John Wick Review

11/12/2014 Peggy Marie Leave a comment

Because I love this review of John Wick also so if anyone hasn’t seen it yet..definitely do!!

“I heard you punched my son. Why?”

“He stole John Wick’s car.”

“…Oh.”

That’s John Wick for you: darkly humorous, full of action, and made with its own rules in mind. This is far from perfect, but it’s the type of action film that isn’t produced enough these days, one that employs an incredibly simplistic structure, but one that still succeeds aesthetically and violently and creatively. It’s loads of fun, and it looks gorgeous.

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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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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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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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Uncategorized

IF YOU ARE IN THE U.S. ~ GET OUT AND VOTE TODAY! 11/4/2014

11/04/2014 Peggy Marie Leave a comment

Sorry to make a non-movie posting…but to many people have fought for our right to vote and so many discard it as nothing as it’s a mid-term election and seemly not ‘important’ enough.. But it is! Too much is at stake for people to not take this seriously and I’m tired of hearing the whining afterwards from the people who didn’t bother to show up at the polls. And many big propositions are also at stake here in all the various States and counties.

So again, apologies and all will return back to normal after Election Tuesday here in the US and I thank all the non-US people for your patience in my little rant/preach here! 😀

Cheers all ~

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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Comedy, Dark Comedy, Dramady, Movie Reviews, Movies

REVIEW ~ ST. VINCENT (2014)

10/31/2014 Peggy Marie 3 Comments

By this time, if there is anyone who hasn’t figured out that Bill Murray is a comedic genius then not only do I feel bad that they’ve missed so many fantastically funny, great movies, but maybe they can find some of it then in this film. While Murray does a bit of a mixed bag here of comedy and a dramatic turn also, no one can deliver spot on, deadpan sarcasm like Murray. NO ONE! His character, “Vincent” is the corrosively, sarcastically funny old man next door who gets softened up a bit by the fact that his new neighbors seem to need his help somewhat with of all things, babysitting of the young boy, “Oliver” (played wonderfully by Jaeden Lieberher). Oliver and his mom “Maggie” (Melissa McCarthy) are a bit down on their luck as she is going thru a divorce and trying to work long hours and take care of her son. Step in ne’er-do-well neighbor and all around screw-up Vincent to ‘save the day’ and what ensues is a story of what could be taken two ways.. You can look at it as Vincent teaching Oliver ‘real’ life and what goes on when they spend the day in at the races using Oliver’s lunch money to make a bet and a surprising win, Vincent, showing Oliver how to deliver an upper-cut to nose to defend himself against the school bullies, celebrating at the local bar, or the sweetness of visiting his Alzheimers ridden wife. Of course it’s not what you’re supposed to do, but taken in the context of the movie can not only be looked at as somewhat of a learning process, but quite funny as well.

But this isn’t all fun and laughs as not only does McCarthy go for a more dramatic start here, giving us some relief from what seems to be her playing the same character her last few comedic movies, but she does it well enough and it’s nice to see her showing she’s got more range than we thought. Murray, is as always quite genius even when his role becomes more challenging in the dramatic sense when he suffers a stroke and goes through a tough recovery process all with the help of what is probably one of the worst characters not only in this movie, but just in general, a very not funny, awfully acted Russian prostitute “Daka” played terribly by (Naomi Watts). Not only is her accent just awful and grating on your every last nerve, but her garish, harsh makeup really does not flatter here at all. While she is supposed to be somewhat endearing and maybe even a bit funny, the whole character is sadly what makes this movie only good instead of fantastic. On the fantastic side, newcomer Jaeden Lieberher as Oliver is remarkable in not only his acting skills, but as a child holding his own alongside Murray. Who knows, we might have another Nicholas Hoult on our hands here! Add in a couple of fun smaller supporting roles from the always wonderful for me, Chris O’Dowd as “Brother Geraghty” a priest in the Catholic school which Oliver attends even though they and most of the children attending aren’t even Catholic, in his always fun, comedic ways, he helps Oliver make his presentation of “St. Vincent”. Terence Howard as “Zucko” the bookie trying to collect Vincent’s gambling debts and Kimberly Quinn as “Nurse Ana” who cares for Vincent’s wife “Sandy” (Donna Mitchell) in the care facility and has a soft spot for him as he tries to do anything and everything to keep her from being moved to another facility.

Though they do a good job of mixing the right amount of comedic with dramatic adding in just enough heartstrings pull. all in all this adds up to only being a good movie..not a great movie,

Grade: C (average)

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Action, Crime Thriller, Dark Comedy, Drama, Dramady, Thriller

REVIEW ~ “GONE GIRL” (2014) 20th Century Fox

10/09/2014 Peggy Marie 6 Comments

Now that pretty much everyone and their mother has done a review of this movie..I present you with mine!! hahahaha As it’s been a week since I’ve seen it..Yes, I procrastinated big time on this review..oopsie!! So..here we goooooooo.. If you like a mix of the darkest of dark comedies, mixed with suspense and a good thrill..this is the movie for you. To start with, even as an avid reader, I didn’t read the book specifically because I wanted to see the movie and not be critical of it or know what was going to happen. I’m glad I didn’t as it keeps the many surprises of plot twists that even though it’s not super hard to figure them out, I was glad to see it all unravel on the big screen. The toughest part of a review of this movie is not revealing everything in a review..AKA SPOILERS.. and as I never do, and this is a film you especially want to just ‘experience’ all the twists and turns yourself..trust me.

On the day of his 5th wedding anniversary, “Nick Dunne” (Ben Affleck) day goes from starting off bad..to worse day ever! After spending some time gossiping with his sister “Margo” (Carrie Coon) over his troubled marriage at the ‘The Bar” that they own together, Nick returns home to discover what looks to be the scene of a crime. His wife “Amy Dunne” (Rosamund Pike) seems to be missing. Assigned to the case is “Detective Rhonda Boney” (Kim Dickens) and “Officer Jim Gilpin” (Patrick Fugit) whom suspect foul play, and almost immediately, the local community and the nation somewhat, goes on a search for Amy in part no thanks to the media firestorm that erupts as a result provides the movie’s most pointed satired character by far.. “Ellen Abbott” (Missi Pyle) who plays a news pundit whose look and manner is an unmistakable, spot-on takedown of a certain television personality that I’m sure you will not only figure out, but have a good laugh at.

Nick tells us one side of their marriage—a troubled one, yes, but one that has its reasons for being in that state. Amy’s parents “Rand & Marybeth Elliot”(David Clennon/Lisa Banes) are the authors of a series of children’s books aka the reason their daughter’s disappearance become national news, which are snidely based on what their expectations were for Amy while she was growing up which she didn’t always succeed at. In her diary, which cleverly is a big focal point of this movie so pay attention to it, Amy agrees with a lot of Nick says, but she also hints at a darker side to Nick that he doesn’t show.

That’s the gist of the plot, and again, I don’t want to spoil any of it for anyone as there’s so much more that gradually unravels here. Fincher has a good style and I always seem to like his films, as they have a good edge and pace to them which makes them pretty enjoyable to watch. Affleck for me is fits perfectly in this role with his boyish charm on full throttle, Rosamund Pike, who I must admit is not always my fav, in movies..but here she is superb & chilling in providing layer after layer to be stripped away until only the unexpected, terrifying truth remains. But my favourite acting here comes from Kim Dickens as the detective with a somewhat comical, sarcastic tone to everything she does. Yes, Neil Patrick Harris is here too as “Desi Collings” but his character is just to weak for me and yes, so is Tyler Perry, playing against his usual Madea type, as the lawyer “Tanner Bolt” and people seem to think this is such a breakout drama performance for him..uhhh NO..remember “Alex Cross” yeah, he’s not all that here either, sorry. This film is a mesmerizing a two hour rollercoaster ride…is it an award winning movie, for me no..but damn it’s entertaining and definitely worth the bang for the buck you will be paying for it. Go..enjoy..and be entertained!

And at the end..make sure you always remember the big question as I think we can always ask..”What have we done to each other”

Grade: B- (above average – MUST see)

(see grading scale)

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Peggy at the Movies

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