Velvet Goldmine (1998)

A journalist studies the life of 1970s glam rock stars in 1984, stars that also influenced his life at the time.

From the "hate it or love it" category, this film is a fictional portrait of the glam rock era that uses some real figures as inspiration for the main characters (Brian Slade - David Bowie; Curt Wild - Iggy Pop - as far as I can tell). Constructed on the basis of an Oscar Wilde quote, to whose personality allusions are made throughout: "Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth."

The film presents the brilliance of those times, with all the illusions, promises, fascination, vices, addictions, disillusions, emptiness, disappointment both in the lives of those who created that world and in the lives of those fascinated and influenced by it.

Christian Bale shines as a former "addict" of those times, who felt his idols close, and experienced and lived alongside them and through them, now disappointed, resigned with some taste of regret, who put those times behind him and buried them deep, that life, that desire now forgotten not because of what it represented but because of the unfulfilled illusions. He is now tasked with the difficult job of bringing painful truths back to light.
Jonathan Rhys Meyers portrays one of these idols, extremely credibly. He's artificial and almost cold, the most memorable of them, a seemingly lively colorful personality, bursting with needs for attention, adoration, success, always in search for the perfect mask, jealous when someone is the living portrayal of that mask in an effortless and natural way while Ewan McGregor's character - his precious and unforgettable trophy - is lively, vicious, fascinating and repulsive at the same time, sincere and direct and almost innocent.
This past world is portrayed very faithfully, the personalities are defined subtly and in great detail and it's all done on a fascinating and delicious musical background. Amazing!

Directed by: Todd Haynes
Cast: Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Ewan McGregor, Christian Bale, Toni Collette, Eddie Izzard

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Before The Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)

Two brothers plan and rob their parents store and it triggers a series of unfortunate events.

Gripping drama with a dazzling back and forth action which sometimes captivates, sometimes bores, and then it captivates again and then again ... it bores. It culminates with a tense ending which makes you sit uncomfortably in your chair.
It's lead by a series of characters that you have to alternatively love, hate and condemn but you end up sympathizing with and pitying anyway. It succeeds in reaching out to the viewer through unsettling performances from all the actors involved. We get an immature and helpless Ethan Hawke, defeated by powerlessness and the cruel reality, a seemingly powerful and invincible Philip Seymour Hoffman, vicious but also full of regret, whose weakness is precisely the confidence and reliance of those around him in him and his self-control; Marisa Tomei is frustrated, childish and eager for adoration, attention and a good life; Albert Finney - memorable as usual -gives life to a character who can only generate endless controversy. Everything that happens, all that the characters live, decide and do is unforgivable but also somewhat excusable.

Director: Sidney Lumet
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Albert Finney

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Jarhead (2005)

Recent war operations are shown through the eyes of a young marine, struggling due to girlfriend troubles.

There will be many who will foolishly be expecting a strong action movie. They will instead receive - with a disappointed face - a true story about camaraderie and the strong imprint of war. Although that was kind of to be expected as the director is none other than Sam Mendes.
With an excellent cast (with a few surprising choices), this film manages to impress through naturalness, freedom of expression, the characters immaturity or the opposite - the irrefutable evidence of a strong forced early maturity, through humor, through experience, through wounded hearts that show a strong desire to matter and to not be just another wheel in the social machinery, by acknowledging equality and the belonging to a "brotherhood".
Jake Gyllenhaal plays a memorable role - not that it would surprise anyone anymore - but it's also worth mentioning the few shorter parts of Peter Sarsgaard, Jamie Foxx and Lucas Black as well as a very brief but memorable cameo by Dennis Haysbert.

Director: Sam Mendes
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Jamie Foxx, Lucas Black, Peter Sarsgaard

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Drag Me To Hell (2009)

An employee of the lending department in a bank refuses to approve a mortgage for an old woman of Roma descent just to prove her boss she can make harsh decisions and this triggers a series of negative events due to the subsequent curse.

After flirting with other genres, in attempts which are more (see A Simple Plan) or less (the Spiderman series) successful, Sam Raimi returns to the genre that launched and forever propelled him into the cult authors category. With his taste for gore pushed to the extreme to almost bad taste, yet so brilliantly combined with irony and dry humour that you manage to forget and dismiss that (or not, but you still love it: D), with well-dosed and unexpected suspense, with grotesque and somewhat caricaturistic fantastic elements, brought to life through special effects that might seem a bit rudimentary but are not just because they come hand in hand with the said irony and are part of what the appeal is, Sam Raimi made use of his strongest weapons and managed to deliver a horror-comedy worthy of his reputation. I'm looking forward to The Evil Dead in 2010 now that I see that he has returned to his old self.

As for the performers: Justin Long is a regular in the comic genre, although here he is more of a background character, but what I find more surprising is the choice of Alison Lohman as the main character and her agreement to appear in such a role, which is not always flattering and is quite a risky one.  However it proved to be a winning ticket, because she played her part honourably.

Direction: Sam Raimi

Writing: Sam and Ivan Raimi

Cast: Alison Lohman, Justin Long, Adriana Barraza

This is the translation of an older post, see it here

Venom (2018)

A failed journalist comes into contact with an alien life form that can survive on Earth only if it manages to establish symbiosis with a compatible host. Eddie is of course the perfect host and incredible adventures begin for him.

This film has had many negative reviews and I honestly do not know why. The CGI is well developed, there are fantastic heroes and enemies, and Tom Hardy delivers a delightful performance in portraying a neurotic possessed by a superpowered entity. Even if only this last point is taken into consideration, the film deserves more attention and praise. It's fun, funny now and then and visually impressive. Plot holes have been seen before and did not bother anyone then.

Venom (2018)

Un jurnalist ratat ajunge in contact cu o forma de viata extraterestra care poate supravietui pe Pamant doar daca reuseste sa stabileasca simbioza cu o gazda compatibila. Eddie este desigur gazda perfecta si aventuri incredibile incep pentru el.

Acest film a avut parte de nenumarate critici negative si sincer nu stiu de ce. CGI-ul e bine pus la punct, exista eroi si dusmani fantastici, iar Tom Hardy ofera un spectacol delicios in portretizarea unui nevrotic posedat de o entitate cu superputeri. Doar acest ultim punct luat in considerare si filmul merita mai multa atentie si lauda. Este fun, funny din cand in cand, si impresionant vizual. Intriga cu ceva gauri s-a mai vazut si nu a mai deranjat pe nimeni. 

Regia: Ruben Fleischer

Cu: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed

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Time Lapse (2014)

Three friends discover a camera that photographs the same window every day, 24 hours in the future and decide to use it for personal advantage.

Low budget film, quite interesting, in the style of Primer trying to emphasize the human aspect of the consequences of trying to control time. The characters become greedier and more paranoid by the minute without actually having a strong enough reason, for the sole reason that the most recent picture taken shows them in a particularly intriguing circumstance. The cause becomes the effect and vice versa. The actors manage to make the transitions as credible as possible and the screenwriters manage to introduce some unexpected surprises. The film shows very little science and a lot of human weakness.

The ending reminds me of the common confusion during daylight saving time, when your mind can't adjust properly and you can't decide whether you need to wake up earlier or later.

Directed by: Bradley King
Cast: Danielle Panabaker, Matt O'Leary, George Finn

Rating: 8/10