. As we all know, the computer-driven speech system Hawking’s associated with soon arrives and in a lighter moment they all show shock that the machine speaks with an American accent, but no matter as it still makes him easier to understand than he had been for many years. It’s almost inevitable here that Stephen and what he goes on to do begins to somewhat take the place of the love story.

The film here turns to more about how Stephen’s disease, his growing fame, and raising their three children made life complicated for his wife, till she became strongly attracted to a male friend, “Jonathan Jones” (Charlie Cox), a recent widower and her choir director, who helps care for Stephen and whose constant presence makes Stephen’s parents, family & friends wrongly suspect he fathered the Hawkings’ third child, Timothy. Then we watch as an especially strong and enthusiastic female caretaker, “Elaine Mason” (Maxine Peake) takes over his care, winning Stephen’s affections, as she is the one whom he leaves Jane for, and in 1995, Jane and Stephen are finally divorced though still it seems on friendly working terms at least.

Having lived almost 48 years longer then he was expected to by doctors and seemly to have lived it to the fullest that we find perhaps the man himself is and was more of a prick and a narcissist than he appears in this film though from past footage it does always seem as though he has kept a sense of humour.

With a strong supporting cast that helps move the film along, it is Eddie Redmayne’s fantastic winning performance here is truly one awards are made to be given to for. Felicity Jones is also quite deserving here as daunting as Redmayne’s role is as Hawking, hers is almost equally tough portraying the hardships that a spouse also has to go through both mentally & physically, in signing on for the life with a severely disabled person. The only thing I would maybe have liked to have seen touched on more is his children. We never really learn how impossibly hard it must have been to not only grow up with one disabled parent, but also to be in the shadow of the genius mind of Stephen Hawking. Was anything expected of them etc.. I’d be curious to know.

Grade: B-

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Biography, Drama, Movie Reviews, Movies

REVIEW ~ “BIG EYES” (2014)

11/29/2014 Peggy Marie 11 Comments

“Big Eyes” is the story of the very famous tale of 1950’s art sensation “Walter Keane” (Christoph Waltz), known for painting waifish children with large, eerie eyes, and was scandalously revealed to have been stealing recognition for the work which was actually painted by his wife, “Margaret Keane” (Amy Adams), the whole time.
(Note: Release date for this film is 25th of December, 2014)

2 things of note here: 1. This is not your typical Tim Burton movie. If you want another ‘Beetlejuice’ or ‘Nightmare before Christmas’ type movie, this isn’t it. Maybe a little ‘Ed Wood’, but then no..not really!! It’s a completely off the map of his usual as it’s a biography/drama. 2. Oddly enough I could not get the chorus of the Cheap Trick song “Big Eyes” out of my head while watching this movie. It fit it so perfectly..yeah I know..it’s just me. 😀

This story is narrated throughout by real-life San Francisco Examiner columnist “Dick Nolan” (Danny Huston) many times noting his own personal thoughts/feelings from ‘behind the scenes’ so to speak. Beginning in the what I presume to be the early 1950’s, we see Margaret walk out on her first marriage, with her young ‘muse’ daughter “Jane” (Delaney Raye) in tow. She meets fellow-artist Walter while selling her works and drawing caricatures in the park in San Francisco’s North Beach area. They start dating and she becomes intoxicated by him with his stories of all his travels along with the fact that he’s lived in Paris where he studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and drew inspiration for his many Montmartre street scenes and was an considered an ‘acclaimed’ artist there though he’s actually in real estate – go figure. In order to keep her ex-husband at bay as concerns about custody rights arise (since single mothers of the era weren’t treated kindly in the court system), she decides to marry Walter, despite the unease of her close friend “DeeAnn” (Krysten Ritter) who is only to aware of his womanizing reputation that proceeds him. A mistake leads to Walter taking credit for Margaret’s work, and before long, it’s a lie they are both complicit in feeding at the beginning.

With a shotgun Hawaiian wedding & honeymoon behind them, we see Walter back to shopping his paintings around town using his talent not only as a salesman, but his adeptness as a showman and self-promoter shopping not only his own work per-se’, but Margaret’s as well. Finally convincing local big-shot club owner “Enrico Banducci” (Jon Polito) to show the paintings at the famous nightclub “The Hungry i” where it seems the patrons finding themselves more inclined towards Margaret’s work rather than his. As all the works are signed “Keane” you see where this story is heading as the lie becomes harder & harder to expose as Margaret’s art is becoming a complete world cultural phenonmenon like nothing ever before seen in the art world. Walter is giving away special originals to everyone from movie stars to politicians & dignitaries and biggest coo of all, Andy Warhol gives him a shout-out compliment. Although all along we can see his true agenda is he just wants to be around the famous and be famous. Before we can blink, we see Walter opening his own gallery across the street no less from a rather hipster-for the time-local gallery curator “Ruben” (Jason Schwartzman) selling prints, posters, postcards..being interviewed on TV explaining the creation process, his ‘motivation’ behind the portraits. All of this is being watched by Margaret as she sits in her studio painstakingly painting away.

As we watch the lie slowly but surely start to unfold, we also see that while Walter is as charming as can be on the outside, his inside reveals what a smarmy character he really is as Margaret finds out about lie after lie he’s told. His whole past is truly just that, one big lie as he was never an artist and seemly stole someone else’s paintings even before they met. Margaret, on the other hand seems almost helpless to stop it as the betrayal is not only shocking to her and her now almost grown daughter (Madeleine Arthur steps in as teenage Jane) who has figured out the big picture here also. But seemingly they are both to frightened of Walter at this point, whose drinking exacerbates his rollercoaster moods, to reveal the true painter behind as her paintings are now monopolized to the tune of a very large enterprise, labeled as “an infinity of kitsch” by new York Times art critic “John Canaday” played wonderfully by Terence Stamp, one of the major influences of the art world at that time.

As Margaret finally runs away again from another bad marriage, she finds herself back in Hawaii painting without an outlet when comes a knock at the door in the form of Jehovah’s Witness ladies. Now I always thought though they were always friendly enough, it just never failed that they came at the most inopportune of moments like when you just poured milk on your cereal & such and were mostly just tolerated. I never though it actually worked as a recruitment strategy, but alas I am proven wrong as that is just how Margaret finally gets the wherewithall to stand up for herself. They move on to an all out confrontation with an over-the-top circus quality type trial lead a bit humorously by James Saito as the judge. In the end it all comes down to a ‘draw-off’ which as we know only Margaret can win and does as she is finally recognized as the true artist behind “Big Eyes”.

The performances are strong here by both Waltz & Adams though not as strong for me as say American Hustle in which she was pure gold in. Though with Best Actress category being rather light this year, I can definitely see Adams getting another nomination for this role.

– Seen on November 14th, 2014 at Academy Screening with Q & A following the screening: Tim Burton, Amy Adams, Christoph Waltz, Larry Karaszewski, Scott Alexander, Lynette Howell

Grade: B-

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Crime, Crime Thriller, Drama, Movie Reviews, Movies, Thriller

REVIEW ~ “THE GAMBLER” (2014)

11/21/2014 Peggy Marie 7 Comments

Note: This films release date is Dec. 19th, 2014; this review contains no spoilers

In case you didn’t garner this from the title of the film, “Jim Bennett” (Mark Wahlberg aka always Marky Mark to me) is a consummate, addicted high-stakes gambler..he is also a college literature professor with a tad bit of a problem. He has played a little too hard and fast with what I like to call OPM ~ Other People’s Money. Now he is in a pool of quicksand seemingly without a ladder.

First there “Neville” (Michael Kenneth Williams) with whom Bennett borrows from using himself & his own life as collateral as he pits creditor against creditor a few times over. The operator of the gambling ring is “Mister Lee” (Alvin Ing), to whom Bennett’s money is supposed to go to first and gives him 7 days to pay back 260K debt he has incurred with loss after loss at the blackjack & roulette tables. But as he layers his debts one on top of another, he starts to owe more than just one person who threatens to kill him if he doesn’t pay. He even borrows from his well-to-do mother, “Roberta” (Jessica Lange) though as he’s done this before more than once, it’s seemingly his last card to play until it’s not and despite all of this he just can’t stop. Even when his college-student girlfriend “Amy” (Brie Larson) walks out on him as he gambles his last chance away.

His last shot at redemption is to finally get to the lowest point in his life, as all addicts must, but being that Bennett is actually smarter than most, he develops a plan to get himself out of all of it, but to succeed he must first hit up the last person on earth with whom he can actually borrow from, “Frank” (John Goodman). What happens with all his plays to get out of his mess of a life is the jist of this whole story and what I forsaw as a predictable ending.. or was it?? I will leave that up to you to see as it can go many different ways.

The acting here is done well enough, though no real standouts except maybe Goodman who always does quite wonderfully making things a bit darkly funny while keeping true to the ‘bad guy’ portrait and a quick bit from Richard Shiff as the “Jeweler” which is also a bit comedic. (The great George Kennedy does a quick cameo if you can spot it!) Wahlberg dropped 60lbs in just a few months for this role and it’s very apparent how quickly he did this as not only is he the thinnest I’ve ever seen him, but even his lips have a sickly blue-ish, white pallor to them. His hair however..is great! 🙂

While this film isn’t great, it is entertaining enough. One of the things I simply loved about it is the filming of it in and all over Los Angeles..not just one simple area..but all over from K-town(Koreatown) to the beaches of the Palisades, USC to Casino Morongo and back on over to the legendary Playboy Mansion, which serves as home to Roberta. As I was honored to be sitting in a Q & A afterwards with the legendary producer, Irwin Winkler ~ think everything from’They Shoot Horses Don’t They’, to the ‘Rocky’ franchise (spoiler Mr. Winkler confirmed there will be a Rocky 6 upcoming), ‘Goodfellas’, ‘Raging Bull’, and the ‘The Mechanic’ to name just a few on his high-profile list of films, but who noted he has lived in Los Angeles for 50 years and there were neighborhoods he still hadn’t known about that they used. Mark Wahlberg insisted they keep the movie here though as Los Angeles really serves as it’s own character fabric of this film so much so. Also speaking was his son, David Winkler, no slouch in his credits either. I also didn’t know this is a remake of the 1974 version of the same name starring James Caan. The Winkler’s noted they had never liked the ending of that film and decided to remake it with a few changes to the storyline and ending.

So there you have it. It’s an entertaining enough of a watch but come contender time, I don’t see it being up there.

Grade: C

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Biography, Drama, Movie Reviews, Movies, political, Spy Thriller, Thriller

REVIEW: “THE IMITATION GAME” (2014)

11/20/2014 Peggy Marie 1 Comment

Note: “The Imitation Game” release date in the U.S. is November 28th, 2014 ~ this review contains no spoilers as the movie is based on historical fact already known.

Do you know who Alan Turing is? I’m going to guess not. After you watch this movie you will most likely be saddened by this fact as I know I was.

Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) was a master mathematician who finds himself plunged into the secret code-breaking underbelly world of Bletchley Circle in World War II when he’s hired by the British government – along with a team of code breakers – to crack Nazi Germany’s supposedly impenetrable Enigma code and end the war. He makes no friends in his inner circle all throughout his life, but not due to the fact that he doesn’t want them, he is one of those people who are of such true genius they never really learned how to be socially adept.

Turing wrestles with a multitude of impediments – shyness, homosexuality (which at the time was illegal) and the overriding pressure of heading up such a mammoth venture would be daunting for anyone trying to stay true to his heart and his extraordinary skill along the way. Not only was Turing unconventional, but his methods were as well. His deterrents included Naval High “Commander Denniston” (Charles Dance) who tries to shut him down more than once, and in the beginning, most of his team, the somewhat caddish “Hugh Alexander”(Matthew Goode), Keira Knightley as “Joan Clarke”, who becomes Turing’s main confidant and for a moment in time, his fiance, the spy amongst them, “John Cairncross” (Allen Leech) and “Peter Hilton” (Matthew Beard) who’s heartbreaking moment occurs when he realizes even though they have broken the code, they most likely can’t save his brother serving on a naval ship due to the nature of the beast that is war and the secret games that must still be played to ensure the safety of millions rather than just one. Mark Strong comes in as MI6 specialist “Stewart Menzies” another small but brilliant turn here as he is probably the only one that has Turing’s back during all this..well him and the man who lives at 10 Downing Street at the time, Winston Churchill that is. 😀 I would also be remiss in not mentioning Rory Kinnear as “Nock” the police detective who is really at the root of Turings out-ing so to speak as he, along with “Sergeant Staehl” (Tom Goodman-Hill) & “Supt. Smith” (Steven Waddington) are the ‘bobbies’ who dig into Turings past after a reported robbery at his home. Even though once Nock interrogates Turing and finds out his whole story, he is reluctant to move forward, the damage has already been done.

The story behind this film is just as harrowing as the one being solved. Here is a man who should have been touted as a worldwide hero in history books everywhere, who’s face should probably be on some type of pound currency, yet we’ve never heard of him as he was persecuted by his own nation for being homosexual and made to either undergo chemical castration or serve 2 years in prison because of this fact. Think of all the people in the city you live in ~ as it might not have existed if not for Alan Turing. Here is a man who saved 14 MILLION lives, yet killed himself due to the fact he was shunned by his own country instead of celebrated just because of who he was sexually. And yes, he was the inventor of what was for years referred to as the ‘Turing Machine’ yes ladies and gentlemen..what we now call ‘computers’. Finally in 2013 this was changed by Queen Elizabeth and rightfully so because it’s the true shame of a nation to deny this man his rightful place in it.

This film is a tour de force for me, not only because of it’s place in history, but because of the man himself. I believe this powerful film will stay with me for some time to come and I can only hope it does the same for anyone who sees it. It even more elevated by strong performances across the board of not only Cumberbatch, who is definitely in the performance of his career so far, but his strong supporting cast as even Knightly, who usually dismal performances can break up the direction of a film, carries on well. Come Oscar time I’m betting on the fact we will see some nominations here of not only film, but performances as well.

Grade: A

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Independent Feature, Movie Reviews, Movies, political

Review ~ “ROSEWATER” (2014)

11/11/2014 Peggy Marie Leave a comment

Being a fan of Jon Stewart it maybe shouldn’t come as a surprise that his first foray into film is politically based. After all, he became famous for his comedic Daily Show diatribes against the US political system, corrupt world leaders and human rights atrocities. However, in his new film, Stewart uses the starting point of journalist Maziar Bahari’s (Gael Garcia Bernal) 118 day imprisonment for being a supposed spy in Iran, to craft a film condemning of any leadership that values not only political and religious hyperbole, but focuses mainly on the ignorance of its own people. Though Rosewater is inspirational, has it’s heart in the right place and is outright funny at times, something I didn’t expect, though again, considering the writer/director, I probably should have, it is missing the oompha that could make it a really good political film rather than just an average one as it’s not a very moving or probably understandable film to those who don’t really follow politics.

The film begins 11 days before Maziar’s imprisonment, as the Iranian-Canadian “NewsWeek” reporter travels to Iran to report on the historic 2009 presidential election. When arriving at the airport, Bahari meets “Davood” (Dimitri Leonidas), a taxi driver who helps him get access to parts of Tehran where the different political factions reside. They interview a young supporter “Alireza” (Amir El-Masry) for Ahmadinejad (president at the time) who furiously denies that Western media’s reports of possible vote rigging in the upcoming election are true. Then Davood brings Bahari to see another side, a group of young Mousavi supporters. These “dissenters” have formed their own system of education known as “Dish University,” a set of illegally obtained satellite dishes streaming in news from around the globe. As we follow along to the election sites I can only tell you this…after seeing our own elections the other day, we should be ashamed we don’t take this privilege for what it’s worth as you can see what it’s like when they actually do..though that would be the only thing I could see they have one upped us on as we know from history, the elections themselves don’t go well and demonstrations in the street ensue with not only many deaths, but arrests as well.

The heart of this true story is what happens when Maziar is arrested and imprisoned for being a ‘Western spy’. He is put in the prison’s solitary confinement and interrogation rooms, subjected arbitrarily to absurd lines of questions, harsh beatings and other methods of torture by the prisons main information extractor “Rosewater” (Kim Bodnia). While Maziar’s attitude shifts between amused, confused, hopeless, hopeful, and even suicidal, he is visited by the spirits of his long dead father “Baba Akbar” (Haluk Bilginer) who was imprisoned during previous regimes, and his sister “Maryam” (Golshifteh Farahani) again, also imprisoned for a long spell, whom he has long conversations with over what to do. In the end, he gives a forced confession though it ends up not being satisfactory, it did bring him to the attention of the world. Along with everything his very pregnant, British wife, “Paola” (Claire Foy) does on her behalf, and his mother “Moloojoon” (Shohreh Aghdashloo) vigilance, the next thing we see is Hillary Clinton speaking about him on worldwide TV condemning his imprisonment, demanding his release and them bowing down to the pressure of the situation to do so.

Performance wise, this movie really doesn’t do anything in a standout way, which let’s face it, it could have. As a Gael fan, I questioned at times the choice for him in this role, but maybe that’s because I’m so used to him playing the roles he is 100% suited for. While I liked this movie, with its jarring tonal shifts, it doesn’t deliver on the tone I thought it would. I think it will go over well with a political savy Jon Stewart crowd, but not much beyond that.

(Release date: Friday, November 14th, 2014)

Grade: C-

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Drama, Independent Feature, Movie Reviews, Movies

Review: “WHIPLASH” (2014)

11/11/2014 Peggy Marie 6 Comments

Before I saw this movie, someone said to me “Oh, it looks like a jazz version of “FAME”. A more mis-informed statement could not be ever spoken! A “Fame” remake this movie is not..If you love music, most especially jazz and have heard all those stories about the inner circle of the jazz greats..this is your movie.. With my basic knowledge of music and somewhat better at knowing those stories, I was able to follow along well. But “Whiplash” is a quite darkly, somewhat disturbing movie about 19 y/o “Andrew” played superbly here by Miles Teller, who eats, lives and breathes being a drummer, who wants so badly to be ‘remembered’ in this life as one of the world’s best he will do and put up with almost anything..again, almost.. His journey through what was at times, hard for me to watch as I’ve experienced people in my life like this, is what this movie is about..to be specific about a year of said journey at New York’s elite Conservatorium of Music, Shaffer Academy. And that is about the only thing that would hold a similarity to something like ‘Fame’ is both being held at a music academy schools.

This film begs the question of how far an artist should be pushed to achieve greatness. It’s a devastating portrait filled literally with blood, sweat and tears, leaving our hearts pounding as fast as the intense drumming. The music is quite extraordinary too. “Terence Fletcher” (J.K. Simmons) is the conservatorium’s god maker; we immediately sense how vital it is to Andrew that Fletcher notices him. What follows was for me the hard part of watching as It is the cruel, callous way Fletcher operates that gets under our skin as he offers some of the students words of encouragement, elicits some personal information only before using it against them with biting undercut. Simply said, he is a monster disguised as a teacher. Bullying and abuse come in many forms not just student to student, but teacher to student happens far more often than we realize and this is in large, what this movie is about. The humiliation, bullying, and violence towards all the students in his class are all part of the mix with chairs being hurled, faces slapped and students stripped down to size. Watching blood drip onto the drum kit from Andrew’s overtaxed fingers and hands, while close to exhaustion, is unsettling to say the least.

Just as it seems as though Andrew’s fortunes are looking up, when he is singled out by Fletcher and simultaneously gets a date with the pretty student he’s had a crush on for sometime “Nicole” (Melissa Benoist) who sells popcorn at the movie theatre he frequents, though neither opportunity turns out as expected. In the background is Andrew’s father “Jim” (Paul Reiser), a disillusioned, failed writer who quietly supports his son but clearly doesn’t understand musical aspirations or what drives him. Teller drums with the passion of a man literally possessed, the physicality of the performance is truly astounding. As for Simmons, his performance is breathtaking as we are captivated by every tiny expression on his distinctive features. The way he turns from violent abuser to a gentle man is truly quite impressive. Having been a fan of his since his turn in HBO’s ‘Oz’ ~ this is a role of a lifetime.

It occurred to me during one devastatingly harder scenes to watch that this movie can truly be as tense as any psychological thriller, complete with it’s own type of terrifying moments. But it also has the operatic highs that only music can bring. For instance that show-stopping sequence at the end of the film when the music wins, is the moment when our hearts can soar and think maybe..just maybe it was all worth it in the end as we applaud.

The performances by Teller and Simmons are the soul of this film and what truly make this movie what it is. I hope that they garner the attention they deserve come nomination time.

Grade: B+
After seeing this film a second time last night at an Oscar screening with Dir: Damien Chazelle & J.K.Simmons doing a fun, lively Q & A afterwards.. I gotta up the grade to an A ~ as this film and most definitely it’s performances are Oscar worthy.

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Action, Crime Thriller, Drama, Home Invasion, Movie Reviews, Movies, Thriller

Review x 2 ~ “NIGHTCRAWLER” & “THE EQUALIZER”

11/08/2014 Peggy Marie 8 Comments

Jake Gyllenhaal plays “Lou Bloom”, a man clearly desperate not only in his quest for work as a crime ‘journalist’ in this quite creepy, psychological mayhem of a film, but also as someone so desperate to become a star of his own making in this crime contingent world, that he resorts to just about anything and everything to do so as he’s basically just an unemployed thief and an all around just plain weird dude.

Set on the streets of Los Angeles itself, which can be fun as I recognized almost every location and remember even driving by a few of them as they were filming, we get a really crazy, scary glimpse into the world that happens pretty much every day here, and scarily enough, we don’t even notice it anymore. But what probably got me the most of all of it, I honestly believe that some of what happens with Gyllenhaal’s character Lou actually really does go on. Just take a real look at the news sometimes, or what the paparazzi do here just to get a shot of someone and you too will step back a second and think twice about this movie.

This movie is all about taking the best neighborhoods in Los Angeles and make them seem unsafe. Film a car chase (albeit a really good one at that) that gets your blood pumping and your heart rate up, and make the storytelling interesting, absorbing, creepy, disturbing, and even nervously funny. That’s what I think Director Dan Gilroy pulls off here as for 95% percent of movie and I will admit I was pretty freaked out through most if it, I laughed, I cringed, and I sat numb and transfixed. Only small undeveloped parts of this movie, like how they just accepted him in the inner circle of new commentators, a disregard for the L.A.P.D ever pulling over a excessively speeding motorist over and over again, how at one point in the middle the character did annoy me to the point of well..complete annoyance.. and an ending that might not have lived up to the movie as a whole, could keep me from calling this truly flawless. But those are minor points and some of them just my own feelings as that I know I wouldn’t let this person anywhere near the actual news casting people. ha! Would I endorse this film as completely realistic? Probably not. I do watch the news, though definitely not everyday and it doesn’t seem fathomable that dead bodies with grisly images would actually be shown all the time like this on television, but again, we have seen it. But no matter what, you can’t deny how fascinating or how original these proceedings are. Nightcrawler is one bitch of a ride. And sadly, I almost feel guilty for recommending it. But I will. 🙂

As the movie plays out you realize you really don’t know anything about Lou Bloom except for the fact that he becomes obsessed with filming crime scenes in order to pocket some cold hard cash. He uses a police monitor, finds out where crimes are committed, and captures the hideous crimes on video camera. He gets paid monster dollars for these trysts but eventually gets in over his head when finally at one scene, he gets there before the police. There’s an investigation on him, he almost gets charged for murder, but what Bloom might be seriously lacking in social skills, he is smarter than everyone. He starts to blackmail his newswoman, his co-workers, all the while he just slaps on his sunglasses, gives a steely face outward demeanor, and pretty much gives the middle finger to anyone who might get in his way. There is a weird Travis Bickle a la Taxi Driver feel to this character that Gyllenhaal really exudes well.

Now the rest of the cast of Nightcrawler is almost just as creepy and definitely as noteworthy. Their roles are equal parts nasty, mean-spirited, unethical, and cold. Bill Paxton as “Joe Loder” is as always, reliable playing a supporting role as a fellow rival to Bloom. He’s jealous, angry, and ultimately pays the price for being his crime scene, videotaping rival. Rene Russo “Nina Romina” (who happens to be married to the director in real life) looks great and is fantastic at playing the coy and somewhat frigid as she manages the news station where Bloom sells his videos. She wants ratings, wants respect, and doesn’t give a shit about what’s right and what’s wrong. Then we have Riz Ahmed as “Rick” Bloom’s sidekick/assistant and he’s startlingly effective. He may be poor and unwanted, but he still has a sense of decency and with a few un-choice words, while he goes down in a wave of flames.

All in all, this movie will stick with you for a while after as I saw it a week ago, and it most definitely has done so. Oh, and I haven’t watched the news since. ha! 😀

Grade: B-

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(See grading scale)

SECOND REVIEW – “THE EQUALIZER”

NOTE: As this movie has been out for awhile, but I was gone and not able to see it till just this week..I did a double header of this and “Nightcrawler” (oh my bum hurt after so long in the seat..trust me!! :D) But it was well worth it. Both movies had enough edge to them to keep me motivated to watch.

Firstly, I did not know nor would I have guessed that this movie was inspired by the classic TV series, The Equalizer as I don’t remember at all watching it as a kid, I was more a Dynasty child!!..ha! The film here stars Denzel Washington as “Robert McCall”, a mild-mannered some what of a “mystery man” who spends his days working at a hardware megastore and his nights as an insomniac drinking tea and reading the classics at a local diner When a young girl from the diner “Teri” (Chloe Grace Moretz) finds herself in over her head with the Russian mob, Robert can’t ignore it. Instead, he steps outside of his quiet, controlled world to help her. But what starts out as an attempt to help the troubled teen soon turns into a battle against a crazy vicious pimp and his crime syndicate.

Despite his normal job and his simple life, it soon becomes very clear that McCall isn’t just an ordinary guy taking on an extraordinary situation ~ nor is he just another determined cop. He has a very specific skill set as well as the training that enables him to walk unarmed into a room full of bad guys and kill every last one of them (in shockingly brutal ways) in 30 seconds or less, using a variety of makeshift weapons. And he manages to do it all in the coolest, smoothest way possible. But the character also has his share of quirks ~ from his strange obsession with his stopwatch to an almost superhuman ability to case a room with his almost MacGyver-like tactics. And though his occasionally over-the-top behavior can border on laughable, it also makes him different, like the kind of character that you’d expect to find in the latest flood of superhero type movies. But this isn’t your basic PG-13 movie. It’s dark and gritty and sometimes shockingly, graphically violent, though, at the same time, it’s also undeniably entertaining with a great villain in Marton Csokas as “Teddy”. You know I love my villains when they are played well..and he does a great job here.

Still, The Equalizer isn’t a fast-moving film. It builds slowly, a little to slowly at times, but taking its time to introduce the characters and to make sure that everyone in the audience knows what a good guy McCall is. It’s also much longer than it needs to be. But Washington carries it all in a way that seems effortless because there’s just something about him that makes even the film’s slow moments seem bearable.

Time and time again, Washington has proven himself to be tough but lovable & reliable if not also adaptable. And in The Equalizer, he gives his role both classic charm and ferocity, making it an extreme but enjoyable enough of a thriller.

Grade: C+

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(see grading scale)

bad movie, Crime Thriller, Movie Reviews, Movies, Thriller, Uncategorized

REVIEW ~ “BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP”

11/05/2014 Peggy Marie 2 Comments

Again, another movie where I saw it about 2 weeks ago but when it’s this bad, I almost feel like not writing a review because they sucked all the energy I had for it just watching!! For the opening first minutes of this movie all I could think of was “50 First Dates” & “Groundhog Day” except this movie isn’t funny as those. Some even might say “Memento” but you can’t compare that fantastic movie even remotely to this one nor is it anywhere near as good as those even with a cast of actors that I truly like.

“Before I go to Sleep” is billed as a “British Crime Thriller” based on a 2011 novel, which I haven’t read as I try not to read the books before the movies nowadays as I literally don’t want to spoil it for myself. But all I can say on this one is I really hope the book was better than the film because this movie did not “thrill” me in the slightest.

Basically it’s “Christine” (Nicole Kidman) as a woman who wakes up every day remembering nothing at all because, as she is told by her husband “Ben” (Colin Firth) that she had a traumatic accident in her past. As he starts to fill in her life for her, flashes of her life appear to her and the minute Ben says “you can trust me” is the minute you know somethings up and it’s not what he’s telling her. Christine finds out she has connected with a “Dr. Nasch” (Mark Strong), a psychiatrist who starts to make her realize all is not what she is being told as she is recording things on a hidden camera as to what she remembers. People pop up like her best friend “Claire” (Anne-Marie Duff) whom she was told couldn’t handle being her friend anymore by none other than Ben himself. As things start to become clearer she realizes not only did/does she have a son, but as Ben keeps giving her tidbits of her life through his version of it, she finds out pretty much NOTHING is as it seems including the actual realization of is he or isn’t he the real thing. The problem is this could be in some cases extremely suspenseful or thrilling, exciting, scary..you name it, but it’s not. Not one bit of it, Again, not only do you see it all coming, but the way it’s presented to you is agonizing almost in it’s approach.

While I’m a big fan of Firth, somewhat Kidman, and definitely Strong, none of them do any type of exemplary performing here which is sad because we all know what all three of them are capable of. The best pairing in the film comes from Firth and Strong, not in their shared scenes but in their common murkiness, showing a bit of the possibility that either could be a friend or foe.

Grade: D

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(see grading scale)

Action, Crime Thriller, Movie Reviews, Movies, Thriller

REVIEW ~ “JOHN WICK” (2014) Lionsgate

11/03/2014 Peggy Marie 2 Comments

It’s been quite sometime since I sat at a movie and completely & totally rooted for a character so much so as I did John Wick. Even though you know he’s really not a ‘good guy’ per se’ you really truly can’t help doing so in this movie. But before you even head into this movie you know it’s going to be in-your-face non-stop, kick-ass, kill ’em, violent. And it is..I mean the trailer tells you this..what it doesn’t tell you is how much fun it’s all going to be. Not funny ha-ha..but just plain fun – entertaining -go for it – good time action packed movie. Betcha ya didn’t expect all that now did you?!! Because I didn’t, but I really enjoyed myself at this movie and coming from a someone like me who loves movies, but can be super picky..this film was a nice surprise for me.

First of all can we talk about Keanu Reeves for just a quick moment. No one ever said he’s the best actor, but damn this is his movie..no if’s, and’s or but’s..it’s all him and his wooden acting style fits this movie like a glove, as let’s face it, it’s always best when Keanu doesn’t have a lot of dialogue and the amount here is just perfect for him to carry out and boy does he do it well, in probably his best performance in a decade or so. He performs so well as the cool, calm demeanoured “John Wick” a retired assassin code named “The Bogeyman” and moves with such ease during this super fast-paced, heavy stunt-fest so smoothly, that you will never even realize that hey..Keanu is now FIFTY yrs. old, no way..not a chance.

So to set it up, in his hey-day the now retired, Wick/Bogeyman was the ‘go to’ guy if you…well..needed someone assassinated. And within minutes of the start of the film, the stage is set for what exactly John Wick can do, when the son “Iosef Tarasov” (Alfie Allen) of Russian mob boss “Viggo Tarasov” (Michael Nyquist), runs into Wick as he’s just randomly pumping gas in his badass Mustang and Iosef likes the Mustang, offers to buy the muscle car, which John politely refuses. Next thing you know, the Russian thugs break into his home to steal the car and take the one thing that he could share his grief with, a dog his wife “Helen” (Bridget Moynahan) gave him before she passed, AND then kick the crapola out of him to boot. Well that’s all it takes to reeaally piss Wick off as we ALL know..you don’t hurt an assassins dog for chrissakes, so off he goes to his basement with a sledge hammer and breaks up the floor and unearths a clearly long forgotten stash of weapons and some odd gold coins. Then things get ugly – for the mob that is.. Word gets back to his former boss, Viggo, from chop shop car owner “Aureilo” (John Leguizamo), who’s recognized his friend Wick’s Mustang. Viggo informs his son in no uncertain terms that he’s royally screwed up, then sends in in a dozen or so guys to meet the threat head on. But you’re gonna need a lot more than that against John Wick!! And that my friends is when the non-stop action and fun really start. This is pure high-energy, in your face, revenge flick and ladies and gentlemen, hold onto your hats as you’re in for a rollercoaster of a damn good time.

Along with Keanu’s great action spin, there are many fun supporting roles here and one of my favs is the hit-mans hotel of choice, Continental’s manager “Charon” (Lance Reddick) This is a ‘special’ hotel where you can check in only with those ‘special’ gold coins Wick had in that cache he dug up. You’re not supposed to do ‘business’ at this hotel but Viggo entices our one female hit’man’ “Ms. Perkins” (Adrianne Palicki) to do just that and go after Wick for an extra payday. There is also the wonderful Willem Dafoe as “Marcus” a former colleague who is taking names and kicking some ass for a short time here with Wick, the always fun Ian McShane as the Continental owner, “Winston”, Dean Winters as “Avi” the wimpy-ish inept sideman to Viggo who can’t understand a word of Russian and there entails a few funny moments with his lack of ‘understanding’, and Clarke Peters as “Harry” the old-school assassin. All of them add loads of flavour to this movie, but again, make no mistake..this is Keanu’s movie and he kills it..

This film rocks and this film rolls..all in the right ways and it’s truly loads of fun! Of course there are plot holes, like how is Wick even functioning after what he goes through, but it doesn’t matter, because you’re too busy cheering for John Wick!! There were times I wanted to just scream out a big WHOOOO HOOOO! And you will too. I take ’em as I see them and I had a great time watching this movie. Enjoy people..enjoy!!!

Grade: B-

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Grading Scale: A = Oscar-worthy; B = Above average – must see; C = Average – should see; D = Don’t waste time or money, VOD or cable at best; F = yeah, don’t see the movie under any circumstances (+ or – gives it an edge up or down)

bad movie, Comedy, Movie Reviews, Movies, teen, Uncategorized

REVIEW ~ LAGGIES (2014)

11/01/2014 Peggy Marie 1 Comment

There have been some very bad movies released this year and this doozie is definitely one of the worst. I almost didn’t even want to write a review as I feel like I’m wasting as much of my time on it that they made me waste watching it and that was enough, so expect this to be very short and simple, to the point.

Keira Knightly in ANOTHER really awful performance, her 2nd of the year so far btw in a bad American accent again no less, is “Megan” an 20-something who is the sign-spinner (yes, you read that right..the person in front of a business who spins the sign for people to come in) for her father “Ed” (Jeff Garlin) accounting office and seems to be in the throes of a quarter-life crisis..yes really..if there is such a thing. She’s got a degree, lives with her boyfriend, “Anthony” (Mark Webber) who it weirdly seems as though she barely likes him and he seems to unquestionably just support her financially etc., without a problem and yet she just floats around aimlessly while all her friends like “Allison” (Elle Kemper) progress in front of her with their lives.

That is of course until she meets high-school student “Annika” (Chloe Grace Moretz) and her group of friends, “Misty” (Kaitlyn Dever), “Junior” (Daniel Zovatto), and “Patrick” (Dylan Arnold) and buys them beer and they become besties.. yep..they do. In fact, in order to ‘get away from it all’, Megan begins to hang out with this group of high-school students and proceeds to stay at Annika’s house until her divorced dad, “Craig” (Sam Rockwell) wonders, as all of us do, why is this woman staying in my house with my high-school aged child and saying they are friends like this is normal behaviour.. Let’s just say this movie is painful and not even Sam Rockwell can save it when he hooks up with Megan which of course unless you’re very impaired you know is going to happen from the moment Megan steps into their house. Along with the absolute just inane – trying so hard to be quirky – plot of all this is the fact that Megan not only goes to a high-school party without any qualms or awkward feeling of anyone asking her WTF she is even doing there..she just fits right in..but wait for it…as yes..she goes to the prom too!!! At this point in the movie, I’m not sure how I had stayed so long without screaming or pulling my hair out in exasperation over how horrifically bad this movie is.. I guess because it was a screening and I always feel guilty if I leave early..and yes, thankfully I didn’t pay any money to see this farce, as then I would have been really PISSED!!!

So to sum it up in case you haven’t guessed already, this is one bad movie. It’s kinda weird that a person in their 20’s would even want to hang out with high school kids..I don’t know anyone who ever did..and it’s not funny, there is no chemistry between any of the characters or any depth to any of them and it ends just as lamely as it started.

Grade: D- (don’t waste your time or money)

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Peggy at the Movies

Category Archives: Movies

++REVIEW: “THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING” (2014) Universal U.K. & Focus Features U.S.

REVIEW ~ “BIG EYES” (2014)

REVIEW ~ “THE GAMBLER” (2014)

REVIEW: “THE IMITATION GAME” (2014)

Review ~ “ROSEWATER” (2014)

Review: “WHIPLASH” (2014)

Review x 2 ~ “NIGHTCRAWLER” & “THE EQUALIZER”

REVIEW ~ “BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP”

REVIEW ~ “JOHN WICK” (2014) Lionsgate

REVIEW ~ LAGGIES (2014)

Peggy at the Movies ~ Film Critic | Movie Maven | Reviews & More"