Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013)

The Lambert family temporarily deceive themselves that the father of the family is who he claims to be.

'Insidious: Chapter 2' continues where the first film left off, with a shocking cliffhanger. And yet it seems that death is not permanent in the Insidious universe. The second part is a much desired follow-up, made with roughly the same style and ideas, and it lacks the stylistic freshness felt with the first. But is still worth seeing.

Director:  James Wan     

With: Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Barbara Hershey,  Lin Shaye, Angus Sampson, Steve Coulter

Rating: 7/10

Insidious (2010)

The son of a desperate family gets stuck in the spirit world in his dreama, and a psychic who's familiar to the father comes to help.

'Insidious' is a horror film from the new horror movement, where big investments are finally risked on a genre mocked for far too long. With good acting, with clumsy but efficient and perfectly timed horror effects, Insidious gave birth to an acclaimed franchise and (along with The Conjuring) to a wave of higher level horror films that no longer have to copy Asian originals (like The Ring , The Grudge, Pulse and many others).

Director:  James Wan     

With: Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Lin Shaye, Angus Sampson

Rating: 9/10

Fargo (2014– ): Season 2 (2015)

A naive couple causes a war between 2 mafia families after a car accident in which the son of one of the families loses his life.

Season 2 of 'Fargo' follows the same recipe as the first, and presents as true he story of a mafia war in the 70s. Somewhat harsher and more merciless than the previous one, season 2 deserves attention for the interesting characters (the main police guy being one, as usual), the lack of predictability (in the sense of a predictability that's less vague than "everyone will die") and the connection with the characters from the first (if you don't pay attention to the names, the connection won't be obvious from the beginning).

Director:  Randall Einhorn, Adam Arkin and others

Production:  FX   

Creator:  Noah Hawley   

Duration:  the second season of 4, with 10 episodes (53 minutes each)   

With: Kirsten Dunst, Patrick Wilson, Jesse Plemons, Jean Smart, Ted Danson, Cristin Milioti, Jeffrey Donovan, Bokeem Woodbine, Brad Garrett, Kieran Culkin, Nick Offerman, Michael Hogan, Zahn McClarnon, Angus Sampson, Adam Arkin

Rating: 8/10

Annabelle Comes Home (2019)

Ed and Lorraine Warren's daughter's babysitter manages to awaken Annabelle's spirit.

'Annabelle Comes Home' is another film from The Conjuring universe, a continuation of the narrative line of the Annabelle doll. Ed and Lorraine barely appear, the main characters being children. Efficient anyway and pleasantly surprising.

Director:  Gary Dauberman   

With: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Mckenna Grace, Madison Iseman

Rating: 8/10

In The Tall Grass (2019)

Atrasi de strigate de ajutor, o sora insarcinata si fratele sau patrund intr-un camp vast de iarba inalta fara vreun semn ca s-ar mai putea intoarce.

Un film in stilul de groaza al lui Stephen King bazat pe o nuvela scrisa de el si fiul acestuia - Joe Hill. Regizat de Vincenzo Natali ce este un maestru al genului (Splice, episoade variate din Hannibal, Locke & Key, Cube, Cypher si multe altele), prezinta toate amprentele acestuia, de la scenele foarte stilate de cosmar, finetea miscarilor ierbii si fluiditatea scenelor ce se pierd unele in altele pe nesimtite. Cu un final oarecum deschis, ce poate fi interpretat in functie de preferintele proprii legate de definitia paradoxurilor temporale, In The Tall Grass este cel putin interesant.

Regia:  Vincenzo Natali   

Cu: Laysla De Oliveira, Avery Whitted, Patrick Wilson, Will Buie Jr.

Rating: 7/10

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Bone Tomahawk (2015)

Un serif si echipa lui pleaca in ajutorul a trei localnici rapiti de un inamic salbatic.

Un film western mai diferit, combinat cu elemente horror ce imi aminteste pe alocuri de Ravenous. Cu o expozitie si desfasurare ce pot parea taraganate, finalul vine brusc si socant atat prin viteza cat si continut. Punctul forte al filmului este dialogul ce va fura multe zambete cu discutiile de umplutura folosind un vocabular neobisnuit (asemanator cu al lui Eugene din The Walking Dead pentru cunoscatori), intarit de un Richard Jenkins in mare forma ca batranul ajutor de serif de rezerva si un taciturn Kurt Russell in rolul serifului. Pentru cei ce s-au delectat cu majoritatea desfasurarii filmului, suportarea finalul va prezenta o posibila provocare prin scenele crude ce par prea reale.

Filmat in doar 21 de zile, este un succes impresionant vizual, cu buget mic, ce demonstreaza calitate si eficienta printr-o reintoarcere la radacinile cinema-ului.

Regia/scenariu: S. Craig Zahler

Cu: Kurt Russell, Richard Jenkins, Matthew Fox, Patrick Wilson, Lili Simmons, David Arquette, Sid Haig

Rating: 9/10

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Aquaman (2018)

Aquaman - deja consacrat ca eroul binecunoscut - este introdus mai indeaproape lumii subacvatice Atlantis ce reprezinta jumatate din natura sa ca solutie pentru a evita un razboi devastator.

Actiunea urmeaza pe cea din Justice League. Este un film plin de efecte speciale cum este de asteptat, dar unele de foarte buna calitate. Scenele subacvatice sunt adesea fascinante cu vocile personajelor insotite de un ecou credibil si parul mereu "batut" de curentii de apa. In rest, nu este plictisitor, placut vizual, dar cu un dialog slabut si umplut cu clisee si sentimentalisme. Nicole Kidman este total nu in elementul ei.

Regia: James Wan

Cu: Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Nicole Kidman, Patrick Wilson, Dolph Lundgren

Rating: 8/10

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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

Young Adult (2011)

O scriitoare de romane pentru adolescenti se intoarce in orasul natal sa recucereasca marea sa iubire din liceu.

Un film usor si placut de urmarit deoarece imbina ingenios adevaruri dureroase cu comedie si ironie. Personajul principal e un fel de antieroina cu tot felul de probleme, inclusiv mentale. E un adult imatur, obisnuit sa primeasca totul pe tava (datorita unei copilarii privilegiate si popularitatii din liceu), cu iluzii de grandoare, care isi creeaza fantezii logice despre potentiala sa jumatate, probabil ca escapism dupa evenimente greu de acceptat din viata personala. Charlize Theron e adorabila ca mai sus mentionata eroina, foarte credibila si usor de compatimit. Prietenia ei noua cu un fost coleg, greu de imaginat initial, e unul din punctele forte ale filmului, si probabil singura ocazie a personajului in care isi arata adevarata fata si sentimente. 

Finalul e un pic controversat dand impresia ca nu exista de fapt vreo problema, dar cred ca intentia autoarei (Diablo Cody desigur) a fost sa accentueze faptul ca daca persoana in cauza nu era cineva ca Charlize Theron, situatia ar fi pur si simplu doar trista.

Scenariu: Diablo Cody
Regia: Jason Reitman
Cu: Charlize Theron, Patton Oswalt, Patrick Wilson, Elizabeth Reaser

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