Showing posts with label Jackie Earl Haley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jackie Earl Haley. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Watchmen (2009)

An unofficial murder investigation and its follow up after the death of a well known superhero in the year of 1985.

No idea why I've been hearing dissatisfied  rumours about this because the movie is simply brilliant. After the first 5 minutes I found myself praying that it would continue in the same note, line, rhythm and subtlety (yes ... you read that right :P) and that's because the first most important scene is mindblowing, with a genius's touch. A lot of action, mechanical fights, zoom ins, slow motion, tough attitudes, and all with an adorable and ironic musical background of Nat King Cole's "unforgettable" Unforgettable. So my expectations were again exceeded. Even the moments that should by definition be ridiculous somehow end up being meaningful and important and everything comes together beautifully, coordinated, without any boring moment. Nothing you'd expect from a superhero movie can be found here except the costumes. The music is great and it contains surprising 70s oldies titles (Jimmy Hendrix, Leonard Cohen and then some ...), almost every time chosen in a tone that's opposite to the scene in progress. Blunt lines, sometimes funny, sometimes only ironic. Imperfect people, with human lives, insecurities, mixed feelings, who become invincible when they hide behind their everyday masks (only one exception - of course - but we'll allow it) and a perfect villain - cold and calculated and difficult to spot - built on the premise that the line between good and evil is very thin, which is quite rare in this genre of films when everything is usually either black or white ... And the director does not try to hide the more ugly and difficult to digest realities for the sake of the more sensitive and easily offended public which seems so common/normal these days. Ah and I loved the line "Hitler was a vegetarian too". I didn't know that : P.

Directed by: Zack Snyder
With: Jackie Earle Haley, Patrick Wilson, Malin Akerman, Carla Gugino, Matthew Goode, Billy Crudup, Jeffrey Dean Morgan

This is a translation of an old post, see it here

Monday, August 25, 2014

Robocop (2014)

Alex Murphy, un politist de cariera iubit de familie, este ranit grav si OmniCorp ii folosesc corpul pentru un a crea un robot hibrid.

A trecut ceva timp de la premieră (când de fapt l-am văzut și eu) dar îmi pare că printre atâtea blockbustere populare (și ... mai mult sau mai puțin fără valoare) e păcat ca acesta sa treacă așa neobservat. 
Reia o temă (prea) binecunoscută multora dintre copilăriile noastre, redată deja de mâna unui maestru (Paul Verhoeven) și o transformă foarte credibil intr-o hiper stilizata și modernă poveste tragică și mult mai umană decât am aștepta. Face uz de figura proaspătă și multi-fațetată a lui Joel Kinnaman (cunoscut unora din excelentul The Killing), presară un pic de obișnuitul Gary Oldman (a se citi : nu acel Gary Oldman genial din Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy sau The Fifth Element) et voilà: un film satisfăcător și antrenant, imaginea perfectă a unui blockbuster de succes.

Regie: José Padilha
Scenariu: Joshua Zetumer, Edward Neumeier, etc
Cu: Joel Kinnaman, Michael Keaton, Gary Oldman, Abbie Cornish, Jackie Earl Haley, Samuel L. Jackson

Rating: 9/10

Also read in English